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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3348.txt b/3348.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..13ae528 --- /dev/null +++ b/3348.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5384 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wandering Jew, Book X., by Eugene Sue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wandering Jew, Book X. + +Author: Eugene Sue + +Release Date: October 25, 2004 [EBook #3348] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERING JEW, BOOK X. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger and Pat Castevens + + + + + +THE WANDERING JEW + +By Eugene Sue + + + +BOOK X. + + +XXXIII. Confessions +XXXIV. More Confessions +XXXV. The Rivals +XXXVI. The Interview +XXXVII. Soothing Words +XXXVIII. The Two Carriages +XXXIX. The Appointment +XL. Anxiety +XLI. Adrienne and Djalma +XLII. "The Imitation" +XLIII. Prayer +XLIV. Remembrances +XLV. The Blockhead +XLVI. The Anonymous Letters +XLVII. The Golden City +XLVIII. The Stung Lion +XLIX. The Test + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +CONFESSIONS. + +During the painful scene that we have just described, a lively emotion +glowed in the countenance of Mdlle. de Cardoville, grown pale and thin +with sorrow. Her cheeks, once so full, were now slightly hollowed, whilst +a faint line of transparent azure encircled those large black eyes, no +longer so bright as formerly. But the charming lips, though contracted by +painful anxiety, had retained their rich and velvet moisture. To attend +more easily to Mother Bunch, Adrienne had thrown aside her bonnet, and +the silky waves of her beautiful golden hair almost concealed her face as +she bent over the mattress, rubbing the thin, ivory hands of the poor +sempstress, completely called to life by the salubrious freshness of the +air, and by the strong action of the salts which Adrienne carried in her +smelling-bottle. Luckily, Mother Bunch had fainted, rather from emotion +and weakness than from the effects of suffocation, the senses of the +unfortunate girl having failed her before the deleterious gas had +attained its highest degree of intensity. + +Before continuing the recital of the scene between the sempstress and the +patrician, a few retrospective words will be necessary. Since the strange +adventure at the theatre of the Porte-Saint-Martin, where Djalma, at +peril of his life, rushed upon the black panther in sight of Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the young lady had been deeply affected in various ways. +Forgetting her jealousy, and the humiliation she had suffered in presence +of Djalma--of Djalma exhibiting himself before every one with a woman so +little worthy of him--Adrienne was for a moment dazzled by the chivalrous +and heroic action of the prince, and said to herself: "In spite of odious +appearances, Djalma loves me enough to brave death in order to pick up my +nosegay." + +But with a soul so delicate as that of this young lady, a character so +generous, and a mind so true, reflection was certain soon to demonstrate +the vanity of such consolations, powerless to cure the cruel wounds of +offended dignity an love. + +"How many times," said Adrienne to herself, and with reason, "has the +prince encountered, in hunting, from pure caprice and with no gain, such +danger as he braved in picking up my bouquet! and then, who tells me he +did not mean to offer it to the woman who accompanied him?" + +Singular (it may be) in the eyes of the world, but just and great in +those of heaven, the ideas which Adrienne cherished with regard to love, +joined to her natural pride, presented an invincible obstacle to the +thought of her succeeding this woman (whoever she might be), thus +publicly displayed by the prince as his mistress. And yet Adrienne hardly +dared avow to herself, that she experienced a feeling of jealousy, only +the more painful and humiliating, the less her rival appeared worthy to +be compared to her. + +At other times, on the contrary, in spite of a conscious sense of her own +value, Mdlle. de Cardoville, remembering the charming countenance of +Rose-Pompon, asked herself if the bad taste and improper manners of this +pretty creature resulted from precocious and depraved effrontery, or from +a complete ignorance of the usages of society. In the latter case, such +ignorance, arising from a simple and ingenuous nature, might in itself +have a great charm; and if to this attraction, combined with that of +incontestable beauty, were added sincere love and a pure soul, the +obscure birth, or neglected education of the girl might be of little +consequence, and she might be capable of inspiring Djalma with a profound +passion. If Adrienne hesitated to see a lost creature in Rose-Pompon, +notwithstanding unfavorable appearances, it was because, remembering what +so many travellers had related of Djalma's greatness of soul, and +recalling the conversation she had overheard between him and Rodin, she +could not bring herself to believe that a man of such remarkable +intelligence, with so tender a heart, so poetical, imaginative and +enthusiastic a mind could be capable of loving a depraved and vulgar +creature, and of openly exhibiting himself in public along with her. +There was a mystery in the transaction, which Adrienne sought in vain to +penetrate. These trying doubts, this cruel curiosity, only served to +nourish Adrienne's fatal love; and we may imagine her incurable despair, +when she found that the indifference, or even disdain of Djalma, was +unable to stifle a passion that now burned more fiercely than ever. +Sometimes, having recourse to notions of fatality, she fancied that she +was destined to feel this love; that Djalma must therefore deserve it, +and that one day whatever was incomprehensible in the conduct of the +prince would be explained to his advantage. At other times, on the +contrary, she felt ashamed of excusing Djalma, and the consciousness of +this weakness was for Adrienne a constant occasion for remorse and +torture. The victim of all these agonies, she lived in perfect solitude. + +The cholera soon broke out, startling as a clap of thunder. Too unhappy +to fear the pestilence on her own account, Adrienne was only moved by the +sorrows of others. She was amongst the first to contribute to those +charitable donations, which were now flowing in from all sides in the +admirable spirit of benevolence. Florine was suddenly attacked by the +epidemic. In spite of the danger, her mistress insisted on seeing her, +and endeavored to revive her failing courage. Conquered by this new mark +of kindness, Florine could no longer conceal the treachery in which she +had borne a part. Death was about to deliver her from the odious tyranny +of the people whose yoke weighed upon her, and she was at length in a +position to reveal everything to Adrienne. The latter thus learned how +she had been continually betrayed by Florine, and also the cause of the +sewing-girl's abrupt departure. At these revelations, Adrienne felt her +affection and tender pity for the poor sempstress greatly increase. By +her command, the most active steps were taken to discover traces of the +hunchback; but Florine's confession had a still more important result. +Justly alarmed at this new evidence of Rodin's machinations, Adrienne +remembered the projects formed, when, believing herself beloved, the +instinct of affection had revealed to her the perils to which Djalma and +other members of the Rennepont family were exposed. To assemble the race +around her, and bid them rally against the common enemy, such was +Adrienne's first thought, when she heard the confession of Florine. She +regarded it as a duty to accomplish this project. In a struggle with such +dangerous and powerful adversaries as Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and the +Princess de Saint-Dizier, and their allies, Adrienne saw not only the +praiseworthy and perilous task of unmasking hypocrisy and cupidity, but +also, if not a consolation, at least a generous diversion in the midst of +terrible sorrows. + +From this moment, a restless, feverish activity took the place of the +mournful apathy in which the young lady had languished. She called round +her all the members of her family capable of answering the appeal, and, +as had been mentioned in the secret note delivered to Father d'Aigrigny, +Cardoville House soon became the centre of the most active and unceasing +operations, and also a place of meeting, in which the modes of attack and +defence were fully discussed. Perfectly correct in all points, the secret +note of which we have spoken stated, as a mere conjecture, that Mdlle. de +Cardoville had granted an interview to Djalma. This fact was untrue, but +the cause which led to the supposition will be explained hereafter. Far +from such being the case, Mdlle. de Cardoville scarcely found, in +attending to the great family interests now at stake, a momentary +diversion from the fatal love, which was slowly undermining her health, +and with which she so bitterly reproached herself. + +The morning of the day on which Adrienne, at length discovering Mother +Bunch's residence, came so miraculously to rescue her from death, +Agricola Baudoin had been to Cardoville House to confer on the subject of +Francis Hardy, and had begged Adrienne to permit him to accompany her to +the Rue Clovis, whither they repaired in haste. + +Thus, once again, there was a noble spectacle, a touching symbol! Mdlle. +de Cardoville and Mother Bunch, the two extremities of the social chain, +were united on equal terms--for the sempstress and the fair patrician +were equal in intelligence and heart--and equal also, because the one was +the ideal of riches, grace, and beauty, and the other the ideal of +resignation and unmerited misfortune--and does not a halo rest on +misfortune borne with courage and dignity? Stretched on her mattress, the +hunchback appeared so weak, that even if Agricola had not been detained +on the ground floor with Cephyse, now dying a dreadful death, Mdlle. de +Cardoville would have waited some time, before inducing Mother Bunch to +rise and accompany her to her carriage. Thanks to the presence of mind +and pious fraud of Adrienne, the sewing-girl was persuaded that Cephyse +had been carried to a neighboring hospital, to receive the necessary +succors, which promised to be crowned with success. The hunchback's +faculties recovering slowly from their stupor, she at first received this +fable without the least suspicion--for she did not even know that +Agricola had accompanied Mdlle. de Cardoville. + +"And it is to you, lady, that Cephyse and I owe our lives," said she, +turning her mild and melancholy face towards Adrienne, "you, kneeling in +this garret, near this couch of misery, where I and my sister meant to +die--for you assure me, lady, that Cephyse was succored in time." + +"Be satisfied! I was told just now that she was recovering her senses." + +"And they told her I was living, did they not, lady? Otherwise, she would +perhaps regret having survived me." + +"Be quite easy, my dear girl!" said Adrienne, pressing the poor hands in +her own, and gazing on her with eyes full of tears; "they have told her +all that was proper. Do not trouble yourself about anything; only think +of recovering--and I hope you will yet enjoy that happiness of which you +have known so little, my poor child." + +"How kind you are, lady! After flying from your house--and when you must +think me so ungrateful!" + +"Presently, when you are not so weak, I have a great deal to tell you. +Just now, it would fatigue you too much. But how do you feel?" + +"Better, lady. This fresh air--and then the thought, that, since you are +come--my poor sister will no more be reduced to despair; for I will tell +you all, and I am sure you will have pity on Cephyse--will you not, +lady?" + +"Rely upon me, my child," answered Adrienne, forced to dissemble her +painful embarrassment; "you know I am interested in all that interests +you. But tell me," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a voice of emotion, +"before taking this desperate resolution, did you not write to me?" + +"Yes, lady." + +"Alas!" resumed Adrienne, sorrowfully; "and when you received no +answer--how cruel, how ungrateful you must have thought me!" + +"Oh! never, lady, did I accuse you of such feelings; my poor sister will +tell you so. You had my gratitude to the last." + +"I believe you--for I knew your heart. But how then did you explain my +silence?" + +"I had justly offended you by my sudden departure, lady." + +"Offended!--Alas! I never received your letter." + +"And yet you know that I wrote to you, lady." + +"Yes, my poor girl; I know, also, that you wrote to me at my porter's +lodge. Unfortunately, he delivered your letter to one of my women, named +Florine, telling her it came from you." + +"Florine! the young woman that was so kind to me!" + +"Florine deceived me shamefully; she was sold to my enemies, and acted as +a spy on my actions." + +"She!--Good Heavens!" cried Mother Bunch. "Is it possible?" + +"She herself," answered Adrienne, bitterly; "but, after all, we must pity +as well as blame her. She was forced to obey by a terrible necessity, and +her confession and repentance secured my pardon before her death." + +"Then she is dead--so young! so fair!" + +"In spite of her faults, I was greatly moved by her end. She confessed +what she had done, with such heart-rending regrets. Amongst her avowals, +she told me she had intercepted a letter, in which you asked for an +interview that might save your sister's life." + +"It is true, lady; such were the terms of my letter. What interest had +they to keep it from you?" + +"They feared to see you return to me, my good guardian angel. You loved +me so tenderly, and my enemies dreaded your faithful affection, so +wonderfully aided by the admirable instinct of your heart. Ah! I shall +never forget how well-deserved was the horror with which you were +inspired by a wretch whom I defended against your suspicions." + +"M. Rodin?" said Mother Bunch, with a shudder. + +"Yes," replied Adrienne; "but we will not talk of these people now. Their +odious remembrance would spoil the joy I feel in seeing you restored to +life--for your voice is less feeble, your cheeks are beginning to regain +a little color. Thank God! I am so happy to have found you once more;--if +you knew all that I hope, all that I expect from our reunion--for we will +not part again--promise me that, in the name of our friendship." + +"I--your friend!" said Mother Bunch, timidly casting down her eyes. + +"A few days before your departure from my house, did I not call you my +friend, my sister? What is there changed? Nothing, nothing," added Mdlle. +de Cardoville, with deep emotion. "One might say, on the contrary, that a +fatal resemblance in our positions renders your friendship even dearer to +me. And I shall have it, shall I not. Oh, do not refuse it me--I am so +much in want of a friend!" + +"You, lady? you in want of the friendship of a poor creature like me?" + +"Yes," answered Adrienne, as she gazed on the other with an expression of +intense grief; "nay, more, you are perhaps the only person, to whom I +could venture to confide my bitter sorrows." So saying, Mdlle. de +Cardoville colored deeply. + +"And how do I deserve such marks of confidence?" asked Mother Bunch, more +and more surprised. + +"You deserve it by the delicacy of your heart, by the steadiness of your +character," answered Adrienne, with some hesitation; "then--you are a +woman--and I am certain you will understand what I suffer, and pity me." + +"Pity you, lady?" said the other, whose astonishment continued to +increase. "You, a great lady, and so much envied--I, so humble and +despised, pity you?" + +"Tell me, my poor friend," resumed Adrienne, after some moments of +silence, "are not the worst griefs those which we dare not avow to any +one, for fear of raillery and contempt? How can we venture to ask +interest or pity, for sufferings that we hardly dare avow to ourselves, +because they make us blush?" + +The sewing-girl could hardly believe what she heard. Had her benefactress +felt, like her, the effects of an unfortunate passion, she could not have +held any other language. But the sempstress could not admit such a +supposition; so, attributing to some other cause the sorrows of Adrienne, +she answered mournfully, whilst she thought of her own fatal love for +Agricola, "Oh! yes, lady. A secret grief, of which we are ashamed, must +be frightful--very frightful!" + +"But then what happiness to meet, not only a heart noble enough to +inspire complete confidence, but one which has itself been tried by a +thousand sorrows, and is capable of affording you pity, support and +counsel!--Tell me, my dear child," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, as she +looked attentively at Mother Bunch, "if you were weighed down by one of +those sorrows, at which one blushes, would you not be happy, very happy, +to find a kindred soul, to whom you might entrust your griefs, and half +relieve them by entire and merited confidence?" + +For the first time in her life, Mother Bunch regarded Mdlle. de +Cardoville with a feeling of suspicion and sadness. + +The last words of the young lady seemed to her full of meaning +"Doubtless, she knows my secret," said Mother Bunch to herself; +"doubtless, my journal has fallen into her hands.--She knows my love for +Agricola, or at least suspects it. What she has been saying to me is +intended to provoke my confidence, and to assure herself if she has been +rightly informed." + +These thoughts excited in the workgirl's mind no bitter or ungrateful +feeling towards her benefactress; but the heart of the unfortunate girl +was so delicately susceptible on the subject of her fatal passion, that, +in spite of her deep and tender affection for Mdlle. de Cardoville, she +suffered cruelly at the thought of Adrienne's being mistress of her +secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +MORE CONFESSIONS. + +The fancy, at first so painful, that Mdlle. de Cardoville was informed of +her love for Agricola was soon exchanged in the hunchbacks heart, thanks +to the generous instincts of that rare and excellent creature, for a +touching regret, which showed all her attachment and veneration for +Adrienne. + +"Perhaps," said Mother Bunch to herself, "conquered by the influence of +the adorable kindness of my protectress, I might have made to her a +confession which I could make to none other, and revealed a secret which +I thought to carry with me to my grave. It would, at least, have been a +mark of gratitude to Mdlle. de Cardoville; but, unfortunately, I am now +deprived of the sad comfort of confiding my only secret to my +benefactress. And then--however generous may be her pity for me, however +intelligent her affection, she cannot--she, that is so fair and so much +admired--she cannot understand how frightful is the position of a +creature like myself, hiding in the depth of a wounded heart, a love at +once hopeless and ridiculous. No, no--in spite of the delicacy of her +attachment, my benefactress must unconsciously hurt my feelings, even +whilst she pities me--for only sympathetic sorrows can console each +other. Alas! why did she not leave me to die?" + +These reflections presented themselves to the thinker's mind as rapidly +as thought could travel. Adrienne observed her attentively; she remarked +that the sewing-girl's countenance, which had lately brightened up, was +again clouded, and expressed a feeling of painful humiliation. Terrified +at this relapse into gloomy dejection, the consequences of which might be +serious, for Mother Bunch was still very weak, and, as it were, hovering +on the brink of the grave, Mdlle. de Cardoville resumed hastily: "My +friend, do not you think with me, that the most cruel and humiliating +grief admits of consolation, when it can be entrusted to a faithful and +devoted heart?" + +"Yes, lady," said the young sempstress, bitterly; "but the heart which +suffers in silence, should be the only judge of the moment for making so +painful a confession. Until then, it would perhaps be more humane to +respect its fatal secret, even if one had by chance discovered it." + +"You are right, my child," said Adrienne, sorrowfully, "if I choose this +solemn moment to entrust you with a very painful secret, it is that, when +you have heard me, I am sure you will set more value on your life, as +knowing how much I need your tenderness, consolation, and pity." + +At these words, the other half raised herself on the mattress, and looked +at Mdlle. de Cardoville in amazement. She could scarcely believe what she +heard; far from designing to intrude upon her confidence, it was her +protectress who was to make the painful confession, and who came to +implore pity and consolation from her! + +"What!" stammered she; "you, lady!" + +"I come to tell you that I suffer, and am ashamed of my sufferings. Yes," +added the young lady, with a touching expression, "yes--of all +confessions, I am about to make the most painful--I love--and I blush for +my love." + +"Like myself!" cried Mother Bunch, involuntarily, clasping her hands +together. + +"I love," resumed Adrienne, with a long-pent-up grief; "I love, and am +not beloved--and my love is miserable, is impossible--it consumes me--it +kills me--and I dare not confide to any one the fatal secret!" + +"Like me," repeated the other, with a fixed look. "She--a queen in +beauty, rank, wealth, intelligence--suffers like me. Like me, poor +unfortunate creature! she loves, and is not loved again." + +"Well, yes! like you, I love and am not loved again," cried Mdlle. de +Cardoville; "was I wrong in saying, that to you alone I could confide my +secret--because, having suffered the same pangs, you alone can pity +them?" + +"Then, lady," said Mother Bunch, casting down her eyes, and recovering +from her first amazement, "you knew--" + +"I knew all, my poor child--but never should I have mentioned your +secret, had I not had one to entrust you with, of a still more painful +nature. Yours is cruel, but mine is humiliating. Oh, my sister!" added +Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a tone impossible to describe, "misfortune, you, +see, blends and confounds together what are called distinctions of rank +and fortune--and often those whom the world envies are reduced by +suffering far below the poorest and most humble, and have to seek from +the latter pity and consolation." + +Then, drying her tears, which nosy flowed abundantly, Mdlle. de +Cardoville resumed, in a voice of emotion: "Come, sister! courage, +courage! let us love and sustain each other. Let this sad and mysterious +bond unite us forever." + +"Oh, lady! forgive me. But now that you know the secret of my life," said +the workgirl, casting down her eyes, and unable to vanquish her +confusion, "it seems to me, that I can never look at you without +blushing." + +"And why? because you love Agricola?" said Adrienne. "Then I must die of +shame before you, since, less courageous than you, I had not the strength +to suffer and be resigned, and so conceal my love in the depths of my +heart. He that I love, with a love henceforth deprived of hope, knew of +that love and despised it--preferring to me a woman, the very choice of +whom was a new and grievous insult, if I am not much deceived by +appearances. I sometimes hope that I am deceived on this point. Now tell +me--is it for you to blush?" + +"Alas, lady! who could tell you all this?" + +"Which you only entrusted to your journal? Well, then--it was the dying +Florine who confessed her misdeeds. She had been base enough to steal +your papers, forced to this odious act, by the people who had dominion +over her. But she had read your journal--and as every good feeling was +not dead within her, your admirable resignation, your melancholy and +pious love, had left such an impression on her mind, that she was able to +repeat whole passages to me on her death bed, and thus to explain the +cause of your sudden disappearance--for she had no doubt that the fear of +seeing your love for Agricola divulged had been the cause of your +flight." + +"Alas! it is but too true, lady." + +"Oh, yes!" answered Adrienne, bitterly; "those who employed the wretched +girl to act as she did, well knew the effect of the blow. It was not +their first attempt. They reduced you to despair, they would have killed +you, because you were devoted to me, and because you had guessed their +intentions. Oh! these black-gowns are implacable, and their power is +great!" said Adrienne, shuddering. + +"It is fearful, lady." + +"But do not be alarmed, dear child; you see, that the arms of the wicked +have turned against themselves; for the moment I knew the cause of your +flight, you became dearer to me than ever. From that time I made every +exertion to find out where you were; after long efforts, it was only this +morning that the person I had employed succeeded in discovering that you +inhabited this house. Agricola was with me when I heard it, and instantly +asked to accompany me." + +"Agricola!" said Mother Bunch, clasping her hands; "he came--" + +"Yes, my child--be calm. Whilst I attended to you, he was busy with your +poor sister. You will soon see him." + +"Alas, lady!" resumed the hunchback, in alarm. "He doubtless knows--" + +"Your love! No, no; be satisfied. Only think of the happiness of again +seeing your good and worthy brother." + +"Ah, lady! may he never know what caused me so much shame, that I was +like to die of it. Thank God, he is not aware of it!" + +"Then let us have no more sad thoughts, my child. Only remember, that +this worthy brother came here in time to save us from everlasting +regrets--and you from a great fault. Oh! I do not speak of the prejudices +of the world, with regard to the right of every creature to return to +heaven a life that has become too burdensome!--I only say that you ought +not to have died, because those who love you, and whom you love, were +still in need of your assistance." + +"I thought you happy; Agricola was married to the girl of his choice, who +will, I am sure, make him happy. To whom could I be useful?" + +"First, to myself, as you see--and then, who tells you that Agricola will +never have need of you? Who tells you, that his happiness, or that of his +family, will last forever, and will not be tried by cruel shocks? And +even if those you love had been destined to be always happy, could their +happiness be complete without you? And would not your death, with which +they would perhaps have reproached themselves, have left behind it +endless regrets?" + +"It is true, lady," answered the other, "I was wrong--the dizziness of +despair had seized me--frightful misery weighed upon us--we had not been +able to find work for some days--we lived on the charity of a poor woman, +and her the cholera carried off. To-morrow or next day, we must have died +of hunger." + +"Die of hunger!--and you knew where I lived!" + +"I had written to you, lady, and receiving no answer, I thought you +offended at my abrupt departure." + +"Poor, dear child! you must have been, as you say, seized with dizziness +in that terrible moment; so that I have not the courage to reproach you +for doubting me a single instant. How can I blame you? Did I not myself +think of terminating my life?" + +"You, lady!" cried the hunchback. + +"Yes, I thought of it--when they came to tell me, that Florine, dying, +wished to speak to me. I heard what she had to say; her revelations +changed my projects. This dark and mournful life which had become +insupportable to me, was suddenly lighted up. The sense of duty woke +within me. You were no doubt a prey to horrible misery; it was my duty to +seek and save you. Florine's confessions unveiled to me the new plots of +the enemies of my scattered family, dispersed by sorrows and cruel +losses; it was my duty to warn them of their danger, and to unite them +against the common enemy. I had been the victim of odious manoeuvres: it +was my duty to punish their authors, for fear that, encouraged by +impunity, these black-gowns should make other victims. Then the sense of +duty gave me strength, and I was able to rouse myself from my lethargy. +With the help of Abbe Gabriel, a sublime, oh! a sublime priest--the ideal +of a true Christian--the worthy brother of Agricola--I courageously +entered on the struggle. What shall I say to you, my child? The +performance of these duties, the hope of finding you again, have been +some relief to me in my trouble. If I was not consoled, I was at least +occupied. Your tender friendship, the example of your resignation, will +do the rest--I think so--I am sure so--and I shall forget this fatal +love." + +At the moment Adrienne pronounced these words, rapid footsteps were heard +upon the stairs, and a young, clear voice exclaimed: "Oh! dear me, poor +Mother Bunch! How lucky I have come just now! If only I could be of some +use to her!" + +Almost immediately, Rose-Pompon entered the garret with precipitation. +Agricola soon followed the grisette, and pointing to the open window, +tried to make Adrienne understand by signs, that she was not to mention +to the girl the deplorable end of the Bacchanal Queen. This pantomime was +lost on Mdlle. de Cardoville. Adrienne's heart swelled with grief, +indignation, pride, as she recognized the girl she had seen at the Porte +Saint-Martin in company with Djalma, and who alone was the cause of the +dreadful sufferings she endured since that fatal evening. And, strange +irony of fate! it was at the very moment when Adrienne had just made the +humiliating and cruel confession of her despised love, that the woman, to +whom she believed herself sacrificed, appeared before her. + +If the surprise of Mdlle. de Cardoville was great, Rose-Pompon's was not +less so. Not only did she recognize in Adrienne the fair young lady with +the golden locks, who had sat opposite to her at the theatre, on the +night of the adventure of the black panther, but she had serious reasons +for desiring most ardently this unexpected interview. It is impossible to +paint the look of malignant joy and triumph, that she affected to cast +upon Adrienne. The first impulse of Mdlle. de Cardoville was to quit the +room. But she could not bear to leave Mother Bunch at this moment, or to +give, in the presence of Agricola, her reasons for such an abrupt +departure, and moreover, an inexplicable and fatal curiosity held her +back, in spite of her offended pride. She remained, therefore, and was +about to examine closely, to hear and to judge, this rival, who had +nearly occasioned her death, to whom, in her jealous agony, she had +ascribed so many different aspects, in order to explain Djalma's love for +such a creature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE RIVALS. + +Rose-Pompon, whose presence caused such deep emotion in Mdlle. de +Cardoville, was dressed in the most showy and extravagant bad taste. Her +very small, narrow, rose-colored satin bonnet, placed so forward over her +face as almost to touch the tip of her little nose, left uncovered behind +half of her light, silky hair; her plaid dress, of an excessively broad +pattern, was open in front, and the almost transparent gauze, rather too +honest in its revelations, hardly covered the charms of the form beneath. + +The grisette having run all the way upstairs, held in her hands the ends +of her large blue shawl, which, falling from her shoulders, had slid down +to her wasp-like waist, and there been stopped by the swell of the +figure. If we enter into these details, it is to explain how, at the +sight of this pretty creature, dressed in so impertinent and almost +indecent, a fashion, Mdlle. de Cardoville, who thought she saw in her a +successful rival, felt her indignation, grief, and shame redoubled. + +But judge of the surprise and confusion of Adrienne, when Mdlle. Rose +Pompon said to her, with the utmost freedom and pertness, "I am delighted +to see you, madame. You and I must have a long talk together. Only I must +begin by kissing poor Mother Bunch--with your permission, madame!" + +To understand the tone and manner with which this word, "madame" was +pronounced, you must have been present at some stormy discussion between +two Rose-Pompons, jealous of each other; then you would be able to judge +how much provoking hostility may be compressed into the word "madame," +under certain circumstances. Amazed at the impudence of Rose-Pompon, +Mdlle. de Cardoville remained mute; whilst Agricola, entirely occupied +with the interest he took in the workgirl, who had never withdrawn her +eyes from him since he entered the room, and with the remembrance of the +painful scene he had just quitted, whispered to Adrienne, without +remarking the grisette's effrontery, "Alas, lady! it is all over. Cephyse +has just breathed her last sigh, without recovering her senses." + +"Unfortunate girl!" said Adrienne, with emotion; and for the moment she +forgot Rose-Pompon. + +"We must keep this sad news from Mother Bunch, and only let her know it +hereafter, with great caution," resumed Agricola. "Luckily, little Rose +Pompon knows nothing about it." + +And he pointed to the grisette, who was now stooping down by the side of +the workgirl. On hearing Agricola speak so familiarly of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne's amazement increased. It is impossible to describe what she +felt; yet, strangely enough, her sufferings grew less and less, and her +anxiety diminished, as she listened to the chatter of the grisette. + +"Oh, my good dear!" said the latter, with as much volubility as emotion, +while her pretty blue eyes were filled with tears; "is it possible that +you did so stupid a thing? Do not poor people help one another? Could you +not apply to me? You knew that others are welcome to whatever is mine, +and I would have made a raffle of Philemon's bazaar," added this singular +girl, with a burst of feeling, at once sincere, touching, and grotesque; +"I would have sold his three boots, pipes, boating-costume, bed, and even +his great drinking-glass, and at all events you should not have been +brought to such an ugly pass. Philemon would not have minded, for he is a +good fellow; and if he had minded, it would have been all the same. Thank +heaven! we are not married. I am only wishing to remind you that you +should have thought of little Rose-Pompon." + +"I know you are obliging and kind, miss," said Mother Bunch: for she had +heard from her sister that Rose-Pompon, like so many of her class, had a +warm and generous heart. + +"After all," resumed the grisette, wiping with the back of her hand the +tip of her little nose, down which a tear was trickling, "you may tell me +that you did not know where I had taken up my quarters. It's a queer +story, I can tell you. When I say queer," added Rose-Pompon, with a deep +sigh, "it is quite the contrary--but no matter: I need not trouble you +with that. One thing is certain; you are getting better--and you and +Cephyse will not do such a thing again. She is said to be very weak. Can +I not see her yet, M. Agricola? + +"No," said the smith, with embarrassment, for Mother Bunch kept her eyes +fixed upon him; "you must have patience." + +"But I may see her to-day, Agricola?" exclaimed the hunchback. + +"We will talk about that. Only be calm, I entreat." + +"Agricola is right; you must be reasonable, my good dear," resumed Rose +Pompon; "we will wait patiently. I can wait too, for I have to talk +presently to this lady;" and Rose-Pompon glanced at Adrienne with the +expression of an angry cat. "Yes, yes; I can wait; for I long to tell +Cephyse also that she may reckon upon me." Here Rose-Pompon bridled up +very prettily, and thus continued, "Do not be uneasy! It is the least one +can do, when one is in a good position, to share the advantages with +one's friends, who are not so well off. It would be a fine thing to keep +one's happiness to one's self! to stuff it with straw, and put it under a +glass, and let no one touch it! When I talk of happiness, it's only to +make talk; it is true in one sense; but to another, you see, my good +dear--Bah! I am only seventeen--but no matter--I might go on talking till +tomorrow, and you would not be any the wiser. So let me kiss you once +more, and don't be down-hearted--nor Cephyse either, do you hear? for I +shall be close at hand." + +And, stooping still lower, Rose-Pompon cordially embraced Mother Bunch. +It is impossible to express what Mdlle. de Cardoville felt during this +conversation, or rather during this monologue of the grisette on the +subject of the attempted suicide. The eccentric jargon of Mdlle. Rose +Pompon, her liberal facility in disposing of Philemon's bazaar, to the +owner of which (as she said) she was luckily not married--the goodness of +her heart, which revealed itself in her offers of service--her contrasts, +her impertinence, her drollery--all this was so new and inexplicable to +Mdlle. de Cardoville, that she remained for some time mute and motionless +with surprise. Such, then, was the creature to whom Djalma had sacrificed +her! + +If Adrienne's first impression at sight of Rose-Pompon had been horribly +painful, reflection soon awakened doubts, which were to become shortly +ineffable hopes. Remembering the interview she had overheard between +Rodin and Djalma, when, concealed in the conservatory, she had wished to +prove the Jesuit's fidelity, Adrienne, asked herself if it was +reasonable, if it was possible to believe, that the prince, whose ideas +of love seemed to be so poetical, so elevated, so pure, could find any +charm in the disjointed and silly chat of this young girl? Adrienne could +not hesitate; she pronounced the thing impossible, from the moment she +had seen her rival near, and witnessed her style both of manners and +conversation, which, without detracting from the prettiness of her +features, gave them a trivial and not very attractive character. +Adrienne's doubts with regard to the deep love of the prince for Rose +Pompon were hence soon changed to complete incredulity. Endowed with too +much sense and penetration, not to perceive that this apparent +connection, so inconceivable on the part of Djalma, must conceal some +mystery, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt her hopes revive. As this consoling +thought arose in her mind, her heart, until now so painfully oppressed, +began once more to dilate; she felt vague aspirations towards a better +future; and yet, cruelly warned by the past, she feared to yield too +readily to a mere illusion, for she remembered the notorious fact that +the prince had really appeared in public with this girl. But now that +Mdlle. de Cardoville could fully appreciate what she was, she found the +conduct of the prince only the more incomprehensible. And how can we +judge soundly and surely of that which is enveloped in mystery? And then +a secret presentiment told her, that it would, perhaps, be beside the +couch of the poor sempstress, whom she had just saved from death, that, +by a providential coincidence, she would learn the secret on which +depended the happiness of her life. + +The emotions which agitated she heart of Adrienne, became so violent, +that her fine face was flushed with a bright red, her bosom heaved, and +her large, black eyes, lately dimmed by sadness, once more shone with a +mild radiance. She waited with inexpressible impatience for what was to +follow. In the interview, with which Rose-Pompon had threatened her, and +which a few minutes before Adrienne would have declined with all the +dignity of legitimate indignation, she now hoped to find the explanation +of a mystery, which it was of such importance for her to clear up. After +once more tenderly embracing Mother Bunch, Rose-Pompon got up from the +ground, and, turning towards Adrienne, eyed her from head to foot, with +the utmost coolness, and said to her, in a somewhat impertinent tone: "It +is now our turn, madame"--the word "madame" still pronounced with the +accent before described--"we have a little matter to settle together." + +"I am at your order," answered Adrienne, with much mildness and +simplicity. + +At sight of the triumphant and decisive air of Rose-Pompon, and on +hearing her challenge to Mdlle. de Cardoville, the worthy Agricola, after +exchanging a few words with Mother Bunch, opened his eyes and ears very +wide, and remained staring in amazement at the effrontery of the +grisette; then, advancing towards her, he whispered, as he plucked her by +the sleeve: "I say, are you mad? Do you know to whom you speak?" + +"Well! what then? Is not one pretty woman worth another! I say that for +the lady. She will not eat me, I suppose," replied Rose-Pompon, aloud, +and with an air of defiance. "I have to talk with madame, here. I am +sure, she knows why and wherefore. If not, I will tell her; it will not +take me long." + +Adrienne, who feared some ridiculous exposure on the subject of Djalma, +in the presence of Agricola, made a sign to the latter, and thus answered +the grisette: "I am ready to hear you, miss, but not in this place. You +will understand why." + +"Very well, madame, I have my key. You can come to any apartments"--the +last word pronounced with an air of ostentatious importance. + +"Let us go then to your apartments, miss since you to me the honor to +receive me there," answered Mdlle. de Cardoville, in her mild, sweet +voice, and with a slight inclination of the head, so full of exquisite +politeness, that Rose-Pompon was daunted, notwithstanding all her +effrontery. + +"What, lady!" said Agricola to Adrienne; "you are good enough--" + +"M. Agricola," said Mdlle. de Cardoville, interrupting him, "please to +remain with our poor friend: I shall soon be back." + +Then, approaching Mother Bunch, who shared in Agricola's astonishment she +said to her: "Excuse me for leaving you a few seconds. Only regain a +little strength, and, when I return, I will take you home with me, dear +sister." + +Then, turning towards Rose-Pompon, who was more and more surprised at +hearing so fine a lady call the workgirl her sister, she added: "I am +ready whenever you please, mademoiselle." + +"Beg pardon, madame, if I go first to show you the way, but it's a +regular break-neck sort of a place," answered Rose-Pompon, pressing her +elbows to her sides, and screwing up her lips to prove that she was no +stranger to polite manners and fine language. And the two rivals quitted +the garret together, leaving Agricola alone with Mother Bunch. + +Luckily, the disfigured remains of the Bacchanal Queen had been carried +into Mother Arsene's subterraneous shop, so that the crowd of spectators, +always attracted by any fatal event, had assembled in front of the house; +and Rose-Pompon, meeting no one in the little court she had to traverse +with Adrienne, continued in ignorance of the tragical death of her old +friend Cephyse. In a few moments the grisette and Mdlle. de Cardoville +had reached Philemon's apartment. This singular abode remained in the +same state of picturesque disorder in which Rose-Pompon had left it, when +Ninny Moulin came to fetch her to act the heroine of a mysterious +adventure. + +Adrienne, completely ignorant of the eccentric modes of life of students +and their companions, could not, in spite of the thoughts which occupied +her mind, forebear examining, with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, +this strange and grotesque chaos, composed of the most dissimilar +objects--disguises for masked balls, skulls with pipes in their mouths, +odd boots standing on book shelves, monstrous bottles, women's clothes, +ends of tobacco pipes, etc., etc. To the first astonishment of Adrienne +succeeded an impression of painful repugnance. The young lady felt +herself uneasy and out of place in this abode, not of poverty, but +disorder; whilst, on the contrary, the sewing-girl's miserable garret had +caused her no such feeling. + +Rose-Pompon, notwithstanding all her airs, was considerably troubled when +she found herself alone with Mdlle, de Cardoville; the rare beauty of the +young patrician, her fashionable look, the elegance of her manners, the +style, both dignified and affable, with which she had answered the +impertinent address of the grisette, began to have their effect upon the +latter, who, being moreover a good-natured girl, had been touched at +hearing Mdlle. de Cardoville call the hunchback "friend and sister." +Without knowing exactly who Adrienne was, Rose-Pompon was not ignorant +that she belonged to the richest and highest class of society; she felt +already some remorse at having attacked her so cavalierly; and her +intentions, at first very hostile with regard to Mdlle. de Cardoville, +were gradually much modified. Yet, being very obstinate, and not wishing +to appear to submit to an influence that offended her pride, Rose-Pompon +endeavored to recover her assurance; and, having bolted the door, she +said to Adrienne: "Pray do me the favor to sit down, madame"--still with +the intention of showing that she was no stranger to refined manners and +conversation. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville was about mechanically to take a chair, when Rose +Pompon, worthy to practise those ancient virtues of hospitality, which +regarded even an enemy as sacred in the person of a guest, cried out +hastily: "Don't take that chair, madame; it wants a leg." + +Adrienne laid her hand on another chair. + +"Nor that either; the back is quite loose," again exclaimed Rose-Pompon. +And she spoke the truth; for the chair-back, which was made in the form +of a lyre, remained in the hands of Mdlle. de Cardoville, who said, as +she replaced it discreetly in its former position: "I think, miss, that +we can very well talk standing." + +"As you please, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, steadying herself the more +bravely the more uneasy she felt. And the interview of the lady and the +grisette began in this fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE INTERVIEW. + +After a minute's hesitation, Rose-Pompon said to Adrienne, whose heart +was beating violently: "I will tell you directly, madame, what I have on +my mind. I should not have gone out of my way to seek you, but, as I +happen to fall in with you, it is very natural I should take advantage of +it." + +"But, miss," said Adrienne, mildly, "may I at least know the subject of +the conversation we are to have together?" + +"Yes, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, affecting an air of still more +decided confidence; "first of all, you must not suppose I am unhappy, or +going to make a scene of jealousy, or cry like a forsaken damsel. Do not +flatter yourself! Thank heaven, I have no reason to complain of Prince +Charming--that is the pet name I gave him--on the contrary, he has made +me very happy. If I left him, it was against his will, and because I +chose." + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, whose heart was swelling in spite of her fine +airs, could not repress a sigh. + +"Yes, madame," she resumed, "I left him because I chose--for he quite +doted on me. If I had liked, he would have married me--yes, madame, +married me--so much the worse, if that gives you pain. Though, when I say +'so much the worse,' it is true that I meant to pain you. To be sure I +did--but then, just now when I saw you so kind to poor Mother Bunch, +though I was certainly in the right, still I felt something. However, to +cut matters short, it is clear that I detest you, and that you deserve +it," added Rose-Pompon, stamping her foot. + +From all this it resulted, even for a person much less sagacious than +Adrienne, and much less interested in discovering the truth, that Rose +Pompon, notwithstanding her triumphant airs in speaking of him whom she +represented as so much attached to her, and even anxious to wed her, was +in reality completely disappointed, and was now taking refuge in a +deliberate falsehood. It was evident that she was not loved, and that +nothing but violent jealousy had induced her to desire this interview +with Mdlle. de Cardoville, in order to make what is vulgarly called a +scene, considering Adrienne (the reason will be explained presently) as +her successful rival. But Rose-Pompon, having recovered her good-nature, +found it very difficult to continue the scene in question, particularly +as, for many reasons, she felt overawed by Adrienne. + +Though she had expected, if not the singular speech of the grisette, at +least something of the same result--for she felt it was impossible that +the prince could entertain a serious attachment for this girl--Mdlle. de +Cardoville was at first delighted to hear the confirmation of her hopes +from the lips of her rival; but suddenly these hopes were succeeded by a +cruel apprehension, which we will endeavor to explain. What Adrienne had +just heard ought to have satisfied her completely. Sure that the heart of +Djalma had never ceased to belong to her, she ought, according to the +customs and opinions of the world, to have cared little if, in the +effervescence of an ardent youth, he had chanced to yield to some +ephemeral caprice for this creature, who was, after all, very pretty and +desirable--the more especially as he had now repaired his error by +separating from her. + +Notwithstanding these good reasons, such an error of the senses would not +have been pardoned by Adrienne. She did not understand that complete +separation of the body and soul that would make the one exempt from the +stains of the other. She did not think it a matter of indifference to toy +with one woman whilst you were thinking of another. Her young, chaste, +passionate love demanded an absolute fealty--a fealty as just in the eyes +of heaven and nature as it may be ridiculous and foolish in the eyes of +man. For the very reason that she cherished a refined religion of the +senses, and revered them as an adorable and divine manifestation, +Adrienne had all sorts of delicate scruples and nice repugnances, unknown +to the austere spirituality of those ascetic prudes who despise vile +matter too much to take notice of its errors, and allow it to grovel in +filth, to show the contempt in which they hold it. Mdlle. de Cardoville +was not one of those wonderfully modest creatures who would die of +confusion rather than say plainly that they wished for a young and +handsome husband, at once ardent and pure. It is true that they generally +marry old, ugly, and corrupted men, and make up for it by taking two or +three lovers six months after. But Adrienne felt instinctively how much +of virginal and celestial freshness there is in the equal innocence of +two loving and passionate beings--what guarantees for the future in the +remembrance which a man preserves of his first love! + +We say, then, that Adrienne was only half-satisfied, though convinced by +the vexation of Rose-Pompon that Djalma had never entertained a serious +attachment for the grisette. + +"And why do you detest me, miss?" said Adrienne mildly, when Rose-Pompon +had finished her speech. + +"Oh! bless me, madame!" replied the latter, forgetting altogether her +assumption of triumph, and yielding to the natural sincerity of her +character; "pretend that you don't know why I detest you!--Oh, yes! +people go and pick bouquets from the jaws of a panther for people that +they care nothing about, don't they? And if it was only that!" added +Rose-Pompon, who was gradually getting animated, and whose pretty face, +at first contracted into a sullen pout, now assumed an expression of real +and yet half-comic sorrow. + +"And if it was only the nosegay!" resumed she. "Though it gave me a +dreadful turn to see Prince Charming leap like a kid upon the stage, I +might have said to myself: 'Pooh! these Indians have their own way of +showing politeness. Here, a lady drops her nosegay, and a gentleman picks +it up and gives it to her; but in India it is quite another thing; the +man picks up the nosegay, and does not return it to the woman--he only +kills a panther before her eyes.' Those are good manners in that country, +I suppose; but what cannot be good manners anywhere is to treat a woman +as I have been treated. And all thanks to you, madame!" + +These complaints of Rose-Pompon, at once bitter and laughable, did not at +all agree with what she had previously stated as to Djalma's passionate +love for her; but Adrienne took care not to point out this contradiction, +and said to her, mildly: "You must be mistaken, miss, when you suppose +that I had anything to do with your troubles. But, in any case, I regret +sincerely that you should have been ill-treated by any one." + +"If you think I have been beaten, you are quite wrong," exclaimed Rose +Pompon. "Ah! well, I am sure! No, it is not that. But I am certain that, +had it not been for you, Prince Charming would have got to love me a +little. I am worthy of the trouble, after all--and then there are +different sorts of love--I am not so very particular--not even so much as +that," added Rose-Pompon, snapping her fingers. + +"Ah!" she continued, "when Ninny Moulin came to fetch me, and brought me +jewels and laces to persuade me to go with him, he was quite right in +saying there was no harm in his offers." + +"Ninny Moulin?" asked Mdlle. de Cardoville, becoming more and more +interested; "who is this Ninny Moulin, miss?" + +"A religious writer," answered Rose-Pompon, pouting; "the right-hand man +of a lot of old sacristans, whose money he takes on pretense of writing +about morality and religion. A fine morality it is!" + +At these words--"a religious writer"--"sacristans" Adrienne instantly +divined some new plot of Rodin or Father d'Aigrigny, of which she and +Djalma were to have been the victims. She began vaguely to perceive the +real state of the case, as she resumed: "But, miss, under what pretence +could this man take you away with him?" + +"He came to fetch me, and said I need not fear for my virtue, and was +only to make myself look pretty. So I said to myself: 'Philemon's out of +town, and it's very dull here all alone: This seems a droll affair; what +can I risk by it?'--Alas! I didn't know what I risked," added Rose +Pompon, with a sigh. "Well! Ninny Moulin takes me away in a fine +carriage. We stop in the Place du Palais-Royal. A sullen-looking man, +with a yellow face, gets up in the room of Ninny Moulin, and takes me to +the house of Prince Charming. When I saw him--la! he was so handsome, so +very handsome, that I was quite dizzy-like; and he had such a kind, noble +air, that I said to myself, 'Well! there will be some credit if I remain +a good girl now!'--I did not know what a true word I was speaking. I have +been good--oh! worse than good." + +"What, miss! do you regret having been so virtuous?" + +"Why, you see, I regret, at least, that I have not had the pleasure of +refusing. But how can you refuse, when nothing is asked--when you are not +even thought worth one little loving word?" + +"But, miss, allow me to observe to you that the indifference of which you +complain does not see to have prevented your making a long stay in the +house in question." + +"How should I know why the prince kept me there, or took me out riding +with him, or to the play? Perhaps it is the fashion in his savage country +to have a pretty girl by your side, and to pay no attention to her at +all!" + +"But why, then, did you remain, miss?" + +"Why did I remain?" said Rose-Pompon, stamping her loot with vexation. "I +remained because, without knowing how it happened, I began to get very +fond of Prince Charming; and what is queer enough, I, who am as gay as a +lark, loved him because he was so sorrowful, which shows that it was a +serious matter. At last, one day, I could hold out no longer. I said: +'Never mind; I don't care for the consequences. Philemon, I am sure, is +having his fun in the country.' That set my mind at ease. So one morning, +I dress myself in my best, all very pretty, look in my glass, and say: +'Well, that will do--he can't stand that! and, going to his room, I tell +him all that passes through my head; I laugh, I cry--at last I tell him +that I adore him. What do you think he answers, in his mild voice, and as +cold as a piece of marble? Why, 'Poor child--poor child--poor child!'" +added Rose-Pompon, with indignation; "neither more nor less than if I had +come to complain to him of the toothache. But the worst of it is that I +am sure, if he were not in love elsewhere, he would be all fire and +gunpowder. Only now he is so sad, so dejected!" + +Then, pausing a moment, Rose-Pompon added: "No, I will not tell you that; +you would be too pleased." But, after another pause, she continued: +"Well, never mind; I will tell you, though"; and this singular girl +looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with a mixture of sympathy and deference. +"Why should I keep it from you? I began by riding the high horse, and +saying that the prince wished to marry me; and I finished by confessing +that he almost turned me out. Well, it's not my fault; when I try to fib, +I am sure to get confused. So, madame, this is the plain truth:--When I +met you at poor Mother Bunch's, I was at first as angry as a little +turkey-cock; but when I heard you, that are such a fine great lady, speak +so kindly to the poor girl, and treat her as your sister, do what I +would, my anger began to go away. Since we have been here, I have done my +utmost to get it up again; but I find it impossible, and the more I see +the difference between us, the more I perceive that Prince Charming was +right in thinking so much of you. For you must know, madame, that he is +over head and ears in love with you. I don't say so merely because he +killed the panther for you at the Porte-Saint-Martin; but if you knew all +the tricks he played with your bouquet, and how he will sit up all night +weeping in that room where he saw you for the first time--and then your +portrait, that he has drawn upon glass, after the fashion of his country, +and so many other things--the fact is, that I, who was fond of him, and +saw all this was at first in a great rage; but afterwards it was so +touching that it brought the tears into my eyes. Yes, madame, just as it +does now, when I merely think of the poor prince. Oh, madame!" added +Rose-Pompon, her eyes swimming in tears, and with such an expression of +sincere interest, that Adrienne was much moved by it; "oh, madame, you +look so mild and good, that you will not make this poor prince miserable. +Pray love him a little bit; what can it matter to you?" + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, with a perfectly simple, though too familiar, +gesture, took hold of Adrienne's hand, as if to enforce her request. It +had required great self-command in Mdlle. de Cardoville to repress the +rush of joy that was mounting from her heart to her lips, to check the +torrent of questions which she burned to address to Rose-Pompon, and to +restrain the sweet tears of happiness that for some seconds had trembled +in her eyes; and, strangely enough, when Rose-Pompon took her hand, +Adrienne, instead of withdrawing it, pressed the offered hand almost +affectionately, and led her towards the window, as if to examine her +sweet face more attentively. + +On entering the room, the grisette had thrown her bonnet and shawl down +upon the bed, so that Adrienne could admire the thick and silky masses of +light hair that crowned the fresh face of the charming girl, with its +firm, rosy cheeks, its mouth as red as a cherry, and its large blue +laughing eyes; and, thanks to the somewhat scanty dress of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne could fully appreciate the various graces of her nymph-like +figure. Strange as it may appear, Adrienne was delighted at finding the +girl still prettier than she had at first imagined. The stoical +indifference of Djalma to so attractive a creature was the best proof of +the sincerity of the passion by which he was actuated. + +Having taken the hand of Adrienne, Rose-Pompon was herself confused and +surprised at the kindness with which Mdlle. de Cardoville permitted this +familiarity. Emboldened by this indulgence, and by the silence of +Adrienne, who for some moments had been contemplating her with almost +grateful benevolence, the grisette resumed: "Oh, you will not refuse, +madame? You will take pity on this poor prince?" + +We cannot tell how Adrienne would have answered this indiscreet question +of Rose-Pompon, for suddenly a loud, wild, shrill, piercing sound, +evidently intended to imitate the crowing of a cock, was heard close to +the door of the room. + +Adrienne started in alarm; but the countenance of Rose Pompon, just now +so sad, brightened up joyously at this signal, and, clapping her hands +she exclaimed, "It is Philemon!" + +"What--who?" said Adrienne, hastily. + +"My lover; oh, the monster! he must have come upstairs on tiptoe, to take +me by surprise with his crowing. Just like him!" + +A second cock-a-doodle-doo, still louder than the first, was heard close +to the door. "What a stupid, droll creature it is! Always the same joke, +and yet it always amuses me," said Rose-Pompon. + +And drying her tears with the back of her hand, she began to laugh like +one bewitched at Philemon's jest, which, though well known to her, always +seemed new and agreeable. + +"Do not open the door," whispered Adrienne, much embarrassed; "do not +answer, I beg of you." + +"Though the door is bolted, the key is on the outside; Philemon can see +that there is some one at home." + +"No matter--do not let him in." + +"But, madame, he lives here; the room belongs to him." + +In fact, Philemon, probably growing tired of the little effect produced +by his two ornithological imitations, turned the key in the lock, and +finding himself unable to open the door, said in a deep bass voice: +"What, dearest puss, have you shut yourself in? Are you praying Saint +Flambard for the return of Philly?" (short for Philemon.) + +Adrienne, not coshing to increase, by prolonging it, the awkwardness of +this ridiculous situation, went straight to the door and opened it, to +the great surprise of Philemon, who recoiled two or three steps. +Notwithstanding the annoyance of this incident, Mdlle. de Cardoville +could not help smiling at sight of Rose-Pompon's lover, and of the +articles he carried in his hand or under his arm. + +Philemon was a tall fellow, with dark hair and a very fresh color, and, +being just arrived from a journey, he wore a white cap; his thick, black +beard flowed down on his sky-blue waistcoat; and a short olive-colored +velvet shooting-coat, with extravagantly large plaid trousers, completed +his costume. As for the accessories which had provoked a smile from +Adrienne, they consisted: first, of a portmanteau tucked under his arm, +with the head and neck of a goose protruding from it; secondly, of a cage +held in his hand, with an enormous white rabbit all alive within it. + +"Oh! the darling white rabbit! what pretty red eyes!" Such, it must be +confessed, was the first exclamation of Rose-Pompon, though Philemon, to +whom it was not addressed, had returned after a long absence; but the +student far from being shocked at seeing himself thus sacrificed to his +long-earned companion, smiled complacently, rejoicing at the success of +his attempt to please his mistress. + +All this passed very rapidly. While Rose-Pompon, kneeling before the +cage, was still occupied with her admiration of the rabbit, Philemon, +struck with the lofty air of Mdlle. de Cardoville, raised his hand to his +cap, and bowed respectfully as he made way for her to pass. Adrienne +returned his salutation with politeness, full of grace and dignity, and, +lightly descending the stairs, soon disappeared. Dazzled by her beauty, +as well as impressed with her noble and lofty bearing, and curious to +know how in the world Rose-Pompon had fallen in with such an +acquaintance, Philemon said to her, in his amorous jargon: "Dearest puss! +tell her Philly who is that fine lady?" + +"One of my school-fellows, you great satyr!" said Rose-Pompon, still +playing with the rabbit. + +Then, glancing at a box, which Philemon deposited close to the cage and +the portmanteau, she added: "I'll wager anything you have brought me some +more preserves!" + +"Philly has brought something better to his dear puss," said the student, +imprinting two vigorous kisses on the rosy cheeks of Rose-Pompon, who had +at length, consented to stand up; "Philly has brought her his heart." + +"Fudge!" said the grisette, delicately placing the thumb of her left hand +on the tip of her nose, and opening the fingers, which she slightly moved +to and fro. Philemon answered this provocation by putting his arm around +her waist; and then the happy pair shut their door. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +SOOTHING WORDS. + +During the interview of Adrienne with Rose-Pompon a touching scene took +place between Agricola and Mother Bunch, who had been much surprised at +Mdlle. de Cardoville's condescension with regard to the grisette. +Immediately after the departure of Adrienne, Agricola had knelt down +beside Mother Bunch, and said to her, with profound emotion: "We are +alone, and I can at length tell you what weighs upon my heart. This act +is too cruel--to die of misery and despair, and not to send to me for +assistance." + +"Listen to me, Agricola--" + +"No, there is no excuse for this. What! we called each other by the names +of brother and sister, and for fifteen years gave every proof of sincere +affection--and, when the day of misfortune comes, you quit life without +caring for those you must leave behind--without considering that to kill +yourself is to tell them they are indifferent to you!" + +"Forgive me, Agricola! it is true. I had never thought of that," said the +workgirl, casting down her eyes; "but poverty--want of work--" + +"Misery! want of work! and was I not here?" + +"And despair!" + +"But why despair? This generous young lady had received you in her house; +she knew your worth, and treated you as her friend--and just at the +moment when you had every chance of happiness, you leave the house +abruptly, and we remain in the most horrible anxiety on your account." + +"I feared--to be--to be a burden to my benefactress," stammered she. + +"You a burden to Mdlle. de Cardoville, that is so rich and good!" + +"I feared to be indiscreet," said the sewing-girl, more and more +embarrassed. + +Instead of answering his adopted sister, Agricola remained silent, and +contemplated her for some moments with an undefinable expression; then he +exclaimed suddenly, as if replying to a question put by himself: "She +will forgive me for disobeying her.--I am sure of it." + +He next turned towards Mother Bunch, who was looking at him in +astonishment, and said to her in a voice of emotion: "I am too frank to +keep up this deception. I am reproaching you--blaming you--and my +thoughts are quite different." + +"How so, Agricola?" + +"My heart aches, when I think of the evil I have done you." + +"I do not understand you, my friend; you have never done me any evil." + +"What! never? even in little things? when, for instance, yielding to a +detestable habit, I, who loved and respected you as my sister, insulted +you a hundred times a day?" + +"Insulted me!" + +"Yes--when I gave you an odious and ridiculous nickname, instead of +calling you properly." + +At these words, Mother Bunch looked at the smith in the utmost alarm, +trembling lest he had discovered her painful secret, notwithstanding the +assurance she had received from Mdlle. de Cardoville. Yet she calmed +herself a little when she reflected, that Agricola might of himself have +thought of the humiliation inflicted on her by calling her Mother Bunch, +and she answered him with a forced smile. "Can you be grieved at so small +a thing? It was a habit, Agricola, from childhood. When did your good and +affectionate mother, who nevertheless loved me as her daughter, ever call +me anything else?" + +"And did my mother consult you about my marriage, speak to you of the +rare beauty of my bride, beg you to come and see her, and study her +character, in the hope that the instinct of your affection for me would +warn you--if I made a bad choice? Did my mother have this cruelty?--No; +it was I, who thus pierced your heart!" + +The fears of the hearer were again aroused; there could be but little +doubt that Agricola knew her secret. She felt herself sinking with +confusion; yet, making a last effort not to believe the discovery, she +murmured in a feeble voice: "True, Agricola! It was not your mother, but +yourself, who made me that request--and I was grateful to you for such a +mark of confidence." + +"Grateful, my poor girl!" cried the smith, whilst his eyes filled with +tears; "no, it is not true. I pained you fearfully--I was +merciless--heaven knows, without being aware of it!" + +"But," said the other, in a voice now almost unintelligible, "what makes +you think so?" + +"Your love for me!" cried the smith, trembling with emotion, as he +clasped Mother Bunch in a brotherly embrace. + +"Oh heaven!" murmured the unfortunate creature, as she covered her face +with her hands, "he knows all." + +"Yes, I know all," resumed Agricola, with an expression of ineffable +tenderness and respect: "yes, I know all, and I will not have you blush +for a sentiment, which honors me, and of which I feel so justly proud. +Yes, I know all; and I say to myself with joy and pride, that the best, +the most noble heart in the world is mine--will be mine always. Come, +Magdalen; let us leave shame to evil passions. Raise your eyes, and look +at me! You know, if my countenance was ever false--if it ever reflected a +feigned emotion. Then look and tell me, if you cannot read in my +features, how proud I am, Magdalen, how justly proud of your love!" + +Overwhelmed with grief and confusion, Mother Bunch had not dared to look +on Agricola; but his words expressed so deep a conviction, the tones of +his voice revealed so tender an emotion, that the poor creature felt her +shame gradually diminish, particularly when Agricola added, with rising +animation: "Be satisfied, my sweet, my noble Magdalen; I will be worthy +of this love. Believe me, it shall yet cause you as much happiness as it +has occasioned tears. Why should this love be a motive for estrangement, +confusion, fear? For what is love, in the sense in which it is held by +your generous heart? Is it not a continual exchange of devotion, +tenderness, esteem, of mutual and blind confidence?--Why, Magdalen! we +may have all this for one another--devotion, tenderness, confidence--even +more than in times past; for, on a thousand occasions, your secret +inspired you with fear and suspicion--while, for the future, on the +contrary, you will see me take such delight in the place I fill in your +good and valiant heart, that you will be happy in the happiness you +bestow. What I have just said may seem very selfish and conceited; so +much the worse! I do not know how to lie." + +The longer the smith spoke, the less troubled became Mother Bunch. What +she had above all feared in the discovery of her secret was to see it +received with raillery, contempt, or humiliating compassion; far from +this, joy and happiness were distinctly visible on the manly and honest +face of Agricola. The hunchback knew him incapable of deception; +therefore she exclaimed, this time without shame or confusion, but rather +with a sort of pride. + +"Every sincere and pure passion is so far good and con soling as to end +by deserving interest and sympathy, when it has triumphed over its first +excess! It is alike honorable to the heart which feels and that which +inspires it!--Thanks to you, Agricola--thanks to the kind words, which +have raised me in my own esteem--I feel that, instead of blushing, I +ought to be proud of this love. My benefactress is right--you are right: +why should I be ashamed of it? Is it not a true and sacred love? To be +near you, to love you, to tell you so, to prove it by constant devotion, +what did I ever desire more? And yet shame and fear, joined with that +dizziness of the brain which extreme misery produces, drove me to +suicide!--But then some allowance must be made for the suspicions of a +poor creature, who has been the subject of ridicule from her cradle. So +my secret was to die with me, unless some unforeseen accident should +reveal it to you; and, in that case, you are right--sure of myself, sure +of you, I ought to have feared nothing. But I may claim some indulgence; +mistrust, cruel mistrust of one's self makes one doubt others also. Let +us forget all that. Agricola, my generous brother, I will say to you, as +you said to me just now, 'Look at me; you know my countenance cannot lie. +Look at me: see if I shun your gaze; see if, ever in my life, I looked so +happy'--and yet, even now, I was about to die!" + +She spoke the truth. Agricola himself could not have hoped so prompt an +effect from his words. In spite of the deep traces which misery, grief, +and sickness had imprinted on the girl's features, they now shone with +radiant happiness and serenity, whilst her blue eyes, gentle and pure as +her soul, were fixed, without embarrassment, on those of Agricola. + +"Oh! thanks, thanks!" cried the smith, in a rapture of delight: "when I +see you so calm, and so happy, Magdalen, I am indeed grateful." + +"Yes, I am calm, I am happy," replied she; "and happy I shall be, for I +can now tell you my most secret thoughts. Yes, happy; for this day, which +began so fatally, ends like a divine dream. Far from being afraid, I now +look at you with hope and joy. I have again found my generous +benefactress, and I am tranquil as to the fate of my poor sister. Oh! +shall we not soon see her? I should like her to take part in this +happiness." + +She seemed so happy, that the smith did not dare to inform her of the +death of Cephyse, and reserved himself to communicate the same at a more +fitting opportunity. Therefore he answered: "Cephyse, being the stronger, +has been the more shaken; it will not be prudent, I am told, to see her +to-day." + +"I will wait then. I can repress my impatience, I have so much to say to +you." + +"Dear, gentle Magdalen!" + +"Oh, my friend!" cried the girl, interrupting Agricola, with tears of +joy: "I cannot tell you what I feel, when I hear you call me Magdalen. It +is so sweet, so soothing, that my heart expands with delight." + +"Poor girl! how dreadfully she must have suffered!" cried the smith, with +inexpressible emotion, "when she displays so much happiness, so much +gratitude, at being called by her own poor name!" + +"But consider, my friend; that word in your mouth contains a new life for +me. If you only knew what hopes, what pleasures I can now see gleaming in +the future! If you knew all the cherished longings of my tenderness! Your +wife, the charming Angela, with her angel face and angel-soul--oh! in my +turn, I can say to, you, 'Look at me, and see how sweet that name is to +my lips and heart!' Yes, your charming, your good Angela will call me +Magdalen--and your children, Agricola, your children!--dear little +creatures!--to them also I shall be Magdalen--their good Magdalen--and +the love I shall bear them will make them mine, as well as their +mother's--and I shall have my part in every maternal care--and they will +belong to us three; will they not, Agricola?--Oh! let me, let me weep! +These tears without bitterness do me so much good; they are tears that +need not be concealed. Thank heaven! thank you, my friend! those other +tears are I trust dried forever." + +For some seconds, this affecting scene had been overlooked by an +invisible witness. The smith and Mother Bunch had not perceived Mdlle. de +Cardoville standing on the threshold of the door. As Mother Bunch had +said, this day, which dawned with all under such fatal auspices, had +become for all a day of ineffable felicity. Adrienne, too, was full of +joy, for Djalma had been faithful to her, Djalma loved her with passion. +The odious appearances, of which she had been the dupe and victim, +evidently formed part of a new plot of Rodin, and it only remained for +Mdlle. de Cardoville to discover the end of these machinations. + +Another joy was reserved for her. The happy are quick in detecting +happiness in others, and Adrienne guessed, by the hunchback's last words, +that there was no longer any secret between the smith and the sempstress. +She could not therefore help exclaiming, as she entered: "Oh! this will +be the brightest day of my life, for I shall not be happy alone!" + +Agricola and Mother Bunch turned round hastily. "Lady," said the smith, +"in spite of the promise I made you, I could not conceal from Magdalen +that I knew she loved me!" + +"Now that I no longer blush for this love before Agricola, why should I +blush for it before you, lady, that told me to be proud of it, because it +is noble and pure?" said Mother Bunch, to whom her happiness gave +strength enough to rise, and to lean upon Agricola's arm. + +"It is well, my friend," said Adrienne, as she threw her arms round her +to support her; "only one word, to excuse the indiscretion with which you +will perhaps reproach me. If I told your secret to M. Agricola--" + +"Do you know why it was, Magdalen?" cried the smith, interrupting +Adrienne. "It was only another proof of the lady's delicate generosity. +'I long hesitate to confide to you this secret,' said she to me this +morning, 'but I have at length made up my mind to it. We shall probably +find your adopted sister; you have been to her the best of brothers: but +many times, without knowing it, you have wounded her feelings +cruelly--and now that you know her secret, I trust in your kind heart to +keep it faithfully, and so spare the poor child a thousand pangs--pangs +the more bitter, because they come from you, and are suffered in silence. +Hence, when you speak to her of your wife, your domestic happiness, take +care not to gall that noble and tender heart.'--Yes, Magdalen, these were +the reasons that led the lady to commit what she called an indiscretion." + +"I want words to thank you now and ever," said Mother Bunch. + +"See, my friend," replied Adrienne, "how often the designs of the wicked +turn against themselves. They feared your devotion to me, and therefore +employed that unhappy Florine to steal your journal--" + +"So as to drive me from your house with shame, lady, When I supposed my +most secret thoughts an object of ridicule to all. There can be no doubt +such was their plan," said Mother Bunch. + +"None, my child. Well! this horrible wickedness, which nearly caused your +death, now turns to the confusion of the criminals. Their plot is +discovered--and, luckily, many other of their designs," said Adrienne, as +she thought of Rose-Pompon. + +Then she resumed, with heartfelt joy: "At last, we are again united, +happier than ever, and in our very happiness we shall find new resources +to combat our enemies. I say our enemies--for all that love me are odious +to these wretches. But courage, the hour is come, and the good people +will have their turn." + +"Thank heaven, lady," said the smith; "or my part, I shall not be wanting +in zeal. What delight to strip them of their mask!" + +"Let me remind you, M. Baudoin, that you have an appointment for to +morrow with M. Hardy." + +"I have not forgotten it, lady, any more than the generous offers I am to +convey to him." + +"That is nothing. He belongs to my family. Tell him (what indeed I shall +write to him this evening), that the funds necessary to reopen his +factory are at his disposal; I do not say so for his sake only, but for +that of a hundred families reduced to want. Beg him to quit immediately +the fatal abode to which they have taken him: for a thousand reasons he +should be on his guard against all that surround him." + +"Be satisfied, lady. The letter he wrote to me in reply to the one I got +secretly delivered to him, was short, affectionate, sad--but he grants me +the interview I had asked for, and I am sure I shall be able to persuade +him to leave that melancholy dwelling, and perhaps to depart with me, he +has always had so much confidence in my attachment." + +"Well, M. Baudoin, courage!" said Adrienne, as she threw her cloak over +the workgirl's shoulders, and wrapped her round with care. "Let us be +gone, for it is late. As soon as we get home, I will give you a letter +for M. Hardy, and to-morrow you will come and tell me the result of your +visit. No, not to-morrow," she added, blushing slightly. "Write to me +to-morrow, and the day after, about twelve, come to me." + +Some minutes later, the young sempstress, supported by Agricola and +Adrienne, had descended the stairs of that gloomy house, and, being +placed in the carriage by the side of Mdlle. de Cardoville, she earnestly +entreated to be allowed to see Cephyse; it was in vain that Agricola +assured her it was impossible, and that she should see her the next day. +Thanks to the information derived from Rose-Pompon, Mdlle. de Cardoville +was reasonably suspicious of all those who surrounded Djalma, and she +therefore took measures, that, very evening, to have a letter delivered +to the prince by what she considered a sure hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE TWO CARRIAGES. + +It is the evening of the day on which Mdlle. de Cardoville prevented the +sewing-girl's suicide. It strikes eleven; the night is dark; the wind +blows with violence, and drives along great black clouds, which +completely hide the pale lustre of the moon. A hackney-coach, drawn by +two broken-winded horses, ascends slowly and with difficulty the slope of +the Rue Blanche, which is pretty steep near the barrier, in the part +where is situated the house occupied by Djalma. + +The coach stops. The coachman, cursing the length of an interminable +drive "within the circuit," leading at last to this difficult ascent, +turns round on his box, leans over towards the front window of the +vehicle, and says in a gruff tone to the person he is driving: "Come! are +we almost there? From the Rue de Vaugirard to the Barriere Blanche, is a +pretty good stretch, I think, without reckoning that the night is so +dark, that one can hardly see two steps before one--and the street-lamps +not lighted because of the moon, which doesn't shine, after all!" + +"Look out for a little door with a portico-drive on about twenty yards +beyond--and then stop close to the wall," answered a squeaking voice, +impatiently, and with an Italian accent. + +"Here is a beggarly Dutchman, that will make me as savage as a bear?" +muttered the angry Jehu to himself. Then he added: "Thousand thunders! I +tell you that I can't see. How the devil can I find out your little +door?" + +"Have you no sense? Follow the wall to the right, brush against it, and +you will easily find the little door. It is next to No. 50. If you do not +find it, you must be drunk," answered the Italian, with increased +bitterness. + +The coachman only replied by swearing like a trooper, and whipping up his +jaded horses. Then, keeping close to the wall, he strained his eyes in +trying to read the numbers of the houses, by the aid of his carriage +lamps. + +After some moments, the coach again stopped. "I have passed No. 50, and +here is a little door with a portico," said the coachman. "Is that the +one?" + +"Yes," said the voice. "Now go forward some twenty yards, and then stop." + +"Well! I never--" + +"Then get down from your box, and give twice three knocks at the little +door we have just passed--you understand me?--twice three knocks." + +"Is that all you give me to drink?" cried the exasperated coachman. + +"When you have taken me back to the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where I live, +you shall have something handsome, if you do but manage matters well." + +"Ha! now the Faubourg Saint-Germain! Only that little bit of distance!" +said the driver, with repressed rage. "And I who have winded my horses, +wanted to be on the boulevard by the time the play was out. Well, I'm +blowed!" Then, putting a good face on his bad luck, and consoling himself +with the thought of the promised drink-money, he resumed: "I am to give +twice three knocks at the little door?" + +"Yes; three knocks first--then pause--then three other knocks. Do you +understand?" + +"What next?" + +"Tell the person who comes, that he is waited for, and bring him here to +the coach." + +"The devil burn you!" said the coachman to himself, as he turned round on +the box, and whipped up his horses, adding: "this crusty old Dutchman has +something to do with Free-masons, or, perhaps, smugglers, seeing we are +so near the gates. He deserves my giving him in charge, for bringing me +all the way from the Rue de Vaugirard." + +At twenty steps beyond the little door, the coach again stopped, and the +coachman descended from the box to execute the orders he had received. +Going to the little door, he knocked three times; then paused, as he had +been desired, and then knocked three times more. The clouds, which had +hitherto been so thick as entirely to conceal the disk of the moon, just +then withdrew sufficiently to afford a glimmering light, so that when the +door opened at the signal, the coachman saw a middle-sized person issue +from it, wrapped in a cloak, and wearing a colored cap. + +This man carefully locked the door, and then advanced two steps into the +street. "They are waiting for you," said the coachman; "I am to take you +along with me to the coach." + +Preceding the man with the cloak, who only answered him by a nod, he led +him to the coach-door, which he was about to open, and to let down the +step, when the voice exclaimed from the inside: "It is not necessary. The +gentleman may talk to me through the window. I will call you when it is +time to start." + +"Which means that I shall be kept here long enough to send you to all the +devils!" murmured the driver. "However, I may as well walk about, just to +stretch my legs." + +So saying, he began to walk up and down, by the side of the wall in which +was the little door. Presently he heard the distant sound of wheels, +which soon came nearer and nearer, and a carriage, rapidly ascending the +slope, stopped on the other side of the little garden-door. + +"Come, I say! a private carriage!" said the coachman. "Good horses those, +to come up the Rue Blanche at a trot." + +The coachman was just making this observation, when, by favor of a +momentary gleam of light, he saw a man step from the carriage, advance +rapidly to the little door, open it, and go in, closing it after him. + +"It gets thicker and thicker!" said the coachman. "One comes out, and the +other goes in." + +So saying, he walked up to the carriage. It was splendidly harnessed, and +drawn by two handsome and vigorous horses. The driver sat motionless, in +his great box-coat, with the handle of his whip resting on his right +knee. + +"Here's weather to drive about in, with such tidy dukes as yours, +comrade!" said the humble hackney-coachman to this automaton, who +remained mute and impassible, without even appearing to know that he was +spoken to. + +"He doesn't understand French--he's an Englishman. One could tell that by +his horses," said the coachman, putting this interpretation on the +silence of his brother whip. Then, perceiving a tall footman at a little +distance, dressed in a long gray livery coat, with blue collar and silver +buttons, the coachman addressed himself to him, by way of compensation, +but without much varying his phrase: "Here's nice weather to stand about +in, comrade!" On the part of the footman, he was met with the same +imperturbable silence. + +"They're both Englishmen," resumed the coachman, philosophically; and, +though somewhat astonished at the incident of the little door, he +recommenced his walk in the direction of his own vehicle. + +While these facts were passing, the man in the cloak, and the man with +the Italian accent continued their conversation, the one still in the +coach, and the other leaning with his hand on the door. It had already +lasted for some time, and was carried on in Italian. They were evidently +talking of some absent person, as will appear from the following. + +"So," said the voice from the coach, "that is agreed to?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the man in the cloak; "but only in case the +eagle should become a serpent." + +"And, in the contrary event, you will receive the other half of the ivory +crucifix I gave you." + +"I shall know what it means, my lord." + +"Continue to merit and preserve his confidence." + +"I will merit and preserve it, my lord, because I admire and respect this +man, who is stronger than the strongest, by craft, and courage, and will. +I have knelt before him with humility, as I would kneel before one of the +three black idols that stand between Bowanee and her worshippers; for his +religion, like mine, teaches to change life into nothingness." + +"Humph!" said the voice, in a tone of some embarrassment; "these +comparisons are useless and inaccurate. Only think of obeying him, +without explaining your obedience." + +"Let him speak, and I perform his will! I am in his hands like a corpse, +as he himself expresses it. He has seen, he sees every day, my devotion +to his interests with regard to Prince Djalma. He has only to say: 'Kill +him!'and this son of a king--" + +"For heaven's salve, do not have such ideas!" cried the voice, +interrupting the man in the cloak. "Thank heaven, you will never be asked +for such proofs of your submission." + +"What I am ordered I do. Bowanee sees me." + +"I do not doubt your zeal. I know that you are a loving and intelligent +barrier, placed between the prince and many guilty interests; and it is +because I have heard of that zeal, of your skill in circumventing this +young Indian, and, above all, of the motives of your blind devotion, that +I have wished to inform you of everything. You are the fanatical +worshipper of him you serve. That is well; man should be the obedient +slave of the god he chooses for himself." + +"Yes, my lord; so long as the god remains a god." + +"We understand each other perfectly. As for your recompense, you know +what I have promised." + +"My lord, I have my reward already." + +"How so?" + +"I know what I know." + +"Very well. Then as for secrecy--" + +"You have securities, my lord." + +"Yes--and sufficient ones." + +"The interest of the cause I serve, my lord, would alone be enough to +secure my zeal and discretion." + +"True; you are a man of firm and ardent convictions." + +"I strive to be so, my lord." + +"And, after all, a very religious man in your way. It is very +praiseworthy, in these irreligious times, to have any views at all on +such matters--particularly when those views will just enable me to count +upon your aid." + +"You may count upon it, my lord, for the same reason that the intrepid +hunter prefers a jackal to ten foxes, a tiger to ten jackals, a lion to +ten tigers, and the welmiss to ten lions." + +"What is the welmiss?" + +"It is what spirit is to matter, the blade to the scabbard, the perfume +to the flower, the head to the body." + +"I understand. There never was a more just comparison. You are a man of +sound judgment. Always recollect what you have just told me, and make +yourself more and more worthy of the confidence of--your idol." + +"Will he soon be in a state to hear me, my lord?" + +"In two or three days, at most. Yesterday a providential crisis saved his +life; and he is endowed with so energetic a will, that his cure will be +very rapid." + +"Shall you see him again to-morrow, my lord?" + +"Yes, before my departure, to bid him farewell." + +"Then tell him a strange circumstance, of which I have not been able to +inform him, but which happened yesterday." + +"What was it?" + +"I had gone to the garden of the dead. I saw funerals everywhere, and +lighted torches, in the midst of the black night, shining upon tombs. +Bowanee smiled in her ebon sky. As I thought of that divinity of +destruction, I beheld with joy the dead-cart emptied of its coffins. The +immense pit yawned like the mouth of hell; corpses were heaped upon +corpses, and still it yawned the same. Suddenly, by the light of a torch, +I saw an old man beside me. He wept. I had seen him before. He is a +Jew--the keeper of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois--you know what I +mean." Here the man in the cloak started. + +"Yes, I know; but what is the matter? why do you stop short?" + +"Because in that house there has been for a hundred and fifty years the +portrait of a man whom I once met in the centre of India, on the banks of +the Ganges." And the man in the cloak again paused and shuddered. + +"A singular resemblance, no doubt." + +"Yes, my lord, a singular resemblance--nothing more." + +"But the Jew--the old Jew?" + +"I am coming to that, my lord. Still weeping, he said to a gravedigger, +'Well! and the coffin?' 'You were right,' answered the man; 'I found it +in the second row of the other grave. It had the figure of a cross on it, +formed by seven black nails. But how could you know the place and the +mark?' 'Alas! it is no matter,' replied the old Jew, with bitter +melancholy. 'You see that I was but too well informed on the subject. But +where is the coffin?' 'Behind the great tomb of black marble; I have +hidden it there. So make haste; for, in the confusion, nothing will be +noticed. You have paid me well, and I wish you to succeed in what you +require.'" + +"And what did the old Jew do with the coffin marked with the seven black +nails?" + +"Two men accompanied him, my lord, bearing a covered litter, with +curtains drawn round it. He lighted a lantern, and, followed by these two +men, went towards the place pointed out by the gravedigger. A stoppage, +occasioned by the dead-carts, made me lose sight of the old Jew, whom I +was following amongst the tombs. Afterwards I was unable to find him." + +"It is indeed a strange affair. What could this old Jew want with the +coffin?" + +"It is said, my lord, that they use dead bodies in preparing their magic +charms." + +"Those unbelievers are capable of anything--even of holding communication +with the Enemy of mankind. However, we will look after this: the +discovery may be of importance." + +At this instant a clock struck twelve in the distance. + +"Midnight! already?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"I must be gone. Good-bye--but for the last time swear to me that, should +matters so turn out, as soon as you receive the other half of the ivory +crucifix I have just given you, you will keep your promise." + +"I have sworn it by Bowanee, my lord." + +"Don't forget that, to make all sure, the person who will deliver to you +the other half of the crucifix is to say--come, what is he to say?" + +"He is to say, my lord: 'There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the +lip.'" + +"Very well. Adieu! secrecy and fidelity!" + +"Secrecy and fidelity, my lord," answered the man in the cloak. + +Some seconds after the hackney-coach started, carrying with it Cardinal +Malipieri, one of the speakers in the above dialogue. The other, whom the +reader has no doubt recognized as Faringhea, returned to the little +garden-door of the house occupied by Djalma. At the moment he was putting +the key into the lock, the door opened, to his great astonishment, and a +man came forth. Faringhea rushed upon the unknown, seized him violently +by the collar, and exclaimed: "Who are you? whence came you?" + +The stranger evidently found the tone of this question anything but +satisfactory; for, instead of answering, he struggled to disengage +himself from Faringhea's hold, and cried out, in a loud voice: "Help! +Peter!" + +Instantly the carriage, which had been standing a few yards off, dashed +up at full speed, and Peter, the tall footman, seizing the half-breed by +the shoulders, flung him back several paces, and thus made a seasonable +diversion in favor of the unknown. + +"Now, sir," said the latter to Faringhea, shaking himself, and still +protected by the gigantic footman, "I am in a state to answer your +questions, though you certainly have a very rough way of receiving an old +acquaintance. I am Dupont, ex-bailiff of the estate of Cardoville, and it +was I who helped to fish you out of the water, when the ship was wrecked +in which you had embarked." + +By the light of the carriage-lamps, indeed, the half-caste recognized the +good, honest face of Dupont, formerly bailiff, and now house-steward, to +Mdlle. de Cardoville. It must not be forgotten that Dupont had been the +first to write to Mdlle. de Cardoville, to ask her to interest herself +for Djalma, who was then detained at Cardoville Castle by the injuries he +had received during the shipwreck. + +"But, sir, what is your business here? Why do you introduce yourself +clandestinely into this house?" said Faringhea, in an abrupt and +suspicious tone. + +"I will--just observe to you that there is nothing clandestine in the +matter. I came here in a carriage, with servants in the livery of my +excellent mistress, Mdlle. de Cardoville, charged by her, without any +disguise or mystery, to deliver a letter to Prince Djalma, her cousin," +replied Dupont, with dignity. + +On these words, Faringhea trembled with mute rage, as he answered: "And +why, sir, come at this late hour, and introduce yourself by this little +door?" + +"I came at this hour, my dear sir, because such was Mdlle. de +Cardoville's command, and I entered by this little gate because there is +every reason to believe that if I had gone around to the other I should +not have been permitted to see the prince." + +"You are mistaken, sir," replied the half-caste. + +"It is possible: but as we knew that the prince usually passed a good +portion of the night in the little saloon, which communicates with the +greenhouse, and as Mdlle. de Cardoville had kept a duplicate key of this +door, I was pretty certain, by taking this course, to be able to deliver +into the prince's own hands the letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, his +cousin, which I have now had the honor of doing, my dear sir; and I have +been deeply touched by the kindness with which the prince deigned to +receive me and to remember our last interview." + +"And who kept you so well informed, sir, of the prince's habits?" said +Faringhea, unable to control his vexation. + +"If I have been well informed as to his habits, my dear sir, I have had +no such correct knowledge of yours," answered Dupont, with a mocking air; +"for I assure you that I had no more notion of seeing you than you had of +seeing me." + +So saying, M. Dupont bowed with something like mock politeness to the +half-caste, and got into the carriage, which drove off rapidly, leaving +Faringhea in a state of the utmost surprise and anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE APPOINTMENT. + +The morning after--Dupont's mission to Prince Djalma, the latter was +walking with hasty and impatient step up and down the little saloon, +which communicated, as we already know, with the greenhouse from which +Adrienne had entered when she first appeared to him. In remembrance of +that day, he had chosen to dress himself as on the occasion in question; +he wore the same tunic of white cashmere, with a cherry-colored turban, +to match with his girdle; his gaiters, of scarlet velvet, embroidered +with silver, displayed the fine form of his leg, and terminated in small +white morocco slippers, with red heels. Happiness has so instantaneous, +and, as it were, material an influence upon young, lively, and ardent +natures, that Djalma, dejected and despairing only the day before, was no +longer like the same person. The pale, transparent gold of his complexion +was no longer tarnished by a livid hue. His large eyes, of late obscured +like black diamonds by a humid vapor, now shone with mild radiance in the +centre of their pearly setting; his lips, long pale, had recovered their +natural color, which was rich and soft as the fine purple flowers of his +country. + +Ever and anon, pausing in his hasty walk, he stopped suddenly, and drew +from his bosom a little piece of paper, carefully folded, which he +pressed to his lips with enthusiastic ardor. Then, unable to restrain the +expression of his full happiness, he uttered a full and sonorous cry of +joy, and with a bound he was in front of the plate-glass which separated +the saloon from the conservatory, in which he had first seen Mdlle. de +Cardoville. By a singular power of remembrance, or marvellous +hallucination of a mind possessed by a fixed idea, Djalma had often seen, +or fancied he saw, the adored semblance of Adrienne appear to him through +this sheet of crystal. The illusion had been so complete, that, with his +eyes ardently fixed on the vision he invoked, he had been able, with the +aid of a pencil dipped in carmine, to trace with astonishing exactness, +the profile of the ideal countenance which the delirium of his +imagination had presented to his view.[42] It was before these delicate +lines of bright carmine that Djalma now stood in deep contemplation, +after perusing and reperusing, and raising twenty times to his lips, the +letter he had received the night before from the hands of Dupont. Djalma +was not alone. Faringhea watched all the movements of the prince, with a +subtle, attentive, and gloomy aspect. Standing respectfully in a corner +of the saloon, the half-caste appeared to be occupied in unfolding and +spreading out Djalma's sash, light, silky Indian web, the brown ground of +which was almost entirely concealed by the exquisite gold and silver +embroidery with which it was overlaid. + +The countenance of the half-caste wore a dark and gloomy expression. He +could not deceive himself. The letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, +delivered by Dupont to Djalma, must have been the cause of the delight he +now experienced, for, without doubt, he knew himself beloved. In that +event, his obstinate silence towards Faringhea, ever since the latter had +entered the saloon, greatly alarmed the half-caste, who could not tell +what interpretation to put upon it. The night before, after parting with +Dupont, he had hastened, in a state of anxiety easily understood, to look +for the prince, in the hope of ascertaining the effect produced by Mdlle. +de Cardoville's letter. But he found the parlor door closed, and when he +knocked, he received no answer from within. Then, though the night was +far advanced, he had dispatched a note to Rodin, in which he informed him +of Dupont's visit and its probable intention. Djalma had indeed passed +the night in a tumult of happiness and hope, and a fever of impatience +quite impossible to describe. Repairing to his bed-chamber only towards +the morning, he had taken a few moments of repose, and had then dressed +himself without assistance. + +Many times, but in vain, the half-caste had discreetly knocked at the +door of Djalma's apartment. It was only in the early part of the +afternoon that the prince had rung the bell to order his carriage to be +ready by half-past two. Faringhea having presented himself, the prince +had given him the order without looking at him, as he might have done to +any other of his servants. Was this suspicion, aversion, or mere absence +of mind on the part of Djalma? Such were the questions which the half +caste put to himself with growing anguish; for the designs of which he +was the most active and immediate instrument might all be ruined by the +least suspicion in the prince. + +"Oh! the hours--the hours--how slow they are!" cried the young Indian, +suddenly, in a low and trembling voice. + +"The day before yesterday, my lord, you said the hours were very long," +observed Faringhea, as he drew near Djalma in order to attract his +attention. Seeing that he did not succeed in this he advanced a few steps +nearer, and resumed: "Your joy seems very great, my lord; tell the cause +of it to your poor and faithful servant, that he also may rejoice with +you." + +If he heard the words, Djalma did not pay any attention to them. He made +no answer, and his large black eyes gazed upon vacancy. He seemed to +smile admiringly upon some enchanting vision, and he folded his two hands +upon his bosom, in the attitude which his countrymen assume at the hour +of prayer. After some instants of contemplation, he said: "What o'clock +is it?"--but he asked this question of himself, rather than of any third +person. + +"It will soon be two o'clock, my lord," said Faringhea. + +Having heard this answer, Djalma seated himself, and hid his face in his +hands, as if completely absorbed in some ineffable meditation. Urged on +by his growing anxiety, and wishing at any cost to attract the attention +of Djalma, Faringhea approached still nearer to him, and, almost certain +of the effect of the words he was about to utter, said to him in a slow +and emphatic voice: "My lord, I am sure that you owe the happiness which +now transports you to Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +Hardly had this name been pronounced, than Djalma started from his chair, +looked the half-breed full in the face, and exclaimed, as if only just +aware of his presence, "Faringhea! you here!--what is the matter?" + +"Your faithful servant shares in your joy, my lord." + +"What joy?" + +"That which the letter of Mdlle. de Cardoville has occasioned, my lord." + +Djalma returned no answer, but his eye shone with so much serene +happiness, that the half-caste recovered from his apprehensions. No cloud +of doubt or suspicion obscured the radiant features of the prince. After +a few moments of silence, Djalma fixed upon the half-caste a look +half-veiled with a tear of joy, and said to him, with the expression of +one whose heart overflows with love and happiness: "Oh! such delight is +good--great--like heaven!--for it is heaven which--" + +"You deserve this happiness, my lord, after so many sufferings." + +"What sufferings?--Oh! yes. I formerly suffered at Java; but that was +years ago." + +"My lord, this great good fortune does not astonish me. What have I +always told you? Do not despair; feign a violent passion for some other +woman, and then this proud young lady--" + +At these words Djalma looked at the half-caste with so piercing a glance, +that the latter stopped short; but the prince said to him with +affectionate goodness, "Go on! I listen." + +Then, leaning his chin upon his hand, and his elbow on his knee, he gazed +so intently on Faringhea, and yet with such unutterable mildness, that +even that iron soul was touched for a moment with a slight feeling of +remorse. + +"I was saying, my lord," he resumed, "that by following the counsels of +your faithful slave, who persuaded you to feign a passionate love for +another woman, you have brought the proud Mdlle. de Cardoville to come to +you. Did I not tell you it would be so?" + +"Yes, you did tell me so," answered Djalma, still maintaining the same +position, and examining the half-caste with the same fixed and mild +attention. + +The surprise of Faringhea increased; generally, the prince, without +treating him with the least harshness, preserved the somewhat distant and +imperious manners of their common country, and he had never before spoken +to him with such extreme mildness. Knowing all the evil he had done the +prince, and suspicious as the wicked must ever be, the half-caste thought +for a moment, that his master's apparent kindness might conceal a snare. +He continued, therefore, with less assurance, "Believe me, my lord, this +day, if you do but know how to profit by your advantages, will console +you for all your troubles, which have indeed been great--for only +yesterday, though you were generous enough to forget it, only yesterday +you suffered cruelly--but you were not alone in your sufferings. This +proud young lady suffered also!" + +"Do you think so?" said Djalma. + +"Oh! it is quite sure, my lord. What must she not have felt, when she saw +you at the theatre with another woman!--If she loved you only a little, +she must have been deeply wounded in her self-esteem; if she loved you +with passion, she must have been struck to the heart. At length, you see, +wearied out with suffering, she has come to you." + +"So that, any way, she must have suffered--and that does not move your +pity?" said Djalma, in a constrained, but still very mild voice. + +"Before thinking of others, my lord, I think of your distresses; and they +touch me too nearly to leave me any pity for other woes," added Faringhea +hypocritically, so greatly had the influence of Rodin already modified +the character of the Phansegar. + +"It is strange!" said Djalma, speaking to himself, as he viewed the half +caste with a glance still kind but piercing. + +"What is strange, my lord?" + +"Nothing. But tell me, since your advice has hitherto prospered so well, +what think you of the future?" + +"Of the future, my lord?" + +"Yes; in an hour I shall be with Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +"That is a serious matter, my lord. The whole future will depend upon +this interview." + +"That is what I was just thinking." + +"Believe me, my lord, women never love any so well, as the bold man who +spares them the embarrassment of a refusal." + +"Explain more fully." + +"Well, my lord, they despise the timid and languishing lover, who asks +humbly for what he might take by force." + +"But to-day I shall meet Mdlle. de Cardoville for the first time." + +"You have met her a thousand times in your dreams, my lord; and depend +upon it, she has seen you also in her dreams, since she loves you. Every +one of your amorous thoughts has found an echo in her heart. All your +ardent adorations have been responded to by her. Love has not two +languages, and, without meeting, you have said all that you had to say to +each other. Now, it is for you to act as her master, and she will be +yours entirely." + +"It is strange--very strange!" said Djalma, a second time, without +removing his eyes from Faringhea's face. + +Mistaking the sense which the prince attached to these words, the half +caste resumed: "Believe me, my lord, however strange it may appear, this +is the wisest course. Remember the past. Was it by playing the part of a +timid lover that you have brought to your feet this proud young lady, my +lord? No, it was by pretending to despise her, in favor of another woman. +Therefore, let us have no weakness. The lion does not woo like the poor +turtle-dove. What cares the sultan of the desert for a few plaintive +howls from the lioness, who is more pleased than angry at his rude and +wild caresses? Soon submissive, fearful and happy, she follows in the +track of her master. Believe me, my lord--try everything--dare +everything--and to-day you will become the adored sultan of this young +lady, whose beauty all Paris admires." + +After some minutes' silence, Djalma, shaking his head with an expression +of tender pity, said to the half-caste, in his mild, sonorous voice: "Why +betray me thus? Why advise me thus wickedly to use violence, terror, and +surprise, towards an angel of purity, whom I respect as my mother? Is it +not enough for you to have been so long devoted to my enemies, whose +hatred has followed me from Java?" + +Had Djalma sprung upon the half-caste with bloodshot eye, menacing brow, +and lifted poniard, the latter would have been less surprised, and +perhaps less frightened, than when he heard the prince speak of his +treachery in this tone of mild reproach. + +He drew back hastily, as if about to stand on his guard. But Djalma +resumed, with the same gentleness, "Fear nothing. Yesterday I should have +killed you! But to-day happy love renders me too just, too merciful for +that. I pity you, without any feeling of bitterness--for you must have +been very unhappy, or you could not have become so wicked." + +"My lord!" said the half-caste, with growing amazement. + +"Yes, you must have suffered much, and met with little mercy, poor +creature, to have become so merciless, in your hate, and proof against +the sight of a happiness like mine. When I listened to you just now, and +saw the sad perseverance of your hatred, I felt the deepest commiseration +for you." + +"I do not know, my lord--but--" stammered the half-caste, and was unable +to find words to proceed. + +"Come, now--what harm have I ever done you?" + +"None, my lord," answered Faringhea. + +"Then why do you hate me thus? why pursue me with so much animosity? Was +it not enough to give me the perfidious counsel to feign a shameful love +for the young girl that was brought hither, and who quitted the house +disgusted at the miserable part she was to play?" + +"Your feigned love for that young girl, my lord," replied Faringhea, +gradually recovering his presence of mind, "conquered the coldness of--" + +"Do not say that," resumed the prince, interrupting him with the same +mildness. "If I enjoy this happiness, which makes me compassionate +towards you, and raises me above myself, it is because Mdlle de +Cardoville now knows that I have never for a moment ceased to love her as +she ought to be loved, with adoration and reverence. It was your +intention to have parted us forever, and you had nearly succeeded." + +"If you think this of me, my lord, you must look upon me as your most +mortal enemy." + +"Fear nothing, I tell you. I have no right to blame you. In the madness +of my grief, I listened to you and followed your advice. I was not only +your dupe, but your accomplice. Only confess that, when you saw me at +your mercy, dejected, crushed, despairing, it was cruel in you to advise +the course that might have been most fatal to me." + +"The ardor of my zeal may have deceived me, my lord." + +"I am willing to believe it. And yet again to-day there were the same +evil counsels. You had no more pity for my happiness than for my sorrow. +The rapture of my heart inspires you with only one desire--that of +changing this rapture into despair." + +"I, my lord!" + +"Yes, you. It was your intention to ruin me--to dishonor me forever in +the eyes of Mdlle. de Cardoville. Now, tell me--why this furious hate? +what have I done to you?" + +"You misjudge me, my lord--and--" + +"Listen to me. I do not wish you to be any longer wicked and treacherous. +I wish to make you good. In our country, they charm serpents, and tame +the wildest tigers. You are a man, with a mind to reason, a heart to +love, and I will tame you too by gentleness. This day has bestowed on me +divine happiness; you shall have good cause to bless this day. What can I +do for you? what would you have--gold? You shall have it. Do you desire +more than gold? Do you desire a friend, to console you for the sorrows +that made you wicked, and to teach you to be good? Though a king's son, I +will be that friend--in spite of the evil--ay, because of the evil you +have done me. Yes; I will be your sincere friend, and it shall be my +delight to say to myself: 'The day on which I learned that my angel loved +me, my happiness was great indeed--for, in the morning, I had an +implacable enemy, and, ere night, his hatred was changed to friendship.' +Believe me, Faringhea, misery makes crime, but happiness produces virtue. +Be happy!" + +At this moment the clock struck two. The prince started. It was time to +go on his visit to Adrienne. The handsome countenance of Djalma, doubly +embellished by the mild, ineffable expression with which it had been +animated whilst he was talking to the half-caste, now seemed illumined +with almost divine radiance. + +Approaching Faringhea, he extended his hand with the utmost, grace and +courtesy, saying to him, "Your hand!" + +The half-caste, whose brow was bathed with a cold sweat, whose +countenance was pale and agitated, seemed to hesitate for an instant; +then, overawed, conquered, fascinated, he offered his trembling hand to +the prince, who pressed it, and said to him, in their country's fashion, +"You have laid your hand honestly in a friend's; this hand shall never be +closed against you. Faringhea, farewell! I now feel myself more worthy to +kneel before my angel." + +And Djalma went out, on his way to the appointment with Adrienne. In +spite of his ferocity, in spite of the pitiless hate he bore to the whole +human race, the dark sectary of Bowanee was staggered by the noble and +clement words of Djalma, and said to himself, with terror, "I have taken +his hand. He is now sacred for me." + +Then, after a moment's silence, a thought occurred to him, and he +exclaimed, "Yes--but he will not be sacred for him who, according to the +answer of last night, waits for him at the door of the house." + +So saying, the half-caste hastened into the next room, which looked upon +the street, and, raising a corner of the curtain, muttered anxiously to +himself, "The carriage moves off--the man approaches. Perdition! it is +gone and I see no more." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +ANXIETY. + +By a singular coincidence of ideas, Adrienne, like Djalma, had wished to +be dressed exactly in the same costume as at their interview in the house +in the Rue Blanche. For the site of this solemn meeting, so important to +her future happiness, Adrienne had chosen, with habitual tact, the grand +drawing-room of Cardoville House, in which hung many family portraits. +The most apparent were those of her father and mother. The room was large +and lofty, and furnished, like those which preceded it, with all the +imposing splendor of the age of Louis XIV. The ceiling, painted by +Lebrun, to represent the Triumph of Apollo, displayed his bold designing +and vigorous coloring, in the centre of a wide cornice, magnificently +carved and gilt, and supported at its angles by four large gilt figures, +representing the Seasons. Huge panels, covered with crimson damask, and +set in frames, served as the background to the family portraits which +adorned this apartment. It is easier to conceive than describe the +thousand conflicting emotions which agitated the bosom of Mdlle. de +Cardoville as the moment approached for her interview with Djalma. Their +meeting had been hitherto prevented by so many painful obstacles, and +Adrienne was so well aware of the vigilant and active perfidy of her +enemies, that even now she doubted of her happiness. Every instant, in +spite of herself, her eyes wandered to the clock. A few minutes more, and +the hour of the appointment would strike. It struck at last. Every +reverberation was echoed from the depth of Adrienne's heart. She +considered that Djalma's modest reserve had, doubtless, prevented his +coming before the moment fixed by herself. Far from blaming this +discretion, she fully appreciated it. But, from that moment, at the least +noise in the adjoining apartments, she held her breath and listened with +the anxiety of expectation. + +For the first few minutes which followed the hour at which she expected +Djalma, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt no serious apprehension, and calmed her +impatience by the notion (which appears childish enough to those who have +never known the feverish agitation of waiting for a happy meeting), that +perhaps the clocks in the Rue Blanche might vary a little from those in +the Rue d'Anjou. But when this supposed variation, conceivable enough in +itself, could no longer explain a delay of a quarter of an hour, of +twenty minutes, of more, Adrienne felt her anxiety gradually increase. +Two or three times the young girl rose, with palpitating heart, and went +on tip-toe to listen at the door of the saloon. She heard nothing. The +clock struck half-past three. + +Unable to suppress her growing terror, and clinging to a last hope, +Adrienne returned towards the fireplace and rang the bell. After which +she endeavored to compose her features, so as to betray no outward sign +of emotion. In a few seconds, a gray-haired footman, dressed in black, +opened the door, and waited in respectful silence for the orders of his +mistress. The latter said to him, in a calm voice, "Andrew, request Hebe +to give you the smelling bottle that I left on the chimney-piece in my +room, and bring it me here." Andrew bowed; but just as he was about to +withdraw to execute Adrienne's orders, which was only a pretext to enable +her to ask a question without appearing to attach much importance to it +in her servant's eyes, already informed of the expected visit of the +prince, Mdlle. de Cardoville added, with an air of indifference. "Pray, +is that clock right?" + +Andrew drew out his watch, and replied as he cast his eyes upon it, "Yes, +mademoiselle. I set my watch by the Tuileries. It is more than half past +three." + +"Very well--thank you!" said Adrienne kindly. + +Andrew again bowed; but, before going out, he said to Adrienne, "I forgot +to tell you, lady, that Marshal Simon called about an hour ago; but, as +you were only to be at home to Prince Djalma, we told him that you +received no company." + +"Very well," said Adrienne. With another low bow, Andrew quitted the +room, and all returned to silence. + +For the precise reason that, up to the last minute of the hour previous +to the time fixed for her interview with Djalma, the hopes of Adrienne +had not been disturbed by the slightest shadow of doubt, the +disappointment she now felt was the more dreadful. Casting a desponding +look at one of the portraits placed above her, she murmured, with a +plaintive and despairing accent, "Oh, mother!" + +Hardly had Mdlle. de Cardoville uttered the words than the windows were +slightly shaken by a carriage rolling into the courtyard. The young lady +started, and was unable to repress a low cry of joy. Her heart bounded at +the thought of meeting Djalma, for this time she felt that he was really +come. She was quite as certain of it as if she had seen him. She resumed +her seat and brushed away a tear suspended from her long eyelashes. Her +hand trembled like a leaf. The sound of several doors opening and +shutting proved that the young lady was right in her conjecture. The +gilded panels of the drawing-room door soon turned upon their hinges, and +the prince appeared. + +While a second footman ushered in Djalma, Andrew placed on a gilded +table, within reach of his mistress, a little silver salver, on which +stood the crystal smelling-bottle. Then he withdrew, and the door of the +room was closed. The prince and Mdlle. de Cardoville were left alone +together. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +ADRIENNE AND DJALMA. + +The prince had slowly approached Mdlle. de Cardoville. Notwithstanding +the impetuosity of the Oriental's passions, his uncertain and timid +step--timid, yet graceful--betrayed his profound emotion. He did not +venture to lift his eyes to Adrienne's face; he had suddenly become very +pale, and his finely formed hands, folded over his bosom in the attitude +of adoration, trembled violently. With head bent down, he remained +standing at a little distance from Adrienne. This embarrassment, +ridiculous in any other person, appeared touching in this prince of +twenty years of age, endowed with an almost fabulous intrepidity, and of +so heroic and generous a character, that no traveller could speak of the +son of Kadja sing without a tribute of admiration and respect. Sweet +emotion! chaste reserve! doubly interesting if we consider that the +burning passions of this youth were all the more inflammable, because +they had hitherto been held in check. + +No less embarrassed than her cousin, Adrienne de Cardoville remained +seated. Like Djalma, she cast down her eyes; but the burning blush on her +cheeks, the quick heaving of her virgin bosom, revealed an emotion that +she did not even attempt to hide. Notwithstanding the powers of her mind, +by turns gay, graceful, and witty--notwithstanding the decision of her +proud and independent character, and her complete acquaintance with the +manners of the world--Adrienne shared Djalma's simple and enchanting +awkwardness, and partook of that kind of temporary weakness, beneath +which these two pure, ardent, and loving beings appeared sinking--as if +unable to support the boiling agitation of the senses, combined with the +intoxicating excitement of the heart. And yet their eyes had not met. +Each seemed to fear the first electric shock of the other's glance--that +invincible attraction of two impassioned beings--that sacred fire, which +suddenly kindles the blood, and lifts two mortals from earth to heaven; +for it is to approach the Divinity to give one's self up with religious +fervor to the most noble and irresistible sentiment that He has implanted +within us--the only sentiment that, in His adorable wisdom, the Dispenser +of all good has vouchsafed to sanctify, by endowing it with a spark of +His own creative energy. + +Djalma was the first to raise his eyes. They were moist and sparkling. +The excitement of passionate love, the burning ardor of his age, so long +repressed, the intense admiration in which he held ideal beauty, were all +expressed in his look, mingled with respectful timidity, and gave to the +countenance of this youth an undefinable, irresistible character. Yes, +irresistible!--for, when Adrienne encountered his glance, she trembled in +every limb, and felt herself attracted by a magnetic power. Already, her +eyes were heavy with a kind of intoxicating languor, when, by a great +effort of will and dignity, she succeeded in overcoming this delicious +confusion, rose from her chair, and said to Djalma in a trembling voice: +"Prince, I am happy to receive you here." Then, pointing to one of the +portraits suspended above her, she added, as if introducing him to a +living person: "Prince--my mother!" + +With an instinct of rare delicacy, Adrienne had thus summoned her mother +to be present at her interview with Djalma. It seemed a security for +herself and the prince, against the seductions of a first +interview--which was likely to be all the more perilous, that they both +knew themselves madly loved that they both were free, and had only to +answer to Providence for the treasures of happiness and enjoyment with +which He had so magnificently endowed them. The prince understood +Adrienne's thoughts; so that, when the young lady pointed to the +portrait, Djalma, by a spontaneous movement full of grace and simplicity, +knelt down before the picture, and said to it in a gentle, but manly +voice: "I will love and revere you as my mother. And, in thought, my +mother too shall be present, and stand like you, beside your child!" + +No better answer could have been given to the feeling which induced +Mdlle. de Cardoville to place herself, as it were, under the protection +of her mother. From that moment, confident in Djalma, confident in +herself, the young lady felt more at her ease, and the delicious sense of +happiness replaced those exciting emotions, which had at first so +violently agitated her. + +Then, seating herself once more, she said to Djalma, as she pointed to +the opposite chair: "Pray take a seat, my dear cousin; and allow me to +call you so, for there is too much ceremony in the word prince; and do +you call me cousin also, for I find other names too grave. Having settled +this point, we can talk together like old friends." + +"Yes cousin," answered Djalma, blushing. + +"And, as frankness is proper between friends," resumed Adrienne, "I have +first to make you a reproach," she added, with a half-smile. + +The prince had remained standing, with his arm resting on the chimney +piece, in an attitude full of grace and respect. + +"Yes, cousin," continued Adrienne, "a reproach, that you will perhaps +forgive me for making. I had expected you a little sooner." + +"Perhaps, cousin, you may blame me for having come so soon." + +"What do you mean?" + +"At the moment when I left home, a man, whom I did not know, approached +my carriage, and said to me, with such an air of sincerity that I +believed him: 'You are able to save the life of a person who has been a +second father to you. Marshal Simon is in great danger, and, to rescue +him, you must follow me on the instant--'" + +"It was a snare," cried Adrienne, hastily. "Marshal Simon was here, +scarcely an hour ago." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Djalma, joyfully, and as if he had been relieved from +a great weight. "Then there will be nothing to sadden this happy day!" + +"But, cousin," resumed Adrienne, "how came you not to suspect this +emissary?" + +"Some words, which afterwards escaped from him, inspired me with doubts," +answered Djalma: "but at first I followed him, fearing the marshal might +be in danger--for I know that he also has enemies." + +"Now that I reflect on it, you were quite right, cousin, for some new +plot against the marshal was probable enough; and the least doubt was +enough to induce you to go to him." + +"I did so--even though you were waiting for me." + +"It was a generous sacrifice; and my esteem for you is increased by it, +if it could be increased," said Adrienne, with emotion. "But what became +of this man?" + +"At my desire, he got into the carriage with me. Anxious about the +marshal, and in despair at seeing the time wasted, that I was to have +passed with you, cousin, I pressed him with all sorts of questions. +Several times, he replied to me with embarrassment, and then the idea +struck me that the whole might be a snare. Remembering all that they had +already attempted, to ruin me in your opinion, I immediately changed my +course. The vexation of the man who accompanied me then because so +visible, that I ought to have had no doubt upon the subject. Still, when +I thought of Marshal Simon, I felt a kind of vague remorse, which you, +cousin, have now happily set at rest." + +"Those people are implacable!" said Adrienne; "but our happiness will be +stronger than their hate." + +After a moment's silence, she resumed, with her habitual frankness: "My +dear cousin, it is impossible for me to conceal what I have at heart. Let +us talk for a few seconds of the past, which was made so painful to us, +and then we will forget it forever, like an evil dream." + +"I will answer you sincerely, at the risk of injuring myself," said the +prince. + +"How could you make up your mind to exhibit yourself in public with--?" + +"With that young girl?" interrupted Djalma. + +"Yes, cousin," replied Mdlle. de Cardoville, and she waited for Djalma's +answer with anxious curiosity. + +"A stranger to the customs of this country," said Djalma, without any +embarrassment, for he spoke the truth, "with a mind weakened with +despair, and misled by the fatal counsels of a man devoted to my enemies, +I believed, even as I was told, that, by displaying before you the +semblance of another love, I should excite your jealousy, and thus--" + +"Enough, cousin; I understand it all," said Adrienne hastily, +interrupting Djalma in her turn, that she might spare him a painful +confession. "I too must have been blinded by despair, not to have seen +through this wicked plot, especially after your rash and intrepid action. +To risk death for the sake of my bouquet!" added Adrienne, shuddering at +the mere remembrance. "But one last question," she resumed, "though I am +already sure of your answer. Did you receive a letter that I wrote to +you, on the morning of the day in which I saw you at the theatre?" + +Djalma made no reply. A dark cloud passed over his fine countenance, and, +for a second, his features assumed so menacing an expression, that +Adrienne was terrified at the effect produced by her words. But this +violent agitation soon passed away, and Djalma's brow became once more +calm and serene. + +"I have been more merciful that I thought," said the prince to Adrienne, +who looked at him with astonishment. "I wished to come hither worthy of +you, my cousin. I pardoned the man who, to serve my enemies, had given me +all those fatal counsels. The same person, I am sure, must have +intercepted your letter. Just now, at the memory of the evils he thus +caused me, I, for a moment, regretted my clemency. But then, again, I +thought of your letter of yesterday--and my anger is all gone." + +"Then the sad time of fear and suspicion is over--suspicion, that made me +doubt of your sentiments, and you of mine. Oh, yes! far removed from us +be that fatal past!" cried Adrienne de Cardoville, with deep joy.. + +Then, as if she had relieved her heart from the last thought of sadness, +she continued: "The future is all your own--the radiant future, without +cloud or obstacle, pure in the immensity of its horizon, and extending +beyond the reach of sight!" + +It is impossible to describe the tone of enthusiastic hope which +accompanied these words. But suddenly Adrienne's features assumed an +expression of touching melancholy, and she added, in a voice of profound +emotion: "And yet--at this hour--so many unfortunate creatures suffer +pain!" + +This simple touch of pity for the misfortunes of others, at the moment +when the noble maiden herself attained to the highest point of happiness, +had such an effect on Djalma, that involuntarily he fell on his knees +before Adrienne, clasped his hands together, and turned towards her his +fine countenance, with an almost daring expression. Then, hiding his face +in his hands, he bowed his head without speaking a single word. There was +a moment of deep silence. Adrienne was the first to break it, as she saw +a tear steal through the slender fingers of the prince. + +"My friend! what is the matter?" she exclaimed, as with a movement rapid +as thought, she stooped forward, and taking hold of Djalma's hands, drew +them from before his face. That face was bathed in tears. + +"You weep!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, so much agitated that she kept +the hands of Djalma in her own; and, unable to dry his tears, the young +Hindoo allowed them to flow like so many drops of crystal over the pale +gold of his cheeks. + +"There is not in this wide world a happiness like to mine!" said the +prince, in his soft, melodious voice, and with a kind of exhaustion: +"therefore do I feel great sadness, and so it should be. You give me +heaven--and were I to give you the whole earth, it would be but a poor +return. Alas! what can man do for a divinity, but humbly bless and adore? +He can never hope to return the gifts bestowed: and this makes him +suffer--not in his pride--but in his heart!" + +Djalma did not exaggerate. He said what he really felt: and the rather +hyperbolical form, familiar to Oriental nations, could alone express his +thought. The tone of his regret was so sincere, his humility so gentle +and full of simplicity, that Adrienne, also moved to tears, answered him +with an effusion of serious tenderness, "My friend, we are both at the +supreme point of happiness. Our future felicity appears to have no +limits, and yet, though derived from different sources, sad reflections +have come to both of us. It is, you see, that there are some sorts of +happiness, which make you dizzy with their own immensity. For a moment, +the heart, the mind, the soul, are incapable of containing so much bliss; +it overflows and drowns us. Thus the flowers sometimes hang their heads, +oppressed by the too ardent rays of the sun, which is yet their love and +life. Oh, my friend! this sadness may be great, but it also sweet!" + +As she uttered these words, the voice of Adrienne grew fainter and +fainter, and her head bowed lower, as if she were indeed sinking beneath +the weight of her happiness. Djalma had remained kneeling before her, his +hands in hers--so that as she thus bent forward, her ivory forehead and +golden hair touched the amber-colored brow and ebon curls of Djalma. And +the sweet, silent tears of the two young lovers flowed together, and +mingled as they fell on their clasped hands. + +Whilst this scene was passing in Cardoville House, Agricola had gone to +the Rue de Vaugirard, to deliver a letter from Adrienne to M. Hardy. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +"THE IMITATION." + +As we have already said, M. Hardy occupied a pavilion in the "Retreat" +annexed to the house in the Rue de Vaugirard, inhabited by a goodly +number of the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus. Nothing could be +calmer and more silent than this dwelling. Every one spoke in whispers, +and the servants themselves had something oily in their words, something +sanctified in their very walk. + +Like all that is subject to the chilling and destructive influences of +these men, this mournfully quiet house was entirely wanting in life and +animation. The boarders passed an existence of wearisome and icy +monotony, only broken by the use of certain devotional exercises; and +thus, in accordance with the selfish calculation of the reverend fathers, +the mind, deprived of all nourishment and all external support, soon +began to droop and pine away in solitude. The heart seemed to beat more +slowly, the soul was benumbed, the character weakened; at last, all +freewill, all power of discrimination, was extinguished, and the +boarders, submitting to the same process of self-annihilation as the +novices of the Company, became, like them, mere "corpses" in the hands of +the brotherhood. + +The object of these manoeuvres was clear and simple. They secured the +means of obtaining all kinds of donations, the constant aim of the +skillful policy and merciless cupidity of these priests. By the aid of +enormous sums, of which they thus become the possessors or the trustees, +they follow out and obtain the success of their projects, even though +murder, incendiarism, revolt, and all the horrors of civil war, excited +by and through them, should drench in blood the lands over which they +seek to extend their dark dominion. + +Such, then, was the asylum of peace and innocence in which Francois Hardy +had taken refuge. He occupied the ground-floor of a summer-house, which +opened upon a portion of the garden. His apartments had been judiciously +chosen, for we know with what profound and diabolical craft the reverend +fathers avail themselves of material influences, to make a deep +impression upon the minds they are moulding to their purpose. Imagine a +prospect bounded by a high wall, of a blackish gray, half-covered with +ivy, the plant peculiar to ruins. A dark avenue of old yew-trees, so fit +to shade the grave with their sepulchral verdure, extended from this wall +to a little semicircle, in front of the apartment generally occupied by +M. Hardy. Two or three mounds of earth, bordered with box, symmetrically +cut, completed the charms of this garden, which in every respect +resembled a cemetery. + +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Though the April sun shone +brightly, its rays, intercepted by the high wall of which we have spoken, +could not penetrate into that portion of the garden, obscure, damp, and +cold as a cavern, which communicated with M. Hardy's apartment. The room +was furnished with a perfect sense of the comfortable. A soft carpet +covered the floor; thick curtains of dark green baize, the same color as +the walls, sheltered an excellent bed, and hung in folds about the glass +door, which opened on the garden. Some pieces of mahogany furniture, +plain, but very clean and bright, stood round the room. Above the +secretary, placed just in front of the bed, was a large ivory crucifix, +upon a black velvet ground. The chimney-piece was adorned with a clock, +in an ebony case, with ivory ornaments representing all sorts of gloomy +emblems, such as hour-glasses, scythes, death's-heads, etc. Now imagine +this scene in twilight, with its solitary and mournful silence, only +broken at the hour of prayer by the lugubrious sound of the bells of the +neighboring chapel, and you will recognize the infernal skill, with which +these dangerous priests know how to turn to account every external +object, when they wish to influence the mind of those they are anxious to +gain over. + +And this was not all. After appealing to the senses, it was necessary to +address themselves to the intellect--and this was the method adopted by +the reverend fathers. A single book--but one--was left, as if by chance, +within reach. This book was Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation." But as it might +happen that M. Hardy would not have the courage or the desire to read +this book, thoughts and reflections borrowed from its merciless pages, +and written in very large characters, were suspended in black frames +close to the bed, or at other parts within sight, so that, involuntarily, +in the sad leisure of his inactive dejection, the dweller's eyes were +almost necessarily attracted by them. To that fatal circle of despairing +thoughts they confined the already weakened mind of this unfortunate man, +so long a prey to the most acute sorrow. What he read mechanically, every +instant of the day and night, whenever the blessed sleep fled from his +eyes inflamed with tears, was not enough merely to plunge the soul of the +victim into incurable despair, but also to reduce him to the corpse-like +obedience required by the Society of Jesus. In that awful book may be +found a thousand terrors to operate on weak minds, a thousand slavish +maxims to chain and degrade the pusillanimous soul. + +And now imagine M. Hardy carried wounded into this house; while his +heart, torn by bitter grief and the sense of horrible treachery, bled +even faster than his external injuries. Attended with the utmost care, +and thanks to the acknowledged skill of Dr. Baleinier, M. Hardy soon +recovered from the hurts he had received when he threw himself into the +embers of his burning factory. Yet, in order to favor the projects of the +reverend fathers, a drug, harmless enough in its effects, but destined to +act for a time upon the mind of the patient, and often employed for that +purpose in similar important cases by the pious doctor, was administered +to Hardy, and had kept him pretty long in a state of mental torpor. To a +soul agonized by cruel deceptions, it appears an inestimable benefit to +be plunged into that kind of torpor, which at least prevents one from +dwelling upon the past. + +Hardy resigned himself entirely to this profound apathy, and at length +came to regard it as the supreme good. Thus do unfortunate wretches, +tortured by cruel diseases, accept with gratitude the opiate which kills +them slowly, but which at least deadens the sense of pain. + +In sketching the portrait of M. Hardy, we tried to give some idea of the +exquisite delicacy of his tender soul, of his painful susceptibility with +regard to anything base or wicked, and of his extreme goodness, +uprightness, and generosity. We now allude to these admirable qualities, +because we must observe, that with him, as with almost all who possess +them, they were not, and could not be, united with an energetic and +resolute character. Admirably persevering in good deeds, the influence of +this excellent man, was insinuating rather than commanding; it was not by +the bold energy and somewhat overbearing will, peculiar to other men of +great and noble heart, that Hardy had realized the prodigy of his Common +Dwelling-house; it was by affectionate persuasion, for with him mildness +took the place of force. At sight of any baseness or injustice, he did +not rouse himself, furious and threatening; but he suffered intense pain. +He did not boldly attack the criminal, but he turned away from him in +pity and sorrow. And then his loving heart, so full of feminine delicacy, +had an irresistible longing for the blessed contact of dear affections; +they alone could keep it alive. Even as a poor, frail bird dies with the +cold, when it can no longer lie close to its brethren, and receive and +communicate the sweet warmth of the maternal nest. And now this sensitive +organization, this extremely susceptible nature, receives blow after blow +from sorrows and deceptions, one of which would suffice to shake, if it +did not conquer, the firmest and most resolute character. Hardy's best +friend has infamously betrayed him. His adored mistress has abandoned +him. + +The house which he had founded for the benefit of his workmen, whom he +loved as brethren, is reduced to a heap of ashes. What then happens? All +the springs of his soul are at once broken. Too feeble to resist such +frightful attacks, too fatally deceived to seek refuge in other +affections, too much discouraged to think of laying the first stone of +any new edifice--this poor heart, isolated from every salutary influence, +finds oblivion of the world and of itself in a kind of gloomy torpor. And +if some remaining instincts of life and affection, at long intervals, +endeavored to rouse themselves within him, and if, half-opening his +mind's eye, which he had kept closed against the present, the past, and +the future, Hardy looks around him--what does he see? Only these +sentences, so full of terrible despair: + +"Thou art nothing but dust and ashes. Grief and tears art thy portion. +Believe not in any son of man. There are no such things as friendship or +ties of kindred. All human affections are false. Die in the morning, and +thou wilt be forgotten before night. Be humble--despise thyself--and let +others despise thee. Think not, reason not, live not--but commit thy fate +to the hands of a superior, who will think and reason for thee. Weep, +suffer, think upon death. Yes, death! always death--that should be thy +thought when thou thinkest--but it is better not to think at all. Let a +feeling of ceaseless woe prepare thy way to heaven. It is only by sorrow +that we are welcome to the terrible God whom we adore!" + +Such were the consolations offered to this unfortunate man. Affrighted, +he again closed his eyes, and fell back into his lethargy. As for leaving +this gloomy retreat, he could not, or rather he did not desire to do so. +He had lost the power of will; and then, it must be confessed, he had +finished by getting accustomed to this house, and liked it well--they +paid him such discreet attentions, and yet left him so much alone with +his grief--there reigned all around such a death-like silence, which +harmonized closely with the silence of his heart; and that was now the +tomb of his last love, last friendship, last hope. All energy was dead +within him! Then began that slow, but inevitable transformation, so +judiciously foreseen by Rodin, who directed the whole of this +machination, even in its smallest details. At first alarmed by the +dreadful maxims which surrounded him, M. Hardy had at length accustomed +himself to read them over almost mechanically, just as the captive, in +his mournful hours of leisure, counts the nails in the door of his +prison, or the bars of the grated window. This was already a great point +gained by the reverend fathers. + +And soon his weakened mind was struck with the apparent correctness of +these false and melancholy aphorisms. + +Thus he read: "Do not count upon the affection of any human +creature"--and he had himself been shamefully betrayed. + +"Man is born to sorrow and despair"--and he was himself despairing. + +"There is no rest save in the cessation of thought"--and the slumber of +his mind had brought some relief to his pain. + +Peepholes, skillfully concealed by the hangings and in the wainscoting of +these apartments, enabled the reverend fathers at all times to see and +hear the boarders, and above all to observe their countenance and manner, +when they believed themselves to be alone. Every exclamation of grief +which escaped Hardy in his gloomy solitude, was repeated to Father +d'Aigrigny by a mysterious listener. The reverend father, following +scrupulously Rodin's instructions, had at first visited his boarder very +rarely. We have said, that when Father d'Aigrigny wished it, he could +display an almost irresistible power of charming, and accordingly he +threw all his tact and skill into the interviews he had with Hardy, when +he came from time to time to inquire after his health. Informed of +everything by his spies, and aided by his natural sagacity, he soon saw +all the use that might be made of the physical and moral prostration of +the boarder. Certain beforehand that Hardy would not take the hint, he +spoke to him frequently of the gloom of the house, advising him +affectionately to leave it, if he felt oppressed by its monotony, or at +all events to seek beyond its walls for some pleasure and amusement. To +speak of pleasure and amusement to this unfortunate man, was in his +present state to insure a refusal, and so it of course happened. Father +d'Aigrigny did not at first try to gain the recluse's confidence, nor did +he speak to him of sorrow; but every time he came, he appeared to take +such a tender interest in him, and showed it by a few simple and well +timed words. By degrees, these interviews, at first so rare, became more +frequent and longer. Endowed with a flow of honeyed, insinuating, and +persuasive eloquence, Father d'Aigrigny naturally took for his theme +those gloomy maxims, to which Hardy's attention was now so often +directed. + +Supple, prudent, skillful, knowing that the hermit had hitherto professed +that generous natural religion which teaches the grateful adoration of +God, the love of humanity, the worship of what is just and good, and +which, disdaining dogmas, professes the same veneration for Marcus +Aurelius as for Confucius, for Plato as for Christ, for Moses as for +Lycurgus--Father d'Aigrigny did not at first attempt to convert him, but +began by incessantly reminding him of the abominable deceptions practised +upon him; and, instead of describing such treachery as an exception in +life--instead of trying to calm, encourage, and revive his drooping +soul--instead of exhorting Hardy to seek oblivion and consolation in the +discharge of his duties toward humanity, towards his brethren, whom he +had previously loved and succored--Father d'Aigrigny strove to inflame +the bleeding wounds of the unfortunate man, painted the human race in the +most atrocious blackness, and, by declaring all men treacherous, +ungrateful, wicked, succeeded in rendering his despair incurable. Having +attained this object, the Jesuit took another step. Knowing Hardy's +admirable goodness of heart, and profiting by the weakened state of his +mind, he spoke to him of the consolation to be derived by a man +overwhelmed with sorrow, from the belief that every one of his tears, +instead of being unfruitful, was in fact agreeable to God, and might aid +in the salvation of souls--the belief, as the reverend father adroitly +added, that by faith alone can sorrow be made useful to humanity, and +acceptable to Divinity. + +Whatever impiety, whatever atrocious Machiavelism there was in these +detestable maxims, which make of a loving-kind Deity a being delighted +with the tears of his creatures, was thus skillfully concealed from +Hardy's eyes, whose generous instincts were still alive. Soon did this +loving and tender soul, whom unworthy priests were driving to a sort of +moral suicide, find a mournful charm in the fiction, that his sorrows +would at least be profitable to other men. It was at first only a +fiction; but the enfeebled mind which takes pleasure in such a fable, +finishes by receiving it as a reality, and by degrees will submit to the +consequences. Such was Hardy's moral and physical state, when, by means +of a servant who had been bought over, he received from Agricola Baudoin +a letter requesting an interview. Alone, the workman could not have +broken the band of the Jesuit's pleadings, but he was accompanied by +Gabriel, whose eloquence and reasonings were of a most convincing nature +to a spirit like Hardy's. + +It is unnecessary to point out to the reader, with what dignified reserve +Gabriel had confined himself to the most generous means of rescuing Hardy +from the deadly influence of the reverend fathers. It was repugnant to +the great soul of the young missionary, to stoop to a revelation of the +odious plots of these priests. He would only have taken this extreme +course, had his powerful and sympathetic words have failed to have any +effect on Hardy's blindness. About a quarter of an hour had elapsed since +Gabriel's departure, when the servant appointed to wait on this boarder +of the reverend fathers entered and delivered to him a letter. + +"From whom is this?" asked Hardy. + +"From a boarder in the house, sir," answered the servant bowing. + +This man had a crafty hypocritical face; he wore his hair combed over his +forehead, spoke in a low voice, and always cast clown his eyes. Waiting +the answer, he joined his hands, and began to twiddle his thumbs. Hardy +opened the letter, and read as follows: + +"SIR,--I have only just heard, by mere chance, that you also inhabit this +respectable house: a long illness, and the retirement in which I live, +will explain my ignorance of your being so near. Though we have only met +once, sir, the circumstance which led to that meeting was of so serious a +nature, that I cannot think you have forgotten it." + +Hardy stopped, and tasked his memory for an explanation, and not finding +anything to put him on the right track, he continued to read: + +"This circumstance excited in me a feeling of such deep and respectful +sympathy for you, sir, that I cannot resist my anxious desire to wait +upon you, particularly as I learn, that you intend leaving this house to +day--a piece of information I have just derived from the excellent and +worthy Abbe Gabriel, one of the men I most love, esteem, and reverence. +May I venture to hope, sir, that just at the moment of quitting our +common retreat to return to the world, you will deign to receive +favorably the request, however intrusive, of a poor old man, whose life +will henceforth be passed in solitude, and who cannot therefore have any +prospect of meeting you, in that vortex of society which he has abandoned +forever. Waiting the honor of your answer, I beg you to accept, sir, the +assurance of the sentiments of high esteem with which I remain, sir, with +the deepest respect, + +"Your very humble and most obedient servant, + +"RODIN." + +After reading this letter and the signature of the writer, Hardy remained +for some time in deep thought, without being able to recollect the name +of Rodin, or to what serious circumstances he alluded. + +After a silence of some duration, he said to the servant "M. Rodin gave +you this letter?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And who is M. Rodin?" + +"A good old gentleman, who is just recovering from a long illness, that +almost carried him off. Lately, he has been getting better, but he is +still so weak and melancholy, that it makes one sad to see him. It is a +great pity, for there is not a better and more worthy gentleman in the +house--unless it be you, sir," added the servant, bowing with an air of +flattering respect. + +"M. Rodin;" said Hardy, thoughtfully. "It is singular, that I should not +remember the name nor any circumstance connected with it." + +"If you will give me your answer, sir," resumed the servant, "I will take +it to M. Rodin. He is now with Father d'Aigrigny, to whom he is bidding +farewell." + +"Farewell?" + +"Yes, sir, the post-horses have just come." + +"Post-horses for whom?" asked Hardy. + +"For Father d'Aigrigny, sir." + +"He is going on a journey then!" said Hardy, with some surprise. + +"Oh! he will not, I think be long absent," said the servant, with a +confidential air, "for the reverend father takes no one with him, and but +very light luggage. No doubt, the reverend father will come to say +farewell to you, sir, before he starts. But what answer shall I give M. +Rodin?" + +The letter, just received, was couched in such polite terms--it spoke of +Gabriel with so much respect--that Hardy, urged moreover by a natural +curiosity, and seeing no motive to refuse this interview before quitting +the house, said to the servant: "Please tell M. Rodin, that if he will +give himself the trouble to come to me, I shall be glad to see him." + +"I will let him know immediately, sir," answered the servant, bowing as +he left the room. + +When alone, Hardy, while wondering who this M. Rodin could be, began to +make some slight preparations for his departure. For nothing in the world +would he have passed another night in this house; and, in order to keep +up his courage, he recalled every instant the mild, evangelical language +of Gabriel, just as the superstitious recite certain litanies, with a +view of escaping from temptation. + +The servant soon returned, and said: "M. Rodin is here, sir." + +"Beg him to walk in." + +Rodin entered, clad in his long black dressing-gown, and with his old +silk cap in his hand. The servant then withdrew. The day was just +closing. Hardy rose to meet Rodin, whose features he did not at first +distinguish. But as the reverend father approached the window, Hardy +looked narrowly at him for an instant, and then uttered an exclamation, +wrung from him by surprise and painful remembrance. But, recovering +himself from this first movement, Hardy said to the Jesuit, in an +agitated voice: "You here, sir? Oh, you are right! It was indeed a very +serious circumstance that first brought us together." + +"Oh, my dear sir!" said Rodin, in a kindly and unctuous tone; "I was sure +you would not have forgotten me." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +PRAYER. + +It will doubtless be remembered that Rodin had gone (although a stranger +to Hardy) to visit him at his factory, and inform him of De Blessac's +shameful treachery--a dreadful blow, which had only preceded by a few +moments a second no less horrible misfortune; for it was in the presence +of Rodin that Hardy had learned the unexpected departure of the woman he +adored. Painful to him must have been the sudden appearance of Rodin. +Yes, thanks to the salutary influence of Gabriel's counsels, he recovered +himself by degrees, and the contraction of his features being succeeded +by a melancholy calm, he said to Rodin: "I did not indeed expect to meet +you, sir, in this house." + +"Alas, sir!" answered Rodin, with a sigh, "I did not expect to come +hither, probably to end my days beneath this roof, when I went, without +being acquainted with you, but only as one honest man should serve +another, to unveil to you a great infamy." + +"Indeed, sir, you then rendered me a true service; perhaps, in that +painful moment, I did not fully express my gratitude; for, at the same +moment in which you revealed to me the treachery of M. de Blessac--" + +"You were overwhelmed by another piece of painful intelligence," said +Rodin, interrupting M. Hardy; "I shall never forget the sudden arrival of +that poor woman, who, pale and affrighted, and without considering my +presence, came to inform you that a person who was exceedingly dear to +you had quitted Paris abruptly." + +"Yes, sir; and, without stopping to thank you, I set out immediately," +answered Hardy, with a mournful air. + +"Do you know, sir," said Rodin, after a moment's silence, "that there are +sometimes very strange coincidences?" + +"To what do you allude, sir?" + +"While I went to inform you that you were betrayed in so infamous a +manner--I was myself--" + +Rodin paused, as if unable to control his deep emotion, and his +countenance wore the expression of such overpowering grief that Hardy +said to him, with interest: "What ails you, sir?" + +"Forgive me," replied Rodin, with a bitter smile. "Thanks to the ghostly +counsels of the angelic Abbe Gabriel, I have reached a sort of +resignation. Still, there are certain memories which affect me with the +most acute pain. I told you," resumed Rodin, in a firmer voice, "or was +going to tell you, that the very day after that on which I informed you +of the treachery practised against you, I was myself the victim of a +frightful deception. An adopted son--a poor unfortunate child, whom I had +brought up--" He paused again, drew his trembling hand over his eyes, and +added: "Pardon me, sir, for speaking of matters which must be indifferent +to you. Excuse the intrusive sorrow of a poor, broken hearted old man!" + +"I have suffered too much myself, sir, to be indifferent to any kind of +sorrow," replied Hardy. "Besides, you are no stranger to me--for you did +me a real service--and we both agree in our veneration for the same young +priest." + +"The Abbe Gabriel!" cried Rodin, interrupting Hardy; "ah, sir! he is my +deliverer, my benefactor. If you knew all his care and devotion, during +my long illness, caused by intense grief--if you knew the ineffable +sweetness of his counsels--" + +"I know them, sir," cried Hardy; "oh, yes! I know how salutary is the +influence." + +"In his mouth, sir, the precepts of religion are full of mildness," +resumed Rodin, with excitement. "Do they not heal and console? do they +not make us love and hope, instead of fear and tremble?" + +"Alas, sir! in this very house," said Hardy, "I have been able to make +the comparison." + +"I was happy enough," said Rodin, "to have the angelic Abbe Gabriel for +my confessor, or, rather, my confidant." + +"Yes," replied Hardy, "for he prefers confidence to confession." + +"How well you know him!" said Rodin, in a tone of the utmost simplicity. +Then he resumed: "He is not a man but an angel. His words would convert +the most hardened sinner. Without being exactly impious, I had myself +lived in the profession of what is called Natural Religion; but the +angelic Abbe Gabriel has, by degrees, fixed my wavering belief, given it +body and soul, and, in fact, endowed me with faith." + +"Yes! he is a truly Christian priest--a priest of love and pardon!" cried +Hardy. + +"What you say is perfectly true," replied Rodin; "for I came here almost +mad with grief, thinking only of the unhappy boy who had repaid my +paternal goodness with the most monstrous ingratitude, and sometimes I +yielded to violent bursts of despair, and sometimes sank into a state of +mournful dejection, cold as the grave itself. But, suddenly, the Abbe +Gabriel appeared--and the darkness fled before the dawning of a new day." + +"You were right, sir; there are strange coincidences," said Hardy, +yielding more and more to the feeling of confidence and sympathy, +produced by the resemblance of his real position to Rodin's pretended +one. "And to speak frankly," he added, "I am very glad I have seen you +before quitting this house. Were I capable of falling back into fits of +cowardly weakness, your example alone would prevent me. Since I listen to +you, I feel myself stronger in the noble path which the angelic Abbe +Gabriel has opened before me, as you so well express it." + +"The poor old man will not then regret having listened to the first +impulse of his heart, which urged him to come to you," said Robin, with a +touching expression. "You will sometimes remember me in that world to +which you are returning?" + +"Be sure of it, sir; but allow me to ask one question: You remain, you +say, in this house?" + +"What would you have me do? There reigns here a calm repose, and one is +not disturbed in one's prayers," said Rodin, in a very gentle tone. "You +see, I have suffered so much--the conduct of that unhappy youth was so +horrible--he plunged into such shocking excesses--that the wrath of +heaven must be kindled against him. Now I am very old, and it is only by +passing the few days that are left me in fervent prayer that I can hope +to disarm the just anger of the Lord. Oh! prayer--prayer! It was the Abbe +Gabriel who revealed to me all its power and sweetness--and therewith the +formidable duties it imposes." + +"Its duties are indeed great and sacred," answered Hardy, with a pensive +air. + +"Do you remember the life of Rancey?" said Rodin, abruptly, as he darted +a peculiar glance at Hardy. + +"The founder of La Trappe?" said Hardy, surprised at Rodin's question. "I +remember hearing a very vague account, some time ago, of the motives of +his conversion." + +"There is, mark you, no more striking an example of the power of prayer, +and of the state of almost divine ecstasy, to which it may lead a +religious soul. In a few words, I will relate to you this instructive and +tragic history. Rancey--but I beg your pardon; I fear I am trespassing on +your time." + +"No, no," answered Hardy, hastily; "You cannot think how interested I am +in what you tell me. My interview with the Abbe Gabriel was abruptly +broken off, and in listening to you I fancy that I hear the further +development of his views. Go on, I conjure you. + +"With all my heart. I only wish that the instruction which, thanks to our +angelic priest, I derived from the story of Rancey might be as profitable +to you as it was to me." + +"This, then, also came from the Abbe Gabriel?" + +"He related to me this kind of parable in support of his exhortations," +replied Rodin. "Oh, sir! do I not owe to the consoling words of that +young priest all that has strengthened and revived my poor old broken +heart?" + +"Then I shall listen to you with a double interest." + +"Rancey was a man of the world," resumed Rodin, as he looked attentively +at Hardy; "a gentleman--young, ardent, handsome. He loved a young lady of +high rank. I cannot tell what impediments stood in the way of their +union. But this love, though successful, was kept secret, and every +evening Rancey visited his mistress by means of a private staircase. It +was, they say, one of those passionate loves which men feel but once in +their lives. The mystery, even the sacrifice made by the unfortunate +girl, who forgot every duty, seemed to give new charms to this guilty +passion. In the silence and darkness of secrecy, these two lovers passed +two years of voluptuous delirium, which amounted almost to ecstasy." + +At these words Hardy started. For the first time of late his brow was +suffused with a deep blush; his heart throbbed violently; he remembered +that he too had once known the ardent intoxication of a guilty and hidden +love. Though the day was closing rapidly, Rodin cast a sidelong glance at +Hardy, and perceived the impression he had made. "Some times," he +continued, "thinking of the dangers to which his mistress was exposed, if +their connection should be discovered, Rancey wished to sever these +delicious ties; but the girl, beside herself with passion, threw herself +on the neck of her lover, and threatened him, in the language of intense +excitement, to reveal and to brave all, if he thought of leaving her. Too +weak and loving to resist the prayers of his mistress, Rancey again and +again yielded, and they both gave themselves up to a torrent of delight, +which carried them along, forgetful of earth and heaven!" + +M. Hardy listened to Rodin with feverish and devouring avidity. The +Jesuit, in painting, with these almost sensual colors, an ardent and +secret love, revived in Hardy burning memories, which till now had been +drowned in tears. To the beneficent calm produced by the mild language of +Gabriel had succeeded a painful agitation, which, mingled with the +reaction of the shocks received that day, began to throw his mind into a +strange state of confusion. + +Rodin, having so far succeeded in his object, continued as follows: "A +fatal day came at last. Rancey, obliged to go to the wars, quitted the +girl; but, after a short campaign, he returned, more in love than ever. +He had written privately, to say he would arrive almost immediately after +his letter. He came accordingly. It was night. He ascended, as usual, the +private staircase which led to the chamber of his mistress; he entered +the room, his heart beating with love and hope. His mistress had died +that morning!" + +"Ah!" cried Hardy, covering his face with his hands, in terror. + +"She was dead," resumed Rodin. "Two wax-candles were burning beside the +funeral couch. Rancey could not, would not believe that she was dead. He +threw himself on his knees by the corpse. In his delirium, he seized that +fair, beloved head, to cover it with kisses. The head parted from the +body, and remained in his hands! Yes," resumed Rodin as Hardy drew back, +pale and mute with terror, "yes, the girl had fallen a victim to so swift +and extraordinary a disease, that she had not been able to receive the +last sacraments. After her death, the doctors, in the hope of discovering +the cause of this unknown malady, had begun to dissect that fair form--" + +As Rodin reached this part of his narrative, night was almost come. A +sort of hazy twilight alone reigned in this silent chamber, in the centre +of which appeared the pale and ghastly form of Rodin, clad in his long +black gown, whilst his eyes seemed to sparkle with diabolic fire. +Overcome by the violent emotions occasioned by this story, in which +thoughts of death and voluptuousness, love and horror, were so strangely +mingled, Hardy remained fixed and motionless, waiting for the words of +Rodin, with a combination of curiosity, anguish and alarm. + +"And Rancey?" said he, at last, in an agitated voice, whilst he wiped the +cold sweat from his brow. + +"After two days of furious delirium," resumed Rodin, "he renounced the +world, and shut himself up in impenetrable solitude. The first period of +his retreat was frightful; in his despair, he uttered loud yells of grief +and rage, that were audible at some distance. Twice he attempted suicide, +to escape from the terrible visions." + +"He had visions, then?" said Hardy, with an increased agony of curiosity. + +"Yes," replied Rodin, in a solemn tone, "he had fearful visions. He saw +the girl, who, for his sake, had died in mortal sin, plunged in the heat +of the everlasting flames of hell! On that fair face, disfigured by +infernal tortures, was stamped the despairing laugh of the damned! Her +teeth gnashed with pain; her arms writhed in anguish! She wept tears of +blood, and, with an agonized and avenging voice, she cried to her +seducer: 'Thou art the cause of my perdition--my curse, my curse be upon +thee!'" + +As he pronounced these last words, Rodin advanced three steps nearer to +Hardy, accompanying each step with a menacing gesture. If we remember the +state of weakness, trouble, and fear, in which M. Hardy was--if we +remember that the Jesuit had just roused in the soul of this unfortunate +man all the sensual and spiritual memories of a love, cooled, but not +extinguished, in tears--if we remember, too, that Hardy reproached +himself with the seduction of a beloved object, whom her departure from +her duties might (according to the Catholic faith) doom to everlasting +flames--we shall not wonder at the terrible effect of this +phantasmagoria, conjured up in silence and solitude, in the evening dusk, +by this fearful priest. + +The effect on Hardy was indeed striking, and the more dangerous, that the +Jesuit, with diabolical craft, seemed only to be carrying out, from +another point of view, the ideas of Gabriel. Had not the young priest +convinced Hardy that nothing is sweeter, than to ask of heaven +forgiveness for those who have sinned, or whom we have led astray? But +forgiveness implies punishment; and it was to the punishment alone that +Rodin drew the attention of his victim, by painting it in these terrible +hues. With hands clasped together, and eye fixed and dilated, Hardy +trembled in all his limbs, and seemed still listening to Rodin, though +the latter had ceased to speak. Mechanically, he repeated: "My curse, my +curse be upon thee?" + +Then suddenly he exclaimed, in a kind of frenzy: "The curse is on me +also! The woman, whom I taught to forget her sacred duties, and to commit +mortal sin--one day plunged in the everlasting flames--her arms writhing +in agony--weeping tears of blood--will cry to me from the bottomless pit: +'My curse, my curse be upon thee!'--One day," he added, with redoubled +terror, "one day?--who knows? perhaps at this moment!--for if the sea +voyage had been fatal to her--if a shipwreck--oh, God! she too would have +died in mortal sin--lost, lost, forever!--Oh, have mercy on her, my God! +Crush me in Thy wrath--but have mercy on her--for I alone am guilty!" + +And the unfortunate man, almost delirious, sank with clasped hands upon +the ground. + +"Sir," cried Rodin, in an affectionate voice, as he hastened to lift him +up, "my dear sir--my dear friend--be calm! Comfort yourself. I cannot +bear to see you despond. Alas! my intention was quite the contrary to +that." + +"The curse! the curse! yes, she will curse me also--she, that I loved so +much--in the everlasting flames!" murmured Hardy, shuddering, and +apparently insensible to the other's words. + +"But, my dear sir, listen to me, I entreat you," resumed the latter; "let +me finish my story, and then you will find it as consoling as it now +seems terrible. For heaven's sake, remember the adorable words of our +angelic Abbe Gabriel, with regard to the sweetness of prayer." + +At the name of Gabriel, Hardy recovered himself a little, and exclaimed, +in a heart-rending tone: "Ay! his words were sweet and beneficent. Where +are they now? For mercy's sake, repeat to me those consoling words." + +"Our angelic Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "spoke to you of the sweetness +of prayer--" + +"Oh, yes! prayer!" + +"Well, my dear sir, listen to me, and you shall see how prayer saved +Rancey, and made a saint of him. Yes, these frightful torments, that I +have just described, these threatening visions, were all conquered by +prayer, and changed into celestial delights." + +"I beg of you," said Hardy, in a faint voice, "speak to me of Gabriel, +speak to me of heaven--but no more flames--no more hell--where sinful +women weep tears of blood--" + +"No, no," replied Rodin; and even as, in describing hell, his tone had +been harsh and threatening, it now became warm and tender, as he uttered +the following words: "No; we will have no more images of despair--for, as +I have told you, after suffering infernal tortures, Rancey, thanks to the +power of prayer, enjoyed the delights of paradise." + +"The delights of paradise?" repeated Hardy, listening with anxious +attention. + +"One day, at the height of his grief, a priest, a good priest--another +Abbe Gabriel--came to Rancey. Oh, happiness! oh, providential change! In +a few days, he taught the sufferer the sacred mysteries of prayer--that +pious intercession of the creature, addressed to the Creator, in favor of +a soul exposed to the wrath of heaven. Then Rancey seemed transformed. +His grief was at once appeased. He prayed; and the more he prayed, the +greater was his hope. He felt that God listened to his prayer. Instead of +trying to forget his beloved, he now thought of her constantly, and +prayed for her salvation. Happy in his obscure cell, alone with that +adored remembrance, he passed days and nights in praying for her--plunged +in an ineffable, burning, I had almost said amorous ecstasy." + +It is impossible to give an idea of the tone of almost sensual energy +with which Rodin pronounced the word "amorous." Hardy started, changing +from hot to cold. For the first time, his weakened mind caught a glimpse +of the fatal pleasures of asceticism, and of that deplorable catalepsy, +described in the lives of St. Theresa, St. Aubierge and others. + +Rodin perceived the other's thoughts, and continued "Oh, Rancey was not +now the man to content himself with a vague, passing prayer, uttered in +the whirl of the world's business, which swallows it up, and prevents it +from reaching the ear of heaven. No, no; in the depth of solitude, he +endeavored to make his prayers even more efficacious, so ardently did he +desire the eternal salvation of his mistress." + +"What did he do then--oh! what did he do in his solitude?" cried Hardy, +who was now powerless in the hands of the Jesuit. + +"First of all," said Rodin, with a slight emphasis, "he became a monk." + +"A monk!" repeated Hardy, with a pensive air. + +"Yes," resumed Rodin, "he became a monk, because his prayers were thus +more likely to be favorably accepted. And then, as in solitude our +thoughts are apt to wander, he fasted, and mortified his flesh, and +brought into subjection all that was carnal within him, so that, becoming +all spirit, his prayers might issue like a pure flame from his bosom, and +ascend like the perfume of incense to the throne of the Most High!" + +"Oh! what a delicious dream!" cried Hardy, more and more under the +influence of the spell; "to pray for the woman we have adored, and to +become spirit--perfume--light!" + +"Yes; spirit, perfume, light!" said Rodin, with emphasis. "But it is no +dream. How many monks, how many hermits, like Rancey, have, by prayers, +and austerity, and macerations, attained a divine ecstasy! and if you +only knew the celestial pleasures of such ecstasies!--Thus, after he +became a monk, the terrible dreams were succeeded by enchanting visions. +Many times, after a day of fasting, and a night passed in prayers and +macerations, Rancey sank down exhausted on the floor of his cell! Then +the spirit freed itself from the vile clogs of matter. His senses were +absorbed in pleasure; the sound of heavenly harmony struck upon his +ravished car; a bright, mild light, which was not of this world, dawned +upon his half-closed eyes; and, at the height of the melodious vibrations +of the golden harps of the Seraphim, in the centre of a glory, compared +to which the sun is pale, the monk beheld the image of that beloved +woman--" + +"Whom by his prayers he had at length rescued from the eternal flames?" +said Hardy, in a trembling voice. + +"Yes, herself," replied Rodin, with eloquent enthusiasm, for this monster +was skilled in every style of speech. "Thanks to the prayers of her +lover, which the Lord had granted, this woman no longer shed tears of +blood--no longer writhed her beautiful arms in the convulsions of +infernal anguish. No, no; still fair--oh! a thousand times fairer than +when she dwelt on earth--fair with the everlasting beauty of angels--she +smiled on her lover with ineffable ardor, and, her eyes beaming with a +mild radiance, she said to him in a tender and passionate voice: 'Glory +to the Lord! glory to thee, O my beloved! Thy prayers and austerities +have saved me. I am numbered amongst the chosen. Thanks, my beloved, and +glory!'--And therewith, radiant in her felicity, she stooped to kiss, +with lips fragrant with immortality, the lips of the enraptured monk--and +their souls mingled in that kiss, burning as love, chaste as divine grace +immense as eternity!" + +"Oh!" cried Hardy, completely beside himself; "a whole life of prayer, +fasting, torture, for such a moment--with her, whom I mourn--with her, +whom I have perhaps led to perdition!" + +"What do you say? such a moment!" cried Rodin, whose yellow forehead was +bathed in sweat like that of a magnetizer, and who now took Hardy by the +hand, and drew still closer, as if to breathe into him the burning +delirium; "it was not once in his religious life--it was almost every +day, that Rancey, plunged in divine ecstasy, enjoyed these delicious, +ineffable, superhuman pleasures, which are to the pleasures of earth what +eternity is to man's existence!" + +Seeing, no doubt, that Hardy was now at the point to which he wished to +bring him, and the night being almost entirely come, the reverend father +coughed two or three times in a significant manner, and looked towards +the door. At this moment, Hardy, in the height of his frenzy, exclaimed, +with a supplicating voice: "A cell--a tomb--and the Ecstatic Vision!" + +The door of the room opened, and Father d'Aigrigny entered, with a cloak +under his arm. A servant followed him, bearing a light. + +About ten minutes after this scene, a dozen robust men with frank, open +countenances, led by Agricola, entered the Rue de Vaugirard, and advanced +joyously towards the house of the reverend fathers. It was a deputation +from the former workmen of M. Hardy. They came to escort him, and to +congratulate him on his return amongst them. Agricola walked at their +head. Suddenly he saw a carriage with post-horses issuing from the +gateway of the house. The postilion whipped up the horses, and they +started at full gallop. Was it chance or instinct? The nearer the +carriage approached the group of which he formed a part, the more did +Agricola's heart sink within him. + +The impression became so vivid that it was soon changed into a terrible +apprehension; and at the moment when the vehicle, which had its blinds +down, was about to pass close by him, the smith, in obedience to a +resistless impulse, exclaimed, as he rushed to the horses' heads: "Help, +friends! stop them!" + +"Postilion! ten louis if you ride over him!" cried from the carriage the +military voice of Father d'Aigrigny. + +The cholera was still raging. The postilion had heard of the murder of +the poisoners. Already frightened at the sudden attack of Agricola, he +struck him a heavy blow on the head with the butt of his whip which +stretched him senseless on the ground. Then, spurring with all his might, +he urged his three horses into a triple gallop, and the carriage rapidly +disappeared, whilst Agricola's companions, who had neither understood his +actions nor the sense of his words, crowded around the smith, and did +their best to revive him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +REMEMBRANCES. + +Other events took place a few days after the fatal evening in which M. +Hardy, fascinated and misled by the deplorable, mystic jargon of Rodin, +had implored Father d'Aigrigny on his knees to remove him far from Paris, +into some deep solitude where he might devote himself to a life of prayer +and ascetic austerities. Marshal Simon, since his arrival in Paris, had +occupied, with his two daughters, a house in the Rue des Trois-Freres. +Before introducing the reader into this modest dwelling, we are obliged +to recall to his memory some preceding facts. The day of the burning of +Hardy 's factory, Marshal Simon had come to consult with his father on a +question of the highest importance, and to communicate to him his painful +apprehensions on the subject of the growing sadness of his twin +daughters, which he was unable to explain. + +Marshal Simon held in religious reverence the memory of the Great +Emperor. His gratitude to the hero was boundless, his devotion blind, his +enthusiasm founded upon reason, his affection warm as the most sincere +and passionate friendship. But this was not all. + +One day the emperor, in a burst of joy and paternal tenderness, had led +the marshal to the cradle of the sleeping King of Rome, and said to him, +as he proudly pointed to the beautiful child: "My old friend, swear to me +that you will serve the son as you have served the father!" + +Marshal Simon took and kept that vow. During the Restoration, the chief +of a military conspiracy in favor of Napoleon II., he had attempted in +vain to secure a regiment of cavalry, at that time commanded by the +Marquis d'Aigrigny. Betrayed and denounced, the marshal, after a +desperate duel with the future Jesuit, had succeeded in reaching Poland, +and thus escaping a sentence of death. It is useless to repeat the series +of events which led the marshal from Poland to India, and then brought +him back to Paris after the Revolution of July--an epoch at which a +number of his old comrades in arms had solicited and obtained from the +government, without his knowledge, the confirmation of the rank and title +which the emperor had bestowed upon him just before Waterloo. + +On his return to Paris, after his long exile, in spite of all the +happiness he felt in at length embracing his children, Marshal Simon was +deeply affected on learning the death of their mother, whom he adored. +Till the last moment, he had hoped to find her in Paris. The +disappointment was dreadful, and he felt it cruelly, though he sought +consolation in his children's affection. + +But soon new causes of trouble and anxiety were interwoven with his life +by the machinations of Rodin. Thanks to the secret intrigues of the +reverend father at the Courts of Rome and Vienna, one of his emissaries, +in a condition to inspire full confidence, and provided with undeniable +evidence to support his words, went to Marshal Simon, and said to him: +"The son of the emperor is dying, the victim of the fears with which the +name of Napoleon still inspires Europe. + +"From this slow expiring, you, Marshal Simon, one of the emperor's most +faithful friends, are able to rescue this unfortunate prince. + +"The correspondence in my hand proves that it would be easy to open +relations, of the surest and most secret nature, with one of the most +influential persons about the King of Rome, and this person would be +disposed to favor the prince's escape. + +"It is possible, by a bold, unexpected stroke, to deliver Napoleon II. +from the custody of Austria, which would leave him to perish by inches in +an atmosphere that is fatal to him. + +"The enterprise may be a rash one, but it has chances of success that you +Marshal Simon, more than any other, could change into certainties; for +your devotion to the emperor is well known, and we remember with what +adventurous audacity you conspired, in 1815, in favor of Napoleon II." + +The state of languor and decline of the King of Rome was then in France a +matter of public notoriety. People even went so far as to affirm that the +son of the hero was carefully trained by priests, who kept him in +complete ignorance of the glory of his paternal name; and that, by the +most execrable machinations, they strove day by day to extinguish every +noble and generous instinct that displayed itself in the unfortunate +youth. The coldest hearts were touched and softened at the story of so +sad and fatal a destiny. When we remember the heroic character and +chivalrous loyalty of Marshal Simon, and his passionate devotion to the +emperor, we can understand how the father of Rose and Blanche was more +interested than any one else in the fate of the young prince, and how, if +occasion offered, he would feel himself obliged not to confine his +efforts to mere regrets. With regard to the reality of the correspondence +produced by Rodin's emissary, it had been submitted by the marshal to a +searching test, by means of his intimacy with one of his old companions +in arms, who had been for a long period on a mission to Vienna, in the +time of the empire. The result of this investigation, conducted with as +much prudence as address, so that nothing should transpire, showed that +the marshal might give his serious attention to the advances made him. + +Hence, this proposition threw the father of Rose and Blanche into a cruel +perplexity; for, to attempt so bold and dangerous an enterprise, he must +once more abandon his children; whilst, on the contrary, if, alarmed at +this separation, he renounced the endeavor to save the King of Rome, +whose lingering death was perfectly true and well authenticated, the +marshal would consider himself as false to the vow he had sworn to the +emperor. To end these painful hesitations, full of confidence in the +inflexible uprightness of his father's character, the marshal had gone to +ask his advice; unfortunately the old republican workman, mortally +wounded during the attack on M. Hardy's factory, but still pondering over +the serious communication of his son, died with these words upon his +Lips: "My son, you have a great duty to perform, under pain of not acting +like a man of honor, and of disobeying my last will. You must, without +hesitation--" + +But, by a deplorable fatality, the last words, which would have completed +the sense of the old workman's thought, were spoken in so feeble a voice +as to be quite unintelligible. He died, leaving Marshal Simon in a worse +state of anxiety, as one of the two courses open to him had now been +formally condemned by his father, in whose judgment he had the most +implicit and merited confidence. In a word, his mind was now tortured by +the doubt whether his father had intended, in the name of honor and duty, +to advise him not to abandon his children, to engage in so hazardous an +enterprise, or whether, on the contrary, he had wished him to leave them +for a time, to perform the vow made to the emperor, and endeavor at least +to rescue Napoleon II. from a captivity that might soon be mortal. + +This perplexity, rendered more cruel by certain circumstances, to be +related hereafter, the tragical death of his father, who had expired in +his arms; the incessant and painful remembrance of his wife, who had +perished in a land of exile; and finally, the grief he felt at perceiving +the overgrowing sadness of Rose and Blanche, occasioned severe shocks to +Marshal Simon. Let us add that, in spite of his natural intrepidity, so +nobly proved by twenty years of war, the ravages of the cholera, the same +terrible malady to which his wife had fallen a victim in Siberia, filled +the marshal with involuntary dread. Yes, this man of iron nerves, who had +coolly braved death in so many battles, felt the habitual firmness of his +character give way at sight of the scenes of desolation and mourning +which Paris offered at every step. Yet, when Mdlle. de Cardoville +gathered round her the members of her family, to warn them against the +plot of their enemies, the affectionate tenderness of Adrienne for Rose +and Blanche appeared to exercise so happy an influence on their +mysterious sorrow, that the marshal, forgetting for a moment his fatal +regrets, thought only of enjoying this blessed change, which, alas! was +but of short duration. Having now recalled these facts to the mind of the +reader, we shall continue our story. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE BLOCKHEAD + +We have stated that Marshal Simon occupied a small house in the Rue des +Trois-Freres. Two o'clock in the afternoon had just struck in the +marshal's sleeping-chamber, a room furnished with military simplicity. In +the recess, in which stood the bed, hung a trophy composed of the arms +used by the marshal during his campaigns. On the secretary opposite was a +small bronze bust of the emperor, the only ornament of the apartment. Out +of doors the temperature was far from warm, and the marshal had become +susceptible to cold during his long residence in India. A good fire +therefore blazed upon the hearth. A door, concealed by the hangings, and +leading to a back staircase, opened slowly, and a man entered the +chamber. He carried a basket of wood, and advanced leisurely to the +fireplace, before which he knelt clown, and began to arrange the logs +symmetrically in a box that stood besides the hearth. After some minutes +occupied in this manner, still kneeling, he gradually approached another +door, at a little distance from the chimney, and appeared to listen with +deep attention, as if he wished to hear what was passing in the next +room. + +This man, employed as an inferior servant in the house, had the most +ridiculously stupid look that can be imagined. His functions consisted in +carrying wood, running errands, etc. In other respects he was a kind of +laughing-stock to the other servants. In a moment of good humor, +Dagobert, who filled the post of major-domo, had given this idiot the +name of "Loony" (lunatic), which he had retained ever since, and which he +deserved in every respect, as well for his awkwardness and folly as for +his unmeaning face, with its grotesquely flat nose, sloping chin, and +wide, staring eyes. Add to this description a jacket of red stuff, and a +triangular white apron, and we must acknowledge that the simpleton was +quite worthy of his name. + +Yet, at the moment when Loony listened so attentively at the door of the +adjoining room, a ray of quick intelligence animated for an instant his +dull and stupid countenance. + +When he had thus listened for a short time, Loony returned to the +fireplace, still crawling on his knees; then rising, he again took his +basket half full of wood, and once more approaching the door at which he +had listened knocked discreetly. No one answered. He knocked a second +time, and more loudly. Still there was the same silence. + +Then he said, in a harsh, squeaking, laughable voice: "Ladies, do you +want any wood, if you please, for your fire?" + +Receiving no answer, Loony placed his basket on the ground, opened the +door gently, and entered the next room, after casting a rapid glance +around. He came out again in a few seconds, looking from side to side +with an anxious air, like a man who had just accomplished some important +and mysterious task. + +Taking up his basket, he was about to leave Marshal Simon's room, when +the door of the private staircase was opened slowly and with precaution, +and Dagobert appeared. + +The soldier, evidently surprised at the servant's presence, knitted his +brows, and exclaimed abruptly, "What are you doing here?" + +At this sudden interrogation, accompanied by a growl expressive of the +ill-humor of Spoil-sport, who followed close on his master's heels, Loony +uttered a cry of real or pretended terror. To give, perhaps, an +appearance of greater reality to his dread, the supposed simpleton let +his basket fall on the ground, as if astonishment and fear had loosened +his hold of it. + +"What are you doing, numbskull?" resumed Dagobert, whose countenance was +impressed with deep sadness, and who seemed little disposed to laugh at +the fellow's stupidity. + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! how you frighten me! Dear me! what a pity I had not an +armful of plates, to prove it was not my fault if I broke them all." + +"I ask what you are doing," resumed the soldier. + +"You see, M. Dagobert," replied Loony, pointing to his basket, "that I +came with some wood to master's room, so that he might burn it, if it was +cold--which it is." + +"Very well. Pick up your wood, and begone!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! my legs tremble under me. How you did scare me, to be +sure!" + +"Will you begone, brute?" resumed the veteran; and seizing Loony by the +arm, he pushed him towards the door, while Spoil-sport, with recumbent +ears, and hair standing up like the quills of a porcupine, seemed +inclined to accelerate his retreat. + +"I am going, M. Dagobert, I am going," replied the simpleton, as he +hastily gathered up his basket; "only please to tell the dog--" + +"Go to the devil, you stupid chatterbox!" cried Dagobert, as he pushed +Loony through the doorway. + +Then the soldier bolted the door which led to the private staircase, and +going to that which communicated with the apartments of the two sisters, +he double-locked it. Having done this, he hastened to the alcove in which +stood the bed and taking down a pair of loaded pistols, he carefully +removed the percussion caps, and, unable to repress a deep sigh, restored +the weapons to the place in which he had found them. Then, as if on +second thoughts, he took down an Indian dagger with a very sharp blade, +and drawing it from its silver-gilt sheath, proceeded to break the point +of this murderous instrument, by twisting it beneath one of the iron +castors of the bed. + +Dagobert then proceeded to unfasten the two doors, and, returning slowly +to the marble chimney-piece, he leaned against it with a gloomy and +pensive air. Crouching before the fire, Spoil-sport followed with an +attentive eye the least movement of his master. The good dog displayed a +rare and intelligent sagacity. The soldier, having drawn out his +handkerchief, let fall, without perceiving it, a paper containing a roll +of tobacco. Spoil-sport, who had all the qualities of a retriever of the +Rutland race, took the paper between his teeth, and, rising upon his +hind-legs, presented it respectfully to Dagobert. But the latter received +it mechanically, and appeared indifferent to the dexterity of his dog. +The grenadier's countenance revealed as much sorrow as anxiety. After +remaining for some minutes near the fire, with fixed and meditative look, +he began to walk about the room in great agitation, one of his hands +thrust into the bosom of his long blue frock-coat, which was buttoned up +to the chin, and the other into one of his hind-pockets. + +From time to time he stopped abruptly, and seemed to make reply to his +own thoughts, or uttered an exclamation of doubt and uneasiness; then, +turning towards the trophy of arms, he shook his head mournfully, and +murmured, "No matter--this fear may be idle; but he has acted so +extraordinarily these two days, that it is at all events more prudent--" + +He continued his walk, and said, after a new and prolonged silence: "Yes +he must tell me. It makes me too uneasy. And then the poor children--it +is enough to break one's heart." + +And Dagobert hastily drew his moustache between his thumb and forefinger, +a nervous movement, which with him was an evident symptom of extreme +agitation. Some minutes after, the soldier resumed, still answering his +inward thoughts: "What can it be? It is hardly possible to be the +letters, they are too infamous; he despises them. And yet But no, no--he +is above that!" + +And Dagobert again began to walk with hasty steps. Suddenly, Spoil-sport +pricked up his ears, turned his head in the direction of the staircase +door, and growled hoarsely. A few seconds after, some one knocked at the +door. + +"Who is there?" said Dagobert. There was no answer, but the person +knocked again. Losing patience, the soldier went hastily to open it, and +saw the servant's stupid face. + +"Why don't you answer, when I ask who knocks!" said the soldier, angrily. + +"M. Dagobert, you sent me away just now, and I was afraid of making you +cross, if I said I had come again." + +"What do you want? Speak then--come in, stupid!" cried the exasperated. +Dagobert, as he pulled him into the room. + +"M. Dagobert, don't be angry--I'll tell you all about it--it is a young +man." + +"Well?" + +"He wants to speak to you directly, Mr. Dagobert." + +"His name?" + +"His name, M. Dagobert?" replied Loony, rolling about and laughing with +an idiotic air. + +"Yes, his name. Speak, idiot!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! it's all in joke that you ask me his name!" + +"You are determined, fool that you are, to drive me out of my senses!" +cried the soldier, seizing Loony by the collar. "The name of this young +man!" + +"Don't be angry, M. Dagobert. I didn't tell you the name because you know +it." + +"Beast!" said Dagobert, shaking his fist at him. + +"Yes, you do know it, M. Dagobert, for the young man is your own son. He +is downstairs, and wants to speak to you directly--yes, directly." + +The stupidity was so well assumed, that Dagobert was the dupe of it. +Moved to compassion rather than anger by such imbecility, he looked +fixedly at the servant, shrugged his shoulders, and said, as he advanced +towards the staircase, "Follow me!" + +Loony obeyed; but, before closing the door, he drew a letter secretly +from his pocket, and dropped it behind him without turning his head, +saying all the while to Dagobert, for the purpose of occupying his +attention: "Your son is in the court, M. Dagobert. He would not come +up--that's why he is still downstairs!" + +Thus talking, he closed the door, believing he had left the letter on the +floor of Marshal Simon's room. But he had reckoned without Spoil-sport. +Whether he thought it more prudent to bring up the rear, or, from +respectful deference for a biped, the worthy dog had been the last to +leave the room, and, being a famous carrier, as soon as he saw the letter +dropped by Loony, he took it delicately between his teeth, and followed +close on the heels of the servant, without the latter perceiving this new +proof of the intelligence and sagacity of Spoil-sport. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +THE ANONYMOUS LETTERS. + +We will explain presently what became of the letter, which Spoil-sport +held between his teeth, and why he left his master, when the latter ran +to meet Agricola. Dagobert had not seen his son for some days. Embracing +him cordially, he led him into one of the rooms on the ground floor, +which he usually occupied. "And how is your wife?" said the soldier to +his son. + +"She is well, father, thank you." + +Perceiving a great change in Agricola's countenance, Dagobert resumed: +"You look sad. Has anything gone wrong since I saw you last?" + +"All is over, father. We have lost him," said the smith, in a tone of +despair. + +"Lost whom?" + +"M. Hardy." + +"M. Hardy!--why, three days ago, you told me you were going to see him." + +"Yes, father, I have seen him--and my dear brother Gabriel saw him and +spoke to him--how he speaks! with a voice that comes from the heart!--and +he had so revived and encouraged him, that M. Hardy consented to return +amongst us. Then I, wild with joy, ran to tell the good news to some of +my mates, who were waiting to hear the result of nay interview with M. +Hardy. I brought them all with me to thank and bless him. We were within +a hundred yards of the house belonging to the black-gowns--" + +"Ali, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, with a gloomy air. "Then some +mischief will happen. I know them." + +"You are not mistaken, father," answered Agricola, with a sigh. "I was +running on with my comrades, when I saw a carriage coming towards us. +Some presentiment told me that they were taking away M. Hardy." + +"By force!" said Dagobert, hastily. + +"No," answered Agricola, bitterly; "no--the priests are too cunning for +that. They know how to make you an accomplice in the evil they do you. +Shall I not always remember how they managed with my good mother?" + +"Yes, the worthy woman! there was a poor fly caught in the spider's web. +But this carriage, of which you speak?" + +"On seeing it start from the house of the black-gowns," replied Agricola, +"my heart sank within me; and, by an impulse stronger than myself, I +rushed to the horses' heads, calling on my comrades to help me. But the +postilion knocked me down and stunned me with a blow from his whip. When +I recovered my senses, the carriage was already far away." + +"You were not hurt?" cried Dagobert, anxiously, as he examined his son +from top to toe. + +"No, father; a mere scratch." + +"What did you next, my boy?" + +"I hastened to our good angel, Mdlle. de Cardoville, and told her all. +'You must follow M. Hardy on the instant,' said she to me. 'Take my +carriage and post-horses. Dupont will accompany you; follow M. Hardy from +stage to stage; should you succeed in overtaking him your presence and +your prayers may perhaps conquer the fatal influence that these priests +have acquired over him.'" + +"It was the best advice she could give you. That excellent young lady is +always right." + +"An hour after, we were upon our way, for we learned by the returned +postilions, that M. Hardy had taken the Orleans road. We followed him as +far as Etampes. There we heard that he had taken a cross-road, to reach a +solitary house in a valley about four leagues from the highway. They told +us that this house called the Val-de-St. Herem, belonged to certain +priests, and that, as the night was so dark, and the road so bad, we had +better sleep at the inn, and start early in the morning. We followed this +advice, and set out at dawn. In a quarter of an hour, we quitted the +high-road for a mountainous and desert track. We saw nothing but brown +rocks, and a few birch trees. As we advanced, the scene became wilder and +wilder. We might have fancied ourselves a hundred leagues from Paris. At +last we stopped in front of a large, old, black-looking house with only a +few small windows in it, and built at the foot of a high, rocky mountain. +In my whole life I have never seen anything so deserted and sad. We got +out of the carriage, and I rang the bell. A man opened the door. 'Did not +the Abbe d'Aigrigny arrive here last night with a gentleman?' said I to +this man, with a confidential air. 'Inform the gentleman directly, that I +come on business of importance, and that I must see him forthwith.'--The +man, believing me an accomplice, showed us in immediately; a moment +after, the Abbe d'Aigrigny opened the door, saw me, and drew back; yet, +in five minutes more, I was in presence of M. Hardy." + +"Well!" said Dagobert, with interest. + +Agricola shook his head sorrowfully, and replied: "I knew by the very +countenance of M. Hardy, that all was over. Addressing me in a mild but +firm voice, he said to me: 'I understand, I can even excuse, the motives +that bring you hither. But I am quite determined to live henceforth in +solitude and prayer. I take this resolution freely and voluntarily, +because I would fain provide for the salvation of my soul. Tell your +fellows that my arrangements will be such as to leave them a good +remembrance of me.'--And as I was about to speak, M. Hardy interrupted +me, saying: 'It is useless, my friend. My determination is unalterable. +Do not write to me, for your letters would remain unanswered. Prayer will +henceforth be my only occupation. Excuse me for leaving you, but I am +fatigued from my journey!'--He spoke the truth for he was as pale as a +spectre, with a kind of wildness about the eyes, and so changed since the +day before, as to be hardly the same man. His hand, when he offered it on +parting from me, was dry and burning. The Abbe d'Aigrigny soon came in. +'Father,' said M. Hardy to him, 'have the goodness to see M. Baudoin to +the door.'--So saying, he waved his hand to me in token of farewell, and +retired to the next chamber. All was over; he is lost to us forever." + +"Yes," said Dagobert, "those black-gowns have enchanted him, like so many +others." + +"In despair," resumed Agricola, "I returned hither with M. Dupont. This, +then, is what the priests have made of M. Hardy--of that generous man, +who supported nearly three hundred industrious workmen in order and +happiness, increasing their knowledge, improving their hearts, and +earning the benediction of that little people, of which he was the +providence. Instead of all this, M. Hardy is now forever reduced to a +gloomy and unavailing life of contemplation." + +"Oh, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, shuddering, and unable to conceal a +vague sense of fear. "The longer I live, the more I am afraid of them. +You have seen what those people did to your poor mother; you see what +they have just done to M. Hardy; you know their plots against my two poor +orphans, and against that generous young lady. Oh, these people are very +powerful! I would rather face a battalion of Russian grenadiers, than a +dozen of these cassocks. But don't let's talk of it. I have causes enough +beside for grief and fear." + +Then seeing the astonished look of Agricola, the soldier, unable to +restrain his emotion, threw himself into the arms of his son, exclaiming +with a choking voice: "I can hold out no longer. My heart is too full. I +must speak; and whom shall I trust if not you?" + +"Father, you frighten me!" said Agricola, "What is the matter?" + +"Why, you see, had it not been for you and the two poor girls, I should +have blown out my brains twenty times over rather than see what I +see--and dread what I do." + +"What do you dread, father?" + +"Since the last few days, I do not know what has come over the +marshal--but he frightens me." + +"Yet in his last interviews with Mdlle. de Cardoville--" + +"Yes, he was a little better. By her kind words, this generous young lady +poured balm into his wounds; the presence of the young Indian cheered +him; he appeared to shake off his cares, and his poor little girls felt +the benefit of the change. But for some days, I know not what demon has +been loosed against his family. It is enough to turn one's head. First of +all, I am sure that the anonymous letters have begun again." + +"What letters, father?" + +"The anonymous letters." + +"But what are they about?" + +"You know how the marshal hated that renegade, the Abbe d'Aigrigny. When +he found that the traitor was here, and that he had persecuted the two +orphans, even as he persecuted their mother to the death--but that now he +had become a priest--I thought the marshal would have gone mad with +indignation and fury. He wishes to go in search of the renegade. With one +word I calmed him. 'He is a priest,' I said; 'you may do what you will, +insult or strike him--he will not fight. He began by serving against his +country, he ends by becoming a bad priest. It is all in character. He is +not worth spitting upon.'--'But surely I may punish the wrong done to my +children, and avenge the death of my wife,' cried the marshal, much +exasperated.--'They say, as you well know, that there are courts of law +to avenge your wrongs,' answered I; 'Mdlle. de Cardoville has lodged a +charge against the renegade, for having attempted to confine your +daughters in a convent. We must champ the bit and wait."' + +"Yes," said Agricola, mournfully, "and unfortunately there lacks proof to +bring it home to the Abbe d'Aigrigny. The other day, when I was examined +by Mdlle. de Cardoville's lawyer, with regard to our attempt on the +convent, he told me that we should meet with obstacles at every step, for +want of legal evidence, and that the priests had taken their precautions +with so much skill that the indictment would be quashed." + +"That is just what the marshal thinks, my boy, and this increases his +irritation at such injustice." + +"He should despise the wretches." + +"But the anonymous letters!" + +"Well, what of them, father?" + +"You shall know all. A brave and honorable man like the marshal, when his +first movement of indignation was over, felt that to insult the renegade +disguised in the garb of a priest, would be like insulting an old man or +a woman. He determined therefore to despise him, and to forget him as +soon as possible. But then, almost every day, there came by the post +anonymous letters, in which all sorts of devices were employed, to revive +and excite the anger of the marshal against the renegade by reminding him +of all the evil contrived by the Abbe d'Aigrigny against him and his +family. The marshal was reproached with cowardice for not taking +vengeance on this priest, the persecutor of his wife and children, the +insolent mocker at his misfortunes." + +"And from whom do you suspect these letters to come, father?" + +"I cannot tell--it is that which turns one's brain. They must come from +the enemies of the marshal, and he has no enemies but the black-gowns." + +"But, father, since these letters are to excite his anger against the +Abbe d'Aigrigny, they can hardly have been written by priests." + +"That is what I have said to myself." + +"But what, then, can be their object?" + +"Their object? oh, it is too plain!" cried Dagobert. "The marshal is +hasty, ardent; he has a thousand reasons to desire vengeance on the +renegade. But he cannot do himself justice, and the other sort of justice +fails him. Then what does he do? He endeavors to forget, he forgets. But +every day there comes to him an insolent letter, to provoke and +exasperate his legitimate hatred, by mockeries and insults. Devil take +me! my head is not the weakest--but, at such a game, I should go mad." + +"Father, such a plot would be horrible, and only worthy of hell!" + +"And that is not all." + +"What more?" + +"The marshal has received other letters; those he has not shown me--but, +after he had read the first, he remained like a man struck motionless, +and murmured to himself: 'They do not even respect that--oh! it is too +much--too much!'--And, hiding his face in his hands he wept." + +"The marshal wept!" cried the blacksmith, hardly able to believe what he +heard. + +"Yes," answered Dagobert, "he wept like a child." + +"And what could these letters contain, father?" + +"I did not venture to ask him, he appeared so miserable and dejected." + +"But thus harassed and tormented incessantly, the marshal must lead a +wretched life." + +"And his poor little girls too! he sees them grow sadder and sadder, +without being able to guess the cause. And the death of his father, +killed almost in his arms! Perhaps, you will think all this enough; but, +no! I am sure there is something still more painful behind. Lately, you +would hardly know the marshal. He is irritable about nothing, and falls +into such fits of passion, that--" After a moment's hesitation, the +soldier resumed: "I way tell this to you, my poor boy. I have just been +upstairs, to take the caps from his pistols." + +"What, father!" cried Agricola; "you fear--" + +"In the state of exasperation in which I saw him yesterday, there is +everything to fear." + +"What then happened?" + +"Since some time, he has often long secret interviews with a gentleman, +who looks like an old soldier and a worthy man. I have remarked that the +gloom and agitation of the marshal are always redoubled after one of +these visits. Two or three times, I have spoken to him about it; but I +saw by his look, that I displeased him, and therefore I desisted. + +"Well! yesterday, this gentleman came in the evening. He remained here +until eleven o'clock, and his wife came to fetch him, and waited for him +in a coach. After his departure, I went up to see if the marshal wanted +anything. He was very pale, but calm; he thanked me, and I came down +again. You know that my room is just under his. I could hear the marshal +walking about as if much agitated, and soon after he seemed to be +knocking down the furniture. In alarm, I once more went upstairs. He +asked me, with an irritated air, what I wanted, and ordered me to leave +the room. Seeing him in that way, I remained; he grew more angry, still I +remained; perceiving a chair and table thrown down, I pointed to them +with so sad an air that he understood me. You know that he has the best +heart in the world, so, taking me by the hand, he said to me: 'Forgive me +for causing you this uneasiness, my good Dagobert; but just now, I lost +my senses, and gave way to a burst of absurd fury; I think I should have +thrown myself out of the window, had it been open. I only hope, that my +poor dear girls have not heard me,' added he, as he went on tip-toe to +open the door which communicates with his daughters' bedroom. When he had +listened anxiously for a moment, he returned to me, and said: 'Luckily, +they are asleep.'--Then I asked him what was the cause of his agitation, +and if, in spite of my precautions, he had received any more anonymous +letters. 'No,' replied he, with a gloomy air; 'but leave me, my friend. I +am now better. It has done me good to see you. Good--night, old comrade! +go downstairs to bed.'--I took care not to contradict him; but, +pretending to go down, I came up again, and seated myself on the top +stair, listening. No doubt, to calm himself entirely, the marshal went to +embrace his children, for I heard him open and shut their door. Then he +returned to his room, and walked about for a long time, but with a more +quiet step. At last, I heard him throw himself on his bed, and I came +down about break of day. After that, all remained tranquil." + +"But whatever can be the matter with him, father?" + +"I do not know. When I went up to him, I was astonished at the agitation +of his countenance, and the brilliancy of his eyes. He would have looked +much the same, had he been delirious, or in a burning fever--so that, +when I heard him say, he could have thrown himself out of the window, had +it been open, I thought it more prudent to remove the caps from his +pistols." + +"I cannot understand it!" said Agricola. "So firm, intrepid, and cool a +man as the marshal, a prey to such violence!" + +"I tell you that something very extraordinary is passing within him. For +two days, he has not been to see his children, which is always a bad sign +with him--to say nothing of the poor little angels themselves, who are +miserable at the notion that they have displeased their father. They +displease him! If you only knew the life they lead, dear creatures! a +walk or ride with me and their companion, for I never let them go out +alone, and, the rest of their time, at their studies, reading, or +needlework--always together--and then to bed. Yet their duenna, who is, I +think, a worthy woman, tells me that sometimes at night, she has seen +them shed tears in their sleep. Poor children! they have hitherto known +but little happiness," added the soldier, with a sigh. + +At this moment, hearing some one walk hastily across the courtyard, +Dagobert raised his eyes, and saw Marshal Simon, with pale face and +bewildered air, holding in his two hands a letter, which he seemed to +read with devouring anxiety. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THE GOLDEN CITY. + +While Marshal Simon was crossing the little court with so agitated an +air, reading the anonymous letter, which he had received by Spoil-sport's +unexpected medium, Rose and Blanche were alone together, in the sitting +room they usually occupied, which had been entered for a moment by Loony +during their absence. The poor children seemed destined to a succession +of sorrows. At the moment their mourning for their mother drew near its +close, the tragical death of their grandfather had again dressed them in +funereal weeds. They were seated together upon a couch, in front of their +work-table. Grief often produces the effect of years. Hence, in a few +months, Rose and Blanche had become quite young women. To the infantine +grace of their charming faces, formerly so plump and rosy, but now pale +and thin, had succeeded an expression of grave and touching sadness. +Their large, mild eyes of limpid azure, which always had a dreamy +character, were now never bathed in those joyous tears, with which a +burst of frank and hearty laughter used of old to adorn their silky +lashes, when the comic coolness of Dagobert, or some funny trick of +Spoil-sport, cheered them in the course of their long and weary +pilgrimage. + +In a word, those delightful faces, which the flowery pencil of Greuze +could alone have painted in all their velvet freshness, were now worthy +of inspiring the melancholy ideal of the immortal Ary Scheffer, who gave +us Mignon aspiring to Paradise, and Margaret dreaming of Faust. Rose, +leaning back on the couch, held her head somewhat bowed upon her bosom, +over which was crossed a handkerchief of black crape. The light streaming +from a window opposite, shone softly on her pure, white forehead, crowned +by two thick bands of chestnut hair. Her look was fixed, and the open +arch of her eyebrows, now somewhat contracted, announced a mind occupied +with painful thoughts. Her thin, white little hands had fallen upon her +knees, but still held the embroidery, on which she had been engaged. The +profile of Blanche was visible, leaning a little towards her sister, with +an expression of tender and anxious solicitude, whilst her needle +remained in the canvas, as if she had just ceased to work. + +"Sister," said Blanche, in a low voice, after some moments of silence, +during which the tears seemed to mount to her eyes, "tell me what you are +thinking of. You look so sad." + +"I think of the Golden City of our dreams," replied Rose, almost in a +whisper, after another short silence. + +Blanche understood the bitterness of these words. Without speaking, she +threw herself on her sister's neck, and wept. Poor girls! the Golden City +of their dreams was Paris, with their father in it--Paris, the marvellous +city of joys and festivals, through all of which the orphans had beheld +the radiant and smiling countenance of their sire! But, alas! the +Beautiful City had been changed into a place of tears, and death, and +mourning. The same terrible pestilence which had struck down their mother +in the heart of Siberia, seemed to have followed them like a dark and +fatal cloud, which, always hovering above them, hid the mild blue of the +sky, and the joyous light of the sun. + +The Golden City of their dreams! It was the place, where perhaps one day +their father would present to them two young lovers, good and fair as +themselves. "They love you," he was to say; "they are worthy of you. Let +each of you have a brother, and me two sons." Then what chaste, +enchanting confusion for those two orphans, whose hearts, pure as +crystal, had never reflected any image but that of Gabriel, the celestial +messenger sent by their mother to protect them! + +We can therefore understand the painful emotion of Blanche, when she +heard her sister repeat, with bitter melancholy, those words which +described their whole situation: "I think of the Golden City of our +dreams!" + +"Who knows?" proceeded Blanche, drying her sister's tears; "perhaps, +happiness may yet be in store for us." + +"Alas! if we are not happy with our father by us--shall we ever be so?" + +"Yes, when we rejoin our mother," said Blanche, lifting her eyes to +heaven. + +"Then, sister, this dream may be a warning--it is so like that we had in +Germany." + +"The difference being that then the Angel Gabriel came down from heaven +to us, and that this time he takes us from earth, to our mother." + +"And this dream will perhaps come true, like the other, my sister. We +dreamt that the Angel Gabriel would protect us, and he came to save us +from the shipwreck." + +"And, this time, we dream that he will lead us to heaven. Why should not +that happen also?" + +"But to bring that about, sister, our Gabriel, who saved us from the +shipwreck, must die also. No, no; that must not happen. Let us pray that +it may not happen." + +"No, it will not happen--for it is only Gabriel's good angel, who is so +like him, that we saw in our dreams." + +"Sister, dear, how singular is this dream!--Here, as in Germany, we have +both dreamt the same--three times, the very same!" + +"It is true. The Angel Gabriel bent over us, and looked at us with so +mild and sad an air, saying: 'Come, my children! come, my sisters! Your +mother waits for you. Poor children, arrived from so far!' added he in +his tender voice: 'You have passed over the earth, gentle and innocent as +two doves, to repose forever in the maternal nest.'" + +"Yes, those were the words of the archangel," said the other orphan, with +a pensive air; "we have done no harm to any one, and we have loved those +who loved us--why should we fear to die?" + +"Therefore, dear sister, we rather smiled than wept, when he took us by +the hand, and, spreading wide his beautiful white wings, carried us along +with him to the blue depths of the sky." + +"To heaven, where our dear mother waited for us with open arms, her face +all bathed in tears." + +"Oh, sweet sister! one has not dreams like ours for nothing. And then," +added she, looking at Rose, with a sad smile that went to the heart, "our +death might perhaps end the sorrow, of which we have been the cause." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. We love him so much. But we are so timid and +sorrowful before him, that he may perhaps think we love him not." + +So saying, Rose took her handkerchief from her workbasket, to dry her +fears; a paper, folded in the form of a letter, fell out. + +At this sight, the two shuddered, and pressed close to one mother, and +Rose said to Blanche, in a trembling voice: "Another of these +letters!--Oh, I am afraid! It will doubtless be like the last." + +"We must pick it up quickly, that it may not be seen," said Blanche, +hastily stooping to seize the letter; "the people who take interest in us +might otherwise be exposed to great danger." + +"But how could this letter come to us?" + +"How did the others come to be placed right under our hand, and always in +the absence of our duenna?" + +"It is true. Why seek to explain the mystery? We should never be able to +do so. Let us read the letter. It will perhaps be more favorable to us +than the last." And the two sisters read as follows:-"Continue to love +your father, dear children, for he is very miserable, and you are the +involuntary cause of his distress. You will never know the terrible +sacrifices that your presence imposes on him; but, alas! he is the victim +of his paternal duties. His sufferings are more cruel than ever; spare +him at least those marks of tenderness, which occasion him so much more +pain than pleasure. Each caress is a dagger-stroke, for he sees in you +the innocent cause of his misfortunes. Dear children, you must not +therefore despair. If you have enough command over yourselves, not to +torture him by the display of too warm a tenderness, if you can mingle +some reserve with your affection, you will greatly alleviate his sorrow. +Keep these letters a secret from every one, even from good Dagobert, who +loves you so much; otherwise, both he and you, your father, and the +unknown friend who is writing to you, will be exposed to the utmost +peril, for your enemies are indeed formidable. Courage and hope! May your +father's tenderness be once more free from sorrow and regret!--That happy +day is perhaps not so far distant. Burn this letter like all the others!" + +The above note was written with so much cunning that, even supposing the +orphans had communicated it to their father or Dagobert, it would at the +worst have been considered a strange, intrusive proceeding, but almost +excusable from the spirit in which it was conceived. Nothing could have +been contrived with more perfidious art, if we consider the cruel +perplexity in which Marshal Simon was struggling between the fear of +again leaving his children and the shame of neglecting what he considered +a sacred duty. All the tenderness, all the susceptibility of heart which +distinguished the orphans, had been called into play by these diabolical +counsels, and the sisters soon perceived that their presence was in fact +both sweet and painful to their father; for sometimes he felt himself +incapable of leaving them, and sometimes the thought of a neglected duty +spread a cloud of sadness over his brow. Hence the poor twins could not +fail to value the fatal meaning of the anonymous letters they received. +They were persuaded that, from some mysterious motive, which they were +unable to penetrate, their presence was often importunate and even +painful to their father. Hence the growing sadness of Rose and +Blanche--hence the sort of fear and reserve which restrained the +expression of their filial tenderness. A most painful situation for the +marshal, who deceived by inexplicable appearances, mistook, in his turn, +their manner of indifference to him--and so, with breaking heart, and +bitter grief upon his face, often abruptly quitted his children to +conceal his tears! + +And the desponding orphans said to each other: "We are the cause of our +father's grief. It is our presence which makes him so unhappy." + +The reader may new judge what ravages such a thought, when fixed and +incessant, must have made on these young, loving, timid, and simple +hearts. Haw could the orphans be on their guard against such anonymous +communications, which spoke with reverence of all they loved, and seemed +every day justified by the conduct of their father? Already victims of +numerous plots, and hearing that they were surrounded by enemies, we can +understand, how faithful to the advice of their unknown friend, they +forbore to confide to Dagobert these letters, in which he was so justly +appreciated. The object of the proceeding was very plain. By continually +harassing the marshal on all sides, and persuading him of the coldness of +his children, the conspirators might naturally hope to conquer the +hesitation which had hitherto prevented his again quitting his daughters +to embark in a dangerous enterprise. To render the marshal's life so +burdensome that he would desire to seek relief from his torments in airy +project of daring and generous chivalry, was one of the ends proposed by +Rodin--and, as we have seen, it wanted neither logic nor possibility. + +After having read the letter, the two remained for a moment silent and +dejected. Then Rose, who held the paper in her hand, started up suddenly, +approached the chimneypiece, and threw the letter into the fire, saying, +with a timid air: "We must burn it quickly, or perhaps some great danger +will ensue." + +"What greater misfortune can happen to us," said Blanche, despondingly, +"than to cause such sorrow to our father? What can be the reason of it?" + +"Perhaps," said Rose, whose tears were slowly trickling down her cheek, +"he does not find us what he could have desired. He may love us well as +the children of our poor mother, but we are not the daughters he had +dreamed of. Do you understand me, sister?" + +"Yes, yes--that is perhaps what occasioned all his sorrow. We are so +badly informed, so wild, so awkward, that he is no doubt ashamed of us; +and, as he loves us in spite of all, it makes him suffer." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. Our dear mother brought us up in the deserts +of Siberia as well as she could." + +"Oh! father himself does not reproach us with it; only it gives him +pain." + +"Particularly if he has friends whose daughters are very beautiful, and +possessed of all sorts of talents. Then he must bitterly regret that we +are not the same." + +"Dost remember when he took us to see our cousin, Mdlle. Adrienne, who +was so affectionate and kind to us, that he said to us, with admiration: +'Did you notice her, my children? How beautiful she is, and what talent, +what a noble heart, and therewith such grace and elegance!'" + +"Oh, it is very true! Mdlle. de Cardoville is so beautiful, her voice is +so sweet and gentle, that, when we saw and heard her, we fancied that all +our troubles were at an end." + +"And it is because of such beauty, no doubt, that our father, comparing +us with our cousin and so many other handsome young ladies, cannot be +very proud of us. And he, who is so loved and honored, would have liked +to have been proud of his daughters." + +Suddenly Rose laid her hand on her sister's arm, and said to her, with +anxiety: "Listen! listen! they are talking very loud in father's +bedroom." + +"Yes," said Blanche, listening in her turn; "and I can hear him walking. +That is his step." + +"Good heaven! how he raises his voice; he seems to be in a great passion; +he will perhaps come this way." + +And at the thought of their father's coming--that father who really +adored them--the unhappy children looked in terror at each other. The +sound of a loud and angry voice became more and more distinct; and Rose, +trembling through all her frame, said to her sister: "Do not let us +remain here! Come into our room." + +"Why?" + +"We should hear, without designing it, the words of our father--and he +does not perhaps know that we are so near." + +"You are right. Come, come!" answered Blanche, as she rose hastily from +her seat. + +"Oh! I am afraid. I have never heard him speak in so angry a tone." + +"Oh! kind heaven!" said Blanche, growing pale, as she stopped +involuntarily. "It is to Dagobert that he is talking so loud." + +"What can be the matter--to make our father speak to him in that way?" + +"Alas! some great misfortune must have happened." + +"Oh, sister! do not let us remain here! It pains me too much to hear +Dagobert thus spoken to." + +The crash of some article, hurled with violence and broken to pieces in +the next room, so frightened the orphans, that, pale and trembling with +emotion, they rushed into their own apartment, and fastened the door. We +must now explain the cause of Marshal Simon's violent anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE STUNG LION. + +This was the scene, the sound of which had so terrified Rose and Blanche. +At first alone in his chamber, in a state of exasperation difficult to +describe, Marshal Simon had begun to walk hastily up and down, his +handsome, manly face inflamed with rage, his eyes sparkling with +indignation, while on his broad forehead, crowned with short-cut hair +that was now turning gray, large veins, of which you might count the +pulsations, were swollen almost to bursting; and sometimes his thick, +black moustache was curled with a convulsive motion, not unlike that +which is seen in the visage of a raging lion. And even as the wounded +lion, in its fury, harassed and tortured by a thousand invisible darts, +walks up and down its den with savage wrath, so Marshal Simon paced the +floor of his room, as if bounding from side to side; sometimes he +stooped, as though bending beneath the weight of his anger; sometimes, on +the contrary, he paused abruptly, drew himself up to his full height, +crossed his arms upon his vigorous chest, and with raised brow, +threatening and terrible look, seemed to defy some invisible enemy, and +murmur confused exclamations. Then he stood like a man of war and battle +in all his intrepid fire. + +And now he stamped angrily with his foot, approached the chimney-piece, +and pulled the bell so violently that the bell-rope remained in his hand. +A servant hastened to attend to this precipitate summons. "Did you not +tell Dagobert that I wished to speak to him?" cried the marshal. + +"I executed your grace's orders, but M. Dagobert was accompanying his son +to the door, and--" + +"Very well!" interrupted Marshal Simon, with an abrupt and imperious +gesture. + +The servant went out, and his master continued to walk up and down with +impatient steps, crumpling, in his rage, a letter that he held in his +left hand. This letter had been innocently delivered by Spoil-sport, who, +seeing him come in, had run joyously to meet him. At length the door +opened, and Dagobert appeared. "I have been waiting for you a long time, +sirrah!" cried the marshal, in an irritated tone. + +Dagobert, more pained than surprised at this burst of anger, which he +rightly attributed to the constant state of excitement in which the +marshal had now been for some time past, answered mildly: "I beg your +pardon, general, but I was letting out my son--" + +"Read that, sir!" said the marshal abruptly, giving him the letter. + +While Dagobert was reading it, the marshal resumed, with growing anger, +as he kicked over a chair that stood in his way: "Thus, even in my own +house, there are wretches bribed to harass me with incredible +perseverance. Well! have you read it, sir?" + +"It is a fresh insult to add to the others," said Dagobert, coolly, as he +threw the letter into the fire. + +"The letter is infamous--but it speaks the truth," replied the marshal. +Dagobert looked at him in amazement. + +"And can you tell who brought me this infamous letter" continued the +marshal. "One would think the devil had a hand in it--for it was your +dog!" + +"Spoil-sport?" said Dagobert, in the utmost surprise. + +"Yes," answered the marshal, bitterly; "it is no doubt a joke of your +invention." + +"I have no heart for joking, general," answered Dagobert, more and more +saddened by the irritable state of the marshal; "I cannot explain how it +happened. Spoil-sport is a good carrier, and no doubt found the letter in +the house--" + +"And who can have left it there? Am I surrounded by traitors? Do you keep +no watch? You, in whom I have every confidence?" + +"Listen to me, general--" + +But the marshal proceeded, without waiting to hear him. "What! I have +made war for five-and-twenty years, I have battled with armies, I have +struggled victoriously through the evil times of exile and proscription, +I have withstood blows from maces of iron--and now I am to be killed with +pins! Pursued into my own house, harassed with impunity, worn out, +tortured every minute, to gratify some unknown, miserable hate!--When I +say unknown, I am wrong--it is d'Aigrigny, the renegade, who is at the +bottom of all this, I am sure. I have in the world but one enemy, and he +is the man. I must finish with him, for I am weary of this--it is too +much." + +"But, general, remember he is a priest--" + +"What do I care for that? Have I not seen him handle the sword? I will +yet make a soldier's blood rise to the forehead of the traitor!" + +"But, general--" + +"I tell you, that I must be avenged on some one," cried the marshal, with +an accent of the most violent exasperation; "I tell you, that I mast find +a living representative of these cowardly plots, that I may at once make +an end of him!--They press upon me from all sides; they make my life a +hell--you know it--and you do nothing to save me from these tortures, +which are killing me as by a slow fire. Can I have no one in whom to +trust?" + +"General, I can't let you say that," replied Dagobert, in a calm, but +firm voice. + +"And why not?" + +"General, I can't let you say that you have no one to trust to. You might +end perhaps in believing it, and then it would be even worse for +yourself, than for those who well know their devotion for you, and would +go through fire and water to serve you. I am one of them--and you know +it." + +These simple words, pronounced by Dagobert with a tone of deep +conviction, recalled the marshal to himself; for although his honorable +and generous character might from time to time be embittered by +irritation and grief, he soon recovered his natural equanimity. So, +addressing Dagobert in a less abrupt tone, he said to him, though still +much agitated: "You are right. I could never doubt your fidelity. But +anger deprives me of my senses. This infamous letter is enough to drive +one mad. I am unjust, ungrateful--yes, ungrateful--and to you!" + +"Do not think of me, general. With a kind word at the end, you might blow +me up all the year round. But what has happened?" + +The general's countenance again darkened, as he answered rapidly: "I am +looked down upon, and despised!" + +"You?" + +"Yes I. After all," resumed the marshal bitterly, "why should I conceal +from you this new wound? If I doubted you a moment, I owe you some +compensation, and you shall know all. For some time past, I perceived +that, when I meet any of my old companions in arms, they try to avoid +me--" + +"What! was it to this that the anonymous letter alluded?" + +"Yes; and it spoke the truth," replied the marshal, with a sigh of grief +and indignation. + +"But it is impossible, general--you are so loved and respected--" + +"Those are mere words; I speak of positive facts. When I appear, the +conversation is often interrupted. Instead of treating me as an old +comrade, they affect towards me a rigorously cold politeness. There are a +thousand little shades, a thousand trifles, which wound the heart, but +which it is impossible to notice--" + +"What you are now saying, general, quite confounds me," replied Dagobert. +"You assure me of it, and I am forced to believe you." + +"Oh, it is intolerable! I was resolved to ease my heart of it; so, this +morning, I went to General d'Havrincourt, who was colonel with me in the +Imperial Guard; he is honor and honesty itself. I went to him with open +heart. 'I perceive,' said I, 'the coldness that is shown me. Some calumny +must be circulating to my disadvantage. Tell me all about it. Knowing the +attack, I shall be able to defend myself--' + +"Well, general?" + +"D'Havrincourt remained impassible ceremoniously polite. To all my +questions he answered coldly: 'I am not aware, my lord duke, that any +calumny has been circulated with regard to you.'--'Do not call me "my +lord duke," my dear D'Havrincourt; we are old fellow-soldiers and +friends, my honor is somewhat touchy, I confess, and I find that you and +our comrades do not receive me so cordially, as in times past. You do not +deny it; I see, I know, I feel it.' To all this D'Havrincourt answered, +with the same coldness: 'I have never seen any one wanting in respect +towards you.'--'I am not talking of respect,' exclaimed I, as I clasped +his hand affectionately, though I observed that he but feebly returned +the pressure; 'I speak of cordiality, confidence, which I once enjoyed, +while now I am treated like a stranger. Why is it? What has occasioned +this change?'--Still cold and reserved, he answered: 'These distinctions +are so nice, marshal, that it is impossible for me to give you any +opinion on the subject.'--My heart swelled with grief and anger. What was +I to do? To quarrel with D'Havrincourt would have been absurd. A sense of +dignity forced me to break off the interview, but it has only confirmed +my fears. Thus," added the marshal, getting more and more animated, "thus +am I fallen from the esteem to which I am entitled, thus am I despised, +without even knowing the cause! Is it not odious? If they would only +utter a charge against me--I should at least be able to defend myself, +and to find an answer. But no, no! not even a word--only the cold +politeness that is worse than any insult. Oh! it is too much, too much! +for all this comes but in addition to other cares. What a life is mine +since the death of my father! If I did but find rest and happiness at +home--but no! I come in, but to read shameful letters; and still worse," +added the marshal, in a heartrending tone, and after a moment's +hesitation, "to find my children grow more and more indifferent towards +me--"Yes," continued he, perceiving the amazement of Dagobert, "and yet +they know how much I love them!" + +"Your daughters indifferent!" exclaimed Dagobert, in astonishment. "You +make them such a reproach?" + +"Oh! I do not blame them. They have hardly had time to know me." + +"Not had time to know you?" returned the soldier, in a tone of +remonstrance, and warming up in his turn. "Ah! of what did their mother +talk to them, except you? and I too! what could I teach your children +except to know and love you?" + +"You take their part--that is natural--they love you better than they do +me," said the marshal, with growing bitterness. Dagobert felt himself so +painfully affected, that he looked at the marshal without answering. + +"Yes!" continued the other; "yes! it may be base and ungrateful--but no +matter!--Twenty times I have felt jealous of the affectionate confidence +which my children display towards you, while with me they seem always to +be in fear. If their melancholy faces ever grow animated for a moment, it +is in talking to you, in seeing you; while for me they have nothing but +cold respect--and that kills me. Sure of the affection of my children, I +would have braved and surmounted every difficulty--" Then, seeing that +Dagobert rushed towards the door which led to the chamber of Rose and +Blanche, the marshal asked: "Where are you going?" + +"For your daughters, general." + +"What for?" + +"To bring them face to face with you--to tell them: 'My children, your +father thinks that you do not love him.'--I will only say that--and then +you will see." + +"Dagobert! I forbid you to do it," cried the marshal, hastily. + +"I don't care for that--you have no right to be unjust to the poor +children," said the soldier, as he again advanced towards the door. + +"Dagobert, I command you to remain here," cried the marshal. + +"Listen to me, general. I am your soldier, your inferior, your servant, +if you will," said the old grenadier, roughly; "but neither rank nor +station shall keep me silent, when I have to defend your daughters. All +must be explained--I know but one way--and that is to bring honest people +face to face." + +If the marshal had not seized him by the arm, Dagobert would have entered +the apartment of the young girls. + +"Remain!" said the marshal, so imperiously that the soldier, accustomed +to obedience, hung his head, and stood still. + +"What would you do?" resumed the marshal. "Tell my children, that I think +they do not love me? induce them to affect a tenderness they do not +feel--when it is not their fault, but mine?" + +"Oh, general!" said Dagobert, in a tone of despair, "I no longer feel +anger, in hearing you speak thus of your children. It is such grief, that +it breaks my heart!" + +Touched by the expression of the soldier's countenance, the marshal +continued, less abruptly: "Come, I may be wrong; and yet I ask you, +without bitterness or jealousy, are not my children more confiding, more +familiar, with you than with me?" + +"God bless me, general!" cried Dagobert; "if you come to that, they are +more familiar with Spoil-sport than with either of us. You are their +father; and, however kind a father may be, he must always command some +respect. Familiar with me! I should think so. A fine story! What the +devil should they respect in me, who, except that I am six feet high, and +wear a moustache, might pass for the old woman that nursed them?--and +then I must say, that, even before the death of your worthy father, you +were sad and full of thought; the children have remarked that; and what +you take for coldness on their part, is, I am sure, anxiety for you. +Come, general; you are not just. You complain, because they love you too +much." + +"I complain, because I suffer," said the marshal, in an agony of +excitement. "I alone know my sufferings." + +"They must indeed be grievous, general," said Dagobert, carried further +than he would otherwise have gone by his attachment for the orphans, +"since those who love you feel them so cruelly." + +"What, sir! more reproaches?" + +"Yes, general, reproaches," cried Dagobert. "Your children have the right +to complain of you, since you accuse them so unjustly." + +"Sir," said the marshal, scarcely able to contain himself, "this is +enough--this is too much!" + +"Oh, yes! it is enough," replied Dagobert, with rising emotion. "Why +defend unfortunate children, who can only love and submit? Why defend +them against your unhappy blindness?" + +The marshal started with anger and impatience, but then replied, with a +forced calmness: "I needs must remember all that I owe you--and I will +not forget it, say what you will." + +"But, general," cried Dagobert, "why will you not let me fetch your +children?" + +"Do you not see that this scene is killing me?" cried the exasperated +marshal. "Do you not understand, that I will not have my children witness +what I suffer? A father's grief has its dignity, sir; and you ought to +feel for and respect it." + +"Respect it? no--not when it is founded on injustice!" + +"Enough, sir--enough!" + +"And not content with tormenting yourself," cried Dagobert, unable any +longer to control his feelings, "do you know what you will do? You will +make your children die of sorrow. Was it for this, that I brought them to +you from the depths of Siberia?" + +"More reproaches!" + +"Yes; for the worst ingratitude towards me, is to make your children +unhappy." + +"Leave the room, sir!" cried the marshal, quite beside himself, and so +terrible with rage and grief, that Dagobert, regretting that he had gone +so far, resumed: "I was wrong, general. I have perhaps been wanting in +respect to you--forgive me--but--" + +"I forgive you--only leave me!" said the marshal, hardly restraining +himself. + +"One word, general--" + +"I entreat you to leave me--I ask it as a service--is that enough?" said +the marshal, with renewed efforts to control the violence of his +emotions. + +A deadly paleness succeeded to the high color which during this painful +scene had inflamed the cheeks of the marshal. Alarmed at this symptom, +Dagobert redoubled his entreaties. "I implore you, general," said he, in +an agitated mice, "to permit me for one moment--" + +"Since you will have it so, sir, I must be the one to leave," said the +marshal, making a step towards the door. + +These words were said in such a manner, that Dagobert could no longer +resist. He hung his head in despair, looked for a moment in silent +supplication at the marshal, and then, as the latter seemed yielding to a +new movement of rage, the soldier slowly quitted the room. + +A few minutes had scarcely elapsed since the departure of Dagobert, when +the marshal, who, after a long and gloomy silence, had repeatedly drawn +near the door of his daughters' apartment with a mixture of hesitation +and anguish, suddenly made a violent effort, wiped the cold sweat from +his brow, and entered the chamber in which Rose and Blanche had taken +refuge. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +THE TEST. + +Dagobert was right in defending his children, as he paternally called +Rose and Blanche, and yet the apprehensions of the marshal with regard to +the coldness of his daughters, were unfortunately justified by +appearances. As he had told his father, unable to explain the sad, and +almost trembling embarrassment, which his daughters felt in his presence, +he sought in vain for the cause of what he termed their indifference. Now +reproaching himself bitterly for not concealing from them his grief at +the death of their mother, he feared he might have given them to +understand that they would be unable to console him; now supposing that +he had not shown himself sufficiently tender, and that had chilled them +with his military sternness; and now repeating with bitter regret, that, +having always lived away from them, he must be always a stranger to them. +In a word, the most unlikely suppositions presented themselves by turns +to his mind, and whenever such seeds of doubt, suspicion, or fear, are +blended with a warm affection, they will sooner or later develop +themselves with fatal effect. Yet, notwithstanding this fancied coldness, +from which he suffered so much, the affection of the marshal for his +daughters was so true and deep, that the thought of again quitting them +caused the hesitations which were the torment of his life, and provoked +an incessant struggle between his paternal love and the duty he held most +sacred. + +The injurious calumnies, which had been so skillfully propagated, that +men of honor, like his old brothers in arms, were found to attach some +credit to them, had been spread with frightful pertinacity by the friends +of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. We shall describe hereafter the meaning +and object of these odious reports, which, joined with so many other +fatal injuries, had filled up the measure of the marshal's indignation. +Inflamed with anger, excited almost to madness by this incessant +"stabbing with pins" (as he had himself called it), and offended at some +of Dagobert's words, he had spoken harshly to him. But, after the +soldier's departure, when left to reflect in silence, the marshal +remembered the warm and earnest expressions of the defender of his +children, and doubt crossed his mind, as to the reality of the coldness +of which he accused them. Therefore, having taken a terrible resolution +in case a new trial should confirm his desponding doubts, he entered, as +we before said, his, daughters' chamber. The discussion with Dagobert had +been so loud, that the sound of the voices had confusedly reached the +ears of the two sisters, even after they had taken refuge in their +bedroom. So that, on the arrival of their father, their pale faces +betrayed their fear and anxiety. At sight of the marshal, whose +countenance was also much agitated, the girls rose respectfully, but +remained close together, trembling in each other's arms. And yet there +was neither anger nor severity on their father's face--only a deep, +almost supplicating grief, which seemed to say: "My children, I suffer--I +have come to you--console me, love me! or I shall die!" + +The marshal's countenance was at this moment so expressive, that, the +first impulse of fear once surmounted, the sisters were about to throw +themselves into his arms; but remembering the recommendations of the +anonymous letter, which told them how painful any effusion of their +tenderness was to their father, they exchanged a rapid glance, and +remained motionless. By a cruel fatality, the marshal at this moment +burned to open his arms to his children. He looked at them with love, he +even made a slight movement as if to call them to him; but he would not +attempt more, for fear of meeting with no response. Still the poor +children, paralyzed by perfidious counsels, remained mute, motionless, +trembling! + +"It is all over," thought he, as he gazed upon them. "No chord of +sympathy stirs in their bosom. Whether I go---whether I remain--matters +not to them. No, I am nothing to these children--since, at this awful +moment, when they see me perhaps for the last time, no filial instinct +tells them that their affection might save me still!" + +During these terrible reflections, the marshal had not taken his eyes off +his children, and his manly countenance assumed an expression at once so +touching and mournful--his look revealed so painfully the tortures of his +despairing soul--that Rose and Blanche, confused, alarmed, but yielding +together to a spontaneous movement, threw themselves on their father's +neck, and covered him with tears and caresses. Marshal Simon had not +spoken a word; his daughters had not uttered a sound; and yet all three +had at length understood one another. A sympathetic shock had electrified +and mingled those three hearts. Vain fears, false doubts, lying counsel, +all had yielded to the irresistible emotion which had brought the +daughters to their father's arms. A sudden revelation gave them faith, at +the fatal moment when incurable suspicion was about to separate them +forever. + +In a second, the marshal felt all this, but words failed him. Pale, +bewildered, kissing the brows, the hair, the hands of his daughters, +weeping, sighing, smiling all in turn, he was wild, delirious, drunk with +happiness. At length, he exclaimed: "I have found them--or rather, I have +never lost them. They loved me, and did not dare to tell me so. I +overawed them. And I thought it was my fault. Heavens! what good that +does! what strength, what heart, what hope!--Ha! ha!" cried he, laughing +and weeping at the same time, whilst he covered his children with +caresses; "they may despise me now, they may harass me now--I defy them +all. My own blue eyes! my sweet blue eyes! look at me well, and inspire +me with new life." + +"Oh, father! you love us then as much as we love you?" cried Rose, with +enchanting simplicity. + +"And we may often, very often, perhaps every day, throw ourselves on your +neck, embrace you, and prove how glad we are to be with you?" + +"Show you, dear father, all the store of love we were heaping up in our +hearts--so sad, alas! that we could not spend it upon you?" + +"Tell you aloud all that we think in secret?" + +"Yes--you may do so--you may do so," said Marshal Simon, faltering with +joy; "what prevented you, my children? But no; do not answer; enough of +the past!--I know all, I understand all. You misinterpreted my gloom, and +it made you sad; I, in my turn, misinterpreted your sadness. But never +mind; I scarcely know what I am saying to you. I only think of looking at +you--and it dazzles me--it confuses me--it is the dizziness of joy!" + +"Oh, look at us, father! look into our eyes, into our hearts," cried +Rose, with rapture. + +"And you will read there, happiness for us, and love for you, sir!" added +Blanche. + +"Sir, sir!" said the marshal, in a tone of affectionate reproach; "what +does that mean? Will you call me father, if you please?" + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Blanche, as she took it, and placed it on +her heart. + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Rose, as she took the other hand of the +marshal. "Do you believe now in our love and happiness?" she continued. + +It is impossible to describe the charming expression of filial pride in +the divine faces of the girls, as their father, slightly pressing their +virgin bosoms, seemed to count with delight the joyous pulsations of +their hearts. + +"Oh, yes! happiness and affection can alone make the heart beat thus!" +cried the marshal. + +A hoarse sob, heard in the direction of the open door, made the three +turn round, and there they saw the tall figure of Dagobert, with the +black nose of Spoil-sport reaching to his master's knee. The soldier, +drying his eyes and moustache with his little blue cotton handkerchief, +remained motionless as the god Terminus. When he could speak, he +addressed himself to the marshal, and, shaking his head, muttered, in a +hoarse voice, for the good man was swallowing his tears: "Did I not tell +you so?" + +"Silence!" said the marshal, with a sign of intelligence. "You were a +better father than myself, my old friend. Come and kiss them! I shall not +be jealous." + +The marshal stretched out his hand to the soldier, who pressed it +cordially, whilst the two sisters threw themselves on his neck, and +Spoil-sport, according to custom wishing to have his share in the general +joy, raised himself on his hind legs, and rested his fore-paws against +his master's back. There was a moment of profound silence. The celestial +felicity enjoyed during that moment, by the marshal, his daughters, and +the soldier, was interrupted by the barking of Spoil-sort, who suddenly +quitted the attitude of a biped. The happy group separated, looked round, +and saw Loony's stupid face. He looked even duller than usual, as he +stood quite still in the doorway, staring with wide stretched eyes, and +holding a feather-broom under his arm, and in his hand the ever-present +basket of wood. + +Nothing makes one so gay as happiness; and, though this grotesque figure +appeared at a very unseasonable moment, it was received with frank +laughter from the blooming lips of Rose and Blanche. Having made the +marshal's daughters laugh, after their long sadness, Loony at once +acquired a claim to the indulgence of the marshal, who said to him, good +humoredly: "What do you want, my lad?" + +"It's not me, my lord duke!" answered Loony, laying his hand on his +breast, as if it were taking a vow, so that his feather-brush fell down +from under his arm. The laughter of the girls redoubled. + +"It is not you?" said the marshal. + +"Here! Spoil-sport!" Dagobert called, for the honest dog seemed to have a +secret dislike for the pretended idiot, and approached him with an angry +air. + +"No, my lord duke, it is not me!" resumed Loony. "It is the footman who +told me to tell M. Dagobert, when I brought up the wood to tell my lord +duke, as I was coming up with the basket, that M. Robert wants to see +him." + +The girls laughed still more at this new stupidity. But, at the name of +Robert, Marshal Simon started. + +M. Robert was the secret emissary of Rodin, with regard to the possible, +but adventurous, enterprise of attempting the liberation of Napoleon II. + +After a moment's silence, the marshal, whose face was still radiant with +joy and happiness, said to Loony: "Beg M. Robert to wait for me a moment +in my study." + +"Yes, my lord duke," answered Loony, bowing almost to the ground. + +The simpleton withdrew, and the marshal said to his daughters, in a +joyous tone, "You see, that, in a moment like this, one does not leave +one's children, even for M. Robert." + +"Oh! that's right, father!" cried Blanche, gayly; "for I was already very +angry with this M. Robert." + +"Have you pen and paper at hand?" asked the marshal. + +"Yes, father; there on the table," said Rose, hastily, as she pointed to +a little desk near one of the windows, towards which the marshal now +advanced rapidly. + +From motives of delicacy, the girls remained where they were, close to +the fireplace, and caressed each other tenderly, as if to congratulate +themselves in private on the unexpected happiness of this day. + +The marshal seated himself at the desk, and made a sign to Dagobert to +draw near. + +While he wrote rapidly a few words in a firm hand, he said to the soldier +with a smile, in so low a tone that it was impossible for his daughters +to hear: "Do you know what I had almost resolved upon, before entering +this room?" + +"What, general?" + +"To blow my brains out. It is to my children that I owe my life." And the +marshal continued writing. + +Dagobert started at this communication, and then replied, also in a +whisper: "It would not have been with your pistols. I took off the caps." + +The marshal turned round hastily, and looked at him with an air of +surprise. But the soldier only nodded his head affirmatively, and added: +"Thank heaven, we have now done with all those ideas!" + +The marshal's only answer was to glance at his children, his eyes +swimming with tenderness, and sparkling with delight; then, sealing the +note he had written, he gave it to the soldier, and said to him, "Give +that to M. Robert. I will see him to-morrow." + +Dagobert took the letter, and went out. Returning towards his daughters, +the marshal joyfully extended his arms to them, and said, "Now, young +ladies, two nice kisses for having sacrificed M. Robert to you. Have I +not earned them?" And Rose and Blanche threw themselves on their father's +neck. + +About the time that these events were taking place at Paris, two +travellers, wide apart from each other, exchanged mysterious thoughts +through the breadth of space. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wandering Jew, Book X., by Eugene Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERING JEW, BOOK X. *** + +***** This file should be named 3348.txt or 3348.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/3348/ + +Produced by David Widger and Pat Castevens + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 + + + + +BOOK X. + +XXXIII. Confessions +XXXIV. More Confessions +XXXV. The Rivals +XXXVI. The Interview +XXXVII. Soothing Words +XXXVIII. The Two Carriages +XXXIX. The Appointment +XL. Anxiety +XLI. Adrienne and Djalma +XLII. "The Imitation" +XLIII. Prayer +XLIV. Remembrances +XLV. The Blockhead +XLVI. The Anonymous Letters +XLVII. The Golden City +XLVIII. The Stung Lion +XLIX. The Test + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +CONFESSIONS. + +During the painful scene that we have just described, a lively emotion +glowed in the countenance of Mdlle. de Cardoville, grown pale and thin +with sorrow. Her cheeks, once so full, were now slightly hollowed, +whilst a faint line of transparent azure encircled those large black +eyes, no longer so bright as formerly. But the charming lips, though +contracted by painful anxiety, had retained their rich and velvet +moisture. To attend more easily to Mother Bunch, Adrienne had thrown +aside her bonnet, and the silky waves of her beautiful golden hair almost +concealed her face as she bent over the mattress, rubbing the thin, ivory +hands of the poor sempstress, completely called to life by the salubrious +freshness of the air, and by the strong action of the salts which +Adrienne carried in her smelling-bottle. Luckily, Mother Bunch had +fainted, rather from emotion and weakness than from the effects of +suffocation, the senses of the unfortunate girl having failed her before +the deleterious gas had attained its highest degree of intensity. + +Before continuing the recital of the scene between the sempstress and the +patrician, a few retrospective words will be necessary. Since the +strange adventure at the theatre of the Porte-Saint-Martin, where Djalma, +at peril of his life, rushed upon the black panther in sight of Mdlle. +de Cardoville, the young lady had been deeply affected in various ways. +Forgetting her jealousy, and the humiliation she had suffered in presence +of Djalma--of Djalma exhibiting himself before every one with a woman so +little worthy of him--Adrienne was for a moment dazzled by the chivalrous +and heroic action of the prince, and said to herself: "In spite of odious +appearances, Djalma loves me enough to brave death in order to pick up my +nosegay." + +But with a soul so delicate as that of this young lady, a character so +generous, and a mind so true, reflection was certain soon to demonstrate +the vanity of such consolations, powerless to cure the cruel wounds of +offended dignity an love. + +"How many times," said Adrienne to herself, and with reason, "has the +prince encountered, in hunting, from pure caprice and with no gain, such +danger as he braved in picking up my bouquet! and then, who tells me he +did not mean to offer it to the woman who accompanied him?" + +Singular (it may be) in the eyes of the world, but just and great in +those of heaven, the ideas which Adrienne cherished with regard to love, +joined to her natural pride, presented an invincible obstacle to the +thought of her succeeding this woman (whoever she might be), thus +publicly displayed by the prince as his mistress. And yet Adrienne +hardly dared avow to herself, that she experienced a feeling of jealousy, +only the more painful and humiliating, the less her rival appeared worthy +to be compared to her. + +At other times, on the contrary, in spite of a conscious sense of her own +value, Mdlle. de Cardoville, remembering the charming countenance of +Rose-Pompon, asked herself if the bad taste and improper manners of this +pretty creature resulted from precocious and depraved effrontery, or from +a complete ignorance of the usages of society. In the latter case, such +ignorance, arising from a simple and ingenuous nature, might in itself +have a great charm; and if to this attraction, combined with that of +incontestable beauty, were added sincere love and a pure soul, the +obscure birth, or neglected education of the girl might be of little +consequence, and she might be capable of inspiring Djalma with a profound +passion. If Adrienne hesitated to see a lost creature in Rose-Pompon, +notwithstanding unfavorable appearances, it was because, remembering what +so many travellers had related of Djalma's greatness of soul, and +recalling the conversation she had overheard between him and Rodin, she +could not bring herself to believe that a man of such remarkable +intelligence, with so tender a heart, so poetical, imaginative and +enthusiastic a mind could be capable of loving a depraved and vulgar +creature, and of openly exhibiting himself in public along with her. +There was a mystery in the transaction, which Adrienne sought in vain to +penetrate. These trying doubts, this cruel curiosity, only served to +nourish Adrienne's fatal love; and we may imagine her incurable despair, +when she found that the indifference, or even disdain of Djalma, was +unable to stifle a passion that now burned more fiercely than ever. +Sometimes, having recourse to notions of fatality, she fancied that she +was destined to feel this love; that Djalma must therefore deserve it, +and that one day whatever was incomprehensible in the conduct of the +prince would be explained to his advantage. At other times, on the +contrary, she felt ashamed of excusing Djalma, and the consciousness of +this weakness was for Adrienne a constant occasion for remorse and +torture. The victim of all these agonies, she lived in perfect solitude. + +The cholera soon broke out, startling as a clap of thunder. Too unhappy +to fear the pestilence on her own account, Adrienne was only moved by the +sorrows of others. She was amongst the first to contribute to those +charitable donations, which were now flowing in from all sides in the +admirable spirit of benevolence. Florine was suddenly attacked by the +epidemic. In spite of the danger, her mistress insisted on seeing her, +and endeavored to revive her failing courage. Conquered by this new mark +of kindness, Florine could no longer conceal the treachery in which she +had borne a part. Death was about to deliver her from the odious tyranny +of the people whose yoke weighed upon her, and she was at length in a +position to reveal everything to Adrienne. The latter thus learned how +she had been continually betrayed by Florine, and also the cause of the +sewing-girl's abrupt departure. At these revelations, Adrienne felt her +affection and tender pity for the poor sempstress greatly increase. By +her command, the most active steps were taken to discover traces of the +hunchback; but Florine's confession had a still more important result. +Justly alarmed at this new evidence of Rodin's machinations, Adrienne +remembered the projects formed, when, believing herself beloved, the +instinct of affection had revealed to her the perils to which Djalma and +other members of the Rennepont family were exposed. To assemble the race +around her, and bid them rally against the common enemy, such was +Adrienne's first thought, when she heard the confession of Florine. She +regarded it as a duty to accomplish this project. In a struggle with +such dangerous and powerful adversaries as Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and +the Princess de Saint-Dizier, and their allies, Adrienne saw not only the +praiseworthy and perilous task of unmasking hypocrisy and cupidity, but +also, if not a consolation, at least a generous diversion in the midst of +terrible sorrows. + +From this moment, a restless, feverish activity took the place of the +mournful apathy in which the young lady had languished. She called round +her all the members of her family capable of answering the appeal, and, +as had been mentioned in the secret note delivered to Father d'Aigrigny, +Cardoville House soon became the centre of the most active and unceasing +operations, and also a place of meeting, in which the modes of attack and +defence were fully discussed. Perfectly correct in all points, the +secret note of which we have spoken stated, as a mere conjecture, that +Mdlle. de Cardoville had granted an interview to Djalma. This fact was +untrue, but the cause which led to the supposition will be explained +hereafter. Far from such being the case, Mdlle. de Cardoville scarcely +found, in attending to the great family interests now at stake, a +momentary diversion from the fatal love, which was slowly undermining her +health, and with which she so bitterly reproached herself. + +The morning of the day on which Adrienne, at length discovering Mother +Bunch's residence, came so miraculously to rescue her from death, +Agricola Baudoin had been to Cardoville House to confer on the subject of +Francis Hardy, and had begged Adrienne to permit him to accompany her to +the Rue Clovis, whither they repaired in haste. + +Thus, once again, there was a noble spectacle, a touching symbol! Mdlle. +de Cardoville and Mother Bunch, the two extremities of the social chain, +were united on equal terms--for the sempstress and the fair patrician +were equal in intelligence and heart--and equal also, because the one was +the ideal of riches, grace, and beauty, and the other the ideal of +resignation and unmerited misfortune--and does not a halo rest on +misfortune borne with courage and dignity? Stretched on her mattress, +the hunchback appeared so weak, that even if Agricola had not been +detained on the ground floor with Cephyse, now dying a dreadful death, +Mdlle. de Cardoville would have waited some time, before inducing Mother +Bunch to rise and accompany her to her carriage. Thanks to the presence +of mind and pious fraud of Adrienne, the sewing-girl was persuaded that +Cephyse had been carried to a neighboring hospital, to receive the +necessary succors, which promised to be crowned with success. The +hunchback's faculties recovering slowly from their stupor, she at first +received this fable without the least suspicion--for she did not even +know that Agricola had accompanied Mdlle. de Cardoville. + +"And it is to you, lady, that Cephyse and I owe our lives," said she, +turning her mild and melancholy face towards Adrienne, "you, kneeling in +this garret, near this couch of misery, where I and my sister meant to +die--for you assure me, lady, that Cephyse was succored in time." + +"Be satisfied! I was told just now that she was recovering her senses." + +"And they told her I was living, did they not, lady? Otherwise, she +would perhaps regret having survived me." + +"Be quite easy, my dear girl!" said Adrienne, pressing the poor hands in +her own, and gazing on her with eyes full of tears; "they have told her +all that was proper. Do not trouble yourself about anything; only think +of recovering--and I hope you will yet enjoy that happiness of which you +have known so little, my poor child." + +"How kind you are, lady! After flying from your house--and when you must +think me so ungrateful!" + +"Presently, when you are not so weak, I have a great deal to tell you. +Just now, it would fatigue you too much. But how do you feel?" + +"Better, lady. This fresh air--and then the thought, that, since you are +come--my poor sister will no more be reduced to despair; for I will tell +you all, and I am sure you will have pity on Cephyse--will you not, lady?" + +"Rely upon me, my child, answered Adrienne, forced to dissemble her +painful embarrassment; "you know I am interested in all that interests +you. But tell me," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a voice of emotion, +"before taking this desperate resolution, did you not write to me?" + +"Yes, lady." + +"Alas!" resumed Adrienne, sorrowfully; "and when you received no answer-- +how cruel, how ungrateful you must have thought me!" + +"Oh! never, lady, did I accuse you of such feelings; my poor sister will +tell you so. You had my gratitude to the last." + +"I believe you--for I knew your heart. But how then did you explain my +silence?" + +"I had justly offended you by my sudden departure, lady." + +"Offended!--Alas! I never received your letter." + +"And yet you know that I wrote to you, lady." + +"Yes, my poor girl; I know, also, that you wrote to me at my porter's +lodge. Unfortunately, he delivered your letter to one of my women, named +Florine, telling her it came from you." + +"Florine! the young woman that was so kind to me!" + +"Florine deceived me shamefully; she was sold to my enemies, and acted as +a spy on my actions." + +"She!--Good Heavens!" cried Mother Bunch. "Is it possible?" + +"She herself," answered Adrienne, bitterly; "but, after all, we must pity +as well as blame her. She was forced to obey by a terrible necessity, +and her confession and repentance secured my pardon before her death." + +"Then she is dead--so young! so fair!" + +"In spite of her faults, I was greatly moved by her end. She confessed +what she had done, with such heart-rending regrets. Amongst her avowals, +she told me she had intercepted a letter, in which you asked for an +interview that might save your sister's life." + +"It is true, lady; such were the terms of my letter. What interest had +they to keep it from you?" + +"They feared to see you return to me, my good guardian angel. You loved +me so tenderly, and my enemies dreaded your faithful affection, so +wonderfully aided by the admirable instinct of your heart. Ah! I shall +never forget how well-deserved was the horror with which you were +inspired by a wretch whom I defended against your suspicions." + +"M. Rodin?" said Mother Bunch, with a shudder. + +"Yes," replied Adrienne; "but we will not talk of these people now. +Their odious remembrance would spoil the joy I feel in seeing you +restored to life--for your voice is less feeble, your cheeks are +beginning to regain a little color. Thank God! I am so happy to have +found you once more;--if you knew all that I hope, all that I expect from +our reunion--for we will not part again--promise me that, in the name of +our friendship." + +"I--your friend!" said Mother Bunch, timidly casting down her eyes. + +"A few days before your departure from my house, did I not call you my +friend, my sister? What is there changed? Nothing, nothing," added +Mdlle. de Cardoville, with deep emotion. "One might say, on the +contrary, that a fatal resemblance in our positions renders your +friendship even dearer to me. And I shall have it, shall I not. Oh, do +not refuse it me--I am so much in want of a friend!" + +"You, lady? you in want of the friendship of a poor creature like me?" + +"Yes," answered Adrienne, as she gazed on the other with an expression of +intense grief; "nay, more, you are perhaps the only person, to whom I +could venture to confide my bitter sorrows." So saying, Mdlle. de +Cardoville colored deeply. + +"And how do I deserve such marks of confidence?" asked Mother Bunch, more +and more surprised. + +"You deserve it by the delicacy of your heart, by the steadiness of your +character," answered Adrienne, with some hesitation; "then--you are a +woman--and I am certain you will understand what I suffer, and pity me." + +"Pity you, lady?" said the other, whose astonishment continued to +increase. "You, a great lady, and so much envied--I, so humble and +despised, pity you?" + +"Tell me, my poor friend," resumed Adrienne, after some moments of +silence, "are not the worst griefs those which we dare not avow to any +one, for fear of raillery and contempt? How can we venture to ask +interest or pity, for sufferings that we hardly dare avow to ourselves, +because they make us blush?" + +The sewing-girl could hardly believe what she heard. Had her +benefactress felt, like her, the effects of an unfortunate passion, she +could not have held any other language. But the sempstress could not +admit such a supposition; so, attributing to some other cause the sorrows +of Adrienne, she answered mournfully, whilst she thought of her own fatal +love for Agricola, "Oh! yes, lady. A secret grief, of which we are +ashamed, must be frightful--very frightful!" + +"But then what happiness to meet, not only a heart noble enough to +inspire complete confidence, but one which has itself been tried by a +thousand sorrows, and is capable of affording you pity, support and +counsel!--Tell me, my dear child," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, as she +looked attentively at Mother Bunch, "if you were weighed down by one of +those sorrows, at which one blushes, would you not be happy, very happy, +to find a kindred soul, to whom you might entrust your griefs, and half +relieve them by entire and merited confidence?" + +For the first time in her life, Mother Bunch regarded Mdlle. de +Cardoville with a feeling of suspicion and sadness. + +The last words of the young lady seemed to her full of meaning +"Doubtless, she knows my secret," said Mother Bunch to herself; +"doubtless, my journal has fallen into her hands.--She knows my love for +Agricola, or at least suspects it. What she has been saying to me is +intended to provoke my confidence, and to assure herself if she has been +rightly informed." + +These thoughts excited in the workgirl's mind no bitter or ungrateful +feeling towards her benefactress; but the heart of the unfortunate girl +was so delicately susceptible on the subject of her fatal passion, that, +in spite of her deep and tender affection for Mdlle. de Cardoville, she +suffered cruelly at the thought of Adrienne's being mistress of her +secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +MORE CONFESSIONS. + +The fancy, at first so painful, that Mdlle. de Cardoville was informed of +her love for Agricola was soon exchanged in the hunchbacks heart, thanks +to the generous instincts of that rare and excellent creature, for a +touching regret, which showed all her attachment and veneration for +Adrienne. + +"Perhaps," said Mother Bunch to herself, "conquered by the influence of +the adorable kindness of my protectress, I might have made to her a +confession which I could make to none other, and revealed a secret which +I thought to carry with me to my grave. It would, at least, have been a +mark of gratitude to Mdlle. de Cardoville; but, unfortunately, I am now +deprived of the sad comfort of confiding my only secret to my +benefactress. And then--however generous may be her pity for me, however +intelligent her affection, she cannot--she, that is so fair and so much +admired--she cannot understand how frightful is the position of a +creature like myself, hiding in the depth of a wounded heart, a love at +once hopeless and ridiculous. No, no--in spite of the delicacy of her +attachment, my benefactress must unconsciously hurt my feelings, even +whilst she pities me--for only sympathetic sorrows can console each +other. Alas! why did she not leave me to die?" + +These reflections presented themselves to the thinker's mind as rapidly +as thought could travel. Adrienne observed her attentively; she remarked +that the sewing-girl's countenance, which had lately brightened up, was +again clouded, and expressed a feeling of painful humiliation. Terrified +at this relapse into gloomy dejection, the consequences of which might be +serious, for Mother Bunch was still very weak, and, as it were, hovering +on the brink of the grave, Mdlle. de Cardoville resumed hastily: "My +friend, do not you think with me, that the most cruel and humiliating +grief admits of consolation, when it can be entrusted to a faithful and +devoted heart?" + +"Yes, lady," said the young sempstress, bitterly; "but the heart which +suffers in silence, should be the only judge of the moment for making so +painful a confession. Until then, it would perhaps be more humane to +respect its fatal secret, even if one had by chance discovered it." + +"You are right, my child," said Adrienne, sorrowfully, "if I choose this +solemn moment to entrust you with a very painful secret, it is that, when +you have heard me, I am sure you will set more value on your life, as +knowing how much I need your tenderness, consolation, and pity." + +At these words, the other half raised herself on the mattress, and looked +at Mdlle. de Cardoville in amazement. She could scarcely believe what +she heard; far from designing to intrude upon her confidence, it was her +protectress who was to make the painful confession, and who came to +implore pity and consolation from her! + +"What!" stammered she; "you, lady!" + +"I come to tell you that I suffer, and am ashamed of my sufferings. +Yes," added the young lady, with a touching expression, "yes--of all +confessions, I am about to make the most painful--I love--and I blush for +my love." + +"Like myself!" cried Mother Bunch, involuntarily, clasping her hands +together. + +"I love," resumed Adrienne, with a long-pent-up grief; "I love, and am +not beloved--and my love is miserable, is impossible--it consumes me--it +kills me--and I dare not confide to any one the fatal secret!" + +"Like me," repeated the other, with a fixed look. "She--a queen in +beauty, rank, wealth, intelligence--suffers like me. Like me, poor +unfortunate creature! she loves, and is not loved again." + +"Well, yes! like you, I love and am not loved again," cried Mdlle. de +Cardoville; "was I wrong in saying, that to you alone I could confide my +secret--because, having suffered the same pangs, you alone can pity +them?" + +"Then, lady," said Mother Bunch, casting down her eyes, and recovering +from her first amazement, "you knew--" + +"I knew all, my poor child--but never should I have mentioned your +secret, had I not had one to entrust you with, of a still more painful +nature. Yours is cruel, but mine is humiliating. Oh, my sister!" added +Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a tone impossible to describe, "misfortune, you, +see, blends and confounds together what are called distinctions of rank +and fortune--and often those whom the world envies are reduced by +suffering far below the poorest and most humble, and have to seek from +the latter pity and consolation." + +Then, drying her tears, which nosy flowed abundantly, Mdlle. de +Cardoville resumed, in a voice of emotion: "Come, sister! courage, +courage! let us love and sustain each other. Let this sad and mysterious +bond unite us forever." + +"Oh, lady! forgive me. But now that you know the secret of my life," +said the workgirl, casting down her eyes, and unable to vanquish her +confusion, "it seems to me, that I can never look at you without +blushing." + +"And why? because you love Agricola?" said Adrienne. "Then I must die of +shame before you, since, less courageous than you, I had not the strength +to suffer and be resigned, and so conceal my love in the depths of my +heart. He that I love, with a love henceforth deprived of hope, knew of +that love and despised it--preferring to me a woman, the very choice of +whom was a new and grievous insult, if I am not much deceived by +appearances. I sometimes hope that I am deceived on this point. Now +tell me--is it for you to blush?" + +"Alas, lady! who could tell you all this?" + +"Which you only entrusted to your journal? Well, then--it was the dying +Florine who confessed her misdeeds. She had been base enough to steal +your papers, forced to this odious act, by the people who had dominion +over her. But she had read your journal--and as every good feeling was +not dead within her, your admirable resignation, your melancholy and +pious love, had left such an impression on her mind, that she was able to +repeat whole passages to me on her death bed, and thus to explain the +cause of your sudden disappearance--for she had no doubt that the fear of +seeing your love for Agricola divulged had been the cause of your +flight." + +"Alas! it is but too true, lady." + +"Oh, yes!" answered Adrienne, bitterly; "those who employed the wretched +girl to act as she did, well knew the effect of the blow. It was not +their first attempt. They reduced you to despair, they would have killed +you, because you were devoted to me, and because you had guessed their +intentions. Oh! these black-gowns are implacable, and their power is +great!" said Adrienne, shuddering. + +"It is fearful, lady." + +"But do not be alarmed, dear child; you see, that the arms of the wicked +have turned against themselves; for the moment I knew the cause of your +flight, you became dearer to me than ever. From that time I made every +exertion to find out where you were; after long efforts, it was only this +morning that the person I had employed succeeded in discovering that you +inhabited this house. Agricola was with me when I heard it, and +instantly asked to accompany me." + +"Agricola!" said Mother Bunch, clasping her hands; "he came--" + +"Yes, my child--be calm. Whilst I attended to you, he was busy with your +poor sister. You will soon see him." + +"Alas, lady!" resumed the hunchback, in alarm. "He doubtless knows--" + +"Your love! No, no; be satisfied. Only think of the happiness of again +seeing your good and worthy brother." + +"Ah, lady! may he never know what caused me so much shame, that I was +like to die of it. Thank God, he is not aware of it!" + +"Then let us have no more sad thoughts, my child. Only remember, that +this worthy brother came here in time to save us from everlasting +regrets--and you from a great fault. Oh! I do not speak of the +prejudices of the world, with regard to the right of every creature to +return to heaven a life that has become too burdensome!--I only say that +you ought not to have died, because those who love you, and whom you +love, were still in need of your assistance." + +"I thought you happy; Agricola was married to the girl of his choice, who +will, I am sure, make him happy. To whom could I be useful?" + +"First, to myself, as you see--and then, who tells you that Agricola will +never have need of you? Who tells you, that his happiness, or that of +his family, will last forever, and will not be tried by cruel shocks? +And even if those you love had been destined to be always happy, could +their happiness be complete without you? And would not your death, with +which they would perhaps have reproached themselves, have left behind it +endless regrets?" + +"It is true, lady," answered the other, "I was wrong--the dizziness of +despair had seized me--frightful misery weighed upon us--we had not been +able to find work for some days--we lived on the charity of a poor woman, +and her the cholera carried off. To-morrow or next day, we must have +died of hunger." + +"Die of hunger!--and you knew where I lived!" + +"I had written to you, lady, and receiving no answer, I thought you +offended at my abrupt departure." + +"Poor, dear child! you must have been, as you say, seized with dizziness +in that terrible moment; so that I have not the courage to reproach you +for doubting me a single instant. How can I blame you? Did I not myself +think of terminating my life?" + +"You, lady!" cried the hunchback. + +"Yes, I thought of it--when they came to tell me, that Florine, dying, +wished to speak to me. I heard what she had to say; her revelations +changed my projects. This dark and mournful life which had become +insupportable to me, was suddenly lighted up. The sense of duty woke +within me. You were no doubt a prey to horrible misery; it was my duty +to seek and save you. Florine's confessions unveiled to me the new plots +of the enemies of my scattered family, dispersed by sorrows and cruel +losses; it was my duty to warn them of their danger, and to unite them +against the common enemy. I had been the victim of odious manoeuvres: it +was my duty to punish their authors, for fear that, encouraged by +impunity, these black-gowns should make other victims. Then the sense of +duty gave me strength, and I was able to rouse myself from my lethargy. +With the help of Abbe Gabriel, a sublime, oh! a sublime priest--the ideal +of a true Christian--the worthy brother of Agricola--I courageously +entered on the struggle. What shall I say to you, my child? The +performance of these duties, the hope of finding you again, have been +some relief to me in my trouble. If I was not consoled, I was at least +occupied. Your tender friendship, the example of your resignation, will +do the rest--I think so--I am sure so--and I shall forget this fatal +love." + +At the moment Adrienne pronounced these words, rapid footsteps were heard +upon the stairs, and a young, clear voice exclaimed: "Oh! dear me, poor +Mother Bunch! How lucky I have come just now! If only I could be of some +use to her!" + +Almost immediately, Rose-Pompon entered the garret with precipitation. +Agricola soon followed the grisette, and pointing to the open window, +tried to make Adrienne understand by signs, that she was not to mention +to the girl the deplorable end of the Bacchanal Queen. This pantomime +was lost on Mdlle. de Cardoville. Adrienne's heart swelled with grief, +indignation, pride, as she recognized the girl she had seen at the Porte- +Saint-Martin in company with Djalma, and who alone was the cause of the +dreadful sufferings she endured since that fatal evening. And, strange +irony of fate! it was at the very moment when Adrienne had just made the +humiliating and cruel confession of her despised love, that the woman, to +whom she believed herself sacrificed, appeared before her. + +If the surprise of Mdlle. de Cardoville was great, Rose-Pompon's was not +less so. Not only did she recognize in Adrienne the fair young lady with +the golden locks, who had sat opposite to her at the theatre, on the +night of the adventure of the black panther, but she had serious reasons +for desiring most ardently this unexpected interview. It is impossible +to paint the look of malignant joy and triumph, that she affected to cast +upon Adrienne. The first impulse of Mdlle. de Cardoville was to quit the +room. But she could not bear to leave Mother Bunch at this moment, or to +give, in the presence of Agricola, her reasons for such an abrupt +departure, and moreover, an inexplicable and fatal curiosity held her +back, in spite of her offended pride. She remained, therefore, and was +about to examine closely, to hear and to judge, this rival, who had +nearly occasioned her death, to whom, in her jealous agony, she had +ascribed so many different aspects, in order to explain Djalma's love for +such a creature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE RIVALS. + +Rose-Pompon, whose presence caused such deep emotion in Mdlle. de +Cardoville, was dressed in the most showy and extravagant bad taste. Her +very small, narrow, rose-colored satin bonnet, placed so forward over her +face as almost to touch the tip of her little nose, left uncovered behind +half of her light, silky hair; her plaid dress, of an excessively broad +pattern, was open in front, and the almost transparent gauze, rather too +honest in its revelations, hardly covered the charms of the form beneath. + +The grisette having run all the way upstairs, held in her hands the ends +of her large blue shawl, which, falling from her shoulders, had slid down +to her wasp-like waist, and there been stopped by the swell of the +figure. If we enter into these details, it is to explain how, at the +sight of this pretty creature, dressed in so impertinent and almost +indecent, a fashion, Mdlle. de Cardoville, who thought she saw in her a +successful rival, felt her indignation, grief, and shame redoubled. + +But judge of the surprise and confusion of Adrienne, when Mdlle. Rose- +Pompon said to her, with the utmost freedom and pertness, "I am delighted +to see you, madame. You and I must have a long talk together. Only I +must begin by kissing poor Mother Bunch--with your permission, madame!" + +To understand the tone and manner with which this word ,"madame" was +pronounced, you must have been present at some stormy discussion between +two Rose-Pompons, jealous of each other; then you would be able to judge +how much provoking hostility may be compressed into the word "madame," +under certain circumstances. Amazed at the impudence of Rose-Pompon, +Mdlle. de Cardoville remained mute; whilst Agricola, entirely occupied +with the interest he took in the workgirl, who had never withdrawn her +eyes from him since he entered the room, and with the remembrance of the +painful scene he had just quitted, whispered to Adrienne, without +remarking the grisette's effrontery, "Alas, lady! it is all over. +Cephyse has just breathed her last sigh, without recovering her senses." + +"Unfortunate girl!" said Adrienne, with emotion; and for the moment she +forgot Rose-Pompon. + +"We must keep this sad news from Mother Bunch, and only let her know it +hereafter, with great caution," resumed Agricola. "Luckily, little Rose- +Pompon knows nothing about it.' + +And he pointed to the grisette, who was now stooping down by the side of +the workgirl. On hearing Agricola speak so familiarly of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne's amazement increased. It is impossible to describe what she +felt; yet, strangely enough, her sufferings grew less and less, and her +anxiety diminished, as she listened to the chatter of the grisette. + +"Oh, my good dear!" said the latter, with as much volubility as emotion, +while her pretty blue eyes were filled with tears; "is it possible that +you did so stupid a thing? Do not poor people help one another? Could +you not apply to me? You knew that others are welcome to whatever is +mine, and I would have made a raffle of Philemon's bazaar," added this +singular girl, with a burst of feeling, at once sincere, touching, and +grotesque; "I would have sold his three boots, pipes, boating-costume, +bed, and even his great drinking-glass, and at all events you should not +have been brought to such an ugly pass. Philemon would not have minded, +for he is a good fellow; and if he had minded, it would have been all the +same. Thank heaven! we are not married. I am only wishing to remind you +that you should have thought of little Rose-Pompon." + +"I know you are obliging and kind, miss," said Mother Bunch: for she had +heard from her sister that Rose-Pompon, like so many of her class, had a +warm and generous heart. + +"After all," resumed the grisette, wiping with the back of her hand the +tip of her little nose, down which a tear was trickling, "you may tell me +that you did not know where I had taken up my quarters. It's a queer +story, I can tell you. When I say queer," added Rose-Pompon, with a deep +sigh, "it is quite the contrary--but no matter: I need not trouble you +with that. One thing is certain; you are getting better--and you and +Cephyse will not do such a thing again. She is said to be very weak. +Can I not see her yet, M. Agricola? + +"No," said the smith, with embarrassment, for Mother Bunch kept her eyes +fixed upon him; "you must have patience." + +"But I may see her to-day, Agricola?" exclaimed the hunchback. + +"We will talk about that. Only be calm, I entreat." + +"Agricola is right; you must be reasonable, my good dear," resumed Rose- +Pompon; "we will wait patiently. I can wait too, for I have to talk +presently to this lady;" and Rose-Pompon glanced at Adrienne with the +expression of an angry cat. "Yes, yes; I can wait; for I long to tell +Cephyse also that she may reckon upon me." Here Rose-Pompon bridled up +very prettily, and thus continued, "Do not be uneasy! It is the least one +can do, when one is in a good position, to share the advantages with +one's friends, who are not so well off. It would be a fine thing to keep +one's happiness to one's self! to stuff it with straw, and put it under a +glass, and let no one touch it! When I talk of happiness, it's only to +make talk; it is true in one sense; but to another, you see, my good +dear--Bah! I am only seventeen--but no matter--I might go on talking till +tomorrow, and you would not be any the wiser. So let me kiss you once +more, and don't be down-hearted--nor Cephyse either, do you hear? for I +shall be close at hand." + +And, stooping still lower, Rose-Pompon cordially embraced Mother Bunch. +It is impossible to express what Mdlle. de Cardoville felt during this +conversation, or rather during this monologue of the grisette on the +subject of the attempted suicide. The eccentric jargon of Mdlle. Rose- +Pompon, her liberal facility in disposing of Philemon's bazaar, to the +owner of which (as she said) she was luckily not married--the goodness of +her heart, which revealed itself in her offers of service--her contrasts, +her impertinence, her drollery--all this was so new and inexplicable to +Mdlle. de Cardoville, that she remained for some time mute and motionless +with surprise. Such, then, was the creature to whom Djalma had +sacrificed her! + +If Adrienne's first impression at sight of Rose-Pompon had been horribly +painful, reflection soon awakened doubts, which were to become shortly +ineffable hopes. Remembering the interview she had overheard between +Rodin and Djalma, when, concealed in the conservatory, she had wished to +prove the Jesuit's fidelity, Adrienne, asked herself if it was +reasonable, if it was possible to believe, that the prince, whose ideas +of love seemed to be so poetical, so elevated, so pure, could find any +charm in the disjointed and silly chat of this young girl? Adrienne +could not hesitate; she pronounced the thing impossible, from the moment +she had seen her rival near, and witnessed her style both of manners and +conversation, which, without detracting from the prettiness of her +features, gave them a trivial and not very attractive character. +Adrienne's doubts with regard to the deep love of the prince for Rose- +Pompon were hence soon changed to complete incredulity. Endowed with too +much sense and penetration, not to perceive that this apparent +connection, so inconceivable on the part of Djalma, must conceal some +mystery, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt her hopes revive. As this consoling +thought arose in her mind, her heart, until now so painfully oppressed, +began once more to dilate; she felt vague aspirations towards a better +future; and yet, cruelly warned by the past, she feared to yield too +readily to a mere illusion, for she remembered the notorious fact that +the prince had really appeared in public with this girl. But now that +Mdlle. de Cardoville could fully appreciate what she was, she found the +conduct of the prince only the more incomprehensible. And how can we +judge soundly and surely of that which is enveloped in mystery? And then +a secret presentiment told her, that it would, perhaps, be beside the +couch of the poor sempstress, whom she had just saved from death, that, +by a providential coincidence, she would learn the secret on which +depended the happiness of her life. + +The emotions which agitated she heart of Adrienne, became so violent, +that her fine face was flushed with a bright red, her bosom heaved, and +her large, black eyes, lately dimmed by sadness, once more shone with a +mild radiance. She waited with inexpressible impatience for what was to +follow. In the interview, with which Rose-Pompon had threatened her, and +which a few minutes before Adrienne would have declined with all the +dignity of legitimate indignation, she now hoped to find the explanation +of a mystery, which it was of such importance for her to clear up. After +once more tenderly embracing Mother Bunch, Rose-Pompon got up from the +ground, and, turning towards Adrienne, eyed her from head to foot, with +the utmost coolness, and said to her, in a somewhat impertinent tone: "It +is now our turn, madame"--the word "madame" still pronounced with the +accent before described--"we have a little matter to settle together." + +"I am at your order," answered Adrienne, with much mildness and +simplicity. + +At sight of the triumphant and decisive air of Rose-Pompon, and on +hearing her challenge to Mdlle. de Cardoville, the worthy Agricola, after +exchanging a few words with Mother Bunch, opened his eyes and ears very +wide, and remained staring in amazement at the effrontery of the +grisette; then, advancing towards her, he whispered, as he plucked her by +the sleeve: "I say, are you mad? Do you know to whom you speak?" + +"Well! what then? Is not one pretty woman worth another! I say that for +the lady. She will not eat me, I suppose," replied Rose-Pompon, aloud, +and with an air of defiance. "I have to talk with madame, here. I am +sure, she knows why and wherefore. If not, I will tell her; it will not +take me long." + +Adrienne, who feared some ridiculous exposure on the subject of Djalma, +in the presence of Agricola, made a sign to the latter, and thus answered +the grisette: "I am ready to hear you, miss, but not in this place. You +will understand why." + +"Very well, madame, I have my key. You can come to any apartments"--the +last word pronounced with an air of ostentatious importance. + +"Let us go then to your apartments, miss since you to me the honor to +receive me there," answered Mdlle. de Cardoville, in her mild, sweet +voice, and with a slight inclination of the head, so full of exquisite +politeness, that Rose-Pompon was daunted, notwithstanding all her +effrontery. + +"What, lady!" said Agricola to Adrienne; "you are good enough--" + +"M. Agricola," said Mdlle. de Cardoville, interrupting him, "please to +remain with our poor friend: I shall soon be back." + +Then, approaching Mother Bunch, who shared in Agricola's astonishment she +said to her: "Excuse me for leaving you a few seconds. Only regain a +little strength, and, when I return, I will take you home with me, dear +sister." + +Then, turning towards Rose-Pompon, who was more and more surprised at +hearing so fine a lady call the workgirl her sister, she added: "I am +ready whenever you please, mademoiselle." + +"Beg pardon, madame, if I go first to show you the way, but it's a +regular break-neck sort of a place," answered Rose-Pompon, pressing her +elbows to her sides, and screwing up her lips to prove that she was no +stranger to polite manners and fine language. And the two rivals quitted +the garret together, leaving Agricola alone with Mother Bunch. + +Luckily, the disfigured remains of the Bacchanal Queen had been carried +into Mother Arsene's subterraneous shop, so that the crowd of spectators, +always attracted by any fatal event, had assembled in front of the house; +and Rose-Pompon, meeting no one in the little court she had to traverse +with Adrienne, continued in ignorance of the tragical death of her old +friend Cephyse. In a few moments the grisette and Mdlle. de Cardoville +had reached Philemon's apartment. This singular abode remained in the +same state of picturesque disorder in which Rose-Pompon had left it, when +Ninny Moulin came to fetch her to act the heroine of a mysterious +adventure. + +Adrienne, completely ignorant of the eccentric modes of life of students +and their companions, could not, in spite of the thoughts which occupied +her mind, forebear examining, with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, +this strange and grotesque chaos, composed of the most dissimilar +objects--disguises for masked balls, skulls with pipes in their mouths, +odd boots standing on book shelves, monstrous bottles, women's clothes, +ends of tobacco pipes, etc., etc. To the first astonishment of Adrienne +succeeded an impression of painful repugnance. The young lady felt +herself uneasy and out of place in this abode, not of poverty, but +disorder; whilst, on the contrary, the sewing-girl's miserable garret had +caused her no such feeling. + +Rose-Pompon, notwithstanding all her airs, was considerably troubled when +she found herself alone with Mdlle, de Cardoville; the rare beauty of the +young patrician, her fashionable look, the elegance of her manners, the +style, both dignified and affable, with which she had answered the +impertinent address of the grisette, began to have their effect upon the +latter, who, being moreover a good-natured girl, had been touched at +hearing Mdlle. de Cardoville call the hunchback "friend and sister." +Without knowing exactly who Adrienne was, Rose-Pompon was not ignorant +that she belonged to the richest and highest class of society; she felt +already some remorse at having attacked her so cavalierly; and her +intentions, at first very hostile with regard to Mdlle. de Cardoville, +were gradually much modified. Yet, being very obstinate, and not wishing +to appear to submit to an influence that offended her pride, Rose-Pompon +endeavored to recover her assurance; and, having bolted the door, she +said to Adrienne: "Pray do me the favor to sit down, madame"--still with +the intention of showing that she was no stranger to refined manners and +conversation. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville was about mechanically to take a chair, when Rose- +Pompon, worthy to practise those ancient virtues of hospitality, which +regarded even an enemy as sacred in the person of a guest, cried out +hastily: "Don't take that chair, madame; it wants a leg." + +Adrienne laid her hand on another chair. + +"Nor that either; the back is quite loose," again exclaimed Rose-Pompon. +And she spoke the truth; for the chair-back, which was made in the form +of a lyre, remained in the hands of Mdlle. de Cardoville, who said, as +she replaced it discreetly in its former position: "I think, miss, that +we can very well talk standing." + +"As you please, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, steadying herself the more +bravely the more uneasy she felt. And the interview of the lady and the +grisette began in this fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE INTERVIEW. + +After a minute's hesitation, Rose-Pompon said to Adrienne, whose heart +was beating violently: "I will tell you directly, madame, what I have on +my mind. I should not have gone out of my way to seek you, but, as I +happen to fall in with you, it is very natural I should take advantage of +it." + +"But, miss," said Adrienne, mildly, "may I at least know the subject of +the conversation we are to have together?" + +"Yes, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, affecting an air of still more +decided confidence; "first of all, you must not suppose I am unhappy, or +going to make a scene of jealousy, or cry like a forsaken damsel. Do not +flatter yourself! Thank heaven, I have no reason to complain of Prince +Charming--that is the pet name I gave him--on the contrary, he has made +me very happy. If I left him, it was against his will, and because I +chose." + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, whose heart was swelling in spite of her fine +airs, could not repress a sigh. + +"Yes, madame," she resumed, "I left him because I chose--for he quite +doted on me. If I had liked, he would have married me--yes, madame, +married me--so much the worse, if that gives you pain. Though, when I +say `so much the worse,' it is true that I meant to pain you. To be sure +I did--but then, just now when I saw you so kind to poor Mother Bunch, +though I was certainly in the right, still I felt something. However, to +cut matters short, it is clear that I detest you, and that you deserve +it," added Rose-Pompon, stamping her foot. + +From all this it resulted, even for a person much less sagacious than +Adrienne, and much less interested in discovering the truth, that Rose- +Pompon, notwithstanding her triumphant airs in speaking of him whom she +represented as so much attached to her, and even anxious to wed her, was +in reality completely disappointed, and was now taking refuge in a +deliberate falsehood. It was evident that she was not loved, and that +nothing but violent jealousy had induced her to desire this interview +with Mdlle. de Cardoville, in order to make what is vulgarly called a +scene, considering Adrienne (the reason will be explained presently) as +her successful rival. But Rose-Pompon, having recovered her good-nature, +found it very difficult to continue the scene in question, particularly +as, for many reasons, she felt overawed by Adrienne. + +Though she had expected, if not the singular speech of the grisette, at +least something of the same result--for she felt it was impossible that +the prince could entertain a serious attachment for this girl--Mdlle. de +Cardoville was at first delighted to hear the confirmation of her hopes +from the lips of her rival; but suddenly these hopes were succeeded by a +cruel apprehension, which we will endeavor to explain. What Adrienne had +just heard ought to have satisfied her completely. Sure that the heart +of Djalma had never ceased to belong to her, she ought, according to the +customs and opinions of the world, to have cared little if, in the +effervescence of an ardent youth, he had chanced to yield to some +ephemeral caprice for this creature, who was, after all, very pretty and +desirable--the more especially as he had now repaired his error by +separating from her. + +Notwithstanding these good reasons, such an error of the senses would not +have been pardoned by Adrienne. She did not understand that complete +separation of the body and soul that would make the one exempt from the +stains of the other. She did not think it a matter of indifference to +toy with one woman whilst you were thinking of another. Her young, +chaste, passionate love demanded an absolute fealty--a fealty as just in +the eyes of heaven and nature as it may be ridiculous and foolish in the +eyes of man. For the very reason that she cherished a refined religion +of the senses, and revered them as an adorable and divine manifestation, +Adrienne had all sorts of delicate scruples and nice repugnances, unknown +to the austere spirituality of those ascetic prudes who despise vile +matter too much to take notice of its errors, and allow it to grovel in +filth, to show the contempt in which they hold it. Mdlle. de Cardoville +was not one of those wonderfully modest creatures who would die of +confusion rather than say plainly that they wished for a young and +handsome husband, at once ardent and pure. It is true that they +generally marry old, ugly, and corrupted men, and make up for it by +taking two or three lovers six months after. But Adrienne felt +instinctively how much of virginal and celestial freshness there is in +the equal innocence of two loving and passionate beings--what guarantees +for the future in the remembrance which a man preserves of his first +love! + +We say, then, that Adrienne was only half-satisfied, though convinced by +the vexation of Rose-Pompon that Djalma had never entertained a serious +attachment for the grisette. + +"And why do you detest me, miss?" said Adrienne mildly, when Rose-Pompon +had finished her speech. + +"Oh! bless me, madame!" replied the latter, forgetting altogether her +assumption of triumph, and yielding to the natural sincerity of her +character; "pretend that you don't know why I detest you!--Oh, yes! +people go and pick bouquets from the jaws of a panther for people that +they care nothing about, don't they? And if it was only that!" added +Rose-Pompon, who was gradually getting animated, and whose pretty face, +at first contracted into a sullen pout, now assumed an expression of real +and yet half-comic sorrow. + +"And if it was only the nosegay!" resumed she. "Though it gave me a +dreadful turn to see Prince Charming leap like a kid upon the stage, I +might have said to myself: `Pooh! these Indians have their own way of +showing politeness. Here, a lady drops her nosegay, and a gentleman +picks it up and gives it to her; but in India it is quite another thing; +the man picks up the nosegay, and does not return it to the woman--he +only kills a panther before her eyes.' Those are good manners in that +country, I suppose; but what cannot be good manners anywhere is to treat +a woman as I have been treated. And all thanks to you, madame!" + +These complaints of Rose-Pompon, at once bitter and laughable, did not at +all agree with what she had previously stated as to Djalma's passionate +love for her; but Adrienne took care not to point out this contradiction, +and said to her, mildly: "You must be mistaken, miss, when you suppose +that I had anything to do with your troubles. But, in any case, I regret +sincerely that you should have been ill-treated by any one." + +"If you think I have been beaten, you are quite wrong," exclaimed Rose- +Pompon. "Ah! well, I am sure! No, it is not that. But I am certain +that, had it not been for you, Prince Charming would have got to love me +a little. I am worthy of the trouble, after all--and then there are +different sorts of love--I am not so very particular--not even so much as +that," added Rose-Pompon, snapping her fingers. + +"Ah!" she continued, "when Ninny Moulin came to fetch me, and brought me +jewels and laces to persuade me to go with him, he was quite right in +saying there was no harm in his offers." + +"Ninny Moulin?" asked Mdlle. de Cardoville, becoming more and more +interested; "who is this Ninny Moulin, miss?" + +"A religious writer," answered Rose-Pompon, pouting; "the right-hand man +of a lot of old sacristans, whose money he takes on pretense of writing +about morality and religion. A fine morality it is!" + +At these words--"a religious writer"--"sacristans" Adrienne instantly +divined some new plot of Rodin or Father d'Aigrigny, of which she and +Djalma were to have been the victims. She began vaguely to perceive the +real state of the case, as she resumed: "But, miss, under what pretence +could this man take you away with him?" + +"He came to fetch me, and said I need not fear for my virtue, and was +only to make myself look pretty. So I said to myself: 'Philemon's out of +town, and it's very dull here all alone: This seems a droll affair; what +can I risk by it?'--Alas! I didn't know what I risked," added Rose- +Pompon, with a sigh. "Well! Ninny Moulin takes me away in a fine +carriage. We stop in the Place du Palais-Royal. A sullen-looking man, +with a yellow face, gets up in the room of Ninny Moulin, and takes me to +the house of Prince Charming. When I saw him--la! he was so handsome, so +very handsome, that I was quite dizzy-like; and he had such a kind, noble +air, that I said to myself, 'Well! there will be some credit if I remain +a good girl now!'--I did not know what a true word I was speaking. I +have been good--oh! worse than good." + +"What, miss! do you regret having been so virtuous?" + +"Why, you see, I regret, at least, that I have not had the pleasure of +refusing. But how can you refuse, when nothing is asked--when you are +not even thought worth one little loving word?" + +"But, miss, allow me to observe to you that the indifference of which you +complain does not see to have prevented your making a long stay in the +house in question." + +"How should I know why the prince kept me there, or took me out riding +with him, or to the play? Perhaps it is the fashion in his savage +country to have a pretty girl by your side, and to pay no attention to +her at all!" + +"But why, then, did you remain, miss?" + +"Why did I remain?" said Rose-Pompon, stamping her loot with vexation. +"I remained because, without knowing how it happened, I began to get very +fond of Prince Charming; and what is queer enough, I, who am as gay as a +lark, loved him because he was so sorrowful, which shows that it was a +serious matter. At last, one day, I could hold out no longer. I said: +`Never mind; I don't care for the consequences. Philemon, I am sure, is +having his fun in the country.' That set my mind at ease. So one +morning, I dress myself in my best, all very pretty, look in my glass, +and say: "Well, that will do--he can't stand that,!' and, going to his +room, I tell him all that passes through my head; I laugh, I cry--at last +I tell him that I adore him. What do you think he answers, in his mild +voice, and as cold as a piece of marble? Why, `Poor child--poor child-- +poor child!'" added Rose-Pompon, with indignation; "neither more nor less +than if I had come to complain to him of the toothache. But the worst of +it is that I am sure, if he were not in love elsewhere, he would be all +fire and gunpowder. Only now he is so sad, so dejected!" + +Then, pausing a moment, Rose-Pompon added: "No, I will not tell you that; +you would be too pleased." But, after another pause, she continued: +"Well, never mind; I will tell you, though"; and this singular girl +looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with a mixture of sympathy and deference. +"Why should I keep it from you? I began by riding the high horse, and +saying that the prince wished to marry me; and I finished by confessing +that he almost turned me out. Well, it's not my fault; when I try to +fib, I am sure to get confused. So, madame, this is the plain truth:-- +When I met you at poor Mother Bunch's, I was at first as angry as a +little turkey-cock; but when I heard you, that are such a fine great +lady, speak so kindly to the poor girl, and treat her as your sister, do +what I would, my anger began to go away. Since we have been here, I have +done my utmost to get it up again; but I find it impossible, and the more +I see the difference between us, the more I perceive that Prince Charming +was right in thinking so much of you. For you must know, madame, that he +is over head and ears in love with you. I don't say so merely because he +killed the panther for you at the Porte-Saint-Martin; but if you knew all +the tricks he played with your bouquet, and how he will sit up all night +weeping in that room where he saw you for the first time--and then your +portrait, that he has drawn upon glass, after the fashion of his country, +and so many other things--the fact is, that I, who was fond of him, and +saw all this was at first in a great rage; but afterwards it was so +touching that it brought the tears into my eyes. Yes, madame, just as it +does now, when I merely think of the poor prince. Oh, madame!" added +Rose-Pompon, her eyes swimming in tears, and with such an expression of +sincere interest, that Adrienne was much moved by it; "oh, madame, you +look so mild and good, that you will not make this poor prince miserable. +Pray love him a little bit; what can it matter to you?" + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, with a perfectly simple, though too familiar, +gesture, took hold of Adrienne's hand, as if to enforce her request. It +had required great self-command in Mdlle. de Cardoville to repress the +rush of joy that was mounting from her heart to her lips, to check the +torrent of questions which she burned to address to Rose-Pompon, and to +restrain the sweet tears of happiness that for some seconds had trembled +in her eyes; and, strangely enough, when Rose-Pompon took her hand, +Adrienne, instead of withdrawing it, pressed the offered hand almost +affectionately, and led her towards the window, as if to examine her +sweet face more attentively. + +On entering the room, the grisette had thrown her bonnet and shawl down +upon the bed, so that Adrienne could admire the thick and silky masses of +light hair that crowned the fresh face of the charming girl, with its +firm, rosy cheeks, its mouth as red as a cherry, and its large blue +laughing eyes; and, thanks to the somewhat scanty dress of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne could fully appreciate the various graces of her nymph-like +figure. Strange as it may appear, Adrienne was delighted at finding the +girl still prettier than she had at first imagined. The stoical +indifference of Djalma to so attractive a creature was the best proof of +the sincerity of the passion by which he was actuated. + +Having taken the hand of Adrienne, Rose-Pompon was herself confused and +surprised at the kindness with which Mdlle. de Cardoville permitted this +familiarity. Emboldened by this indulgence, and by the silence of +Adrienne, who for some moments had been contemplating her with almost +grateful benevolence, the grisette resumed: "Oh, you will not refuse, +madame? You will take pity on this poor prince?" + +We cannot tell how Adrienne would have answered this indiscreet question +of Rose-Pompon, for suddenly a loud, wild, shrill, piercing sound, +evidently intended to imitate the crowing of a cock, was heard close to +the door of the room. + +Adrienne started in alarm; but the countenance of Rose Pompon, just now +so sad, brightened up joyously at this signal, and, clapping her hands +she exclaimed, "It is Philemon!" + +"What--who?" said Adrienne, hastily. + +"My lover; oh, the monster! he must have come upstairs on tiptoe, to take +me by surprise with his crowing. Just like him!" + +A second cock-a-doodle-doo, still louder than the first, was heard close +to the door. "What a stupid, droll creature it is! Always the same +joke, and yet it always amuses me," said Rose-Pompon. + +And drying her tears with the back of her hand, she began to laugh like +one bewitched at Philemon's jest, which, though well known to her, always +seemed new and agreeable. + +"Do not open the door," whispered Adrienne, much embarrassed; "do not +answer, I beg of you." + +"Though the door is bolted, the key is on the outside; Philemon can see +that there is some one at home." + +"No matter--do not let him in." + +"But, madame, he lives here; the room belongs to him." + +In fact, Philemon, probably growing tired of the little effect produced +by his two ornithological imitations, turned the key in the lock, and +finding himself unable to open the door, said in a deep bass voice: +"What, dearest puss, have you shut yourself in? Are you praying Saint- +Flambard for the return of Philly?" (short for Philemon.) + +Adrienne, not coshing to increase, by prolonging it, the awkwardness of +this ridiculous situation, went straight to the door and opened it, to +the great surprise of Philemon, who recoiled two or three steps. +Notwithstanding the annoyance of this incident, Mdlle. de Cardoville +could not help smiling at sight of Rose-Pompon's lover, and of the +articles he carried in his hand or under his arm. + +Philemon was a tall fellow, with dark hair and a very fresh color, and, +being just arrived from a journey, he wore a white cap; his thick, black +beard flowed down on his sky-blue waistcoat; and a short olive-colored +velvet shooting-coat, with extravagantly large plaid trousers, completed +his costume. As for the accessories which had provoked a smile from +Adrienne, they consisted: first, of a portmanteau tucked under his arm, +with the head and neck of a goose protruding from it; secondly, of a cage +held in his hand, with an enormous white rabbit all alive within it. + +"Oh! the darling white rabbit! what pretty red eyes!" Such, it must be +confessed, was the first exclamation of Rose-Pompon, though Philemon, to +whom it was not addressed, had returned after a long absence; but the +student far from being shocked at seeing himself thus sacrificed to his +long-earned companion, smiled complacently, rejoicing at the success of +his attempt to please his mistress. + +All this passed very rapidly. While Rose-Pompon, kneeling before the +cage, was still occupied with her admiration of the rabbit, Philemon, +struck with the lofty air of Mdlle. de Cardoville, raised his hand to his +cap, and bowed respectfully as he made way for her to pass. Adrienne +returned his salutation with politeness, full of grace and dignity, and, +lightly descending the stairs, soon disappeared. Dazzled by her beauty, +as well as impressed with her noble and lofty bearing, and curious to +know how in the world Rose-Pompon had fallen in with such an +acquaintance, Philemon said to her, in his amorous jargon: "Dearest puss! +tell her Philly who is that fine lady?" + +"One of my school-fellows, you great satyr!" said Rose-Pompon, still +playing with the rabbit. + +Then, glancing at a box, which Philemon deposited close to the cage and +the portmanteau, she added: "I'll wager anything you have brought me some +more preserves!" + +"Philly has brought something better to his dear puss," said the student, +imprinting two vigorous kisses on the rosy cheeks of Rose-Pompon, who had +at length, consented to stand up; "Philly has brought her his heart." + +"Fudge!" said the grisette, delicately placing the thumb of her left hand +on the tip of her nose, and opening the fingers, which she slightly moved +to and fro. Philemon answered this provocation by putting his arm around +her waist; and then the happy pair shut their door. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +SOOTHING WORDS. + +During the interview of Adrienne with Rose-Pompon a touching scene took +place between Agricola and Mother Bunch, who had been much surprised at +Mdlle. de Cardoville's condescension with regard to the grisette. +Immediately after the departure of Adrienne, Agricola had knelt down +beside Mother Bunch, and said to her, with profound emotion: "We are +alone, and I can at length tell you what weighs upon my heart. This act +is too cruel--to die of misery and despair, and not to send to me for +assistance." + +"Listen to me, Agricola--" + +"No, there is no excuse for this. What! we called each other by the +names of brother and sister, and for fifteen years gave every proof of +sincere affection--and, when the day of misfortune comes, you quit life +without caring for those you must leave behind--without considering that +to kill yourself is to tell them they are indifferent to you!" + +"Forgive me, Agricola! it is true. I had never thought of that," said +the workgirl, casting down her eyes; "but poverty--want of work--" + +"Misery! want of work! and was I not here?" + +"And despair!" + +"But why despair? This generous young lady had received you in her +house; she knew your worth, and treated you as her friend--and just at +the moment when you had every chance of happiness, you leave the house +abruptly, and we remain in the most horrible anxiety on your account." + +"I feared--to be--to be a burden to my benefactress," stammered she. + +"You a burden to Mdlle. de Cardoville, that is so rich and good!" + +"I feared to be indiscreet," said the sewing-girl, more and more +embarrassed. + +Instead of answering his adopted sister, Agricola remained silent, and +contemplated her for some moments with an undefinable expression; then he +exclaimed suddenly, as if replying to a question put by himself: "She +will forgive me for disobeying her.--I am sure of it." + +He next turned towards Mother Bunch, who was looking at him in +astonishment, and said to her in a voice of emotion: "I am too frank to +keep up this deception. I am reproaching you--blaming you--and my +thoughts are quite different." + +"How so, Agricola?" + +"My heart aches, when I think of the evil I have done you." + +"I do not understand you, my friend; you have never done me any evil." + +"What! never? even in little things? when, for instance, yielding to a +detestable habit, I, who loved and respected you as my sister, insulted +you a hundred times a day?" + +"Insulted me!" + +"Yes--when I gave you an odious and ridiculous nickname, instead of +calling you properly." + +At these words, Mother Bunch looked at the smith in the utmost alarm, +trembling lest he had discovered her painful secret, notwithstanding the +assurance she had received from Mdlle. de Cardoville. Yet she calmed +herself a little when she reflected, that Agricola might of himself have +thought of the humiliation inflicted on her by calling her Mother Bunch, +and she answered him with a forced smile. "Can you be grieved at so +small a thing? It was a habit, Agricola, from childhood. When did your +good and affectionate mother, who nevertheless loved me as her daughter, +ever call me anything else?" + +"And did my mother consult you about my marriage, speak to you of the +rare beauty of my bride, beg you to come and see her, and study her +character, in the hope that the instinct of your affection for me would +warn you--if I made a bad choice? Did my mother have this cruelty?--No; +it was I, who thus pierced your heart!" + +The fears of the hearer were again aroused; there could be but little +doubt that Agricola knew her secret. She felt herself sinking with +confusion; yet, making a last effort not to believe the discovery, she +murmured in a feeble voice: "True, Agricola! It was not your mother, but +yourself, who made me that request--and I was grateful to you for such a +mark of confidence." + +"Grateful, my poor girl!" cried the smith, whilst his eyes filled with +tears; "no, it is not true. I pained you fearfully--I was merciless-- +heaven knows, without being aware of it!" + +"But," said the other, in a voice now almost unintelligible, "what makes +you think so?" + +"Your love for me!" cried the smith, trembling with emotion, as he +clasped Mother Bunch in a brotherly embrace. + +"Oh heaven!" murmured the unfortunate creature, as she covered her face +with her hands, "he knows all." + +"Yes, I know all," resumed Agricola, with an expression of ineffable +tenderness and respect: "yes, I know all, and I will not have you blush +for a sentiment, which honors me, and of which I feel so justly proud. +Yes, I know all; and I say to myself with joy and pride, that the best, +the most noble heart in the world is mine--will be mine always. Come, +Magdalen; let us leave shame to evil passions. Raise your eyes, and look +at me! You know, if my countenance was ever false--if it ever reflected +a feigned emotion. Then look and tell me, if you cannot read in my +features, how proud I am, Magdalen, how justly proud of your love!" + +Overwhelmed with grief and confusion, Mother Bunch had not dared to look +on Agricola; but his words expressed so deep a conviction, the tones of +his voice revealed so tender an emotion, that the poor creature felt her +shame gradually diminish, particularly when Agricola added, with rising +animation: "Be satisfied, my sweet, my noble Magdalen; I will be worthy +of this love. Believe me, it shall yet cause you as much happiness as it +has occasioned tears. Why should this love be a motive for estrangement, +confusion, fear? For what is love, in the sense in which it is held by +your generous heart? Is it not a continual exchange of devotion, +tenderness, esteem, of mutual and blind confidence?--Why, Magdalen! we +may have all this for one another--devotion, tenderness, confidence--even +more than in times past; for, on a thousand occasions, your secret +inspired you with fear and suspicion--while, for the future, on the +contrary, you will see me take such delight in the place I fill in your +good and valiant heart, that you will be happy in the happiness you +bestow. What I have just said may seem very selfish and conceited; so +much the worse! I do not know how to lie." + +The longer the smith spoke, the less troubled became Mother Bunch. What +she had above all feared in the discovery of her secret was to see it +received with raillery, contempt, or humiliating compassion; far from +this, joy and happiness were distinctly visible on the manly and honest +face of Agricola. The hunchback knew him incapable of deception; +therefore she exclaimed, this time without shame or confusion, but rather +with a sort of pride. + +"Every sincere and pure passion is so far good and con soling as to end +by deserving interest and sympathy, when it has triumphed over its first +excess! It is alike honorable to the heart which feels and that which +inspires it!--Thanks to you, Agricola--thanks to the kind words, which +have raised me in my own esteem--I feel that, instead of blushing, I +ought to be proud of this love. My benefactress is right--you are right: +why should I be ashamed of it? Is it not a true and sacred love? To be +near you, to love you, to tell you so, to prove it by constant devotion, +what did I ever desire more? And yet shame and fear, joined with that +dizziness of the brain which extreme misery produces, drove me to +suicide!--But then some allowance must be made for the suspicions of a +poor creature, who has been the subject of ridicule from her cradle. So +my secret was to die with me, unless some unforeseen accident should +reveal it to you; and, in that case, you are right--sure of myself, sure +of you, I ought to have feared nothing. But I may claim some indulgence; +mistrust, cruel mistrust of one's self makes one doubt others also. Let +us forget all that. Agricola, my generous brother, I will say to you, as +you said to me just now, `Look at me; you know my countenance cannot lie. +Look at me: see if I shun your gaze; see if, ever in my life, I looked so +happy'--and yet, even now, I was about to die!" + +She spoke the truth. Agricola himself could not have hoped so prompt an +effect from his words. In spite of the deep traces which misery, grief, +and sickness had imprinted on the girl's features, they now shone with +radiant happiness and serenity, whilst her blue eyes, gentle and pure as +her soul, were fixed, without embarrassment, on those of Agricola. + +"Oh! thanks, thanks!" cried the smith, in a rapture of delight: "when I +see you so calm, and so happy, Magdalen, I am indeed grateful." + +"Yes, I am calm, I am happy," replied she; "and happy I shall be, for I +can now tell you my most secret thoughts. Yes, happy; for this day, +which began so fatally, ends like a divine dream. Far from being afraid, +I now look at you with hope and joy. I have again found my generous +benefactress, and I am tranquil as to the fate of my poor sister. Oh! +shall we not soon see her? I should like her to take part in this +happiness." + +She seemed so happy, that the smith did not dare to inform her of the +death of Cephyse, and reserved himself to communicate the same at a more +fitting opportunity. Therefore he answered: "Cephyse, being the +stronger, has been the more shaken; it will not be prudent, I am told, to +see her to-day." + +"I will wait then. I can repress my impatience, I have so much to say to +you." + +"Dear, gentle Magdalen!" + +"Oh, my friend!" cried the girl, interrupting Agricola, with tears of +joy: "I cannot tell you what I feel, when I hear you call me Magdalen. +It is so sweet, so soothing, that my heart expands with delight." + +"Poor girl! how dreadfully she must have suffered!" cried the smith, with +inexpressible emotion, "when she displays so much happiness, so much +gratitude, at being called by her own poor name!" + +"But consider, my friend; that word in your mouth contains a new life for +me. If you only knew what hopes, what pleasures I can now see gleaming +in the future! If you knew all the cherished longings of my tenderness! +Your wife, the charming Angela, with her angel face and angel-soul--oh! +in my turn, I can say to, you, `Look at me, and see how sweet that name +is to my lips and heart!' Yes, your charming, your good Angela will call +me Magdalen--and your children, Agricola, your children!--dear little +creatures!--to them also I shall be Magdalen--their good Magdalen--and +the love I shall bear them will make them mine, as well as their +mother's--and I shall have my part in every maternal care--and they will +belong to us three; will they not, Agricola?--Oh! let me, let me weep! +These tears without bitterness do me so much good; they are tears that +need not be concealed. Thank heaven! thank you, my friend! those other +tears are I trust dried forever." + +For some seconds, this affecting scene had been overlooked by an +invisible witness. The smith and Mother Bunch had not perceived Mdlle. +de Cardoville standing on the threshold of the door. As Mother Bunch had +said, this day, which dawned with all under such fatal auspices, had +become for all a day of ineffable felicity. Adrienne, too, was full of +joy, for Djalma had been faithful to her, Djalma loved her with passion. +The odious appearances, of which she had been the dupe and victim, +evidently formed part of a new plot of Rodin, and it only remained for +Mdlle. de Cardoville to discover the end of these machinations. + +Another joy was reserved for her. The happy are quick in detecting +happiness in others, and Adrienne guessed, by the hunchback's last words, +that there was no longer any secret between the smith and the sempstress. +She could not therefore help exclaiming, as she entered: "Oh! this +will be the brightest day of my life, for I shall not be happy alone!" + +Agricola and Mother Bunch turned round hastily. "Lady," said the smith, +"in spite of the promise I made you, I could not conceal from Magdalen +that I knew she loved me!" + +"Now that I no longer blush for this love before Agricola, why should I +blush for it before you, lady, that told me to be proud of it, because it +is noble and pure?" said Mother Bunch, to whom her happiness gave +strength enough to rise, and to lean upon Agricola's arm. + +"It is well, my friend," said Adrienne, as she threw her arms round her +to support her; "only one word, to excuse the indiscretion with which you +will perhaps reproach me. If I told your secret to M. Agricola--" + +"Do you know why it was, Magdalen?" cried the smith, interrupting +Adrienne. "It was only another proof of the lady's delicate generosity. +`I long hesitate to confide to you this secret,' said she to me this +morning, `but I have at length made up my mind to it. We shall probably +find your adopted sister; you have been to her the best of brothers: but +many times, without knowing it, you have wounded her feelings cruelly-- +and now that you know her secret, I trust in your kind heart to keep it +faithfully, and so spare the poor child a thousand pangs--pangs the more +bitter, because they come from you, and are suffered in silence. Hence, +when you speak to her of your wife, your domestic happiness, take care +not to gall that noble and tender heart.'--Yes, Magdalen, these were the +reasons that led the lady to commit what she called an indiscretion." + +"I want words to thank you now and ever," said Mother Bunch. + +"See, my friend," replied Adrienne, "how often the designs of the wicked +turn against themselves. They feared your devotion to me, and therefore +employed that unhappy Florine to steal your journal--" + +"So as to drive me from your house with shame, lady, When I supposed my +most secret thoughts an object of ridicule to all. There can be no doubt +such was their plan," said Mother Bunch. + +"None, my child. Well! this horrible wickedness, which nearly caused +your death, now turns to the confusion of the criminals. Their plot is +discovered--and, luckily, many other of their designs," said Adrienne, as +she thought of Rose-Pompon. + +Then she resumed, with heartfelt joy: "At last, we are again united, +happier than ever, and in our very happiness we shall find new resources +to combat our enemies. I say our enemies--for all that love me are +odious to these wretches. But courage, the hour is come, and the good +people will have their turn." + +"Thank heaven, lady," said the smith; "or my part, I shall not be wanting +in zeal. What delight to strip them of their mask!" + +"Let me remind you, M. Baudoin, that you have an appointment for to- +morrow with M. Hardy." + +"I have not forgotten it, lady, any more than the generous offers I am to +convey to him." + +"That is nothing. He belongs to my family. Tell him (what indeed I +shall write to him this evening), that the funds necessary to reopen his +factory are at his disposal; I do not say so for his sake only, but for +that of a hundred families reduced to want. Beg him to quit immediately +the fatal abode to which they have taken him: for a thousand reasons he +should be on his guard against all that surround him." + +"Be satisfied, lady. The letter he wrote to me in reply to the one I got +secretly delivered to him, was short, affectionate, sad--but he grants me +the interview I had asked for, and I am sure I shall be able to persuade +him to leave that melancholy dwelling, and perhaps to depart with me, he +has always had so much confidence in my attachment." + +"Well, M. Baudoin, courage!" said Adrienne, as she threw her cloak over +the workgirl's shoulders, and wrapped her round with care. "Let us be +gone, for it is late. As soon as we get home, I will give you a letter +for M. Hardy, and to-morrow you will come and tell me the result of your +visit. No, not to-morrow," she added, blushing slightly. "Write to me +to-morrow, and the day after, about twelve, come to me." + +Some minutes later, the young sempstress, supported by Agricola and +Adrienne, had descended the stairs of that gloomy house, and, being +placed in the carriage by the side of Mdlle. de Cardoville, she earnestly +entreated to be allowed to see Cephyse; it was in vain that Agricola +assured her it was impossible, and that she should see her the next day. +Thanks to the information derived from Rose-Pompon, Mdlle. de Cardoville +was reasonably suspicious of all those who surrounded Djalma, and she +therefore took measures, that, very evening, to have a letter delivered +to the prince by what she considered a sure hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE TWO CARRIAGES. + +It is the evening of the day on which Mdlle. de Cardoville prevented the +sewing-girl's suicide. It strikes eleven; the night is dark; the wind +blows with violence, and drives along great black clouds, which +completely hide the pale lustre of the moon. A hackney-coach, drawn by +two broken-winded horses, ascends slowly and with difficulty the slope of +the Rue Blanche, which is pretty steep near the barrier, in the part +where is situated the house occupied by Djalma. + +The coach stops. The coachman, cursing the length of an interminable +drive "within the circuit," leading at last to this difficult ascent, +turns round on his box, leans over towards the front window of the +vehicle, and says in a gruff tone to the person he is driving: "Come! are +we almost there? From the Rue de Vaugirard to the Barriere Blanche, is a +pretty good stretch, I think, without reckoning that the night is so +dark, that one can hardly see two steps before one--and the street-lamps +not lighted because of the moon, which doesn't shine, after all!" + +"Look out for a little door with a portico-drive on about twenty yards +beyond--and then stop close to the wall," answered a squeaking voice, +impatiently, and with an Italian accent. + +"Here is a beggarly Dutchman, that will make me as savage as a bear?" +muttered the angry Jehu to himself. Then he added: "Thousand thunders! I +tell you that I can't see. How the devil can I find out your little +door?" + +"Have you no sense? Follow the wall to the right, brush against it, and +you will easily find the little door. It is next to No. 50. If you do +not find it, you must be drunk," answered the Italian, with increased +bitterness. + +The coachman only replied by swearing like a trooper, and whipping up his +jaded horses. Then, keeping close to the wall, he strained his eyes in +trying to read the numbers of the houses, by the aid of his carriage- +lamps. + +After some moments, the coach again stopped. "I have passed No. 50, and +here is a little door with a portico," said the coachman. "Is that the +one?" + +"Yes," said the voice. "Now go forward some twenty yards, and then +stop." + +"Well! I never--" + +"Then get down from your box, and give twice three knocks at the little +door we have just passed--you understand me?--twice three knocks." + +"Is that all you give me to drink?" cried the exasperated coachman. + +"When you have taken me back to the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where I live, +you shall have something handsome, if you do but manage matters well." + +"Ha! now the Faubourg Saint-Germain! Only that little bit of distance!" +said the driver, with repressed rage. "And I who have winded my horses, +wanted to be on the boulevard by the time the play was out. Well, I'm +blowed!" Then, putting a good face on his bad luck, and consoling +himself with the thought of the promised drink-money, he resumed: "I am +to give twice three knocks at the little door?" + +"Yes; three knocks first--then pause--then three other knocks. Do you +understand?" + +"What next?" + +"Tell the person who comes, that he is waited for, and bring him here to +the coach." + +"The devil burn you!" said the coachman to himself, as he turned round on +the box, and whipped up his horses, adding: "this crusty old Dutchman has +something to do with Free-masons, or, perhaps, smugglers, seeing we are +so near the gates. He deserves my giving him in charge, for bringing me +all the way from the Rue de Vaugirard." + +At twenty steps beyond the little door, the coach again stopped, and the +coachman descended from the box to execute the orders he had received. +Going to the little door, he knocked three times; then paused, as he had +been desired, and then knocked three times more. The clouds, which had +hitherto been so thick as entirely to conceal the disk of the moon, just +then withdrew sufficiently to afford a glimmering light, so that when the +door opened at the signal, the coachman saw a middle-sized person issue +from it, wrapped in a cloak, and wearing a colored cap. + +This man carefully locked the door, and then advanced two steps into the +street. "They are waiting for you," said the coachman; "I am to take you +along with me to the coach." + +Preceding the man with the cloak, who only answered him by a nod, he led +him to the coach-door, which he was about to open, and to let down the +step, when the voice exclaimed from the inside: "It is not necessary. +The gentleman may talk to me through the window. I will call you when it +is time to start." + +"Which means that I shall be kept here long enough to send you to all the +devils!" murmured the driver. "However, I may as well walk about, just +to stretch my legs." + +So saying, he began to walk up and down, by the side of the wall in which +was the little door. Presently he heard the distant sound of wheels, +which soon came nearer and nearer, and a carriage, rapidly ascending the +slope, stopped on the other side of the little garden-door. + +"Come, I say! a private carriage!" said the coachman. "Good horses +those, to come up the Rue Blanche at a trot." + +The coachman was just making this observation, when, by favor of a +momentary gleam of light, he saw a man step from the carriage, advance +rapidly to the little door, open it, and go in, closing it after him. + +"It gets thicker and thicker!" said the coachman. "One comes out, and +the other goes in." + +So saying, he walked up to the carriage. It was splendidly harnessed, +and drawn by two handsome and vigorous horses. The driver sat +motionless, in his great box-coat, with the handle of his whip resting on +his right knee. + +"Here's weather to drive about in, with such tidy dukes as yours, +comrade!" said the humble hackney-coachman to this automaton, who +remained mute and impassible, without even appearing to know that he was +spoken to. + +"He doesn't understand French--he's an Englishman. One could tell that +by his horses," said the coachman, putting this interpretation on the +silence of his brother whip. Then, perceiving a tall footman at a little +distance, dressed in a long gray livery coat, with blue collar and silver +buttons, the coachman addressed himself to him, by way of compensation, +but without much varying his phrase: "Here's nice weather to stand about +in, comrade!" On the part of the footman, he was met with the same +imperturbable silence. + +"They're both Englishmen," resumed the coachman, philosophically; and, +though somewhat astonished at the incident of the little door, he +recommenced his walk in the direction of his own vehicle. + +While these facts were passing, the man in the cloak, and the man with +the Italian accent continued their conversation, the one still in the +coach, and the other leaning with his hand on the door. It had already +lasted for some time, and was carried on in Italian. They were evidently +talking of some absent person, as will appear from the following. + +"So," said the voice from the coach, "that is agreed to?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the man in the cloak; "but only in case the +eagle should become a serpent." + +"And, in the contrary event, you will receive the other half of the ivory +crucifix I gave you." + +"I shall know what it means, my lord." + +"Continue to merit and preserve his confidence." + +"I will merit and preserve it, my lord, because I admire and respect this +man, who is stronger than the strongest, by craft, and courage, and will. +I have knelt before him with humility, as I would kneel before one of the +three black idols that stand between Bowanee and her worshippers; for his +religion, like mine, teaches to change life into nothingness." + +"Humph!" said the voice, in a tone of some embarrassment; "these +comparisons are useless and inaccurate. Only think of obeying him, +without explaining your obedience." + +"Let him speak, and I perform his will! I am in his hands like a corpse, +as he himself expresses it. He has seen, he sees every day, my devotion +to his interests with regard to Prince Djalma. He has only to say: `Kill +him!'and this son of a king--" + +"For heaven's salve, do not have such ideas!" cried the voice, +interrupting the man in the cloak. "Thank heaven, you will never be +asked for such proofs of your submission." + +"What I am ordered I do. Bowanee sees me." + +"I do not doubt your zeal. I know that you are a loving and intelligent +barrier, placed between the prince and many guilty interests; and it is +because I have heard of that zeal, of your skill in circumventing this +young Indian, and, above all, of the motives of your blind devotion, that +I have wished to inform you of everything. You are the fanatical +worshipper of him you serve. That is well; man should be the obedient +slave of the god he chooses for himself." + +"Yes, my lord; so long as the god remains a god." + +"We understand each other perfectly. As for your recompense, you know +what I have promised." + +"My lord, I have my reward already." + +"How so?" + +"I know what I know." + +"Very well. Then as for secrecy--" + +"You have securities, my lord." + +"Yes--and sufficient ones." + +"The interest of the cause I serve, my lord, would alone be enough to +secure my zeal and discretion." + +"True; you are a man of firm and ardent convictions." + +"I strive to be so, my lord." + +"And, after all, a very religious man in your way. It is very +praiseworthy, in these irreligious times, to have any views at all on +such matters--particularly when those views will just enable me to count +upon your aid." + +"You may count upon it, my lord, for the same reason that the intrepid +hunter prefers a jackal to ten foxes, a tiger to ten jackals, a lion to +ten tigers, and the welmiss to ten lions." + +"What is the welmiss?" + +"It is what spirit is to matter, the blade to the scabbard, the perfume +to the flower, the head to the body." + +"I understand. There never was a more just comparison. You are a man of +sound judgment. Always recollect what you have just told me, and make +yourself more and more worthy of the confidence of--your idol." + +"Will he soon be in a state to hear me, my lord?" + +"In two or three days, at most. Yesterday a providential crisis saved +his life; and he is endowed with so energetic a will, that his cure will +be very rapid." + +"Shall you see him again to-morrow, my lord?" + +"Yes, before my departure, to bid him farewell." + +"Then tell him a strange circumstance, of which I have not been able to +inform him, but which happened yesterday." + +"What was it?" + +"I had gone to the garden of the dead. I saw funerals everywhere, and +lighted torches, in the midst of the black night, shining upon tombs. +Bowanee smiled in her ebon sky. As I thought of that divinity of +destruction, I beheld with joy the dead-cart emptied of its coffins. The +immense pit yawned like the mouth of hell; corpses were heaped upon +corpses, and still it yawned the same. Suddenly, by the light of a +torch, I saw an old man beside me. He wept. I had seen him before. He +is a Jew--the keeper of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois--you know +what I mean." Here the man in the cloak started. + +"Yes, I know; but what is the matter? why do you stop short?" + +"Because in that house there has been for a hundred and fifty years the +portrait of a man whom I once met in the centre of India, on the banks of +the Ganges." And the man in the cloak again paused and shuddered. + +"A singular resemblance, no doubt." + +"Yes, my lord, a singular resemblance--nothing more." + +"But the Jew--the old Jew?" + +"I am coming to that, my lord. Still weeping, he said to a gravedigger, +`Well! and the coffin?' `You were right,' answered the man; `I found it +in the second row of the other grave. It had the figure of a cross on +it, formed by seven black nails. But how could you know the place and +the mark?' 'Alas! it is no matter,' replied the old Jew, with bitter +melancholy. `You see that I was but too well informed on the subject. +But where is the coffin?' `Behind the great tomb of black marble; I have +hidden it there. So make haste; for, in the confusion, nothing will be +noticed. You have paid me well, and I wish you to succeed in what you +require.'" + +"And what did the old Jew do with the coffin marked with the seven black +nails?" + +"Two men accompanied him, my lord, bearing a covered litter, with +curtains drawn round it. He lighted a lantern, and, followed by these +two men, went towards the place pointed out by the gravedigger. A +stoppage, occasioned by the dead-carts, made me lose sight of the old +Jew, whom I was following amongst the tombs. Afterwards I was unable to +find him." + +"It is indeed a strange affair. What could this old Jew want with the +coffin?" + +"It is said, my lord, that they use dead bodies in preparing their magic +charms." + +"Those unbelievers are capable of anything--even of holding communication +with the Enemy of mankind. However, we will look after this: the +discovery may be of importance." + +At this instant a clock struck twelve in the distance. + +"Midnight! already?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"I must be gone. Good-bye--but for the last time swear to me that, +should matters so turn out, as soon as you receive the other half of the +ivory crucifix I have just given you, you will keep your promise." + +"I have sworn it by Bowanee, my lord." + +"Don't forget that, to make all sure, the person who will deliver to you +the other half of the crucifix is to say--come, what is he to say?" + +"He is to say, my lord: `There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the +lip.'" + +"Very well. Adieu! secrecy and fidelity!" + +"Secrecy and fidelity, my lord," answered the man in the cloak. + +Some seconds after the hackney-coach started, carrying with it Cardinal +Malipieri, one of the speakers in the above dialogue. The other, whom +the reader has no doubt recognized as Faringhea, returned to the little +garden-door of the house occupied by Djalma. At the moment he was +putting the key into the lock, the door opened, to his great +astonishment, and a man came forth. Faringhea rushed upon the unknown, +seized him violently by the collar, and exclaimed: "Who are you? whence +came you?" + +The stranger evidently found the tone of this question anything but +satisfactory; for, instead of answering, he struggled to disengage +himself from Faringhea's hold, and cried out, in a loud voice: "Help! +Peter!" + +Instantly the carriage, which had been standing a few yards off, dashed +up at full speed, and Peter, the tall footman, seizing the half-breed by +the shoulders, flung him back several paces, and thus made a seasonable +diversion in favor of the unknown. + +"Now, sir," said the latter to Faringhea, shaking himself, and still +protected by the gigantic footman, "I am in a state to answer your +questions, though you certainly have a very rough way of receiving an old +acquaintance. I am Dupont, ex-bailiff of the estate of Cardoville, and +it was I who helped to fish you out of the water, when the ship was +wrecked in which you had embarked." + +By the light of the carriage-lamps, indeed, the half-caste recognized the +good, honest face of Dupont, formerly bailiff, and now house-steward, to +Mdlle. de Cardoville. It must not be forgotten that Dupont had been the +first to write to Mdlle. de Cardoville, to ask her to interest herself +for Djalma, who was then detained at Cardoville Castle by the injuries he +had received during the shipwreck. + +"But, sir, what is your business here? Why do you introduce yourself +clandestinely into this house?" said Faringhea, in an abrupt and +suspicious tone. + +"I will--just observe to you that there is nothing clandestine in the +matter. I came here in a carriage, with servants in the livery of my +excellent mistress, Mdlle. de Cardoville, charged by her, without any +disguise or mystery, to deliver a letter to Prince Djalma, her cousin," +replied Dupont, with dignity. + +On these words, Faringhea trembled with mute rage, as he answered: "And +why, sir, come at this late hour, and introduce yourself by this little +door?" + +"I came at this hour, my dear sir, because such was Mdlle. de +Cardoville's command, and I entered by this little gate because there is +every reason to believe that if I had gone around to the other I should +not have been permitted to see the prince." + +"You are mistaken, sir," replied the half-caste. + +"It is possible: but as we knew that the prince usually passed a good +portion of the night in the little saloon, which communicates with the +greenhouse, and as Mdlle. de Cardoville had kept a duplicate key of this +door, I was pretty certain, by taking this course, to be able to deliver +into the prince's own hands the letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, his +cousin, which I have now had the honor of doing, my dear sir; and I have +been deeply touched by the kindness with which the prince deigned to +receive me and to remember our last interview." + +"And who kept you so well informed, sir, of the prince's habits?" said +Faringhea, unable to control his vexation. + +"If I have been well informed as to his habits, my dear sir, I have had +no such correct knowledge of yours," answered Dupont, with a mocking air; +"for I assure you that I had no more notion of seeing you than you had of +seeing me." + +So saying, M. Dupont bowed with something like mock politeness to the +half-caste, and got into the carriage, which drove off rapidly, leaving +Faringhea in a state of the utmost surprise and anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE APPOINTMENT. + +The morning after--Dupont's mission to Prince Djalma, the latter was +walking with hasty and impatient step up and down the little saloon, +which communicated, as we already know, with the greenhouse from which +Adrienne had entered when she first appeared to him. In remembrance of +that day, he had chosen to dress himself as on the occasion in question; +he wore the same tunic of white cashmere, with a cherry-colored turban, +to match with his girdle; his gaiters, of scarlet velvet, embroidered +with silver, displayed the fine form of his leg, and terminated in small +white morocco slippers, with red heels. Happiness has so instantaneous, +and, as it were, material an influence upon young, lively, and ardent +natures, that Djalma, dejected and despairing only the day before, was no +longer like the same person. The pale, transparent gold of his +complexion was no longer tarnished by a livid hue. His large eyes, of +late obscured like black diamonds by a humid vapor, now shone with mild +radiance in the centre of their pearly setting; his lips, long pale, had +recovered their natural color, which was rich and soft as the fine purple +flowers of his country. + +Ever and anon, pausing in his hasty walk, he stopped suddenly, and drew +from his bosom a little piece of paper, carefully folded, which he +pressed to his lips with enthusiastic ardor. Then, unable to restrain +the expression of his full happiness, he uttered a full and sonorous cry +of joy, and with a bound he was in front of the plate-glass which +separated the saloon from the conservatory, in which he had first seen +Mdlle. de Cardoville. By a singular power of remembrance, or marvellous +hallucination of a mind possessed by a fixed idea, Djalma had often seen, +or fancied he saw, the adored semblance of Adrienne appear to him through +this sheet of crystal. The illusion had been so complete, that, with his +eyes ardently fixed on the vision he invoked, he had been able, with the +aid of a pencil dipped in carmine, to trace with astonishing exactness, +the profile of the ideal countenance which the delirium of his +imagination had presented to his view.[42] It was before these delicate +lines of bright carmine that Djalma now stood in deep contemplation, +after perusing and reperusing, and raising twenty times to his lips, the +letter he had received the night before from the hands of Dupont. Djalma +was not alone. Faringhea watched all the movements of the prince, with a +subtle, attentive, and gloomy aspect. Standing respectfully in a corner +of the saloon, the half-caste appeared to be occupied in unfolding and +spreading out Djalma's sash, light, silky Indian web, the brown ground of +which was almost entirely concealed by the exquisite gold and silver +embroidery with which it was overlaid. + +The countenance of the half-caste wore a dark and gloomy expression. He +could not deceive himself. The letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, +delivered by Dupont to Djalma, must have been the cause of the delight he +now experienced, for, without doubt, he knew himself beloved. In that +event, his obstinate silence towards Faringhea, ever since the latter had +entered the saloon, greatly alarmed the half-caste, who could not tell +what interpretation to put upon it. The night before, after parting with +Dupont, he had hastened, in a state of anxiety easily understood, to look +for the prince, in the hope of ascertaining the effect produced by Mdlle. +de Cardoville's letter. But he found the parlor door closed, and when he +knocked, he received no answer from within. Then, though the night was +far advanced, he had dispatched a note to Rodin, in which he informed him +of Dupont's visit and its probable intention. Djalma had indeed passed +the night in a tumult of happiness and hope, and a fever of impatience +quite impossible to describe. Repairing to his bed-chamber only towards +the morning, he had taken a few moments of repose, and had then dressed +himself without assistance. + +Many times, but in vain, the half-caste had discreetly knocked at the +door of Djalma's apartment. It was only in the early part of the +afternoon that the prince had rung the bell to order his carriage to be +ready by half-past two. Faringhea having presented himself, the prince +had given him the order without looking at him, as he might have done to +any other of his servants. Was this suspicion, aversion, or mere absence +of mind on the part of Djalma? Such were the questions which the half- +caste put to himself with growing anguish; for the designs of which he +was the most active and immediate instrument might all be ruined by the +least suspicion in the prince. + +"Oh! the hours--the hours--how slow they are!" cried the young Indian, +suddenly, in a low and trembling voice. + +"The day before yesterday, my lord, you said the hours were very long," +observed Faringhea, as he drew near Djalma in order to attract his +attention. Seeing that he did not succeed in this he advanced a few +steps nearer, and resumed: "Your joy seems very great, my lord; tell the +cause of it to your poor and faithful servant, that he also may rejoice +with you." + +If he heard the words, Djalma did not pay any attention to them. He made +no answer, and his large black eyes gazed upon vacancy. He seemed to +smile admiringly upon some enchanting vision, and he folded his two hands +upon his bosom, in the attitude which his countrymen assume at the hour +of prayer. After some instants of contemplation, he said: "What o'clock +is it?"--but he asked this question of himself, rather than of any third +person. + +"It will soon be two o'clock, my lord," said Faringhea. + +Having heard this answer, Djalma seated himself, and hid his face in his +hands, as if completely absorbed in some ineffable meditation. Urged on +by his growing anxiety, and wishing at any cost to attract the attention +of Djalma, Faringhea approached still nearer to him, and, almost certain +of the effect of the words he was about to utter, said to him in a slow +and emphatic voice: "My lord, I am sure that you owe the happiness which +now transports you to Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +Hardly had this name been pronounced, than Djalma started from his chair, +looked the half-breed full in the face, and exclaimed, as if only just +aware of his presence, "Faringhea! you here!--what is the matter?" + +"Your faithful servant shares in your joy, my lord." + +"What joy?" + +"That which the letter of Mdlle. de Cardoville has occasioned, my lord." + +Djalma returned no answer, but his eye shone with so much serene +happiness, that the half-caste recovered from his apprehensions. No +cloud of doubt or suspicion obscured the radiant features of the prince. +After a few moments of silence, Djalma fixed upon the half-caste a look +half-veiled with a tear of joy, and said to him, with the expression of +one whose heart overflows with love and happiness: "Oh! such delight is +good--great--like heaven!--for it is heaven which--" + +"You deserve this happiness, my lord, after so many sufferings." + +"What sufferings?--Oh! yes. I formerly suffered at Java; but that was +years ago." + +"My lord, this great good fortune does not astonish me. What have I +always told you? Do not despair; feign a violent passion for some other +woman, and then this proud young lady--" + +At these words Djalma looked at the half-caste with so piercing a glance, +that the latter stopped short; but the prince said to him with +affectionate goodness, "Go on! I listen." + +Then, leaning his chin upon his hand, and his elbow on his knee, he gazed +so intently on Faringhea, and yet with such unutterable mildness, that +even that iron soul was touched for a moment with a slight feeling of +remorse. + +"I was saying, my lord," he resumed, "that by following the counsels of +your faithful slave, who persuaded you to feign a passionate love for +another woman, you have brought the proud Mdlle. de Cardoville to come to +you. Did I not tell you it would be so?" + +"Yes, you did tell me so," answered Djalma, still maintaining the same +position, and examining the half-caste with the same fixed and mild +attention. + +The surprise of Faringhea increased; generally, the prince, without +treating him with the least harshness, preserved the somewhat distant and +imperious manners of their common country, and he had never before spoken +to him with such extreme mildness. Knowing all the evil he had done the +prince, and suspicious as the wicked must ever be, the half-caste thought +for a moment, that his master's apparent kindness might conceal a snare. +He continued, therefore, with less assurance, "Believe me, my lord, this +day, if you do but know how to profit by your advantages, will console +you for all your troubles, which have indeed been great--for only +yesterday, though you were generous enough to forget it, only yesterday +you suffered cruelly--but you were not alone in your sufferings. This +proud young lady suffered also!" + +"Do you think so?" said Djalma. + +"Oh! it is quite sure, my lord. What must she not have felt, when she +saw you at the theatre with another woman!--If she loved you only a +little, she must have been deeply wounded in her self-esteem; if she +loved you with passion, she must have been struck to the heart. At +length, you see, wearied out with suffering, she has come to you." + +"So that, any way, she must have suffered--and that does not move your +pity?" said Djalma, in a constrained, but still very mild voice. + +"Before thinking of others, my lord, I think of your distresses; and they +touch me too nearly to leave me any pity for other woes," added Faringhea +hypocritically, so greatly had the influence of Rodin already modified +the character of the Phansegar. + +"It is strange!" said Djalma, speaking to himself, as he viewed the half- +caste with a glance still kind but piercing. + +"What is strange, my lord?" + +"Nothing. But tell me, since your advice has hitherto prospered so well, +what think you of the future?" + +"Of the future, my lord?" + +"Yes; in an hour I shall be with Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +"That is a serious matter, my lord. The whole future will depend upon +this interview." + +"That is what I was just thinking." + +"Believe me, my lord, women never love any so well, as the bold man who +spares them the embarrassment of a refusal." + +"Explain more fully." + +"Well, my lord, they despise the timid and languishing lover, who asks +humbly for what he might take by force." + +"But to-day I shall meet Mdlle. de Cardoville for the first time." + +"You have met her a thousand times in your dreams, my lord; and depend +upon it, she has seen you also in her dreams, since she loves you. Every +one of your amorous thoughts has found an echo in her heart. All your +ardent adorations have been responded to by her. Love has not two +languages, and, without meeting, you have said all that you had to say to +each other. Now, it is for you to act as her master, and she will be +yours entirely." + +"It is strange--very strange!" said Djalma, a second time, without +removing his eyes from Faringhea's face. + +Mistaking the sense which the prince attached to these words, the half- +caste resumed: "Believe me, my lord, however strange it may appear, this +is the wisest course. Remember the past. Was it by playing the part of +a timid lover that you have brought to your feet this proud young lady, +my lord? No, it was by pretending to despise her, in favor of another +woman. Therefore, let us have no weakness. The lion does not woo like +the poor turtle-dove. What cares the sultan of the desert for a few +plaintive howls from the lioness, who is more pleased than angry at his +rude and wild caresses? Soon submissive, fearful and happy, she follows +in the track of her master. Believe me, my lord--try everything--dare +everything--and to-day you will become the adored sultan of this young +lady, whose beauty all Paris admires." + +After some minutes' silence, Djalma, shaking his head with an expression +of tender pity, said to the half-caste, in his mild, sonorous voice: "Why +betray me thus? Why advise me thus wickedly to use violence, terror, and +surprise, towards an angel of purity, whom I respect as my mother? Is it +not enough for you to have been so long devoted to my enemies, whose +hatred has followed me from Java?" + +Had Djalma sprung upon the half-caste with bloodshot eye, menacing brow, +and lifted poniard, the latter would have been less surprised, and +perhaps less frightened, than when he heard the prince speak of his +treachery in this tone of mild reproach. + +He drew back hastily, as if about to stand on his guard. But Djalma +resumed, with the same gentleness, "Fear nothing. Yesterday I should +have killed you! But to-day happy love renders me too just, too merciful +for that. I pity you, without any feeling of bitterness--for you must +have been very unhappy, or you could not have become so wicked." + +"My lord!" said the half-caste, with growing amazement. + +"Yes, you must have suffered much, and met with little mercy, poor +creature, to have become so merciless, in your hate, and proof against +the sight of a happiness like mine. When I listened to you just now, and +saw the sad perseverance of your hatred, I felt the deepest commiseration +for you." + +"I do not know, my lord--but--" stammered the half-caste, and was unable +to find words to proceed. + +"Come, now--what harm have I ever done you?" + +"None, my lord," answered Faringhea. + +"Then why do you hate me thus? why pursue me with so much animosity? Was +it not enough to give me the perfidious counsel to feign a shameful love +for the young girl that was brought hither, and who quitted the house +disgusted at the miserable part she was to play?" + +"Your feigned love for that young girl, my lord," replied Faringhea, +gradually recovering his presence of mind, "conquered the coldness of--" + +"Do not say that," resumed the prince, interrupting him with the same +mildness. "If I enjoy this happiness, which makes me compassionate +towards you, and raises me above myself, it is because Mdlle de +Cardoville now knows that I have never for a moment ceased to love her as +she ought to be loved, with adoration and reverence. It was your +intention to have parted us forever, and you had nearly succeeded." + +"If you think this of me, my lord, you must look upon me as your most +mortal enemy." + +"Fear nothing, I tell you. I have no right to blame you. In the madness +of my grief, I listened to you and followed your advice. I was not only +your dupe, but your accomplice. Only confess that, when you saw me at +your mercy, dejected, crushed, despairing, it was cruel in you to advise +the course that might have been most fatal to me." + +"The ardor of my zeal may have deceived me, my lord." + +"I am willing to believe it. And yet again to-day there were the same +evil counsels. You had no more pity for my happiness than for my sorrow. +The rapture of my heart inspires you with only one desire--that of +changing this rapture into despair." + +"I, my lord!" + +"Yes, you. It was your intention to ruin me--to dishonor me forever in +the eyes of Mdlle. de Cardoville. Now, tell me--why this furious hate? +what have I done to you?" + +"You misjudge me, my lord--and--" + +"Listen to me. I do not wish you to be any longer wicked and +treacherous. I wish to make you good. In our country, they charm +serpents, and tame the wildest tigers. You are a man, with a mind to +reason, a heart to love, and I will tame you too by gentleness. This day +has bestowed on me divine happiness; you shall have good cause to bless +this day. What can I do for you? what would you have--gold? You shall +have it. Do you desire more than gold? Do you desire a friend, to +console you for the sorrows that made you wicked, and to teach you to be +good? Though a king's son, I will be that friend--in spite of the evil-- +ay, because of the evil you have done me. Yes; I will be your sincere +friend, and it shall be my delight to say to myself: `The day on which I +learned that my angel loved me, my happiness was great indeed--for, in +the morning, I had an implacable enemy, and, ere night, his hatred was +changed to friendship.' Believe me, Faringhea, misery makes crime, but +happiness produces virtue. Be happy!" + +At this moment the clock struck two. The prince started. It was time to +go on his visit to Adrienne. The handsome countenance of Djalma, doubly +embellished by the mild, ineffable expression with which it had been +animated whilst he was talking to the half-caste, now seemed illumined +with almost divine radiance. + +Approaching Faringhea, he extended his hand with the utmost, grace and +courtesy, saying to him, "Your hand!" + +The half-caste, whose brow was bathed with a cold sweat, whose +countenance was pale and agitated, seemed to hesitate for an instant; +then, overawed, conquered, fascinated, he offered his trembling hand to +the prince, who pressed it, and said to him, in their country's fashion, +"You have laid your hand honestly in a friend's; this hand shall never be +closed against you. Faringhea, farewell! I now feel myself more worthy +to kneel before my angel." + +And Djalma went out, on his way to the appointment with Adrienne. In +spite of his ferocity, in spite of the pitiless hate he bore to the whole +human race, the dark sectary of Bowanee was staggered by the noble and +clement words of Djalma, and said to himself, with terror, "I have taken +his hand. He is now sacred for me." + +Then, after a moment's silence, a thought occurred to him, and he +exclaimed, "Yes--but he will not be sacred for him who, according to the +answer of last night, waits for him at the door of the house." + +So saying, the half-caste hastened into the next room, which looked upon +the street, and, raising a corner of the curtain, muttered anxiously to +himself, "The carriage moves off--the man approaches. Perdition! it is +gone and I see no more." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +ANXIETY. + +By a singular coincidence of ideas, Adrienne, like Djalma, had wished to +be dressed exactly in the same costume as at their interview in the house +in the Rue Blanche. For the site of this solemn meeting, so important to +her future happiness, Adrienne had chosen, with habitual tact, the grand +drawing-room of Cardoville House, in which hung many family portraits. +The most apparent were those of her father and mother. The room was +large and lofty, and furnished, like those which preceded it, with all +the imposing splendor of the age of Louis XIV. The ceiling, painted by +Lebrun, to represent the Triumph of Apollo, displayed his bold designing +and vigorous coloring, in the centre of a wide cornice, magnificently +carved and gilt, and supported at its angles by four large gilt figures, +representing the Seasons. Huge panels, covered with crimson damask, and +set in frames, served as the background to the family portraits which +adorned this apartment. It is easier to conceive than describe the +thousand conflicting emotions which agitated the bosom of Mdlle. de +Cardoville as the moment approached for her interview with Djalma. Their +meeting had been hitherto prevented by so many painful obstacles, and +Adrienne was so well aware of the vigilant and active perfidy of her +enemies, that even now she doubted of her happiness. Every instant, in +spite of herself, her eyes wandered to the clock. A few minutes more, +and the hour of the appointment would strike. It struck at last. Every +reverberation was echoed from the depth of Adrienne's heart. She +considered that Djalma's modest reserve had, doubtless, prevented his +coming before the moment fixed by herself. Far from blaming this +discretion, she fully appreciated it. But, from that moment, at the +least noise in the adjoining apartments, she held her breath and listened +with the anxiety of expectation. + +For the first few minutes which followed the hour at which she expected +Djalma, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt no serious apprehension, and calmed her +impatience by the notion (which appears childish enough to those who have +never known the feverish agitation of waiting for a happy meeting), that +perhaps the clocks in the Rue Blanche might vary a little from those in +the Rue d'Anjou. But when this supposed variation, conceivable enough in +itself, could no longer explain a delay of a quarter of an hour, of +twenty minutes, of more, Adrienne felt her anxiety gradually increase. +Two or three times the young girl rose, with palpitating heart, and went +on tip-toe to listen at the door of the saloon. She heard nothing. The +clock struck half-past three. + +Unable to suppress her growing terror, and clinging to a last hope, +Adrienne returned towards the fireplace and rang the bell. After which +she endeavored to compose her features, so as to betray no outward sign +of emotion. In a few seconds, a gray-haired footman, dressed in black, +opened the door, and waited in respectful silence for the orders of his +mistress. The latter said to him, in a calm voice, "Andrew, request Hebe +to give you the smelling bottle that I left on the chimney-piece in my +room, and bring it me here." Andrew bowed; but just as he was about to +withdraw to execute Adrienne's orders, which was only a pretext to enable +her to ask a question without appearing to attach much importance to it +in her servant's eyes, already informed of the expected visit of the +prince, Mdlle. de Cardoville added, with an air of indifference. "Pray, +is that clock right?" + +Andrew drew out his watch, and replied as he cast his eyes upon it, "Yes, +mademoiselle. I set my watch by the Tuileries. It is more than half- +past three." + +"Very well--thank you!" said Adrienne kindly. + +Andrew again bowed; but, before going out, he said to Adrienne, "I forgot +to tell you, lady, that Marshal Simon called about an hour ago; but, as +you were only to be at home to Prince Djalma, we told him that you +received no company." + +"Very well," said Adrienne. With another low bow, Andrew quitted the +room, and all returned to silence. + +For the precise reason that, up to the last minute of the hour previous +to the time fixed for her interview with Djalma, the hopes of Adrienne +had not been disturbed by the slightest shadow of doubt, the +disappointment she now felt was the more dreadful. Casting a desponding +look at one of the portraits placed above her, she murmured, with a +plaintive and despairing accent, "Oh, mother!" + +Hardly had Mdlle. de Cardoville uttered the words than the windows were +slightly shaken by a carriage rolling into the courtyard. The young lady +started, and was unable to repress a low cry of joy. Her heart bounded +at the thought of meeting Djalma, for this time she felt that he was +really come. She was quite as certain of it as if she had seen him. She +resumed her seat and brushed away a tear suspended from her long +eyelashes. Her hand trembled like a leaf. The sound of several doors +opening and shutting proved that the young lady was right in her +conjecture. The gilded panels of the drawing-room door soon turned upon +their hinges, and the prince appeared. + +While a second footman ushered in Djalma, Andrew placed on a gilded +table, within reach of his mistress, a little silver salver, on which +stood the crystal smelling-bottle. Then he withdrew, and the door of the +room was closed. The prince and Mdlle. de Cardoville were left alone +together. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +ADRIENNE AND DJALMA. + +The prince had slowly approached Mdlle. de Cardoville. Notwithstanding +the impetuosity of the Oriental's passions, his uncertain and timid step- +-timid, yet graceful--betrayed his profound emotion. He did not venture +to lift his eyes to Adrienne's face; he had suddenly become very pale, +and his finely formed hands, folded over his bosom in the attitude of +adoration, trembled violently. With head bent down, he remained standing +at a little distance from Adrienne. This embarrassment, ridiculous in +any other person, appeared touching in this prince of twenty years of +age, endowed with an almost fabulous intrepidity, and of so heroic and +generous a character, that no traveller could speak of the son of Kadja- +sing without a tribute of admiration and respect. Sweet emotion! chaste +reserve! doubly interesting if we consider that the burning passions of +this youth were all the more inflammable, because they had hitherto been +held in check. + +No less embarrassed than her cousin, Adrienne de Cardoville remained +seated. Like Djalma, she cast down her eyes; but the burning blush on +her cheeks, the quick heaving of her virgin bosom, revealed an emotion +that she did not even attempt to hide. Notwithstanding the powers of her +mind, by turns gay, graceful, and witty--notwithstanding the decision of +her proud and independent character, and her complete acquaintance with +the manners of the world--Adrienne shared Djalma's simple and enchanting +awkwardness, and partook of that kind of temporary weakness, beneath +which these two pure, ardent, and loving beings appeared sinking--as if +unable to support the boiling agitation of the senses, combined with the +intoxicating excitement of the heart. And yet their eyes had not met. +Each seemed to fear the first electric shock of the other's glance--that +invincible attraction of two impassioned beings--that sacred fire, which +suddenly kindles the blood, and lifts two mortals from earth to heaven; +for it is to approach the Divinity to give one's self up with religious +fervor to the most noble and irresistible sentiment that He has implanted +within us--the only sentiment that, in His adorable wisdom, the Dispenser +of all good has vouchsafed to sanctify, by endowing it with a spark of +His own creative energy. + +Djalma was the first to raise his eyes. They were moist and sparkling. +The excitement of passionate love, the burning ardor of his age, so long +repressed, the intense admiration in which he held ideal beauty, were all +expressed in his look, mingled with respectful timidity, and gave to the +countenance of this youth an undefinable, irresistible character. Yes, +irresistible!--for, when Adrienne encountered his glance, she trembled in +every limb, and felt herself attracted by a magnetic power. Already, her +eyes were heavy with a kind of intoxicating languor, when, by a great +effort of will and dignity, she succeeded in overcoming this delicious +confusion, rose from her chair, and said to Djalma in a trembling voice: +"Prince, I am happy to receive you here." Then, pointing to one of the +portraits suspended above her, she added, as if introducing him to a +living person: "Prince--my mother!" + +With an instinct of rare delicacy, Adrienne had thus summoned her mother +to be present at her interview with Djalma. It seemed a security for +herself and the prince, against the seductions of a first interview-- +which was likely to be all the more perilous, that they both knew +themselves madly loved that they both were free, and had only to answer +to Providence for the treasures of happiness and enjoyment with which He +had so magnificently endowed them. The prince understood Adrienne's +thoughts; so that, when the young lady pointed to the portrait, Djalma, +by a spontaneous movement full of grace and simplicity, knelt down before +the picture, and said to it in a gentle, but manly voice: "I will love +and revere you as my mother. And, in thought, my mother too shall be +present, and stand like you, beside your child!" + +No better answer could have been given to the feeling which induced +Mdlle. de Cardoville to place herself, as it were, under the protection +of her mother. From that moment, confident in Djalma, confident in +herself, the young lady felt more at her ease, and the delicious sense of +happiness replaced those exciting emotions, which had at first so +violently agitated her. + +Then, seating herself once more, she said to Djalma, as she pointed to +the opposite chair: "Pray take a seat, my dear cousin; and allow me to +call you so, for there is too much ceremony in the word prince; and do +you call me cousin also, for I find other names too grave. Having +settled this point, we can talk together like old friends." + +"Yes cousin," answered Djalma, blushing. + +"And, as frankness is proper between friends," resumed Adrienne, "I have +first to make you a reproach," she added, with a half-smile. + +The prince had remained standing, with his arm resting on the chimney- +piece, in an attitude full of grace and respect. + +"Yes, cousin," continued Adrienne, "a reproach, that you will perhaps +forgive me for making. I had expected you a little sooner." + +"Perhaps, cousin, you may blame me for having come so soon." + +"What do you mean?" + +"At the moment when I left home, a man, whom I did not know, approached +my carriage, and said to me, with such an air of sincerity that I +believed him: `You are able to save the life of a person who has been a +second father to you. Marshal Simon is in great danger, and, to rescue +him, you must follow me on the instant--'" + +"It was a snare," cried Adrienne, hastily. "Marshal Simon was here, +scarcely an hour ago." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Djalma, joyfully, and as if he had been relieved from +a great weight. "Then there will be nothing to sadden this happy day!" + +"But, cousin," resumed Adrienne, "how came you not to suspect this +emissary?" + +"Some words, which afterwards escaped from him, inspired me with doubts," +answered Djalma: "but at first I followed him, fearing the marshal might +be in danger--for I know that he also has enemies." + +"Now that I reflect on it, you were quite right, cousin, for some new +plot against the marshal was probable enough; and the least doubt was +enough to induce you to go to him." + +"I did so--even though you were waiting for me." + +"It was a generous sacrifice; and my esteem for you is increased by it, +if it could be increased," said Adrienne, with emotion. "But what became +of this man?" + +"At my desire, he got into the carriage with me. Anxious about the +marshal, and in despair at seeing the time wasted, that I was to have +passed with you, cousin, I pressed him with all sorts of questions. +Several times, he replied to me with embarrassment, and then the idea +struck me that the whole might be a snare. Remembering all that they had +already attempted, to ruin me in your opinion, I immediately changed my +course. The vexation of the man who accompanied me then because so +visible, that I ought to have had no doubt upon the subject. Still, when +I thought of Marshal Simon, I felt a kind of vague remorse, which you, +cousin, have now happily set at rest." + +'Those people are implacable!" said Adrienne; "but our happiness will be +stronger than their hate." + +After a moment's silence, she resumed, with her habitual frankness: "My +dear cousin, it is impossible for me to conceal what I have at heart. +Let us talk for a few seconds of the past, which was made so painful to +us, and then we will forget it forever, like an evil dream." + +"I will answer you sincerely, at the risk of injuring myself," said the +prince. + +"How could you make up your mind to exhibit yourself in public with--?" + +"With that young girl?" interrupted Djalma. + +"Yes, cousin," replied Mdlle. de Cardoville, and she waited for Djalma's +answer with anxious curiosity. + +"A stranger to the customs of this country," said Djalma, without any +embarrassment, for he spoke the truth, "with a mind weakened with +despair, and misled by the fatal counsels of a man devoted to my enemies, +I believed, even as I was told, that, by displaying before you the +semblance of another love, I should excite your jealousy, and thus--" + +"Enough, cousin; I understand it all," said Adrienne hastily, +interrupting Djalma in her turn, that she might spare him a painful +confession. "I too must have been blinded by despair, not to have seen +through this wicked plot, especially after your rash and intrepid action. +To risk death for the sake of my bouquet!" added Adrienne, shuddering at +the mere remembrance. "But one last question," she resumed, "though I am +already sure of your answer. Did you receive a letter that I wrote to +you, on the morning of the day in which I saw you at the theatre?" + +Djalma made no reply. A dark cloud passed over his fine countenance, +and, for a second, his features assumed so menacing an expression, that +Adrienne was terrified at the effect produced by her words. But this +violent agitation soon passed away, and Djalma's brow became once more +calm and serene. + +"I have been more merciful that I thought," said the prince to Adrienne, +who looked at him with astonishment. "I wished to come hither worthy of +you, my cousin. I pardoned the man who, to serve my enemies, had given +me all those fatal counsels. The same person, I am sure, must have +intercepted your letter. Just now, at the memory of the evils he thus +caused me, I, for a moment, regretted my clemency. But then, again, I +thought of your letter of yesterday--and my anger is all gone." + +"Then the sad time of fear and suspicion is over--suspicion, that made me +doubt of your sentiments, and you of mine. Oh, yes! far removed from us +be that fatal past!" cried Adrienne de Cardoville, with deep joy.. + +Then, as if she had relieved her heart from the last thought of sadness, +she continued: "The future is all your own--the radiant future, without +cloud or obstacle, pure in the immensity of its horizon, and extending +beyond the reach of sight!" + +It is impossible to describe the tone of enthusiastic hope which +accompanied these words. But suddenly Adrienne's features assumed an +expression of touching melancholy, and she added, in a voice of profound +emotion: "And yet--at this hour--so many unfortunate creatures suffer +pain!" + +This simple touch of pity for the misfortunes of others, at the moment +when the noble maiden herself attained to the highest point of happiness, +had such an effect on Djalma, that involuntarily he fell on his knees +before Adrienne, clasped his hands together, and turned towards her his +fine countenance, with an almost daring expression. Then, hiding his +face in his hands, he bowed his head without speaking a single word. +There was a moment of deep silence. Adrienne was the first to break it, +as she saw a tear steal through the slender fingers of the prince. + +"My friend! what is the matter?" she exclaimed, as with a movement rapid +as thought, she stooped forward, and taking hold of Djalma's hands, drew +them from before his face. That face was bathed in tears. + +"You weep!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, so much agitated that she kept +the hands of Djalma in her own; and, unable to dry his tears, the young +Hindoo allowed them to flow like so many drops of crystal over the pale +gold of his cheeks. + +"There is not in this wide world a happiness like to mine!" said the +prince, in his soft, melodious voice, and with a kind of exhaustion: +"therefore do I feel great sadness, and so it should be. You give me +heaven--and were I to give you the whole earth, it would be but a poor +return. Alas! what can man do for a divinity, but humbly bless and +adore? He can never hope to return the gifts bestowed: and this makes +him suffer--not in his pride--but in his heart!" + +Djalma did not exaggerate. He said what he really felt: and the rather +hyperbolical form, familiar to Oriental nations, could alone express his +thought. The tone of his regret was so sincere, his humility so gentle +and full of simplicity, that Adrienne, also moved to tears, answered him +with an effusion of serious tenderness, "My friend, we are both at the +supreme point of happiness. Our future felicity appears to have no +limits, and yet, though derived from different sources, sad reflections +have come to both of us. It is, you see, that there are some sorts of +happiness, which make you dizzy with their own immensity. For a moment, +the heart, the mind, the soul, are incapable of containing so much bliss; +it overflows and drowns us. Thus the flowers sometimes hang their heads, +oppressed by the too ardent rays of the sun, which is yet their love and +life. Oh, my friend! this sadness may be great, but it also sweet!" + +As she uttered these words, the voice of Adrienne grew fainter and +fainter, and her head bowed lower, as if she were indeed sinking beneath +the weight of her happiness. Djalma had remained kneeling before her, +his hands in hers--so that as she thus bent forward, her ivory forehead +and golden hair touched the amber-colored brow and ebon curls of Djalma. +And the sweet, silent tears of the two young lovers flowed together, and +mingled as they fell on their clasped hands. + +Whilst this scene was passing in Cardoville House, Agricola had gone to +the Rue de Vaugirard, to deliver a letter from Adrienne to M. Hardy. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +"THE IMITATION." + +As we have already said, M. Hardy occupied a pavilion in the "Retreat" +annexed to the house in the Rue de Vaugirard, inhabited by a goodly +number of the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus. Nothing could be +calmer and more silent than this dwelling. Every one spoke in whispers, +and the servants themselves had something oily in their words, something +sanctified in their very walk. + +Like all that is subject to the chilling and destructive influences of +these men, this mournfully quiet house was entirely wanting in life and +animation. The boarders passed an existence of wearisome and icy +monotony, only broken by the use of certain devotional exercises; and +thus, in accordance with the selfish calculation of the reverend fathers, +the mind, deprived of all nourishment and all external support, soon +began to droop and pine away in solitude. The heart seemed to beat more +slowly, the soul was benumbed, the character weakened; at last, all +freewill, all power of discrimination, was extinguished, and the +boarders, submitting to the same process of self-annihilation as the +novices of the Company, became, like them, mere "corpses" in the hands of +the brotherhood. + +The object of these manoeuvres was clear and simple. They secured the +means of obtaining all kinds of donations, the constant aim of the +skillful policy and merciless cupidity of these priests. By the aid of +enormous sums, of which they thus become the possessors or the trustees, +they follow out and obtain the success of their projects, even though +murder, incendiarism, revolt, and all the horrors of civil war, excited +by and through them, should drench in blood the lands over which they +seek to extend their dark dominion. + +Such, then, was the asylum of peace and innocence in which Francois Hardy +had taken refuge. He occupied the ground-floor of a summer-house, which +opened upon a portion of the garden. His apartments had been judiciously +chosen, for we know with what profound and diabolical craft the reverend +fathers avail themselves of material influences, to make a deep +impression upon the minds they are moulding to their purpose. Imagine a +prospect bounded by a high wall, of a blackish gray, half-covered with +ivy, the plant peculiar to ruins. A dark avenue of old yew-trees, so fit +to shade the grave with their sepulchral verdure, extended from this wall +to a little semicircle, in front of the apartment generally occupied by +M. Hardy. Two or three mounds of earth, bordered with box, symmetrically +cut, completed the charms of this garden, which in every respect +resembled a cemetery. + +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Though the April sun shone +brightly, its rays, intercepted by the high wall of which we have spoken, +could not penetrate into that portion of the garden, obscure, damp, and +cold as a cavern, which communicated with M. Hardy's apartment. The room +was furnished with a perfect sense of the comfortable. A soft carpet +covered the floor; thick curtains of dark green baize, the same color as +the walls, sheltered an excellent bed, and hung in folds about the glass- +door, which opened on the garden. Some pieces of mahogany furniture, +plain, but very clean and bright, stood round the room. Above the +secretary, placed just in front of the bed, was a large ivory crucifix, +upon a black velvet ground. The chimney-piece was adorned with a clock, +in an ebony case, with ivory ornaments representing all sorts of gloomy +emblems, such as hour-glasses, scythes, death's-heads, etc. Now imagine +this scene in twilight, with its solitary and mournful silence, only +broken at the hour of prayer by the lugubrious sound of the bells of the +neighboring chapel, and you will recognize the infernal skill, with which +these dangerous priests know how to turn to account every external +object, when they wish to influence the mind of those they are anxious to +gain over. + +And this was not all. After appealing to the senses, it was necessary to +address themselves to the intellect--and this was the method adopted by +the reverend fathers. A single book--but one--was left, as if by chance, +within reach. This book was Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation." But as it +might happen that M. Hardy would not have the courage or the desire to +read this book, thoughts and reflections borrowed from its merciless +pages, and written in very large characters, were suspended in black +frames close to the bed, or at other parts within sight, so that, +involuntarily, in the sad leisure of his inactive dejection, the +dweller's eyes were almost necessarily attracted by them. To that fatal +circle of despairing thoughts they confined the already weakened mind of +this unfortunate man, so long a prey to the most acute sorrow. What he +read mechanically, every instant of the day and night, whenever the +blessed sleep fled from his eyes inflamed with tears, was not enough +merely to plunge the soul of the victim into incurable despair, but also +to reduce him to the corpse-like obedience required by the Society of +Jesus. In that awful book may be found a thousand terrors to operate on +weak minds, a thousand slavish maxims to chain and degrade the +pusillanimous soul. + +And now imagine M. Hardy carried wounded into this house; while his +heart, torn by bitter grief and the sense of horrible treachery, bled +even faster than his external injuries. Attended with the utmost care, +and thanks to the acknowledged skill of Dr. Baleinier, M. Hardy soon +recovered from the hurts he had received when he threw himself into the +embers of his burning factory. Yet, in order to favor the projects of +the reverend fathers, a drug, harmless enough in its effects, but +destined to act for a time upon the mind of the patient, and often +employed for that purpose in similar important cases by the pious doctor, +was administered to Hardy, and had kept him pretty long in a state of +mental torpor. To a soul agonized by cruel deceptions, it appears an +inestimable benefit to be plunged into that kind of torpor, which at +least prevents one from dwelling upon the past. + +Hardy resigned himself entirely to this profound apathy, and at length +came to regard it as the supreme good. Thus do unfortunate wretches, +tortured by cruel diseases, accept with gratitude the opiate which kills +them slowly, but which at least deadens the sense of pain. + +In sketching the portrait of M. Hardy, we tried to give some idea of the +exquisite delicacy of his tender soul, of his painful susceptibility with +regard to anything base or wicked, and of his extreme goodness, +uprightness, and generosity. We now allude to these admirable qualities, +because we must observe, that with him, as with almost all who possess +them, they were not, and could not be, united with an energetic and +resolute character. Admirably persevering in good deeds, the influence +of this excellent man, was insinuating rather than commanding; it was not +by the bold energy and somewhat overbearing will, peculiar to other men +of great and noble heart, that Hardy had realized the prodigy of his +Common Dwelling-house; it was by affectionate persuasion, for with him +mildness took the place of force. At sight of any baseness or injustice, +he did not rouse himself, furious and threatening; but he suffered +intense pain. He did not boldly attack the criminal, but he turned away +from him in pity and sorrow. And then his loving heart, so full of +feminine delicacy, had an irresistible longing for the blessed contact of +dear affections; they alone could keep it alive. Even as a poor, frail +bird dies with the cold, when it can no longer lie close to its brethren, +and receive and communicate the sweet warmth of the maternal nest. And +now this sensitive organization, this extremely susceptible nature, +receives blow after blow from sorrows and deceptions, one of which would +suffice to shake, if it did not conquer, the firmest and most resolute +character. Hardy's best friend has infamously betrayed him. His adored +mistress has abandoned him. + +The house which he had founded for the benefit of his workmen, whom he +loved as brethren, is reduced to a heap of ashes. What then happens? +All the springs of his soul are at once broken. Too feeble to resist +such frightful attacks, too fatally deceived to seek refuge in other +affections, too much discouraged to think of laying the first stone of +any new edifice--this poor heart, isolated from every salutary influence, +finds oblivion of the world and of itself in a kind of gloomy torpor. +And if some remaining instincts of life and affection, at long intervals, +endeavored to rouse themselves within him, and if, half-opening his +mind's eye, which he had kept closed against the present, the past, and +the future, Hardy looks around him--what does he see? Only these +sentences, so full of terrible despair: + +"Thou art nothing but dust and ashes. Grief and tears art thy portion. +Believe not in any son of man. There are no such things as friendship or +ties of kindred. All human affections are false. Die in the morning, +and thou wilt be forgotten before night. Be humble--despise thyself--and +let others despise thee. Think not, reason not, live not--but commit thy +fate to the hands of a superior, who will think and reason for thee. +Weep, suffer, think upon death. Yes, death! always death--that should be +thy thought when thou thinkest--but it is better not to think at all. +Let a feeling of ceaseless woe prepare thy way to heaven. It is only by +sorrow that we are welcome to the terrible God whom we adore!" + +Such were the consolations offered to this unfortunate man. Affrighted, +he again closed his eyes, and fell back into his lethargy. As for +leaving this gloomy retreat, he could not, or rather he did not desire to +do so. He had lost the power of will; and then, it must be confessed, he +had finished by getting accustomed to this house, and liked it well--they +paid him such discreet attentions, and yet left him so much alone with +his grief--there reigned all around such a death-like silence, which +harmonized closely with the silence of his heart; and that was now the +tomb of his last love, last friendship, last hope. All energy was dead +within him! Then began that slow, but inevitable transformation, so +judiciously foreseen by Rodin, who directed the whole of this +machination, even in its smallest details. At first alarmed by the +dreadful maxims which surrounded him, M. Hardy had at length accustomed +himself to read them over almost mechanically, just as the captive, in +his mournful hours of leisure, counts the nails in the door of his +prison, or the bars of the grated window. This was already a great point +gained by the reverend fathers. + +And soon his weakened mind was struck with the apparent correctness of +these false and melancholy aphorisms. + +Thus he read: "Do not count upon the affection of any human creature"-- +and he had himself been shamefully betrayed. + +"Man is born to sorrow and despair"--and he was himself despairing. + +"There is no rest save in the cessation of thought"--and the slumber of +his mind had brought some relief to his pain. + +Peepholes, skillfully concealed by the hangings and in the wainscoting of +these apartments, enabled the reverend fathers at all times to see and +hear the boarders, and above all to observe their countenance and manner, +when they believed themselves to be alone. Every exclamation of grief +which escaped Hardy in his gloomy solitude, was repeated to Father +d'Aigrigny by a mysterious listener. The reverend father, following +scrupulously Rodin's instructions, had at first visited his boarder very +rarely. We have said, that when Father d'Aigrigny wished it, he could +display an almost irresistible power of charming, and accordingly he +threw all his tact and skill into the interviews he had with Hardy, when +he came from time to time to inquire after his health. Informed of +everything by his spies, and aided by his natural sagacity, he soon saw +all the use that might be made of the physical and moral prostration of +the boarder. Certain beforehand that Hardy would not take the hint, he +spoke to him frequently of the gloom of the house, advising him +affectionately to leave it, if he felt oppressed by its monotony, or at +all events to seek beyond its walls for some pleasure and amusement. To +speak of pleasure and amusement to this unfortunate man, was in his +present state to insure a refusal, and so it of course happened. Father +d'Aigrigny did not at first try to gain the recluse's confidence, nor did +he speak to him of sorrow; but every time he came, he appeared to take +such a tender interest in him, and showed it by a few simple and well- +timed words. By degrees, these interviews, at first so rare, became more +frequent and longer. Endowed with a flow of honeyed, insinuating, and +persuasive eloquence, Father d'Aigrigny naturally took for his theme +those gloomy maxims, to which Hardy's attention was now so often +directed. + +Supple, prudent, skillful, knowing that the hermit had hitherto professed +that generous natural religion which teaches the grateful adoration of +God, the love of humanity, the worship of what is just and good, and +which, disdaining dogmas, professes the same veneration for Marcus +Aurelius as for Confucius, for Plato as for Christ, for Moses as for +Lycurgus--Father d'Aigrigny did not at first attempt to convert him, but +began by incessantly reminding him of the abominable deceptions practised +upon him; and, instead of describing such treachery as an exception in +life--instead of trying to calm, encourage, and revive his drooping soul- +-instead of exhorting Hardy to seek oblivion and consolation in the +discharge of his duties toward humanity, towards his brethren, whom he +had previously loved and succored --Father d'Aigrigny strove to inflame +the bleeding wounds of the unfortunate man, painted the human race in the +most atrocious blackness, and, by declaring all men treacherous, +ungrateful, wicked, succeeded in rendering his despair incurable. Having +attained this object, the Jesuit took another step. Knowing Hardy's +admirable goodness of heart, and profiting by the weakened state of his +mind, he spoke to him of the consolation to be derived by a man +overwhelmed with sorrow, from the belief that every one of his tears, +instead of being unfruitful, was in fact agreeable to God, and might aid +in the salvation of souls--the belief, as the reverend father adroitly +added, that by faith alone can sorrow be made useful to humanity, and +acceptable to Divinity. + +Whatever impiety, whatever atrocious Machiavelism there was in these +detestable maxims, which make of a loving-kind Deity a being delighted +with the tears of his creatures, was thus skillfully concealed from +Hardy's eyes, whose generous instincts were still alive. Soon did this +loving and tender soul, whom unworthy priests were driving to a sort of +moral suicide, find a mournful charm in the fiction, that his sorrows +would at least be profitable to other men. It was at first only a +fiction; but the enfeebled mind which takes pleasure in such a fable, +finishes by receiving it as a reality, and by degrees will submit to the +consequences. Such was Hardy's moral and physical state, when, by means +of a servant who had been bought over, he received from Agricola Baudoin +a letter requesting an interview. Alone, the workman could not have +broken the band of the Jesuit's pleadings, but he was accompanied by +Gabriel, whose eloquence and reasonings were of a most convincing nature +to a spirit like Hardy's. + +It is unnecessary to point out to the reader, with what dignified reserve +Gabriel had confined himself to the most generous means of rescuing Hardy +from the deadly influence of the reverend fathers. It was repugnant to +the great soul of the young missionary, to stoop to a revelation of the +odious plots of these priests. He would only have taken this extreme +course, had his powerful and sympathetic words have failed to have any +effect on Hardy's blindness. About a quarter of an hour had elapsed +since Gabriel's departure, when the servant appointed to wait on this +boarder of the reverend fathers entered and delivered to him a letter. + +"From whom is this?" asked Hardy. + +"From a boarder in the house, sir," answered the servant bowing. + +This man had a crafty hypocritical face; he wore his hair combed over his +forehead, spoke in a low voice, and always cast clown his eyes. Waiting +the answer, he joined his hands, and began to twiddle his thumbs. Hardy +opened the letter, and read as follows: + +"SIR,--I have only just heard, by mere chance, that you also inhabit this +respectable house: a long illness, and the retirement in which I live, +will explain my ignorance of your being so near. Though we have only met +once, sir, the circumstance which led to that meeting was of so serious a +nature, that I cannot think you have forgotten it. + +Hardy stopped, and tasked his memory for an explanation, and not finding +anything to put him on the right track, he continued to read: + +"This circumstance excited in me a feeling of such deep and respectful +sympathy for you, sir, that I cannot resist my anxious desire to wait +upon you, particularly as I learn, that you intend leaving this house to- +day--a piece of information I have just derived from the excellent and +worthy Abbe Gabriel, one of the men I most love, esteem, and reverence. +May I venture to hope, sir, that just at the moment of quitting our +common retreat to return to the world, you will deign to receive +favorably the request, however intrusive, of a poor old man, whose life +will henceforth be passed in solitude, and who cannot therefore have any +prospect of meeting you, in that vortex of society which he has abandoned +forever. Waiting the honor of your answer, I beg you to accept, sir, the +assurance of the sentiments of high esteem with which I remain, sir, with +the deepest respect, + +"Your very humble and most obedient servant, + +"RODIN." + + +After reading this letter and the signature of the writer, Hardy remained +for some time in deep thought, without being able to recollect the name +of Rodin, or to what serious circumstances he alluded. + +After a silence of some duration, he said to the servant "M. Rodin gave +you this letter?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And who is M. Rodin?" + +"A good old gentleman, who is just recovering from a long illness, that +almost carried him off. Lately, he has been getting better, but he is +still so weak and melancholy, that it makes one sad to see him. It is a +great pity, for there is not a better and more worthy gentleman in the +house--unless it be you, sir," added the servant, bowing with an air of +flattering respect. + +"M. Rodin;" said Hardy, thoughtfully. "It is singular, that I should not +remember the name nor any circumstance connected with it." + +"If you will give me your answer, sir," resumed the servant, "I will take +it to M. Rodin. He is now with Father d'Aigrigny, to whom he is bidding +farewell." + +"Farewell?" + +"Yes, sir, the post-horses have just come." + +"Post-horses for whom?" asked Hardy. + +"For Father d'Aigrigny, sir." + +"He is going on a journey then!" said Hardy, with some surprise. + +"Oh! he will not, I think be long absent," said the servant, with a +confidential air, "for the reverend father takes no one with him, and but +very light luggage. No doubt, the reverend father will come to say +farewell to you, sir, before he starts. But what answer shall I give M. +Rodin?" + +The letter, just received, was couched in such polite terms--it spoke of +Gabriel with so much respect--that Hardy, urged moreover by a natural +curiosity, and seeing no motive to refuse this interview before quitting +the house, said to the servant: "Please tell M. Rodin, that if he will +give himself the trouble to come to me, I shall be glad to see him." + +"I will let him know immediately, sir," answered the servant, bowing as +he left the room. + +When alone, Hardy, while wondering who this M. Rodin could be, began to +make some slight preparations for his departure. For nothing in the +world would he have passed another night in this house; and, in order to +keep up his courage, he recalled every instant the mild, evangelical +language of Gabriel, just as the superstitious recite certain litanies, +with a view of escaping from temptation. + +The servant soon returned, and said: "M. Rodin is here, sir." + +"Beg him to walk in." + +Rodin entered, clad in his long black dressing-gown, and with his old +silk cap in his hand. The servant then withdrew. The day was just +closing. Hardy rose to meet Rodin, whose features he did not at first +distinguish. But as the reverend father approached the window, Hardy +looked narrowly at him for an instant, and then uttered an exclamation, +wrung from him by surprise and painful remembrance. But, recovering +himself from this first movement, Hardy said to the Jesuit, in an +agitated voice: "You here, sir? Oh, you are right! It was indeed a very +serious circumstance that first brought us together." + +"Oh, my dear sir!" said Rodin, in a kindly and unctuous tone; "I was sure +you would not have forgotten me." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +PRAYER. + +It will doubtless be remembered that Rodin had gone (although a stranger +to Hardy) to visit him at his factory, and inform him of De Blessac's +shameful treachery--a dreadful blow, which had only preceded by a few +moments a second no less horrible misfortune; for it was in the presence +of Rodin that Hardy had learned the unexpected departure of the woman he +adored. Painful to him must have been the sudden appearance of Rodin. +Yes, thanks to the salutary influence of Gabriel's counsels, he recovered +himself by degrees, and the contraction of his features being succeeded +by a melancholy calm, he said to Rodin: "I did not indeed expect to meet +you, sir, in this house." + +"Alas, sir!" answered Rodin, with a sigh, "I did not expect to come +hither, probably to end my days beneath this roof, when I went, without +being acquainted with you, but only as one honest man should serve +another, to unveil to you a great infamy." + +"Indeed, sir, you then rendered me a true service; perhaps, in that +painful moment, I did not fully express my gratitude; for, at the same +moment in which you revealed to me the treachery of M. de Blessac--" + +"You were overwhelmed by another piece of painful intelligence," said +Rodin, interrupting M. Hardy; "I shall never forget the sudden arrival of +that poor woman, who, pale and affrighted, and without considering my +presence, came to inform you that a person who was exceedingly dear to +you had quitted Paris abruptly." + +"Yes, sir; and, without stopping to thank you, I set out immediately," +answered Hardy, with a mournful air. + +"Do you know, sir," said Rodin, after a moment's silence, "that there are +sometimes very strange coincidences?" + +"To what do you allude, sir?" + +"While I went to inform you that you were betrayed in +so infamous a manner--I was myself--" + +Rodin paused, as if unable to control his deep emotion, and his +countenance wore the expression of such overpowering grief that Hardy +said to him, with interest: "What ails you, sir?" + +"Forgive me," replied Rodin, with a bitter smile. "Thanks to the ghostly +counsels of the angelic Abbe Gabriel, I have reached a sort of +resignation. Still, there are certain memories which affect me with the +most acute pain. I told you," resumed Rodin, in a firmer voice, "or was +going to tell you, that the very day after that on which I informed you +of the treachery practised against you, I was myself the victim of a +frightful deception. An adopted son--a poor unfortunate child, whom I +had brought up--" He paused again, drew his trembling hand over his +eyes, and added: "Pardon me, sir, for speaking of matters which must be +indifferent to you. Excuse the intrusive sorrow of a poor, broken- +hearted old man!" + +"I have suffered too much myself, sir, to be indifferent to any kind of +sorrow," replied Hardy. "Besides, you are no stranger to me--for you did +me a real service--and we both agree in our veneration for the same young +priest." + +"The Abbe Gabriel!" cried Rodin, interrupting Hardy; "ah, sir! he is my +deliverer, my benefactor. If you knew all his care and devotion, during +my long illness, caused by intense grief--if you knew the ineffable +sweetness of his counsels--" + +"I know them, sir," cried Hardy; "oh, yes! I know how salutary is the +influence." + +"In his mouth, sir, the precepts of religion are full of mildness," +resumed Rodin, with excitement. "Do they not heal and console? do they +not make us love and hope, instead of fear and tremble?" + +"Alas, sir! in this very house," said Hardy, "I have been able to make +the comparison." + +"I was happy enough," said Rodin, "to have the angelic Abbe Gabriel for +my confessor, or, rather, my confidant." + +"Yes," replied Hardy, "for he prefers confidence to confession." + +"How well you know him!" said Rodin, in a tone of the utmost simplicity. +Then he resumed: "He is not a man but an angel. His words would convert +the most hardened sinner. Without being exactly impious, I had myself +lived in the profession of what is called Natural Religion; but the +angelic Abbe Gabriel has, by degrees, fixed my wavering belief, given it +body and soul, and, in fact, endowed me with faith." + +"Yes! he is a truly Christian priest--a priest of love and pardon!" cried +Hardy. + +"What you say is perfectly true," replied Rodin; "for I came here almost +mad with grief, thinking only of the unhappy boy who had repaid my +paternal goodness with the most monstrous ingratitude, and sometimes I +yielded to violent bursts of despair, and sometimes sank into a state of +mournful dejection, cold as the grave itself. But, suddenly, the Abbe +Gabriel appeared--and the darkness fled before the dawning of a new day." + +"You were right, sir; there are strange coincidences," said Hardy, +yielding more and more to the feeling of confidence and sympathy, +produced by the resemblance of his real position to Rodin's pretended +one. "And to speak frankly," he added, "I am very glad I have seen you +before quitting this house. Were I capable of falling back into fits of +cowardly weakness, your example alone would prevent me. Since I listen +to you, I feel myself stronger in the noble path which the angelic Abbe +Gabriel has opened before me, as you so well express it." + +"The poor old man will not then regret having listened to the first +impulse of his heart, which urged him to come to you," said Robin, with a +touching expression. "You will sometimes remember me in that world to +which you are returning?" + +"Be sure of it, sir; but allow me to ask one question: You remain, you +say, in this house?" + +"What would you have me do? There reigns here a calm repose, and one is +not disturbed in one's prayers," said Rodin, in a very gentle tone. "You +see, I have suffered so much--the conduct of that unhappy youth was so +horrible--he plunged into such shocking excesses--that the wrath of +heaven must be kindled against him. Now I am very old, and it is only by +passing the few days that are left me in fervent prayer that I can hope +to disarm the just anger of the Lord. Oh! prayer--prayer! It was the +Abbe Gabriel who revealed to me all its power and sweetness--and +therewith the formidable duties it imposes." + +"Its duties are indeed great and sacred," answered Hardy, with a pensive +air. + +"Do you remember the life of Rancey?" said Rodin, abruptly, as he darted +a peculiar glance at Hardy. + +"The founder of La Trappe?" said Hardy, surprised at Rodin's question. I +remember hearing a very vague account, some time ago, of the motives of +his conversion." + +"There is, mark you, no more striking an example of the power of prayer, +and of the state of almost divine ecstasy, to which it may lead a +religious soul. In a few words, I will relate to you this instructive +and tragic history. Rancey--but I beg your pardon; I fear I am +trespassing on your time." + +"No, no," answered Hardy, hastily; "You cannot think how interested I am +in what you tell me. My interview with the Abbe Gabriel was abruptly +broken off, and in listening to you I fancy that I hear the further +development of his views. Go on, I conjure you. + +"With all my heart. I only wish that the instruction which, thanks to +our angelic priest, I derived from the story of Rancey might be as +profitable to you as it was to me." + +"This, then, also came from the Abbe Gabriel?" + +"He related to me this kind of parable in support of his exhortations," +replied Rodin. "Oh, sir! do I not owe to the consoling words of that +young priest all that has strengthened and revived my poor old broken +heart?" + +"Then I shall listen to you with a double interest." + +"Rancey was a man of the world," resumed Rodin, as he looked attentively +at Hardy; "a gentleman--young, ardent, handsome. He loved a young lady +of high rank. I cannot tell what impediments stood in the way of their +union. But this love, though successful, was kept secret, and every +evening Rancey visited his mistress by means of a private staircase. It +was, they say, one of those passionate loves which men feel but once in +their lives. The mystery, even the sacrifice made by the unfortunate +girl, who forgot every duty, seemed to give new charms to this guilty +passion. In the silence and darkness of secrecy, these two lovers passed +two years of voluptuous delirium, which amounted almost to ecstasy." + +At these words Hardy started. For the first time of late his brow was +suffused with a deep blush; his heart throbbed violently; he remembered +that he too had once known the ardent intoxication of a guilty and hidden +love. Though the day was closing rapidly, Rodin cast a sidelong glance +at Hardy, and perceived the impression he had made. "Some times," he +continued, "thinking of the dangers to which his mistress was exposed, if +their connection should be discovered, Rancey wished to sever these +delicious ties; but the girl, beside herself with passion, threw herself +on the neck of her lover, and threatened him, in the language of intense +excitement, to reveal and to brave all, if he thought of leaving her. +Too weak and loving to resist the prayers of his mistress, Rancey again +and again yielded, and they both gave themselves up to a torrent of +delight, which carried them along, forgetful of earth and heaven!" + +M. Hardy listened to Rodin with feverish and devouring avidity. The +Jesuit, in painting, with these almost sensual colors, an ardent and +secret love, revived in Hardy burning memories, which till now had been +drowned in tears. To the beneficent calm produced by the mild language +of Gabriel had succeeded a painful agitation, which, mingled with the +reaction of the shocks received that day, began to throw his mind into a +strange state of confusion. + +Rodin, having so far succeeded in his object, continued as follows: "A +fatal day came at last. Rancey, obliged to go to the wars, quitted the +girl; but, after a short campaign, he returned, more in love than ever. +He had written privately, to say he would arrive almost immediately after +his letter. He came accordingly. It was night. He ascended, as usual, +the private staircase which led to the chamber of his mistress; he +entered the room, his heart beating with love and hope. His mistress had +died that morning!" + +"Ah!" cried Hardy, covering his face with his hands, in terror. + +"She was dead," resumed Rodin. "Two wax-candles were burning beside the +funeral couch. Rancey could not, would not believe that she was dead. +He threw himself on his knees by the corpse. In his delirium, he seized +that fair, beloved head, to cover it with kisses. The head parted from +the body, and remained in his hands! Yes," resumed Rodin as Hardy drew +back, pale and mute with terror, "yes, the girl had fallen a victim to so +swift and extraordinary a disease, that she had not been able to receive +the last sacraments. After her death, the doctors, in the hope of +discovering the cause of this unknown malady, had begun to dissect that +fair form--" + +As Rodin reached this part of his narrative, night was almost come. A +sort of hazy twilight alone reigned in this silent chamber, in the centre +of which appeared the pale and ghastly form of Rodin, clad in his long +black gown, whilst his eyes seemed to sparkle with diabolic fire. +Overcome by the violent emotions occasioned by this story, in which +thoughts of death and voluptuousness, love and horror, were so strangely +mingled, Hardy remained fixed and motionless, waiting for the words of +Rodin, with a combination of curiosity, anguish and alarm. + +"And Rancey?" said he, at last, in an agitated voice, whilst he wiped the +cold sweat from his brow. + +"After two days of furious delirium," resumed Rodin, "he renounced the +world, and shut himself up in impenetrable solitude. The first period of +his retreat was frightful; in his despair, he uttered loud yells of grief +and rage, that were audible at some distance. Twice he attempted +suicide, to escape from the terrible visions." + +"He had visions, then?" said Hardy, with an increased agony of curiosity. + +"Yes," replied Rodin, in a solemn tone, "he had fearful visions. He saw +the girl, who, for his sake, had died in mortal sin, plunged in the heat +of the everlasting flames of hell! On that fair face, disfigured by +infernal tortures, was stamped the despairing laugh of the damned! Her +teeth gnashed with pain; her arms writhed in anguish! She wept tears of +blood, and, with an agonized and avenging voice, she cried to her +seducer: 'Thou art the cause of my perdition--my curse, my curse be upon +thee!'" + +As he pronounced these last words, Rodin advanced three steps nearer to +Hardy, accompanying each step with a menacing gesture. If we remember +the state of weakness, trouble, and fear, in which M. Hardy was--if we +remember that the Jesuit had just roused in the soul of this unfortunate +man all the sensual and spiritual memories of a love, cooled, but not +extinguished, in tears--if we remember, too, that Hardy reproached +himself with the seduction of a beloved object, whom her departure from +her duties might (according to the Catholic faith) doom to everlasting +flames--we shall not wonder at the terrible effect of this +phantasmagoria, conjured up in silence and solitude, in the evening dusk, +by this fearful priest. + +The effect on Hardy was indeed striking, and the more dangerous, that the +Jesuit, with diabolical craft, seemed only to be carrying out, from +another point of view, the ideas of Gabriel. Had not the young priest +convinced Hardy that nothing is sweeter, than to ask of heaven +forgiveness for those who have sinned, or whom we have led astray? But +forgiveness implies punishment; and it was to the punishment alone that +Rodin drew the attention of his victim, by painting it in these terrible +hues. With hands clasped together, and eye fixed and dilated, Hardy +trembled in all his limbs, and seemed still listening to Rodin, though +the latter had ceased to speak. Mechanically, he repeated: "My curse, my +curse be upon thee?" + +Then suddenly he exclaimed, in a kind of frenzy: "The curse is on me +also! The woman, whom I taught to forget her sacred duties, and to +commit mortal sin--one day plunged in the everlasting flames--her arms +writhing in agony--weeping tears of blood--will cry to me from the +bottomless pit: `My curse, my curse be upon thee!'--One day," he added, +with redoubled terror, "one day?--who knows? perhaps at this moment!--for +if the sea voyage had been fatal to her--if a shipwreck--oh, God! she too +would have died in mortal sin--lost, lost, forever!--Oh, have mercy on +her, my God! Crush me in Thy wrath--but have mercy on her--for I alone am +guilty!" + +And the unfortunate man, almost delirious, sank with clasped hands upon +the ground. + +"Sir," cried Rodin, in an affectionate voice, as he hastened to lift him +up, "my dear sir--my dear friend--be calm! Comfort yourself. I cannot +bear to see you despond. Alas! my intention was quite the contrary to +that." + +"The curse! the curse! yes, she will curse me also--she, that I loved so +much--in the everlasting flames!" murmured Hardy, shuddering, and +apparently insensible to the other's words. + +"But, my dear sir, listen to me, I entreat you," resumed the latter; "let +me finish my story, and then you will find it as consoling as it now +seems terrible. For heaven's sake, remember the adorable words of our +angelic Abbe Gabriel, with regard to the sweetness of prayer." + +At the name of Gabriel, Hardy recovered himself a little, and exclaimed, +in a heart-rending tone: "Ay! his words were sweet and beneficent. Where +are they now? For mercy's sake, repeat to me those consoling words." + +"Our angelic Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "spoke to you of the sweetness +of prayer--" + +"Oh, yes! prayer!" + +"Well, my dear sir, listen to me, and you shall see how prayer saved +Rancey, and made a saint of him. Yes, these frightful torments, that I +have just described, these threatening visions, were all conquered by +prayer, and changed into celestial delights." + +"I beg of you," said Hardy, in a faint voice, "speak to me of Gabriel, +speak to me of heaven--but no more flames--no more hell--where sinful +women weep tears of blood--" + +"No, no," replied Rodin; and even as, in describing hell, his tone had +been harsh and threatening, it now became warm and tender, as he uttered +the following words: "No; we will have no more images of despair--for, as +I have told you, after suffering infernal tortures, Rancey, thanks to the +power of prayer, enjoyed the delights of paradise." + +"The delights of paradise?" repeated Hardy, listening with anxious +attention. + +"One day, at the height of his grief, a priest, a good priest--another +Abbe Gabriel--came to Rancey. Oh, happiness! oh, providential change! +In a few days, he taught the sufferer the sacred mysteries of prayer-- +that pious intercession of the creature, addressed to the Creator, in +favor of a soul exposed to the wrath of heaven. Then Rancey seemed +transformed. His grief was at once appeased. He prayed; and the more he +prayed, the greater was his hope. He felt that God listened to his +prayer. Instead of trying to forget his beloved, he now thought of her +constantly, and prayed for her salvation. Happy in his obscure cell, +alone with that adored remembrance, he passed days and nights in praying +for her--plunged in an ineffable, burning, I had almost said amorous +ecstasy." + +It is impossible to give an idea of the tone of almost sensual energy +with which Rodin pronounced the word "amorous." Hardy started, changing +from hot to cold. For the first time, his weakened mind caught a glimpse +of the fatal pleasures of asceticism, and of that deplorable catalepsy, +described in the lives of St. Theresa, St. Aubierge and others. + +Rodin perceived the other's thoughts, and continued "Oh, Rancey was not +now the man to content himself with a vague, passing prayer, uttered in +the whirl of the world's business, which swallows it up, and prevents it +from reaching the ear of heaven. No, no; in the depth of solitude, he +endeavored to make his prayers even more efficacious, so ardently did he +desire the eternal salvation of his mistress." + +"What did he do then--oh! what did he do in his solitude?" cried Hardy, +who was now powerless in the hands of the Jesuit. + +"First of all," said Rodin, with a slight emphasis, "he became a monk." + +"A monk!" repeated Hardy, with a pensive air. + +"Yes," resumed Rodin, "he became a monk, because his prayers were thus +more likely to be favorably accepted. And then, as in solitude our +thoughts are apt to wander, he fasted, and mortified his flesh, and +brought into subjection all that was carnal within him, so that, becoming +all spirit, his prayers might issue like a pure flame from his bosom, and +ascend like the perfume of incense to the throne of the Most High!" + +"Oh! what a delicious dream!" cried Hardy, more and more under the +influence of the spell; "to pray for the woman we have adored, and to +become spirit--perfume--light!" + +"Yes; spirit, perfume, light!" said Rodin, with emphasis. "But it is no +dream. How many monks, how many hermits, like Rancey, have, by prayers, +and austerity, and macerations, attained a divine ecstasy! and if you +only knew the celestial pleasures of such ecstasies!--Thus, after he +became a monk, the terrible dreams were succeeded by enchanting visions. +Many times, after a day of fasting, and a night passed in prayers and +macerations, Rancey sank down exhausted on the floor of his cell! Then +the spirit freed itself from the vile clogs of matter. His senses were +absorbed in pleasure; the sound of heavenly harmony struck upon his +ravished car; a bright, mild light, which was not of this world, dawned +upon his half-closed eyes; and, at the height of the melodious vibrations +of the golden harps of the Seraphim, in the centre of a glory, compared +to which the sun is pale, the monk beheld the image of that beloved +woman--" + +"Whom by his prayers he had at length rescued from the eternal flames?" +said Hardy, in a trembling voice. + +"Yes, herself," replied Rodin, with eloquent enthusiasm, for this monster +was skilled in every style of speech. "Thanks to the prayers of her +lover, which the Lord had granted, this woman no longer shed tears of +blood--no longer writhed her beautiful arms in the convulsions of +infernal anguish. No, no; still fair--oh! a thousand times fairer than +when she dwelt on earth--fair with the everlasting beauty of angels--she +smiled on her lover with ineffable ardor, and, her eyes beaming with a +mild radiance, she said to him in a tender and passionate voice: `Glory +to the Lord! glory to thee, O my beloved! Thy prayers and austerities +have saved me. I am numbered amongst the chosen. Thanks, my beloved, +and glory!'--And therewith, radiant in her felicity, she stooped to kiss, +with lips fragrant with immortality, the lips of the enraptured monk--and +their souls mingled in that kiss, burning as love, chaste as divine grace +immense as eternity!" + +"Oh!" cried Hardy, completely beside himself; "a whole life of prayer, +fasting, torture, for such a moment--with her, whom I mourn--with her, +whom I have perhaps led to perdition!" + +"What do you say? such a moment!" cried Rodin, whose yellow forehead was +bathed in sweat like that of a magnetizer, and who now took Hardy by the +hand, and drew still closer, as if to breathe into him the burning +delirium; "it was not once in his religious life--it was almost every +day, that Rancey, plunged in divine ecstasy, enjoyed these delicious, +ineffable, superhuman pleasures, which are to the pleasures of earth what +eternity is to man's existence!" + +Seeing, no doubt, that Hardy was now at the point to which he wished to +bring him, and the night being almost entirely come, the reverend father +coughed two or three times in a significant manner, and looked towards +the door. At this moment, Hardy, in the height of his frenzy, exclaimed, +with a supplicating voice: "A cell--a tomb--and the Ecstatic Vision!" + +The door of the room opened, and Father d'Aigrigny entered, with a cloak +under his arm. A servant followed him, bearing a light. + +About ten minutes after this scene, a dozen robust men with frank, open +countenances, led by Agricola, entered the Rue de Vaugirard, and advanced +joyously towards the house of the reverend fathers. It was a deputation +from the former workmen of M. Hardy. They came to escort him, and to +congratulate him on his return amongst them. Agricola walked at their +head. Suddenly he saw a carriage with post-horses issuing from the +gateway of the house. The postilion whipped up the horses, and they +started at full gallop. Was it chance or instinct? The nearer the +carriage approached the group of which he formed a part, the more did +Agricola's heart sink within him. + +The impression became so vivid that it was soon changed into a terrible +apprehension; and at the moment when the vehicle, which had its blinds +down, was about to pass close by him, the smith, in obedience to a +resistless impulse, exclaimed, as he rushed to the horses' heads: "Help, +friends! stop them!" + +"Postilion! ten louis if you ride over him!" cried from the carriage the +military voice of Father d'Aigrigny. + +The cholera was still raging. The postilion had heard of the murder of +the poisoners. Already frightened at the sudden attack of Agricola, he +struck him a heavy blow on the head with the butt of his whip which +stretched him senseless on the ground. Then, spurring with all his +might, he urged his three horses into a triple gallop, and the carriage +rapidly disappeared, whilst Agricola's companions, who had neither +understood his actions nor the sense of his words, crowded around the +smith, and did their best to revive him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +REMEMBRANCES. + +Other events took place a few days after the fatal evening in which M. +Hardy, fascinated and misled by the deplorable, mystic jargon of Rodin, +had implored Father d'Aigrigny on his knees to remove him far from Paris, +into some deep solitude where he might devote himself to a life of prayer +and ascetic austerities. Marshal Simon, since his arrival in Paris, had +occupied, with his two daughters, a house in the Rue des Trois-Freres. +Before introducing the reader into this modest dwelling, we are obliged +to recall to his memory some preceding facts. The day of the burning of +Hardy 's factory, Marshal Simon had come to consult with his father on a +question of the highest importance, and to communicate to him his painful +apprehensions on the subject of the growing sadness of his twin +daughters, which he was unable to explain. + +Marshal Simon held in religious reverence the memory of the Great +Emperor. His gratitude to the hero was boundless, his devotion blind, +his enthusiasm founded upon reason, his affection warm as the most +sincere and passionate friendship. But this was not all. + +One day the emperor, in a burst of joy and paternal tenderness, had led +the marshal to the cradle of the sleeping King of Rome, and said to him, +as he proudly pointed to the beautiful child: "My old friend, swear to me +that you will serve the son as you have served the father!" + +Marshal Simon took and kept that vow. During the Restoration, the chief +of a military conspiracy in favor of Napoleon II., he had attempted in +vain to secure a regiment of cavalry, at that time commanded by the +Marquis d'Aigrigny. Betrayed and denounced, the marshal, after a +desperate duel with the future Jesuit, had succeeded in reaching Poland, +and thus escaping a sentence of death. It is useless to repeat the +series of events which led the marshal from Poland to India, and then +brought him back to Paris after the Revolution of July--an epoch at which +a number of his old comrades in arms had solicited and obtained from the +government, without his knowledge, the confirmation of the rank and title +which the emperor had bestowed upon him just before Waterloo. + +On his return to Paris, after his long exile, in spite of all the +happiness he felt in at length embracing his children, Marshal Simon was +deeply affected on learning the death of their mother, whom he adored. +Till the last moment, he had hoped to find her in Paris. The +disappointment was dreadful, and he felt it cruelly, though he sought +consolation in his children's affection. + +But soon new causes of trouble and anxiety were interwoven with his life +by the machinations of Rodin. Thanks to the secret intrigues of the +reverend father at the Courts of Rome and Vienna, one of his emissaries, +in a condition to inspire full confidence, and provided with undeniable +evidence to support his words, went to Marshal Simon, and said to him: +"The son of the emperor is dying, the victim of the fears with which the +name of Napoleon still inspires Europe. + +"From this slow expiring, you, Marshal Simon, one of the emperor's most +faithful friends, are able to rescue this unfortunate prince. + +"The correspondence in my hand proves that it would be easy to open +relations, of the surest and most secret nature, with one of the most +influential persons about the King of Rome, and this person would be +disposed to favor the prince's escape. + +"It is possible, by a bold, unexpected stroke, to deliver Napoleon II. +from the custody of Austria, which would leave him to perish by inches in +an atmosphere that is fatal to him. + +"The enterprise may be a rash one, but it has chances of success that you +Marshal Simon, more than any other, could change into certainties; for +your devotion to the emperor is well known, and we remember with what +adventurous audacity you conspired, in 1815, in favor of Napoleon II." + +The state of languor and decline of the King of Rome was then in France a +matter of public notoriety. People even went so far as to affirm that +the son of the hero was carefully trained by priests, who kept him in +complete ignorance of the glory of his paternal name; and that, by the +most execrable machinations, they strove day by day to extinguish every +noble and generous instinct that displayed itself in the unfortunate +youth. The coldest hearts were touched and softened at the story of so +sad and fatal a destiny. When we remember the heroic character and +chivalrous loyalty of Marshal Simon, and his passionate devotion to the +emperor, we can understand how the father of Rose and Blanche was more +interested than any one else in the fate of the young prince, and how, if +occasion offered, he would feel himself obliged not to confine his +efforts to mere regrets. With regard to the reality of the +correspondence produced by Rodin's emissary, it had been submitted by the +marshal to a searching test, by means of his intimacy with one of his old +companions in arms, who had been for a long period on a mission to +Vienna, in the time of the empire. The result of this investigation, +conducted with as much prudence as address, so that nothing should +transpire, showed that the marshal might give his serious attention to +the advances made him. + +Hence, this proposition threw the father of Rose and Blanche into a cruel +perplexity; for, to attempt so bold and dangerous an enterprise, he must +once more abandon his children; whilst, on the contrary, if, alarmed at +this separation, he renounced the endeavor to save the King of Rome, +whose lingering death was perfectly true and well authenticated, the +marshal would consider himself as false to the vow he had sworn to the +emperor. To end these painful hesitations, full of confidence in the +inflexible uprightness of his father's character, the marshal had gone to +ask his advice; unfortunately the old republican workman, mortally +wounded during the attack on M. Hardy's factory, but still pondering over +the serious communication of his son, died with these words upon his +Lips: "My son, you have a great duty to perform, under pain of not acting +like a man of honor, and of disobeying my last will. You must, without +hesitation--" + +But, by a deplorable fatality, the last words, which would have completed +the sense of the old workman's thought, were spoken in so feeble a voice +as to be quite unintelligible. He died, leaving Marshal Simon in a worse +state of anxiety, as one of the two courses open to him had now been +formally condemned by his father, in whose judgment he had the most +implicit and merited confidence. In a word, his mind was now tortured by +the doubt whether his father had intended, in the name of honor and duty, +to advise him not to abandon his children, to engage in so hazardous an +enterprise, or whether, on the contrary, he had wished him to leave them +for a time, to perform the vow made to the emperor, and endeavor at least +to rescue Napoleon II. from a captivity that might soon be mortal. + +This perplexity, rendered more cruel by certain circumstances, to be +related hereafter, the tragical death of his father, who had expired in +his arms; the incessant and painful remembrance of his wife, who had +perished in a land of exile; and finally, the grief he felt at perceiving +the overgrowing sadness of Rose and Blanche, occasioned severe shocks to +Marshal Simon. Let us add that, in spite of his natural intrepidity, so +nobly proved by twenty years of war, the ravages of the cholera, the same +terrible malady to which his wife had fallen a victim in Siberia, filled +the marshal with involuntary dread. Yes, this man of iron nerves, who +had coolly braved death in so many battles, felt the habitual firmness of +his character give way at sight of the scenes of desolation and mourning +which Paris offered at every step. Yet, when Mdlle. de Cardoville +gathered round her the members of her family, to warn them against the +plot of their enemies, the affectionate tenderness of Adrienne for Rose +and Blanche appeared to exercise so happy an influence on their +mysterious sorrow, that the marshal, forgetting for a moment his fatal +regrets, thought only of enjoying this blessed change, which, alas! was +but of short duration. Having now recalled these facts to the mind of +the reader, we shall continue our story. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE BLOCKHEAD + +We have stated that Marshal Simon occupied a small house in the Rue des +Trois-Freres. Two o'clock in the afternoon had just struck in the +marshal's sleeping-chamber, a room furnished with military simplicity. +In the recess, in which stood the bed, hung a trophy composed of the arms +used by the marshal during his campaigns. On the secretary opposite was +a small bronze bust of the emperor, the only ornament of the apartment. +Out of doors the temperature was far from warm, and the marshal had +become susceptible to cold during his long residence in India. A good +fire therefore blazed upon the hearth. A door, concealed by the +hangings, and leading to a back staircase, opened slowly, and a man +entered the chamber. He carried a basket of wood, and advanced leisurely +to the fireplace, before which he knelt clown, and began to arrange the +logs symmetrically in a box that stood besides the hearth. After some +minutes occupied in this manner, still kneeling, he gradually approached +another door, at a little distance from the chimney, and appeared to +listen with deep attention, as if he wished to hear what was passing in +the next room. + +This man, employed as an inferior servant in the house, had the most +ridiculously stupid look that can be imagined. His functions consisted +in carrying wood, running errands, etc. In other respects he was a kind +of laughing-stock to the other servants. In a moment of good humor, +Dagobert, who filled the post of major-domo, had given this idiot the +name of "Loony" (lunatic), which he had retained ever since, and which he +deserved in every respect, as well for his awkwardness and folly as for +his unmeaning face, with its grotesquely flat nose, sloping chin, and +wide, staring eyes. Add to this description a jacket of red stuff, and a +triangular white apron, and we must acknowledge that the simpleton was +quite worthy of his name. + +Yet, at the moment when Loony listened so attentively at the door of the +adjoining room, a ray of quick intelligence animated for an instant his +dull and stupid countenance. + +When he had thus listened for a short time, Loony returned to the +fireplace, still crawling on his knees; then rising, he again took his +basket half full of wood, and once more approaching the door at which he +had listened knocked discreetly. No one answered. He knocked a second +time, and more loudly. Still there was the same silence. + +Then he said, in a harsh, squeaking, laughable voice: "Ladies, do you +want any wood, if you please, for your fire?" + +Receiving no answer, Loony placed his basket on the ground, opened the +door gently, and entered the next room, after casting a rapid glance +around. He came out again in a few seconds, looking from side to side +with an anxious air, like a man who had just accomplished some important +and mysterious task. + +Taking up his basket, he was about to leave Marshal Simon's room, when +the door of the private staircase was opened slowly and with precaution, +and Dagobert appeared. + +The soldier, evidently surprised at the servant's presence, knitted his +brows, and exclaimed abruptly, "What are you doing here?" + +At this sudden interrogation, accompanied by a growl expressive of the +ill-humor of Spoil-sport, who followed close on his master's heels, Loony +uttered a cry of real or pretended terror. To give, perhaps, an +appearance of greater reality to his dread, the supposed simpleton let +his basket fall on the ground, as if astonishment and fear had loosened +his hold of it. + +"What are you doing, numbskull?" resumed Dagobert, whose countenance was +impressed with deep sadness, and who seemed little disposed to laugh at +the fellow's stupidity. + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! how you frighten me! Dear me! what a pity I had not an +armful of plates, to prove it was not my fault if I broke them all." + +"I ask what you are doing," resumed the soldier. + +"You see, M. Dagobert," replied Loony, pointing to his basket, "that I +came with some wood to master's room, so that he might burn it, if it was +cold--which it is." + +"Very well. Pick up your wood, and begone!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! my legs tremble under me. How you did scare me, to be +sure!" + +"Will you begone, brute?" resumed the veteran; and seizing Loony by the +arm, he pushed him towards the door, while Spoil-sport, with recumbent +ears, and hair standing up like the quills of a porcupine, seemed +inclined to accelerate his retreat. + +"I am going, M. Dagobert, I am going," replied the simpleton, as he +hastily gathered up his basket; "only please to tell the dog--" + +"Go to the devil, you stupid chatterbox!" cried Dagobert, as he pushed +Loony through the doorway. + +Then the soldier bolted the door which led to the private staircase, and +going to that which communicated with the apartments of the two sisters, +he double-locked it. Having done this, he hastened to the alcove in +which stood the bed and taking down a pair of loaded pistols, he +carefully removed the percussion caps, and, unable to repress a deep +sigh, restored the weapons to the place in which he had found them. +Then, as if on second thoughts, he took down an Indian dagger with a very +sharp blade, and drawing it from its silver-gilt sheath, proceeded to +break the point of this murderous instrument, by twisting it beneath one +of the iron castors of the bed. + +Dagobert then proceeded to unfasten the two doors, and, returning slowly +to the marble chimney-piece, he leaned against it with a gloomy and +pensive air. Crouching before the fire, Spoil-sport followed with an +attentive eye the least movement of his master. The good dog displayed a +rare and intelligent sagacity. The soldier, having drawn out his +handkerchief, let fall, without perceiving it, a paper containing a roll +of tobacco. Spoil-sport, who had all the qualities of a retriever of the +Rutland race, took the paper between his teeth, and, rising upon his +hind-legs, presented it respectfully to Dagobert. But the latter +received it mechanically, and appeared indifferent to the dexterity of +his dog. The grenadier's countenance revealed as much sorrow as anxiety. +After remaining for some minutes near the fire, with fixed and meditative +look, he began to walk about the room in great agitation, one of his +hands thrust into the bosom of his long blue frock-coat, which was +buttoned up to the chin, and the other into one of his hind-pockets. + +From time to time he stopped abruptly, and seemed to make reply to his +own thoughts, or uttered an exclamation of doubt and uneasiness; then, +turning towards the trophy of arms, he shook his head mournfully, and +murmured, "No matter--this fear may be idle; but he has acted so +extraordinarily these two days, that it is at all events more prudent--" + +He continued his walk, and said, after a new and prolonged silence: "Yes +he must tell me. It makes me too uneasy. And then the poor children--it +is enough to break one's heart." + +And Dagobert hastily drew his moustache between his thumb and forefinger, +a nervous movement, which with him was an evident symptom of extreme +agitation. Some minutes after, the soldier resumed, still answering his +inward thoughts: "What can it be? It is hardly possible to be the +letters, they are too infamous; he despises them. And yet But no, no-- +he is above that!" + +And Dagobert again began to walk with hasty steps. Suddenly, Spoil-sport +pricked up his ears, turned his head in the direction of the staircase +door, and growled hoarsely. A few seconds after, some one knocked at the +door. + +"Who is there?" said Dagobert. There was no answer, but the person +knocked again. Losing patience, the soldier went hastily to open it, and +saw the servant's stupid face. + +"Why don't you answer, when I ask who knocks!" said the soldier, angrily. + +"M. Dagobert, you sent me away just now, and I was afraid of making you +cross, if I said I had come again." + +"What do you want? Speak then--come in, stupid!" cried the exasperated. +Dagobert, as he pulled him into the room. + +"M. Dagobert, don't be angry--I'll tell you all about it--it is a young +man." + +"Well?" + +"He wants to speak to you directly, Mr. Dagobert." + +"His name?" + +"His name, M. Dagobert?" replied Loony, rolling about and laughing with +an idiotic air. + +"Yes, his name. Speak, idiot!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! it's all in joke that you ask me his name!" + +"You are determined, fool that you are, to drive me out of my senses!" +cried the soldier, seizing Loony by the collar. "The name of this young +man!" + +"Don't be angry, M. Dagobert. I didn't tell you the name because you +know it." + +"Beast!" said Dagobert, shaking his fist at him. + +"Yes, you do know it, M. Dagobert, for the young man is your own son. He +is downstairs, and wants to speak to you directly--yes, directly." + +The stupidity was so well assumed, that Dagobert was the dupe of it. +Moved to compassion rather than anger by such imbecility, he looked +fixedly at the servant, shrugged his shoulders, and said, as he advanced +towards the staircase, "Follow me!" + +Loony obeyed; but, before closing the door, he drew a letter secretly +from his pocket, and dropped it behind him without turning his head, +saying all the while to Dagobert, for the purpose of occupying his +attention: "Your son is in the court, M. Dagobert. He would not come up +--that's why he is still downstairs!" + +Thus talking, he closed the door, believing he had left the letter on the +floor of Marshal Simon's room. But he had reckoned without Spoil-sport. +Whether he thought it more prudent to bring up the rear, or, from +respectful deference for a biped, the worthy dog had been the last to +leave the room, and, being a famous carrier, as soon as he saw the letter +dropped by Loony, he took it delicately between his teeth, and followed +close on the heels of the servant, without the latter perceiving this new +proof of the intelligence and sagacity of Spoil-sport. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +THE ANONYMOUS LETTERS. + +We will explain presently what became of the letter, which Spoil-sport +held between his teeth, and why he left his master, when the latter ran +to meet Agricola. Dagobert had not seen his son for some days. +Embracing him cordially, he led him into one of the rooms on the ground- +floor, which he usually occupied. "And how is your wife?" said the +soldier to his son. + +"She is well, father, thank you." + +Perceiving a great change in Agricola's countenance, Dagobert resumed: +"You look sad. Has anything gone wrong since I saw you last?" + +"All is over, father. We have lost him," said the smith, in a tone of +despair. + +"Lost whom?" + +"M. Hardy." + +"M. Hardy!--why, three days ago, you told me you were going to see him." + +"Yes, father, I have seen him--and my dear brother Gabriel saw him and +spoke to him--how he speaks! with a voice that comes from the heart!--and +he had so revived and encouraged him, that M. Hardy consented to return +amongst us. Then I, wild with joy, ran to tell the good news to some of +my mates, who were waiting to hear the result of nay interview with M. +Hardy. I brought them all with me to thank and bless him. We were +within a hundred yards of the house belonging to the black-gowns--" + +"Ali, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, with a gloomy air. "Then some +mischief will happen. I know them." + +"You are not mistaken, father," answered Agricola, with a sigh. "I was +running on with my comrades, when I saw a carriage coming towards us. +Some presentiment told me that they were taking away M. Hardy." + +"By force!" said Dagobert, hastily. + +"No," answered Agricola, bitterly; "no--the priests are too cunning for +that. They know how to make you an accomplice in the evil they do you. +Shall I not always remember how they managed with my good mother?" + +"Yes, the worthy woman! there was a poor fly caught in the spider's web. +But this carriage, of which you speak?" + +"On seeing it start from the house of the black-gowns," replied Agricola, +"my heart sank within me; and, by an impulse stronger than myself, I +rushed to the horses' heads, calling on my comrades to help me. But the +postilion knocked me down and stunned me with a blow from his whip. When +I recovered my senses, the carriage was already far away." + +"You were not hurt?" cried Dagobert, anxiously, as he examined his son +from top to toe. + +"No, father; a mere scratch." + +"What did you next, my boy?" + +"I hastened to our good angel, Mdlle. de Cardoville, and told her all. +`You must follow M. Hardy on the instant,' said she to me. `Take my +carriage and post-horses. Dupont will accompany you; follow M. Hardy +from stage to stage; should you succeed in overtaking him your presence +and your prayers may perhaps conquer the fatal influence that these +priests have acquired over him.'" + +"It was the best advice she could give you. That excellent young lady is +always right." + +"An hour after, we were upon our way, for we learned by the returned +postilions, that M. Hardy had taken the Orleans road. We followed him as +far as Etampes. There we heard that he had taken a cross-road, to reach +a solitary house in a valley about four leagues from the highway. They +told us that this house called the Val-de-St. Herem, belonged to certain +priests, and that, as the night was so dark, and the road so bad, we had +better sleep at the inn, and start early in the morning. We followed +this advice, and set out at dawn. In a quarter of an hour, we quitted +the high-road for a mountainous and desert track. We saw nothing but +brown rocks, and a few birch trees. As we advanced, the scene became +wilder and wilder. We might have fancied ourselves a hundred leagues +from Paris. At last we stopped in front of a large, old, black-looking +house with only a few small windows in it, and built at the foot of a +high, rocky mountain. In my whole life I have never seen anything so +deserted and sad. We got out of the carriage, and I rang the bell. A +man opened the door. `Did not the Abbe d'Aigrigny arrive here last night +with a gentleman?' said I to this man, with a confidential air. `Inform +the gentleman directly, that I come on business of importance, and that I +must see him forthwith.'--The man, believing me an accomplice, showed us +in immediately; a moment after, the Abbe d'Aigrigny opened the door, saw +me, and drew back; yet, in five minutes more, I was in presence of M. +Hardy." + +"Well!" said Dagobert, with interest. + +Agricola shook his head sorrowfully, and replied: "I knew by the very +countenance of M. Hardy, that all was over. Addressing me in a mild but +firm voice, he said to me: `I understand, I can even excuse, the motives +that bring you hither. But I am quite determined to live henceforth in +solitude and prayer. I take this resolution freely and voluntarily, +because I would fain provide for the salvation of my soul. Tell your +fellows that my arrangements will be such as to leave them a good +remembrance of me.'--And as I was about to speak, M. Hardy interrupted +me, saying: `It is useless, my friend. My determination is unalterable. +Do not write to me, for your letters would remain unanswered. Prayer +will henceforth be my only occupation. Excuse me for leaving you, but I +am fatigued from my journey!'--He spoke the truth for he was as pale as a +spectre, with a kind of wildness about the eyes, and so changed since the +day before, as to be hardly the same man. His hand, when he offered it +on parting from me, was dry and burning. The Abbe d'Aigrigny soon came +in. `Father,' said M. Hardy to him, `have the goodness to see M. Baudoin +to the door.'--So saying, he waved his hand to me in token of farewell, +and retired to the next chamber. All was over; he is lost to us +forever." + +"Yes," said Dagobert, "those black-gowns have enchanted him, like so many +others." + +"In despair," resumed Agricola, "I returned hither with M. Dupont. This, +then, is what the priests have made of M. Hardy--of that generous man, +who supported nearly three hundred industrious workmen in order and +happiness, increasing their knowledge, improving their hearts, and +earning the benediction of that little people, of which he was the +providence. Instead of all this, M. Hardy is now forever reduced to a +gloomy and unavailing life of contemplation." + +"Oh, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, shuddering, and unable to conceal a +vague sense of fear. "The longer I live, the more I am afraid of them. +You have seen what those people did to your poor mother; you see what +they have just done to M. Hardy; you know their plots against my two poor +orphans, and against that generous young lady. Oh, these people are very +powerful! I would rather face a battalion of Russian grenadiers, than a +dozen of these cassocks. But don't let's talk of it. I have causes +enough beside for grief and fear." + +Then seeing the astonished look of Agricola, the soldier, unable to +restrain his emotion, threw himself into the arms of his son, exclaiming +with a choking voice: "I can hold out no longer. My heart is too full. +I must speak; and whom shall I trust if not you?" + +"Father, you frighten me!" said Agricola, "What is the matter?" + +"Why, you see, had it not been for you and the two poor girls, I should +have blown out my brains twenty times over rather than see what I see-- +and dread what I do." + +"What do you dread, father?" + +"Since the last few days, I do not know what has come over the marshal-- +but he frightens me." + +"Yet in his last interviews with Mdlle. de Cardoville " + +"Yes, he was a little better. By her kind words, this generous young +lady poured balm into his wounds; the presence of the young Indian +cheered him; he appeared to shake off his cares, and his poor little +girls felt the benefit of the change. But for some days, I know not what +demon has been loosed against his family. It is enough to turn one's +head. First of all, I am sure that the anonymous letters have begun +again." + +"What letters, father?" + +"The anonymous letters." + +"But what are they about?" + +"You know how the marshal hated that renegade, the Abbe d'Aigrigny. When +he found that the traitor was here, and that he had persecuted the two +orphans, even as he persecuted their mother to the death--but that now he +had become a priest--I thought the marshal would have gone mad with +indignation and fury. He wishes to go in search of the renegade. With +one word I calmed him. `He is a priest,' I said; `you may do what you +will, insult or strike him--he will not fight. He began by serving +against his country, he ends by becoming a bad priest. It is all in +character. He is not worth spitting upon.'--'But surely I may punish the +wrong done to my children, and avenge the death of my wife,' cried the +marshal, much exasperated.--`They say, as you well know, that there are +courts of law to avenge your wrongs,' answered I; 'Mdlle. de Cardoville +has lodged a charge against the renegade, for having attempted to confine +your daughters in a convent. We must champ the bit and wait."' + +"Yes," said Agricola, mournfully, "and unfortunately there lacks proof to +bring it home to the Abbe d'Aigrigny. The other day, when I was examined +by Mdlle. de Cardoville's lawyer, with regard to our attempt on the +convent, he told me that we should meet with obstacles at every step, for +want of legal evidence, and that the priests had taken their precautions +with so much skill that the indictment would be quashed." + +"That is just what the marshal thinks, my boy, and this increases his +irritation at such injustice." + +"He should despise the wretches." + +"But the anonymous letters!" + +"Well, what of them, father?" + +"You shall know all. A brave and honorable man like the marshal, when +his first movement of indignation was over, felt that to insult the +renegade disguised in the garb of a priest, would be like insulting an +old man or a woman. He determined therefore to despise him, and to +forget him as soon as possible. But then, almost every day, there came +by the post anonymous letters, in which all sorts of devices were +employed, to revive and excite the anger of the marshal against the +renegade by reminding him of all the evil contrived by the Abbe +d'Aigrigny against him and his family. The marshal was reproached with +cowardice for not taking vengeance on this priest, the persecutor of his +wife and children, the insolent mocker at his misfortunes." + +"And from whom do you suspect these letters to come, father?" + +"I cannot tell--it is that which turns one's brain. They must come from +the enemies of the marshal, and he has no enemies but the black-gowns." + +"But, father, since these letters are to excite his anger against the +Abbe d'Aigrigny, they can hardly have been written by priests." + +"That is what I have said to myself." + +"But what, then, can be their object?" + +"Their object? oh, it is too plain!" cried Dagobert. "The marshal is +hasty, ardent; he has a thousand reasons to desire vengeance on the +renegade. But he cannot do himself justice, and the other sort of +justice fails him. Then what does he do? He endeavors to forget, he +forgets. But every day there comes to him an insolent letter, to provoke +and exasperate his legitimate hatred, by mockeries and insults. Devil +take me! my head is not the weakest--but, at such a game, I should go +mad." + +"Father, such a plot would be horrible, and only worthy of hell!" + +"And that is not all." + +"What more?" + +"The marshal has received other letters; those he has not shown me--but, +after he had read the first, he remained like a man struck motionless, +and murmured to himself: `They do not even respect that--oh! it is too +much--too much!'--And, hiding his face in his hands he wept." + +"The marshal wept!" cried the blacksmith, hardly able to believe what he +heard. + +"Yes," answered Dagobert, "he wept like a child." + +"And what could these letters contain, father?" + +"I did not venture to ask him, he appeared so miserable and dejected." + +"But thus harassed and tormented incessantly, the marshal must lead a +wretched life." + +"And his poor little girls too! he sees them grow sadder and sadder, +without being able to guess the cause. And the death of his father, +killed almost in his arms! Perhaps, you will think all this enough; but, +no! I am sure there is something still more painful behind. Lately, you +would hardly know the marshal. He is irritable about nothing, and falls +into such fits of passion, that--" After a moment's hesitation, the +soldier resumed: "I way tell this to you, my poor boy. I have just been +upstairs, to take the caps from his pistols." + +"What, father!" cried Agricola; "you fear--" + +"In the state of exasperation in which I saw him yesterday, there is +everything to fear." + +" What then happened?" + +"Since some time, he has often long secret interviews with a gentleman, +who looks like an old soldier and a worthy man. I have remarked that the +gloom and agitation of the marshal are always redoubled after one of +these visits. Two or three times, I have spoken to him about it; but I +saw by his look, that I displeased him, and therefore I desisted. + +"Well! yesterday, this gentleman came in the evening. He remained here +until eleven o'clock, and his wife came to fetch him, and waited for him +in a coach. After his departure, I went up to see if the marshal wanted +anything. He was very pale, but calm; he thanked me, and I came down +again. You know that my room is just under his. I could hear the +marshal walking about as if much agitated, and soon after he seemed to be +knocking down the furniture. In alarm, I once more went upstairs. He +asked me, with an irritated air, what I wanted, and ordered me to leave +the room. Seeing him in that way, I remained; he grew more angry, still +I remained; perceiving a chair and table thrown down, I pointed to them +with so sad an air that he understood me. You know that he has the best +heart in the world, so, taking me by the hand, he said to me: `Forgive me +for causing you this uneasiness, my good Dagobert; but just now, I lost +my senses, and gave way to a burst of absurd fury; I think I should have +thrown myself out of the window, had it been open. I only hope, that my +poor dear girls have not heard me,' added he, as he went on tip-toe to +open the door which communicates with his daughters' bedroom. When he +had listened anxiously for a moment, he returned to me, and said: +"Luckily, they are asleep.'--Then I asked him what was the cause of his +agitation, and if, in spite of my precautions, he had received any more +anonymous letters. `No,' replied he, with a gloomy air; `but leave me, +my friend. I am now better. It has done me good to see you. Good-- +night, old comrade! go downstairs to bed.'--I took care not to contradict +him; but, pretending to go down, I came up again, and seated myself on +the top stair, listening. No doubt, to calm himself entirely, the +marshal went to embrace his children, for I heard him open and shut their +door. Then he returned to his room, and walked about for a long time, +but with a more quiet step. At last, I heard him throw himself on his +bed, and I came down about break of day. After that, all remained +tranquil." + +"But whatever can be the matter with him, father?" + +"I do not know. When I went up to him, I was astonished at the agitation +of his countenance, and the brilliancy of his eyes. He would have looked +much the same, had he been delirious, or in a burning fever--so that, +when I heard him say, he could have thrown himself out of the window, had +it been open, I thought it more prudent to remove the caps from his +pistols." + +"I cannot understand it!" said Agricola. "So firm, intrepid, and cool a +man as the marshal, a prey to such violence!" + +"I tell you that something very extraordinary is passing within him. For +two days, he has not been to see his children, which is always a bad sign +with him--to say nothing of the poor little angels themselves, who are +miserable at the notion that they have displeased their father. They +displease him! If you only knew the life they lead, dear creatures! a +walk or ride with me and their companion, for I never let them go out +alone, and, the rest of their time, at their studies, reading, or +needlework--always together--and then to bed. Yet their duenna, who is, +I think, a worthy woman, tells me that sometimes at night, she has seen +them shed tears in their sleep. Poor children! they have hitherto known +but little happiness," added the soldier, with a sigh. + +At this moment, hearing some one walk hastily across the courtyard, +Dagobert raised his eyes, and saw Marshal Simon, with pale face and +bewildered air, holding in his two hands a letter, which he seemed to +read with devouring anxiety. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THE GOLDEN CITY. + +While Marshal Simon was crossing the little court with so agitated an +air, reading the anonymous letter, which he had received by Spoil-sport's +unexpected medium, Rose and Blanche were alone together, in the sitting- +room they usually occupied, which had been entered for a moment by Loony +during their absence. The poor children seemed destined to a succession +of sorrows. At the moment their mourning for their mother drew near its +close, the tragical death of their grandfather had again dressed them in +funereal weeds. They were seated together upon a couch, in front of +their work-table. Grief often produces the effect of years. Hence, in a +few months, Rose and Blanche had become quite young women. To the +infantine grace of their charming faces, formerly so plump and rosy, but +now pale and thin, had succeeded an expression of grave and touching +sadness. Their large, mild eyes of limpid azure, which always had a +dreamy character, were now never bathed in those joyous tears, with which +a burst of frank and hearty laughter used of old to adorn their silky +lashes, when the comic coolness of Dagobert, or some funny trick of +Spoil-sport, cheered them in the course of their long and weary +pilgrimage. + +In a word, those delightful faces, which the flowery pencil of Greuze +could alone have painted in all their velvet freshness, were now worthy +of inspiring the melancholy ideal of the immortal Ary Scheffer, who gave +us Mignon aspiring to Paradise, and Margaret dreaming of Faust. Rose, +leaning back on the couch, held her head somewhat bowed upon her bosom, +over which was crossed a handkerchief of black crape. The light +streaming from a window opposite, shone softly on her pure, white +forehead, crowned by two thick bands of chestnut hair. Her look was +fixed, and the open arch of her eyebrows, now somewhat contracted, +announced a mind occupied with painful thoughts. Her thin, white little +hands had fallen upon her knees, but still held the embroidery, on which +she had been engaged. The profile of Blanche was visible, leaning a +little towards her sister, with an expression of tender and anxious +solicitude, whilst her needle remained in the canvas, as if she had just +ceased to work. + +"Sister," said Blanche, in a low voice, after some moments of silence, +during which the tears seemed to mount to her eyes, "tell me what you are +thinking of. You look so sad." + +"I think of the Golden City of our dreams," replied Rose, almost in a +whisper, after another short silence. + +Blanche understood the bitterness of these words. Without speaking, she +threw herself on her sister's neck, and wept. Poor girls! the Golden +City of their dreams was Paris, with their father in it--Paris, the +marvellous city of joys and festivals, through all of which the orphans +had beheld the radiant and smiling countenance of their sire! But, alas! +the Beautiful City had been changed into a place of tears, and death, and +mourning. The same terrible pestilence which had struck down their +mother in the heart of Siberia, seemed to have followed them like a dark +and fatal cloud, which, always hovering above them, hid the mild blue of +the sky, and the joyous light of the sun. + +The Golden City of their dreams! It was the place, where perhaps one day +their father would present to them two young lovers, good and fair as +themselves. "They love you," he was to say; " they are worthy of you. +Let each of you have a brother, and me two sons." Then what chaste, +enchanting confusion for those two orphans, whose hearts, pure as +crystal, had never reflected any image but that of Gabriel, the celestial +messenger sent by their mother to protect them! + +We can therefore understand the painful emotion of Blanche, when she +heard her sister repeat, with bitter melancholy, those words which +described their whole situation: "I think of the Golden City of our +dreams!" + +"Who knows?" proceeded Blanche, drying her sister's tears; "perhaps, +happiness may yet be in store for us." + +"Alas! if we are not happy with our father by us--shall we ever be so?" + +"Yes, when we rejoin our mother," said Blanche, lifting her eyes to +heaven. + +"Then, sister, this dream may be a warning--it is so like that we had in +Germany." + +"The difference being that then the Angel Gabriel came down from heaven +to us, and that this time he takes us from earth, to our mother." + +"And this dream will perhaps come true, like the other, my sister. We +dreamt that the Angel Gabriel would protect us, and he came to save us +from the shipwreck." + +"And, this time, we dream that he will lead us to heaven. Why should not +that happen also?" + +"But to bring that about, sister, our Gabriel, who saved us from the +shipwreck, must die also. No, no; that must not happen. Let us pray +that it may not happen." + +"No, it will not happen--for it is only Gabriel's good angel, who is so +like him, that we saw in our dreams." + +"Sister, dear, how singular is this dream!--Here, as in Germany, we have +both dreamt the same--three times, the very same!" + +"It is true. The Angel Gabriel bent over us, and looked at us with so +mild and sad an air, saying: `Come, my children! come, my sisters! Your +mother waits for you. Poor children, arrived from so far!' added he in +his tender voice: `You have passed over the earth, gentle and innocent as +two doves, to repose forever in the maternal nest.'" + +"Yes, those were the words of the archangel," said the other orphan, with +a pensive air; "we have done no harm to any one, and we have loved those +who loved us--why should we fear to die?" + +"Therefore, dear sister, we rather smiled than wept, when he took us by +the hand, and, spreading wide his beautiful white wings, carried us along +with him to the blue depths of the sky." + +"To heaven, where our dear mother waited for us with open arms, her face +all bathed in tears." + +"Oh, sweet sister! one has not dreams like ours for nothing. And then," +added she, looking at Rose, with a sad smile that went to the heart, "our +death might perhaps end the sorrow, of which we have been the cause." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. We love him so much. But we are so timid +and sorrowful before him, that he may perhaps think we love him not." + +So saying, Rose took her handkerchief from her workbasket, to dry her +fears; a paper, folded in the form of a letter, fell out. + +At this sight, the two shuddered, and pressed close to one mother, and +Rose said to Blanche, in a trembling voice: "Another of these letters!-- +Oh, I am afraid! It will doubtless be like the last." + +"We must pick it up quickly, that it may not be seen," said Blanche, +hastily stooping to seize the letter; "the people who take interest in us +might otherwise be exposed to great danger." + +"But how could this letter come to us?" + +"How did the others come to be placed right under our hand, and always in +the absence of our duenna?" + +"It is true. Why seek to explain the mystery? We should never be able +to do so. Let us read the letter. It will perhaps be more favorable to +us than the last." And the two sisters read as follows:-- + +"Continue to love your father, dear children, for he is very miserable, +and you are the involuntary cause of his distress. You will never know +the terrible sacrifices that your presence imposes on him; but, alas! he +is the victim of his paternal duties. His sufferings are more cruel than +ever; spare him at least those marks of tenderness, which occasion him so +much more pain than pleasure. Each caress is a dagger-stroke, for he +sees in you the innocent cause of his misfortunes. Dear children, you +must not therefore despair. If you have enough command over yourselves, +not to torture him by the display of too warm a tenderness, if you can +mingle some reserve with your affection, you will greatly alleviate his +sorrow. Keep these letters a secret from every one, even from good +Dagobert, who loves you so much; otherwise, both he and you, your father, +and the unknown friend who is writing to you, will be exposed to the +utmost peril, for your enemies are indeed formidable. Courage and hope! +May your father's tenderness be once more free from sorrow and regret!-- +That happy day is perhaps not so far distant. Burn this letter like all +the others!" + +The above note was written with so much cunning that, even supposing the +orphans had communicated it to their father or Dagobert, it would at the +worst have been considered a strange, intrusive proceeding, but almost +excusable from the spirit in which it was conceived. Nothing could have +been contrived with more perfidious art, if we consider the cruel +perplexity in which Marshal Simon was struggling between the fear of +again leaving his children and the shame of neglecting what he considered +a sacred duty. All the tenderness, all the susceptibility of heart which +distinguished the orphans, had been called into play by these diabolical +counsels, and the sisters soon perceived that their presence was in fact +both sweet and painful to their father; for sometimes he felt himself +incapable of leaving them, and sometimes the thought of a neglected duty +spread a cloud of sadness over his brow. Hence the poor twins could not +fail to value the fatal meaning of the anonymous letters they received. +They were persuaded that, from some mysterious motive, which they were +unable to penetrate, their presence was often importunate and even +painful to their father. Hence the growing sadness of Rose and Blanche-- +hence the sort of fear and reserve which restrained the expression of +their filial tenderness. A most painful situation for the marshal, who +deceived by inexplicable appearances, mistook, in his turn, their manner +of indifference to him--and so, with breaking heart, and bitter grief +upon his face, often abruptly quitted his children to conceal his tears! + +And the desponding orphans said to each other: "We are the cause of our +father's grief. It is our presence which makes him so unhappy." + +The reader may new judge what ravages such a thought, when fixed and +incessant, must have made on these young, loving, timid, and simple +hearts. Haw could the orphans be on their guard against such anonymous +communications, which spoke with reverence of all they loved, and seemed +every day justified by the conduct of their father? Already victims of +numerous plots, and hearing that they were surrounded by enemies, we can +understand, how faithful to the advice of their unknown friend, they +forbore to confide to Dagobert these letters, in which he was so justly +appreciated. The object of the proceeding was very plain. By +continually harassing the marshal on all sides, and persuading him of the +coldness of his children, the conspirators might naturally hope to +conquer the hesitation which had hitherto prevented his again quitting +his daughters to embark in a dangerous enterprise. To render the +marshal's life so burdensome that he would desire to seek relief from his +torments in airy project of daring and generous chivalry, was one of the +ends proposed by Rodin--and, as we have seen, it wanted neither logic nor +possibility. + +After having read the letter, the two remained for a moment silent and +dejected. Then Rose, who held the paper in her hand, started up +suddenly, approached the chimneypiece, and threw the letter into the +fire, saying, with a timid air: "We must burn it quickly, or perhaps some +great danger will ensue." + +"What greater misfortune can happen to us," said Blanche, despondingly, +"than to cause such sorrow to our father? What can be the reason of it?" + +"Perhaps," said Rose, whose tears were slowly trickling down her cheek, +"he does not find us what he could have desired. He may love us well as +the children of our poor mother, but we are not the daughters he had +dreamed of. Do you understand me, sister?" + +"Yes, yes--that is perhaps what occasioned all his sorrow. We are so +badly informed, so wild, so awkward, that he is no doubt ashamed of us; +and, as he loves us in spite of all, it makes him suffer." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. Our dear mother brought us up in the deserts +of Siberia as well as she could." + +"Oh! father himself does not reproach us with it; only it gives him +pain." + +"Particularly if he has friends whose daughters are very beautiful, and +possessed of all sorts of talents. Then he must bitterly regret that we +are not the same." + +"Dost remember when he took us to see our cousin, Mdlle. Adrienne, who +was so affectionate and kind to us, that he said to us, with admiration: +`Did you notice her, my children? How beautiful she is, and what talent, +what a noble heart, and therewith such grace and elegance!'" + +"Oh, it is very true! Mdlle. de Cardoville is so beautiful, her voice is +so sweet and gentle, that, when we saw and heard her, we fancied that all +our troubles were at an end." + +"And it is because of such beauty, no doubt, that our father, comparing +us with our cousin and so many other handsome young ladies, cannot be +very proud of us. And he, who is so loved and honored, would have liked +to have been proud of his daughters." + +Suddenly Rose laid her hand on her sister's arm, and said to her, with +anxiety: "Listen! listen! they are talking very loud in father's +bedroom." + +"Yes," said Blanche, listening in her turn; "and I can hear him walking. +That is his step." + +"Good heaven! how he raises his voice; he seems to be in a great passion; +he will perhaps come this way." + +And at the thought of their father's coming--that father who really +adored them--the unhappy children looked in terror at each other. The +sound of a loud and angry voice became more and more distinct; and Rose, +trembling through all her frame, said to her sister: "Do not let us +remain here! Come into our room." + +"Why?" + +"We should hear, without designing it, the words of our father--and he +does not perhaps know that we are so near." + +"You are right. Come, come!" answered Blanche, as she rose hastily from +her seat. + +"Oh! I am afraid. I have never heard him speak in so angry a tone." + +"Oh! kind heaven!" said Blanche, growing pale, as she stopped +involuntarily. "It is to Dagobert that he is talking so loud." + +"What can be the matter--to make our father speak to him in that way?" + +"Alas! some great misfortune must have happened." + +"Oh, sister! do not let us remain here! It pains me too much to hear +Dagobert thus spoken to." + +The crash of some article, hurled with violence and broken to pieces in +the next room, so frightened the orphans, that, pale and trembling with +emotion, they rushed into their own apartment, and fastened the door. We +must now explain the cause of Marshal Simon's violent anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE STUNG LION. + +This was the scene, the sound of which had so terrified Rose and Blanche. +At first alone in his chamber, in a state of exasperation difficult to +describe, Marshal Simon had begun to walk hastily up and down, his +handsome, manly face inflamed with rage, his eyes sparkling with +indignation, while on his broad forehead, crowned with short-cut hair +that was now turning gray, large veins, of which you might count the +pulsations, were swollen almost to bursting; and sometimes his thick, +black moustache was curled with a convulsive motion, not unlike that +which is seen in the visage of a raging lion. And even as the wounded +lion, in its fury, harassed and tortured by a thousand invisible darts, +walks up and down its den with savage wrath, so Marshal Simon paced the +floor of his room, as if bounding from side to side; sometimes he +stooped, as though bending beneath the weight of his anger; sometimes, on +the contrary, he paused abruptly, drew himself up to his full height, +crossed his arms upon his vigorous chest, and with raised brow, +threatening and terrible look, seemed to defy some invisible enemy, and +murmur confused exclamations. Then he stood like a man of war and battle +in all his intrepid fire. + +And now he stamped angrily with his foot, approached the chimney-piece, +and pulled the bell so violently that the bell-rope remained in his hand. +A servant hastened to attend to this precipitate summons. "Did you not +tell Dagobert that I wished to speak to him?" cried the marshal. + +"I executed your grace's orders, but M. Dagobert was accompanying his son +to the door, and--" + +"Very well!" interrupted Marshal Simon, with an abrupt and imperious +gesture. + +The servant went out, and his master continued to walk up and down with +impatient steps, crumpling, in his rage, a letter that he held in his +left hand. This letter had been innocently delivered by Spoil-sport, +who, seeing him come in, had run joyously to meet him. At length the +door opened, and Dagobert appeared. "I have been waiting for you a long +time, sirrah!" cried the marshal, in an irritated tone. + +Dagobert, more pained than surprised at this burst of anger, which he +rightly attributed to the constant state of excitement in which the +marshal had now been for some time past, answered mildly: "I beg your +pardon, general, but I was letting out my son--" + +"Read that, sir!" said the marshal abruptly, giving him the letter. + +While Dagobert was reading it, the marshal resumed, with growing anger, +as he kicked over a chair that stood in his way: "Thus, even in my own +house, there are wretches bribed to harass me with incredible +perseverance. Well! have you read it, sir?" + +"It is a fresh insult to add to the others," said Dagobert, coolly, as he +threw the letter into the fire. + +"The letter is infamous--but it speaks the truth," replied the marshal. +Dagobert looked at him in amazement. + +"And can you tell who brought me this infamous letter" continued the +marshal. "One would think the devil had a hand in it--for it was your +dog!" + +"Spoil-sport?" said Dagobert, in the utmost surprise. + +"Yes," answered the marshal, bitterly; "it is no doubt a joke of your +invention." + +"I have no heart for joking, general," answered Dagobert, more and more +saddened by the irritable state of the marshal; "I cannot explain how it +happened. Spoil-sport is a good carrier, and no doubt found the letter +in the house--" + +"And who can have left it there? Am I surrounded by traitors? Do you +keep no watch? You, in whom I have every confidence?" + +"Listen to me, general--" + +But the marshal proceeded, without waiting to hear him. "What! I have +made war for five-and-twenty years, I have battled with armies, I have +struggled victoriously through the evil times of exile and proscription, +I have withstood blows from maces of iron--and now I am to be killed with +pins! Pursued into my own house, harassed with impunity, worn out, +tortured every minute, to gratify some unknown, miserable hate!--When I +say unknown, I am wrong--it is d'Aigrigny, the renegade, who is at the +bottom of all this, I am sure. I have in the world but one enemy, and he +is the man. I must finish with him, for I am weary of this--it is too +much." + +"But, general, remember he is a priest--" + +"What do I care for that? Have I not seen him handle the sword? I will +yet make a soldier's blood rise to the forehead of the traitor!" + +But, general--" + +"I tell you, that I must be avenged on some one," cried the marshal, with +an accent of the most violent exasperation; "I tell you, that I mast find +a living representative of these cowardly plots, that I may at once make +an end of him!--They press upon me from all sides; they make my life a +hell--you know it--and you do nothing to save me from these tortures, +which are killing me as by a slow fire. Can I have no one in whom to +trust?" + +"General, I can't let you say that," replied Dagobert, in a calm, but +firm voice. + +"And why not?" + +"General, I can't let you say that you have no one to trust to. You +might end perhaps in believing it, and then it would be even worse for +yourself, than for those who well know their devotion for you, and would +go through fire and water to serve you. I am one of them--and you know +it." + +These simple words, pronounced by Dagobert with a tone of deep +conviction, recalled the marshal to himself; for although his honorable +and generous character might from time to time be embittered by +irritation and grief, he soon recovered his natural equanimity. So, +addressing Dagobert in a less abrupt tone, he said to him, though still +much agitated: "You are right. I could never doubt your fidelity. But +anger deprives me of my senses. This infamous letter is enough to drive +one mad. I am unjust, ungrateful--yes, ungrateful--and to you!" + +"Do not think of me, general. With a kind word at the end, you might +blow me up all the year round. But what has happened?" + +The general's countenance again darkened, as he answered rapidly: "I am +looked down upon, and despised!" + +"You?" + +"Yes I. After all," resumed the marshal bitterly, "why should I conceal +from you this new wound? If I doubted you a moment, I owe you some +compensation, and you shall know all. For some time past, I perceived +that, when I meet any of my old companions in arms, they try to avoid +me -" + +"What! was it to this that the anonymous letter alluded?" + +"Yes; and it spoke the truth," replied the marshal, with a sigh of grief +and indignation. + +"But it is impossible, general--you are so loved and respected--" + +"Those are mere words; I speak of positive facts. When I appear, the +conversation is often interrupted. Instead of treating me as an old +comrade, they affect towards me a rigorously cold politeness. There are +a thousand little shades, a thousand trifles, which wound the heart, but +which it is impossible to notice--" + +"What you are now saying, general, quite confounds me," replied Dagobert. +"You assure me of it, and I am forced to believe you." + +"Oh, it is intolerable! I was resolved to ease my heart of it; so, this +morning, I went to General d'Havrincourt, who was colonel with me in the +Imperial Guard; he is honor and honesty itself. I went to him with open +heart. `I perceive,' said I, `the coldness that is shown me. Some +calumny must be circulating to my disadvantage. Tell me all about it. +Knowing the attack, I shall be able to defend myself--' + +"Well, general?" + +"D'Havrincourt remained impassible ceremoniously polite. To all my +questions he answered coldly: `I am not aware, my lord duke, that any +calumny has been circulated with regard to you.'--'Do not call me "my +lord duke," my dear D'Havrincourt; we are old fellow-soldiers and +friends, my honor is somewhat touchy, I confess, and I find that you and +our comrades do not receive me so cordially, as in times past. You do +not deny it; I see, I know, I feel it.' To all this D'Havrincourt +answered, with the same coldness: `I have never seen any one wanting in +respect towards you.'--'I am not talking of respect,' exclaimed I, as I +clasped his hand affectionately, though I observed that he but feebly +returned the pressure; `I speak of cordiality, confidence, which I once +enjoyed, while now I am treated like a stranger. Why is it? What has +occasioned this change?'--Still cold and reserved, he answered: `These +distinctions are so nice, marshal, that it is impossible for me to give +you any opinion on the subject.'--My heart swelled with grief and anger. +What was I to do? To quarrel with D'Havrincourt would have been absurd. +A sense of dignity forced me to break off the interview, but it has only +confirmed my fears. Thus," added the marshal, getting more and more +animated, "thus am I fallen from the esteem to which I am entitled, thus +am I despised, without even knowing the cause! Is it not odious? If +they would only utter a charge against me--I should at least be able to +defend myself, and to find an answer. But no, no! not even a word--only +the cold politeness that is worse than any insult. Oh! it is too much, +too much! for all this comes but in addition to other cares. What a life +is mine since the death of my father! If I did but find rest and +happiness at home--but no! I come in, but to read shameful letters; and +still worse," added the marshal, in a heartrending tone, and after a +moment's hesitation, "to find my children grow more and more indifferent +towards me-- + +"Yes," continued he, perceiving the amazement of Dagobert, "and yet they +know how much I love them!" + +"Your daughters indifferent!" exclaimed Dagobert, in astonishment. "You +make them such a reproach?" + +"Oh! I do not blame them. They have hardly had time to know me." + +"Not had time to know you?" returned the soldier, in a tone of +remonstrance, and warming up in his turn. "Ah! of what did their mother +talk to them, except you? and I too! what could I teach your children +except to know and love you?" + +"You take their part--that is natural--they love you better than they do +me," said the marshal, with growing bitterness. Dagobert felt himself so +painfully affected, that he looked at the marshal without answering. + +"Yes!" continued the other; "yes! it may be base and ungrateful--but no +matter!--Twenty times I have felt jealous of the affectionate confidence +which my children display towards you, while with me they seem always to +be in fear. If their melancholy faces ever grow animated for a moment, +it is in talking to you, in seeing you; while for me they have nothing +but cold respect--and that kills me. Sure of the affection of my +children, I would have braved and surmounted every difficulty--" Then, +seeing that Dagobert rushed towards the door which led to the chamber of +Rose and Blanche, the marshal asked: "Where are you going?" + +"For your daughters, general." + +"What for?" + +"To bring them face to face with you--to tell them: `My children, your +father thinks that you do not love him.'--I will only say that--and then +you will see." + +"Dagobert! I forbid you to do it," cried the marshal, hastily. + +"I don't care for that--you have no right to be unjust to the poor +children," said the soldier, as he again advanced towards the door. + +"Dagobert, I command you to remain here," cried the marshal. + +"Listen to me, general. I am your soldier, your inferior, your servant, +if you will," said the old grenadier, roughly; "but neither rank nor +station shall keep me silent, when I have to defend your daughters. All +must be explained--I know but one way--and that is to bring honest people +face to face." + +If the marshal had not seized him by the arm, Dagobert would have entered +the apartment of the young girls. + +"Remain!" said the marshal, so imperiously that the soldier, accustomed +to obedience, hung his head, and stood still. + +"What would you do?" resumed the marshal. "Tell my children, that I +think they do not love me? induce them to affect a tenderness they do not +feel--when it is not their fault, but mine?" + +"Oh, general!" said Dagobert, in a tone of despair, "I no longer feel +anger, in hearing you speak thus of your children. It is such grief, +that it breaks my heart!" + +Touched by the expression of the soldier's countenance, the marshal +continued, less abruptly: "Come, I may be wrong; and yet I ask you, +without bitterness or jealousy, are not my children more confiding, more +familiar, with you than with me?" + +"God bless me, general!" cried Dagobert; "if you come to that, they are +more familiar with Spoil-sport than with either of us. You are their +father; and, however kind a father may be, he must always command some +respect. Familiar with me! I should think so. A fine story! What the +devil should they respect in me, who, except that I am six feet high, and +wear a moustache, might pass for the old woman that nursed them?--and +then I must say, that, even before the death of your worthy father, you +were sad and full of thought; the children have remarked that; and what +you take for coldness on their part, is, I am sure, anxiety for you. +Come, general; you are not just. You complain, because they love you too +much." + +"I complain, because I suffer," said the marshal, in an agony of +excitement. "I alone know my sufferings." + +"They must indeed be grievous, general," said Dagobert, carried further +than he would otherwise have gone by his attachment for the orphans, +"since those who love you feel them so cruelly." + +"What, sir! more reproaches?" + +"Yes, general, reproaches," cried Dagobert. "Your children have the +right to complain of you, since you accuse them so unjustly." + +"Sir," said the marshal, scarcely able to contain himself, `this is +enough--this is too much!" + +"Oh, yes! it is enough," replied Dagobert, with rising emotion. "Why +defend unfortunate children, who can only love and submit? Why defend +them against your unhappy blindness?" + +The marshal started with anger and impatience, but then replied, with a +forced calmness: "I needs must remember all that I owe you--and I will +not forget it, say what you will." + +"But, general," cried Dagobert, "why will you not let me fetch your +children?" + +"Do you not see that this scene is killing me?" cried the exasperated +marshal. "Do you not understand, that I will not have my children +witness what I suffer? A father's grief has its dignity, sir; and you +ought to feel for and respect it." + +"Respect it? no--not when it is founded on injustice!" + +"Enough, sir--enough!" + +"And not content with tormenting yourself," cried Dagobert, unable any +longer to control his feelings, "do you know what you will do? You will +make your children die of sorrow. Was it for this, that I brought them +to you from the depths of Siberia?" + +"More reproaches!" + +"Yes; for the worst ingratitude towards me, is to make your children +unhappy." + +"Leave the room, sir!" cried the marshal, quite beside himself, and so +terrible with rage and grief, that Dagobert, regretting that he had gone +so far, resumed: "I was wrong, general. I have perhaps been wanting in +respect to you--forgive me--but--" + +"I forgive you--only leave me!" said the marshal, hardly restraining +himself. + +"One word, general--" + +"I entreat you to leave me--I ask it as a service--is that enough?" said +the marshal, with renewed efforts to control the violence of his +emotions. + +A deadly paleness succeeded to the high color which during this painful +scene had inflamed the cheeks of the marshal. Alarmed at this symptom, +Dagobert redoubled his entreaties. "I implore you, general," said he, in +an agitated mice, "to permit me for one moment--" + +"Since you will have it so, sir, I must be the one to leave," said the +marshal, making a step towards the door. + +These words were said in such a manner, that Dagobert could no longer +resist. He hung his head in despair, looked for a moment in silent +supplication at the marshal, and then, as the latter seemed yielding to a +new movement of rage, the soldier slowly quitted the room. + +A few minutes had scarcely elapsed since the departure of Dagobert, when +the marshal, who, after a long and gloomy silence, had repeatedly drawn +near the door of his daughters' apartment with a mixture of hesitation +and anguish, suddenly made a violent effort, wiped the cold sweat from +his brow, and entered the chamber in which Rose and Blanche had taken +refuge. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +THE TEST. + +Dagobert was right in defending his children, as he paternally called +Rose and Blanche, and yet the apprehensions of the marshal with regard to +the coldness of his daughters, were unfortunately justified by +appearances. As he had told his father, unable to explain the sad, and +almost trembling embarrassment, which his daughters felt in his presence, +he sought in vain for the cause of what he termed their indifference. +Now reproaching himself bitterly for not concealing from them his grief +at the death of their mother, he feared he might have given them to +understand that they would be unable to console him; now supposing that +he had not shown himself sufficiently tender, and that had chilled them +with his military sternness; and now repeating with bitter regret, that, +having always lived away from them, he must be always a stranger to them. +In a word, the most unlikely suppositions presented themselves by turns +to his mind, and whenever such seeds of doubt, suspicion, or fear, are +blended with a warm affection, they will sooner or later develop +themselves with fatal effect. Yet, notwithstanding this fancied +coldness, from which he suffered so much, the affection of the marshal +for his daughters was so true and deep, that the thought of again +quitting them caused the hesitations which were the torment of his life, +and provoked an incessant struggle between his paternal love and the duty +he held most sacred. + +The injurious calumnies, which had been so skillfully propagated, that +men of honor, like his old brothers in arms, were found to attach some +credit to them, had been spread with frightful pertinacity by the friends +of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. We shall describe hereafter the meaning +and object of these odious reports, which, joined with so many other +fatal injuries, had filled up the measure of the marshal's indignation. +Inflamed with anger, excited almost to madness by this incessant +"stabbing with pins" (as he had himself called it), and offended at some +of Dagobert's words, he had spoken harshly to him. But, after the +soldier's departure, when left to reflect in silence, the marshal +remembered the warm and earnest expressions of the defender of his +children, and doubt crossed his mind, as to the reality of the coldness +of which he accused them. Therefore, having taken a terrible resolution +in case a new trial should confirm his desponding doubts, he entered, as +we before said, his, daughters' chamber. The discussion with Dagobert +had been so loud, that the sound of the voices had confusedly reached the +ears of the two sisters, even after they had taken refuge in their +bedroom. So that, on the arrival of their father, their pale faces +betrayed their fear and anxiety. At sight of the marshal, whose +countenance was also much agitated, the girls rose respectfully, but +remained close together, trembling in each other's arms. And yet there +was neither anger nor severity on their father's face--only a deep, +almost supplicating grief, which seemed to say: "My children, I suffer--I +have come to you--console me, love me! or I shall die!" + +The marshal's countenance was at this moment so expressive, that, the +first impulse of fear once surmounted, the sisters were about to throw +themselves into his arms; but remembering the recommendations of the +anonymous letter, which told them how painful any effusion of their +tenderness was to their father, they exchanged a rapid glance, and +remained motionless. By a cruel fatality, the marshal at this moment +burned to open his arms to his children. He looked at them with love, he +even made a slight movement as if to call them to him; but he would not +attempt more, for fear of meeting with no response. Still the poor +children, paralyzed by perfidious counsels, remained mute, motionless, +trembling! + +"It is all over," thought he, as he gazed upon them. "No chord of +sympathy stirs in their bosom. Whether I go---whether I remain--matters +not to them. No, I am nothing to these children--since, at this awful +moment, when they see me perhaps for the last time, no filial instinct +tells them that their affection might save me still!" + +During these terrible reflections, the marshal had not taken his eyes off +his children, and his manly countenance assumed an expression at once so +touching and mournful--his look revealed so painfully the tortures of his +despairing soul--that Rose and Blanche, confused, alarmed, but yielding +together to a spontaneous movement, threw themselves on their father's +neck, and covered him with tears and caresses. Marshal Simon had not +spoken a word; his daughters had not uttered a sound; and yet all three +had at length understood one another. A sympathetic shock had +electrified and mingled those three hearts. Vain fears, false doubts, +lying counsel, all had yielded to the irresistible emotion. which had +brought the daughters to their father's arms. A sudden revelation gave +them faith, at the fatal moment when incurable suspicion was about to +separate them forever. + +In a second, the marshal felt all this, but words failed him. Pale, +bewildered, kissing the brows, the hair, the hands of his daughters, +weeping, sighing, smiling all in turn, he was wild, delirious, drunk with +happiness. At length, he exclaimed: "I have found them--or rather, I +have never lost them. They loved me, and did not dare to tell me so. I +overawed them. And I thought it was my fault. Heavens! what good that +does! what strength, what heart, what hope!--Ha! ha!" cried he, laughing +and weeping at the same time, whilst he covered his children with +caresses; "they may despise me now, they may harass me now--I defy them +all. My own blue eyes! my sweet blue eyes! look at me well, and inspire +me with new life." + +"Oh, father! you love us then as much as we love you?" cried Rose, with +enchanting simplicity. + +"And we may often, very often, perhaps every day, throw ourselves on your +neck, embrace you, and prove how glad we are to be with you?" + +"Show you, dear father, all the store of love we were heaping up in our +hearts--so sad, alas! that we could not spend it upon you?" + +"Tell you aloud all that we think in secret?" + +"Yes--you may do so--you may do so," said Marshal ,Simon, faltering with +joy; "what prevented you, my children? But no; do not answer; enough of +the past!--I know all, I understand all. You misinterpreted my gloom, +and it made you sad; I, in my turn, misinterpreted your sadness. But +never mind; I scarcely know what I am saying to you. I only think of +looking at you--and it dazzles me--it confuses me--it is the dizziness of +joy!" + +"Oh, look at us, father! look into our eyes, into our hearts," cried +Rose, with rapture. + +"And you will read there, happiness for us, and love for you, sir!" added +Blanche. + +"Sir, sir!" said the marshal, in a tone of affectionate reproach; "what +does that mean? Will you call me father, if you please?" + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Blanche, as she took it, and placed it on +her heart. + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Rose, as she took the other hand of the +marshal. "Do you believe now in our love and happiness?" she continued. + +It is impossible to describe the charming expression of filial pride in +the divine faces of the girls, as their father, slightly pressing their +virgin bosoms, seemed to count with delight the joyous pulsations of +their hearts. + +"Oh, yes! happiness and affection can alone make the heart beat thus!" +cried the marshal. + +A hoarse sob, heard in the direction of the open door, made the three +turn round, and there they saw the tall figure of Dagobert, with the +black nose of Spoil-sport reaching to his master's knee. The soldier, +drying his eyes and moustache with his little blue cotton handkerchief, +remained motionless as the god Terminus. When he could speak, he +addressed himself to the marshal, and, shaking his head, muttered, in a +hoarse voice, for the good man was swallowing his tears: "Did I not tell +you so?" + +"Silence!" said the marshal, with a sign of intelligence. "You were a +better father than myself, my old friend. Come and kiss them! I shall +not be jealous." + +The marshal stretched out his hand to the soldier, who pressed it +cordially, whilst the two sisters threw themselves on his neck, and +Spoil-sport, according to custom wishing to have his share in the general +joy, raised himself on his hind legs, and rested his fore-paws against +his master's back. There was a moment of profound silence. The +celestial felicity enjoyed during that moment, by the marshal, his +daughters, and the soldier, was interrupted by the barking of Spoil-sort, +who suddenly quitted the attitude of a biped. The happy group separated, +looked round, and saw Loony's stupid face. He looked even duller than +usual, as he stood quite still in the doorway, staring with wide- +stretched eyes, and holding a feather-broom under his arm, and in his +hand the ever-present basket of wood. + +Nothing makes one so gay as happiness; and, though this grotesque figure +appeared at a very unseasonable moment, it was received with frank +laughter from the blooming lips of Rose and Blanche. Having made the +marshal's daughters laugh, after their long sadness, Loony at once +acquired a claim to the indulgence of the marshal, who said to him, good- +humoredly: "What do you want, my lad?" + +"It's not me, my lord duke!" answered Loony, laying his hand on his +breast, as if it were taking a vow, so that his feather-brush fell down +from under his arm. The laughter of the girls redoubled. + +"It is not you?" said the marshal. + +"Here! Spoil-sport!" Dagobert called, for the honest dog seemed to have a +secret dislike for the pretended idiot, and approached him with an angry +air. + +"No, my lord duke, it is not me!" resumed Loony. "It is the footman who +told me to tell M. Dagobert, when I brought up the wood to tell my lord +duke, as I was coming up with the basket, that M. Robert wants to see +him." + +The girls laughed still more at this new stupidity. But, at the name of +Robert, Marshal Simon started. + +M. Robert was the secret emissary of Rodin, with regard to the possible, +but adventurous, enterprise of attempting the liberation of Napoleon II. + +After a moment's silence, the marshal, whose face was still radiant with +joy and happiness, said to Loony: "Beg M. Robert to wait for me a moment +in my study." + +"Yes, my lord duke," answered Loony, bowing almost to the ground. + +The simpleton withdrew, and the marshal said to his daughters, in a +joyous tone, "You see, that, in a moment like this, one does not leave +one's children, even for M. Robert." + +"Oh! that's right, father!" cried Blanche, gayly; "for I was already very +angry with this M. Robert." + +"Have you pen and paper at hand?" asked the marshal. + +"Yes, father; there on the table," said Rose, hastily, as she pointed to +a little desk near one of the windows, towards which the marshal now +advanced rapidly. + +From motives of delicacy, the girls remained where they were, close to +the fireplace, and caressed each other tenderly, as if to congratulate +themselves in private on the unexpected happiness of this day. + +The marshal seated himself at the desk, and made a sign to Dagobert to +draw near. + +While he wrote rapidly a few words in a firm hand, he said to the soldier +with a smile, in so low a tone that it was impossible for his daughters +to hear: "Do you know what I had almost resolved upon, before entering +this room?" + +"What, general?" + +"To blow my brains out. It is to my children that I owe my life." And +the marshal continued writing. + +Dagobert started at this communication, and then replied, also in a +whisper: "It would not have been with your pistols. I took off the +caps." + +The marshal turned round hastily, and looked at him with an air of +surprise. But the soldier only nodded his head affirmatively, and added: +"Thank heaven, we have now done with all those ideas!" + +The marshal's only answer was to glance at his children, his eyes +swimming with tenderness, and sparkling with delight; then, sealing the +note he had written, he gave it to the soldier, and said to him, "Give +that to M. Robert. I will see him to-morrow." + +Dagobert took the letter, and went out. Returning towards his daughters, +the marshal joyfully extended his arms to them, and said, "Now, young +ladies, two nice kisses for having sacrificed M. Robert to you. Have I +not earned them?" And Rose and Blanche threw themselves on their father's +neck. + +About the time that these events were taking place at Paris, two +travellers, wide apart from each other, exchanged mysterious thoughts +through the breadth of space. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, V10, by Eugene Sue + diff --git a/old/es10v10.zip b/old/es10v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e539364 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es10v10.zip diff --git a/old/es10v11.txt b/old/es10v11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d71640f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es10v11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5399 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew v10, by Eugene Sue +#10 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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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> +and Pat Castevens <patcat@ctnet.net> + + + + + +THE WANDERING JEW + +By Eugene Sue + + + + +BOOK X. + +XXXIII. Confessions +XXXIV. More Confessions +XXXV. The Rivals +XXXVI. The Interview +XXXVII. Soothing Words +XXXVIII. The Two Carriages +XXXIX. The Appointment +XL. Anxiety +XLI. Adrienne and Djalma +XLII. "The Imitation" +XLIII. Prayer +XLIV. Remembrances +XLV. The Blockhead +XLVI. The Anonymous Letters +XLVII. The Golden City +XLVIII. The Stung Lion +XLIX. The Test + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +CONFESSIONS. + +During the painful scene that we have just described, a lively emotion +glowed in the countenance of Mdlle. de Cardoville, grown pale and thin +with sorrow. Her cheeks, once so full, were now slightly hollowed, +whilst a faint line of transparent azure encircled those large black +eyes, no longer so bright as formerly. But the charming lips, though +contracted by painful anxiety, had retained their rich and velvet +moisture. To attend more easily to Mother Bunch, Adrienne had thrown +aside her bonnet, and the silky waves of her beautiful golden hair almost +concealed her face as she bent over the mattress, rubbing the thin, ivory +hands of the poor sempstress, completely called to life by the salubrious +freshness of the air, and by the strong action of the salts which +Adrienne carried in her smelling-bottle. Luckily, Mother Bunch had +fainted, rather from emotion and weakness than from the effects of +suffocation, the senses of the unfortunate girl having failed her before +the deleterious gas had attained its highest degree of intensity. + +Before continuing the recital of the scene between the sempstress and the +patrician, a few retrospective words will be necessary. Since the +strange adventure at the theatre of the Porte-Saint-Martin, where Djalma, +at peril of his life, rushed upon the black panther in sight of Mdlle. +de Cardoville, the young lady had been deeply affected in various ways. +Forgetting her jealousy, and the humiliation she had suffered in presence +of Djalma--of Djalma exhibiting himself before every one with a woman so +little worthy of him--Adrienne was for a moment dazzled by the chivalrous +and heroic action of the prince, and said to herself: "In spite of odious +appearances, Djalma loves me enough to brave death in order to pick up my +nosegay." + +But with a soul so delicate as that of this young lady, a character so +generous, and a mind so true, reflection was certain soon to demonstrate +the vanity of such consolations, powerless to cure the cruel wounds of +offended dignity an love. + +"How many times," said Adrienne to herself, and with reason, "has the +prince encountered, in hunting, from pure caprice and with no gain, such +danger as he braved in picking up my bouquet! and then, who tells me he +did not mean to offer it to the woman who accompanied him?" + +Singular (it may be) in the eyes of the world, but just and great in +those of heaven, the ideas which Adrienne cherished with regard to love, +joined to her natural pride, presented an invincible obstacle to the +thought of her succeeding this woman (whoever she might be), thus +publicly displayed by the prince as his mistress. And yet Adrienne +hardly dared avow to herself, that she experienced a feeling of jealousy, +only the more painful and humiliating, the less her rival appeared worthy +to be compared to her. + +At other times, on the contrary, in spite of a conscious sense of her own +value, Mdlle. de Cardoville, remembering the charming countenance of +Rose-Pompon, asked herself if the bad taste and improper manners of this +pretty creature resulted from precocious and depraved effrontery, or from +a complete ignorance of the usages of society. In the latter case, such +ignorance, arising from a simple and ingenuous nature, might in itself +have a great charm; and if to this attraction, combined with that of +incontestable beauty, were added sincere love and a pure soul, the +obscure birth, or neglected education of the girl might be of little +consequence, and she might be capable of inspiring Djalma with a profound +passion. If Adrienne hesitated to see a lost creature in Rose-Pompon, +notwithstanding unfavorable appearances, it was because, remembering what +so many travellers had related of Djalma's greatness of soul, and +recalling the conversation she had overheard between him and Rodin, she +could not bring herself to believe that a man of such remarkable +intelligence, with so tender a heart, so poetical, imaginative and +enthusiastic a mind could be capable of loving a depraved and vulgar +creature, and of openly exhibiting himself in public along with her. +There was a mystery in the transaction, which Adrienne sought in vain to +penetrate. These trying doubts, this cruel curiosity, only served to +nourish Adrienne's fatal love; and we may imagine her incurable despair, +when she found that the indifference, or even disdain of Djalma, was +unable to stifle a passion that now burned more fiercely than ever. +Sometimes, having recourse to notions of fatality, she fancied that she +was destined to feel this love; that Djalma must therefore deserve it, +and that one day whatever was incomprehensible in the conduct of the +prince would be explained to his advantage. At other times, on the +contrary, she felt ashamed of excusing Djalma, and the consciousness of +this weakness was for Adrienne a constant occasion for remorse and +torture. The victim of all these agonies, she lived in perfect solitude. + +The cholera soon broke out, startling as a clap of thunder. Too unhappy +to fear the pestilence on her own account, Adrienne was only moved by the +sorrows of others. She was amongst the first to contribute to those +charitable donations, which were now flowing in from all sides in the +admirable spirit of benevolence. Florine was suddenly attacked by the +epidemic. In spite of the danger, her mistress insisted on seeing her, +and endeavored to revive her failing courage. Conquered by this new mark +of kindness, Florine could no longer conceal the treachery in which she +had borne a part. Death was about to deliver her from the odious tyranny +of the people whose yoke weighed upon her, and she was at length in a +position to reveal everything to Adrienne. The latter thus learned how +she had been continually betrayed by Florine, and also the cause of the +sewing-girl's abrupt departure. At these revelations, Adrienne felt her +affection and tender pity for the poor sempstress greatly increase. By +her command, the most active steps were taken to discover traces of the +hunchback; but Florine's confession had a still more important result. +Justly alarmed at this new evidence of Rodin's machinations, Adrienne +remembered the projects formed, when, believing herself beloved, the +instinct of affection had revealed to her the perils to which Djalma and +other members of the Rennepont family were exposed. To assemble the race +around her, and bid them rally against the common enemy, such was +Adrienne's first thought, when she heard the confession of Florine. She +regarded it as a duty to accomplish this project. In a struggle with +such dangerous and powerful adversaries as Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and +the Princess de Saint-Dizier, and their allies, Adrienne saw not only the +praiseworthy and perilous task of unmasking hypocrisy and cupidity, but +also, if not a consolation, at least a generous diversion in the midst of +terrible sorrows. + +From this moment, a restless, feverish activity took the place of the +mournful apathy in which the young lady had languished. She called round +her all the members of her family capable of answering the appeal, and, +as had been mentioned in the secret note delivered to Father d'Aigrigny, +Cardoville House soon became the centre of the most active and unceasing +operations, and also a place of meeting, in which the modes of attack and +defence were fully discussed. Perfectly correct in all points, the +secret note of which we have spoken stated, as a mere conjecture, that +Mdlle. de Cardoville had granted an interview to Djalma. This fact was +untrue, but the cause which led to the supposition will be explained +hereafter. Far from such being the case, Mdlle. de Cardoville scarcely +found, in attending to the great family interests now at stake, a +momentary diversion from the fatal love, which was slowly undermining her +health, and with which she so bitterly reproached herself. + +The morning of the day on which Adrienne, at length discovering Mother +Bunch's residence, came so miraculously to rescue her from death, +Agricola Baudoin had been to Cardoville House to confer on the subject of +Francis Hardy, and had begged Adrienne to permit him to accompany her to +the Rue Clovis, whither they repaired in haste. + +Thus, once again, there was a noble spectacle, a touching symbol! Mdlle. +de Cardoville and Mother Bunch, the two extremities of the social chain, +were united on equal terms--for the sempstress and the fair patrician +were equal in intelligence and heart--and equal also, because the one was +the ideal of riches, grace, and beauty, and the other the ideal of +resignation and unmerited misfortune--and does not a halo rest on +misfortune borne with courage and dignity? Stretched on her mattress, +the hunchback appeared so weak, that even if Agricola had not been +detained on the ground floor with Cephyse, now dying a dreadful death, +Mdlle. de Cardoville would have waited some time, before inducing Mother +Bunch to rise and accompany her to her carriage. Thanks to the presence +of mind and pious fraud of Adrienne, the sewing-girl was persuaded that +Cephyse had been carried to a neighboring hospital, to receive the +necessary succors, which promised to be crowned with success. The +hunchback's faculties recovering slowly from their stupor, she at first +received this fable without the least suspicion--for she did not even +know that Agricola had accompanied Mdlle. de Cardoville. + +"And it is to you, lady, that Cephyse and I owe our lives," said she, +turning her mild and melancholy face towards Adrienne, "you, kneeling in +this garret, near this couch of misery, where I and my sister meant to +die--for you assure me, lady, that Cephyse was succored in time." + +"Be satisfied! I was told just now that she was recovering her senses." + +"And they told her I was living, did they not, lady? Otherwise, she +would perhaps regret having survived me." + +"Be quite easy, my dear girl!" said Adrienne, pressing the poor hands in +her own, and gazing on her with eyes full of tears; "they have told her +all that was proper. Do not trouble yourself about anything; only think +of recovering--and I hope you will yet enjoy that happiness of which you +have known so little, my poor child." + +"How kind you are, lady! After flying from your house--and when you must +think me so ungrateful!" + +"Presently, when you are not so weak, I have a great deal to tell you. +Just now, it would fatigue you too much. But how do you feel?" + +"Better, lady. This fresh air--and then the thought, that, since you are +come--my poor sister will no more be reduced to despair; for I will tell +you all, and I am sure you will have pity on Cephyse--will you not, lady?" + +"Rely upon me, my child, answered Adrienne, forced to dissemble her +painful embarrassment; "you know I am interested in all that interests +you. But tell me," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a voice of emotion, +"before taking this desperate resolution, did you not write to me?" + +"Yes, lady." + +"Alas!" resumed Adrienne, sorrowfully; "and when you received no answer-- +how cruel, how ungrateful you must have thought me!" + +"Oh! never, lady, did I accuse you of such feelings; my poor sister will +tell you so. You had my gratitude to the last." + +"I believe you--for I knew your heart. But how then did you explain my +silence?" + +"I had justly offended you by my sudden departure, lady." + +"Offended!--Alas! I never received your letter." + +"And yet you know that I wrote to you, lady." + +"Yes, my poor girl; I know, also, that you wrote to me at my porter's +lodge. Unfortunately, he delivered your letter to one of my women, named +Florine, telling her it came from you." + +"Florine! the young woman that was so kind to me!" + +"Florine deceived me shamefully; she was sold to my enemies, and acted as +a spy on my actions." + +"She!--Good Heavens!" cried Mother Bunch. "Is it possible?" + +"She herself," answered Adrienne, bitterly; "but, after all, we must pity +as well as blame her. She was forced to obey by a terrible necessity, +and her confession and repentance secured my pardon before her death." + +"Then she is dead--so young! so fair!" + +"In spite of her faults, I was greatly moved by her end. She confessed +what she had done, with such heart-rending regrets. Amongst her avowals, +she told me she had intercepted a letter, in which you asked for an +interview that might save your sister's life." + +"It is true, lady; such were the terms of my letter. What interest had +they to keep it from you?" + +"They feared to see you return to me, my good guardian angel. You loved +me so tenderly, and my enemies dreaded your faithful affection, so +wonderfully aided by the admirable instinct of your heart. Ah! I shall +never forget how well-deserved was the horror with which you were +inspired by a wretch whom I defended against your suspicions." + +"M. Rodin?" said Mother Bunch, with a shudder. + +"Yes," replied Adrienne; "but we will not talk of these people now. +Their odious remembrance would spoil the joy I feel in seeing you +restored to life--for your voice is less feeble, your cheeks are +beginning to regain a little color. Thank God! I am so happy to have +found you once more;--if you knew all that I hope, all that I expect from +our reunion--for we will not part again--promise me that, in the name of +our friendship." + +"I--your friend!" said Mother Bunch, timidly casting down her eyes. + +"A few days before your departure from my house, did I not call you my +friend, my sister? What is there changed? Nothing, nothing," added +Mdlle. de Cardoville, with deep emotion. "One might say, on the +contrary, that a fatal resemblance in our positions renders your +friendship even dearer to me. And I shall have it, shall I not. Oh, do +not refuse it me--I am so much in want of a friend!" + +"You, lady? you in want of the friendship of a poor creature like me?" + +"Yes," answered Adrienne, as she gazed on the other with an expression of +intense grief; "nay, more, you are perhaps the only person, to whom I +could venture to confide my bitter sorrows." So saying, Mdlle. de +Cardoville colored deeply. + +"And how do I deserve such marks of confidence?" asked Mother Bunch, more +and more surprised. + +"You deserve it by the delicacy of your heart, by the steadiness of your +character," answered Adrienne, with some hesitation; "then--you are a +woman--and I am certain you will understand what I suffer, and pity me." + +"Pity you, lady?" said the other, whose astonishment continued to +increase. "You, a great lady, and so much envied--I, so humble and +despised, pity you?" + +"Tell me, my poor friend," resumed Adrienne, after some moments of +silence, "are not the worst griefs those which we dare not avow to any +one, for fear of raillery and contempt? How can we venture to ask +interest or pity, for sufferings that we hardly dare avow to ourselves, +because they make us blush?" + +The sewing-girl could hardly believe what she heard. Had her +benefactress felt, like her, the effects of an unfortunate passion, she +could not have held any other language. But the sempstress could not +admit such a supposition; so, attributing to some other cause the sorrows +of Adrienne, she answered mournfully, whilst she thought of her own fatal +love for Agricola, "Oh! yes, lady. A secret grief, of which we are +ashamed, must be frightful--very frightful!" + +"But then what happiness to meet, not only a heart noble enough to +inspire complete confidence, but one which has itself been tried by a +thousand sorrows, and is capable of affording you pity, support and +counsel!--Tell me, my dear child," added Mdlle. de Cardoville, as she +looked attentively at Mother Bunch, "if you were weighed down by one of +those sorrows, at which one blushes, would you not be happy, very happy, +to find a kindred soul, to whom you might entrust your griefs, and half +relieve them by entire and merited confidence?" + +For the first time in her life, Mother Bunch regarded Mdlle. de +Cardoville with a feeling of suspicion and sadness. + +The last words of the young lady seemed to her full of meaning +"Doubtless, she knows my secret," said Mother Bunch to herself; +"doubtless, my journal has fallen into her hands.--She knows my love for +Agricola, or at least suspects it. What she has been saying to me is +intended to provoke my confidence, and to assure herself if she has been +rightly informed." + +These thoughts excited in the workgirl's mind no bitter or ungrateful +feeling towards her benefactress; but the heart of the unfortunate girl +was so delicately susceptible on the subject of her fatal passion, that, +in spite of her deep and tender affection for Mdlle. de Cardoville, she +suffered cruelly at the thought of Adrienne's being mistress of her +secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +MORE CONFESSIONS. + +The fancy, at first so painful, that Mdlle. de Cardoville was informed of +her love for Agricola was soon exchanged in the hunchbacks heart, thanks +to the generous instincts of that rare and excellent creature, for a +touching regret, which showed all her attachment and veneration for +Adrienne. + +"Perhaps," said Mother Bunch to herself, "conquered by the influence of +the adorable kindness of my protectress, I might have made to her a +confession which I could make to none other, and revealed a secret which +I thought to carry with me to my grave. It would, at least, have been a +mark of gratitude to Mdlle. de Cardoville; but, unfortunately, I am now +deprived of the sad comfort of confiding my only secret to my +benefactress. And then--however generous may be her pity for me, however +intelligent her affection, she cannot--she, that is so fair and so much +admired--she cannot understand how frightful is the position of a +creature like myself, hiding in the depth of a wounded heart, a love at +once hopeless and ridiculous. No, no--in spite of the delicacy of her +attachment, my benefactress must unconsciously hurt my feelings, even +whilst she pities me--for only sympathetic sorrows can console each +other. Alas! why did she not leave me to die?" + +These reflections presented themselves to the thinker's mind as rapidly +as thought could travel. Adrienne observed her attentively; she remarked +that the sewing-girl's countenance, which had lately brightened up, was +again clouded, and expressed a feeling of painful humiliation. Terrified +at this relapse into gloomy dejection, the consequences of which might be +serious, for Mother Bunch was still very weak, and, as it were, hovering +on the brink of the grave, Mdlle. de Cardoville resumed hastily: "My +friend, do not you think with me, that the most cruel and humiliating +grief admits of consolation, when it can be entrusted to a faithful and +devoted heart?" + +"Yes, lady," said the young sempstress, bitterly; "but the heart which +suffers in silence, should be the only judge of the moment for making so +painful a confession. Until then, it would perhaps be more humane to +respect its fatal secret, even if one had by chance discovered it." + +"You are right, my child," said Adrienne, sorrowfully, "if I choose this +solemn moment to entrust you with a very painful secret, it is that, when +you have heard me, I am sure you will set more value on your life, as +knowing how much I need your tenderness, consolation, and pity." + +At these words, the other half raised herself on the mattress, and looked +at Mdlle. de Cardoville in amazement. She could scarcely believe what +she heard; far from designing to intrude upon her confidence, it was her +protectress who was to make the painful confession, and who came to +implore pity and consolation from her! + +"What!" stammered she; "you, lady!" + +"I come to tell you that I suffer, and am ashamed of my sufferings. +Yes," added the young lady, with a touching expression, "yes--of all +confessions, I am about to make the most painful--I love--and I blush for +my love." + +"Like myself!" cried Mother Bunch, involuntarily, clasping her hands +together. + +"I love," resumed Adrienne, with a long-pent-up grief; "I love, and am +not beloved--and my love is miserable, is impossible--it consumes me--it +kills me--and I dare not confide to any one the fatal secret!" + +"Like me," repeated the other, with a fixed look. "She--a queen in +beauty, rank, wealth, intelligence--suffers like me. Like me, poor +unfortunate creature! she loves, and is not loved again." + +"Well, yes! like you, I love and am not loved again," cried Mdlle. de +Cardoville; "was I wrong in saying, that to you alone I could confide my +secret--because, having suffered the same pangs, you alone can pity +them?" + +"Then, lady," said Mother Bunch, casting down her eyes, and recovering +from her first amazement, "you knew--" + +"I knew all, my poor child--but never should I have mentioned your +secret, had I not had one to entrust you with, of a still more painful +nature. Yours is cruel, but mine is humiliating. Oh, my sister!" added +Mdlle. de Cardoville, in a tone impossible to describe, "misfortune, you, +see, blends and confounds together what are called distinctions of rank +and fortune--and often those whom the world envies are reduced by +suffering far below the poorest and most humble, and have to seek from +the latter pity and consolation." + +Then, drying her tears, which nosy flowed abundantly, Mdlle. de +Cardoville resumed, in a voice of emotion: "Come, sister! courage, +courage! let us love and sustain each other. Let this sad and mysterious +bond unite us forever." + +"Oh, lady! forgive me. But now that you know the secret of my life," +said the workgirl, casting down her eyes, and unable to vanquish her +confusion, "it seems to me, that I can never look at you without +blushing." + +"And why? because you love Agricola?" said Adrienne. "Then I must die of +shame before you, since, less courageous than you, I had not the strength +to suffer and be resigned, and so conceal my love in the depths of my +heart. He that I love, with a love henceforth deprived of hope, knew of +that love and despised it--preferring to me a woman, the very choice of +whom was a new and grievous insult, if I am not much deceived by +appearances. I sometimes hope that I am deceived on this point. Now +tell me--is it for you to blush?" + +"Alas, lady! who could tell you all this?" + +"Which you only entrusted to your journal? Well, then--it was the dying +Florine who confessed her misdeeds. She had been base enough to steal +your papers, forced to this odious act, by the people who had dominion +over her. But she had read your journal--and as every good feeling was +not dead within her, your admirable resignation, your melancholy and +pious love, had left such an impression on her mind, that she was able to +repeat whole passages to me on her death bed, and thus to explain the +cause of your sudden disappearance--for she had no doubt that the fear of +seeing your love for Agricola divulged had been the cause of your +flight." + +"Alas! it is but too true, lady." + +"Oh, yes!" answered Adrienne, bitterly; "those who employed the wretched +girl to act as she did, well knew the effect of the blow. It was not +their first attempt. They reduced you to despair, they would have killed +you, because you were devoted to me, and because you had guessed their +intentions. Oh! these black-gowns are implacable, and their power is +great!" said Adrienne, shuddering. + +"It is fearful, lady." + +"But do not be alarmed, dear child; you see, that the arms of the wicked +have turned against themselves; for the moment I knew the cause of your +flight, you became dearer to me than ever. From that time I made every +exertion to find out where you were; after long efforts, it was only this +morning that the person I had employed succeeded in discovering that you +inhabited this house. Agricola was with me when I heard it, and +instantly asked to accompany me." + +"Agricola!" said Mother Bunch, clasping her hands; "he came--" + +"Yes, my child--be calm. Whilst I attended to you, he was busy with your +poor sister. You will soon see him." + +"Alas, lady!" resumed the hunchback, in alarm. "He doubtless knows--" + +"Your love! No, no; be satisfied. Only think of the happiness of again +seeing your good and worthy brother." + +"Ah, lady! may he never know what caused me so much shame, that I was +like to die of it. Thank God, he is not aware of it!" + +"Then let us have no more sad thoughts, my child. Only remember, that +this worthy brother came here in time to save us from everlasting +regrets--and you from a great fault. Oh! I do not speak of the +prejudices of the world, with regard to the right of every creature to +return to heaven a life that has become too burdensome!--I only say that +you ought not to have died, because those who love you, and whom you +love, were still in need of your assistance." + +"I thought you happy; Agricola was married to the girl of his choice, who +will, I am sure, make him happy. To whom could I be useful?" + +"First, to myself, as you see--and then, who tells you that Agricola will +never have need of you? Who tells you, that his happiness, or that of +his family, will last forever, and will not be tried by cruel shocks? +And even if those you love had been destined to be always happy, could +their happiness be complete without you? And would not your death, with +which they would perhaps have reproached themselves, have left behind it +endless regrets?" + +"It is true, lady," answered the other, "I was wrong--the dizziness of +despair had seized me--frightful misery weighed upon us--we had not been +able to find work for some days--we lived on the charity of a poor woman, +and her the cholera carried off. To-morrow or next day, we must have +died of hunger." + +"Die of hunger!--and you knew where I lived!" + +"I had written to you, lady, and receiving no answer, I thought you +offended at my abrupt departure." + +"Poor, dear child! you must have been, as you say, seized with dizziness +in that terrible moment; so that I have not the courage to reproach you +for doubting me a single instant. How can I blame you? Did I not myself +think of terminating my life?" + +"You, lady!" cried the hunchback. + +"Yes, I thought of it--when they came to tell me, that Florine, dying, +wished to speak to me. I heard what she had to say; her revelations +changed my projects. This dark and mournful life which had become +insupportable to me, was suddenly lighted up. The sense of duty woke +within me. You were no doubt a prey to horrible misery; it was my duty +to seek and save you. Florine's confessions unveiled to me the new plots +of the enemies of my scattered family, dispersed by sorrows and cruel +losses; it was my duty to warn them of their danger, and to unite them +against the common enemy. I had been the victim of odious manoeuvres: it +was my duty to punish their authors, for fear that, encouraged by +impunity, these black-gowns should make other victims. Then the sense of +duty gave me strength, and I was able to rouse myself from my lethargy. +With the help of Abbe Gabriel, a sublime, oh! a sublime priest--the ideal +of a true Christian--the worthy brother of Agricola--I courageously +entered on the struggle. What shall I say to you, my child? The +performance of these duties, the hope of finding you again, have been +some relief to me in my trouble. If I was not consoled, I was at least +occupied. Your tender friendship, the example of your resignation, will +do the rest--I think so--I am sure so--and I shall forget this fatal +love." + +At the moment Adrienne pronounced these words, rapid footsteps were heard +upon the stairs, and a young, clear voice exclaimed: "Oh! dear me, poor +Mother Bunch! How lucky I have come just now! If only I could be of some +use to her!" + +Almost immediately, Rose-Pompon entered the garret with precipitation. +Agricola soon followed the grisette, and pointing to the open window, +tried to make Adrienne understand by signs, that she was not to mention +to the girl the deplorable end of the Bacchanal Queen. This pantomime +was lost on Mdlle. de Cardoville. Adrienne's heart swelled with grief, +indignation, pride, as she recognized the girl she had seen at the Porte- +Saint-Martin in company with Djalma, and who alone was the cause of the +dreadful sufferings she endured since that fatal evening. And, strange +irony of fate! it was at the very moment when Adrienne had just made the +humiliating and cruel confession of her despised love, that the woman, to +whom she believed herself sacrificed, appeared before her. + +If the surprise of Mdlle. de Cardoville was great, Rose-Pompon's was not +less so. Not only did she recognize in Adrienne the fair young lady with +the golden locks, who had sat opposite to her at the theatre, on the +night of the adventure of the black panther, but she had serious reasons +for desiring most ardently this unexpected interview. It is impossible +to paint the look of malignant joy and triumph, that she affected to cast +upon Adrienne. The first impulse of Mdlle. de Cardoville was to quit the +room. But she could not bear to leave Mother Bunch at this moment, or to +give, in the presence of Agricola, her reasons for such an abrupt +departure, and moreover, an inexplicable and fatal curiosity held her +back, in spite of her offended pride. She remained, therefore, and was +about to examine closely, to hear and to judge, this rival, who had +nearly occasioned her death, to whom, in her jealous agony, she had +ascribed so many different aspects, in order to explain Djalma's love for +such a creature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE RIVALS. + +Rose-Pompon, whose presence caused such deep emotion in Mdlle. de +Cardoville, was dressed in the most showy and extravagant bad taste. Her +very small, narrow, rose-colored satin bonnet, placed so forward over her +face as almost to touch the tip of her little nose, left uncovered behind +half of her light, silky hair; her plaid dress, of an excessively broad +pattern, was open in front, and the almost transparent gauze, rather too +honest in its revelations, hardly covered the charms of the form beneath. + +The grisette having run all the way upstairs, held in her hands the ends +of her large blue shawl, which, falling from her shoulders, had slid down +to her wasp-like waist, and there been stopped by the swell of the +figure. If we enter into these details, it is to explain how, at the +sight of this pretty creature, dressed in so impertinent and almost +indecent, a fashion, Mdlle. de Cardoville, who thought she saw in her a +successful rival, felt her indignation, grief, and shame redoubled. + +But judge of the surprise and confusion of Adrienne, when Mdlle. Rose- +Pompon said to her, with the utmost freedom and pertness, "I am delighted +to see you, madame. You and I must have a long talk together. Only I +must begin by kissing poor Mother Bunch--with your permission, madame!" + +To understand the tone and manner with which this word, "madame" was +pronounced, you must have been present at some stormy discussion between +two Rose-Pompons, jealous of each other; then you would be able to judge +how much provoking hostility may be compressed into the word "madame," +under certain circumstances. Amazed at the impudence of Rose-Pompon, +Mdlle. de Cardoville remained mute; whilst Agricola, entirely occupied +with the interest he took in the workgirl, who had never withdrawn her +eyes from him since he entered the room, and with the remembrance of the +painful scene he had just quitted, whispered to Adrienne, without +remarking the grisette's effrontery, "Alas, lady! it is all over. +Cephyse has just breathed her last sigh, without recovering her senses." + +"Unfortunate girl!" said Adrienne, with emotion; and for the moment she +forgot Rose-Pompon. + +"We must keep this sad news from Mother Bunch, and only let her know it +hereafter, with great caution," resumed Agricola. "Luckily, little Rose- +Pompon knows nothing about it." + +And he pointed to the grisette, who was now stooping down by the side of +the workgirl. On hearing Agricola speak so familiarly of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne's amazement increased. It is impossible to describe what she +felt; yet, strangely enough, her sufferings grew less and less, and her +anxiety diminished, as she listened to the chatter of the grisette. + +"Oh, my good dear!" said the latter, with as much volubility as emotion, +while her pretty blue eyes were filled with tears; "is it possible that +you did so stupid a thing? Do not poor people help one another? Could +you not apply to me? You knew that others are welcome to whatever is +mine, and I would have made a raffle of Philemon's bazaar," added this +singular girl, with a burst of feeling, at once sincere, touching, and +grotesque; "I would have sold his three boots, pipes, boating-costume, +bed, and even his great drinking-glass, and at all events you should not +have been brought to such an ugly pass. Philemon would not have minded, +for he is a good fellow; and if he had minded, it would have been all the +same. Thank heaven! we are not married. I am only wishing to remind you +that you should have thought of little Rose-Pompon." + +"I know you are obliging and kind, miss," said Mother Bunch: for she had +heard from her sister that Rose-Pompon, like so many of her class, had a +warm and generous heart. + +"After all," resumed the grisette, wiping with the back of her hand the +tip of her little nose, down which a tear was trickling, "you may tell me +that you did not know where I had taken up my quarters. It's a queer +story, I can tell you. When I say queer," added Rose-Pompon, with a deep +sigh, "it is quite the contrary--but no matter: I need not trouble you +with that. One thing is certain; you are getting better--and you and +Cephyse will not do such a thing again. She is said to be very weak. +Can I not see her yet, M. Agricola? + +"No," said the smith, with embarrassment, for Mother Bunch kept her eyes +fixed upon him; "you must have patience." + +"But I may see her to-day, Agricola?" exclaimed the hunchback. + +"We will talk about that. Only be calm, I entreat." + +"Agricola is right; you must be reasonable, my good dear," resumed Rose- +Pompon; "we will wait patiently. I can wait too, for I have to talk +presently to this lady;" and Rose-Pompon glanced at Adrienne with the +expression of an angry cat. "Yes, yes; I can wait; for I long to tell +Cephyse also that she may reckon upon me." Here Rose-Pompon bridled up +very prettily, and thus continued, "Do not be uneasy! It is the least one +can do, when one is in a good position, to share the advantages with +one's friends, who are not so well off. It would be a fine thing to keep +one's happiness to one's self! to stuff it with straw, and put it under a +glass, and let no one touch it! When I talk of happiness, it's only to +make talk; it is true in one sense; but to another, you see, my good +dear--Bah! I am only seventeen--but no matter--I might go on talking till +tomorrow, and you would not be any the wiser. So let me kiss you once +more, and don't be down-hearted--nor Cephyse either, do you hear? for I +shall be close at hand." + +And, stooping still lower, Rose-Pompon cordially embraced Mother Bunch. +It is impossible to express what Mdlle. de Cardoville felt during this +conversation, or rather during this monologue of the grisette on the +subject of the attempted suicide. The eccentric jargon of Mdlle. Rose- +Pompon, her liberal facility in disposing of Philemon's bazaar, to the +owner of which (as she said) she was luckily not married--the goodness of +her heart, which revealed itself in her offers of service--her contrasts, +her impertinence, her drollery--all this was so new and inexplicable to +Mdlle. de Cardoville, that she remained for some time mute and motionless +with surprise. Such, then, was the creature to whom Djalma had +sacrificed her! + +If Adrienne's first impression at sight of Rose-Pompon had been horribly +painful, reflection soon awakened doubts, which were to become shortly +ineffable hopes. Remembering the interview she had overheard between +Rodin and Djalma, when, concealed in the conservatory, she had wished to +prove the Jesuit's fidelity, Adrienne, asked herself if it was +reasonable, if it was possible to believe, that the prince, whose ideas +of love seemed to be so poetical, so elevated, so pure, could find any +charm in the disjointed and silly chat of this young girl? Adrienne +could not hesitate; she pronounced the thing impossible, from the moment +she had seen her rival near, and witnessed her style both of manners and +conversation, which, without detracting from the prettiness of her +features, gave them a trivial and not very attractive character. +Adrienne's doubts with regard to the deep love of the prince for Rose- +Pompon were hence soon changed to complete incredulity. Endowed with too +much sense and penetration, not to perceive that this apparent +connection, so inconceivable on the part of Djalma, must conceal some +mystery, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt her hopes revive. As this consoling +thought arose in her mind, her heart, until now so painfully oppressed, +began once more to dilate; she felt vague aspirations towards a better +future; and yet, cruelly warned by the past, she feared to yield too +readily to a mere illusion, for she remembered the notorious fact that +the prince had really appeared in public with this girl. But now that +Mdlle. de Cardoville could fully appreciate what she was, she found the +conduct of the prince only the more incomprehensible. And how can we +judge soundly and surely of that which is enveloped in mystery? And then +a secret presentiment told her, that it would, perhaps, be beside the +couch of the poor sempstress, whom she had just saved from death, that, +by a providential coincidence, she would learn the secret on which +depended the happiness of her life. + +The emotions which agitated she heart of Adrienne, became so violent, +that her fine face was flushed with a bright red, her bosom heaved, and +her large, black eyes, lately dimmed by sadness, once more shone with a +mild radiance. She waited with inexpressible impatience for what was to +follow. In the interview, with which Rose-Pompon had threatened her, and +which a few minutes before Adrienne would have declined with all the +dignity of legitimate indignation, she now hoped to find the explanation +of a mystery, which it was of such importance for her to clear up. After +once more tenderly embracing Mother Bunch, Rose-Pompon got up from the +ground, and, turning towards Adrienne, eyed her from head to foot, with +the utmost coolness, and said to her, in a somewhat impertinent tone: "It +is now our turn, madame"--the word "madame" still pronounced with the +accent before described--"we have a little matter to settle together." + +"I am at your order," answered Adrienne, with much mildness and +simplicity. + +At sight of the triumphant and decisive air of Rose-Pompon, and on +hearing her challenge to Mdlle. de Cardoville, the worthy Agricola, after +exchanging a few words with Mother Bunch, opened his eyes and ears very +wide, and remained staring in amazement at the effrontery of the +grisette; then, advancing towards her, he whispered, as he plucked her by +the sleeve: "I say, are you mad? Do you know to whom you speak?" + +"Well! what then? Is not one pretty woman worth another! I say that for +the lady. She will not eat me, I suppose," replied Rose-Pompon, aloud, +and with an air of defiance. "I have to talk with madame, here. I am +sure, she knows why and wherefore. If not, I will tell her; it will not +take me long." + +Adrienne, who feared some ridiculous exposure on the subject of Djalma, +in the presence of Agricola, made a sign to the latter, and thus answered +the grisette: "I am ready to hear you, miss, but not in this place. You +will understand why." + +"Very well, madame, I have my key. You can come to any apartments"--the +last word pronounced with an air of ostentatious importance. + +"Let us go then to your apartments, miss since you to me the honor to +receive me there," answered Mdlle. de Cardoville, in her mild, sweet +voice, and with a slight inclination of the head, so full of exquisite +politeness, that Rose-Pompon was daunted, notwithstanding all her +effrontery. + +"What, lady!" said Agricola to Adrienne; "you are good enough--" + +"M. Agricola," said Mdlle. de Cardoville, interrupting him, "please to +remain with our poor friend: I shall soon be back." + +Then, approaching Mother Bunch, who shared in Agricola's astonishment she +said to her: "Excuse me for leaving you a few seconds. Only regain a +little strength, and, when I return, I will take you home with me, dear +sister." + +Then, turning towards Rose-Pompon, who was more and more surprised at +hearing so fine a lady call the workgirl her sister, she added: "I am +ready whenever you please, mademoiselle." + +"Beg pardon, madame, if I go first to show you the way, but it's a +regular break-neck sort of a place," answered Rose-Pompon, pressing her +elbows to her sides, and screwing up her lips to prove that she was no +stranger to polite manners and fine language. And the two rivals quitted +the garret together, leaving Agricola alone with Mother Bunch. + +Luckily, the disfigured remains of the Bacchanal Queen had been carried +into Mother Arsene's subterraneous shop, so that the crowd of spectators, +always attracted by any fatal event, had assembled in front of the house; +and Rose-Pompon, meeting no one in the little court she had to traverse +with Adrienne, continued in ignorance of the tragical death of her old +friend Cephyse. In a few moments the grisette and Mdlle. de Cardoville +had reached Philemon's apartment. This singular abode remained in the +same state of picturesque disorder in which Rose-Pompon had left it, when +Ninny Moulin came to fetch her to act the heroine of a mysterious +adventure. + +Adrienne, completely ignorant of the eccentric modes of life of students +and their companions, could not, in spite of the thoughts which occupied +her mind, forebear examining, with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, +this strange and grotesque chaos, composed of the most dissimilar +objects--disguises for masked balls, skulls with pipes in their mouths, +odd boots standing on book shelves, monstrous bottles, women's clothes, +ends of tobacco pipes, etc., etc. To the first astonishment of Adrienne +succeeded an impression of painful repugnance. The young lady felt +herself uneasy and out of place in this abode, not of poverty, but +disorder; whilst, on the contrary, the sewing-girl's miserable garret had +caused her no such feeling. + +Rose-Pompon, notwithstanding all her airs, was considerably troubled when +she found herself alone with Mdlle, de Cardoville; the rare beauty of the +young patrician, her fashionable look, the elegance of her manners, the +style, both dignified and affable, with which she had answered the +impertinent address of the grisette, began to have their effect upon the +latter, who, being moreover a good-natured girl, had been touched at +hearing Mdlle. de Cardoville call the hunchback "friend and sister." +Without knowing exactly who Adrienne was, Rose-Pompon was not ignorant +that she belonged to the richest and highest class of society; she felt +already some remorse at having attacked her so cavalierly; and her +intentions, at first very hostile with regard to Mdlle. de Cardoville, +were gradually much modified. Yet, being very obstinate, and not wishing +to appear to submit to an influence that offended her pride, Rose-Pompon +endeavored to recover her assurance; and, having bolted the door, she +said to Adrienne: "Pray do me the favor to sit down, madame"--still with +the intention of showing that she was no stranger to refined manners and +conversation. + +Mdlle. de Cardoville was about mechanically to take a chair, when Rose- +Pompon, worthy to practise those ancient virtues of hospitality, which +regarded even an enemy as sacred in the person of a guest, cried out +hastily: "Don't take that chair, madame; it wants a leg." + +Adrienne laid her hand on another chair. + +"Nor that either; the back is quite loose," again exclaimed Rose-Pompon. +And she spoke the truth; for the chair-back, which was made in the form +of a lyre, remained in the hands of Mdlle. de Cardoville, who said, as +she replaced it discreetly in its former position: "I think, miss, that +we can very well talk standing." + +"As you please, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, steadying herself the more +bravely the more uneasy she felt. And the interview of the lady and the +grisette began in this fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE INTERVIEW. + +After a minute's hesitation, Rose-Pompon said to Adrienne, whose heart +was beating violently: "I will tell you directly, madame, what I have on +my mind. I should not have gone out of my way to seek you, but, as I +happen to fall in with you, it is very natural I should take advantage of +it." + +"But, miss," said Adrienne, mildly, "may I at least know the subject of +the conversation we are to have together?" + +"Yes, madame," replied Rose-Pompon, affecting an air of still more +decided confidence; "first of all, you must not suppose I am unhappy, or +going to make a scene of jealousy, or cry like a forsaken damsel. Do not +flatter yourself! Thank heaven, I have no reason to complain of Prince +Charming--that is the pet name I gave him--on the contrary, he has made +me very happy. If I left him, it was against his will, and because I +chose." + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, whose heart was swelling in spite of her fine +airs, could not repress a sigh. + +"Yes, madame," she resumed, "I left him because I chose--for he quite +doted on me. If I had liked, he would have married me--yes, madame, +married me--so much the worse, if that gives you pain. Though, when I +say 'so much the worse,' it is true that I meant to pain you. To be sure +I did--but then, just now when I saw you so kind to poor Mother Bunch, +though I was certainly in the right, still I felt something. However, to +cut matters short, it is clear that I detest you, and that you deserve +it," added Rose-Pompon, stamping her foot. + +From all this it resulted, even for a person much less sagacious than +Adrienne, and much less interested in discovering the truth, that Rose- +Pompon, notwithstanding her triumphant airs in speaking of him whom she +represented as so much attached to her, and even anxious to wed her, was +in reality completely disappointed, and was now taking refuge in a +deliberate falsehood. It was evident that she was not loved, and that +nothing but violent jealousy had induced her to desire this interview +with Mdlle. de Cardoville, in order to make what is vulgarly called a +scene, considering Adrienne (the reason will be explained presently) as +her successful rival. But Rose-Pompon, having recovered her good-nature, +found it very difficult to continue the scene in question, particularly +as, for many reasons, she felt overawed by Adrienne. + +Though she had expected, if not the singular speech of the grisette, at +least something of the same result--for she felt it was impossible that +the prince could entertain a serious attachment for this girl--Mdlle. de +Cardoville was at first delighted to hear the confirmation of her hopes +from the lips of her rival; but suddenly these hopes were succeeded by a +cruel apprehension, which we will endeavor to explain. What Adrienne had +just heard ought to have satisfied her completely. Sure that the heart +of Djalma had never ceased to belong to her, she ought, according to the +customs and opinions of the world, to have cared little if, in the +effervescence of an ardent youth, he had chanced to yield to some +ephemeral caprice for this creature, who was, after all, very pretty and +desirable--the more especially as he had now repaired his error by +separating from her. + +Notwithstanding these good reasons, such an error of the senses would not +have been pardoned by Adrienne. She did not understand that complete +separation of the body and soul that would make the one exempt from the +stains of the other. She did not think it a matter of indifference to +toy with one woman whilst you were thinking of another. Her young, +chaste, passionate love demanded an absolute fealty--a fealty as just in +the eyes of heaven and nature as it may be ridiculous and foolish in the +eyes of man. For the very reason that she cherished a refined religion +of the senses, and revered them as an adorable and divine manifestation, +Adrienne had all sorts of delicate scruples and nice repugnances, unknown +to the austere spirituality of those ascetic prudes who despise vile +matter too much to take notice of its errors, and allow it to grovel in +filth, to show the contempt in which they hold it. Mdlle. de Cardoville +was not one of those wonderfully modest creatures who would die of +confusion rather than say plainly that they wished for a young and +handsome husband, at once ardent and pure. It is true that they +generally marry old, ugly, and corrupted men, and make up for it by +taking two or three lovers six months after. But Adrienne felt +instinctively how much of virginal and celestial freshness there is in +the equal innocence of two loving and passionate beings--what guarantees +for the future in the remembrance which a man preserves of his first +love! + +We say, then, that Adrienne was only half-satisfied, though convinced by +the vexation of Rose-Pompon that Djalma had never entertained a serious +attachment for the grisette. + +"And why do you detest me, miss?" said Adrienne mildly, when Rose-Pompon +had finished her speech. + +"Oh! bless me, madame!" replied the latter, forgetting altogether her +assumption of triumph, and yielding to the natural sincerity of her +character; "pretend that you don't know why I detest you!--Oh, yes! +people go and pick bouquets from the jaws of a panther for people that +they care nothing about, don't they? And if it was only that!" added +Rose-Pompon, who was gradually getting animated, and whose pretty face, +at first contracted into a sullen pout, now assumed an expression of real +and yet half-comic sorrow. + +"And if it was only the nosegay!" resumed she. "Though it gave me a +dreadful turn to see Prince Charming leap like a kid upon the stage, I +might have said to myself: 'Pooh! these Indians have their own way of +showing politeness. Here, a lady drops her nosegay, and a gentleman +picks it up and gives it to her; but in India it is quite another thing; +the man picks up the nosegay, and does not return it to the woman--he +only kills a panther before her eyes.' Those are good manners in that +country, I suppose; but what cannot be good manners anywhere is to treat +a woman as I have been treated. And all thanks to you, madame!" + +These complaints of Rose-Pompon, at once bitter and laughable, did not at +all agree with what she had previously stated as to Djalma's passionate +love for her; but Adrienne took care not to point out this contradiction, +and said to her, mildly: "You must be mistaken, miss, when you suppose +that I had anything to do with your troubles. But, in any case, I regret +sincerely that you should have been ill-treated by any one." + +"If you think I have been beaten, you are quite wrong," exclaimed Rose- +Pompon. "Ah! well, I am sure! No, it is not that. But I am certain +that, had it not been for you, Prince Charming would have got to love me +a little. I am worthy of the trouble, after all--and then there are +different sorts of love--I am not so very particular--not even so much as +that," added Rose-Pompon, snapping her fingers. + +"Ah!" she continued, "when Ninny Moulin came to fetch me, and brought me +jewels and laces to persuade me to go with him, he was quite right in +saying there was no harm in his offers." + +"Ninny Moulin?" asked Mdlle. de Cardoville, becoming more and more +interested; "who is this Ninny Moulin, miss?" + +"A religious writer," answered Rose-Pompon, pouting; "the right-hand man +of a lot of old sacristans, whose money he takes on pretense of writing +about morality and religion. A fine morality it is!" + +At these words--"a religious writer"--"sacristans" Adrienne instantly +divined some new plot of Rodin or Father d'Aigrigny, of which she and +Djalma were to have been the victims. She began vaguely to perceive the +real state of the case, as she resumed: "But, miss, under what pretence +could this man take you away with him?" + +"He came to fetch me, and said I need not fear for my virtue, and was +only to make myself look pretty. So I said to myself: 'Philemon's out of +town, and it's very dull here all alone: This seems a droll affair; what +can I risk by it?'--Alas! I didn't know what I risked," added Rose- +Pompon, with a sigh. "Well! Ninny Moulin takes me away in a fine +carriage. We stop in the Place du Palais-Royal. A sullen-looking man, +with a yellow face, gets up in the room of Ninny Moulin, and takes me to +the house of Prince Charming. When I saw him--la! he was so handsome, so +very handsome, that I was quite dizzy-like; and he had such a kind, noble +air, that I said to myself, 'Well! there will be some credit if I remain +a good girl now!'--I did not know what a true word I was speaking. I +have been good--oh! worse than good." + +"What, miss! do you regret having been so virtuous?" + +"Why, you see, I regret, at least, that I have not had the pleasure of +refusing. But how can you refuse, when nothing is asked--when you are +not even thought worth one little loving word?" + +"But, miss, allow me to observe to you that the indifference of which you +complain does not see to have prevented your making a long stay in the +house in question." + +"How should I know why the prince kept me there, or took me out riding +with him, or to the play? Perhaps it is the fashion in his savage +country to have a pretty girl by your side, and to pay no attention to +her at all!" + +"But why, then, did you remain, miss?" + +"Why did I remain?" said Rose-Pompon, stamping her loot with vexation. +"I remained because, without knowing how it happened, I began to get very +fond of Prince Charming; and what is queer enough, I, who am as gay as a +lark, loved him because he was so sorrowful, which shows that it was a +serious matter. At last, one day, I could hold out no longer. I said: +'Never mind; I don't care for the consequences. Philemon, I am sure, is +having his fun in the country.' That set my mind at ease. So one +morning, I dress myself in my best, all very pretty, look in my glass, +and say: 'Well, that will do--he can't stand that! and, going to his +room, I tell him all that passes through my head; I laugh, I cry--at last +I tell him that I adore him. What do you think he answers, in his mild +voice, and as cold as a piece of marble? Why, 'Poor child--poor child-- +poor child!'" added Rose-Pompon, with indignation; "neither more nor less +than if I had come to complain to him of the toothache. But the worst of +it is that I am sure, if he were not in love elsewhere, he would be all +fire and gunpowder. Only now he is so sad, so dejected!" + +Then, pausing a moment, Rose-Pompon added: "No, I will not tell you that; +you would be too pleased." But, after another pause, she continued: +"Well, never mind; I will tell you, though"; and this singular girl +looked at Mdlle. de Cardoville with a mixture of sympathy and deference. +"Why should I keep it from you? I began by riding the high horse, and +saying that the prince wished to marry me; and I finished by confessing +that he almost turned me out. Well, it's not my fault; when I try to +fib, I am sure to get confused. So, madame, this is the plain truth:-- +When I met you at poor Mother Bunch's, I was at first as angry as a +little turkey-cock; but when I heard you, that are such a fine great +lady, speak so kindly to the poor girl, and treat her as your sister, do +what I would, my anger began to go away. Since we have been here, I have +done my utmost to get it up again; but I find it impossible, and the more +I see the difference between us, the more I perceive that Prince Charming +was right in thinking so much of you. For you must know, madame, that he +is over head and ears in love with you. I don't say so merely because he +killed the panther for you at the Porte-Saint-Martin; but if you knew all +the tricks he played with your bouquet, and how he will sit up all night +weeping in that room where he saw you for the first time--and then your +portrait, that he has drawn upon glass, after the fashion of his country, +and so many other things--the fact is, that I, who was fond of him, and +saw all this was at first in a great rage; but afterwards it was so +touching that it brought the tears into my eyes. Yes, madame, just as it +does now, when I merely think of the poor prince. Oh, madame!" added +Rose-Pompon, her eyes swimming in tears, and with such an expression of +sincere interest, that Adrienne was much moved by it; "oh, madame, you +look so mild and good, that you will not make this poor prince miserable. +Pray love him a little bit; what can it matter to you?" + +So saying, Rose-Pompon, with a perfectly simple, though too familiar, +gesture, took hold of Adrienne's hand, as if to enforce her request. It +had required great self-command in Mdlle. de Cardoville to repress the +rush of joy that was mounting from her heart to her lips, to check the +torrent of questions which she burned to address to Rose-Pompon, and to +restrain the sweet tears of happiness that for some seconds had trembled +in her eyes; and, strangely enough, when Rose-Pompon took her hand, +Adrienne, instead of withdrawing it, pressed the offered hand almost +affectionately, and led her towards the window, as if to examine her +sweet face more attentively. + +On entering the room, the grisette had thrown her bonnet and shawl down +upon the bed, so that Adrienne could admire the thick and silky masses of +light hair that crowned the fresh face of the charming girl, with its +firm, rosy cheeks, its mouth as red as a cherry, and its large blue +laughing eyes; and, thanks to the somewhat scanty dress of Rose-Pompon, +Adrienne could fully appreciate the various graces of her nymph-like +figure. Strange as it may appear, Adrienne was delighted at finding the +girl still prettier than she had at first imagined. The stoical +indifference of Djalma to so attractive a creature was the best proof of +the sincerity of the passion by which he was actuated. + +Having taken the hand of Adrienne, Rose-Pompon was herself confused and +surprised at the kindness with which Mdlle. de Cardoville permitted this +familiarity. Emboldened by this indulgence, and by the silence of +Adrienne, who for some moments had been contemplating her with almost +grateful benevolence, the grisette resumed: "Oh, you will not refuse, +madame? You will take pity on this poor prince?" + +We cannot tell how Adrienne would have answered this indiscreet question +of Rose-Pompon, for suddenly a loud, wild, shrill, piercing sound, +evidently intended to imitate the crowing of a cock, was heard close to +the door of the room. + +Adrienne started in alarm; but the countenance of Rose Pompon, just now +so sad, brightened up joyously at this signal, and, clapping her hands +she exclaimed, "It is Philemon!" + +"What--who?" said Adrienne, hastily. + +"My lover; oh, the monster! he must have come upstairs on tiptoe, to take +me by surprise with his crowing. Just like him!" + +A second cock-a-doodle-doo, still louder than the first, was heard close +to the door. "What a stupid, droll creature it is! Always the same +joke, and yet it always amuses me," said Rose-Pompon. + +And drying her tears with the back of her hand, she began to laugh like +one bewitched at Philemon's jest, which, though well known to her, always +seemed new and agreeable. + +"Do not open the door," whispered Adrienne, much embarrassed; "do not +answer, I beg of you." + +"Though the door is bolted, the key is on the outside; Philemon can see +that there is some one at home." + +"No matter--do not let him in." + +"But, madame, he lives here; the room belongs to him." + +In fact, Philemon, probably growing tired of the little effect produced +by his two ornithological imitations, turned the key in the lock, and +finding himself unable to open the door, said in a deep bass voice: +"What, dearest puss, have you shut yourself in? Are you praying Saint- +Flambard for the return of Philly?" (short for Philemon.) + +Adrienne, not coshing to increase, by prolonging it, the awkwardness of +this ridiculous situation, went straight to the door and opened it, to +the great surprise of Philemon, who recoiled two or three steps. +Notwithstanding the annoyance of this incident, Mdlle. de Cardoville +could not help smiling at sight of Rose-Pompon's lover, and of the +articles he carried in his hand or under his arm. + +Philemon was a tall fellow, with dark hair and a very fresh color, and, +being just arrived from a journey, he wore a white cap; his thick, black +beard flowed down on his sky-blue waistcoat; and a short olive-colored +velvet shooting-coat, with extravagantly large plaid trousers, completed +his costume. As for the accessories which had provoked a smile from +Adrienne, they consisted: first, of a portmanteau tucked under his arm, +with the head and neck of a goose protruding from it; secondly, of a cage +held in his hand, with an enormous white rabbit all alive within it. + +"Oh! the darling white rabbit! what pretty red eyes!" Such, it must be +confessed, was the first exclamation of Rose-Pompon, though Philemon, to +whom it was not addressed, had returned after a long absence; but the +student far from being shocked at seeing himself thus sacrificed to his +long-earned companion, smiled complacently, rejoicing at the success of +his attempt to please his mistress. + +All this passed very rapidly. While Rose-Pompon, kneeling before the +cage, was still occupied with her admiration of the rabbit, Philemon, +struck with the lofty air of Mdlle. de Cardoville, raised his hand to his +cap, and bowed respectfully as he made way for her to pass. Adrienne +returned his salutation with politeness, full of grace and dignity, and, +lightly descending the stairs, soon disappeared. Dazzled by her beauty, +as well as impressed with her noble and lofty bearing, and curious to +know how in the world Rose-Pompon had fallen in with such an +acquaintance, Philemon said to her, in his amorous jargon: "Dearest puss! +tell her Philly who is that fine lady?" + +"One of my school-fellows, you great satyr!" said Rose-Pompon, still +playing with the rabbit. + +Then, glancing at a box, which Philemon deposited close to the cage and +the portmanteau, she added: "I'll wager anything you have brought me some +more preserves!" + +"Philly has brought something better to his dear puss," said the student, +imprinting two vigorous kisses on the rosy cheeks of Rose-Pompon, who had +at length, consented to stand up; "Philly has brought her his heart." + +"Fudge!" said the grisette, delicately placing the thumb of her left hand +on the tip of her nose, and opening the fingers, which she slightly moved +to and fro. Philemon answered this provocation by putting his arm around +her waist; and then the happy pair shut their door. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +SOOTHING WORDS. + +During the interview of Adrienne with Rose-Pompon a touching scene took +place between Agricola and Mother Bunch, who had been much surprised at +Mdlle. de Cardoville's condescension with regard to the grisette. +Immediately after the departure of Adrienne, Agricola had knelt down +beside Mother Bunch, and said to her, with profound emotion: "We are +alone, and I can at length tell you what weighs upon my heart. This act +is too cruel--to die of misery and despair, and not to send to me for +assistance." + +"Listen to me, Agricola--" + +"No, there is no excuse for this. What! we called each other by the +names of brother and sister, and for fifteen years gave every proof of +sincere affection--and, when the day of misfortune comes, you quit life +without caring for those you must leave behind--without considering that +to kill yourself is to tell them they are indifferent to you!" + +"Forgive me, Agricola! it is true. I had never thought of that," said +the workgirl, casting down her eyes; "but poverty--want of work--" + +"Misery! want of work! and was I not here?" + +"And despair!" + +"But why despair? This generous young lady had received you in her +house; she knew your worth, and treated you as her friend--and just at +the moment when you had every chance of happiness, you leave the house +abruptly, and we remain in the most horrible anxiety on your account." + +"I feared--to be--to be a burden to my benefactress," stammered she. + +"You a burden to Mdlle. de Cardoville, that is so rich and good!" + +"I feared to be indiscreet," said the sewing-girl, more and more +embarrassed. + +Instead of answering his adopted sister, Agricola remained silent, and +contemplated her for some moments with an undefinable expression; then he +exclaimed suddenly, as if replying to a question put by himself: "She +will forgive me for disobeying her.--I am sure of it." + +He next turned towards Mother Bunch, who was looking at him in +astonishment, and said to her in a voice of emotion: "I am too frank to +keep up this deception. I am reproaching you--blaming you--and my +thoughts are quite different." + +"How so, Agricola?" + +"My heart aches, when I think of the evil I have done you." + +"I do not understand you, my friend; you have never done me any evil." + +"What! never? even in little things? when, for instance, yielding to a +detestable habit, I, who loved and respected you as my sister, insulted +you a hundred times a day?" + +"Insulted me!" + +"Yes--when I gave you an odious and ridiculous nickname, instead of +calling you properly." + +At these words, Mother Bunch looked at the smith in the utmost alarm, +trembling lest he had discovered her painful secret, notwithstanding the +assurance she had received from Mdlle. de Cardoville. Yet she calmed +herself a little when she reflected, that Agricola might of himself have +thought of the humiliation inflicted on her by calling her Mother Bunch, +and she answered him with a forced smile. "Can you be grieved at so +small a thing? It was a habit, Agricola, from childhood. When did your +good and affectionate mother, who nevertheless loved me as her daughter, +ever call me anything else?" + +"And did my mother consult you about my marriage, speak to you of the +rare beauty of my bride, beg you to come and see her, and study her +character, in the hope that the instinct of your affection for me would +warn you--if I made a bad choice? Did my mother have this cruelty?--No; +it was I, who thus pierced your heart!" + +The fears of the hearer were again aroused; there could be but little +doubt that Agricola knew her secret. She felt herself sinking with +confusion; yet, making a last effort not to believe the discovery, she +murmured in a feeble voice: "True, Agricola! It was not your mother, but +yourself, who made me that request--and I was grateful to you for such a +mark of confidence." + +"Grateful, my poor girl!" cried the smith, whilst his eyes filled with +tears; "no, it is not true. I pained you fearfully--I was merciless-- +heaven knows, without being aware of it!" + +"But," said the other, in a voice now almost unintelligible, "what makes +you think so?" + +"Your love for me!" cried the smith, trembling with emotion, as he +clasped Mother Bunch in a brotherly embrace. + +"Oh heaven!" murmured the unfortunate creature, as she covered her face +with her hands, "he knows all." + +"Yes, I know all," resumed Agricola, with an expression of ineffable +tenderness and respect: "yes, I know all, and I will not have you blush +for a sentiment, which honors me, and of which I feel so justly proud. +Yes, I know all; and I say to myself with joy and pride, that the best, +the most noble heart in the world is mine--will be mine always. Come, +Magdalen; let us leave shame to evil passions. Raise your eyes, and look +at me! You know, if my countenance was ever false--if it ever reflected +a feigned emotion. Then look and tell me, if you cannot read in my +features, how proud I am, Magdalen, how justly proud of your love!" + +Overwhelmed with grief and confusion, Mother Bunch had not dared to look +on Agricola; but his words expressed so deep a conviction, the tones of +his voice revealed so tender an emotion, that the poor creature felt her +shame gradually diminish, particularly when Agricola added, with rising +animation: "Be satisfied, my sweet, my noble Magdalen; I will be worthy +of this love. Believe me, it shall yet cause you as much happiness as it +has occasioned tears. Why should this love be a motive for estrangement, +confusion, fear? For what is love, in the sense in which it is held by +your generous heart? Is it not a continual exchange of devotion, +tenderness, esteem, of mutual and blind confidence?--Why, Magdalen! we +may have all this for one another--devotion, tenderness, confidence--even +more than in times past; for, on a thousand occasions, your secret +inspired you with fear and suspicion--while, for the future, on the +contrary, you will see me take such delight in the place I fill in your +good and valiant heart, that you will be happy in the happiness you +bestow. What I have just said may seem very selfish and conceited; so +much the worse! I do not know how to lie." + +The longer the smith spoke, the less troubled became Mother Bunch. What +she had above all feared in the discovery of her secret was to see it +received with raillery, contempt, or humiliating compassion; far from +this, joy and happiness were distinctly visible on the manly and honest +face of Agricola. The hunchback knew him incapable of deception; +therefore she exclaimed, this time without shame or confusion, but rather +with a sort of pride. + +"Every sincere and pure passion is so far good and con soling as to end +by deserving interest and sympathy, when it has triumphed over its first +excess! It is alike honorable to the heart which feels and that which +inspires it!--Thanks to you, Agricola--thanks to the kind words, which +have raised me in my own esteem--I feel that, instead of blushing, I +ought to be proud of this love. My benefactress is right--you are right: +why should I be ashamed of it? Is it not a true and sacred love? To be +near you, to love you, to tell you so, to prove it by constant devotion, +what did I ever desire more? And yet shame and fear, joined with that +dizziness of the brain which extreme misery produces, drove me to +suicide!--But then some allowance must be made for the suspicions of a +poor creature, who has been the subject of ridicule from her cradle. So +my secret was to die with me, unless some unforeseen accident should +reveal it to you; and, in that case, you are right--sure of myself, sure +of you, I ought to have feared nothing. But I may claim some indulgence; +mistrust, cruel mistrust of one's self makes one doubt others also. Let +us forget all that. Agricola, my generous brother, I will say to you, as +you said to me just now, 'Look at me; you know my countenance cannot lie. +Look at me: see if I shun your gaze; see if, ever in my life, I looked so +happy'--and yet, even now, I was about to die!" + +She spoke the truth. Agricola himself could not have hoped so prompt an +effect from his words. In spite of the deep traces which misery, grief, +and sickness had imprinted on the girl's features, they now shone with +radiant happiness and serenity, whilst her blue eyes, gentle and pure as +her soul, were fixed, without embarrassment, on those of Agricola. + +"Oh! thanks, thanks!" cried the smith, in a rapture of delight: "when I +see you so calm, and so happy, Magdalen, I am indeed grateful." + +"Yes, I am calm, I am happy," replied she; "and happy I shall be, for I +can now tell you my most secret thoughts. Yes, happy; for this day, +which began so fatally, ends like a divine dream. Far from being afraid, +I now look at you with hope and joy. I have again found my generous +benefactress, and I am tranquil as to the fate of my poor sister. Oh! +shall we not soon see her? I should like her to take part in this +happiness." + +She seemed so happy, that the smith did not dare to inform her of the +death of Cephyse, and reserved himself to communicate the same at a more +fitting opportunity. Therefore he answered: "Cephyse, being the +stronger, has been the more shaken; it will not be prudent, I am told, to +see her to-day." + +"I will wait then. I can repress my impatience, I have so much to say to +you." + +"Dear, gentle Magdalen!" + +"Oh, my friend!" cried the girl, interrupting Agricola, with tears of +joy: "I cannot tell you what I feel, when I hear you call me Magdalen. +It is so sweet, so soothing, that my heart expands with delight." + +"Poor girl! how dreadfully she must have suffered!" cried the smith, with +inexpressible emotion, "when she displays so much happiness, so much +gratitude, at being called by her own poor name!" + +"But consider, my friend; that word in your mouth contains a new life for +me. If you only knew what hopes, what pleasures I can now see gleaming +in the future! If you knew all the cherished longings of my tenderness! +Your wife, the charming Angela, with her angel face and angel-soul--oh! +in my turn, I can say to, you, 'Look at me, and see how sweet that name +is to my lips and heart!' Yes, your charming, your good Angela will call +me Magdalen--and your children, Agricola, your children!--dear little +creatures!--to them also I shall be Magdalen--their good Magdalen--and +the love I shall bear them will make them mine, as well as their +mother's--and I shall have my part in every maternal care--and they will +belong to us three; will they not, Agricola?--Oh! let me, let me weep! +These tears without bitterness do me so much good; they are tears that +need not be concealed. Thank heaven! thank you, my friend! those other +tears are I trust dried forever." + +For some seconds, this affecting scene had been overlooked by an +invisible witness. The smith and Mother Bunch had not perceived Mdlle. +de Cardoville standing on the threshold of the door. As Mother Bunch had +said, this day, which dawned with all under such fatal auspices, had +become for all a day of ineffable felicity. Adrienne, too, was full of +joy, for Djalma had been faithful to her, Djalma loved her with passion. +The odious appearances, of which she had been the dupe and victim, +evidently formed part of a new plot of Rodin, and it only remained for +Mdlle. de Cardoville to discover the end of these machinations. + +Another joy was reserved for her. The happy are quick in detecting +happiness in others, and Adrienne guessed, by the hunchback's last words, +that there was no longer any secret between the smith and the sempstress. +She could not therefore help exclaiming, as she entered: "Oh! this +will be the brightest day of my life, for I shall not be happy alone!" + +Agricola and Mother Bunch turned round hastily. "Lady," said the smith, +"in spite of the promise I made you, I could not conceal from Magdalen +that I knew she loved me!" + +"Now that I no longer blush for this love before Agricola, why should I +blush for it before you, lady, that told me to be proud of it, because it +is noble and pure?" said Mother Bunch, to whom her happiness gave +strength enough to rise, and to lean upon Agricola's arm. + +"It is well, my friend," said Adrienne, as she threw her arms round her +to support her; "only one word, to excuse the indiscretion with which you +will perhaps reproach me. If I told your secret to M. Agricola--" + +"Do you know why it was, Magdalen?" cried the smith, interrupting +Adrienne. "It was only another proof of the lady's delicate generosity. +'I long hesitate to confide to you this secret,' said she to me this +morning, 'but I have at length made up my mind to it. We shall probably +find your adopted sister; you have been to her the best of brothers: but +many times, without knowing it, you have wounded her feelings cruelly-- +and now that you know her secret, I trust in your kind heart to keep it +faithfully, and so spare the poor child a thousand pangs--pangs the more +bitter, because they come from you, and are suffered in silence. Hence, +when you speak to her of your wife, your domestic happiness, take care +not to gall that noble and tender heart.'--Yes, Magdalen, these were the +reasons that led the lady to commit what she called an indiscretion." + +"I want words to thank you now and ever," said Mother Bunch. + +"See, my friend," replied Adrienne, "how often the designs of the wicked +turn against themselves. They feared your devotion to me, and therefore +employed that unhappy Florine to steal your journal--" + +"So as to drive me from your house with shame, lady, When I supposed my +most secret thoughts an object of ridicule to all. There can be no doubt +such was their plan," said Mother Bunch. + +"None, my child. Well! this horrible wickedness, which nearly caused +your death, now turns to the confusion of the criminals. Their plot is +discovered--and, luckily, many other of their designs," said Adrienne, as +she thought of Rose-Pompon. + +Then she resumed, with heartfelt joy: "At last, we are again united, +happier than ever, and in our very happiness we shall find new resources +to combat our enemies. I say our enemies--for all that love me are +odious to these wretches. But courage, the hour is come, and the good +people will have their turn." + +"Thank heaven, lady," said the smith; "or my part, I shall not be wanting +in zeal. What delight to strip them of their mask!" + +"Let me remind you, M. Baudoin, that you have an appointment for to- +morrow with M. Hardy." + +"I have not forgotten it, lady, any more than the generous offers I am to +convey to him." + +"That is nothing. He belongs to my family. Tell him (what indeed I +shall write to him this evening), that the funds necessary to reopen his +factory are at his disposal; I do not say so for his sake only, but for +that of a hundred families reduced to want. Beg him to quit immediately +the fatal abode to which they have taken him: for a thousand reasons he +should be on his guard against all that surround him." + +"Be satisfied, lady. The letter he wrote to me in reply to the one I got +secretly delivered to him, was short, affectionate, sad--but he grants me +the interview I had asked for, and I am sure I shall be able to persuade +him to leave that melancholy dwelling, and perhaps to depart with me, he +has always had so much confidence in my attachment." + +"Well, M. Baudoin, courage!" said Adrienne, as she threw her cloak over +the workgirl's shoulders, and wrapped her round with care. "Let us be +gone, for it is late. As soon as we get home, I will give you a letter +for M. Hardy, and to-morrow you will come and tell me the result of your +visit. No, not to-morrow," she added, blushing slightly. "Write to me +to-morrow, and the day after, about twelve, come to me." + +Some minutes later, the young sempstress, supported by Agricola and +Adrienne, had descended the stairs of that gloomy house, and, being +placed in the carriage by the side of Mdlle. de Cardoville, she earnestly +entreated to be allowed to see Cephyse; it was in vain that Agricola +assured her it was impossible, and that she should see her the next day. +Thanks to the information derived from Rose-Pompon, Mdlle. de Cardoville +was reasonably suspicious of all those who surrounded Djalma, and she +therefore took measures, that, very evening, to have a letter delivered +to the prince by what she considered a sure hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE TWO CARRIAGES. + +It is the evening of the day on which Mdlle. de Cardoville prevented the +sewing-girl's suicide. It strikes eleven; the night is dark; the wind +blows with violence, and drives along great black clouds, which +completely hide the pale lustre of the moon. A hackney-coach, drawn by +two broken-winded horses, ascends slowly and with difficulty the slope of +the Rue Blanche, which is pretty steep near the barrier, in the part +where is situated the house occupied by Djalma. + +The coach stops. The coachman, cursing the length of an interminable +drive "within the circuit," leading at last to this difficult ascent, +turns round on his box, leans over towards the front window of the +vehicle, and says in a gruff tone to the person he is driving: "Come! are +we almost there? From the Rue de Vaugirard to the Barriere Blanche, is a +pretty good stretch, I think, without reckoning that the night is so +dark, that one can hardly see two steps before one--and the street-lamps +not lighted because of the moon, which doesn't shine, after all!" + +"Look out for a little door with a portico-drive on about twenty yards +beyond--and then stop close to the wall," answered a squeaking voice, +impatiently, and with an Italian accent. + +"Here is a beggarly Dutchman, that will make me as savage as a bear?" +muttered the angry Jehu to himself. Then he added: "Thousand thunders! I +tell you that I can't see. How the devil can I find out your little +door?" + +"Have you no sense? Follow the wall to the right, brush against it, and +you will easily find the little door. It is next to No. 50. If you do +not find it, you must be drunk," answered the Italian, with increased +bitterness. + +The coachman only replied by swearing like a trooper, and whipping up his +jaded horses. Then, keeping close to the wall, he strained his eyes in +trying to read the numbers of the houses, by the aid of his carriage- +lamps. + +After some moments, the coach again stopped. "I have passed No. 50, and +here is a little door with a portico," said the coachman. "Is that the +one?" + +"Yes," said the voice. "Now go forward some twenty yards, and then +stop." + +"Well! I never--" + +"Then get down from your box, and give twice three knocks at the little +door we have just passed--you understand me?--twice three knocks." + +"Is that all you give me to drink?" cried the exasperated coachman. + +"When you have taken me back to the Faubourg Saint-Germain, where I live, +you shall have something handsome, if you do but manage matters well." + +"Ha! now the Faubourg Saint-Germain! Only that little bit of distance!" +said the driver, with repressed rage. "And I who have winded my horses, +wanted to be on the boulevard by the time the play was out. Well, I'm +blowed!" Then, putting a good face on his bad luck, and consoling +himself with the thought of the promised drink-money, he resumed: "I am +to give twice three knocks at the little door?" + +"Yes; three knocks first--then pause--then three other knocks. Do you +understand?" + +"What next?" + +"Tell the person who comes, that he is waited for, and bring him here to +the coach." + +"The devil burn you!" said the coachman to himself, as he turned round on +the box, and whipped up his horses, adding: "this crusty old Dutchman has +something to do with Free-masons, or, perhaps, smugglers, seeing we are +so near the gates. He deserves my giving him in charge, for bringing me +all the way from the Rue de Vaugirard." + +At twenty steps beyond the little door, the coach again stopped, and the +coachman descended from the box to execute the orders he had received. +Going to the little door, he knocked three times; then paused, as he had +been desired, and then knocked three times more. The clouds, which had +hitherto been so thick as entirely to conceal the disk of the moon, just +then withdrew sufficiently to afford a glimmering light, so that when the +door opened at the signal, the coachman saw a middle-sized person issue +from it, wrapped in a cloak, and wearing a colored cap. + +This man carefully locked the door, and then advanced two steps into the +street. "They are waiting for you," said the coachman; "I am to take you +along with me to the coach." + +Preceding the man with the cloak, who only answered him by a nod, he led +him to the coach-door, which he was about to open, and to let down the +step, when the voice exclaimed from the inside: "It is not necessary. +The gentleman may talk to me through the window. I will call you when it +is time to start." + +"Which means that I shall be kept here long enough to send you to all the +devils!" murmured the driver. "However, I may as well walk about, just +to stretch my legs." + +So saying, he began to walk up and down, by the side of the wall in which +was the little door. Presently he heard the distant sound of wheels, +which soon came nearer and nearer, and a carriage, rapidly ascending the +slope, stopped on the other side of the little garden-door. + +"Come, I say! a private carriage!" said the coachman. "Good horses +those, to come up the Rue Blanche at a trot." + +The coachman was just making this observation, when, by favor of a +momentary gleam of light, he saw a man step from the carriage, advance +rapidly to the little door, open it, and go in, closing it after him. + +"It gets thicker and thicker!" said the coachman. "One comes out, and +the other goes in." + +So saying, he walked up to the carriage. It was splendidly harnessed, +and drawn by two handsome and vigorous horses. The driver sat +motionless, in his great box-coat, with the handle of his whip resting on +his right knee. + +"Here's weather to drive about in, with such tidy dukes as yours, +comrade!" said the humble hackney-coachman to this automaton, who +remained mute and impassible, without even appearing to know that he was +spoken to. + +"He doesn't understand French--he's an Englishman. One could tell that +by his horses," said the coachman, putting this interpretation on the +silence of his brother whip. Then, perceiving a tall footman at a little +distance, dressed in a long gray livery coat, with blue collar and silver +buttons, the coachman addressed himself to him, by way of compensation, +but without much varying his phrase: "Here's nice weather to stand about +in, comrade!" On the part of the footman, he was met with the same +imperturbable silence. + +"They're both Englishmen," resumed the coachman, philosophically; and, +though somewhat astonished at the incident of the little door, he +recommenced his walk in the direction of his own vehicle. + +While these facts were passing, the man in the cloak, and the man with +the Italian accent continued their conversation, the one still in the +coach, and the other leaning with his hand on the door. It had already +lasted for some time, and was carried on in Italian. They were evidently +talking of some absent person, as will appear from the following. + +"So," said the voice from the coach, "that is agreed to?" + +"Yes, my lord," answered the man in the cloak; "but only in case the +eagle should become a serpent." + +"And, in the contrary event, you will receive the other half of the ivory +crucifix I gave you." + +"I shall know what it means, my lord." + +"Continue to merit and preserve his confidence." + +"I will merit and preserve it, my lord, because I admire and respect this +man, who is stronger than the strongest, by craft, and courage, and will. +I have knelt before him with humility, as I would kneel before one of the +three black idols that stand between Bowanee and her worshippers; for his +religion, like mine, teaches to change life into nothingness." + +"Humph!" said the voice, in a tone of some embarrassment; "these +comparisons are useless and inaccurate. Only think of obeying him, +without explaining your obedience." + +"Let him speak, and I perform his will! I am in his hands like a corpse, +as he himself expresses it. He has seen, he sees every day, my devotion +to his interests with regard to Prince Djalma. He has only to say: 'Kill +him!'and this son of a king--" + +"For heaven's salve, do not have such ideas!" cried the voice, +interrupting the man in the cloak. "Thank heaven, you will never be +asked for such proofs of your submission." + +"What I am ordered I do. Bowanee sees me." + +"I do not doubt your zeal. I know that you are a loving and intelligent +barrier, placed between the prince and many guilty interests; and it is +because I have heard of that zeal, of your skill in circumventing this +young Indian, and, above all, of the motives of your blind devotion, that +I have wished to inform you of everything. You are the fanatical +worshipper of him you serve. That is well; man should be the obedient +slave of the god he chooses for himself." + +"Yes, my lord; so long as the god remains a god." + +"We understand each other perfectly. As for your recompense, you know +what I have promised." + +"My lord, I have my reward already." + +"How so?" + +"I know what I know." + +"Very well. Then as for secrecy--" + +"You have securities, my lord." + +"Yes--and sufficient ones." + +"The interest of the cause I serve, my lord, would alone be enough to +secure my zeal and discretion." + +"True; you are a man of firm and ardent convictions." + +"I strive to be so, my lord." + +"And, after all, a very religious man in your way. It is very +praiseworthy, in these irreligious times, to have any views at all on +such matters--particularly when those views will just enable me to count +upon your aid." + +"You may count upon it, my lord, for the same reason that the intrepid +hunter prefers a jackal to ten foxes, a tiger to ten jackals, a lion to +ten tigers, and the welmiss to ten lions." + +"What is the welmiss?" + +"It is what spirit is to matter, the blade to the scabbard, the perfume +to the flower, the head to the body." + +"I understand. There never was a more just comparison. You are a man of +sound judgment. Always recollect what you have just told me, and make +yourself more and more worthy of the confidence of--your idol." + +"Will he soon be in a state to hear me, my lord?" + +"In two or three days, at most. Yesterday a providential crisis saved +his life; and he is endowed with so energetic a will, that his cure will +be very rapid." + +"Shall you see him again to-morrow, my lord?" + +"Yes, before my departure, to bid him farewell." + +"Then tell him a strange circumstance, of which I have not been able to +inform him, but which happened yesterday." + +"What was it?" + +"I had gone to the garden of the dead. I saw funerals everywhere, and +lighted torches, in the midst of the black night, shining upon tombs. +Bowanee smiled in her ebon sky. As I thought of that divinity of +destruction, I beheld with joy the dead-cart emptied of its coffins. The +immense pit yawned like the mouth of hell; corpses were heaped upon +corpses, and still it yawned the same. Suddenly, by the light of a +torch, I saw an old man beside me. He wept. I had seen him before. He +is a Jew--the keeper of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois--you know +what I mean." Here the man in the cloak started. + +"Yes, I know; but what is the matter? why do you stop short?" + +"Because in that house there has been for a hundred and fifty years the +portrait of a man whom I once met in the centre of India, on the banks of +the Ganges." And the man in the cloak again paused and shuddered. + +"A singular resemblance, no doubt." + +"Yes, my lord, a singular resemblance--nothing more." + +"But the Jew--the old Jew?" + +"I am coming to that, my lord. Still weeping, he said to a gravedigger, +'Well! and the coffin?' 'You were right,' answered the man; 'I found it +in the second row of the other grave. It had the figure of a cross on +it, formed by seven black nails. But how could you know the place and +the mark?' 'Alas! it is no matter,' replied the old Jew, with bitter +melancholy. 'You see that I was but too well informed on the subject. +But where is the coffin?' 'Behind the great tomb of black marble; I have +hidden it there. So make haste; for, in the confusion, nothing will be +noticed. You have paid me well, and I wish you to succeed in what you +require.'" + +"And what did the old Jew do with the coffin marked with the seven black +nails?" + +"Two men accompanied him, my lord, bearing a covered litter, with +curtains drawn round it. He lighted a lantern, and, followed by these +two men, went towards the place pointed out by the gravedigger. A +stoppage, occasioned by the dead-carts, made me lose sight of the old +Jew, whom I was following amongst the tombs. Afterwards I was unable to +find him." + +"It is indeed a strange affair. What could this old Jew want with the +coffin?" + +"It is said, my lord, that they use dead bodies in preparing their magic +charms." + +"Those unbelievers are capable of anything--even of holding communication +with the Enemy of mankind. However, we will look after this: the +discovery may be of importance." + +At this instant a clock struck twelve in the distance. + +"Midnight! already?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"I must be gone. Good-bye--but for the last time swear to me that, +should matters so turn out, as soon as you receive the other half of the +ivory crucifix I have just given you, you will keep your promise." + +"I have sworn it by Bowanee, my lord." + +"Don't forget that, to make all sure, the person who will deliver to you +the other half of the crucifix is to say--come, what is he to say?" + +"He is to say, my lord: 'There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the +lip.'" + +"Very well. Adieu! secrecy and fidelity!" + +"Secrecy and fidelity, my lord," answered the man in the cloak. + +Some seconds after the hackney-coach started, carrying with it Cardinal +Malipieri, one of the speakers in the above dialogue. The other, whom +the reader has no doubt recognized as Faringhea, returned to the little +garden-door of the house occupied by Djalma. At the moment he was +putting the key into the lock, the door opened, to his great +astonishment, and a man came forth. Faringhea rushed upon the unknown, +seized him violently by the collar, and exclaimed: "Who are you? whence +came you?" + +The stranger evidently found the tone of this question anything but +satisfactory; for, instead of answering, he struggled to disengage +himself from Faringhea's hold, and cried out, in a loud voice: "Help! +Peter!" + +Instantly the carriage, which had been standing a few yards off, dashed +up at full speed, and Peter, the tall footman, seizing the half-breed by +the shoulders, flung him back several paces, and thus made a seasonable +diversion in favor of the unknown. + +"Now, sir," said the latter to Faringhea, shaking himself, and still +protected by the gigantic footman, "I am in a state to answer your +questions, though you certainly have a very rough way of receiving an old +acquaintance. I am Dupont, ex-bailiff of the estate of Cardoville, and +it was I who helped to fish you out of the water, when the ship was +wrecked in which you had embarked." + +By the light of the carriage-lamps, indeed, the half-caste recognized the +good, honest face of Dupont, formerly bailiff, and now house-steward, to +Mdlle. de Cardoville. It must not be forgotten that Dupont had been the +first to write to Mdlle. de Cardoville, to ask her to interest herself +for Djalma, who was then detained at Cardoville Castle by the injuries he +had received during the shipwreck. + +"But, sir, what is your business here? Why do you introduce yourself +clandestinely into this house?" said Faringhea, in an abrupt and +suspicious tone. + +"I will--just observe to you that there is nothing clandestine in the +matter. I came here in a carriage, with servants in the livery of my +excellent mistress, Mdlle. de Cardoville, charged by her, without any +disguise or mystery, to deliver a letter to Prince Djalma, her cousin," +replied Dupont, with dignity. + +On these words, Faringhea trembled with mute rage, as he answered: "And +why, sir, come at this late hour, and introduce yourself by this little +door?" + +"I came at this hour, my dear sir, because such was Mdlle. de +Cardoville's command, and I entered by this little gate because there is +every reason to believe that if I had gone around to the other I should +not have been permitted to see the prince." + +"You are mistaken, sir," replied the half-caste. + +"It is possible: but as we knew that the prince usually passed a good +portion of the night in the little saloon, which communicates with the +greenhouse, and as Mdlle. de Cardoville had kept a duplicate key of this +door, I was pretty certain, by taking this course, to be able to deliver +into the prince's own hands the letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, his +cousin, which I have now had the honor of doing, my dear sir; and I have +been deeply touched by the kindness with which the prince deigned to +receive me and to remember our last interview." + +"And who kept you so well informed, sir, of the prince's habits?" said +Faringhea, unable to control his vexation. + +"If I have been well informed as to his habits, my dear sir, I have had +no such correct knowledge of yours," answered Dupont, with a mocking air; +"for I assure you that I had no more notion of seeing you than you had of +seeing me." + +So saying, M. Dupont bowed with something like mock politeness to the +half-caste, and got into the carriage, which drove off rapidly, leaving +Faringhea in a state of the utmost surprise and anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE APPOINTMENT. + +The morning after--Dupont's mission to Prince Djalma, the latter was +walking with hasty and impatient step up and down the little saloon, +which communicated, as we already know, with the greenhouse from which +Adrienne had entered when she first appeared to him. In remembrance of +that day, he had chosen to dress himself as on the occasion in question; +he wore the same tunic of white cashmere, with a cherry-colored turban, +to match with his girdle; his gaiters, of scarlet velvet, embroidered +with silver, displayed the fine form of his leg, and terminated in small +white morocco slippers, with red heels. Happiness has so instantaneous, +and, as it were, material an influence upon young, lively, and ardent +natures, that Djalma, dejected and despairing only the day before, was no +longer like the same person. The pale, transparent gold of his +complexion was no longer tarnished by a livid hue. His large eyes, of +late obscured like black diamonds by a humid vapor, now shone with mild +radiance in the centre of their pearly setting; his lips, long pale, had +recovered their natural color, which was rich and soft as the fine purple +flowers of his country. + +Ever and anon, pausing in his hasty walk, he stopped suddenly, and drew +from his bosom a little piece of paper, carefully folded, which he +pressed to his lips with enthusiastic ardor. Then, unable to restrain +the expression of his full happiness, he uttered a full and sonorous cry +of joy, and with a bound he was in front of the plate-glass which +separated the saloon from the conservatory, in which he had first seen +Mdlle. de Cardoville. By a singular power of remembrance, or marvellous +hallucination of a mind possessed by a fixed idea, Djalma had often seen, +or fancied he saw, the adored semblance of Adrienne appear to him through +this sheet of crystal. The illusion had been so complete, that, with his +eyes ardently fixed on the vision he invoked, he had been able, with the +aid of a pencil dipped in carmine, to trace with astonishing exactness, +the profile of the ideal countenance which the delirium of his +imagination had presented to his view.[42] It was before these delicate +lines of bright carmine that Djalma now stood in deep contemplation, +after perusing and reperusing, and raising twenty times to his lips, the +letter he had received the night before from the hands of Dupont. Djalma +was not alone. Faringhea watched all the movements of the prince, with a +subtle, attentive, and gloomy aspect. Standing respectfully in a corner +of the saloon, the half-caste appeared to be occupied in unfolding and +spreading out Djalma's sash, light, silky Indian web, the brown ground of +which was almost entirely concealed by the exquisite gold and silver +embroidery with which it was overlaid. + +The countenance of the half-caste wore a dark and gloomy expression. He +could not deceive himself. The letter from Mdlle. de Cardoville, +delivered by Dupont to Djalma, must have been the cause of the delight he +now experienced, for, without doubt, he knew himself beloved. In that +event, his obstinate silence towards Faringhea, ever since the latter had +entered the saloon, greatly alarmed the half-caste, who could not tell +what interpretation to put upon it. The night before, after parting with +Dupont, he had hastened, in a state of anxiety easily understood, to look +for the prince, in the hope of ascertaining the effect produced by Mdlle. +de Cardoville's letter. But he found the parlor door closed, and when he +knocked, he received no answer from within. Then, though the night was +far advanced, he had dispatched a note to Rodin, in which he informed him +of Dupont's visit and its probable intention. Djalma had indeed passed +the night in a tumult of happiness and hope, and a fever of impatience +quite impossible to describe. Repairing to his bed-chamber only towards +the morning, he had taken a few moments of repose, and had then dressed +himself without assistance. + +Many times, but in vain, the half-caste had discreetly knocked at the +door of Djalma's apartment. It was only in the early part of the +afternoon that the prince had rung the bell to order his carriage to be +ready by half-past two. Faringhea having presented himself, the prince +had given him the order without looking at him, as he might have done to +any other of his servants. Was this suspicion, aversion, or mere absence +of mind on the part of Djalma? Such were the questions which the half- +caste put to himself with growing anguish; for the designs of which he +was the most active and immediate instrument might all be ruined by the +least suspicion in the prince. + +"Oh! the hours--the hours--how slow they are!" cried the young Indian, +suddenly, in a low and trembling voice. + +"The day before yesterday, my lord, you said the hours were very long," +observed Faringhea, as he drew near Djalma in order to attract his +attention. Seeing that he did not succeed in this he advanced a few +steps nearer, and resumed: "Your joy seems very great, my lord; tell the +cause of it to your poor and faithful servant, that he also may rejoice +with you." + +If he heard the words, Djalma did not pay any attention to them. He made +no answer, and his large black eyes gazed upon vacancy. He seemed to +smile admiringly upon some enchanting vision, and he folded his two hands +upon his bosom, in the attitude which his countrymen assume at the hour +of prayer. After some instants of contemplation, he said: "What o'clock +is it?"--but he asked this question of himself, rather than of any third +person. + +"It will soon be two o'clock, my lord," said Faringhea. + +Having heard this answer, Djalma seated himself, and hid his face in his +hands, as if completely absorbed in some ineffable meditation. Urged on +by his growing anxiety, and wishing at any cost to attract the attention +of Djalma, Faringhea approached still nearer to him, and, almost certain +of the effect of the words he was about to utter, said to him in a slow +and emphatic voice: "My lord, I am sure that you owe the happiness which +now transports you to Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +Hardly had this name been pronounced, than Djalma started from his chair, +looked the half-breed full in the face, and exclaimed, as if only just +aware of his presence, "Faringhea! you here!--what is the matter?" + +"Your faithful servant shares in your joy, my lord." + +"What joy?" + +"That which the letter of Mdlle. de Cardoville has occasioned, my lord." + +Djalma returned no answer, but his eye shone with so much serene +happiness, that the half-caste recovered from his apprehensions. No +cloud of doubt or suspicion obscured the radiant features of the prince. +After a few moments of silence, Djalma fixed upon the half-caste a look +half-veiled with a tear of joy, and said to him, with the expression of +one whose heart overflows with love and happiness: "Oh! such delight is +good--great--like heaven!--for it is heaven which--" + +"You deserve this happiness, my lord, after so many sufferings." + +"What sufferings?--Oh! yes. I formerly suffered at Java; but that was +years ago." + +"My lord, this great good fortune does not astonish me. What have I +always told you? Do not despair; feign a violent passion for some other +woman, and then this proud young lady--" + +At these words Djalma looked at the half-caste with so piercing a glance, +that the latter stopped short; but the prince said to him with +affectionate goodness, "Go on! I listen." + +Then, leaning his chin upon his hand, and his elbow on his knee, he gazed +so intently on Faringhea, and yet with such unutterable mildness, that +even that iron soul was touched for a moment with a slight feeling of +remorse. + +"I was saying, my lord," he resumed, "that by following the counsels of +your faithful slave, who persuaded you to feign a passionate love for +another woman, you have brought the proud Mdlle. de Cardoville to come to +you. Did I not tell you it would be so?" + +"Yes, you did tell me so," answered Djalma, still maintaining the same +position, and examining the half-caste with the same fixed and mild +attention. + +The surprise of Faringhea increased; generally, the prince, without +treating him with the least harshness, preserved the somewhat distant and +imperious manners of their common country, and he had never before spoken +to him with such extreme mildness. Knowing all the evil he had done the +prince, and suspicious as the wicked must ever be, the half-caste thought +for a moment, that his master's apparent kindness might conceal a snare. +He continued, therefore, with less assurance, "Believe me, my lord, this +day, if you do but know how to profit by your advantages, will console +you for all your troubles, which have indeed been great--for only +yesterday, though you were generous enough to forget it, only yesterday +you suffered cruelly--but you were not alone in your sufferings. This +proud young lady suffered also!" + +"Do you think so?" said Djalma. + +"Oh! it is quite sure, my lord. What must she not have felt, when she +saw you at the theatre with another woman!--If she loved you only a +little, she must have been deeply wounded in her self-esteem; if she +loved you with passion, she must have been struck to the heart. At +length, you see, wearied out with suffering, she has come to you." + +"So that, any way, she must have suffered--and that does not move your +pity?" said Djalma, in a constrained, but still very mild voice. + +"Before thinking of others, my lord, I think of your distresses; and they +touch me too nearly to leave me any pity for other woes," added Faringhea +hypocritically, so greatly had the influence of Rodin already modified +the character of the Phansegar. + +"It is strange!" said Djalma, speaking to himself, as he viewed the half- +caste with a glance still kind but piercing. + +"What is strange, my lord?" + +"Nothing. But tell me, since your advice has hitherto prospered so well, +what think you of the future?" + +"Of the future, my lord?" + +"Yes; in an hour I shall be with Mdlle. de Cardoville." + +"That is a serious matter, my lord. The whole future will depend upon +this interview." + +"That is what I was just thinking." + +"Believe me, my lord, women never love any so well, as the bold man who +spares them the embarrassment of a refusal." + +"Explain more fully." + +"Well, my lord, they despise the timid and languishing lover, who asks +humbly for what he might take by force." + +"But to-day I shall meet Mdlle. de Cardoville for the first time." + +"You have met her a thousand times in your dreams, my lord; and depend +upon it, she has seen you also in her dreams, since she loves you. Every +one of your amorous thoughts has found an echo in her heart. All your +ardent adorations have been responded to by her. Love has not two +languages, and, without meeting, you have said all that you had to say to +each other. Now, it is for you to act as her master, and she will be +yours entirely." + +"It is strange--very strange!" said Djalma, a second time, without +removing his eyes from Faringhea's face. + +Mistaking the sense which the prince attached to these words, the half- +caste resumed: "Believe me, my lord, however strange it may appear, this +is the wisest course. Remember the past. Was it by playing the part of +a timid lover that you have brought to your feet this proud young lady, +my lord? No, it was by pretending to despise her, in favor of another +woman. Therefore, let us have no weakness. The lion does not woo like +the poor turtle-dove. What cares the sultan of the desert for a few +plaintive howls from the lioness, who is more pleased than angry at his +rude and wild caresses? Soon submissive, fearful and happy, she follows +in the track of her master. Believe me, my lord--try everything--dare +everything--and to-day you will become the adored sultan of this young +lady, whose beauty all Paris admires." + +After some minutes' silence, Djalma, shaking his head with an expression +of tender pity, said to the half-caste, in his mild, sonorous voice: "Why +betray me thus? Why advise me thus wickedly to use violence, terror, and +surprise, towards an angel of purity, whom I respect as my mother? Is it +not enough for you to have been so long devoted to my enemies, whose +hatred has followed me from Java?" + +Had Djalma sprung upon the half-caste with bloodshot eye, menacing brow, +and lifted poniard, the latter would have been less surprised, and +perhaps less frightened, than when he heard the prince speak of his +treachery in this tone of mild reproach. + +He drew back hastily, as if about to stand on his guard. But Djalma +resumed, with the same gentleness, "Fear nothing. Yesterday I should +have killed you! But to-day happy love renders me too just, too merciful +for that. I pity you, without any feeling of bitterness--for you must +have been very unhappy, or you could not have become so wicked." + +"My lord!" said the half-caste, with growing amazement. + +"Yes, you must have suffered much, and met with little mercy, poor +creature, to have become so merciless, in your hate, and proof against +the sight of a happiness like mine. When I listened to you just now, and +saw the sad perseverance of your hatred, I felt the deepest commiseration +for you." + +"I do not know, my lord--but--" stammered the half-caste, and was unable +to find words to proceed. + +"Come, now--what harm have I ever done you?" + +"None, my lord," answered Faringhea. + +"Then why do you hate me thus? why pursue me with so much animosity? Was +it not enough to give me the perfidious counsel to feign a shameful love +for the young girl that was brought hither, and who quitted the house +disgusted at the miserable part she was to play?" + +"Your feigned love for that young girl, my lord," replied Faringhea, +gradually recovering his presence of mind, "conquered the coldness of--" + +"Do not say that," resumed the prince, interrupting him with the same +mildness. "If I enjoy this happiness, which makes me compassionate +towards you, and raises me above myself, it is because Mdlle de +Cardoville now knows that I have never for a moment ceased to love her as +she ought to be loved, with adoration and reverence. It was your +intention to have parted us forever, and you had nearly succeeded." + +"If you think this of me, my lord, you must look upon me as your most +mortal enemy." + +"Fear nothing, I tell you. I have no right to blame you. In the madness +of my grief, I listened to you and followed your advice. I was not only +your dupe, but your accomplice. Only confess that, when you saw me at +your mercy, dejected, crushed, despairing, it was cruel in you to advise +the course that might have been most fatal to me." + +"The ardor of my zeal may have deceived me, my lord." + +"I am willing to believe it. And yet again to-day there were the same +evil counsels. You had no more pity for my happiness than for my sorrow. +The rapture of my heart inspires you with only one desire--that of +changing this rapture into despair." + +"I, my lord!" + +"Yes, you. It was your intention to ruin me--to dishonor me forever in +the eyes of Mdlle. de Cardoville. Now, tell me--why this furious hate? +what have I done to you?" + +"You misjudge me, my lord--and--" + +"Listen to me. I do not wish you to be any longer wicked and +treacherous. I wish to make you good. In our country, they charm +serpents, and tame the wildest tigers. You are a man, with a mind to +reason, a heart to love, and I will tame you too by gentleness. This day +has bestowed on me divine happiness; you shall have good cause to bless +this day. What can I do for you? what would you have--gold? You shall +have it. Do you desire more than gold? Do you desire a friend, to +console you for the sorrows that made you wicked, and to teach you to be +good? Though a king's son, I will be that friend--in spite of the evil-- +ay, because of the evil you have done me. Yes; I will be your sincere +friend, and it shall be my delight to say to myself: 'The day on which I +learned that my angel loved me, my happiness was great indeed--for, in +the morning, I had an implacable enemy, and, ere night, his hatred was +changed to friendship.' Believe me, Faringhea, misery makes crime, but +happiness produces virtue. Be happy!" + +At this moment the clock struck two. The prince started. It was time to +go on his visit to Adrienne. The handsome countenance of Djalma, doubly +embellished by the mild, ineffable expression with which it had been +animated whilst he was talking to the half-caste, now seemed illumined +with almost divine radiance. + +Approaching Faringhea, he extended his hand with the utmost, grace and +courtesy, saying to him, "Your hand!" + +The half-caste, whose brow was bathed with a cold sweat, whose +countenance was pale and agitated, seemed to hesitate for an instant; +then, overawed, conquered, fascinated, he offered his trembling hand to +the prince, who pressed it, and said to him, in their country's fashion, +"You have laid your hand honestly in a friend's; this hand shall never be +closed against you. Faringhea, farewell! I now feel myself more worthy +to kneel before my angel." + +And Djalma went out, on his way to the appointment with Adrienne. In +spite of his ferocity, in spite of the pitiless hate he bore to the whole +human race, the dark sectary of Bowanee was staggered by the noble and +clement words of Djalma, and said to himself, with terror, "I have taken +his hand. He is now sacred for me." + +Then, after a moment's silence, a thought occurred to him, and he +exclaimed, "Yes--but he will not be sacred for him who, according to the +answer of last night, waits for him at the door of the house." + +So saying, the half-caste hastened into the next room, which looked upon +the street, and, raising a corner of the curtain, muttered anxiously to +himself, "The carriage moves off--the man approaches. Perdition! it is +gone and I see no more." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +ANXIETY. + +By a singular coincidence of ideas, Adrienne, like Djalma, had wished to +be dressed exactly in the same costume as at their interview in the house +in the Rue Blanche. For the site of this solemn meeting, so important to +her future happiness, Adrienne had chosen, with habitual tact, the grand +drawing-room of Cardoville House, in which hung many family portraits. +The most apparent were those of her father and mother. The room was +large and lofty, and furnished, like those which preceded it, with all +the imposing splendor of the age of Louis XIV. The ceiling, painted by +Lebrun, to represent the Triumph of Apollo, displayed his bold designing +and vigorous coloring, in the centre of a wide cornice, magnificently +carved and gilt, and supported at its angles by four large gilt figures, +representing the Seasons. Huge panels, covered with crimson damask, and +set in frames, served as the background to the family portraits which +adorned this apartment. It is easier to conceive than describe the +thousand conflicting emotions which agitated the bosom of Mdlle. de +Cardoville as the moment approached for her interview with Djalma. Their +meeting had been hitherto prevented by so many painful obstacles, and +Adrienne was so well aware of the vigilant and active perfidy of her +enemies, that even now she doubted of her happiness. Every instant, in +spite of herself, her eyes wandered to the clock. A few minutes more, +and the hour of the appointment would strike. It struck at last. Every +reverberation was echoed from the depth of Adrienne's heart. She +considered that Djalma's modest reserve had, doubtless, prevented his +coming before the moment fixed by herself. Far from blaming this +discretion, she fully appreciated it. But, from that moment, at the +least noise in the adjoining apartments, she held her breath and listened +with the anxiety of expectation. + +For the first few minutes which followed the hour at which she expected +Djalma, Mdlle. de Cardoville felt no serious apprehension, and calmed her +impatience by the notion (which appears childish enough to those who have +never known the feverish agitation of waiting for a happy meeting), that +perhaps the clocks in the Rue Blanche might vary a little from those in +the Rue d'Anjou. But when this supposed variation, conceivable enough in +itself, could no longer explain a delay of a quarter of an hour, of +twenty minutes, of more, Adrienne felt her anxiety gradually increase. +Two or three times the young girl rose, with palpitating heart, and went +on tip-toe to listen at the door of the saloon. She heard nothing. The +clock struck half-past three. + +Unable to suppress her growing terror, and clinging to a last hope, +Adrienne returned towards the fireplace and rang the bell. After which +she endeavored to compose her features, so as to betray no outward sign +of emotion. In a few seconds, a gray-haired footman, dressed in black, +opened the door, and waited in respectful silence for the orders of his +mistress. The latter said to him, in a calm voice, "Andrew, request Hebe +to give you the smelling bottle that I left on the chimney-piece in my +room, and bring it me here." Andrew bowed; but just as he was about to +withdraw to execute Adrienne's orders, which was only a pretext to enable +her to ask a question without appearing to attach much importance to it +in her servant's eyes, already informed of the expected visit of the +prince, Mdlle. de Cardoville added, with an air of indifference. "Pray, +is that clock right?" + +Andrew drew out his watch, and replied as he cast his eyes upon it, "Yes, +mademoiselle. I set my watch by the Tuileries. It is more than half- +past three." + +"Very well--thank you!" said Adrienne kindly. + +Andrew again bowed; but, before going out, he said to Adrienne, "I forgot +to tell you, lady, that Marshal Simon called about an hour ago; but, as +you were only to be at home to Prince Djalma, we told him that you +received no company." + +"Very well," said Adrienne. With another low bow, Andrew quitted the +room, and all returned to silence. + +For the precise reason that, up to the last minute of the hour previous +to the time fixed for her interview with Djalma, the hopes of Adrienne +had not been disturbed by the slightest shadow of doubt, the +disappointment she now felt was the more dreadful. Casting a desponding +look at one of the portraits placed above her, she murmured, with a +plaintive and despairing accent, "Oh, mother!" + +Hardly had Mdlle. de Cardoville uttered the words than the windows were +slightly shaken by a carriage rolling into the courtyard. The young lady +started, and was unable to repress a low cry of joy. Her heart bounded +at the thought of meeting Djalma, for this time she felt that he was +really come. She was quite as certain of it as if she had seen him. She +resumed her seat and brushed away a tear suspended from her long +eyelashes. Her hand trembled like a leaf. The sound of several doors +opening and shutting proved that the young lady was right in her +conjecture. The gilded panels of the drawing-room door soon turned upon +their hinges, and the prince appeared. + +While a second footman ushered in Djalma, Andrew placed on a gilded +table, within reach of his mistress, a little silver salver, on which +stood the crystal smelling-bottle. Then he withdrew, and the door of the +room was closed. The prince and Mdlle. de Cardoville were left alone +together. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +ADRIENNE AND DJALMA. + +The prince had slowly approached Mdlle. de Cardoville. Notwithstanding +the impetuosity of the Oriental's passions, his uncertain and timid step- +-timid, yet graceful--betrayed his profound emotion. He did not venture +to lift his eyes to Adrienne's face; he had suddenly become very pale, +and his finely formed hands, folded over his bosom in the attitude of +adoration, trembled violently. With head bent down, he remained standing +at a little distance from Adrienne. This embarrassment, ridiculous in +any other person, appeared touching in this prince of twenty years of +age, endowed with an almost fabulous intrepidity, and of so heroic and +generous a character, that no traveller could speak of the son of Kadja- +sing without a tribute of admiration and respect. Sweet emotion! chaste +reserve! doubly interesting if we consider that the burning passions of +this youth were all the more inflammable, because they had hitherto been +held in check. + +No less embarrassed than her cousin, Adrienne de Cardoville remained +seated. Like Djalma, she cast down her eyes; but the burning blush on +her cheeks, the quick heaving of her virgin bosom, revealed an emotion +that she did not even attempt to hide. Notwithstanding the powers of her +mind, by turns gay, graceful, and witty--notwithstanding the decision of +her proud and independent character, and her complete acquaintance with +the manners of the world--Adrienne shared Djalma's simple and enchanting +awkwardness, and partook of that kind of temporary weakness, beneath +which these two pure, ardent, and loving beings appeared sinking--as if +unable to support the boiling agitation of the senses, combined with the +intoxicating excitement of the heart. And yet their eyes had not met. +Each seemed to fear the first electric shock of the other's glance--that +invincible attraction of two impassioned beings--that sacred fire, which +suddenly kindles the blood, and lifts two mortals from earth to heaven; +for it is to approach the Divinity to give one's self up with religious +fervor to the most noble and irresistible sentiment that He has implanted +within us--the only sentiment that, in His adorable wisdom, the Dispenser +of all good has vouchsafed to sanctify, by endowing it with a spark of +His own creative energy. + +Djalma was the first to raise his eyes. They were moist and sparkling. +The excitement of passionate love, the burning ardor of his age, so long +repressed, the intense admiration in which he held ideal beauty, were all +expressed in his look, mingled with respectful timidity, and gave to the +countenance of this youth an undefinable, irresistible character. Yes, +irresistible!--for, when Adrienne encountered his glance, she trembled in +every limb, and felt herself attracted by a magnetic power. Already, her +eyes were heavy with a kind of intoxicating languor, when, by a great +effort of will and dignity, she succeeded in overcoming this delicious +confusion, rose from her chair, and said to Djalma in a trembling voice: +"Prince, I am happy to receive you here." Then, pointing to one of the +portraits suspended above her, she added, as if introducing him to a +living person: "Prince--my mother!" + +With an instinct of rare delicacy, Adrienne had thus summoned her mother +to be present at her interview with Djalma. It seemed a security for +herself and the prince, against the seductions of a first interview-- +which was likely to be all the more perilous, that they both knew +themselves madly loved that they both were free, and had only to answer +to Providence for the treasures of happiness and enjoyment with which He +had so magnificently endowed them. The prince understood Adrienne's +thoughts; so that, when the young lady pointed to the portrait, Djalma, +by a spontaneous movement full of grace and simplicity, knelt down before +the picture, and said to it in a gentle, but manly voice: "I will love +and revere you as my mother. And, in thought, my mother too shall be +present, and stand like you, beside your child!" + +No better answer could have been given to the feeling which induced +Mdlle. de Cardoville to place herself, as it were, under the protection +of her mother. From that moment, confident in Djalma, confident in +herself, the young lady felt more at her ease, and the delicious sense of +happiness replaced those exciting emotions, which had at first so +violently agitated her. + +Then, seating herself once more, she said to Djalma, as she pointed to +the opposite chair: "Pray take a seat, my dear cousin; and allow me to +call you so, for there is too much ceremony in the word prince; and do +you call me cousin also, for I find other names too grave. Having +settled this point, we can talk together like old friends." + +"Yes cousin," answered Djalma, blushing. + +"And, as frankness is proper between friends," resumed Adrienne, "I have +first to make you a reproach," she added, with a half-smile. + +The prince had remained standing, with his arm resting on the chimney- +piece, in an attitude full of grace and respect. + +"Yes, cousin," continued Adrienne, "a reproach, that you will perhaps +forgive me for making. I had expected you a little sooner." + +"Perhaps, cousin, you may blame me for having come so soon." + +"What do you mean?" + +"At the moment when I left home, a man, whom I did not know, approached +my carriage, and said to me, with such an air of sincerity that I +believed him: 'You are able to save the life of a person who has been a +second father to you. Marshal Simon is in great danger, and, to rescue +him, you must follow me on the instant--'" + +"It was a snare," cried Adrienne, hastily. "Marshal Simon was here, +scarcely an hour ago." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Djalma, joyfully, and as if he had been relieved from +a great weight. "Then there will be nothing to sadden this happy day!" + +"But, cousin," resumed Adrienne, "how came you not to suspect this +emissary?" + +"Some words, which afterwards escaped from him, inspired me with doubts," +answered Djalma: "but at first I followed him, fearing the marshal might +be in danger--for I know that he also has enemies." + +"Now that I reflect on it, you were quite right, cousin, for some new +plot against the marshal was probable enough; and the least doubt was +enough to induce you to go to him." + +"I did so--even though you were waiting for me." + +"It was a generous sacrifice; and my esteem for you is increased by it, +if it could be increased," said Adrienne, with emotion. "But what became +of this man?" + +"At my desire, he got into the carriage with me. Anxious about the +marshal, and in despair at seeing the time wasted, that I was to have +passed with you, cousin, I pressed him with all sorts of questions. +Several times, he replied to me with embarrassment, and then the idea +struck me that the whole might be a snare. Remembering all that they had +already attempted, to ruin me in your opinion, I immediately changed my +course. The vexation of the man who accompanied me then because so +visible, that I ought to have had no doubt upon the subject. Still, when +I thought of Marshal Simon, I felt a kind of vague remorse, which you, +cousin, have now happily set at rest." + +"Those people are implacable!" said Adrienne; "but our happiness will be +stronger than their hate." + +After a moment's silence, she resumed, with her habitual frankness: "My +dear cousin, it is impossible for me to conceal what I have at heart. +Let us talk for a few seconds of the past, which was made so painful to +us, and then we will forget it forever, like an evil dream." + +"I will answer you sincerely, at the risk of injuring myself," said the +prince. + +"How could you make up your mind to exhibit yourself in public with--?" + +"With that young girl?" interrupted Djalma. + +"Yes, cousin," replied Mdlle. de Cardoville, and she waited for Djalma's +answer with anxious curiosity. + +"A stranger to the customs of this country," said Djalma, without any +embarrassment, for he spoke the truth, "with a mind weakened with +despair, and misled by the fatal counsels of a man devoted to my enemies, +I believed, even as I was told, that, by displaying before you the +semblance of another love, I should excite your jealousy, and thus--" + +"Enough, cousin; I understand it all," said Adrienne hastily, +interrupting Djalma in her turn, that she might spare him a painful +confession. "I too must have been blinded by despair, not to have seen +through this wicked plot, especially after your rash and intrepid action. +To risk death for the sake of my bouquet!" added Adrienne, shuddering at +the mere remembrance. "But one last question," she resumed, "though I am +already sure of your answer. Did you receive a letter that I wrote to +you, on the morning of the day in which I saw you at the theatre?" + +Djalma made no reply. A dark cloud passed over his fine countenance, +and, for a second, his features assumed so menacing an expression, that +Adrienne was terrified at the effect produced by her words. But this +violent agitation soon passed away, and Djalma's brow became once more +calm and serene. + +"I have been more merciful that I thought," said the prince to Adrienne, +who looked at him with astonishment. "I wished to come hither worthy of +you, my cousin. I pardoned the man who, to serve my enemies, had given +me all those fatal counsels. The same person, I am sure, must have +intercepted your letter. Just now, at the memory of the evils he thus +caused me, I, for a moment, regretted my clemency. But then, again, I +thought of your letter of yesterday--and my anger is all gone." + +"Then the sad time of fear and suspicion is over--suspicion, that made me +doubt of your sentiments, and you of mine. Oh, yes! far removed from us +be that fatal past!" cried Adrienne de Cardoville, with deep joy.. + +Then, as if she had relieved her heart from the last thought of sadness, +she continued: "The future is all your own--the radiant future, without +cloud or obstacle, pure in the immensity of its horizon, and extending +beyond the reach of sight!" + +It is impossible to describe the tone of enthusiastic hope which +accompanied these words. But suddenly Adrienne's features assumed an +expression of touching melancholy, and she added, in a voice of profound +emotion: "And yet--at this hour--so many unfortunate creatures suffer +pain!" + +This simple touch of pity for the misfortunes of others, at the moment +when the noble maiden herself attained to the highest point of happiness, +had such an effect on Djalma, that involuntarily he fell on his knees +before Adrienne, clasped his hands together, and turned towards her his +fine countenance, with an almost daring expression. Then, hiding his +face in his hands, he bowed his head without speaking a single word. +There was a moment of deep silence. Adrienne was the first to break it, +as she saw a tear steal through the slender fingers of the prince. + +"My friend! what is the matter?" she exclaimed, as with a movement rapid +as thought, she stooped forward, and taking hold of Djalma's hands, drew +them from before his face. That face was bathed in tears. + +"You weep!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, so much agitated that she kept +the hands of Djalma in her own; and, unable to dry his tears, the young +Hindoo allowed them to flow like so many drops of crystal over the pale +gold of his cheeks. + +"There is not in this wide world a happiness like to mine!" said the +prince, in his soft, melodious voice, and with a kind of exhaustion: +"therefore do I feel great sadness, and so it should be. You give me +heaven--and were I to give you the whole earth, it would be but a poor +return. Alas! what can man do for a divinity, but humbly bless and +adore? He can never hope to return the gifts bestowed: and this makes +him suffer--not in his pride--but in his heart!" + +Djalma did not exaggerate. He said what he really felt: and the rather +hyperbolical form, familiar to Oriental nations, could alone express his +thought. The tone of his regret was so sincere, his humility so gentle +and full of simplicity, that Adrienne, also moved to tears, answered him +with an effusion of serious tenderness, "My friend, we are both at the +supreme point of happiness. Our future felicity appears to have no +limits, and yet, though derived from different sources, sad reflections +have come to both of us. It is, you see, that there are some sorts of +happiness, which make you dizzy with their own immensity. For a moment, +the heart, the mind, the soul, are incapable of containing so much bliss; +it overflows and drowns us. Thus the flowers sometimes hang their heads, +oppressed by the too ardent rays of the sun, which is yet their love and +life. Oh, my friend! this sadness may be great, but it also sweet!" + +As she uttered these words, the voice of Adrienne grew fainter and +fainter, and her head bowed lower, as if she were indeed sinking beneath +the weight of her happiness. Djalma had remained kneeling before her, +his hands in hers--so that as she thus bent forward, her ivory forehead +and golden hair touched the amber-colored brow and ebon curls of Djalma. +And the sweet, silent tears of the two young lovers flowed together, and +mingled as they fell on their clasped hands. + +Whilst this scene was passing in Cardoville House, Agricola had gone to +the Rue de Vaugirard, to deliver a letter from Adrienne to M. Hardy. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +"THE IMITATION." + +As we have already said, M. Hardy occupied a pavilion in the "Retreat" +annexed to the house in the Rue de Vaugirard, inhabited by a goodly +number of the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus. Nothing could be +calmer and more silent than this dwelling. Every one spoke in whispers, +and the servants themselves had something oily in their words, something +sanctified in their very walk. + +Like all that is subject to the chilling and destructive influences of +these men, this mournfully quiet house was entirely wanting in life and +animation. The boarders passed an existence of wearisome and icy +monotony, only broken by the use of certain devotional exercises; and +thus, in accordance with the selfish calculation of the reverend fathers, +the mind, deprived of all nourishment and all external support, soon +began to droop and pine away in solitude. The heart seemed to beat more +slowly, the soul was benumbed, the character weakened; at last, all +freewill, all power of discrimination, was extinguished, and the +boarders, submitting to the same process of self-annihilation as the +novices of the Company, became, like them, mere "corpses" in the hands of +the brotherhood. + +The object of these manoeuvres was clear and simple. They secured the +means of obtaining all kinds of donations, the constant aim of the +skillful policy and merciless cupidity of these priests. By the aid of +enormous sums, of which they thus become the possessors or the trustees, +they follow out and obtain the success of their projects, even though +murder, incendiarism, revolt, and all the horrors of civil war, excited +by and through them, should drench in blood the lands over which they +seek to extend their dark dominion. + +Such, then, was the asylum of peace and innocence in which Francois Hardy +had taken refuge. He occupied the ground-floor of a summer-house, which +opened upon a portion of the garden. His apartments had been judiciously +chosen, for we know with what profound and diabolical craft the reverend +fathers avail themselves of material influences, to make a deep +impression upon the minds they are moulding to their purpose. Imagine a +prospect bounded by a high wall, of a blackish gray, half-covered with +ivy, the plant peculiar to ruins. A dark avenue of old yew-trees, so fit +to shade the grave with their sepulchral verdure, extended from this wall +to a little semicircle, in front of the apartment generally occupied by +M. Hardy. Two or three mounds of earth, bordered with box, symmetrically +cut, completed the charms of this garden, which in every respect +resembled a cemetery. + +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Though the April sun shone +brightly, its rays, intercepted by the high wall of which we have spoken, +could not penetrate into that portion of the garden, obscure, damp, and +cold as a cavern, which communicated with M. Hardy's apartment. The room +was furnished with a perfect sense of the comfortable. A soft carpet +covered the floor; thick curtains of dark green baize, the same color as +the walls, sheltered an excellent bed, and hung in folds about the glass- +door, which opened on the garden. Some pieces of mahogany furniture, +plain, but very clean and bright, stood round the room. Above the +secretary, placed just in front of the bed, was a large ivory crucifix, +upon a black velvet ground. The chimney-piece was adorned with a clock, +in an ebony case, with ivory ornaments representing all sorts of gloomy +emblems, such as hour-glasses, scythes, death's-heads, etc. Now imagine +this scene in twilight, with its solitary and mournful silence, only +broken at the hour of prayer by the lugubrious sound of the bells of the +neighboring chapel, and you will recognize the infernal skill, with which +these dangerous priests know how to turn to account every external +object, when they wish to influence the mind of those they are anxious to +gain over. + +And this was not all. After appealing to the senses, it was necessary to +address themselves to the intellect--and this was the method adopted by +the reverend fathers. A single book--but one--was left, as if by chance, +within reach. This book was Thomas a Kempis' "Imitation." But as it +might happen that M. Hardy would not have the courage or the desire to +read this book, thoughts and reflections borrowed from its merciless +pages, and written in very large characters, were suspended in black +frames close to the bed, or at other parts within sight, so that, +involuntarily, in the sad leisure of his inactive dejection, the +dweller's eyes were almost necessarily attracted by them. To that fatal +circle of despairing thoughts they confined the already weakened mind of +this unfortunate man, so long a prey to the most acute sorrow. What he +read mechanically, every instant of the day and night, whenever the +blessed sleep fled from his eyes inflamed with tears, was not enough +merely to plunge the soul of the victim into incurable despair, but also +to reduce him to the corpse-like obedience required by the Society of +Jesus. In that awful book may be found a thousand terrors to operate on +weak minds, a thousand slavish maxims to chain and degrade the +pusillanimous soul. + +And now imagine M. Hardy carried wounded into this house; while his +heart, torn by bitter grief and the sense of horrible treachery, bled +even faster than his external injuries. Attended with the utmost care, +and thanks to the acknowledged skill of Dr. Baleinier, M. Hardy soon +recovered from the hurts he had received when he threw himself into the +embers of his burning factory. Yet, in order to favor the projects of +the reverend fathers, a drug, harmless enough in its effects, but +destined to act for a time upon the mind of the patient, and often +employed for that purpose in similar important cases by the pious doctor, +was administered to Hardy, and had kept him pretty long in a state of +mental torpor. To a soul agonized by cruel deceptions, it appears an +inestimable benefit to be plunged into that kind of torpor, which at +least prevents one from dwelling upon the past. + +Hardy resigned himself entirely to this profound apathy, and at length +came to regard it as the supreme good. Thus do unfortunate wretches, +tortured by cruel diseases, accept with gratitude the opiate which kills +them slowly, but which at least deadens the sense of pain. + +In sketching the portrait of M. Hardy, we tried to give some idea of the +exquisite delicacy of his tender soul, of his painful susceptibility with +regard to anything base or wicked, and of his extreme goodness, +uprightness, and generosity. We now allude to these admirable qualities, +because we must observe, that with him, as with almost all who possess +them, they were not, and could not be, united with an energetic and +resolute character. Admirably persevering in good deeds, the influence +of this excellent man, was insinuating rather than commanding; it was not +by the bold energy and somewhat overbearing will, peculiar to other men +of great and noble heart, that Hardy had realized the prodigy of his +Common Dwelling-house; it was by affectionate persuasion, for with him +mildness took the place of force. At sight of any baseness or injustice, +he did not rouse himself, furious and threatening; but he suffered +intense pain. He did not boldly attack the criminal, but he turned away +from him in pity and sorrow. And then his loving heart, so full of +feminine delicacy, had an irresistible longing for the blessed contact of +dear affections; they alone could keep it alive. Even as a poor, frail +bird dies with the cold, when it can no longer lie close to its brethren, +and receive and communicate the sweet warmth of the maternal nest. And +now this sensitive organization, this extremely susceptible nature, +receives blow after blow from sorrows and deceptions, one of which would +suffice to shake, if it did not conquer, the firmest and most resolute +character. Hardy's best friend has infamously betrayed him. His adored +mistress has abandoned him. + +The house which he had founded for the benefit of his workmen, whom he +loved as brethren, is reduced to a heap of ashes. What then happens? +All the springs of his soul are at once broken. Too feeble to resist +such frightful attacks, too fatally deceived to seek refuge in other +affections, too much discouraged to think of laying the first stone of +any new edifice--this poor heart, isolated from every salutary influence, +finds oblivion of the world and of itself in a kind of gloomy torpor. +And if some remaining instincts of life and affection, at long intervals, +endeavored to rouse themselves within him, and if, half-opening his +mind's eye, which he had kept closed against the present, the past, and +the future, Hardy looks around him--what does he see? Only these +sentences, so full of terrible despair: + +"Thou art nothing but dust and ashes. Grief and tears art thy portion. +Believe not in any son of man. There are no such things as friendship or +ties of kindred. All human affections are false. Die in the morning, +and thou wilt be forgotten before night. Be humble--despise thyself--and +let others despise thee. Think not, reason not, live not--but commit thy +fate to the hands of a superior, who will think and reason for thee. +Weep, suffer, think upon death. Yes, death! always death--that should be +thy thought when thou thinkest--but it is better not to think at all. +Let a feeling of ceaseless woe prepare thy way to heaven. It is only by +sorrow that we are welcome to the terrible God whom we adore!" + +Such were the consolations offered to this unfortunate man. Affrighted, +he again closed his eyes, and fell back into his lethargy. As for +leaving this gloomy retreat, he could not, or rather he did not desire to +do so. He had lost the power of will; and then, it must be confessed, he +had finished by getting accustomed to this house, and liked it well--they +paid him such discreet attentions, and yet left him so much alone with +his grief--there reigned all around such a death-like silence, which +harmonized closely with the silence of his heart; and that was now the +tomb of his last love, last friendship, last hope. All energy was dead +within him! Then began that slow, but inevitable transformation, so +judiciously foreseen by Rodin, who directed the whole of this +machination, even in its smallest details. At first alarmed by the +dreadful maxims which surrounded him, M. Hardy had at length accustomed +himself to read them over almost mechanically, just as the captive, in +his mournful hours of leisure, counts the nails in the door of his +prison, or the bars of the grated window. This was already a great point +gained by the reverend fathers. + +And soon his weakened mind was struck with the apparent correctness of +these false and melancholy aphorisms. + +Thus he read: "Do not count upon the affection of any human creature"-- +and he had himself been shamefully betrayed. + +"Man is born to sorrow and despair"--and he was himself despairing. + +"There is no rest save in the cessation of thought"--and the slumber of +his mind had brought some relief to his pain. + +Peepholes, skillfully concealed by the hangings and in the wainscoting of +these apartments, enabled the reverend fathers at all times to see and +hear the boarders, and above all to observe their countenance and manner, +when they believed themselves to be alone. Every exclamation of grief +which escaped Hardy in his gloomy solitude, was repeated to Father +d'Aigrigny by a mysterious listener. The reverend father, following +scrupulously Rodin's instructions, had at first visited his boarder very +rarely. We have said, that when Father d'Aigrigny wished it, he could +display an almost irresistible power of charming, and accordingly he +threw all his tact and skill into the interviews he had with Hardy, when +he came from time to time to inquire after his health. Informed of +everything by his spies, and aided by his natural sagacity, he soon saw +all the use that might be made of the physical and moral prostration of +the boarder. Certain beforehand that Hardy would not take the hint, he +spoke to him frequently of the gloom of the house, advising him +affectionately to leave it, if he felt oppressed by its monotony, or at +all events to seek beyond its walls for some pleasure and amusement. To +speak of pleasure and amusement to this unfortunate man, was in his +present state to insure a refusal, and so it of course happened. Father +d'Aigrigny did not at first try to gain the recluse's confidence, nor did +he speak to him of sorrow; but every time he came, he appeared to take +such a tender interest in him, and showed it by a few simple and well- +timed words. By degrees, these interviews, at first so rare, became more +frequent and longer. Endowed with a flow of honeyed, insinuating, and +persuasive eloquence, Father d'Aigrigny naturally took for his theme +those gloomy maxims, to which Hardy's attention was now so often +directed. + +Supple, prudent, skillful, knowing that the hermit had hitherto professed +that generous natural religion which teaches the grateful adoration of +God, the love of humanity, the worship of what is just and good, and +which, disdaining dogmas, professes the same veneration for Marcus +Aurelius as for Confucius, for Plato as for Christ, for Moses as for +Lycurgus--Father d'Aigrigny did not at first attempt to convert him, but +began by incessantly reminding him of the abominable deceptions practised +upon him; and, instead of describing such treachery as an exception in +life--instead of trying to calm, encourage, and revive his drooping soul- +-instead of exhorting Hardy to seek oblivion and consolation in the +discharge of his duties toward humanity, towards his brethren, whom he +had previously loved and succored--Father d'Aigrigny strove to inflame +the bleeding wounds of the unfortunate man, painted the human race in the +most atrocious blackness, and, by declaring all men treacherous, +ungrateful, wicked, succeeded in rendering his despair incurable. Having +attained this object, the Jesuit took another step. Knowing Hardy's +admirable goodness of heart, and profiting by the weakened state of his +mind, he spoke to him of the consolation to be derived by a man +overwhelmed with sorrow, from the belief that every one of his tears, +instead of being unfruitful, was in fact agreeable to God, and might aid +in the salvation of souls--the belief, as the reverend father adroitly +added, that by faith alone can sorrow be made useful to humanity, and +acceptable to Divinity. + +Whatever impiety, whatever atrocious Machiavelism there was in these +detestable maxims, which make of a loving-kind Deity a being delighted +with the tears of his creatures, was thus skillfully concealed from +Hardy's eyes, whose generous instincts were still alive. Soon did this +loving and tender soul, whom unworthy priests were driving to a sort of +moral suicide, find a mournful charm in the fiction, that his sorrows +would at least be profitable to other men. It was at first only a +fiction; but the enfeebled mind which takes pleasure in such a fable, +finishes by receiving it as a reality, and by degrees will submit to the +consequences. Such was Hardy's moral and physical state, when, by means +of a servant who had been bought over, he received from Agricola Baudoin +a letter requesting an interview. Alone, the workman could not have +broken the band of the Jesuit's pleadings, but he was accompanied by +Gabriel, whose eloquence and reasonings were of a most convincing nature +to a spirit like Hardy's. + +It is unnecessary to point out to the reader, with what dignified reserve +Gabriel had confined himself to the most generous means of rescuing Hardy +from the deadly influence of the reverend fathers. It was repugnant to +the great soul of the young missionary, to stoop to a revelation of the +odious plots of these priests. He would only have taken this extreme +course, had his powerful and sympathetic words have failed to have any +effect on Hardy's blindness. About a quarter of an hour had elapsed +since Gabriel's departure, when the servant appointed to wait on this +boarder of the reverend fathers entered and delivered to him a letter. + +"From whom is this?" asked Hardy. + +"From a boarder in the house, sir," answered the servant bowing. + +This man had a crafty hypocritical face; he wore his hair combed over his +forehead, spoke in a low voice, and always cast clown his eyes. Waiting +the answer, he joined his hands, and began to twiddle his thumbs. Hardy +opened the letter, and read as follows: + +"SIR,--I have only just heard, by mere chance, that you also inhabit this +respectable house: a long illness, and the retirement in which I live, +will explain my ignorance of your being so near. Though we have only met +once, sir, the circumstance which led to that meeting was of so serious a +nature, that I cannot think you have forgotten it." + +Hardy stopped, and tasked his memory for an explanation, and not finding +anything to put him on the right track, he continued to read: + +"This circumstance excited in me a feeling of such deep and respectful +sympathy for you, sir, that I cannot resist my anxious desire to wait +upon you, particularly as I learn, that you intend leaving this house to- +day--a piece of information I have just derived from the excellent and +worthy Abbe Gabriel, one of the men I most love, esteem, and reverence. +May I venture to hope, sir, that just at the moment of quitting our +common retreat to return to the world, you will deign to receive +favorably the request, however intrusive, of a poor old man, whose life +will henceforth be passed in solitude, and who cannot therefore have any +prospect of meeting you, in that vortex of society which he has abandoned +forever. Waiting the honor of your answer, I beg you to accept, sir, the +assurance of the sentiments of high esteem with which I remain, sir, with +the deepest respect, + +"Your very humble and most obedient servant, + +"RODIN." + + +After reading this letter and the signature of the writer, Hardy remained +for some time in deep thought, without being able to recollect the name +of Rodin, or to what serious circumstances he alluded. + +After a silence of some duration, he said to the servant "M. Rodin gave +you this letter?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"And who is M. Rodin?" + +"A good old gentleman, who is just recovering from a long illness, that +almost carried him off. Lately, he has been getting better, but he is +still so weak and melancholy, that it makes one sad to see him. It is a +great pity, for there is not a better and more worthy gentleman in the +house--unless it be you, sir," added the servant, bowing with an air of +flattering respect. + +"M. Rodin;" said Hardy, thoughtfully. "It is singular, that I should not +remember the name nor any circumstance connected with it." + +"If you will give me your answer, sir," resumed the servant, "I will take +it to M. Rodin. He is now with Father d'Aigrigny, to whom he is bidding +farewell." + +"Farewell?" + +"Yes, sir, the post-horses have just come." + +"Post-horses for whom?" asked Hardy. + +"For Father d'Aigrigny, sir." + +"He is going on a journey then!" said Hardy, with some surprise. + +"Oh! he will not, I think be long absent," said the servant, with a +confidential air, "for the reverend father takes no one with him, and but +very light luggage. No doubt, the reverend father will come to say +farewell to you, sir, before he starts. But what answer shall I give M. +Rodin?" + +The letter, just received, was couched in such polite terms--it spoke of +Gabriel with so much respect--that Hardy, urged moreover by a natural +curiosity, and seeing no motive to refuse this interview before quitting +the house, said to the servant: "Please tell M. Rodin, that if he will +give himself the trouble to come to me, I shall be glad to see him." + +"I will let him know immediately, sir," answered the servant, bowing as +he left the room. + +When alone, Hardy, while wondering who this M. Rodin could be, began to +make some slight preparations for his departure. For nothing in the +world would he have passed another night in this house; and, in order to +keep up his courage, he recalled every instant the mild, evangelical +language of Gabriel, just as the superstitious recite certain litanies, +with a view of escaping from temptation. + +The servant soon returned, and said: "M. Rodin is here, sir." + +"Beg him to walk in." + +Rodin entered, clad in his long black dressing-gown, and with his old +silk cap in his hand. The servant then withdrew. The day was just +closing. Hardy rose to meet Rodin, whose features he did not at first +distinguish. But as the reverend father approached the window, Hardy +looked narrowly at him for an instant, and then uttered an exclamation, +wrung from him by surprise and painful remembrance. But, recovering +himself from this first movement, Hardy said to the Jesuit, in an +agitated voice: "You here, sir? Oh, you are right! It was indeed a very +serious circumstance that first brought us together." + +"Oh, my dear sir!" said Rodin, in a kindly and unctuous tone; "I was sure +you would not have forgotten me." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +PRAYER. + +It will doubtless be remembered that Rodin had gone (although a stranger +to Hardy) to visit him at his factory, and inform him of De Blessac's +shameful treachery--a dreadful blow, which had only preceded by a few +moments a second no less horrible misfortune; for it was in the presence +of Rodin that Hardy had learned the unexpected departure of the woman he +adored. Painful to him must have been the sudden appearance of Rodin. +Yes, thanks to the salutary influence of Gabriel's counsels, he recovered +himself by degrees, and the contraction of his features being succeeded +by a melancholy calm, he said to Rodin: "I did not indeed expect to meet +you, sir, in this house." + +"Alas, sir!" answered Rodin, with a sigh, "I did not expect to come +hither, probably to end my days beneath this roof, when I went, without +being acquainted with you, but only as one honest man should serve +another, to unveil to you a great infamy." + +"Indeed, sir, you then rendered me a true service; perhaps, in that +painful moment, I did not fully express my gratitude; for, at the same +moment in which you revealed to me the treachery of M. de Blessac--" + +"You were overwhelmed by another piece of painful intelligence," said +Rodin, interrupting M. Hardy; "I shall never forget the sudden arrival of +that poor woman, who, pale and affrighted, and without considering my +presence, came to inform you that a person who was exceedingly dear to +you had quitted Paris abruptly." + +"Yes, sir; and, without stopping to thank you, I set out immediately," +answered Hardy, with a mournful air. + +"Do you know, sir," said Rodin, after a moment's silence, "that there are +sometimes very strange coincidences?" + +"To what do you allude, sir?" + +"While I went to inform you that you were betrayed in +so infamous a manner--I was myself--" + +Rodin paused, as if unable to control his deep emotion, and his +countenance wore the expression of such overpowering grief that Hardy +said to him, with interest: "What ails you, sir?" + +"Forgive me," replied Rodin, with a bitter smile. "Thanks to the ghostly +counsels of the angelic Abbe Gabriel, I have reached a sort of +resignation. Still, there are certain memories which affect me with the +most acute pain. I told you," resumed Rodin, in a firmer voice, "or was +going to tell you, that the very day after that on which I informed you +of the treachery practised against you, I was myself the victim of a +frightful deception. An adopted son--a poor unfortunate child, whom I +had brought up--" He paused again, drew his trembling hand over his +eyes, and added: "Pardon me, sir, for speaking of matters which must be +indifferent to you. Excuse the intrusive sorrow of a poor, broken- +hearted old man!" + +"I have suffered too much myself, sir, to be indifferent to any kind of +sorrow," replied Hardy. "Besides, you are no stranger to me--for you did +me a real service--and we both agree in our veneration for the same young +priest." + +"The Abbe Gabriel!" cried Rodin, interrupting Hardy; "ah, sir! he is my +deliverer, my benefactor. If you knew all his care and devotion, during +my long illness, caused by intense grief--if you knew the ineffable +sweetness of his counsels--" + +"I know them, sir," cried Hardy; "oh, yes! I know how salutary is the +influence." + +"In his mouth, sir, the precepts of religion are full of mildness," +resumed Rodin, with excitement. "Do they not heal and console? do they +not make us love and hope, instead of fear and tremble?" + +"Alas, sir! in this very house," said Hardy, "I have been able to make +the comparison." + +"I was happy enough," said Rodin, "to have the angelic Abbe Gabriel for +my confessor, or, rather, my confidant." + +"Yes," replied Hardy, "for he prefers confidence to confession." + +"How well you know him!" said Rodin, in a tone of the utmost simplicity. +Then he resumed: "He is not a man but an angel. His words would convert +the most hardened sinner. Without being exactly impious, I had myself +lived in the profession of what is called Natural Religion; but the +angelic Abbe Gabriel has, by degrees, fixed my wavering belief, given it +body and soul, and, in fact, endowed me with faith." + +"Yes! he is a truly Christian priest--a priest of love and pardon!" cried +Hardy. + +"What you say is perfectly true," replied Rodin; "for I came here almost +mad with grief, thinking only of the unhappy boy who had repaid my +paternal goodness with the most monstrous ingratitude, and sometimes I +yielded to violent bursts of despair, and sometimes sank into a state of +mournful dejection, cold as the grave itself. But, suddenly, the Abbe +Gabriel appeared--and the darkness fled before the dawning of a new day." + +"You were right, sir; there are strange coincidences," said Hardy, +yielding more and more to the feeling of confidence and sympathy, +produced by the resemblance of his real position to Rodin's pretended +one. "And to speak frankly," he added, "I am very glad I have seen you +before quitting this house. Were I capable of falling back into fits of +cowardly weakness, your example alone would prevent me. Since I listen +to you, I feel myself stronger in the noble path which the angelic Abbe +Gabriel has opened before me, as you so well express it." + +"The poor old man will not then regret having listened to the first +impulse of his heart, which urged him to come to you," said Robin, with a +touching expression. "You will sometimes remember me in that world to +which you are returning?" + +"Be sure of it, sir; but allow me to ask one question: You remain, you +say, in this house?" + +"What would you have me do? There reigns here a calm repose, and one is +not disturbed in one's prayers," said Rodin, in a very gentle tone. "You +see, I have suffered so much--the conduct of that unhappy youth was so +horrible--he plunged into such shocking excesses--that the wrath of +heaven must be kindled against him. Now I am very old, and it is only by +passing the few days that are left me in fervent prayer that I can hope +to disarm the just anger of the Lord. Oh! prayer--prayer! It was the +Abbe Gabriel who revealed to me all its power and sweetness--and +therewith the formidable duties it imposes." + +"Its duties are indeed great and sacred," answered Hardy, with a pensive +air. + +"Do you remember the life of Rancey?" said Rodin, abruptly, as he darted +a peculiar glance at Hardy. + +"The founder of La Trappe?" said Hardy, surprised at Rodin's question. I +remember hearing a very vague account, some time ago, of the motives of +his conversion." + +"There is, mark you, no more striking an example of the power of prayer, +and of the state of almost divine ecstasy, to which it may lead a +religious soul. In a few words, I will relate to you this instructive +and tragic history. Rancey--but I beg your pardon; I fear I am +trespassing on your time." + +"No, no," answered Hardy, hastily; "You cannot think how interested I am +in what you tell me. My interview with the Abbe Gabriel was abruptly +broken off, and in listening to you I fancy that I hear the further +development of his views. Go on, I conjure you. + +"With all my heart. I only wish that the instruction which, thanks to +our angelic priest, I derived from the story of Rancey might be as +profitable to you as it was to me." + +"This, then, also came from the Abbe Gabriel?" + +"He related to me this kind of parable in support of his exhortations," +replied Rodin. "Oh, sir! do I not owe to the consoling words of that +young priest all that has strengthened and revived my poor old broken +heart?" + +"Then I shall listen to you with a double interest." + +"Rancey was a man of the world," resumed Rodin, as he looked attentively +at Hardy; "a gentleman--young, ardent, handsome. He loved a young lady +of high rank. I cannot tell what impediments stood in the way of their +union. But this love, though successful, was kept secret, and every +evening Rancey visited his mistress by means of a private staircase. It +was, they say, one of those passionate loves which men feel but once in +their lives. The mystery, even the sacrifice made by the unfortunate +girl, who forgot every duty, seemed to give new charms to this guilty +passion. In the silence and darkness of secrecy, these two lovers passed +two years of voluptuous delirium, which amounted almost to ecstasy." + +At these words Hardy started. For the first time of late his brow was +suffused with a deep blush; his heart throbbed violently; he remembered +that he too had once known the ardent intoxication of a guilty and hidden +love. Though the day was closing rapidly, Rodin cast a sidelong glance +at Hardy, and perceived the impression he had made. "Some times," he +continued, "thinking of the dangers to which his mistress was exposed, if +their connection should be discovered, Rancey wished to sever these +delicious ties; but the girl, beside herself with passion, threw herself +on the neck of her lover, and threatened him, in the language of intense +excitement, to reveal and to brave all, if he thought of leaving her. +Too weak and loving to resist the prayers of his mistress, Rancey again +and again yielded, and they both gave themselves up to a torrent of +delight, which carried them along, forgetful of earth and heaven!" + +M. Hardy listened to Rodin with feverish and devouring avidity. The +Jesuit, in painting, with these almost sensual colors, an ardent and +secret love, revived in Hardy burning memories, which till now had been +drowned in tears. To the beneficent calm produced by the mild language +of Gabriel had succeeded a painful agitation, which, mingled with the +reaction of the shocks received that day, began to throw his mind into a +strange state of confusion. + +Rodin, having so far succeeded in his object, continued as follows: "A +fatal day came at last. Rancey, obliged to go to the wars, quitted the +girl; but, after a short campaign, he returned, more in love than ever. +He had written privately, to say he would arrive almost immediately after +his letter. He came accordingly. It was night. He ascended, as usual, +the private staircase which led to the chamber of his mistress; he +entered the room, his heart beating with love and hope. His mistress had +died that morning!" + +"Ah!" cried Hardy, covering his face with his hands, in terror. + +"She was dead," resumed Rodin. "Two wax-candles were burning beside the +funeral couch. Rancey could not, would not believe that she was dead. +He threw himself on his knees by the corpse. In his delirium, he seized +that fair, beloved head, to cover it with kisses. The head parted from +the body, and remained in his hands! Yes," resumed Rodin as Hardy drew +back, pale and mute with terror, "yes, the girl had fallen a victim to so +swift and extraordinary a disease, that she had not been able to receive +the last sacraments. After her death, the doctors, in the hope of +discovering the cause of this unknown malady, had begun to dissect that +fair form--" + +As Rodin reached this part of his narrative, night was almost come. A +sort of hazy twilight alone reigned in this silent chamber, in the centre +of which appeared the pale and ghastly form of Rodin, clad in his long +black gown, whilst his eyes seemed to sparkle with diabolic fire. +Overcome by the violent emotions occasioned by this story, in which +thoughts of death and voluptuousness, love and horror, were so strangely +mingled, Hardy remained fixed and motionless, waiting for the words of +Rodin, with a combination of curiosity, anguish and alarm. + +"And Rancey?" said he, at last, in an agitated voice, whilst he wiped the +cold sweat from his brow. + +"After two days of furious delirium," resumed Rodin, "he renounced the +world, and shut himself up in impenetrable solitude. The first period of +his retreat was frightful; in his despair, he uttered loud yells of grief +and rage, that were audible at some distance. Twice he attempted +suicide, to escape from the terrible visions." + +"He had visions, then?" said Hardy, with an increased agony of curiosity. + +"Yes," replied Rodin, in a solemn tone, "he had fearful visions. He saw +the girl, who, for his sake, had died in mortal sin, plunged in the heat +of the everlasting flames of hell! On that fair face, disfigured by +infernal tortures, was stamped the despairing laugh of the damned! Her +teeth gnashed with pain; her arms writhed in anguish! She wept tears of +blood, and, with an agonized and avenging voice, she cried to her +seducer: 'Thou art the cause of my perdition--my curse, my curse be upon +thee!'" + +As he pronounced these last words, Rodin advanced three steps nearer to +Hardy, accompanying each step with a menacing gesture. If we remember +the state of weakness, trouble, and fear, in which M. Hardy was--if we +remember that the Jesuit had just roused in the soul of this unfortunate +man all the sensual and spiritual memories of a love, cooled, but not +extinguished, in tears--if we remember, too, that Hardy reproached +himself with the seduction of a beloved object, whom her departure from +her duties might (according to the Catholic faith) doom to everlasting +flames--we shall not wonder at the terrible effect of this +phantasmagoria, conjured up in silence and solitude, in the evening dusk, +by this fearful priest. + +The effect on Hardy was indeed striking, and the more dangerous, that the +Jesuit, with diabolical craft, seemed only to be carrying out, from +another point of view, the ideas of Gabriel. Had not the young priest +convinced Hardy that nothing is sweeter, than to ask of heaven +forgiveness for those who have sinned, or whom we have led astray? But +forgiveness implies punishment; and it was to the punishment alone that +Rodin drew the attention of his victim, by painting it in these terrible +hues. With hands clasped together, and eye fixed and dilated, Hardy +trembled in all his limbs, and seemed still listening to Rodin, though +the latter had ceased to speak. Mechanically, he repeated: "My curse, my +curse be upon thee?" + +Then suddenly he exclaimed, in a kind of frenzy: "The curse is on me +also! The woman, whom I taught to forget her sacred duties, and to +commit mortal sin--one day plunged in the everlasting flames--her arms +writhing in agony--weeping tears of blood--will cry to me from the +bottomless pit: 'My curse, my curse be upon thee!'--One day," he added, +with redoubled terror, "one day?--who knows? perhaps at this moment!--for +if the sea voyage had been fatal to her--if a shipwreck--oh, God! she too +would have died in mortal sin--lost, lost, forever!--Oh, have mercy on +her, my God! Crush me in Thy wrath--but have mercy on her--for I alone am +guilty!" + +And the unfortunate man, almost delirious, sank with clasped hands upon +the ground. + +"Sir," cried Rodin, in an affectionate voice, as he hastened to lift him +up, "my dear sir--my dear friend--be calm! Comfort yourself. I cannot +bear to see you despond. Alas! my intention was quite the contrary to +that." + +"The curse! the curse! yes, she will curse me also--she, that I loved so +much--in the everlasting flames!" murmured Hardy, shuddering, and +apparently insensible to the other's words. + +"But, my dear sir, listen to me, I entreat you," resumed the latter; "let +me finish my story, and then you will find it as consoling as it now +seems terrible. For heaven's sake, remember the adorable words of our +angelic Abbe Gabriel, with regard to the sweetness of prayer." + +At the name of Gabriel, Hardy recovered himself a little, and exclaimed, +in a heart-rending tone: "Ay! his words were sweet and beneficent. Where +are they now? For mercy's sake, repeat to me those consoling words." + +"Our angelic Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "spoke to you of the sweetness +of prayer--" + +"Oh, yes! prayer!" + +"Well, my dear sir, listen to me, and you shall see how prayer saved +Rancey, and made a saint of him. Yes, these frightful torments, that I +have just described, these threatening visions, were all conquered by +prayer, and changed into celestial delights." + +"I beg of you," said Hardy, in a faint voice, "speak to me of Gabriel, +speak to me of heaven--but no more flames--no more hell--where sinful +women weep tears of blood--" + +"No, no," replied Rodin; and even as, in describing hell, his tone had +been harsh and threatening, it now became warm and tender, as he uttered +the following words: "No; we will have no more images of despair--for, as +I have told you, after suffering infernal tortures, Rancey, thanks to the +power of prayer, enjoyed the delights of paradise." + +"The delights of paradise?" repeated Hardy, listening with anxious +attention. + +"One day, at the height of his grief, a priest, a good priest--another +Abbe Gabriel--came to Rancey. Oh, happiness! oh, providential change! +In a few days, he taught the sufferer the sacred mysteries of prayer-- +that pious intercession of the creature, addressed to the Creator, in +favor of a soul exposed to the wrath of heaven. Then Rancey seemed +transformed. His grief was at once appeased. He prayed; and the more he +prayed, the greater was his hope. He felt that God listened to his +prayer. Instead of trying to forget his beloved, he now thought of her +constantly, and prayed for her salvation. Happy in his obscure cell, +alone with that adored remembrance, he passed days and nights in praying +for her--plunged in an ineffable, burning, I had almost said amorous +ecstasy." + +It is impossible to give an idea of the tone of almost sensual energy +with which Rodin pronounced the word "amorous." Hardy started, changing +from hot to cold. For the first time, his weakened mind caught a glimpse +of the fatal pleasures of asceticism, and of that deplorable catalepsy, +described in the lives of St. Theresa, St. Aubierge and others. + +Rodin perceived the other's thoughts, and continued "Oh, Rancey was not +now the man to content himself with a vague, passing prayer, uttered in +the whirl of the world's business, which swallows it up, and prevents it +from reaching the ear of heaven. No, no; in the depth of solitude, he +endeavored to make his prayers even more efficacious, so ardently did he +desire the eternal salvation of his mistress." + +"What did he do then--oh! what did he do in his solitude?" cried Hardy, +who was now powerless in the hands of the Jesuit. + +"First of all," said Rodin, with a slight emphasis, "he became a monk." + +"A monk!" repeated Hardy, with a pensive air. + +"Yes," resumed Rodin, "he became a monk, because his prayers were thus +more likely to be favorably accepted. And then, as in solitude our +thoughts are apt to wander, he fasted, and mortified his flesh, and +brought into subjection all that was carnal within him, so that, becoming +all spirit, his prayers might issue like a pure flame from his bosom, and +ascend like the perfume of incense to the throne of the Most High!" + +"Oh! what a delicious dream!" cried Hardy, more and more under the +influence of the spell; "to pray for the woman we have adored, and to +become spirit--perfume--light!" + +"Yes; spirit, perfume, light!" said Rodin, with emphasis. "But it is no +dream. How many monks, how many hermits, like Rancey, have, by prayers, +and austerity, and macerations, attained a divine ecstasy! and if you +only knew the celestial pleasures of such ecstasies!--Thus, after he +became a monk, the terrible dreams were succeeded by enchanting visions. +Many times, after a day of fasting, and a night passed in prayers and +macerations, Rancey sank down exhausted on the floor of his cell! Then +the spirit freed itself from the vile clogs of matter. His senses were +absorbed in pleasure; the sound of heavenly harmony struck upon his +ravished car; a bright, mild light, which was not of this world, dawned +upon his half-closed eyes; and, at the height of the melodious vibrations +of the golden harps of the Seraphim, in the centre of a glory, compared +to which the sun is pale, the monk beheld the image of that beloved +woman--" + +"Whom by his prayers he had at length rescued from the eternal flames?" +said Hardy, in a trembling voice. + +"Yes, herself," replied Rodin, with eloquent enthusiasm, for this monster +was skilled in every style of speech. "Thanks to the prayers of her +lover, which the Lord had granted, this woman no longer shed tears of +blood--no longer writhed her beautiful arms in the convulsions of +infernal anguish. No, no; still fair--oh! a thousand times fairer than +when she dwelt on earth--fair with the everlasting beauty of angels--she +smiled on her lover with ineffable ardor, and, her eyes beaming with a +mild radiance, she said to him in a tender and passionate voice: 'Glory +to the Lord! glory to thee, O my beloved! Thy prayers and austerities +have saved me. I am numbered amongst the chosen. Thanks, my beloved, +and glory!'--And therewith, radiant in her felicity, she stooped to kiss, +with lips fragrant with immortality, the lips of the enraptured monk--and +their souls mingled in that kiss, burning as love, chaste as divine grace +immense as eternity!" + +"Oh!" cried Hardy, completely beside himself; "a whole life of prayer, +fasting, torture, for such a moment--with her, whom I mourn--with her, +whom I have perhaps led to perdition!" + +"What do you say? such a moment!" cried Rodin, whose yellow forehead was +bathed in sweat like that of a magnetizer, and who now took Hardy by the +hand, and drew still closer, as if to breathe into him the burning +delirium; "it was not once in his religious life--it was almost every +day, that Rancey, plunged in divine ecstasy, enjoyed these delicious, +ineffable, superhuman pleasures, which are to the pleasures of earth what +eternity is to man's existence!" + +Seeing, no doubt, that Hardy was now at the point to which he wished to +bring him, and the night being almost entirely come, the reverend father +coughed two or three times in a significant manner, and looked towards +the door. At this moment, Hardy, in the height of his frenzy, exclaimed, +with a supplicating voice: "A cell--a tomb--and the Ecstatic Vision!" + +The door of the room opened, and Father d'Aigrigny entered, with a cloak +under his arm. A servant followed him, bearing a light. + +About ten minutes after this scene, a dozen robust men with frank, open +countenances, led by Agricola, entered the Rue de Vaugirard, and advanced +joyously towards the house of the reverend fathers. It was a deputation +from the former workmen of M. Hardy. They came to escort him, and to +congratulate him on his return amongst them. Agricola walked at their +head. Suddenly he saw a carriage with post-horses issuing from the +gateway of the house. The postilion whipped up the horses, and they +started at full gallop. Was it chance or instinct? The nearer the +carriage approached the group of which he formed a part, the more did +Agricola's heart sink within him. + +The impression became so vivid that it was soon changed into a terrible +apprehension; and at the moment when the vehicle, which had its blinds +down, was about to pass close by him, the smith, in obedience to a +resistless impulse, exclaimed, as he rushed to the horses' heads: "Help, +friends! stop them!" + +"Postilion! ten louis if you ride over him!" cried from the carriage the +military voice of Father d'Aigrigny. + +The cholera was still raging. The postilion had heard of the murder of +the poisoners. Already frightened at the sudden attack of Agricola, he +struck him a heavy blow on the head with the butt of his whip which +stretched him senseless on the ground. Then, spurring with all his +might, he urged his three horses into a triple gallop, and the carriage +rapidly disappeared, whilst Agricola's companions, who had neither +understood his actions nor the sense of his words, crowded around the +smith, and did their best to revive him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +REMEMBRANCES. + +Other events took place a few days after the fatal evening in which M. +Hardy, fascinated and misled by the deplorable, mystic jargon of Rodin, +had implored Father d'Aigrigny on his knees to remove him far from Paris, +into some deep solitude where he might devote himself to a life of prayer +and ascetic austerities. Marshal Simon, since his arrival in Paris, had +occupied, with his two daughters, a house in the Rue des Trois-Freres. +Before introducing the reader into this modest dwelling, we are obliged +to recall to his memory some preceding facts. The day of the burning of +Hardy 's factory, Marshal Simon had come to consult with his father on a +question of the highest importance, and to communicate to him his painful +apprehensions on the subject of the growing sadness of his twin +daughters, which he was unable to explain. + +Marshal Simon held in religious reverence the memory of the Great +Emperor. His gratitude to the hero was boundless, his devotion blind, +his enthusiasm founded upon reason, his affection warm as the most +sincere and passionate friendship. But this was not all. + +One day the emperor, in a burst of joy and paternal tenderness, had led +the marshal to the cradle of the sleeping King of Rome, and said to him, +as he proudly pointed to the beautiful child: "My old friend, swear to me +that you will serve the son as you have served the father!" + +Marshal Simon took and kept that vow. During the Restoration, the chief +of a military conspiracy in favor of Napoleon II., he had attempted in +vain to secure a regiment of cavalry, at that time commanded by the +Marquis d'Aigrigny. Betrayed and denounced, the marshal, after a +desperate duel with the future Jesuit, had succeeded in reaching Poland, +and thus escaping a sentence of death. It is useless to repeat the +series of events which led the marshal from Poland to India, and then +brought him back to Paris after the Revolution of July--an epoch at which +a number of his old comrades in arms had solicited and obtained from the +government, without his knowledge, the confirmation of the rank and title +which the emperor had bestowed upon him just before Waterloo. + +On his return to Paris, after his long exile, in spite of all the +happiness he felt in at length embracing his children, Marshal Simon was +deeply affected on learning the death of their mother, whom he adored. +Till the last moment, he had hoped to find her in Paris. The +disappointment was dreadful, and he felt it cruelly, though he sought +consolation in his children's affection. + +But soon new causes of trouble and anxiety were interwoven with his life +by the machinations of Rodin. Thanks to the secret intrigues of the +reverend father at the Courts of Rome and Vienna, one of his emissaries, +in a condition to inspire full confidence, and provided with undeniable +evidence to support his words, went to Marshal Simon, and said to him: +"The son of the emperor is dying, the victim of the fears with which the +name of Napoleon still inspires Europe. + +"From this slow expiring, you, Marshal Simon, one of the emperor's most +faithful friends, are able to rescue this unfortunate prince. + +"The correspondence in my hand proves that it would be easy to open +relations, of the surest and most secret nature, with one of the most +influential persons about the King of Rome, and this person would be +disposed to favor the prince's escape. + +"It is possible, by a bold, unexpected stroke, to deliver Napoleon II. +from the custody of Austria, which would leave him to perish by inches in +an atmosphere that is fatal to him. + +"The enterprise may be a rash one, but it has chances of success that you +Marshal Simon, more than any other, could change into certainties; for +your devotion to the emperor is well known, and we remember with what +adventurous audacity you conspired, in 1815, in favor of Napoleon II." + +The state of languor and decline of the King of Rome was then in France a +matter of public notoriety. People even went so far as to affirm that +the son of the hero was carefully trained by priests, who kept him in +complete ignorance of the glory of his paternal name; and that, by the +most execrable machinations, they strove day by day to extinguish every +noble and generous instinct that displayed itself in the unfortunate +youth. The coldest hearts were touched and softened at the story of so +sad and fatal a destiny. When we remember the heroic character and +chivalrous loyalty of Marshal Simon, and his passionate devotion to the +emperor, we can understand how the father of Rose and Blanche was more +interested than any one else in the fate of the young prince, and how, if +occasion offered, he would feel himself obliged not to confine his +efforts to mere regrets. With regard to the reality of the +correspondence produced by Rodin's emissary, it had been submitted by the +marshal to a searching test, by means of his intimacy with one of his old +companions in arms, who had been for a long period on a mission to +Vienna, in the time of the empire. The result of this investigation, +conducted with as much prudence as address, so that nothing should +transpire, showed that the marshal might give his serious attention to +the advances made him. + +Hence, this proposition threw the father of Rose and Blanche into a cruel +perplexity; for, to attempt so bold and dangerous an enterprise, he must +once more abandon his children; whilst, on the contrary, if, alarmed at +this separation, he renounced the endeavor to save the King of Rome, +whose lingering death was perfectly true and well authenticated, the +marshal would consider himself as false to the vow he had sworn to the +emperor. To end these painful hesitations, full of confidence in the +inflexible uprightness of his father's character, the marshal had gone to +ask his advice; unfortunately the old republican workman, mortally +wounded during the attack on M. Hardy's factory, but still pondering over +the serious communication of his son, died with these words upon his +Lips: "My son, you have a great duty to perform, under pain of not acting +like a man of honor, and of disobeying my last will. You must, without +hesitation--" + +But, by a deplorable fatality, the last words, which would have completed +the sense of the old workman's thought, were spoken in so feeble a voice +as to be quite unintelligible. He died, leaving Marshal Simon in a worse +state of anxiety, as one of the two courses open to him had now been +formally condemned by his father, in whose judgment he had the most +implicit and merited confidence. In a word, his mind was now tortured by +the doubt whether his father had intended, in the name of honor and duty, +to advise him not to abandon his children, to engage in so hazardous an +enterprise, or whether, on the contrary, he had wished him to leave them +for a time, to perform the vow made to the emperor, and endeavor at least +to rescue Napoleon II. from a captivity that might soon be mortal. + +This perplexity, rendered more cruel by certain circumstances, to be +related hereafter, the tragical death of his father, who had expired in +his arms; the incessant and painful remembrance of his wife, who had +perished in a land of exile; and finally, the grief he felt at perceiving +the overgrowing sadness of Rose and Blanche, occasioned severe shocks to +Marshal Simon. Let us add that, in spite of his natural intrepidity, so +nobly proved by twenty years of war, the ravages of the cholera, the same +terrible malady to which his wife had fallen a victim in Siberia, filled +the marshal with involuntary dread. Yes, this man of iron nerves, who +had coolly braved death in so many battles, felt the habitual firmness of +his character give way at sight of the scenes of desolation and mourning +which Paris offered at every step. Yet, when Mdlle. de Cardoville +gathered round her the members of her family, to warn them against the +plot of their enemies, the affectionate tenderness of Adrienne for Rose +and Blanche appeared to exercise so happy an influence on their +mysterious sorrow, that the marshal, forgetting for a moment his fatal +regrets, thought only of enjoying this blessed change, which, alas! was +but of short duration. Having now recalled these facts to the mind of +the reader, we shall continue our story. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE BLOCKHEAD + +We have stated that Marshal Simon occupied a small house in the Rue des +Trois-Freres. Two o'clock in the afternoon had just struck in the +marshal's sleeping-chamber, a room furnished with military simplicity. +In the recess, in which stood the bed, hung a trophy composed of the arms +used by the marshal during his campaigns. On the secretary opposite was +a small bronze bust of the emperor, the only ornament of the apartment. +Out of doors the temperature was far from warm, and the marshal had +become susceptible to cold during his long residence in India. A good +fire therefore blazed upon the hearth. A door, concealed by the +hangings, and leading to a back staircase, opened slowly, and a man +entered the chamber. He carried a basket of wood, and advanced leisurely +to the fireplace, before which he knelt clown, and began to arrange the +logs symmetrically in a box that stood besides the hearth. After some +minutes occupied in this manner, still kneeling, he gradually approached +another door, at a little distance from the chimney, and appeared to +listen with deep attention, as if he wished to hear what was passing in +the next room. + +This man, employed as an inferior servant in the house, had the most +ridiculously stupid look that can be imagined. His functions consisted +in carrying wood, running errands, etc. In other respects he was a kind +of laughing-stock to the other servants. In a moment of good humor, +Dagobert, who filled the post of major-domo, had given this idiot the +name of "Loony" (lunatic), which he had retained ever since, and which he +deserved in every respect, as well for his awkwardness and folly as for +his unmeaning face, with its grotesquely flat nose, sloping chin, and +wide, staring eyes. Add to this description a jacket of red stuff, and a +triangular white apron, and we must acknowledge that the simpleton was +quite worthy of his name. + +Yet, at the moment when Loony listened so attentively at the door of the +adjoining room, a ray of quick intelligence animated for an instant his +dull and stupid countenance. + +When he had thus listened for a short time, Loony returned to the +fireplace, still crawling on his knees; then rising, he again took his +basket half full of wood, and once more approaching the door at which he +had listened knocked discreetly. No one answered. He knocked a second +time, and more loudly. Still there was the same silence. + +Then he said, in a harsh, squeaking, laughable voice: "Ladies, do you +want any wood, if you please, for your fire?" + +Receiving no answer, Loony placed his basket on the ground, opened the +door gently, and entered the next room, after casting a rapid glance +around. He came out again in a few seconds, looking from side to side +with an anxious air, like a man who had just accomplished some important +and mysterious task. + +Taking up his basket, he was about to leave Marshal Simon's room, when +the door of the private staircase was opened slowly and with precaution, +and Dagobert appeared. + +The soldier, evidently surprised at the servant's presence, knitted his +brows, and exclaimed abruptly, "What are you doing here?" + +At this sudden interrogation, accompanied by a growl expressive of the +ill-humor of Spoil-sport, who followed close on his master's heels, Loony +uttered a cry of real or pretended terror. To give, perhaps, an +appearance of greater reality to his dread, the supposed simpleton let +his basket fall on the ground, as if astonishment and fear had loosened +his hold of it. + +"What are you doing, numbskull?" resumed Dagobert, whose countenance was +impressed with deep sadness, and who seemed little disposed to laugh at +the fellow's stupidity. + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! how you frighten me! Dear me! what a pity I had not an +armful of plates, to prove it was not my fault if I broke them all." + +"I ask what you are doing," resumed the soldier. + +"You see, M. Dagobert," replied Loony, pointing to his basket, "that I +came with some wood to master's room, so that he might burn it, if it was +cold--which it is." + +"Very well. Pick up your wood, and begone!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! my legs tremble under me. How you did scare me, to be +sure!" + +"Will you begone, brute?" resumed the veteran; and seizing Loony by the +arm, he pushed him towards the door, while Spoil-sport, with recumbent +ears, and hair standing up like the quills of a porcupine, seemed +inclined to accelerate his retreat. + +"I am going, M. Dagobert, I am going," replied the simpleton, as he +hastily gathered up his basket; "only please to tell the dog--" + +"Go to the devil, you stupid chatterbox!" cried Dagobert, as he pushed +Loony through the doorway. + +Then the soldier bolted the door which led to the private staircase, and +going to that which communicated with the apartments of the two sisters, +he double-locked it. Having done this, he hastened to the alcove in +which stood the bed and taking down a pair of loaded pistols, he +carefully removed the percussion caps, and, unable to repress a deep +sigh, restored the weapons to the place in which he had found them. +Then, as if on second thoughts, he took down an Indian dagger with a very +sharp blade, and drawing it from its silver-gilt sheath, proceeded to +break the point of this murderous instrument, by twisting it beneath one +of the iron castors of the bed. + +Dagobert then proceeded to unfasten the two doors, and, returning slowly +to the marble chimney-piece, he leaned against it with a gloomy and +pensive air. Crouching before the fire, Spoil-sport followed with an +attentive eye the least movement of his master. The good dog displayed a +rare and intelligent sagacity. The soldier, having drawn out his +handkerchief, let fall, without perceiving it, a paper containing a roll +of tobacco. Spoil-sport, who had all the qualities of a retriever of the +Rutland race, took the paper between his teeth, and, rising upon his +hind-legs, presented it respectfully to Dagobert. But the latter +received it mechanically, and appeared indifferent to the dexterity of +his dog. The grenadier's countenance revealed as much sorrow as anxiety. +After remaining for some minutes near the fire, with fixed and meditative +look, he began to walk about the room in great agitation, one of his +hands thrust into the bosom of his long blue frock-coat, which was +buttoned up to the chin, and the other into one of his hind-pockets. + +From time to time he stopped abruptly, and seemed to make reply to his +own thoughts, or uttered an exclamation of doubt and uneasiness; then, +turning towards the trophy of arms, he shook his head mournfully, and +murmured, "No matter--this fear may be idle; but he has acted so +extraordinarily these two days, that it is at all events more prudent--" + +He continued his walk, and said, after a new and prolonged silence: "Yes +he must tell me. It makes me too uneasy. And then the poor children--it +is enough to break one's heart." + +And Dagobert hastily drew his moustache between his thumb and forefinger, +a nervous movement, which with him was an evident symptom of extreme +agitation. Some minutes after, the soldier resumed, still answering his +inward thoughts: "What can it be? It is hardly possible to be the +letters, they are too infamous; he despises them. And yet But no, no-- +he is above that!" + +And Dagobert again began to walk with hasty steps. Suddenly, Spoil-sport +pricked up his ears, turned his head in the direction of the staircase +door, and growled hoarsely. A few seconds after, some one knocked at the +door. + +"Who is there?" said Dagobert. There was no answer, but the person +knocked again. Losing patience, the soldier went hastily to open it, and +saw the servant's stupid face. + +"Why don't you answer, when I ask who knocks!" said the soldier, angrily. + +"M. Dagobert, you sent me away just now, and I was afraid of making you +cross, if I said I had come again." + +"What do you want? Speak then--come in, stupid!" cried the exasperated. +Dagobert, as he pulled him into the room. + +"M. Dagobert, don't be angry--I'll tell you all about it--it is a young +man." + +"Well?" + +"He wants to speak to you directly, Mr. Dagobert." + +"His name?" + +"His name, M. Dagobert?" replied Loony, rolling about and laughing with +an idiotic air. + +"Yes, his name. Speak, idiot!" + +"Oh, M. Dagobert! it's all in joke that you ask me his name!" + +"You are determined, fool that you are, to drive me out of my senses!" +cried the soldier, seizing Loony by the collar. "The name of this young +man!" + +"Don't be angry, M. Dagobert. I didn't tell you the name because you +know it." + +"Beast!" said Dagobert, shaking his fist at him. + +"Yes, you do know it, M. Dagobert, for the young man is your own son. He +is downstairs, and wants to speak to you directly--yes, directly." + +The stupidity was so well assumed, that Dagobert was the dupe of it. +Moved to compassion rather than anger by such imbecility, he looked +fixedly at the servant, shrugged his shoulders, and said, as he advanced +towards the staircase, "Follow me!" + +Loony obeyed; but, before closing the door, he drew a letter secretly +from his pocket, and dropped it behind him without turning his head, +saying all the while to Dagobert, for the purpose of occupying his +attention: "Your son is in the court, M. Dagobert. He would not come up +--that's why he is still downstairs!" + +Thus talking, he closed the door, believing he had left the letter on the +floor of Marshal Simon's room. But he had reckoned without Spoil-sport. +Whether he thought it more prudent to bring up the rear, or, from +respectful deference for a biped, the worthy dog had been the last to +leave the room, and, being a famous carrier, as soon as he saw the letter +dropped by Loony, he took it delicately between his teeth, and followed +close on the heels of the servant, without the latter perceiving this new +proof of the intelligence and sagacity of Spoil-sport. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +THE ANONYMOUS LETTERS. + +We will explain presently what became of the letter, which Spoil-sport +held between his teeth, and why he left his master, when the latter ran +to meet Agricola. Dagobert had not seen his son for some days. +Embracing him cordially, he led him into one of the rooms on the ground- +floor, which he usually occupied. "And how is your wife?" said the +soldier to his son. + +"She is well, father, thank you." + +Perceiving a great change in Agricola's countenance, Dagobert resumed: +"You look sad. Has anything gone wrong since I saw you last?" + +"All is over, father. We have lost him," said the smith, in a tone of +despair. + +"Lost whom?" + +"M. Hardy." + +"M. Hardy!--why, three days ago, you told me you were going to see him." + +"Yes, father, I have seen him--and my dear brother Gabriel saw him and +spoke to him--how he speaks! with a voice that comes from the heart!--and +he had so revived and encouraged him, that M. Hardy consented to return +amongst us. Then I, wild with joy, ran to tell the good news to some of +my mates, who were waiting to hear the result of nay interview with M. +Hardy. I brought them all with me to thank and bless him. We were +within a hundred yards of the house belonging to the black-gowns--" + +"Ali, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, with a gloomy air. "Then some +mischief will happen. I know them." + +"You are not mistaken, father," answered Agricola, with a sigh. "I was +running on with my comrades, when I saw a carriage coming towards us. +Some presentiment told me that they were taking away M. Hardy." + +"By force!" said Dagobert, hastily. + +"No," answered Agricola, bitterly; "no--the priests are too cunning for +that. They know how to make you an accomplice in the evil they do you. +Shall I not always remember how they managed with my good mother?" + +"Yes, the worthy woman! there was a poor fly caught in the spider's web. +But this carriage, of which you speak?" + +"On seeing it start from the house of the black-gowns," replied Agricola, +"my heart sank within me; and, by an impulse stronger than myself, I +rushed to the horses' heads, calling on my comrades to help me. But the +postilion knocked me down and stunned me with a blow from his whip. When +I recovered my senses, the carriage was already far away." + +"You were not hurt?" cried Dagobert, anxiously, as he examined his son +from top to toe. + +"No, father; a mere scratch." + +"What did you next, my boy?" + +"I hastened to our good angel, Mdlle. de Cardoville, and told her all. +'You must follow M. Hardy on the instant,' said she to me. 'Take my +carriage and post-horses. Dupont will accompany you; follow M. Hardy +from stage to stage; should you succeed in overtaking him your presence +and your prayers may perhaps conquer the fatal influence that these +priests have acquired over him.'" + +"It was the best advice she could give you. That excellent young lady is +always right." + +"An hour after, we were upon our way, for we learned by the returned +postilions, that M. Hardy had taken the Orleans road. We followed him as +far as Etampes. There we heard that he had taken a cross-road, to reach +a solitary house in a valley about four leagues from the highway. They +told us that this house called the Val-de-St. Herem, belonged to certain +priests, and that, as the night was so dark, and the road so bad, we had +better sleep at the inn, and start early in the morning. We followed +this advice, and set out at dawn. In a quarter of an hour, we quitted +the high-road for a mountainous and desert track. We saw nothing but +brown rocks, and a few birch trees. As we advanced, the scene became +wilder and wilder. We might have fancied ourselves a hundred leagues +from Paris. At last we stopped in front of a large, old, black-looking +house with only a few small windows in it, and built at the foot of a +high, rocky mountain. In my whole life I have never seen anything so +deserted and sad. We got out of the carriage, and I rang the bell. A +man opened the door. 'Did not the Abbe d'Aigrigny arrive here last night +with a gentleman?' said I to this man, with a confidential air. 'Inform +the gentleman directly, that I come on business of importance, and that I +must see him forthwith.'--The man, believing me an accomplice, showed us +in immediately; a moment after, the Abbe d'Aigrigny opened the door, saw +me, and drew back; yet, in five minutes more, I was in presence of M. +Hardy." + +"Well!" said Dagobert, with interest. + +Agricola shook his head sorrowfully, and replied: "I knew by the very +countenance of M. Hardy, that all was over. Addressing me in a mild but +firm voice, he said to me: 'I understand, I can even excuse, the motives +that bring you hither. But I am quite determined to live henceforth in +solitude and prayer. I take this resolution freely and voluntarily, +because I would fain provide for the salvation of my soul. Tell your +fellows that my arrangements will be such as to leave them a good +remembrance of me.'--And as I was about to speak, M. Hardy interrupted +me, saying: 'It is useless, my friend. My determination is unalterable. +Do not write to me, for your letters would remain unanswered. Prayer +will henceforth be my only occupation. Excuse me for leaving you, but I +am fatigued from my journey!'--He spoke the truth for he was as pale as a +spectre, with a kind of wildness about the eyes, and so changed since the +day before, as to be hardly the same man. His hand, when he offered it +on parting from me, was dry and burning. The Abbe d'Aigrigny soon came +in. 'Father,' said M. Hardy to him, 'have the goodness to see M. Baudoin +to the door.'--So saying, he waved his hand to me in token of farewell, +and retired to the next chamber. All was over; he is lost to us +forever." + +"Yes," said Dagobert, "those black-gowns have enchanted him, like so many +others." + +"In despair," resumed Agricola, "I returned hither with M. Dupont. This, +then, is what the priests have made of M. Hardy--of that generous man, +who supported nearly three hundred industrious workmen in order and +happiness, increasing their knowledge, improving their hearts, and +earning the benediction of that little people, of which he was the +providence. Instead of all this, M. Hardy is now forever reduced to a +gloomy and unavailing life of contemplation." + +"Oh, the black-gowns!" said Dagobert, shuddering, and unable to conceal a +vague sense of fear. "The longer I live, the more I am afraid of them. +You have seen what those people did to your poor mother; you see what +they have just done to M. Hardy; you know their plots against my two poor +orphans, and against that generous young lady. Oh, these people are very +powerful! I would rather face a battalion of Russian grenadiers, than a +dozen of these cassocks. But don't let's talk of it. I have causes +enough beside for grief and fear." + +Then seeing the astonished look of Agricola, the soldier, unable to +restrain his emotion, threw himself into the arms of his son, exclaiming +with a choking voice: "I can hold out no longer. My heart is too full. +I must speak; and whom shall I trust if not you?" + +"Father, you frighten me!" said Agricola, "What is the matter?" + +"Why, you see, had it not been for you and the two poor girls, I should +have blown out my brains twenty times over rather than see what I see-- +and dread what I do." + +"What do you dread, father?" + +"Since the last few days, I do not know what has come over the marshal-- +but he frightens me." + +"Yet in his last interviews with Mdlle. de Cardoville--" + +"Yes, he was a little better. By her kind words, this generous young +lady poured balm into his wounds; the presence of the young Indian +cheered him; he appeared to shake off his cares, and his poor little +girls felt the benefit of the change. But for some days, I know not what +demon has been loosed against his family. It is enough to turn one's +head. First of all, I am sure that the anonymous letters have begun +again." + +"What letters, father?" + +"The anonymous letters." + +"But what are they about?" + +"You know how the marshal hated that renegade, the Abbe d'Aigrigny. When +he found that the traitor was here, and that he had persecuted the two +orphans, even as he persecuted their mother to the death--but that now he +had become a priest--I thought the marshal would have gone mad with +indignation and fury. He wishes to go in search of the renegade. With +one word I calmed him. 'He is a priest,' I said; 'you may do what you +will, insult or strike him--he will not fight. He began by serving +against his country, he ends by becoming a bad priest. It is all in +character. He is not worth spitting upon.'--'But surely I may punish the +wrong done to my children, and avenge the death of my wife,' cried the +marshal, much exasperated.--'They say, as you well know, that there are +courts of law to avenge your wrongs,' answered I; 'Mdlle. de Cardoville +has lodged a charge against the renegade, for having attempted to confine +your daughters in a convent. We must champ the bit and wait."' + +"Yes," said Agricola, mournfully, "and unfortunately there lacks proof to +bring it home to the Abbe d'Aigrigny. The other day, when I was examined +by Mdlle. de Cardoville's lawyer, with regard to our attempt on the +convent, he told me that we should meet with obstacles at every step, for +want of legal evidence, and that the priests had taken their precautions +with so much skill that the indictment would be quashed." + +"That is just what the marshal thinks, my boy, and this increases his +irritation at such injustice." + +"He should despise the wretches." + +"But the anonymous letters!" + +"Well, what of them, father?" + +"You shall know all. A brave and honorable man like the marshal, when +his first movement of indignation was over, felt that to insult the +renegade disguised in the garb of a priest, would be like insulting an +old man or a woman. He determined therefore to despise him, and to +forget him as soon as possible. But then, almost every day, there came +by the post anonymous letters, in which all sorts of devices were +employed, to revive and excite the anger of the marshal against the +renegade by reminding him of all the evil contrived by the Abbe +d'Aigrigny against him and his family. The marshal was reproached with +cowardice for not taking vengeance on this priest, the persecutor of his +wife and children, the insolent mocker at his misfortunes." + +"And from whom do you suspect these letters to come, father?" + +"I cannot tell--it is that which turns one's brain. They must come from +the enemies of the marshal, and he has no enemies but the black-gowns." + +"But, father, since these letters are to excite his anger against the +Abbe d'Aigrigny, they can hardly have been written by priests." + +"That is what I have said to myself." + +"But what, then, can be their object?" + +"Their object? oh, it is too plain!" cried Dagobert. "The marshal is +hasty, ardent; he has a thousand reasons to desire vengeance on the +renegade. But he cannot do himself justice, and the other sort of +justice fails him. Then what does he do? He endeavors to forget, he +forgets. But every day there comes to him an insolent letter, to provoke +and exasperate his legitimate hatred, by mockeries and insults. Devil +take me! my head is not the weakest--but, at such a game, I should go +mad." + +"Father, such a plot would be horrible, and only worthy of hell!" + +"And that is not all." + +"What more?" + +"The marshal has received other letters; those he has not shown me--but, +after he had read the first, he remained like a man struck motionless, +and murmured to himself: 'They do not even respect that--oh! it is too +much--too much!'--And, hiding his face in his hands he wept." + +"The marshal wept!" cried the blacksmith, hardly able to believe what he +heard. + +"Yes," answered Dagobert, "he wept like a child." + +"And what could these letters contain, father?" + +"I did not venture to ask him, he appeared so miserable and dejected." + +"But thus harassed and tormented incessantly, the marshal must lead a +wretched life." + +"And his poor little girls too! he sees them grow sadder and sadder, +without being able to guess the cause. And the death of his father, +killed almost in his arms! Perhaps, you will think all this enough; but, +no! I am sure there is something still more painful behind. Lately, you +would hardly know the marshal. He is irritable about nothing, and falls +into such fits of passion, that--" After a moment's hesitation, the +soldier resumed: "I way tell this to you, my poor boy. I have just been +upstairs, to take the caps from his pistols." + +"What, father!" cried Agricola; "you fear--" + +"In the state of exasperation in which I saw him yesterday, there is +everything to fear." + +" What then happened?" + +"Since some time, he has often long secret interviews with a gentleman, +who looks like an old soldier and a worthy man. I have remarked that the +gloom and agitation of the marshal are always redoubled after one of +these visits. Two or three times, I have spoken to him about it; but I +saw by his look, that I displeased him, and therefore I desisted. + +"Well! yesterday, this gentleman came in the evening. He remained here +until eleven o'clock, and his wife came to fetch him, and waited for him +in a coach. After his departure, I went up to see if the marshal wanted +anything. He was very pale, but calm; he thanked me, and I came down +again. You know that my room is just under his. I could hear the +marshal walking about as if much agitated, and soon after he seemed to be +knocking down the furniture. In alarm, I once more went upstairs. He +asked me, with an irritated air, what I wanted, and ordered me to leave +the room. Seeing him in that way, I remained; he grew more angry, still +I remained; perceiving a chair and table thrown down, I pointed to them +with so sad an air that he understood me. You know that he has the best +heart in the world, so, taking me by the hand, he said to me: 'Forgive me +for causing you this uneasiness, my good Dagobert; but just now, I lost +my senses, and gave way to a burst of absurd fury; I think I should have +thrown myself out of the window, had it been open. I only hope, that my +poor dear girls have not heard me,' added he, as he went on tip-toe to +open the door which communicates with his daughters' bedroom. When he +had listened anxiously for a moment, he returned to me, and said: +"Luckily, they are asleep.'--Then I asked him what was the cause of his +agitation, and if, in spite of my precautions, he had received any more +anonymous letters. 'No,' replied he, with a gloomy air; 'but leave me, +my friend. I am now better. It has done me good to see you. Good-- +night, old comrade! go downstairs to bed.'--I took care not to contradict +him; but, pretending to go down, I came up again, and seated myself on +the top stair, listening. No doubt, to calm himself entirely, the +marshal went to embrace his children, for I heard him open and shut their +door. Then he returned to his room, and walked about for a long time, +but with a more quiet step. At last, I heard him throw himself on his +bed, and I came down about break of day. After that, all remained +tranquil." + +"But whatever can be the matter with him, father?" + +"I do not know. When I went up to him, I was astonished at the agitation +of his countenance, and the brilliancy of his eyes. He would have looked +much the same, had he been delirious, or in a burning fever--so that, +when I heard him say, he could have thrown himself out of the window, had +it been open, I thought it more prudent to remove the caps from his +pistols." + +"I cannot understand it!" said Agricola. "So firm, intrepid, and cool a +man as the marshal, a prey to such violence!" + +"I tell you that something very extraordinary is passing within him. For +two days, he has not been to see his children, which is always a bad sign +with him--to say nothing of the poor little angels themselves, who are +miserable at the notion that they have displeased their father. They +displease him! If you only knew the life they lead, dear creatures! a +walk or ride with me and their companion, for I never let them go out +alone, and, the rest of their time, at their studies, reading, or +needlework--always together--and then to bed. Yet their duenna, who is, +I think, a worthy woman, tells me that sometimes at night, she has seen +them shed tears in their sleep. Poor children! they have hitherto known +but little happiness," added the soldier, with a sigh. + +At this moment, hearing some one walk hastily across the courtyard, +Dagobert raised his eyes, and saw Marshal Simon, with pale face and +bewildered air, holding in his two hands a letter, which he seemed to +read with devouring anxiety. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THE GOLDEN CITY. + +While Marshal Simon was crossing the little court with so agitated an +air, reading the anonymous letter, which he had received by Spoil-sport's +unexpected medium, Rose and Blanche were alone together, in the sitting- +room they usually occupied, which had been entered for a moment by Loony +during their absence. The poor children seemed destined to a succession +of sorrows. At the moment their mourning for their mother drew near its +close, the tragical death of their grandfather had again dressed them in +funereal weeds. They were seated together upon a couch, in front of +their work-table. Grief often produces the effect of years. Hence, in a +few months, Rose and Blanche had become quite young women. To the +infantine grace of their charming faces, formerly so plump and rosy, but +now pale and thin, had succeeded an expression of grave and touching +sadness. Their large, mild eyes of limpid azure, which always had a +dreamy character, were now never bathed in those joyous tears, with which +a burst of frank and hearty laughter used of old to adorn their silky +lashes, when the comic coolness of Dagobert, or some funny trick of +Spoil-sport, cheered them in the course of their long and weary +pilgrimage. + +In a word, those delightful faces, which the flowery pencil of Greuze +could alone have painted in all their velvet freshness, were now worthy +of inspiring the melancholy ideal of the immortal Ary Scheffer, who gave +us Mignon aspiring to Paradise, and Margaret dreaming of Faust. Rose, +leaning back on the couch, held her head somewhat bowed upon her bosom, +over which was crossed a handkerchief of black crape. The light +streaming from a window opposite, shone softly on her pure, white +forehead, crowned by two thick bands of chestnut hair. Her look was +fixed, and the open arch of her eyebrows, now somewhat contracted, +announced a mind occupied with painful thoughts. Her thin, white little +hands had fallen upon her knees, but still held the embroidery, on which +she had been engaged. The profile of Blanche was visible, leaning a +little towards her sister, with an expression of tender and anxious +solicitude, whilst her needle remained in the canvas, as if she had just +ceased to work. + +"Sister," said Blanche, in a low voice, after some moments of silence, +during which the tears seemed to mount to her eyes, "tell me what you are +thinking of. You look so sad." + +"I think of the Golden City of our dreams," replied Rose, almost in a +whisper, after another short silence. + +Blanche understood the bitterness of these words. Without speaking, she +threw herself on her sister's neck, and wept. Poor girls! the Golden +City of their dreams was Paris, with their father in it--Paris, the +marvellous city of joys and festivals, through all of which the orphans +had beheld the radiant and smiling countenance of their sire! But, alas! +the Beautiful City had been changed into a place of tears, and death, and +mourning. The same terrible pestilence which had struck down their +mother in the heart of Siberia, seemed to have followed them like a dark +and fatal cloud, which, always hovering above them, hid the mild blue of +the sky, and the joyous light of the sun. + +The Golden City of their dreams! It was the place, where perhaps one day +their father would present to them two young lovers, good and fair as +themselves. "They love you," he was to say; "they are worthy of you. +Let each of you have a brother, and me two sons." Then what chaste, +enchanting confusion for those two orphans, whose hearts, pure as +crystal, had never reflected any image but that of Gabriel, the celestial +messenger sent by their mother to protect them! + +We can therefore understand the painful emotion of Blanche, when she +heard her sister repeat, with bitter melancholy, those words which +described their whole situation: "I think of the Golden City of our +dreams!" + +"Who knows?" proceeded Blanche, drying her sister's tears; "perhaps, +happiness may yet be in store for us." + +"Alas! if we are not happy with our father by us--shall we ever be so?" + +"Yes, when we rejoin our mother," said Blanche, lifting her eyes to +heaven. + +"Then, sister, this dream may be a warning--it is so like that we had in +Germany." + +"The difference being that then the Angel Gabriel came down from heaven +to us, and that this time he takes us from earth, to our mother." + +"And this dream will perhaps come true, like the other, my sister. We +dreamt that the Angel Gabriel would protect us, and he came to save us +from the shipwreck." + +"And, this time, we dream that he will lead us to heaven. Why should not +that happen also?" + +"But to bring that about, sister, our Gabriel, who saved us from the +shipwreck, must die also. No, no; that must not happen. Let us pray +that it may not happen." + +"No, it will not happen--for it is only Gabriel's good angel, who is so +like him, that we saw in our dreams." + +"Sister, dear, how singular is this dream!--Here, as in Germany, we have +both dreamt the same--three times, the very same!" + +"It is true. The Angel Gabriel bent over us, and looked at us with so +mild and sad an air, saying: 'Come, my children! come, my sisters! Your +mother waits for you. Poor children, arrived from so far!' added he in +his tender voice: 'You have passed over the earth, gentle and innocent as +two doves, to repose forever in the maternal nest.'" + +"Yes, those were the words of the archangel," said the other orphan, with +a pensive air; "we have done no harm to any one, and we have loved those +who loved us--why should we fear to die?" + +"Therefore, dear sister, we rather smiled than wept, when he took us by +the hand, and, spreading wide his beautiful white wings, carried us along +with him to the blue depths of the sky." + +"To heaven, where our dear mother waited for us with open arms, her face +all bathed in tears." + +"Oh, sweet sister! one has not dreams like ours for nothing. And then," +added she, looking at Rose, with a sad smile that went to the heart, "our +death might perhaps end the sorrow, of which we have been the cause." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. We love him so much. But we are so timid +and sorrowful before him, that he may perhaps think we love him not." + +So saying, Rose took her handkerchief from her workbasket, to dry her +fears; a paper, folded in the form of a letter, fell out. + +At this sight, the two shuddered, and pressed close to one mother, and +Rose said to Blanche, in a trembling voice: "Another of these letters!-- +Oh, I am afraid! It will doubtless be like the last." + +"We must pick it up quickly, that it may not be seen," said Blanche, +hastily stooping to seize the letter; "the people who take interest in us +might otherwise be exposed to great danger." + +"But how could this letter come to us?" + +"How did the others come to be placed right under our hand, and always in +the absence of our duenna?" + +"It is true. Why seek to explain the mystery? We should never be able +to do so. Let us read the letter. It will perhaps be more favorable to +us than the last." And the two sisters read as follows:-- + +"Continue to love your father, dear children, for he is very miserable, +and you are the involuntary cause of his distress. You will never know +the terrible sacrifices that your presence imposes on him; but, alas! he +is the victim of his paternal duties. His sufferings are more cruel than +ever; spare him at least those marks of tenderness, which occasion him so +much more pain than pleasure. Each caress is a dagger-stroke, for he +sees in you the innocent cause of his misfortunes. Dear children, you +must not therefore despair. If you have enough command over yourselves, +not to torture him by the display of too warm a tenderness, if you can +mingle some reserve with your affection, you will greatly alleviate his +sorrow. Keep these letters a secret from every one, even from good +Dagobert, who loves you so much; otherwise, both he and you, your father, +and the unknown friend who is writing to you, will be exposed to the +utmost peril, for your enemies are indeed formidable. Courage and hope! +May your father's tenderness be once more free from sorrow and regret!-- +That happy day is perhaps not so far distant. Burn this letter like all +the others!" + +The above note was written with so much cunning that, even supposing the +orphans had communicated it to their father or Dagobert, it would at the +worst have been considered a strange, intrusive proceeding, but almost +excusable from the spirit in which it was conceived. Nothing could have +been contrived with more perfidious art, if we consider the cruel +perplexity in which Marshal Simon was struggling between the fear of +again leaving his children and the shame of neglecting what he considered +a sacred duty. All the tenderness, all the susceptibility of heart which +distinguished the orphans, had been called into play by these diabolical +counsels, and the sisters soon perceived that their presence was in fact +both sweet and painful to their father; for sometimes he felt himself +incapable of leaving them, and sometimes the thought of a neglected duty +spread a cloud of sadness over his brow. Hence the poor twins could not +fail to value the fatal meaning of the anonymous letters they received. +They were persuaded that, from some mysterious motive, which they were +unable to penetrate, their presence was often importunate and even +painful to their father. Hence the growing sadness of Rose and Blanche-- +hence the sort of fear and reserve which restrained the expression of +their filial tenderness. A most painful situation for the marshal, who +deceived by inexplicable appearances, mistook, in his turn, their manner +of indifference to him--and so, with breaking heart, and bitter grief +upon his face, often abruptly quitted his children to conceal his tears! + +And the desponding orphans said to each other: "We are the cause of our +father's grief. It is our presence which makes him so unhappy." + +The reader may new judge what ravages such a thought, when fixed and +incessant, must have made on these young, loving, timid, and simple +hearts. Haw could the orphans be on their guard against such anonymous +communications, which spoke with reverence of all they loved, and seemed +every day justified by the conduct of their father? Already victims of +numerous plots, and hearing that they were surrounded by enemies, we can +understand, how faithful to the advice of their unknown friend, they +forbore to confide to Dagobert these letters, in which he was so justly +appreciated. The object of the proceeding was very plain. By +continually harassing the marshal on all sides, and persuading him of the +coldness of his children, the conspirators might naturally hope to +conquer the hesitation which had hitherto prevented his again quitting +his daughters to embark in a dangerous enterprise. To render the +marshal's life so burdensome that he would desire to seek relief from his +torments in airy project of daring and generous chivalry, was one of the +ends proposed by Rodin--and, as we have seen, it wanted neither logic nor +possibility. + +After having read the letter, the two remained for a moment silent and +dejected. Then Rose, who held the paper in her hand, started up +suddenly, approached the chimneypiece, and threw the letter into the +fire, saying, with a timid air: "We must burn it quickly, or perhaps some +great danger will ensue." + +"What greater misfortune can happen to us," said Blanche, despondingly, +"than to cause such sorrow to our father? What can be the reason of it?" + +"Perhaps," said Rose, whose tears were slowly trickling down her cheek, +"he does not find us what he could have desired. He may love us well as +the children of our poor mother, but we are not the daughters he had +dreamed of. Do you understand me, sister?" + +"Yes, yes--that is perhaps what occasioned all his sorrow. We are so +badly informed, so wild, so awkward, that he is no doubt ashamed of us; +and, as he loves us in spite of all, it makes him suffer." + +"Alas! it is not our fault. Our dear mother brought us up in the deserts +of Siberia as well as she could." + +"Oh! father himself does not reproach us with it; only it gives him +pain." + +"Particularly if he has friends whose daughters are very beautiful, and +possessed of all sorts of talents. Then he must bitterly regret that we +are not the same." + +"Dost remember when he took us to see our cousin, Mdlle. Adrienne, who +was so affectionate and kind to us, that he said to us, with admiration: +'Did you notice her, my children? How beautiful she is, and what talent, +what a noble heart, and therewith such grace and elegance!'" + +"Oh, it is very true! Mdlle. de Cardoville is so beautiful, her voice is +so sweet and gentle, that, when we saw and heard her, we fancied that all +our troubles were at an end." + +"And it is because of such beauty, no doubt, that our father, comparing +us with our cousin and so many other handsome young ladies, cannot be +very proud of us. And he, who is so loved and honored, would have liked +to have been proud of his daughters." + +Suddenly Rose laid her hand on her sister's arm, and said to her, with +anxiety: "Listen! listen! they are talking very loud in father's +bedroom." + +"Yes," said Blanche, listening in her turn; "and I can hear him walking. +That is his step." + +"Good heaven! how he raises his voice; he seems to be in a great passion; +he will perhaps come this way." + +And at the thought of their father's coming--that father who really +adored them--the unhappy children looked in terror at each other. The +sound of a loud and angry voice became more and more distinct; and Rose, +trembling through all her frame, said to her sister: "Do not let us +remain here! Come into our room." + +"Why?" + +"We should hear, without designing it, the words of our father--and he +does not perhaps know that we are so near." + +"You are right. Come, come!" answered Blanche, as she rose hastily from +her seat. + +"Oh! I am afraid. I have never heard him speak in so angry a tone." + +"Oh! kind heaven!" said Blanche, growing pale, as she stopped +involuntarily. "It is to Dagobert that he is talking so loud." + +"What can be the matter--to make our father speak to him in that way?" + +"Alas! some great misfortune must have happened." + +"Oh, sister! do not let us remain here! It pains me too much to hear +Dagobert thus spoken to." + +The crash of some article, hurled with violence and broken to pieces in +the next room, so frightened the orphans, that, pale and trembling with +emotion, they rushed into their own apartment, and fastened the door. We +must now explain the cause of Marshal Simon's violent anger. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE STUNG LION. + +This was the scene, the sound of which had so terrified Rose and Blanche. +At first alone in his chamber, in a state of exasperation difficult to +describe, Marshal Simon had begun to walk hastily up and down, his +handsome, manly face inflamed with rage, his eyes sparkling with +indignation, while on his broad forehead, crowned with short-cut hair +that was now turning gray, large veins, of which you might count the +pulsations, were swollen almost to bursting; and sometimes his thick, +black moustache was curled with a convulsive motion, not unlike that +which is seen in the visage of a raging lion. And even as the wounded +lion, in its fury, harassed and tortured by a thousand invisible darts, +walks up and down its den with savage wrath, so Marshal Simon paced the +floor of his room, as if bounding from side to side; sometimes he +stooped, as though bending beneath the weight of his anger; sometimes, on +the contrary, he paused abruptly, drew himself up to his full height, +crossed his arms upon his vigorous chest, and with raised brow, +threatening and terrible look, seemed to defy some invisible enemy, and +murmur confused exclamations. Then he stood like a man of war and battle +in all his intrepid fire. + +And now he stamped angrily with his foot, approached the chimney-piece, +and pulled the bell so violently that the bell-rope remained in his hand. +A servant hastened to attend to this precipitate summons. "Did you not +tell Dagobert that I wished to speak to him?" cried the marshal. + +"I executed your grace's orders, but M. Dagobert was accompanying his son +to the door, and--" + +"Very well!" interrupted Marshal Simon, with an abrupt and imperious +gesture. + +The servant went out, and his master continued to walk up and down with +impatient steps, crumpling, in his rage, a letter that he held in his +left hand. This letter had been innocently delivered by Spoil-sport, +who, seeing him come in, had run joyously to meet him. At length the +door opened, and Dagobert appeared. "I have been waiting for you a long +time, sirrah!" cried the marshal, in an irritated tone. + +Dagobert, more pained than surprised at this burst of anger, which he +rightly attributed to the constant state of excitement in which the +marshal had now been for some time past, answered mildly: "I beg your +pardon, general, but I was letting out my son--" + +"Read that, sir!" said the marshal abruptly, giving him the letter. + +While Dagobert was reading it, the marshal resumed, with growing anger, +as he kicked over a chair that stood in his way: "Thus, even in my own +house, there are wretches bribed to harass me with incredible +perseverance. Well! have you read it, sir?" + +"It is a fresh insult to add to the others," said Dagobert, coolly, as he +threw the letter into the fire. + +"The letter is infamous--but it speaks the truth," replied the marshal. +Dagobert looked at him in amazement. + +"And can you tell who brought me this infamous letter" continued the +marshal. "One would think the devil had a hand in it--for it was your +dog!" + +"Spoil-sport?" said Dagobert, in the utmost surprise. + +"Yes," answered the marshal, bitterly; "it is no doubt a joke of your +invention." + +"I have no heart for joking, general," answered Dagobert, more and more +saddened by the irritable state of the marshal; "I cannot explain how it +happened. Spoil-sport is a good carrier, and no doubt found the letter +in the house--" + +"And who can have left it there? Am I surrounded by traitors? Do you +keep no watch? You, in whom I have every confidence?" + +"Listen to me, general--" + +But the marshal proceeded, without waiting to hear him. "What! I have +made war for five-and-twenty years, I have battled with armies, I have +struggled victoriously through the evil times of exile and proscription, +I have withstood blows from maces of iron--and now I am to be killed with +pins! Pursued into my own house, harassed with impunity, worn out, +tortured every minute, to gratify some unknown, miserable hate!--When I +say unknown, I am wrong--it is d'Aigrigny, the renegade, who is at the +bottom of all this, I am sure. I have in the world but one enemy, and he +is the man. I must finish with him, for I am weary of this--it is too +much." + +"But, general, remember he is a priest--" + +"What do I care for that? Have I not seen him handle the sword? I will +yet make a soldier's blood rise to the forehead of the traitor!" + +But, general--" + +"I tell you, that I must be avenged on some one," cried the marshal, with +an accent of the most violent exasperation; "I tell you, that I mast find +a living representative of these cowardly plots, that I may at once make +an end of him!--They press upon me from all sides; they make my life a +hell--you know it--and you do nothing to save me from these tortures, +which are killing me as by a slow fire. Can I have no one in whom to +trust?" + +"General, I can't let you say that," replied Dagobert, in a calm, but +firm voice. + +"And why not?" + +"General, I can't let you say that you have no one to trust to. You +might end perhaps in believing it, and then it would be even worse for +yourself, than for those who well know their devotion for you, and would +go through fire and water to serve you. I am one of them--and you know +it." + +These simple words, pronounced by Dagobert with a tone of deep +conviction, recalled the marshal to himself; for although his honorable +and generous character might from time to time be embittered by +irritation and grief, he soon recovered his natural equanimity. So, +addressing Dagobert in a less abrupt tone, he said to him, though still +much agitated: "You are right. I could never doubt your fidelity. But +anger deprives me of my senses. This infamous letter is enough to drive +one mad. I am unjust, ungrateful--yes, ungrateful--and to you!" + +"Do not think of me, general. With a kind word at the end, you might +blow me up all the year round. But what has happened?" + +The general's countenance again darkened, as he answered rapidly: "I am +looked down upon, and despised!" + +"You?" + +"Yes I. After all," resumed the marshal bitterly, "why should I conceal +from you this new wound? If I doubted you a moment, I owe you some +compensation, and you shall know all. For some time past, I perceived +that, when I meet any of my old companions in arms, they try to +avoid me--" + +"What! was it to this that the anonymous letter alluded?" + +"Yes; and it spoke the truth," replied the marshal, with a sigh of grief +and indignation. + +"But it is impossible, general--you are so loved and respected--" + +"Those are mere words; I speak of positive facts. When I appear, the +conversation is often interrupted. Instead of treating me as an old +comrade, they affect towards me a rigorously cold politeness. There are +a thousand little shades, a thousand trifles, which wound the heart, but +which it is impossible to notice--" + +"What you are now saying, general, quite confounds me," replied Dagobert. +"You assure me of it, and I am forced to believe you." + +"Oh, it is intolerable! I was resolved to ease my heart of it; so, this +morning, I went to General d'Havrincourt, who was colonel with me in the +Imperial Guard; he is honor and honesty itself. I went to him with open +heart. 'I perceive,' said I, 'the coldness that is shown me. Some +calumny must be circulating to my disadvantage. Tell me all about it. +Knowing the attack, I shall be able to defend myself--' + +"Well, general?" + +"D'Havrincourt remained impassible ceremoniously polite. To all my +questions he answered coldly: 'I am not aware, my lord duke, that any +calumny has been circulated with regard to you.'--'Do not call me "my +lord duke," my dear D'Havrincourt; we are old fellow-soldiers and +friends, my honor is somewhat touchy, I confess, and I find that you and +our comrades do not receive me so cordially, as in times past. You do +not deny it; I see, I know, I feel it.' To all this D'Havrincourt +answered, with the same coldness: 'I have never seen any one wanting in +respect towards you.'--'I am not talking of respect,' exclaimed I, as I +clasped his hand affectionately, though I observed that he but feebly +returned the pressure; 'I speak of cordiality, confidence, which I once +enjoyed, while now I am treated like a stranger. Why is it? What has +occasioned this change?'--Still cold and reserved, he answered: 'These +distinctions are so nice, marshal, that it is impossible for me to give +you any opinion on the subject.'--My heart swelled with grief and anger. +What was I to do? To quarrel with D'Havrincourt would have been absurd. +A sense of dignity forced me to break off the interview, but it has only +confirmed my fears. Thus," added the marshal, getting more and more +animated, "thus am I fallen from the esteem to which I am entitled, thus +am I despised, without even knowing the cause! Is it not odious? If +they would only utter a charge against me--I should at least be able to +defend myself, and to find an answer. But no, no! not even a word--only +the cold politeness that is worse than any insult. Oh! it is too much, +too much! for all this comes but in addition to other cares. What a life +is mine since the death of my father! If I did but find rest and +happiness at home--but no! I come in, but to read shameful letters; and +still worse," added the marshal, in a heartrending tone, and after a +moment's hesitation, "to find my children grow more and more indifferent +towards me-- + +"Yes," continued he, perceiving the amazement of Dagobert, "and yet they +know how much I love them!" + +"Your daughters indifferent!" exclaimed Dagobert, in astonishment. "You +make them such a reproach?" + +"Oh! I do not blame them. They have hardly had time to know me." + +"Not had time to know you?" returned the soldier, in a tone of +remonstrance, and warming up in his turn. "Ah! of what did their mother +talk to them, except you? and I too! what could I teach your children +except to know and love you?" + +"You take their part--that is natural--they love you better than they do +me," said the marshal, with growing bitterness. Dagobert felt himself so +painfully affected, that he looked at the marshal without answering. + +"Yes!" continued the other; "yes! it may be base and ungrateful--but no +matter!--Twenty times I have felt jealous of the affectionate confidence +which my children display towards you, while with me they seem always to +be in fear. If their melancholy faces ever grow animated for a moment, +it is in talking to you, in seeing you; while for me they have nothing +but cold respect--and that kills me. Sure of the affection of my +children, I would have braved and surmounted every difficulty--" Then, +seeing that Dagobert rushed towards the door which led to the chamber of +Rose and Blanche, the marshal asked: "Where are you going?" + +"For your daughters, general." + +"What for?" + +"To bring them face to face with you--to tell them: 'My children, your +father thinks that you do not love him.'--I will only say that--and then +you will see." + +"Dagobert! I forbid you to do it," cried the marshal, hastily. + +"I don't care for that--you have no right to be unjust to the poor +children," said the soldier, as he again advanced towards the door. + +"Dagobert, I command you to remain here," cried the marshal. + +"Listen to me, general. I am your soldier, your inferior, your servant, +if you will," said the old grenadier, roughly; "but neither rank nor +station shall keep me silent, when I have to defend your daughters. All +must be explained--I know but one way--and that is to bring honest people +face to face." + +If the marshal had not seized him by the arm, Dagobert would have entered +the apartment of the young girls. + +"Remain!" said the marshal, so imperiously that the soldier, accustomed +to obedience, hung his head, and stood still. + +"What would you do?" resumed the marshal. "Tell my children, that I +think they do not love me? induce them to affect a tenderness they do not +feel--when it is not their fault, but mine?" + +"Oh, general!" said Dagobert, in a tone of despair, "I no longer feel +anger, in hearing you speak thus of your children. It is such grief, +that it breaks my heart!" + +Touched by the expression of the soldier's countenance, the marshal +continued, less abruptly: "Come, I may be wrong; and yet I ask you, +without bitterness or jealousy, are not my children more confiding, more +familiar, with you than with me?" + +"God bless me, general!" cried Dagobert; "if you come to that, they are +more familiar with Spoil-sport than with either of us. You are their +father; and, however kind a father may be, he must always command some +respect. Familiar with me! I should think so. A fine story! What the +devil should they respect in me, who, except that I am six feet high, and +wear a moustache, might pass for the old woman that nursed them?--and +then I must say, that, even before the death of your worthy father, you +were sad and full of thought; the children have remarked that; and what +you take for coldness on their part, is, I am sure, anxiety for you. +Come, general; you are not just. You complain, because they love you too +much." + +"I complain, because I suffer," said the marshal, in an agony of +excitement. "I alone know my sufferings." + +"They must indeed be grievous, general," said Dagobert, carried further +than he would otherwise have gone by his attachment for the orphans, +"since those who love you feel them so cruelly." + +"What, sir! more reproaches?" + +"Yes, general, reproaches," cried Dagobert. "Your children have the +right to complain of you, since you accuse them so unjustly." + +"Sir," said the marshal, scarcely able to contain himself, 'this is +enough--this is too much!" + +"Oh, yes! it is enough," replied Dagobert, with rising emotion. "Why +defend unfortunate children, who can only love and submit? Why defend +them against your unhappy blindness?" + +The marshal started with anger and impatience, but then replied, with a +forced calmness: "I needs must remember all that I owe you--and I will +not forget it, say what you will." + +"But, general," cried Dagobert, "why will you not let me fetch your +children?" + +"Do you not see that this scene is killing me?" cried the exasperated +marshal. "Do you not understand, that I will not have my children +witness what I suffer? A father's grief has its dignity, sir; and you +ought to feel for and respect it." + +"Respect it? no--not when it is founded on injustice!" + +"Enough, sir--enough!" + +"And not content with tormenting yourself," cried Dagobert, unable any +longer to control his feelings, "do you know what you will do? You will +make your children die of sorrow. Was it for this, that I brought them +to you from the depths of Siberia?" + +"More reproaches!" + +"Yes; for the worst ingratitude towards me, is to make your children +unhappy." + +"Leave the room, sir!" cried the marshal, quite beside himself, and so +terrible with rage and grief, that Dagobert, regretting that he had gone +so far, resumed: "I was wrong, general. I have perhaps been wanting in +respect to you--forgive me--but--" + +"I forgive you--only leave me!" said the marshal, hardly restraining +himself. + +"One word, general--" + +"I entreat you to leave me--I ask it as a service--is that enough?" said +the marshal, with renewed efforts to control the violence of his +emotions. + +A deadly paleness succeeded to the high color which during this painful +scene had inflamed the cheeks of the marshal. Alarmed at this symptom, +Dagobert redoubled his entreaties. "I implore you, general," said he, in +an agitated mice, "to permit me for one moment--" + +"Since you will have it so, sir, I must be the one to leave," said the +marshal, making a step towards the door. + +These words were said in such a manner, that Dagobert could no longer +resist. He hung his head in despair, looked for a moment in silent +supplication at the marshal, and then, as the latter seemed yielding to a +new movement of rage, the soldier slowly quitted the room. + +A few minutes had scarcely elapsed since the departure of Dagobert, when +the marshal, who, after a long and gloomy silence, had repeatedly drawn +near the door of his daughters' apartment with a mixture of hesitation +and anguish, suddenly made a violent effort, wiped the cold sweat from +his brow, and entered the chamber in which Rose and Blanche had taken +refuge. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +THE TEST. + +Dagobert was right in defending his children, as he paternally called +Rose and Blanche, and yet the apprehensions of the marshal with regard to +the coldness of his daughters, were unfortunately justified by +appearances. As he had told his father, unable to explain the sad, and +almost trembling embarrassment, which his daughters felt in his presence, +he sought in vain for the cause of what he termed their indifference. +Now reproaching himself bitterly for not concealing from them his grief +at the death of their mother, he feared he might have given them to +understand that they would be unable to console him; now supposing that +he had not shown himself sufficiently tender, and that had chilled them +with his military sternness; and now repeating with bitter regret, that, +having always lived away from them, he must be always a stranger to them. +In a word, the most unlikely suppositions presented themselves by turns +to his mind, and whenever such seeds of doubt, suspicion, or fear, are +blended with a warm affection, they will sooner or later develop +themselves with fatal effect. Yet, notwithstanding this fancied +coldness, from which he suffered so much, the affection of the marshal +for his daughters was so true and deep, that the thought of again +quitting them caused the hesitations which were the torment of his life, +and provoked an incessant struggle between his paternal love and the duty +he held most sacred. + +The injurious calumnies, which had been so skillfully propagated, that +men of honor, like his old brothers in arms, were found to attach some +credit to them, had been spread with frightful pertinacity by the friends +of the Princess de Saint-Dizier. We shall describe hereafter the meaning +and object of these odious reports, which, joined with so many other +fatal injuries, had filled up the measure of the marshal's indignation. +Inflamed with anger, excited almost to madness by this incessant +"stabbing with pins" (as he had himself called it), and offended at some +of Dagobert's words, he had spoken harshly to him. But, after the +soldier's departure, when left to reflect in silence, the marshal +remembered the warm and earnest expressions of the defender of his +children, and doubt crossed his mind, as to the reality of the coldness +of which he accused them. Therefore, having taken a terrible resolution +in case a new trial should confirm his desponding doubts, he entered, as +we before said, his, daughters' chamber. The discussion with Dagobert +had been so loud, that the sound of the voices had confusedly reached the +ears of the two sisters, even after they had taken refuge in their +bedroom. So that, on the arrival of their father, their pale faces +betrayed their fear and anxiety. At sight of the marshal, whose +countenance was also much agitated, the girls rose respectfully, but +remained close together, trembling in each other's arms. And yet there +was neither anger nor severity on their father's face--only a deep, +almost supplicating grief, which seemed to say: "My children, I suffer--I +have come to you--console me, love me! or I shall die!" + +The marshal's countenance was at this moment so expressive, that, the +first impulse of fear once surmounted, the sisters were about to throw +themselves into his arms; but remembering the recommendations of the +anonymous letter, which told them how painful any effusion of their +tenderness was to their father, they exchanged a rapid glance, and +remained motionless. By a cruel fatality, the marshal at this moment +burned to open his arms to his children. He looked at them with love, he +even made a slight movement as if to call them to him; but he would not +attempt more, for fear of meeting with no response. Still the poor +children, paralyzed by perfidious counsels, remained mute, motionless, +trembling! + +"It is all over," thought he, as he gazed upon them. "No chord of +sympathy stirs in their bosom. Whether I go---whether I remain--matters +not to them. No, I am nothing to these children--since, at this awful +moment, when they see me perhaps for the last time, no filial instinct +tells them that their affection might save me still!" + +During these terrible reflections, the marshal had not taken his eyes off +his children, and his manly countenance assumed an expression at once so +touching and mournful--his look revealed so painfully the tortures of his +despairing soul--that Rose and Blanche, confused, alarmed, but yielding +together to a spontaneous movement, threw themselves on their father's +neck, and covered him with tears and caresses. Marshal Simon had not +spoken a word; his daughters had not uttered a sound; and yet all three +had at length understood one another. A sympathetic shock had +electrified and mingled those three hearts. Vain fears, false doubts, +lying counsel, all had yielded to the irresistible emotion. which had +brought the daughters to their father's arms. A sudden revelation gave +them faith, at the fatal moment when incurable suspicion was about to +separate them forever. + +In a second, the marshal felt all this, but words failed him. Pale, +bewildered, kissing the brows, the hair, the hands of his daughters, +weeping, sighing, smiling all in turn, he was wild, delirious, drunk with +happiness. At length, he exclaimed: "I have found them--or rather, I +have never lost them. They loved me, and did not dare to tell me so. I +overawed them. And I thought it was my fault. Heavens! what good that +does! what strength, what heart, what hope!--Ha! ha!" cried he, laughing +and weeping at the same time, whilst he covered his children with +caresses; "they may despise me now, they may harass me now--I defy them +all. My own blue eyes! my sweet blue eyes! look at me well, and inspire +me with new life." + +"Oh, father! you love us then as much as we love you?" cried Rose, with +enchanting simplicity. + +"And we may often, very often, perhaps every day, throw ourselves on your +neck, embrace you, and prove how glad we are to be with you?" + +"Show you, dear father, all the store of love we were heaping up in our +hearts--so sad, alas! that we could not spend it upon you?" + +"Tell you aloud all that we think in secret?" + +"Yes--you may do so--you may do so," said Marshal Simon, faltering with +joy; "what prevented you, my children? But no; do not answer; enough of +the past!--I know all, I understand all. You misinterpreted my gloom, +and it made you sad; I, in my turn, misinterpreted your sadness. But +never mind; I scarcely know what I am saying to you. I only think of +looking at you--and it dazzles me--it confuses me--it is the dizziness of +joy!" + +"Oh, look at us, father! look into our eyes, into our hearts," cried +Rose, with rapture. + +"And you will read there, happiness for us, and love for you, sir!" added +Blanche. + +"Sir, sir!" said the marshal, in a tone of affectionate reproach; "what +does that mean? Will you call me father, if you please?" + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Blanche, as she took it, and placed it on +her heart. + +"Dear father, your hand!" said Rose, as she took the other hand of the +marshal. "Do you believe now in our love and happiness?" she continued. + +It is impossible to describe the charming expression of filial pride in +the divine faces of the girls, as their father, slightly pressing their +virgin bosoms, seemed to count with delight the joyous pulsations of +their hearts. + +"Oh, yes! happiness and affection can alone make the heart beat thus!" +cried the marshal. + +A hoarse sob, heard in the direction of the open door, made the three +turn round, and there they saw the tall figure of Dagobert, with the +black nose of Spoil-sport reaching to his master's knee. The soldier, +drying his eyes and moustache with his little blue cotton handkerchief, +remained motionless as the god Terminus. When he could speak, he +addressed himself to the marshal, and, shaking his head, muttered, in a +hoarse voice, for the good man was swallowing his tears: "Did I not tell +you so?" + +"Silence!" said the marshal, with a sign of intelligence. "You were a +better father than myself, my old friend. Come and kiss them! I shall +not be jealous." + +The marshal stretched out his hand to the soldier, who pressed it +cordially, whilst the two sisters threw themselves on his neck, and +Spoil-sport, according to custom wishing to have his share in the general +joy, raised himself on his hind legs, and rested his fore-paws against +his master's back. There was a moment of profound silence. The +celestial felicity enjoyed during that moment, by the marshal, his +daughters, and the soldier, was interrupted by the barking of Spoil-sort, +who suddenly quitted the attitude of a biped. The happy group separated, +looked round, and saw Loony's stupid face. He looked even duller than +usual, as he stood quite still in the doorway, staring with wide- +stretched eyes, and holding a feather-broom under his arm, and in his +hand the ever-present basket of wood. + +Nothing makes one so gay as happiness; and, though this grotesque figure +appeared at a very unseasonable moment, it was received with frank +laughter from the blooming lips of Rose and Blanche. Having made the +marshal's daughters laugh, after their long sadness, Loony at once +acquired a claim to the indulgence of the marshal, who said to him, good- +humoredly: "What do you want, my lad?" + +"It's not me, my lord duke!" answered Loony, laying his hand on his +breast, as if it were taking a vow, so that his feather-brush fell down +from under his arm. The laughter of the girls redoubled. + +"It is not you?" said the marshal. + +"Here! Spoil-sport!" Dagobert called, for the honest dog seemed to have a +secret dislike for the pretended idiot, and approached him with an angry +air. + +"No, my lord duke, it is not me!" resumed Loony. "It is the footman who +told me to tell M. Dagobert, when I brought up the wood to tell my lord +duke, as I was coming up with the basket, that M. Robert wants to see +him." + +The girls laughed still more at this new stupidity. But, at the name of +Robert, Marshal Simon started. + +M. Robert was the secret emissary of Rodin, with regard to the possible, +but adventurous, enterprise of attempting the liberation of Napoleon II. + +After a moment's silence, the marshal, whose face was still radiant with +joy and happiness, said to Loony: "Beg M. Robert to wait for me a moment +in my study." + +"Yes, my lord duke," answered Loony, bowing almost to the ground. + +The simpleton withdrew, and the marshal said to his daughters, in a +joyous tone, "You see, that, in a moment like this, one does not leave +one's children, even for M. Robert." + +"Oh! that's right, father!" cried Blanche, gayly; "for I was already very +angry with this M. Robert." + +"Have you pen and paper at hand?" asked the marshal. + +"Yes, father; there on the table," said Rose, hastily, as she pointed to +a little desk near one of the windows, towards which the marshal now +advanced rapidly. + +From motives of delicacy, the girls remained where they were, close to +the fireplace, and caressed each other tenderly, as if to congratulate +themselves in private on the unexpected happiness of this day. + +The marshal seated himself at the desk, and made a sign to Dagobert to +draw near. + +While he wrote rapidly a few words in a firm hand, he said to the soldier +with a smile, in so low a tone that it was impossible for his daughters +to hear: "Do you know what I had almost resolved upon, before entering +this room?" + +"What, general?" + +"To blow my brains out. It is to my children that I owe my life." And +the marshal continued writing. + +Dagobert started at this communication, and then replied, also in a +whisper: "It would not have been with your pistols. I took off the +caps." + +The marshal turned round hastily, and looked at him with an air of +surprise. But the soldier only nodded his head affirmatively, and added: +"Thank heaven, we have now done with all those ideas!" + +The marshal's only answer was to glance at his children, his eyes +swimming with tenderness, and sparkling with delight; then, sealing the +note he had written, he gave it to the soldier, and said to him, "Give +that to M. Robert. I will see him to-morrow." + +Dagobert took the letter, and went out. Returning towards his daughters, +the marshal joyfully extended his arms to them, and said, "Now, young +ladies, two nice kisses for having sacrificed M. Robert to you. Have I +not earned them?" And Rose and Blanche threw themselves on their father's +neck. + +About the time that these events were taking place at Paris, two +travellers, wide apart from each other, exchanged mysterious thoughts +through the breadth of space. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, v10 +by Eugene Sue + diff --git a/old/es10v11.zip b/old/es10v11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9b59fc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es10v11.zip |