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+Project Gutenberg's The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, by Eugène 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 Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6
+
+Author: Eugène Sue
+
+Illustrators: G. Mercier
+              Bicknell
+              Léon Poiteau
+              Adrian Marcel
+
+Release Date: September 22, 2010 [EBook #33801]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, V.2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+(Stanford University, SUL Books in the Public Domain)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+2. Passages in Gothic Bold are surrounded by +plus+ signs.
+
+3. Other transcription notes appear at the end of this e-text.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "_He Took from the Bed a Large Plaid Shawl_"
+Etching by Adrian Marcel, after the drawing by Frank T. Merrill]
+
+
+
+
++The Mysteries of Paris.+
+
+  _ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS
+  BY MERCIER, BICKNELL, POITEAU,
+  AND ADRIAN MARCEL._
+
+                 _BY EUGENE SUE_
+
+
+      _IN SIX VOLUMES
+          VOLUME II._
+
+
+        _PRINTED FOR
+   FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS & CO.
+           BOSTON_
+
+
+      _EDITION DE LUXE._
+
+_Limited to One Thousand Copies._
+
+          No.______
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+   CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+         I. THE BALL                                             11
+        II. THE RENDEZVOUS                                       36
+       III. AN IDYL                                              61
+        IV. THE AMBUSCADE                                        74
+         V. THE RECTORY-HOUSE                                    88
+        VI. THE RENCOUNTER                                       99
+       VII. AN EVENING AT THE FARM                              105
+      VIII. THE DREAM                                           150
+        IX. THE LETTER                                          159
+         X. THE HOLLOW WAY                                      195
+        XI. CLÉMENCE D'HARVILLE                                 201
+       XII. MISERY                                              256
+      XIII. JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION                              286
+       XIV. RIGOLETTE                                           310
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                                               PAGE
+      "HE TOOK FROM THE BED A LARGE PLAID SHAWL"      _Frontispiece_
+      "AT LENGTH ALIGHTED ON HER SHOULDER"                       66
+      "'SO I HAVE BROUGHT TURK WITH ME'"                         97
+      "'YOU MUST GIVE ME LEAVE'"                                208
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+Belonging to one of the first families in France, still young, and with
+a face that would have been agreeable had it not been for the almost
+ridiculous and disproportionate length of his nose, M. de Lucenay joined
+to a restless love of constant motion the habit of talking and laughing
+fearfully loud upon subjects quite at variance with good taste or
+polished manners, and throwing himself into attitudes so abrupt and
+awkward that it was only by recalling who he was, that his being found
+in the midst of the most distinguished societies in Paris could be
+accounted for, or a reason assigned for tolerating his gestures and
+language; for both of which he had now, by dint of long practice and
+adherence, acquired a sort of free license or impunity. He was shunned
+like the plague, although not deficient in a certain description of wit,
+which told here and there amid the indescribable confusion of remarkable
+phraseology which he allowed himself the use of; in fact, he was one of
+those unintentional instruments of vengeance one would always like to
+employ in the wholesale chastisement of persons who have rendered
+themselves either ridiculous or abhorrent.
+
+The Duchess de Lucenay, one of the most agreeable, and, at the same
+time, most fashionable women in Paris (spite of her having numbered
+thirty summers), had more than once furnished matter of conversation
+among the scandal-dealers of Paris; but her errors, whatever they were
+supposed to be, were pardoned, in consideration of the heavy drawback of
+such a partner as M. de Lucenay.
+
+Another feature in the character of this latter-named individual was a
+singular affectation of the most absurd and unknown expressions,
+relative to imaginary complaints and ridiculous infirmities he amused
+himself in supposing you suffered from, and concerning which he would
+make earnest inquiries, in a loud voice, and in the immediate presence
+of a hundred persons. But possessed of first-rate courage, and always
+ready to take the consequences of his disagreeable jokes, M. de Lucenay
+had been concerned in various affairs of honour arising out of them,
+with varied success; coming off sometimes victor, sometimes vanquished,
+without being in any way cured of his unpleasant and annoying tricks.
+
+All this premised, we will ask the reader to imagine the loud, harsh
+voice of the personage we have been describing, shouting from the
+distance at which he first recognised Madame d'Harville and Sarah:
+
+"Holla! holla! who is that out there? Come, who is it? Let's see. What!
+the prettiest woman at the ball sitting out here, away from everybody! I
+can't have this; it is high time I returned from the other end of the
+world to put a stop to such doings as this. I tell you what, marquise,
+if you persist in thus concealing yourself from general view, and
+cheating people from looking at you, I will set up a cry of fire! fire!
+that shall bring every one out of the ballroom, around you."
+
+And then, by way of terminating his discourse, M. de Lucenay threw
+himself almost on his back beside the two ladies, crossed his left leg
+over his right thigh, and held his foot in his hand.
+
+"You have soon returned from Constantinople, my lord," observed Madame
+d'Harville, fancying it was necessary to say something, and, at the same
+time, drawing away from her unpleasant neighbour with ill-concealed
+impatience.
+
+"Ah, that is just what my wife said! 'Already back, my lord?' exclaimed
+she, when she saw me alight from my travelling-carriage; 'Why, bless me,
+I did not expect you so soon!' And, do you know, instead of flying to my
+arms, as if the surprise had delighted her, she turned quite sulky, and
+refused to appear with me at this, my first ball since my return! And,
+upon my soul, I declare her staying away has caused a far greater
+sensation than my presence,--droll, isn't it? 'Pon my life, I declare I
+can't make it out. When she is with me, nobody pays the least attention
+to me; but when I entered the room alone to-night, such a crowd came
+humming and buzzing around me, all calling out at once, 'Where is Madame
+de Lucenay? Is not she coming this evening? Oh, dear, what a
+disappointment! How vexatious! How disagreeable!' etc., etc. And then,
+marquise, when I come where you are, and expect, after returning all the
+way from Constantinople, you will be overjoyed to see me, you look upon
+me as if I were a dog running amidst an interesting game of ninepins;
+and yet, for all I see, I am just as agreeable as other people."
+
+"And it would have been so easy for you to have continued agreeable--in
+the East," added Madame d'Harville, slightly smiling.
+
+"Stop abroad, you mean, I suppose; yes, I dare say. I tell you I could
+not, and I would not; and it is not quite what I like, to hear you say
+so!" exclaimed M. de Lucenay, uncrossing his legs, and beating the crown
+of his hat after the fashion of a tambourine.
+
+"Well, for heaven's sake, my lord, be still, and do not call out so very
+loudly," said Madame d'Harville, angrily, "or really you will compel me
+to change my place."
+
+"Change your place! Ah, to be sure! You want to take my arm, and walk
+about the gallery a little; come along then, I'm ready."
+
+"Walk with you! Certainly not! And pray let me beg of you not to meddle
+with that bouquet--and have the goodness not to touch the fan either;
+you will only break it, as you always do."
+
+"Oh, bless you! talking of breaking fans, I am unlucky. Did my wife ever
+show you a magnificent Chinese fan, given to her by Madame de Vaudémont?
+Well, I broke that!" And, having delivered himself of these comforting
+words, M. de Lucenay again threw himself back on the divan he had been
+lounging on, but, with his accustomed gaucherie, contrived to pitch
+himself over the back of it, on to the ground, grasping in his hand a
+quantity of the floating wreaths of climbing plants which depended from
+the boughs of the trees under which the party was sitting, and which he
+had been, for some time, amusing himself with essaying to catch, as,
+moved by the light breeze admitted into the place, they undulated
+gracefully over his head. The suddenness of his fall brought down, not
+only those he held, but the parent stems belonging to them; and poor De
+Lucenay was so covered by the mass of foliage thus unexpectedly
+obtained, that, ere he could thoroughly disengage himself from their
+circling tendrils, he presented the appearance of some monarch of
+May-day crowned with his leafy diadem. So whimsical an appearance as he
+presented drew down roars of deafening, stunning laughter; much to the
+annoyance of Madame d'Harville, who would quickly have got out of the
+vicinity of so awkward and unpleasant a person had she not perceived M.
+Charles Robert (the commandant of Madame Pipelet's accounts) advancing
+from the other end of the gallery; and, unwilling to appear as though
+going to meet him, she once more resumed her seat beside M. de Lucenay.
+
+"I say, Lady Macgregor," vociferated the incorrigible De Lucenay,
+"didn't I look preciously like a wild man of the woods, or the god Pan,
+or a sylvan, or a naiad, or some of those savage creatures, with that
+green wreath round my head? Oh, but talking of savages," added he,
+abruptly approaching Sarah, "Lady Macgregor, I must tell you a most
+outrageously indecent story. Just imagine that at Otaheite--"
+
+"My lord duke--" interrupted Sarah, in a tone of freezing rebuke.
+
+"Just as you like,--you are not obliged to hear my story if you don't
+like it; you are the loser, that's all. Ah! I see Madame de Fonbonne out
+there; I shall keep it for her; she is a dear, kind creature, and will
+be delighted to hear it; so I'll save it for her."
+
+Madame de Fonbonne was a fat little woman, of about fifty years of age,
+very pretending, and very ridiculous. Her fat double chin rested on her
+equally fat throat; and she was continually talking, with upturned eyes,
+of her tender, her sensitive soul; the languor of her soul; the craving
+of her soul; the aspirations of her soul. To these disadvantages, she
+added the additional one of being particularly ill-dressed, upon the
+present occasion, in a horrible-looking copper-coloured turban, with a
+sprinkling of green flowers over it.
+
+"Yes," again asserted De Lucenay, in his loudest voice, "that charming
+anecdote shall be told to Madame de Fonbonne."
+
+"May I be permitted, my lord duke, to inquire the subject of your
+conversation?" said the lady thus apostrophised, who, hearing her name
+mentioned, immediately commenced her usual mincing, bridling attempts to
+draw up her chubby self, but, failing in the effort, fell back upon the
+easier manoeuvre of "rolling up the whites of her eyes," as it is
+commonly called.
+
+"It refers, madame, to a most horribly indecent, revolting, and strange
+story."
+
+"Heaven bless me! and who dares--oh, dear me, who would venture--"
+
+"I would, madame. I can answer for the truth of the anecdote, and that
+it would make a stick or a stone blush to hear it; but, as I am aware
+how dearly you love such stories, I will relate it to you. You must
+know, then, that in Otaheite--"
+
+"My lord," exclaimed the indignant lady, turning up her eyes with
+indignant horror, "it really is surprising you can allow yourself to--"
+
+"Now for those unkind looks you shall not hear my pretty story either,
+though I had been reserving it for you. And, now I look at you, I can
+but wonder that you, so celebrated for the taste and good style of your
+dress, should have put that wretched thing on your head for a turban,
+but which looks more like an old copper baking-dish spotted all over
+with verdigris." So saying, the duke, as if charmed with his own wit,
+burst into a loud and long peal of laughter.
+
+"If, my lord," exclaimed the enraged lady, "you merely returned from the
+East to resume your offensive jokes, which are tolerated because you are
+supposed to be only half in your senses, all who know you are bound to
+hope you intend to return as quickly as you came;" saying which she
+arose, and majestically waddled away.
+
+"I tell you what, Lady Macgregor, if I don't take devilish good care, I
+shall let fly at that stupid old prude and pull her old stew-pan off her
+head," said M. de Lucenay, thrusting his hands deep down into his
+pockets as if to prevent their committing the retaliating mischief he
+contemplated. "But no," said he, after a pause, "I won't hurt the
+'sensitive soul,' poor innocent thing! Ha! ha! ha! Besides, think of her
+being an orphan at her tender age!" And renewed peals of laughter
+announced that the imagination of the duke had again found a fresh fund
+of amusement in some reminiscence of Madame de Fonbonne; which, however,
+soon gave place to an expression of surprise, as the figure of the
+commandant, sauntering towards them, caught his eye.
+
+"Holla!" cried he, "there's M. Charles Robert. I met him last summer at
+the German baths; he is a deuced fine fellow,--sings like a swan. Now,
+marquise, I'll show you some fun,--just see how I'll bother him. Would
+you like me to introduce him to you?"
+
+"Be quiet, if you can," said Sarah, turning her back most
+unceremoniously upon M. de Lucenay, "and let us alone, I beg."
+
+As M. Charles Robert, while affecting to be solely occupied in admiring
+the rare plants on either side of him, continued to advance, M. de
+Lucenay had cleverly contrived to get possession of Sarah's _flacon
+d'esprit_, and was deeply and silently engaged in the interesting
+employment of demolishing the stopper of the trinket.
+
+Still M. Charles Robert kept on his gradual approach to the party he
+was, in reality, making the object of his visit. His figure was tall and
+finely proportioned; his features boasted the most faultless regularity;
+his dress was in the first style of modern elegance; yet his
+countenance, his whole person, were destitute of grace, or that
+_distingué_ air which is more to be coveted than mere beauty, whether of
+face or figure; his movements were stiff and constrained, and his hands
+and feet large and coarse. As he approached Madame d'Harville his
+insipid and insignificant countenance assumed, all at once, an
+expression of the deepest melancholy, too sudden to be genuine;
+nevertheless he acted the part as closely to nature as might be. M.
+Robert had the air of a man so thoroughly wretched, so oppressed by a
+multitude of sorrows, that as he came up to Madame d'Harville she could
+not help recalling to mind the fearful mention made by Sarah touching
+the violence to which grief such as his might drive him.
+
+"How are you? How are you, my dear sir?" exclaimed the Duke de Lucenay,
+interrupting the further approach of the commandant. "I have not had the
+pleasure of seeing you since we met at the spas of ----. But what the
+devil ails you,--are you ill?"
+
+Hereupon M. Charles Robert assumed a languid and sentimental air, and,
+casting a melancholy look towards Madame d'Harville, replied, in a tone
+of deep depression:
+
+"Indeed, my lord, I am very far from being well."
+
+"God bless me! Why, what is the matter with you? Ah! I suppose that
+confounded plaguy cough still sticks to you," said M. de Lucenay, with
+an appearance of the most serious interest in the inquiry.
+
+At this ridiculous question, M. Charles Robert stood for a moment as
+though struck dumb with astonishment, but, quickly recovering himself,
+said, while his face crimsoned, and his voice trembled with rage, in a
+short, firm voice, to M. de Lucenay:
+
+"Since you express so much uneasiness respecting my health, my lord, I
+trust you will not fail calling to-morrow to know how I am."
+
+"Upon my life and soul, my dear sir, I--but most certainly I will send,"
+said the duke, with a haughty bow to M. Charles Robert, who, coolly
+returning it, walked away.
+
+"The best of the joke is," said M. de Lucenay, throwing himself again by
+the side of Sarah, "that our tall friend there had no more of a spitting
+complaint than the great Turk himself,--unless, indeed, I stumbled upon
+the truth without knowing it. Well, he might have that complaint for
+anything I know or care. What do you think, Lady Macgregor,--did that
+great, tall fellow look, to you, as though he were suffering from _la
+pituite_?"[1]
+
+  [1] A sort of viscous, phlegmy complaint.
+
+Sarah's only reply was an indignant rising from her seat, and hasty
+removal from the vicinage of the annoying Duke de Lucenay.
+
+All this had passed with the rapidity of thought. Sarah had experienced
+considerable difficulty in restraining her inclination to indulge in a
+hearty fit of laughter at the absurd question put by the Duke de Lucenay
+to the commandant; but Madame d'Harville had painfully sympathised with
+the feelings of a man so ridiculously interrogated in the presence of
+the woman he loved. Then, horror-struck as the probable consequences of
+the duke's jest rose to her mind, led away by her dread of the duel
+which might arise out of it, and still further instigated by a feeling
+of deep pity for one who seemed to her misled imagination as marked out
+for every venomed shaft of envy, malice, and revenge, Clémence rose
+abruptly from her seat, took the arm of Sarah, overtook M. Charles
+Robert, who was boiling over with rage, and whispered to him, as she
+passed:
+
+"To-morrow, at one o'clock, I will be there."
+
+Then, regaining the gallery with the countess, she immediately quitted
+the ball.
+
+Rodolph, in appearing at this fête, besides fulfilling a duty imposed on
+him by his exalted rank and place in society, was further influenced by
+the earnest desire to ascertain how far his suspicions, as regarded
+Madame d'Harville, were well founded, and if she were, indeed, the
+heroine of Madame Pipelet's account. After quitting the winter garden
+with the Countess de ----, he had, in vain, traversed the various salons
+in the hopes of meeting Madame d'Harville alone. He was returning to the
+hothouse when, being momentarily delayed at the top of the stairs, he
+was witness to the rapid scene between Madame d'Harville and M. Charles
+Robert after the joke played off by the Duke de Lucenay. The significant
+glances exchanged between Clémence and the commandant struck Rodolph
+powerfully, and impressed him with the firm conviction that this tall
+and prepossessing individual was the mysterious lodger of the Rue du
+Temple. Wishing for still further confirmation of the idea, he returned
+to the gallery. A waltz was about to commence, and in the course of a
+few minutes he saw M. Charles Robert standing in the doorway, evidently
+revelling in the satisfaction of his own ideas; enjoying, in the first
+place, the recollection of his own retort to M. de Lucenay (for M.
+Charles Robert, spite of his egregious folly and vanity, was by no means
+destitute of bravery), and, secondly, revelling in the triumph of thus
+obtaining a voluntary assignation with Madame d'Harville for the morrow;
+and something assured him that this time she would be punctual. Rodolph
+sought for Murphy.
+
+"Do you see that fair young man," said he, "standing in the midst of
+that group out there?"
+
+"You mean the tall individual who seems so much amused with his own
+thoughts, do you not? Yes, yes, I see him."
+
+"Endeavour to get sufficiently near to him to be enabled to whisper, so
+that he alone can catch the words, while you carefully avoid allowing
+him to see the person who utters them, this sentence, 'You are late, my
+angel!'"
+
+The squire gazed at Rodolph with a perplexed air.
+
+"My lord, do you seriously wish me to do this?"
+
+"Seriously, my dear Murphy, I do; and should he hastily turn around when
+you have spoken, assume that incomparable air of perfect nonchalance for
+which you are so justly celebrated, so as to prevent his being able to
+fix upon you as the person who has spoken."
+
+"Depend upon my perfect obedience, my lord, although I am far from
+having the slightest idea of your intention in assigning to me such a
+task."
+
+Before the conclusion of the waltz, the worthy Murphy had contrived to
+place himself immediately behind M. Charles Robert, while Rodolph,
+posted in a situation most advantageous for watching the effect of this
+experiment, carefully observed Murphy's movements. In a minute, M.
+Charles Robert turned suddenly around, as though struck with
+astonishment and wonder. The immovable squire stirred not a feature; and
+certainly Murphy's tall, portly figure, bald head, and grave, composed
+countenance, appeared the least likely of any in the room to be those of
+a man taking part in such a trick; and, indeed, it was evident, from the
+continued gaze of the commandant in every other part of the space they
+stood in, that M. Charles Robert was far from suspecting his
+respectable, middle-aged neighbour of giving utterance to a phrase so
+disagreeably recalling the _quid pro quo_ of which Madame Pipelet had
+been alike the cause and the heroine. The waltz concluded, Murphy
+rejoined Rodolph.
+
+"Well, my lord," said he, "that smart young gentleman jumped as though
+he had trodden on a hornet's nest. The words I uttered appeared to have
+the effect of magic on him."
+
+"They were so far magical, my dear Murphy, as they assisted me to
+discover a circumstance I was most anxious to find out."
+
+Conviction thus painfully obtained, Rodolph could only deplore the
+dangerous position in which Madame d'Harville had placed herself, and
+which seemed to him fraught with fresh evils, from a vague presentiment
+of Sarah's being either a sharer or a confidant in the transaction, and
+with this discovery came the fresh pain of believing that he had now
+found out the source of M. d'Harville's secret sorrow; the man he so
+highly esteemed, and for whom he felt a brother's regard, was pining in
+silence over the misconduct of a wife he so tenderly loved, yet who, in
+spite of her many charming qualities, could sacrifice her own and her
+husband's happiness for the sake of an object so every way unworthy.
+Master of so important a secret, yet incapable of betraying it, unable
+to devise any plan to open the eyes of Madame d'Harville, who seemed
+rather to yield to than resist her unlicensed passion for her lover,
+Rodolph found himself obliged to remain a passive witness to the utter
+ruin of a woman he had so passionately adored with as much silence as
+devotion; nay, whom, spite of his best efforts, he still loved. He was
+roused from these reflections by M. de Graün.
+
+"If your royal highness," said the baron, bowing, "will deign to grant
+me a brief interview in one of the lower rooms, which is now quite
+devoid of company, I shall have the honour to lay before you the
+particulars you desired me to collect."
+
+Rodolph signed to M. de Graün to conduct him to the place named, when
+the baron proceeded with his recital, as follows:
+
+"The only duchess to whose name the initials 'N.' and 'L.' can possibly
+belong is Madame de Lucenay, whose maiden name was Normant. Her grace is
+not here this evening. I have just seen M. de Lucenay, her husband, who,
+it seems, left Paris five months ago, with the expressed intention of
+travelling in the East during the next year or two, but has unexpectedly
+returned within the last day or two."
+
+It may be recollected that, during Rodolph's visit to the Rue du Temple,
+he picked up, on the landing-place adjoining the door of the charlatan
+dentist's apartments, a cambric handkerchief, richly embroidered and
+trimmed with costly lace, and bearing in the corner a ducal coronet with
+the initials "N. L." It will also be borne in mind that this elegant
+indication of high rank was wetted with the bitter tears of its noble
+owner. In pursuance of his instructions, but in total ignorance of the
+circumstances suggesting them, M. de Graün had inquired the name of
+every duchess then in Paris, and gleaned the information now repeated to
+Rodolph, and which the latter perfectly comprehended. He had no reason
+for interesting himself in the fate of Madame de Lucenay; but he could
+not reflect without a shudder that, if it were really she who visited
+the pretended doctor (but who, he felt assured, was no other than the
+infamous Polidori), this wretch, having possessed himself of her real
+name and address through the agency of Tortillard, might make a fearful
+use of a secret which placed the duchess so completely in his power.
+
+"Chance is a strange thing, my lord, is it not?" resumed M. de Graün.
+
+"It is; but how does it apply to the present case?"
+
+"Why, at the very instant that M. de Grangeneuve was giving me these
+facts concerning M. and Madame de Lucenay, and was adding, rather
+ill-naturedly, that the unlooked-for return of the duke must have proved
+particularly disagreeable, not only to the duchess but to the Viscount
+de Saint-Remy, one of the most elegant and fashionable men in Paris, his
+excellency the ambassador came up and inquired whether your royal
+highness would permit him to present the viscount to you, as, having
+just been appointed on the legation to Gerolstein, he would be happy to
+avail himself of the present opportunity of paying his court to your
+highness."
+
+An expression of impatience escaped Rodolph, who exclaimed:
+
+"Nothing could have been less agreeable to me. However, it is impossible
+to refuse. Let the count know, therefore, that I am ready to receive M.
+de Saint-Remy."
+
+Rodolph knew too well how to support his princely dignity to allow his
+feelings to interfere with the courtesy and affability required on the
+present occasion; added to which, the world gave M. de Saint-Remy as a
+favoured lover to the Duchess de Lucenay, and this circumstance greatly
+excited the curiosity of Rodolph.
+
+The Viscount de Saint-Remy, conducted by the Count de ----, now
+approached. He was an exceedingly handsome young man, of about
+twenty-five years of age, tall and slender, with the most _distingué_
+air and prepossessing physiognomy; his olive complexion had that rich,
+soft glow of amber cast over its transparent surface, so remarkable in
+the paintings of Murillo; his glossy black hair, parted over his left
+temple, was worn smooth over his forehead, and fell in light and easy
+curls down the sides of his face, almost concealing the pale,
+well-shaped ear. The deep, dark eyelash contrasted well with the clear
+eye it shaded, the crystal of which was tinged with that blue cast which
+bestows so much and such charming expression to the Indian eye. By a
+singular caprice of nature, the thick, silky moustache which graced his
+lip was the only ornament of a similar description visible on his
+countenance, the chin and cheeks being smooth as those of a young
+maiden. Perhaps it might be vanity which dictated the narrow black satin
+cravat placed so low as to reveal the perfect contour of a throat which,
+for whiteness and symmetrical roundness, might have furnished a model
+for the artist's studio. The long ends of his cravat were confined by a
+single pearl, inestimable for its size, the beauty of its shape, and the
+splendour of its colour,--so vivid, that an opal could scarcely have
+rivalled its continued prismatic changes. The perfect taste, and
+exquisite style of M. de Saint-Remy harmonised well with the magnificent
+simplicity of this jewel.
+
+Once seen, the face and figure of M. de Saint-Remy was never forgotten,
+so entirely did it differ from the usual style of _élégants_. He spared
+no expense in procuring the most faultless turnout, and his carriages
+and horses were everywhere cited as models of taste and correct
+judgment. He played high, but skilfully; while the annual amount of his
+betting-book was never less than from two to three thousand louis. The
+costly elegance of his mansion, in the Rue de Chaillot, was everywhere
+spoken of and admired. There he gave the most exquisite dinner-parties.
+The highest play followed, and the hospitable host would lose large and
+heavy sums with the most perfect indifference, though it was known that
+his fortune had been dissipated long ago. All the viscount's property
+had been derived from his mother; while his father lived in utter
+seclusion in the wilds of Anjou, upon an income of the most slender
+description.
+
+By way of accounting for the unbounded expenditure of M. de Saint-Remy,
+many among the envious or ill-natured referred, as Sarah had done, to
+the large fortune of the Duchess de Lucenay; but they forgot that,
+setting aside the infamy of the idea, M. de Lucenay would naturally
+direct the disposal of his wife's property, and that M. de Saint-Remy's
+annual expenses were at least two hundred thousand francs. Suspicions
+were entertained of his being deeply indebted to imprudent
+money-lenders; for Saint-Remy had no further inheritance to look forward
+to. Others, again, spoke of his great successes on the turf, and hinted,
+in an undertone, dark stories of training-grounds, and jockeys bribed by
+him to make the horses against which he had betted largely lose; but by
+far the greater number of the crowd by which Saint-Remy was surrounded
+was content to eat his dinners, and occasionally to win his rouleaux,
+without troubling themselves with conjectures as to how the one was
+provided, and where the other came from.
+
+By birth and education he was fully entitled to the rank he occupied in
+the fashionable world; he was lively, witty, brave, a most amusing
+companion, obliging and complaisant to the wishes of others; he gave
+first-rate bachelor dinners, and afterwards took every bet that was
+offered him. What more was required to secure his popularity? He was an
+universal favourite with the fair sex, and could boast the most unvaried
+success in all his love affairs; he was young, handsome, gallant, and
+unsparingly munificent upon all occasions where opportunities occurred
+of marking his devotion towards the high-bred females with whom he
+associated in the _grande monde_; in a word, thanks to the general
+infatuation he excited, the air of mystery thrown over the source of the
+Pactolus from which he derived his golden supplies rather embellished
+him with a certain mysterious charm, which seemed but to add to his
+attractions. Sometimes it would be said, with a careless smile, "What a
+fellow that Saint-Remy is: he must have discovered the philosopher's
+stone to be able to go the pace he does." And when it was known that he
+had caused himself to be attached to the legation of France to the court
+of Gerolstein, there were not wanting voices to assert that it was a
+"devilish good way of making an honourable retreat." Such was M. de
+Saint-Remy.
+
+"Allow me," said the Count de ----, presenting M. de Saint-Remy, "to
+introduce to your royal highness the Viscount de Saint-Remy, attached to
+the embassy of Gerolstein."
+
+The viscount bowed profoundly, saying:
+
+"May I trust your royal highness will deign to pardon my impatience in
+requesting the honour of this introduction during the present evening? I
+am, perhaps, unduly hasty in my wishes to secure a gratification I have
+so long aspired to."
+
+"It will give me much pleasure, my lord, to welcome you to Gerolstein.
+Do you propose going thither immediately?"
+
+"Your royal highness being in Paris diminishes very materially my desire
+to do so."
+
+"I fear the peaceful contrast of our German courts will scarcely assort
+with a life of Parisian fashion, such as you have always been accustomed
+to."
+
+"Permit me to assure your royal highness that the gracious kindness you
+have now shown me, and which it shall be my study to merit a continuance
+of in Gerolstein, would of itself far outweigh any attractions Paris
+may have had for me."
+
+"It will not be my fault, my lord, should you see cause to alter your
+sentiments when at Gerolstein."
+
+A slight inclination of Rodolph's head announced that the presentation
+was concluded, upon which the viscount bowed and retired. The prince, a
+practised physiognomist, was subject to involuntary likes and dislikes
+upon the first interview with an individual, and these impulses were in
+his case almost invariably borne out by after-circumstances. His first
+sensation after the exchange of the very few words we have related
+between himself and Saint-Remy was an unaccountable feeling of
+repugnance and aversion for the gay and fascinating young man; to his
+eye, the handsome features wore a sinister look, and danger seemed to
+lurk even in his honeyed words and smooth, polished manner.
+
+We shall hereafter meet M. de Saint-Remy under circumstances differing
+widely and fearfully from the splendour of the position he occupied at
+his first interview with Rodolph. It will then be seen how far these
+presentiments were ill or well founded.
+
+The presentation over, Rodolph, in deep meditation upon the singular
+rencontres effected by the hand of chance, bent his steps towards the
+winter garden. It was now the hour of supper, and the rooms were nearly
+deserted. The most retired spot in the hothouse was at the end of a
+clump of trees placed against the corner of a wall, and an enormous
+banana, covered with climbing plants, effectually concealed a small side
+door, masked by the trellis, and conducting to the banquetting-hall by a
+long corridor. This door, which was scarcely a yard distant from the
+tree above mentioned, had been left temporarily ajar. Sheltered by this
+verdant screen, Rodolph seated himself, and was soon lost in a profound
+reverie, when the sound of a well-known voice, pronouncing his name,
+made Rodolph start. It was Sarah, who, seated with her brother Tom on
+the other side of the clump of trees which effectually hid Rodolph from
+their view, was conversing with him in the English language. The prince
+listened attentively, and the following dialogue ensued:
+
+"The marquise has just gone to show herself for a few minutes at Baron
+de Nerval's ball," said Sarah; "she has luckily quitted this place
+without once having an opportunity of exchanging a word with Rodolph,
+who has been looking everywhere for her. I still dread the influence he
+possesses over her, even unknown to herself,--an influence it has cost
+me so much labour and difficulty to combat, and partly to destroy.
+However, to-morrow will rid me of any further fears of a rival who, if
+not effectually destroyed, might so powerfully derange and overthrow my
+plans. Listen to me, brother, for it is of serious matters I would speak
+to you. To-morrow witnesses the eternal ruin of my hated rival."
+
+"You are mistaken, Sarah," answered Tom's well-remembered voice;
+"Rodolph never loved the marquise; of that I am certain; your jealous
+fears mislead you."
+
+"It is time," returned Sarah, "that I enlightened you on this subject.
+Many things occurred during your last journey, and as it is necessary to
+take decisive steps even earlier than I had expected,--nay, this very
+night,--so soon as we quit this place, it becomes indispensably
+necessary we should take serious counsel together. Happily we are now
+quite alone, for the gay butterflies of the night have found fresh
+attraction around the supper-tables. Now, then, brother, give your close
+and undivided attention to what I am about to say."
+
+"Proceed, I am all impatience."
+
+"Well, before Clémence d'Harville met Rodolph, I feel assured the
+passion of love was wholly unknown to her, for what reason I have never
+been able to discover. She entertains the most invincible repugnance and
+aversion towards her husband, who perfectly adores her. There is some
+deep mystery in this part of the business I have never succeeded in
+fathoming. A thousand new and delightful emotions sprang up in the
+breast of Clémence after she became acquainted with Rodolph; but I
+stifled her growing love by the most frightful disclosures, or rather
+ingeniously invented calumnies, concerning the prince. Still, the void
+in her heart required an object to fill it, and chance having thrown M.
+Charles Robert in her way during a morning call she was making at my
+house, she appeared struck with his appearance, much after the manner in
+which we are attracted by a fine picture. Unfortunately, however, this
+man is as silly as he is handsome, though he certainly has a very
+prepossessing _tout ensemble_. I praised him enthusiastically to Madame
+d'Harville, exalted the nobleness of his sentiments, the elevation of
+his mind, and, as I knew her weak side, I worked upon her sympathy and
+pity, by representing him as loaded with every trouble and affliction
+unrelenting fate could heap upon a devoted but most innocent head. I
+directed M. Robert to assume a melancholy and sentimental air; to utter
+only deep sighs, and to preserve a gloomy and unbroken silence in the
+presence of Madame d'Harville. He carefully pursued the path marked out
+by me, and, thanks to his vocal skill, his fine person and the constant
+expression of silent suffering, so far engaged the interest of Madame
+d'Harville, that, ere long, she transferred to my handsome friend the
+warm and sympathising regard Rodolph had first awakened. Do you
+comprehend me thus far?"
+
+"Perfectly; proceed."
+
+"Madame d'Harville and Robert met only upon terms of intimacy at my
+house; to draw them more effectually together I projected devoting three
+mornings in the week to music, and my mournful ally sighed softly as the
+breath of evening while turning over the leaves of the music, ventured
+to utter a few impassioned words, and even to slip two or three billets
+among the pieces he copied out for the marquise to practise at home. I
+own I was more fearful of his epistolary efforts than even his powers of
+speech; but a woman always looks indulgently upon the first declaration
+of love she receives; so far, therefore, the written nonsense of my
+silly pupil did no harm, for, in obedience to my advice, his _billets
+doux_ were very laconic. The great point was to obtain a rendezvous, and
+this was no easy matter, for Clémence's principles were stronger than
+her love; or, rather, her passion was not sufficiently deep to induce
+her to sacrifice those principles. Unknown, even to herself, the image
+of Rodolph still filled her heart, and seemed in a manner to preserve
+her from yielding to her weak fancy for M. Charles Robert,--a fancy, as
+I well knew, far more imaginary than real; but, led on by my continual
+and exaggerated praises of this brainless Apollo, whom I persisted in
+describing as suffering under the daily increase of every imaginary evil
+I could invent, Clémence, vanquished by the deep despair of her dejected
+adorer, consented one day, more from pity than love, to grant him the
+rendezvous so long desired."
+
+"Did she, then, make you her confidant?"
+
+"She confessed to me her regard for M. Charles Robert,--nothing more;
+neither did I seek to learn more; it would have annoyed and vexed her.
+But, as for him, boiling over with love, or, rather, intoxicated with
+pride, he came voluntarily to impart his good fortune, without, however,
+entrusting me either with the time or place of the intended meeting."
+
+"How, then, did you know it?"
+
+"Why, Karl, by my order, hovered about the door of M. Robert during the
+following day from an early hour; nothing, however, transpired till the
+next day, when our love-stricken youth proceeded in a _fiacre_ to an
+obscure part of the town, and finally alighted before a mean-looking
+house in the Rue du Temple; there he remained for an hour and a half,
+when he came out and walked away. Karl waited a long while to see
+whether any person followed M. Charles Robert out of the house; but no
+one came. The marquise had evidently failed in her appointment. This was
+confirmed to me on the morrow, when the lover came to pour out all his
+rage and disappointment. I advised him to assume even an increase of
+wretchedness and despair. The plan succeeded; the pity of Clémence was
+again excited; a fresh assignation was wrung from her, but which she
+failed to keep equally with the former; the third and last rendezvous,
+however, produced more decided effects, Madame d'Harville positively
+going as far as the door of the house I have specified as the appointed
+place; then, repenting so rash a step, returned home without having even
+quitted the humble _fiacre_ in which she rode. You may judge by all
+these capricious changes of purpose how this woman struggles to be free.
+And wherefore? Why, because (and hence arises my bitter, deadly hatred
+to Clémence d'Harville) because the recollection of Rodolph still
+lingers in her heart, and, with pertinacious love she shrinks from aught
+that she fancies breathes of preference for another; thus shielding
+herself from harm or danger beneath his worshipped image. Now this very
+night the marquise has made a fresh assignation with M. Charles Robert
+for to-morrow, and this time I doubt not her punctuality; the Duke de
+Lucenay has so grossly ridiculed this young man that, carried away by
+pity for the humiliation of her admirer, the marquise has granted that
+to compassion he would not else have obtained. But this time, I feel
+persuaded she will keep her word, and be punctual to the appointed time
+and hour."
+
+"And how do you propose to act?"
+
+"M. Charles Robert is so perfectly unable to comprehend the delicacy of
+feeling which this evening dictated the marquise's resolution of meeting
+him, that he is safe to rush with vulgar eagerness to the rendezvous,
+and this will effectually ruin his plans, for pity alone has instigated
+Clémence to take this compromising step. No love,--no infatuation has
+hurried her into a measure so fatal to her future resolution. I know
+every turn of her mind; and I am confident she will keep her appointment
+solely from a courageous idea of generous devotion, but with a firm
+resolve not for one instant to forget her duties as a wife and mother.
+Now the coarse, vulgar mind of M. Charles Robert is sure to take the
+fullest advantage of the marquise's concession in his favour. Clémence
+will detest him from that instant; and the illusion once destroyed which
+has bound herself and Charles Robert in bonds of imaginary sympathy, she
+will fall again beneath the influence of her love for Rodolph, which I
+am certain still nestles in her heart."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well! I would have her for ever lost to Rodolph, whose high sense of
+honour and deep friendship for M. d'Harville I feel perfectly sure would
+not have proved equal to preventing his returning the love of Clémence;
+but I will so manage things that he shall henceforward look upon her
+with loathing and disgust, as the guilty partner in a crime committed
+without his participation. No, no! I know my man. He might pardon the
+offence, but never the being excluded from his share in it."
+
+"Then do you propose apprising the husband of all that is going on, so
+that the prince should learn the disgraceful circumstances from the
+publicity the affair would obtain?"
+
+"I do. And the thing is so much the easier to accomplish as, from what
+fell from Clémence to-night, I can learn that the marquis has vague and
+undefined suspicions, without knowing on whom to fix them. It is now
+midnight; we shall almost directly leave the ball, I will set you down
+at the first café we meet with, whence you shall write M. d'Harville a
+minute account of his wife's love affair, with the projected assignation
+of to-morrow, with the time and place where it is arranged to take
+place. Oh! but I forgot, I didn't state that the place of meeting is No.
+17 Rue du Temple. And the time, to-morrow at one o'clock. The marquis is
+already jealous of Clémence; well, he will by this information surprise
+her under most suspicious circumstances; the rest follows as a matter of
+course."
+
+"But this is a most abominable mode of action," said Seyton, coldly.
+
+"What! my trusty and well-behaved brother and colleague growing
+scrupulous?" said Sarah, sarcastically. "This will never do; suppose my
+modes of action are odious,--so be it. I trample on all and every thing
+that interferes with my designs,--agreed. I do--I shall, till I have
+secured my purpose. But let me ask you, Who thought of scruples when my
+destruction was aimed at? Who thought of me or my feelings, let me ask
+you? How have I been treated?"
+
+"Say no more, sister,--say no more,--here is my hand, and you may safely
+reckon upon my firm participation in all that concerns you, even to
+writing the letter to M. d'Harville. But still I say, and repeat, such
+conduct is horrible!"
+
+"Never mind sermonising, but say, do you consent fully and entirely to
+what I wish you, or do you not? Ay, or nay?"
+
+"Since it must be so, M. d'Harville shall this night be fully instructed
+as to all his wife's proceedings,--but--what is that? I fancied I heard
+some one on the other side of this thicket,--there was a rustling of
+leaves and branches," said Seyton, interrupting himself, and speaking to
+Sarah in a low and suppressed voice.
+
+"For heaven's sake," cried Sarah, uneasily, "don't stop to talk about
+it, but quick! and examine the other side of this place!"
+
+Seyton rose,--made the tour of the clump of trees,--but saw no one.
+
+Rodolph had just disappeared by the side door, of which we have before
+spoken.
+
+"I must have made a mistake," said Seyton, returning; "there is no
+appearance of any persons but ourselves being in this place."
+
+"I thought there could not possibly be."
+
+"Now, then, Sarah, hear what I have got to say on the subject of Madame
+d'Harville, who, I feel quite satisfied, you make an object of
+unnecessary apprehension, as far as it would be possible for her to
+interfere with your schemes. The prince, moreover, has certain
+principles nothing would induce him to infringe. I am infinitely more
+alarmed, and with greater justice, too, as to what can have been his
+intentions in conducting that young girl to his farm at Bouqueval, five
+or six weeks ago. He is constant in his superintendence of her health
+and comfort; is having her well educated, and, moreover, has been
+several times to see her. Now we are altogether ignorant who she is or
+where she came from; she seems, however, to belong only to the humbler
+ranks of society; still, the exquisite style of her beauty, the fact of
+the prince having worn the disguise he did when escorting her to the
+farm, the increasing interest he seems to take in her welfare, all go to
+prove that his regard for her is of no common description. I have,
+therefore, in this affair anticipated your wishes; but to remove this
+greater, and, as I believe, more serious obstacle to our plans, the
+utmost circumspection was requisite to obtain information respecting the
+lives and habits of these mysterious occupants of the farm, and
+particularly concerning the girl herself. I have been fortunate enough
+to learn nearly sufficient to point out what is to be done the moment
+for action has arrived. A most singular chance threw that horrid old
+woman in my way, to whom, as you remember, I once gave my address,
+which she it seems has carefully preserved. Her connection with such
+persons as the robber who attacked us during our late visit to the Cité
+will powerfully assist us. All is provided for and preconsidered,--there
+can be no proof against us,--and, besides, if, as seems evident, this
+young creature belongs to the humblest class of society it is not very
+probable she will hesitate between our offers and the splendid prospect
+she may, perchance, picture to herself, for the prince, I have
+ascertained, has preserved a strict incognito towards her. But to-morrow
+shall decide the question otherwise,--we shall see,--we shall see."
+
+"And these two obstacles overcome, then, Tom, for our grand project."
+
+"There are many, and serious obstacles in the way; still, they may be
+overcome."
+
+"And would it not be a lucky chance if we should bring it to pass at the
+very moment when Rodolph would be writhing under the double misery
+occasioned by the disclosure of Madame d'Harville's conduct, and the
+disappearance of the creature for whom he chooses to evince so deep an
+interest? Would not that be an auspicious moment to persuade him that
+the daughter, whose loss he daily more and more deplores, still lives?
+And then--"
+
+"Silence, sister," interrupted Seyton, "I hear the steps of the guests
+from the supper-table, returning to resume the ball. Since you deem it
+expedient to apprise the Marquis d'Harville of the morrow's rendezvous,
+let us depart; it is past midnight."
+
+"The lateness of the hour in which the anonymous information will reach
+M. d'Harville, will but tend still more to impress him with an idea of
+its importance."
+
+And with these words Tom and Sarah quitted the splendid ball of the
+ambassadress of the court of ----.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE RENDEZVOUS.
+
+
+Determined at all risks to warn Madame d'Harville of the danger she was
+incurring, Rodolph had quitted the winter garden without waiting to hear
+the remainder of the conversation between Sarah and her brother, thus
+remaining ignorant of their designs against Fleur-de-Marie, and of the
+extreme peril which threatened the poor girl. But, spite of his earnest
+desire to apprise the marquise of the plot laid against her peace and
+honour, he was unable to carry his design into execution, for Madame
+d'Harville, unable to bear up longer after the trying events of the
+evening, had abandoned her original intention of visiting the
+entertainment given by Madame de Nerval and gone direct home.
+
+This contretemps ruined his hopes. Nearly the whole of the company
+present at the ambassadress's ball had been invited to that of Madame de
+Nerval's, and Rodolph drove rapidly thither, taking with him M. de
+Graün, to whom he gave instructions to look for Madame d'Harville among
+the guests, and to acquaint her that the prince, having something of the
+utmost consequence to communicate to her without the least delay, would
+walk onwards to the Hôtel d'Harville, and await her return home, when he
+would say a few words at the carriage-door while her servants were
+attending to the opening of the entrance-gates.
+
+After much time spent in fruitless endeavours to find Madame d'Harville,
+De Graün was compelled to return with the account of his ill success.
+This failure made Rodolph despair of being able, now, to save the
+marquise from impending ruin; his first thought had been to warn her of
+the treachery intended, and so prevent the statement of Sarah, which he
+had no means of keeping from the hands of M. d'Harville, from obtaining
+the slightest credence. Alas! it was now too late. The infamous epistle
+dictated by the Countess Macgregor had reached the Marquis d'Harville
+shortly after midnight on the night in question.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was morning; and M. d'Harville continued slowly to pace his
+sleeping-apartment, the bed of which gave no indication of having been
+used during the night, though the silken counterpane hung in fragments,
+evidently proving that some powerful and devastating storm had possessed
+the mind of its owner.
+
+The chamber in question was furnished with elegant simplicity, its only
+ornaments consisting of a stand of modern arms and a range of shelves
+furnished with a well-chosen collection of books. Yet a sudden frenzy,
+or the hand of ungovernable rage, had reduced the quiet elegance which
+ordinarily reigned to a scene of frantic disorder. Chairs, tables,
+broken and overset; the carpet strewed with fragments of the crystal
+lamp kept burning through the night; the wax-lights and gilded
+chandelier which had contained them, lying around, gave manifest
+evidence of a fearful scene.
+
+M. d'Harville was about thirty years of age, with a fine, manly
+countenance, whose usual expression was mild and prepossessing, but now
+contracted, haggard, and livid. He had not changed his dress since the
+preceding evening; his throat was bare, his waistcoat thrown open, and
+on the torn and rumpled cambric of his shirt-front were drops of blood.
+His rich, dark hair, which generally fell in curls around his face, now
+hung in tangled wildness over his pale countenance. Wholly buried in
+the misery of his own thoughts, with folded arms, drooping head, and
+fixed, bloodshot eyes, M. d'Harville continued to pace his chamber;
+then, stopping opposite his fireplace, in which, spite of the almost
+unendurable severity of the frost of the past night, the fire had been
+allowed to expire, he took from the marble mantelpiece the following
+brief note, which he continued to read over and over with the most eager
+attention by the wan, pale light of the cold glimmer of an early winter
+morning:
+
+      "To-morrow, at one o'clock, your wife has appointed to meet
+    her favoured lover. Go to the Rue du Temple, No. 17, and you
+    will obtain every requisite confirmation of this intelligence.
+
+                                     "FROM ONE WHO PITIES YOU."
+
+Whilst reading these words, perused, with such deep anguish and sickness
+of heart, so many times through the long midnight hours, the blue, cold
+lips of M. d'Harville appeared convulsively to spell each syllable of
+this fatal _billet_.
+
+At this moment the chamber door opened and a servant entered; the man
+who now made his appearance was old, even gray-headed, but the
+expression of his countenance was frank and honest. The noise of the man
+entering disturbed not the marquis from his bitter contemplations; he
+merely turned his head without altering his position, but still grasped
+the letter in his clenched hands.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired he, sternly, of the servant.
+
+The man, instead of answering, continued to gaze with an air of painful
+surprise at the disordered state of the room; then, regarding his master
+more attentively, exclaimed:
+
+"Blood on your clothes! My lord, my lord! How is this? You have hurt
+yourself,--and all alone, too; why, my lord, did you not summon me, as
+of old, when these attacks came on?"
+
+"Begone!"
+
+"I entreat your lordship's pardon, but your fire is out,--the cold is
+intense,--indeed, I must remind your lordship that after your
+late--your--"
+
+"Will you be silent? Leave me I say!"
+
+"Pray do not be angry, my lord," replied the trembling valet; "but, if
+your lordship pleases to recollect, you appointed M. Doublet to be here
+to-day at half past ten, and he is now waiting with the notary."
+
+"Quite proper," said the marquis, with a bitter smile; "when a man is
+rich he ought, he should look carefully to his affairs. Fortune is a
+fine thing,--a very fine thing; or would be if it could but purchase
+happiness." Then, resuming a cold and collected manner, he added:
+
+"Show M. Doublet into my study."
+
+"I have done so, my lord marquis."
+
+"Then give me my clothes,--quick, I am in haste; I shall be going out
+shortly. I--"
+
+"But if your lordship would only--"
+
+"Do as I desire you, Joseph," said M. d'Harville, in a more gentle tone;
+then added, "Is your lady stirring yet?"
+
+"I have not yet heard her ladyship's bell, my lord marquis."
+
+"Let me know when she rings."
+
+"I will, my lord."
+
+"Heaven and earth, man, how slow you are!" exclaimed M. d'Harville,
+whose raging thoughts almost chafed him into madness; "summon Philip to
+assist you; you will keep me all day."
+
+"My lord, please to allow me to set matters a little straight first,"
+replied Joseph, sorrowfully; "I would much rather no one but myself
+witnessed the state of your chamber, or they would wonder, and talk
+about it, because they could not understand what had taken place during
+the night, my lord."
+
+"And if they were to find out, it would be a most shocking
+affair,--would it not?" asked M. d'Harville, in a tone of gloomy irony.
+
+"Thank God, my lord, not a soul in the house has the least suspicion of
+it!"
+
+"No one suspects it," repeated M. d'Harville, despondingly; "no
+one,--that's well, for her at least; well, let us hope to keep the
+secret."
+
+And, while Joseph was occupying himself in repairing the havoc in his
+master's apartment, D'Harville walked up to the stage of arms we before
+mentioned, examined them with an expression of deep interest, then,
+turning towards Joseph, with a sinister smile, said:
+
+"I hope you have not omitted to clean the guns which are placed at the
+top of the stand,--I mean those in my hunting-case."
+
+"I had not your lordship's orders to do so," replied the astonished
+servant.
+
+"You had, sir, and have neglected them!"
+
+"I humbly assure you, my lord--"
+
+"They must be in a fine state!"
+
+"Your lordship will please to bear in mind that it is scarcely a month
+since they were regularly repaired and put in order for use by the
+gunsmith."
+
+"Never mind! As soon as I am dressed reach down my shooting-case; I will
+examine the guns myself. I may very possibly go out shooting either
+to-morrow or next day."
+
+"I will reach them down directly, my lord."
+
+The chamber being by this time replaced in its ordinary state, a second
+_valet de chambre_ was summoned to assist Joseph.
+
+His toilet concluded, M. d'Harville repaired to his study, where the
+steward (M. Doublet) and his lawyer's clerk were awaiting him.
+
+"We have brought the agreement that my lord marquis may hear it read
+over," said the bowing clerk; "my lord will then only have to sign it,
+and the affair is concluded."
+
+"Have you perused it, M. Doublet?"
+
+"I have, my lord, attentively."
+
+"In that case I will affix my signature at once."
+
+The necessary forms completed, the clerk withdrew, when M. Doublet,
+rubbing his hands, and looking triumphantly, exclaimed:
+
+"Now, then, by this last addition to your lordship's estates, your
+manorial property cannot be less than a hundred and twenty-six thousand
+francs per annum, in round numbers. And permit me to say, my lord
+marquis, that a rent-roll of a hundred and twenty-six thousand francs
+per annum is of no common occurrence nowadays."
+
+"I am a happy man, am I not, M. Doublet? A hundred and twenty-six
+thousand livres per annum! Surely the man owning such an income must be
+blessed indeed,--sorrow or care cannot reach him through so golden a
+shield!"
+
+"And that is wholly independent of my lord's funded property, amounting
+at least to two millions more; or reckoning--"
+
+"Exactly; I know what you would say; without reckoning my other
+blessings and comforts."
+
+"Why, heaven be praised, your lordship is as rich in all earthly
+blessings as in revenue. Not a precious gift but it has been largely
+bestowed upon you; ay, and such as even money will not buy: youth,
+uninterrupted health, the power of enjoying every happiness, amongst
+which, or, rather, at the head of which," said M. Doublet, gracefully
+smiling, and gallantly bowing, "place that of being the husband of so
+sweet a lady as Madame la Marquise, and the parent of a lovely little
+girl, who might be mistaken for a cherubim."
+
+M. d'Harville cast a look of gloomy mistrust on the poor steward; who,
+revelling in his own ecstasy at seeing the princely rent-roll committed
+to his charge, exceeding all others in magnificent amount, was far from
+perceiving the scowling brow of his master, thus congratulated on being
+the happiest man alive, when, to his own view, a verier wretch, or more
+complete bankrupt in happiness existed not. Striking M. Doublet
+familiarly on the shoulder, and breaking into a wild, ironical laugh, M.
+d'Harville rejoined:
+
+"Then you think that with an income of two hundred and sixty thousand
+livres, a wife like mine, and a daughter resembling a cherubim, a man
+has nothing more to wish for?"
+
+"Nay, my lord," replied the steward, with honest zeal, "you have still
+to wish for the blessing of lengthened days, that you may be spared to
+see mademoiselle married as happily as yourself. Ah, my lord, I may not
+hope to see it, but I should be thankful to witness you and my honoured
+lady surrounded by your grandchildren,--ay, and great-grandchildren
+too,--why not?"
+
+"Excellent, M. Doublet! A regular Baucis and Philemon idea. You have
+always a capital illustration to your ideas."
+
+"You are too good to me, my lord. Has your lordship any further orders
+for me?"
+
+"None. Stay, though; what cash have you in hand?"
+
+"Twenty-nine thousand three hundred and odd francs for current expenses,
+my lord marquis; but there is a heavy sum at the bank belonging to this
+quarter's income."
+
+"Well, bring me twenty thousand francs in gold, and, should I have gone
+out, give them to Joseph for me."
+
+"Does your lordship wish for them this morning?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Within an hour the gold shall be here. You have nothing else to say to
+me, my lord?"
+
+"No, M. Doublet."
+
+"A hundred and twenty-six thousand francs per annum, wholly
+unincumbered," repeated the steward, as he was about to quit the room;
+"this is a glorious day for me to see; I almost feared at one time that
+we should not secure this desirable property. Your lordship's most
+humble servant, I take my leave."
+
+"Good morning, M. Doublet."
+
+As the door closed upon the steward, M. d'Harville, overcome with the
+mental agony he had repressed thus far, threw himself into an armchair,
+leaned his elbows on the desk before which he sat, and covering his face
+with his hands, for the first time since receiving the fatal _billet_,
+gave vent to a flood of hot, burning tears.
+
+"Cruel mockery of fate!" cried he, at length, "to have made me rich, but
+to have given me only shame and dishonour to place within the gilded
+frame: the perjury of Clémence, the disgrace which will descend upon my
+innocent child. Can I suffer this? Or shall I for the sake of her
+unoffending offspring spare the guilty mother from the opprobrium of an
+exposure?" Then rising suddenly from his seat, with sparkling eyes and
+clenched teeth he cried, in a deep, determined voice, "No, no! Blood,
+blood! The fearful protection from laughter and derision. Ah, full well
+I can now comprehend her coldness, her antipathy, wretched, wretched
+woman!" Then, stopping all at once, as though melted by some tender
+recollection, he resumed, in a hoarse tone, "Aversion! Alas! too well I
+know its cause. I inspire her with loathing, with disgust!" Then, after
+a lengthened silence, he cried, in a voice broken by sighs, "Yet, was it
+my fault or my misfortune? Should she have wronged me thus for a
+calamity beyond my power to avert? Surely I am a more fitting object for
+her pity than scorn and hatred." Again rekindling into his excited
+feelings, he reiterated, "Nothing but blood--the blood of both--can wash
+out this guilty stain! Doubtless he, the favoured lover, has been
+informed why she flies her husband's arms."
+
+This latter thought redoubled the fury of the marquis. He elevated his
+tightly compressed hands towards heaven, as though invoking its
+vengeance; then, passing his burning fingers over his eyes as he
+recollected the necessity that existed for concealing his emotion from
+the servants of his establishment, he returned to his sleeping-apartment
+with an appearance of perfect tranquillity. There he found Joseph.
+
+"Well, in what state are the guns?"
+
+"In perfect order. Please to examine them, my lord."
+
+"I came for the purpose of so doing. Has your lady yet rung?"
+
+"I do not know, my lord."
+
+"Then inquire."
+
+Directly the servant had quitted the room, M. d'Harville hastily took
+from the gun-case a small powder-flask, some balls and caps; then,
+locking the case, put the key in his pocket. Then going to the stand of
+arms, he took from it a pair of moderate-sized Manton's pistols, loaded
+them, and placed them without difficulty in the pockets of his morning
+wrapper. Joseph returned with the intimation that Madame d'Harville was
+in her dressing-room.
+
+"Has your lady ordered her carriage?"
+
+"My lord, I heard Mlle. Juliette say to the head-coachman, when he came
+to inquire her ladyship's orders for the day, that, 'as it was cold, dry
+walking, if her ladyship went out at all, she would prefer going on
+foot.'"
+
+"Very well. Stay,--I forgot. I shall not go out hunting before
+to-morrow, or probably, next day. Desire Williams to look the small
+travelling-britcska carefully over. Do you understand?"
+
+"Perfectly, my lord; it shall be attended to. Will not your lordship
+require a stick?"
+
+"No. Pray tell me, is there not a hackney coach-stand near here?"
+
+"Quite close, my lord,--in the Rue de Lille."
+
+After a moment's hesitation, the marquis continued: "Go and inquire of
+Mlle. Juliette whether Madame d'Harville can see me for a few minutes."
+Joseph obeyed.
+
+"Yes," murmured the marquis, "I will see the cause of all my misery,--my
+disgrace. I will contemplate the guilty mask beneath which the impure
+heart conceals its adulterous designs. I will listen to the false lips
+that speak the words of innocence, while deep dishonour lurks in the
+candid smile,--a smile that seemed to me as that of an angel. Yet 'tis
+an appalling spectacle to watch the words, the looks, of one who,
+breathing only the sentiments of a chaste wife and mother, is about to
+sully your name with one of those deep, deadly stains which can only be
+washed out in blood. Fool that I am to give her the chance of again
+bewildering my senses! She will look at me with her accustomed sweetness
+and candour; greet me (all guilty as she is) with the same pure smile
+she bestows upon her child, as, kneeling at her lap, it lisps its early
+prayer. That look,--those eyes, mirrors of the soul,--the more modest
+and pure the glance" (D'Harville shuddered with contempt) "the greater
+must be the innate corruption and falsehood! Alas! she has proved
+herself a consummate dissembler; and I--I--have been the veriest dupe!
+Only let me consider with what sentiments must that woman look upon me,
+if just previous to her meeting with her favoured lover I pay her my
+accustomed visit, and express my usual devotion and love for her,--the
+young, the virtuous wife, the tender, sensible, and devoted mother, as
+until this wretched moment I would have died to prove her. Can I, dare
+I, trust myself in her presence, with the knowledge of her being but too
+impatient for the arrival of that blessed hour which conveys her to her
+guilty rendezvous and infamous paramour? Oh, Clémence, Clémence, you in
+whom all my hopes and fondest affections were placed, is this a just
+return? No! no! no!" again repeated M. d'Harville, with rapidly
+returning excitement. "False, treacherous woman! I will not see you! I
+will not trust my ears to your feigned words! Nor you, my child. At the
+sight of your innocent countenance I should unman myself, and compromise
+my just revenge."
+
+Quitting his apartment, M. d'Harville, instead of repairing to those of
+the marquise, contented himself with leaving a message for her through
+Mlle. Juliette, to the effect that he wished a short conversation with
+Madame d'Harville, but that being obliged to go out just then, he should
+be glad, if it assorted with Madame la Marquise's perfect convenience,
+to breakfast with her at twelve o'clock.
+
+"And so," said the unhappy M. d'Harville, "fancying that after twelve
+o'clock I shall be safe at home, she will consider herself more at
+liberty to follow out her own plans."
+
+He then repaired to the coach-stand contiguous to his mansion, and
+summoned a vehicle from the ranks.
+
+"Now, coachee," said he, affecting to disguise his rank, "what's
+o'clock?"
+
+"All right, master," said the man, drawing up to the side of the
+footway, "where am I to drive to? Let's have a right understanding, and
+a look at the clock. Why, it's as close on half-after eleven as may be."
+
+"Now, then, drive to the corner of the Rue St. Dominique, and wait at
+the end of the garden wall which runs along there; do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, yes,--I know."
+
+M. d'Harville then drew down the blinds of the _fiacre_; the coachman
+drove on, and soon arrived opposite the Hôtel d'Harville, from which
+point of observation it was impossible for any person to enter or quit
+the house without the marquis having a full view of them. One o'clock
+was the hour fixed in the note; and with his eyes riveted on the
+entrance-gates of the mansion, the marquis waited in painful suspense,
+absorbed in a whirl of fearful thoughts and maddening conjectures. Time
+stole on imperceptibly; twelve o'clock reverberated from the dome of St.
+Thomas Aquinas, when the door opened slowly at the Hôtel d'Harville, and
+Madame d'Harville herself came timidly forth.
+
+"Already?" exclaimed the unhappy husband; "how punctual she is! She
+fears to keep him waiting," cried the marquis, with a mixture of irony
+and savage rage.
+
+The cold was excessive; the pavement hard and dry. Clémence was dressed
+in a black velvet bonnet, covered with a veil of the same colour, and a
+thickly wadded pelisse of dark ruby satin, a large shawl of dark blue
+cashmere fell to the very hem of her pelisse, which she lightly and
+gracefully held up while crossing the street. Thanks to this movement,
+the taper foot and graceful ankle of Madame d'Harville, cased in an
+exquisitely fitting boot of black satin, were exposed to view.
+
+It was strange, that amid the painful and bewildering ideas that crowded
+the brain of D'Harville, he should have found one thought to waste upon
+the beauty of his wife's foot; but so it was; and at the moment that was
+about to separate them for ever, to his eager gaze that fairy foot and
+well-turned ankle had never looked so charming; and then, as by a rapid
+train of thought he recalled the matchless loveliness of his wife, and,
+as he had ever believed till now, her purity, her mental graces, he
+groaned aloud as he remembered that another was preferred to him, and
+that the light figure that glided on before his fixed gaze, was but the
+hollow spectre of fallen goodness, a lost, degraded creature, hastening
+to steep her husband and infant in irremediable disgrace, for the
+indulging of a base and guilty passion. Even in that wretched moment he
+felt how dearly, how exclusively he had loved her; and for the first
+time during the blow which had fallen on him, he knew that he mourned
+the lovely woman almost equally with the virtuous mother and chaste
+wife. A cry of rage and mingled fury escaped him, as he pictured the
+rapture of her meeting with the lover of her choice; and a sharp,
+darting pain quivered through his heart as he remembered that Clémence,
+with all her youth and beauty, her countless charms, both of body and
+mind, was lost to him for ever.
+
+Hitherto his passionate grief had been unmixed by any alloy of self. He
+had bewailed the sanctity of the marriage-vow trampled under foot, the
+abandonment of all sworn and sacred duties; but his sufferings of rage,
+jealousy, and regret almost overpowered him, and with much difficulty
+was he able to command his voice sufficiently to say to the coachman,
+while partially drawing up the blind:
+
+"Do you see that lady in the blue shawl and black bonnet walking along
+by the wall?"
+
+"Yes, yes! I see her safe enough."
+
+"Well, then, go slowly along, and keep up with her. Should she go to the
+coach-stand I had you from, pull up; and when she has got into a
+_fiacre_, follow it wherever it goes."
+
+"All right,--I understand! Now this is what I call a good joke!"
+
+M. d'Harville had conjectured rightly. Madame d'Harville repaired
+directly to the coach-stand, and beckoning a _fiacre_ off the stand,
+instantly got in, and drove off, closely followed by the vehicle
+containing her husband.
+
+They had proceeded but a very short distance, when the coachman took the
+road to the church of St. Thomas Aquinas, and, to the surprise of M.
+d'Harville, pulled up directly in front.
+
+"What is this for? What are you about?"
+
+"Why, master, the lady you told me to follow has just alighted here, and
+a smart, tidy leg and foot of her own she has got. Her dress somehow
+caught; so, you see, I couldn't help having a peep, nohow. This is
+downright good fun though, this is!"
+
+A thousand varied thoughts agitated M. d'Harville. One minute he fancied
+that his wife, fearing pursuit, had taken this step to escape detection;
+then hope whispered that the letter which had given him so much
+uneasiness, might after all be only an infamous calumny; for if guilty,
+what could be gained by this false assumption of piety? Would it not be
+a species of sacrilegious mockery? At this suggestion a bright ray of
+hope shot across the troubled mind of M. d'Harville, arising from the
+striking contrast between Clémence's present occupation and the crime
+alleged as her motive for quitting her home. Alas! this consolatory
+illusion was speedily destroyed. Leaning in at the open window the
+coachman observed:
+
+"I say, master, that nice little woman you are after has got back into
+her coach."
+
+"Then follow quickly."
+
+"I'm off! Now this is what I call downright good fun. Capital; hang me
+if it ain't!"
+
+The vehicle reached the Quais, the Hôtel de Ville, the Rue St. Avoye,
+and, at last, Rue du Temple.
+
+"I say," said the coachman, turning round to speak to M. d'Harville from
+his seat, "master, just look. My mate, there, has stopped at No. 17; we
+are about at 13. Shall I stop here or go on to 17?"
+
+"Stop here."
+
+"I say,--look'ee,--you'll lose your pretty lady. She has gone into the
+alley leading to No. 17."
+
+"Open the door."
+
+"I'm coming, sir."
+
+And quickly following the steps of his wife, M. d'Harville entered the
+obscure passage up which she had disappeared. Madame d'Harville,
+however, had so far the start as to have entered the house previously.
+
+Attracted by the most devouring curiosity, Madame Pipelet, with her
+melancholy Alfred and her friend the oyster-woman, were huddled close
+together on the sill at the lodge door. The staircase was so dark that a
+person just emerging from the daylight into the gloom of the passage
+could not discern a single step of it; and Madame d'Harville, agitated
+and almost sinking with apprehension, found herself constrained to apply
+to Madame Pipelet for further advice how to proceed, saying, in a low,
+tremulous voice:
+
+"Which way must I turn, madame, to find the staircase of the house?"
+
+"Stop, if you please. Pray, whom do you want?"
+
+"I wish to go to the apartments of M. Charles, madame."
+
+"Monsieur who?" repeated the old woman, feigning not to have heard her,
+but in reality to afford sufficient leisure to her husband and her
+friend thoroughly to scrutinise the unhappy woman's countenance, even
+through the folds of her thick veil.
+
+"M. Charles, madame," repeated Clémence, in a low, trembling tone, and
+bending down her head, so as to escape the rude and insolent examination
+to which her features were subjected.
+
+"Ah! M. Charles; very well; you should have spoken so that one could
+hear you. Well, my pretty dear, if you want M. Charles,--and a
+good-looking fellow he is as ever won a woman's heart,--go straight on,
+and the door will stare you in the face. Eh! eh! eh!" laughed out the
+old woman, shaking her fat sides with spiteful glee, "it seems he has
+not waited for nothing this time. Success to love and love-makings, and
+a merry end to it!"
+
+The marquise, ready to sink with confusion, began slowly to grope her
+way up the dingy staircase.
+
+"I say," bawled out the old shell-fish woman, "our commandant knows what
+he is about, don't he? Leave him alone to choose a pretty girl. His marm
+is a regular swell, ain't she?"
+
+Had it not been requisite for her to run the gauntlet of the trio who
+occupied the entrance-door, Madame d'Harville, ready to sink with shame
+and terror, would gladly have retraced her steps. She made another
+effort, and at last reached the landing-place, where, to her unutterable
+consternation and surprise, she saw Rodolph waiting, impatiently, her
+arrival. Instantly flying to meet her, he hastily placed a purse in her
+hand, saying, in a hurried manner:
+
+"Your husband knows all, and is now following your very steps."
+
+At this instant, the sharp tones of Madame Pipelet were heard crying
+out, "Where are you going to, sir?"
+
+"'Tis he!" exclaimed Rodolph, and then, almost forcing Madame d'Harville
+up the second staircase, he added, in a rapid manner, "make all haste to
+the very top of the house; on the fifth floor you will find a wretched
+family, named Morel. Remember your sole business in coming hither was to
+relieve their distress."
+
+"I tell you, sir," screamed Madame Pipelet, "that unless you tell me
+your name, you shall trample over me, as they walked over our brave men
+at Waterloo, before I let you pass."
+
+Having, from the entrance to the alley, observed Madame d'Harville stop
+to speak to the porteress, the marquis had likewise prepared himself to
+pass through some sort of questioning.
+
+"I belong to the lady who just now entered," said the marquis.
+
+"Bless me!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, looking the picture of wonderment,
+"why, that, of course, is a satisfactory answer. You can pass on, if you
+please."
+
+Hearing an unusual stir, M. Charles Robert had set the door of his
+apartments ajar, and Rodolph, unwilling to be recognised by M.
+d'Harville, whose quick, searching eye might have detected him, spite of
+the murkiness of the staircase, hearing him rapidly ascending the
+stairs, just as he reached the landing-place, dashed into the chamber of
+the astonished commandant, locking the door after him. M. Charles
+Robert, magnificently attired in his _robe de chambre_ of scarlet damask
+with orange-coloured stripes, and Greek cap of embroidered velvet, was
+struck with astonishment at the unexpected appearance of Rodolph, whom
+he had not seen the preceding evening at the embassy, and who was upon
+the present occasion very plainly dressed.
+
+"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" asked he at length, assuming a
+tone of killing haughtiness.
+
+"Be silent!" replied Rodolph; and there was that in his voice and manner
+that Charles Robert obeyed, even in spite of his own determination to
+strike terror into the bold invader of his private moments.
+
+A violent and continued noise, as of some heavy substance falling from
+one stair to the other, resounded through the dull silence of the gloomy
+staircase.
+
+"Unhappy man! He has murdered her!" exclaimed Rodolph.
+
+"Murdered!" ejaculated M. Charles Robert, turning very pale; "for the
+love of Heaven, what is all this about?"
+
+But, without heeding his inquiry, Rodolph partially opened the door, and
+discovered little Tortillard half rolling, half limping, down the
+stairs, holding in his hand the red silk purse Rodolph had just given to
+Madame d'Harville. Tortillard, with another scrambling shuffle,
+disappeared at the bottom of the last flight of stairs. The light step
+of Madame d'Harville, and the heavier tread of her husband, as he
+continued his pursuit of her from one story to another, could be
+distinctly heard. Somewhat relieved of his worst fears, yet unable to
+make out by what chance the purse so recently committed to Madame
+d'Harville's hands should have been transferred to those of Tortillard,
+Rodolph said, authoritatively, to M. Robert:
+
+"Do not think of quitting your apartments for the next hour, I request!"
+
+"Upon my life and soul, that is a pretty thing to say to a gentleman in
+his own house," replied M. Robert in an impatient and wrathful tone. "I
+ask you, again, what is the meaning of all this? Who the devil are you,
+sir? And how dare you dictate to me, a gentleman?"
+
+"M. d'Harville is informed of everything,--has followed his wife to your
+very door,--and is now pursuing her to the upper part of the house."
+
+"God bless me! Here's a situation!" exclaimed Charles Robert, with an
+appearance of utter consternation. "But what is to be done? What is the
+use of her going up-stairs? And how will she manage to get down again
+unobserved?"
+
+"Remain where you are, neither speak nor move until the porteress comes
+to you," rejoined Rodolph, who hastened to give his final instructions
+to Madame Pipelet, leaving the commandant a prey to the most alarming
+apprehensions.
+
+"Well! well!" cried Madame Pipelet, her face radiant with chuckling
+exultation; "there's rare sport going on! The lady who came to visit my
+fine gentleman on the first floor has been followed by another
+gentleman, who seems rather in a passion,--the husband of that silly
+young creature, I make no doubt. Directly the truth flashed across me, I
+tells him to go straight up; for, thinks I, he'll be sure to murder our
+commandant. That'll make a deal of talk in the neighbourhood; and folks
+will come crowding to see the house, just as they did at No. 36 after
+the man was killed there. Lord! I wonder the fighting has not begun
+yet. I have been listening to hear them set to; but I can't catch the
+least sound."
+
+"My dear Madame Pipelet, will you do me a great favour?" said Rodolph,
+putting five louis into her hand. "When this lady comes down-stairs, ask
+her how she found the poor Morels. Tell her she has performed an act of
+real charity in coming to see them, according to her promise, the last
+time she called to inquire respecting them."
+
+Madame Pipelet looked first at the money and then at Rodolph, with an
+air of petrified astonishment.
+
+"What am I to do with this money?" inquired she, at length; "do you give
+it to me? Ah, I see! This handsome lady, then, does not come altogether
+for the commandant?"
+
+"The gentleman who followed her was her husband, as you justly supposed;
+but, being warned in time, the poor lady went straight on to the Morels,
+as though her only business here was to afford them succour. Now do you
+understand!"
+
+"I should think I did,--clear as noonday. 'A nod is as good as a wink,'
+as the old woman said. I know! You want me to help you cheat the
+husband? Lord bless you! I'm up to all those things,--quick as
+lightning, silent as the grave! Go along with you! I'm a regular good
+hand at keeping husbands in the dark; you might fancy I'd been used to
+it all my life. But tell me--"
+
+The huge hat of M. Pipelet was here observed sending its dark shadow
+across the floor of the lodge.
+
+"Anastasie," said Alfred, gravely, "you are like M. César Bradamanti;
+you have no respect for anything or anybody. And let me tell you that
+there are subjects that should never be made the subject of a jest, even
+amongst the most familiar acquaintances."
+
+"Nonsense, my old darling. Don't stand there rolling up your eyes, and
+looking about as wise as a pig in a pound. You know well enough I was
+only joking; you know well enough that no living soul beneath the canopy
+of heaven can ever say I gave him a liberty. But that'll do; so let's
+talk of this good gentleman's business. Suppose I do go out of my usual
+way to save this young lady, I'm sure I do it solely to oblige our new
+lodger, who, for his generosity, may well deserve to be called the king
+of lodgers." Then, turning towards Rodolph, she added, "You shall see
+how cleverly I will go to work. Just hide yourself there in that corner
+behind the curtain. Quick,--quick! I hear them coming."
+
+Rodolph had scarcely time to conceal himself ere M. and Madame
+d'Harville descended the stairs. The features of the marquis shone with
+happiness, mingled with a confused and astonished expression, while the
+countenance of his wife, as she hung on his arm, looked calm but pale.
+
+"Well, my good lady," cried Madame Pipelet, going out of her lodge to
+address her, as she descended the last stair, "how did you find the poor
+creatures,--I mean the Morels? Ah, I doubt not, such a sight made your
+heart ache? God knows your charity was well bestowed! I told you the
+other day, when you called to inquire about them, what a state of
+starvation and misery they were in. Be assured, kind lady, these poor
+things are fit objects of your bounty; you will never have to regret
+coming to this out-of-the-way place to examine into their case. They
+really are deserving all your kindness,--don't you think so, Alfred?"
+
+Alfred, the strictness of whose ideas touching a due regard for all
+conjugal duties made him revolt at the thoughts of helping to deceive a
+husband, replied only by a sort of grumbling sound, as vague as
+discordant.
+
+"Please to excuse my husband, madame," resumed Madame Pipelet; "he has
+got the cramp in his stomach, and cannot speak loud enough to be
+understood, or he would tell you as well as myself that the poor people
+you have so fortunately relieved will pray of the Almighty, night and
+day, to bless and reward you, my worthy lady."
+
+M. d'Harville gazed on his wife with feelings approaching to adoration,
+as he exclaimed, "Angel of goodness, how has base slander dared to
+disturb your heavenly work!"
+
+"An angel!" repeated Madame Pipelet; "that she is, and one of the very
+best heaven could send. There is not a better."
+
+"Let us return home, I entreat!" said Madame d'Harville, who was
+suffering acutely under the restraint she had put upon herself since
+entering the house, and, now that the necessity for exertion was over,
+found her strength rapidly forsaking her.
+
+"Instantly," replied the marquis.
+
+At the instant of their emerging into the open air from the obscurity of
+the alley, M. d'Harville, observing the pale looks of his wife, said,
+tenderly:
+
+"Ah, Clémence, I have deep cause to solicit your pity and forgiveness."
+
+"Alas! my lord," said the marquise, sighing deeply, "which of us has not
+need of pardon?"
+
+Rodolph quitted his hiding-place, deeply ruminating upon so terrible a
+scene, thus intermingled with absurdity and coarseness, and pondering
+over the curious termination to a drama, the commencement of which had
+called forth such different passions.
+
+"Well, now," exclaimed Madame Pipelet, "you must say I played my part
+well. Didn't I send that donkey of a husband home with longer ears than
+he came out with? Lord bless you! he'll put his wife under a glass case,
+and worship her from this day forward. Poor, dear gentleman! I really
+could not help feeling sorry for him. Oh! but about your furniture, M.
+Rodolph; it has not come yet."
+
+"I am now going to see about it. By the by, you had better go and inform
+the commandant that he may venture out."
+
+"True; I'll go and let the caged bird out. But what stuff and nonsense
+for him to hire apartments of no more use to him than they are to the
+King of Prussia! He is a fine fellow, he is, with his paltry twelve
+francs a month. This is the fourth time he has been made a fool of."
+
+Rodolph quitted the house, and Madame Pipelet, turning to her husband,
+said, with a chuckling laugh, "Now, Alfred, the commandant's turn has
+come; now for it! I mean to have a jolly good laugh at my gentleman,--up
+and dressed for nothing."
+
+Arrived at the apartments of M. Charles Robert, the porteress rang the
+bell; the door was opened by the commandant himself.
+
+"Commandant," said Anastasie, giving him a military salute, by placing
+the back of her little fat hand against the front of her wig, "I have
+come to set you free. Your friends have gone away arm in arm, happy as
+doves, under your very nose. Well, you are out of a nice mess, thanks to
+M. Rodolph. You ought to stand something very handsome to him for all he
+has done upon the present occasion."
+
+"Then this slim individual with the moustachios is called M. Rodolph, is
+he?"
+
+"Exactly so; neither more nor less."
+
+"And who and what is the fellow?"
+
+"Fellow, indeed!" cried Madame Pipelet, in a wrathful voice; "he is as
+good as other men,--better than some I could mention. Why, he is a
+travelling clerk, but the very king of lodgers; for, though he has only
+one room, he does not haggle and beat folks down,--not he. Why, he gave
+me six francs for doing for him,--six francs, mind, I say, without a
+word. Think of that!--without ever offering me a sou less. Oh, he is a
+lodger! I wish other people were at all like him!"
+
+"There, there, that's enough; take the key."
+
+"Shall I light the fire to-morrow, commandant?"
+
+"No!"
+
+"Next day?"
+
+"No, no! Don't bother me."
+
+"I say, commandant, if you recollect, I warned you that you would have
+your trouble for your pains."
+
+M. Charles Robert threw a glance at his grinning tormentor that spoke of
+annihilation at least, and, dashing furiously by her, quitted the house,
+wondering much how a mere clerk should have become acquainted with his
+assignation with the Marquise d'Harville.
+
+As the commandant left the alley, Tortillard came hobbling along.
+
+"Well, what do you want?" said Madame Pipelet.
+
+"Has the Borgnesse been to call upon me?" asked the young scamp, without
+attending to the porteress's question.
+
+"The Chouette? No, you ugly monster! What should she come for?"
+
+"Why, to take me with her into the country, to be sure," said
+Tortillard, swinging on the lodge gate.
+
+"And what does your master say to it?"
+
+"Oh, father managed all that. He sent this morning to M. Bradamanti, to
+ask him to give me leave to go in the country,--the country,--the
+country," sang or rather screamed the amiable scion of M. Bras Rouge,
+beating time most melodiously on the window-panes.
+
+"Will you leave off, you young rascal, or are you going to break my
+window? Oh, here comes a coach!"
+
+"Oh! oh! oh!" shrieked the urchin; "it is my dear Chouette! Oh, how nice
+the ride in a coach!"
+
+And, looking through the window, they saw reflected upon the red blind
+of the opposite glass the hideous profile of the Borgnesse. She beckoned
+to Tortillard, who ran out to her. The coachman descended from his box,
+and opened the door; Tortillard sprang into the vehicle, which instantly
+drove off.
+
+Another person beside the Chouette was in the carriage. In the farther
+corner, and wrapped in an old cloak with a furred collar, his features
+shrouded by a black silk cap pulled down over his brows, sat the
+Schoolmaster. His inflamed lids formed a horrible contrast with the
+white globeless space beneath; and this fearful spectacle was rendered
+still more hideous by the action of the severe cold upon his seamed and
+frightful countenance.
+
+"Now, small boy, squat yourself down on the pins of my man; you'll serve
+to keep him warm," said the Borgnesse to Tortillard, who crouched like a
+dog close to the feet of the Schoolmaster and the Chouette.
+
+"Now, then, my coves," said the driver, "on we go to the 'ken' at
+Bouqueval, don't we, La Chouette? You shall see whether I can 'tool a
+drag' or not."
+
+"And keep your pads on the move, my fine fellow; for we must get hold of
+the girl to-night."
+
+"All right, my blind un; we'll go the pace."
+
+"Shall I give you a hint?" said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"What about?"
+
+"Why, cut it fine as you pass by the 'nabs' at the barrier; the meeting
+might lead to disagreeable recollections. It is not every old
+acquaintance it is worth while to renew our friendship with. You have
+been wanted at the barriers for some time."
+
+"I'll keep my weather-eye open," replied the driver, getting on his box.
+
+It needs scarcely be told, after this specimen of slang, that the
+coachman was a robber, one of the Schoolmaster's worthy associates. The
+vehicle then quitted the Rue du Temple.
+
+Two hours afterwards, towards the closing of a winter's day, the vehicle
+containing the Chouette, the Schoolmaster, and Tortillard, stopped
+before a wooden cross, marking out the sunken and lonely road which
+conducted to the farm at Bouqueval, where the Goualeuse remained under
+the kind protection of Madame Georges.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AN IDYL.
+
+
+The hour of five had just struck from the church clock of the little
+village of Bouqueval; the cold was intense, the sky clear, the sun,
+sinking slowly behind the vast leafless woods which crowned the heights
+of Ecouen, cast a purple hue over the horizon, and sent its faint,
+sloping rays across the extensive plains, white and hard with winter's
+frost.
+
+In the country each season has its own distinctive features, its own
+peculiar charm; at times the dazzling snow changes the whole scene into
+immense landscapes of purest alabaster, exhibiting their spotless
+beauties to the reddish gray of the sky. Then may be seen in the glimmer
+of twilight, either ascending or descending the hill, a benighted farmer
+returning to his habitation; his horse, cloak, and hat, are covered with
+the falling snow. Bitter is the cold, biting the north wind, dark and
+gloomy the approaching night; but what cares he? There, amid those
+leafless trees, he sees the bright taper burning in the window of his
+cheerful home; while from the tall chimney a column of dark smoke rolls
+upwards through the flaky shower that descends, and speaks to the
+toil-worn farmer of a blazing hearth and humble meal prepared by kind
+affection to welcome him after the fatigues of his journey. Then the
+rustic gossip by the fireside, on which the fagot burns and crackles,
+and a peaceful, comfortable night's rest, amid the whistling of the
+winds, and the barking of the various dogs at the different farms
+scattered around, with the answering cry from the distant watch-dog.
+
+Daylight opens upon a scene of fairy-land. Surely the tiny elves have
+been celebrating some grand fête, and have left some of their adornments
+behind them, for on each branch hang long spiracles of crystal,
+glittering in the rays of a winter's sun with all the prismatic
+brilliancy of the diamond. The damp, rich soil of the arable land is
+laid down in furrows, where hides the timid hare in her form, or the
+speckled partridge runs merrily. Here and there is heard the melancholy
+tinkling of the sheep-bell hanging from the neck of some important
+leader of the numerous flocks scattered over the verdant heights and
+turfy valleys of the neighbourhood; while, carefully wrapped in his dark
+gray cloak, the shepherd, seated under shelter of those knotted trunks
+and interlaced branches, chants his cheerful lay, while his fingers are
+busily employed weaving a basket of rushes.
+
+Occasionally a more animated scene presents itself; distant echo gives
+out the faint sound of the hunting-horn, and the cry of hounds; suddenly
+a frightened deer bursts from the neighbouring forest, stands for a few
+seconds in terrified alarm upon the frozen plain, then darts onward, and
+is quickly lost amid the thickets on the opposite side. The trampling of
+horses, the barking of dogs, are rapidly brought nearer by the breeze;
+and now, in their turn, a pack of dogs with brown and tawny-spotted
+skins issue from the brushwood from which the frightened deer but just
+now came; they run eagerly over the sterile ground, the fallow fields,
+with noses closely pointed to the ground they pursue with loud cries the
+traces left by the flying deer. At their heels come the hunters in their
+scarlet coats, bending over the necks of their swift steeds; they
+encourage their dogs by their voices mingled with the notes of the horn.
+Swift as lightning the brilliant cortège passes on; the noise
+decreases; by degrees all is still; dogs, horses, and huntsmen are lost
+in the tangled mazes of the forest, where the frightened stag had sought
+and found a hiding-place. Then peace and calm resumed their reign; and
+the profound stillness of these vast plains was interrupted only by the
+monotonous song of the shepherd.
+
+These sights,--these rustic views abounded in the environs of the
+village of Bouqueval, which, spite of its proximity to Paris, was
+situated in a sort of desert, to which there was no approach except by
+cross-roads. Concealed during the summer among the trees, like a nest
+amid the sheltering foliage, the farm which had become the home of the
+poor Goualeuse was now utterly bereft of its leafy screen, and entirely
+exposed to view. The course of the little river, now quite frozen over,
+resembled a long silver riband stretched along the ever verdant meadows,
+through which a number of fine cows were leisurely wending their way to
+their stable. Brought home by the approach of night, flocks of pigeons
+were successively arriving, and perching on the peaked roof of the
+dove-house; while the immense walnut-tree, that during the summer
+afforded an umbrageous screen both to the farmhouse and its numerous
+out-buildings, stripped of its rich foliage, exhibited only bare
+branches, through which could plainly be discerned the tiled roof of the
+one, and the thatched tops of the others, overgrown with patches of moss
+of mingled green and dingy brown.
+
+A heavy cart, drawn by three strong, sturdy horses, with long, thick
+manes and shining coats, with blue collars ornamented with bells and
+tassels of red worsted, was bringing in a load of wheat from a
+neighbouring rick. This ponderous machine entered the courtyard by the
+large gate, while immense flocks of sheep were pressing eagerly round
+the side entrances; both men and beasts appeared impatient to escape
+from the severity of the cold, and to enjoy the comfort of repose. The
+horses neighed joyously at the sight of their stable, the sheep bleated
+their satisfaction at returning to their warm folds, while the hungry
+labourers cast a longing look towards the kitchen windows, from which
+streamed forth pleasant promise of a warm and savoury meal.
+
+The whole of the exterior arrangements of the farm were indicative of
+the most scrupulous order, neatness, and exactitude. Instead of being
+covered with dirt and dust, scattered about, and exposed to the
+inclemency of the season, the carts, rollers, harrows, etc., with every
+agricultural implement (and some were of the last and best invention),
+were placed, well cleaned and painted, under a vast shed, where the
+carters were accustomed to arrange their cart-harness with the most
+symmetrical attention to order and method. Large, clean, and well laid
+out, the court-yard had none of those huge dung-heaps, those stagnant
+pools of filthy water, which deface the finest establishments of La
+Beauce or La Brie.
+
+The poultry-yard, surrounded by a green trellising, received and shut in
+all the feathered tribe, who after wandering in the fields all day,
+returned home by a small door left open till all were collected, when it
+was carefully closed and secured. Without dwelling too minutely upon
+every detail, we shall merely observe, that in all respects this farm
+passed most justly in the environs for a model farm, as much for the
+excellency of the method by which it was conducted, and the abundant
+crops it produced, as for the respectability and correct mode of life
+which distinguished the various labourers employed there, who were soon
+ranked among the most creditable and efficient workmen of the place.
+
+The cause of all this prosperity shall be spoken of hereafter. Meanwhile
+we will conduct the reader to the trellised gate of the poultry-yard,
+which, for the rustic elegance of its perches and poultry-houses, was
+noways inferior to the farm itself; while through the centre flowed a
+small stream of clear, limpid water, the bed of which was laid down
+with smooth pebbles, carefully cleansed from any obstructing substance.
+
+A sudden stir arose among the winged inhabitants of this charming spot;
+the fowls flew fluttering and cackling from their perches, the turkeys
+gabbled, the guinea-fowls screamed, and the pigeons, forsaking their
+elevated position on the summit of the dove-house, descended to the
+sandy surface of the yard, and stood cooing and caressing each other
+with every manifestation of joy. The arrival of Fleur-de-Marie had
+occasioned all these ecstatic delights.
+
+A more charming model than the Goualeuse could not have been desired by
+Greuze or Watteau, had her cheeks possessed a little more _rondeur_ or
+been visited by a brighter tinge; but, spite of their delicate paleness,
+the expression of her features, the _tout ensemble_ of her figure, and
+the gracefulness of her attitude would have rendered her worthy of
+exercising the crayons of even the celebrated artists we have alluded
+to.
+
+The small round cap of Fleur-de-Marie displayed her fair forehead and
+light, braided hair, in common with all the young girls in the environs
+of Paris; above this cap, but still exposing the crown and ears, she
+wore a large red cotton handkerchief, folded smoothly, and pinned behind
+her head; while the long ends waving gracefully over her shoulders
+formed a costume which, for graceful effect, might be envied by the
+tasteful _coiffeurs_ of Italy or Switzerland. A handkerchief of
+snow-white linen, crossed over her bosom, was half concealed by the high
+and spreading front of her coarse cloth apron. A jacket of blue woollen
+cloth with tight sleeves displayed her slender figure, and descended
+half way down her thick skirt of dark-striped fustian; white cotton
+stockings and tied shoes, partly covered by sabots, furnished with a
+leather strap for the instep, completed this costume of rustic
+simplicity, to which the natural grace of Fleur-de-Marie lent an
+inexpressible charm.
+
+Holding in one hand the two corners of her apron, with the other she
+distributed handfuls of grain among the winged crowd by which she was
+surrounded. One beautiful pigeon of a silvery whiteness, with beak and
+feet of a rich purple colour, more presuming or more indulged than the
+rest, after having flown several times around Fleur-de-Marie, at length
+alighted on her shoulder; the young girl, as though well used to these
+familiarities, continued, wholly undisturbed, to throw out continued
+supplies of grain; but, half turning her head till its perfect outline
+alone was visible, she gently raised her head, and smilingly offered her
+small rosy lips to meet those of her fond, caressing friend. The last
+rays of the setting sun shed a pale golden light over this innocent
+picture.
+
+While the Goualeuse was thus occupied with her rural cares, Madame
+Georges and the Abbé Laporte, curé of Bouqueval, sitting by the fireside
+in the neat little parlour of the farm, were conversing on the one
+constant theme,--Fleur-de-Marie. The old curé, with a pensive,
+thoughtful air, his head bent downwards, and his elbows leaning on his
+knees, mechanically stretched his two trembling hands before the fire.
+Madame Georges, laying aside the needlework on which she had been
+occupied, kept an anxious eye on the abbé, as though eagerly waiting for
+some observation from him. After a moment's silence:
+
+"Yes," said he, "you are right, Madame Georges; it will be better for M.
+Rodolph to question Marie, for she is so filled with deep gratitude and
+devotion to him, that she will probably reveal to him what she persists
+in concealing from us."
+
+"Then, since you agree with me, M. le Curé, I will write, this very
+evening, to the address he left with me,--the Allée des Veuves."
+
+"Poor child," sighed the kind old man, "she ought to have been so happy
+here! What secret grief can thus be preying on her mind?"
+
+[Illustration: "_At Length Alighted on Her Shoulder_"
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau]
+
+"Her unhappiness is too deeply fixed to be removed even by her earnest
+and passionate application to study."
+
+"And yet she has made a most rapid and extraordinary progress since she
+has been under our care, has she not?"
+
+"She has, indeed; already she can read and write with the utmost
+fluency, and is already sufficiently advanced in arithmetic to assist me
+in keeping my farm accounts; and then the dear child is so active and
+industrious, and really affords me so much assistance as both surprises
+me and moves me to tears. You know that, spite of my repeated
+remonstrances, she persisted in working so hard, that I became quite
+alarmed lest such toil should seriously affect her health."
+
+"I am thankful to hear from you," resumed the worthy curé, "that your
+negro doctor has fully quieted your apprehensions respecting the cough
+your young friend suffered from; he says it is merely temporary, and
+gives no reason for uneasiness."
+
+"Oh, that kind, excellent M. David! He really appeared to feel the same
+interest in the poor girl that we did who know her sad story. She is
+universally beloved and respected by all on the farm; though that is not
+surprising, as, thanks to the generous and elevated views of M. Rodolph,
+all the persons employed on it are selected for their good sense and
+excellent conduct, from all parts of the kingdom; but were it not
+so,--were they of the common herd of vulgar-minded labourers, they could
+not help feeling the influence of Marie's angelic sweetness, and timid,
+graceful manner, as though she were always deprecating anger, or
+beseeching pardon for some involuntary fault. Unfortunate being! as
+though she alone were to blame."
+
+After remaining for several minutes buried in reflection, the abbé
+resumed:
+
+"Did you not tell me that this deep dejection of Marie's might be dated
+from the time when Madame Dubreuil, who rents under the Duke de
+Lucenay, paid her a visit during the feast of the Holy Ghost?"
+
+"Yes, M. le Curé, I did. And yet Madame Dubreuil and her daughter Clara
+(a perfect model of candour and goodness) were as much taken with our
+dear child as every one else who approaches her; and both of them
+lavished on her every mark of the most affectionate regard. You know
+that we pass the Sunday alternately at each other's house; but it
+invariably happens that, when we return from our Sunday excursion to
+Arnouville, where Madame Dubreuil and her daughter reside, the
+melancholy of my dear Marie seems augmented, and her spirits more
+depressed than ever. I cannot comprehend why this should be, when Madame
+Dubreuil treats her like a second daughter, and the sweet Clara loves
+her with the tender affection of a sister."
+
+"In truth, Madame Georges, it is a fearful mystery; what can occasion
+all this hidden sorrow, when here she need not have a single care? The
+difference between her present and past life must be as great as that
+which exists between heaven and the abode of the damned. Surely, hers is
+not an ungrateful disposition?"
+
+"She ungrateful! Oh, no, M. le Curé! her sensitive and affectionate
+nature magnifies the slightest service rendered her, and she appears as
+though her gratitude could never be sufficiently evinced. There is, too,
+in her every thought an instinctive delicacy and fineness of feeling
+wholly incompatible with ingratitude, which could never be harboured in
+so noble a nature as that of my charge. Dear Marie, how anxious does she
+seem to earn the bread she eats, and how eagerly she strives to
+compensate the hospitality shown her, by every exertion she can make, or
+service she can render! And, then, except on Sunday, when I make it a
+point she should dress herself with more regard to appearance to
+accompany me to church, she will only wear the coarse, humble garments
+worn by our young peasant girls; and yet there is in her such an air of
+native superiority, so natural a grace, that one would not desire to see
+her otherwise attired, would they, M. le Curé?"
+
+"Ah, mother's pride! Beware!" said the old priest, smiling.
+
+At these words, tears filled the eyes of Madame Georges; she thought of
+her long-lost child, and of his possible destiny.
+
+"Come, come, dear friend, cheer up! Look upon our dear Marie as sent by
+a gracious Providence to occupy your maternal affections until the
+blessed moment when he shall restore you your son; and, besides, you
+have a sacred duty to perform towards this child of your adoption. Are
+you not her baptismal godmother? And, believe me, when that office is
+worthily discharged, it almost equals that of a mother. As for M.
+Rodolph, he has discharged his obligation of godfather by anticipation,
+for, in snatching her from the abyss of crime into which her misfortunes
+and her helplessness had cast her, he may be said to have caused her
+immortal existence to begin."
+
+"Doubtless the poor thing has never received the sacrament of our holy
+church. Do you think, M. le Curé, she is now sufficiently acquainted
+with its sanctified purposes to be admitted to a participation of it?"
+
+"I will take an opportunity of learning her sentiments on the subject as
+we walk back to the rectory. I shall then apprise her that the holy
+ceremony will take place probably in about a fortnight from hence."
+
+"How gratefully she will receive such an information; her religious
+feelings are the strongest I have ever met with."
+
+"Alas, poor thing! she has deep and heavy expiation to make for the
+errors of her past life."
+
+"Nay, M. l'Abbé, consider. Abandoned so young, without resource, without
+friends, almost without a knowledge of good or evil, plunged
+involuntarily into the very vortex of crime, what was there to prevent
+her from falling the bitter sacrifice she has been?"
+
+"The clear, moral sense of right and wrong implanted by the Creator in
+every breast should have withheld her; and, besides, we have no evidence
+of her having even sought to escape from the horrible fate into which
+she had fallen. Is there no friendly hand to be found in Paris to listen
+to the cries of suffering virtue? Is charity so rare, so hard to obtain
+in that large city?"
+
+"Let us hope not, M. l'Abbé; but how to discover it is the difficulty.
+Ere arriving at the knowledge of one kind, commiserating Christian,
+think of the refusals, the rebukes, the denials to be endured. And,
+then, in such a case as our poor Marie's, it was no passing temporary
+aid that could avail her, but the steady, continued patronage and
+support, the being placed in the way to earn an honest livelihood. Many
+tender and pitying mothers would have succoured her had they known her
+sad case, I doubt not, but it was first requisite to secure the
+happiness of knowing where to meet with them. Trust me, I, too, have
+known want and misery. But for one of those providential chances which,
+alas! too late, threw poor Marie in the way of M. Rodolph,--but for one
+of those casualties, the wretched and destitute, most commonly repulsed
+with rude denial on their first applications, believe pity irretrievably
+lost, and, pressed by hunger, fierce, clamorous hunger, often seek in
+vice that relief they despair to obtain from commiseration."
+
+At this moment the Goualeuse entered the parlour.
+
+"Where have you been, my dear child?" inquired Madame Georges,
+anxiously.
+
+"Visiting the fruit-house, madame, after having shut up the hen-houses
+and gates of the poultry-yard. All the fruit has kept excellently,--all
+but those I ran away with and ate."
+
+"Now, Marie, why take all this fatigue upon yourself? You should have
+left all this tiring work to Claudine; I fear you have quite tired
+yourself."
+
+"No, no! dear Madame Georges; I wouldn't let Claudine help me for the
+world. I take so much delight in my fruit-house,--the smell of the
+beautiful ripe fruit is so delicious."
+
+"M. le Curé," said Madame Georges, "you must go some day and see Marie's
+fruit-house. You can scarcely imagine the taste with which she has
+arranged it; each different variety of fruit is separated by rows of
+grapes, and the grapes are again divided off by strips of moss."
+
+"Oh, yes, M. le Curé; pray do come and see it," said the Goualeuse,
+innocently; "I am sure you would be pleased with it. You would be
+surprised what a pretty contrast the moss makes to the bright rosy
+apples or the rich golden pears. There are some such lovely waxen
+apples, quite a pure red and white; and really, as they lie surrounded
+by the soft green moss, I cannot help thinking of the heads of little
+cherubim just peeping out from the glorious clouds of heaven," added the
+delighted Goualeuse, speaking with all the enthusiasm of an artist of
+the work of her creation.
+
+The curé looked at Madame Georges, then smilingly replied to
+Fleur-de-Marie:
+
+"I have already admired the dairy over which you preside, my child, and
+can venture to declare it perfect in its way; the most particular
+dairy-woman might envy you the perfection to which you have brought it.
+Ere long, I promise myself the pleasure of visiting your fruit-house,
+and passing a similar compliment on your skill in arrangement. You shall
+then introduce me to those charming rosy apples and delicious golden
+pears, as well as to the little cherubim pippins so prettily peeping
+from their mossy beds. But see! the sun has already set; you will
+scarcely have sufficient time to conduct me back to the rectory-house
+and return before dark. Come, my child, fetch your cloak, and let us be
+gone; or, now I think of it, do you remain at home this cold bitter
+night, and let one of the farm servants go home with me."
+
+"Oh, M. le Curé," replied the kind Madame Georges, "Marie will be quite
+wretched if she is not allowed to accompany you; she so much enjoys the
+happiness of escorting you home every evening."
+
+"Indeed, Monsieur le Curé," added the Goualeuse, timidly raising her
+large blue eyes to the priest's countenance, "I shall fear you are
+displeased with me if you do not permit me to accompany you as usual."
+
+"Well, then, my dear child, wrap yourself up very warm, and let us go."
+
+Fleur-de-Marie hastily threw over her shoulders a sort of cloak of
+coarse white cloth, edged with black velvet, and with a large hood, to
+be drawn at pleasure over the head. Thus equipped, she eagerly offered
+her arm to her venerable friend.
+
+"Happily," said he, in taking it, "the distance is but trifling, and the
+road both good and safe to pass at all hours."
+
+"As it is somewhat later to-night than usual," said Madame Georges,
+"will you have one of the farm-people to return with you, Marie?"
+
+"Do you take me for a coward?" said Marie, playfully. "I am very much
+obliged to you for your good opinion, madame. No, pray do not let any
+one be called away on my account. It is not a quarter of an hour's walk
+from here to the rectory. I shall be back long before dark."
+
+"Well, as you like. I merely thought it would be company for you; for as
+to fearing, thank heaven, there is no cause. Loose vagabond people,
+likely to interrupt your progress, are wholly unknown here."
+
+"And, were I not equally sure of the absence of all danger, I would not
+accept this dear child's arm," added the curé, "useful as, I confess, I
+find it."
+
+And, leaning on Fleur-de-Marie, who regulated her light step to suit the
+slow and laboured pace of the old man, the two friends quitted the farm.
+
+A few minutes' walk brought the Goualeuse and the priest close to the
+hollow road in which the Schoolmaster, the Chouette, and Tortillard,
+were lying in ambush.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE AMBUSCADE.
+
+
+The church and parsonage of Bouqueval were placed on the side of a hill
+covered with chestnut-trees, and commanded an entire view of the
+village. Fleur-de-Marie and the abbé reached a winding path which led to
+the clergyman's home, crossing the sunken road by which the hill was
+intersected diagonally. The Chouette, the Schoolmaster, and Tortillard,
+concealed in one of the hollows of the road, saw the priest and
+Fleur-de-Marie descend into the ravine, and leave it again by a steep
+declivity. The features of the young girl being hidden under the hood of
+her cloak, the Chouette did not recognise her old victim.
+
+"Silence, my old boy," said the old harridan to the Schoolmaster; "the
+young 'mot' and the 'black slug' are just crossing the path. I know her
+by the description which the tall man in black gave us; a country
+appearance, neither tall nor short; a petticoat shot with brown, and a
+woollen mantle with a black border. She walks every day with a
+'devil-dodger' to his 'crib,' and returns alone. When she come back,
+which she will do presently by the end of the road, we must spring upon
+her and carry her off to the coach."
+
+"If she cries for help," replied the Schoolmaster, "they will hear her
+at the farm, if, as you say, the out-buildings are visible from here;
+for you--you can see," he added, in a sullen tone.
+
+"Oh, yes, we can see the buildings from here quite plainly," said
+Tortillard. "It is only a minute ago that I climbed to the top of the
+bank, and, lying down on my belly, I could hear a carter who was talking
+to his horses in the yard there."
+
+"I'll tell you, then, what we must do," said the Schoolmaster, after a
+moment's silence. "Let Tortillard have the watch at the entrance to the
+path. When he sees the young girl returning, let him go and meet her,
+saying that he is the son of a poor old woman who has hurt herself by
+falling down the hollow road, and beg the girl to come to her
+assistance."
+
+"I'm up to you, _fourline_; the poor old woman is your darling Chouette.
+You're 'wide-awake!' My man, you are always the king of the 'downy ones'
+(_têtards_). What must I do afterwards?"
+
+"Conceal yourself in the hollow way on the side where Barbillon is
+waiting with the coach. I will be at hand. When Tortillard has brought
+the wench to you in the middle of the ravine, leave off whimpering and
+spring upon her, put one 'mauley' round her 'squeeze,' and the other
+into her 'patter-box,' and 'grab' her 'red rag' to prevent her from
+squeaking."
+
+"I know, I know, _fourline_; as we did with the woman at the canal of
+St. Martin, when we gave her cold water for supper (drowned her), after
+having 'prigged' her 'negress' (the parcel wrapped in black oil-skin)
+which she had under her arm,--the same 'dodge,' isn't it?"
+
+"Yes, precisely. But mind, grab the girl tight whilst Tortillard comes
+and fetches me. We three will then bundle her up in my cloak, carry her
+to Barbillon's coach, from thence to the plain of St. Denis, where the
+man in black will await us."
+
+"That's the way to do business, my _fourline_; you are without an equal!
+If I could, I would let off a firework on your head, and illuminate you
+with the colours of Saint Charlot, the patron of 'scragsmen.' Do you
+see, you urchin? If you would be an 'out-and-outer,' make my husband
+your model," said the Chouette, boastingly to Tortillard. Then,
+addressing the Schoolmaster, "By the way, do you know that Barbillon is
+in an awful 'funk' (fright)? He thinks that he shall be had up before
+the 'beaks' on a swinging matter."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"The other day, returning from Mother Martial's, the widow of the man
+who was scragged, and who keeps the boozing-ken in the Ile du Ravageur,
+Barbillon, the Gros-Boiteux, and the Skeleton had a row with the husband
+of the milkwoman who comes every morning from the country in a little
+cart drawn by a donkey, to sell her milk in the Cité, at the corner of
+the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie, close to the ogress's of the 'White
+Rabbit,' and they 'walked into him with their slashers' (killed him with
+their knives)."
+
+The son of Bras Rouge, who did not understand slang, listened to the
+Chouette with a sort of disappointed curiosity.
+
+"You would like to know, little man, what we are saying, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Yes. You were talking of Mother Martial, who is at the Ile du Ravageur,
+near Asnières. I know her very well, and her daughter Calebasse and
+François and Amandine, who are about as old as I am, and who are made to
+bear everybody's snubs and thumps in the house. But when you talked of
+'walking into (_buter_) any one,' that's slang, I know."
+
+"It is; and, if you're a very good chap, I'll teach you to 'patter
+flash.' You're just the age when it may be very useful to you. Would you
+like to learn, my precious lambkin?"
+
+"I rather think I should, too, and no mistake; and I would rather live
+with you than with my old cheat of a mountebank, pounding his drugs. If
+I knew where he hides his 'rat-poison for men,' I'd put some in his
+soup, and then that would settle the quarrel between us."
+
+The Chouette laughed heartily, and said to Tortillard, drawing him
+towards her:
+
+"Come, chick, and kiss his mammy. What a droll boy it is--a darling!
+But, my manikin, how didst know that he had 'rat-poison for men'?"
+
+"Why, 'cause I heard him say so one day when I was hid in the cupboard
+in the room where he keeps his bottles, his brass machines, and where he
+mixes his stuffs together."
+
+"What did you hear him say?" asked the Chouette.
+
+"I heard him say to a gentleman that he gave a powder to, in a paper,
+'When you are tired of life, take this in three doses, and you will
+sleep without sickness or sorrow.'"
+
+"Who was the gentleman?" asked the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, a very handsome gentleman with black moustachios, and a face as
+pretty as a girl's. He came another time; and then, when he left, I
+followed him, by M. Bradamanti's order, to find out where he perched.
+The fine gentleman went into the Rue de Chaillot, and entered a very
+grand house. My master said to me, 'No matter where this gentleman goes,
+follow and wait for him at the door. If he comes out again, still keep
+your eye on him, until he does not come out of the place where he
+enters, and that will prove that he lives there. Then Tortillard, my
+boy, twist (_tortille_) yourself about to find out his name, or I will
+twist your ears in a way that will astonish you.'"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, I did twist myself about, and found out his name."
+
+"How did you manage it?" inquired the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Why, so. I'm not a fool; so I went to the porter at the house in the
+Rue de Chaillot, where this gentleman had gone in and not come out
+again. The porter had his hair finely powdered, with a fine brown coat
+with a yellow collar trimmed with silver. So I says to him, 'Good
+gentleman, I have come to ask for a hundred sous which the gentleman of
+the house has promised me for having found his dog and brought it back
+to him--a little black dog called Trumpet; and the gentleman with dark
+features, with black moustachios, a white riding-coat, and light blue
+pantaloons, told me he lived at No. 11 Rue de Chaillot, and that his
+name was Dupont.' 'The gentleman you're talking of is my master, and his
+name is the Viscount de St. Remy, and we have no dog here but yourself,
+you young scamp; so "cut your stick," or I'll make you remember coming
+here, and trying to do me out of a hundred sous,' says the porter to me;
+and he gave me a kick as he said it. But I didn't mind that," added
+Tortillard most philosophically, "for I found out the name of the
+handsome young gentleman with black moustachios, who came to my master's
+to buy the 'rat-poison for men' who are tired of living. He is called
+the Viscount de St. Remy,--my--my--St. Remy," added the son of Bras
+Rouge, humming the last words, as was his usual habit.
+
+"Clever little darling--I could eat him up alive!" said the Chouette,
+embracing Tortillard. "Never was such a knowing fellow. He deserves that
+I should be his mother, the dear rascal does."
+
+And the hag embraced Tortillard with an absurd affectation. The son of
+Bras Rouge, touched by this proof of affection, and desirous of showing
+his gratitude, eagerly answered:
+
+"Only you tell me what to do, and you shall see how I'll do it."
+
+"Will you, though? Well, then, you sha'n't repent doing so."
+
+"Oh, I should like always to stay with you!"
+
+"If you behave well, we may see about that. You sha'n't leave us if you
+are a good boy."
+
+"Yes," said the Schoolmaster, "you shall lead me about like a poor blind
+man, and say you are my son. We will get into houses in this way, and
+then--ten thousand slaughters!" added the assassin with enthusiasm; "the
+Chouette will assist us in making lucky hits. I will then teach that
+devil of a Rodolph, who blinded me, that I am not yet quite done for. He
+took away my eyesight, but he could not, did not remove my bent for
+mischief. I would be the head, Tortillard the eyes, and you the
+hand,--eh, Chouette? You will help me in this, won't you?"
+
+"Am I not with you to gallows and rope, _fourline_? Didn't I, when I
+left the hospital, and learnt that you had sent the 'yokel' from St.
+Mandé to ask for me at the ogress's--didn't I run to you at the village
+directly, telling those chawbacons of labourers that I was your _rib_?"
+
+These words of the "one-eyed's" reminded the Schoolmaster of an
+unpleasant affair, and, altering his tone and language with the
+Chouette, he said, in a surly tone:
+
+"Yes, I was getting tired of being all by myself with these honest
+people. After a month I could not stand it any longer; I was frightened.
+So then I thought of trying to find you out; and a nice thing I did for
+myself," he added, in a tone of increasing anger; "for the day after you
+arrived I was robbed of the rest of the money which that devil in the
+Allée des Veuves had given me. Yes, some one stole my belt full of gold
+whilst I was asleep. It was only you who could have done it; and so now
+I am at your mercy. Whenever I think of it, I can hardly restrain myself
+from killing you on the spot--you cursed old robber, you!" and he
+stepped towards the old woman.
+
+"Look out for yourself, if you try to do any harm to the Chouette!"
+cried Tortillard.
+
+"I will smash you both--you and she--base vipers as you are!" cried the
+ruffian, enraged; and, hearing the boy mumbling near him, he aimed at
+him so violent a blow with his fist, as must have killed him if it had
+struck him. Tortillard, as much to revenge himself as the Chouette,
+picked up a stone, took aim, and struck the Schoolmaster on the
+forehead. The blow was not dangerous, but very painful. The brigand grew
+furious with passion, raging like a wounded bull, and, rushing forward
+swiftly and at random, stumbled.
+
+"What, break your own back?" shouted the Chouette, laughing till she
+cried.
+
+Despite the bloody ties which bound her to this monster, she saw how
+entirely, and with a sort of savage delight, this man, formerly so
+dreaded, and so proud of his giant strength, was reduced to impotence.
+The old wretch, by these feelings, justified that cold-blooded idea of
+La Rochefoucauld's, that "there is something in the misfortunes of our
+best friends which does not displease us." The disgusting brat, with his
+tawny cheeks and weasel face, enjoyed and participated in the mirth of
+the one-eyed hag. The Schoolmaster tripped again, and the urchin
+exclaimed:
+
+"Open your peepers, old fellow; look about you. You are going the wrong
+way. What capers you are cutting! Can't you see your way? Why don't you
+wipe your eye-glasses?"
+
+Unable to seize on the boy, the athletic murderer stopped, struck his
+foot violently on the ground, put his enormous and hairy fists to his
+eyes, and then uttered a sound which resembled the hoarse scream of a
+muzzled tiger.
+
+"Got a bad cough, I'm afraid, old chap!" said Bras Rouge's brat. "You're
+hoarse, I'm afraid? I have some capital liquorice which a _gen-d'arme_
+gave me. P'raps you'd like to try it?" and, taking up a handful of sand,
+he threw it in the face of the ruffian.
+
+Struck full in his countenance by this shower of gravel, the
+Schoolmaster suffered still more severely by this last attack than by
+the blow from the stone. Become pale, in spite of his livid and
+cicatrised features, he extended his two arms suddenly in the form of a
+cross, in a moment of inexpressible agony and despair, and, raising his
+frightful face to heaven, he cried, in a voice of deep suffering:
+
+"_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_"
+
+This involuntary appeal to divine mercy by a man stained by every crime,
+a bandit in whose presence but very recently the most resolute of his
+fellows trembled, appeared like an interposition of Providence.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" said the Chouette, in a mocking tone; "look at the thief
+making the crucifix! You mistake your road, my man. It is the 'old one'
+you should call to your help."
+
+"A knife! Oh, for a knife to kill myself! A knife! since all the world
+abandons me!" shrieked the wretch, gnawing his fists for very agony and
+rage.
+
+"A knife!--there's one in your pocket, cut-throat, and with an edge,
+too. The little old man in the Rue du Roule, you know, one moonlight
+night, and the cattle-dealer in the Poissy road, could tell the 'moles'
+all about it. But if you want it, it's here."
+
+The Schoolmaster, when thus instructed, changed the conversation, and
+replied, in a surly and threatening tone:
+
+"The Chourineur was true; he did not rob, but had pity on me."
+
+"Why did you say that I had 'prigged your blunt'?" inquired the
+Chouette, hardly able to restrain her laughter.
+
+"It was only you who came into my room," said the miscreant. "I was
+robbed on the night of your arrival, and who else could I suspect? Those
+country people could not have done such a thing."
+
+"Why should not country people steal as well as other folks? Is it
+because they drink milk and gather grass for their rabbits?"
+
+"I don't know. I only know I'm robbed."
+
+"And is that the fault of your own Chouette? What! suspect me? Do you
+think if I had got your belt that I should stay any longer with you.
+What a fool you are! Why, if I had chosen to 'pouch your blunt,' I
+could, of course; but, as true as I'm Chouette, you would have seen me
+again when the 'pewter' was spent, for I like you as well now with your
+eyes white, as I did--you rogue, you! Come, be decent, and leave off
+grinding your 'snags' in that way, or you'll break 'em."
+
+"It's just as if he was a-cracking nuts," said Tortillard.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! what a droll baby it is! But quiet, now, quiet, my man of
+men; let him laugh, it is but an infant. You must own you have been
+unfair; for when the tall man in mourning, who looks like a mute at a
+funeral, said to me, 'A thousand francs are yours if you carry off this
+young girl from the farm at Bouqueval, and bring her to the spot in the
+Plain of St. Denis that I shall tell you,' say, cut-throat, didn't I
+directly tell you of the affair and agree to share with you, instead of
+choosing some 'pal' with his eyesight clear? Why, it's like making you a
+handsome present for doing nothing; for unless to bundle up the girl and
+carry her, with Tortillard's assistance, you would be of no more use to
+me than the fifth wheel to an omnibus. But never mind; for, although I
+could have robbed you if I would, I like, on the contrary, to do you
+service. I should wish you to owe everything to your darling
+Chouette--that's my way, that is. We must give two hundred 'bob' to
+Barbillon for driving the coach, and coming once before with the servant
+of the tall man in mourning, to look about the place and determine where
+we should hide ourselves whilst we waited for the young miss; and then
+we shall have eight hundred 'bob' between us. What do you say to that
+old boy? What! still angry with your old woman?"
+
+"How do I know that you will give me a 'mag' when once the thing's done?
+Why!--I"--said the ruffian, in a tone of gloomy distrust.
+
+"Why, if I like, I need not give you a dump, that's true enough; for you
+are on my gridiron, my lad, as I once had the Goualeuse; and so I will
+broil you to my own taste, till the 'old one' gets the cooking of my
+darling--ha! ha! ha! What, still sulky with your Chouette?" added the
+horrible woman, patting the shoulder of the ruffian, who stood mute and
+motionless.
+
+"You are right," said he, with a sigh of concentrated rage; "it is my
+fate--mine--mine! At the mercy of a woman and child whom but lately I
+could have killed with a blow. Oh, if I were not afraid of dying!" said
+he, falling back against the bank.
+
+"What! a coward!--you--you a coward!" said the Chouette, contemptuously.
+"Why, you'll be talking next of your conscience! What a precious farce!
+Well, if you haven't more pluck than that, I'll 'cut' and leave you."
+
+"And that I cannot have my revenge of the man who in thus making a
+martyr of me has reduced me to the wretched situation in which I am!"
+screamed the Schoolmaster, in a renewal of fury. "I am afraid of
+death--yes, I own it, I am afraid. But if I were told, 'This man Rodolph
+is between your arms--your two arms--and now you shall both be flung
+into a pit,' I would say, 'Throw us, then, at once.' Yes, for then I
+should be safe not to relax my clutch, till we both reached the bottom
+together. I would fix my teeth in his face--his throat--his heart. I
+would tear him to pieces with my teeth--yes, my teeth; for I should be
+jealous of a knife!"
+
+"Bravo, _fourline_! now you are my own dear love again. Calm yourself.
+We will find him again, that wretch of a Rodolph, and the Chourineur
+too. Come, pluck up, old man; we will yet work our will on them both. I
+say it, on both!"
+
+"Well, then, you will not forsake me?" cried the brigand to the Chouette
+in a subdued tone, mingled, however, with distrust. "If you do leave me,
+what will become of me?"
+
+"That's true. I say, _fourline_, what a joke if Tortillard and I were to
+'mizzle' with the 'drag,' and leave you where you are--in the middle of
+the fields; and the night air begins to nip very sharp. I say, it would
+be a joke, old cutpurse, wouldn't it?"
+
+At this threat the Schoolmaster shuddered, and, coming towards the
+Chouette, said tremulously, "No, no, you wouldn't do that, Chouette; nor
+you, Tortillard. It would be too bad, wouldn't it?"
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! 'Too bad,' says he, the gentle dear! And the little old man
+in the Rue du Roule; and the cattle-dealer and the woman in Saint
+Martin's Canal; and the gentleman in the Allée des Veuves; they found
+you nice and amiable, I don't think--didn't they--with your
+'larding-pin?' Why, then, in your turn, shouldn't you be left to such
+tender mercy as you have showed?"
+
+"I'm in your power, don't abuse it," said the Schoolmaster. "Come, come,
+I confess I was wrong to suspect you. I was wrong to try and thump
+Tortillard; and, you see, I beg pardon; and of you too, Tortillard. Yes,
+I ask pardon of both."
+
+"I will have you ask pardon on your knees for having tried to beat the
+Chouette," said Tortillard.
+
+"You rum little beggar, how funny you are!" said the Chouette, laughing
+loudly; "but I should like to see what a 'guy' you will make of
+yourself. So on your knees, as if you were 'pattering' love to your old
+darling. Come, do it directly, or we will leave you; and I tell you that
+in half an hour it will be quite dark, though you don't look as if you
+thought so, old 'No-Eyes.'"
+
+"Night or day, what's that to him?" said Tortillard, saucily. "The
+gentleman always has his shutters closed."
+
+"Then here, on my knees, I humbly ask your pardon, Chouette; and yours
+also, Tortillard! Will not that content you?" said the robber, kneeling
+in the middle of the highway. "And now will you leave me?"
+
+This strange group, enclosed by the embankment of the ravine, and
+lighted by the red glimmer of the twilight, was hideous to behold. In
+the middle of the road the Schoolmaster, on his knees, extended his
+large and coarse hands towards the one-eyed hag; his thick and matted
+hair, which his fright had dishevelled, left exposed his motionless,
+rigid, glassy, dead eyeballs--the very glance of a corpse. Stooping
+deprecatingly his broad-spread shoulders, this Hercules kneels abjectly,
+and trembles at the feet of an old woman and a child!
+
+The old hag herself, wrapped in a red-checked shawl, her head covered
+with an old cap of black lace, which allowed some locks of her grizzled
+hair to escape, looked down with an air of haughty contempt and
+domineering pride on the Schoolmaster. The bony, scorched, shrivelled,
+and livid countenance of the parrot-nosed old harridan expressed a
+savage and insulting joy; her small but fierce eye glistened like a
+burning coal; a sinister expression curled her lips, shaded with long
+straight hairs, and revealed three or four large, yellow, and decayed
+fangs.
+
+Tortillard, clothed in a blouse with a leathern belt, standing on one
+leg, leaned on the Chouette's arm to keep himself upright. The bad
+expression and cunning look of this deformed imp, with a complexion as
+sallow as his hair, betokened at this moment his disposition--half
+fiend, half monkey. The shadow cast from the declivity of the ravine
+increased the horrid _tout ensemble_ of the scene, which the increasing
+darkness half hid.
+
+"Promise me,--oh, promise me--at least, not to forsake me!" repeated
+the Schoolmaster, frightened by the silence of the Chouette and
+Tortillard, who were enjoying his dismay. "Are you not here?" added the
+murderer, leaning forward to listen, and advancing his arms
+mechanically.
+
+"Yes, my man, we are here; don't be frightened. Forsake you! leave my
+love! the man of my heart! No, I'd sooner be 'scragged'! Once for all, I
+will tell you why I will not forsake you. Listen, and profit. I have
+always liked to have some one in my grip--beast or Christian. Before I
+had Pegriotte (oh! that the 'old one' would return her to my clutch! for
+I have still my idea of scaling off her beauty with my bottle of
+vitriol)--before Pegriotte's turn, I had a brat who froze to death under
+my care. For that little job, I got six years in the 'Stone Jug.' Then I
+used to have little birds, which I used to tame, and then pluck 'em
+alive. Ha! ha! but that was troublesome work, for they did not last
+long. When I left the 'Jug,' the Goualeuse came to hand; but the little
+brat ran away before I had had half my fun out of her carcass. Well,
+then I had a dog, who had his little troubles as well as she had; and I
+cut off one of his hind feet and one of his four feet; and you never saw
+such a rum beggar as I made of him; I almost burst my sides with
+laughing at him!"
+
+"I must serve a dog I know of, who bit me one day, in the same way,"
+said the promising Master Tortillard.
+
+"When I fell in again with you, my darling," continued the Chouette, "I
+was trying what I could do that was miserable with a cat. Well, now, at
+this moment, you, old boy, shall be my cat, my dog, my bird, my
+Pegriotte; you shall be anything to worry (_bête de souffrance_). Do you
+understand, my love? Instead of having a bird or a child to make
+miserable, I shall have, as it were, a wolf or a tiger. I think that's
+rather a bright idea; isn't it?"
+
+"Hag! devil!" cried the Schoolmaster, rising in a desperate rage.
+
+"What, my pet angry with his darling old deary? Well, if it must be so,
+it must. Have your own way; you have a right to it. Good night, blind
+sheep!"
+
+"The field-gate is wide open, so walk alone, Mister No-eyes; and, if you
+toddle straight, you'll reach the right road somehow," said Tortillard,
+laughing heartily.
+
+"Oh, that I could die! die! die!" said the Schoolmaster, writhing and
+twisting his arms about in agony.
+
+At this moment, Tortillard, stooping to the ground, exclaimed, in a low
+voice:
+
+"I hear footsteps in the path; let us hide; it is not the young miss,
+for they come the same way as she did."
+
+On the instant, a stout peasant girl in the prime of youth, followed by
+a large shepherd's dog, carrying on her head an open basket, appeared,
+and followed the same path which the priest and the Goualeuse had taken.
+We will rejoin the two latter, leaving the three accomplices concealed
+in the hollow of the path.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RECTORY-HOUSE.
+
+
+The last rays of the sun were gradually disappearing behind the vast
+pile of the Château d'Ecouen and the woods which surrounded it. On all
+sides, until the sight lost them in the distance, were vast tracts of
+land lying in brown furrows hardened by the frost--an extensive desert,
+of which the hamlet of Bouqueval appeared to be the oasis. The sky,
+which was serenely glorious, was tinted by the sunset, and glowed with
+long lines of empurpled light, the certain token of wind and cold. These
+tints, which were at first of a deep red, became violet; then a bluish
+black, as the twilight grew more and more dark on the atmosphere. The
+crescent of the moon was as delicately and clearly defined as a silver
+ring, and began to shine beautifully in the midst of the blue and dimmed
+sky, where many stars already had appeared. The silence was profound;
+the hour most solemn. The curate stopped for a moment on the summit of
+the acclivity to enjoy the calm of this delicious evening. After some
+minutes' reflection, he extended his trembling hand towards the depths
+of the horizon, half veiled by the shadows of the evening, and said to
+Fleur-de-Marie, who was walking pensively beside him:
+
+"Look, my child, at the vastness and extent to which we have no visible
+limit; we hear not the slightest sound. Say, does not this silence give
+us an idea of infinity and of eternity? I say this to you, Marie,
+because you are peculiarly sensitive of the beauties of creation. I
+have often been struck at the admiration, alike poetical and religious,
+with which they inspire you,--you, a poor prisoner so long deprived of
+them. Are you not, as I am, struck with the solemn tranquillity of the
+hour?"
+
+The Goualeuse made no reply. The curé, regarding her with astonishment,
+found she was weeping.
+
+"What ails you, my child?"
+
+"My father, I am unhappy!"
+
+"Unhappy!--you?--still unhappy!"
+
+"I know it is ingratitude to complain of my lot after all that has been
+and is done for me; and yet--"
+
+"And yet?"
+
+"Father, I pray of you forgive my sorrows; their expression may offend
+my benefactors."
+
+"Listen, Marie. We have often asked you the cause of these sorrows with
+which you are depressed, and which excite in your second mother the most
+serious uneasiness. You have avoided all reply, and we have respected
+your secret whilst we have been afflicted at not being able to solace
+your sorrows."
+
+"Alas; good father, I dare not tell you what is passing in my mind. I
+have been moved, as you have been, at the sight of this calm and
+saddening evening. My heart is sorely afflicted, and I have wept."
+
+"But what ails you, Marie? You know how we love you! Come, tell me all.
+You should; for I must tell you that the time is very close at hand when
+Madame Georges and M. Rodolph will present you at the baptismal font,
+and take upon themselves the engagement before God to protect you all
+the days of your life."
+
+"M. Rodolph--he who has saved me?" cried Fleur-de-Marie, clasping her
+hands; "he will deign to give me this new proof of affection! Oh,
+indeed, my father, I can no longer conceal from you anything, lest I
+should, indeed, deserve to be called and thought an ingrate."
+
+"An ingrate! How?"
+
+"That you may understand me, I must begin and tell you of my first day
+at the farm."
+
+"Then let us talk as we walk on."
+
+"You will be indulgent to me, my father? What I shall say may perhaps be
+wrong."
+
+"The Lord has shown his mercy unto you. Be of good heart."
+
+"When," said Fleur-de-Marie, after a moment's reflection, "I knew that,
+on arriving here, I should not again leave the farm and Madame Georges,
+I believed it was all a dream. At first I felt giddy with my happiness,
+and thought every moment of M. Rodolph. Very often when I was alone, and
+in spite of myself, I raised my eyes to heaven, as if to seek him there
+and thank him. Afterwards--and I was wrong, father--I thought more of
+him than God, attributing to him what God alone could do. I was
+happy--as happy as a creature who had suddenly and entirely escaped from
+a great danger. You and Madame Georges were so kind to me, that I
+thought I deserved pity rather than blame."
+
+The curé looked at the Goualeuse with an air of surprise. She continued:
+
+"Gradually I became used to my sweet course of life. I no longer felt
+fear when I awoke, of finding myself at the ogress's. I seemed to sleep
+in full security, and all my delight was to assist Madame Georges in her
+work, and to apply myself to the lesson you gave me, my father, as well
+as to profit by your advice and exhortation. Except some moments of
+shame, when I reflected on the past, I thought myself equal to all the
+world, because all the world was so kind to me. When, one day--"
+
+Here sobs cut short poor Fleur-de-Marie's narration.
+
+"Come, come, my poor child, calm yourself. Courage, courage!"
+
+The Goualeuse wiped her eyes, and resumed:
+
+"You recollect, father, during the fêtes of the Toussaints, that Madame
+Dubreuil, who superintends the Duke de Lucenay's farm at Arnouville,
+came, with her daughter, to pass some time with us?"
+
+"I do; and I was delighted to see you form an acquaintance with Clara
+Dubreuil, who is a very excellent girl."
+
+"She is an angel--an angel, father. When I knew that she was coming to
+stay for some days at the farm, my delight was so great that I could
+think of nothing else but the moment when she should arrive. At length
+she came. I was in my room, which she was to share with me; and, whilst
+I was putting it into nice order I was sent for. I went into the saloon,
+my heart beating excessively, when Madame Georges, presenting me to the
+pretty young lady, whose looks were so kind and good, said, 'Marie, here
+is a friend for you.' 'I hope,' added Madame Dubreuil, 'that you and my
+daughter will soon be like two sisters;' and hardly had her mother
+uttered these words, than Mademoiselle Clara came and embraced me. Then,
+father," continued Fleur-de-Marie, weeping, "I do not know what came
+over me; but, when I felt the fresh and fair face of Clara pressed
+against my cheek of shame, that cheek became scorching with
+guilt--remorse. I remembered who and what I was;--I--I--to receive the
+caresses of a good and virtuous girl!"
+
+"Why, my child?"
+
+"Ah, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, interrupting the curé with
+painful emotion, "when M. Rodolph took me away from the Cité, I began
+vaguely to be conscious of the depth of my degradation. But do you think
+that education, advice, the examples I receive from Madame Georges and
+yourself, have not, whilst they have enlightened my mind, made me, alas!
+to comprehend but too clearly that I have been more culpable than
+unfortunate? Before Clara's arrival, when these thoughts grew upon me,
+I drove them away by seeking to please Madame Georges and you, father.
+If I blushed for the past it was only in my own presence. But the sight
+of this young lady of my own age, so charming, so virtuous, has conjured
+up the recollection of the distance that exists between us; and, for the
+first time, I have felt that there are wrongs which nothing can efface.
+From that time the thought has haunted me perpetually, and, in spite of
+myself, I recur to it. From that day I have not had one moment's
+repose." The Goualeuse again wiped her eyes, that swam in tears.
+
+After having looked at her for some moments with a gaze of the tenderest
+pity, the curé replied:
+
+"Reflect, my child, that if Madame Georges desired to see you the friend
+of Mademoiselle Dubreuil, it was that she felt you were worthy of such a
+confidence from your good conduct. Your reproaches, addressed to
+yourself, seem almost to impugn your second mother."
+
+"I feel that, father, and was wrong, no doubt; but I could not subdue my
+shame and fear. When Clara was once settled at the farm, I was as sad as
+I had before thought I should be happy, when I reflected on the pleasure
+of having a companion of my own age. She, on the contrary, was all joy
+and lightness. She had a bed in my apartment; and the first evening
+before she went to bed she kissed me, saying that she loved me already,
+and felt every kind sentiment towards me. She made me to call her Clara,
+and she would call me Marie. Then she said her prayers, telling me that
+she would join my name with hers in her prayers, if I would also unite
+her name with mine. I did not dare to refuse; and, after talking for
+some time, she went to sleep. I had not got into my bed, and,
+approaching her bedside, I contemplated her angel face with tears in my
+eyes; and then, reflecting that she was sleeping in the same chamber
+with me--with one who had been at the ogress's, mixed up with robbers
+and murderers, I trembled as if I had committed some crime, and a
+thousand nameless fears beset me. I thought that God would one day
+punish me. I went to sleep and had horrid dreams. I saw again those
+frightful objects I had nearly forgotten--the Chourineur, the
+Schoolmaster, the Chouette--that horrible, one-eyed woman who had
+tortured my earliest infancy. Oh, what a night! _Mon Dieu!_--what a
+night! What dreams!" said the Goualeuse, shuddering at their very
+recollection.
+
+"Poor Marie!" said the curé with emotion. "Why did you not earlier tell
+me all this? I should have found comfort for you. But go on."
+
+"I slept so late, that Mademoiselle Clara awoke me by kissing me. To
+overcome what she called my coldness, and show her regard, she told me a
+secret--that she was going to be married when she was eighteen to the
+son of a farmer at Goussainville, whom she loved very dearly, and the
+union had long been agreed upon by the two families. Then she added a
+few words of her past life, so simple, calm, and happy! She had never
+quitted her mother, and never intended to do so, for her husband was to
+take part in the management of the farm with M. Dubreuil. 'Now, Marie,'
+she said, 'you know me as well as if you were my sister. So tell me all
+about your early days.'
+
+"I thought when I heard the words that I should have died of them; I
+blushed and stammered; I did not know what Madame Georges had said of
+me, and I was fearful of telling a falsehood; I answered vaguely, that I
+had been an orphan, educated by a very rigid person; and that I had not
+been happy in my infancy; and that my happiness was dated from the
+moment when I had come to live with Madame Georges; then Clara, as much
+by interest as curiosity, asked me where I had been educated, in the
+city or the country, my father's name, and, above all, if I remembered
+anything of my mother. All these questions embarrassed as much as they
+pained me, for I was obliged to reply with falsehood, and you have
+taught me, father, how wicked it is to lie; but Clara did not think that
+I was deceiving her; she attributed the hesitation of my answers to the
+pain which my early sorrows renewed; she believed me and pitied me with
+a sincerity that cut me to the soul. Oh, father, you never can know what
+I suffered in this conversation, and how much it cost me only to reply
+in language of falsehood and hypocrisy!"
+
+"Unfortunate girl! The anger of heaven will weigh heavily on those who,
+by casting you into the vile road of perdition, have compelled you to
+undergo all your life the sad consequences of a first fault."
+
+"Oh, yes, they were indeed cruel, father," replied Fleur-de-Marie,
+bitterly, "for my shame is ineffaceable. As Clara talked to me of the
+happiness that awaited her,--her marriage, her peaceful joys of home, I
+could not help comparing my lot with hers; for, in spite of the kindness
+showered upon me, my fate must always be miserable. You and Madame
+Georges, in teaching me what virtue is, have taught me the depth of that
+abasement into which I had fallen; nothing can take from me the brand of
+having been the refuse of all that is vilest in the world. Alas! if the
+knowledge of good and evil was to be so sad to me, why not have
+abandoned me to my unhappy fate?"
+
+"Oh, Marie, Marie!"
+
+"Father, I speak ill, do I not? Alas! I dare not confess it; but I am at
+times so ungrateful as to repine at the benefits heaped upon me, and to
+say to myself, 'If I had not been snatched from infamy, why,
+wretchedness, misery, blows, would soon have ended my life; and, at
+least, I should have remained in ignorance of that purity which I must
+for ever regret.'"
+
+"Alas! Marie, that is indeed fatal! A nature ever so nobly endowed by
+the Creator, though plunged but for one day in the foul mire from which
+you have been extricated, will preserve for ever the ineffaceable
+stigma."
+
+"Yes, yes, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, full of grief, "I must
+despair until I die!"
+
+"You must despair of ever tearing out this frightful page from the book
+of your existence," said the priest, in a sad and serious voice; "but
+you must have faith in the infinite mercy of the Almighty. Here, on
+earth, my poor child, there are for you tears, remorse, expiation; but,
+one day, there,--up there," and he raised his hand to the sky, now
+filling with stars, "there is pardon and everlasting happiness."
+
+"Pity, pity, _mon Dieu_! I am so young, and my life may still endure so
+long," said the Goualeuse, in a voice rent by agony, and falling at the
+curé's knees almost involuntarily.
+
+The priest was standing at the top of the hill, not far from where his
+"modest mansion rose;" his black cassock, his venerable countenance,
+shaded by long white locks, lighted by the last ray of twilight, stood
+out from the horizon, which was of a deep transparency,--a perfect
+clearness: pale gold in the west, sapphire over his head. The priest
+again elevated towards heaven one of his tremulous hands, and gave the
+other to Fleur-de-Marie, who bedewed it with her tears. The hood of her
+gray cloak fell at this moment from her shoulders, displaying the
+perfect outline of her lovely profile,--her charming features full of
+suffering, and suffused with tears.
+
+This simple and sublime scene offered a strange contrast,--a singular
+coincidence with the horrid one which, almost at the same moment, was
+passing in the ravine between the Schoolmaster and the Chouette.
+Concealed in the darkness of the sombre cleft, assailed by base fears, a
+fearful murderer, carrying on his person the punishment of his crimes,
+was also on his knees, but in the presence of an accessory, a sneering,
+revengeful Fury, who tormented him mercilessly, and urged him on to
+fresh crimes,--that accomplice, the first cause of Fleur-de-Marie's
+misery.
+
+Of Fleur-de-Marie, whose days and nights were embittered by never-dying
+remorse; whose anguish, hardly endurable, was not conceivable;
+surrounded from her earliest days by degraded, cruel, infamous outcasts
+of society; leaving the walls of a prison for the den of the
+ogress,--even a more horrid prison; never leaving the precincts of her
+gaol, or the squalid streets of the Cité; this unhappy young creature
+had hitherto lived in utter ignorance of the beautiful and the good, as
+strange to noble and religious sentiments as to the magnificent
+splendour of nature. Then all that was admirable in the creature and in
+the Creator was revealed in a moment to her astonished soul. At this
+striking spectacle her mind expanded, her intelligence unfolded itself,
+her noble instincts were awakened; and because her mind expanded,
+because her intelligence was unfolded, because her noble instincts were
+awakened, yet the very consciousness of her early degradation brings
+with it the feeling of horror for her past life, alike torturing and
+enduring,--she feels, as she had described, that, alas! there are stains
+which nothing can remove.
+
+"Ah, unhappiness for me!" said the Goualeuse, in despair; "my whole life
+has long to run, it may be; were it as long, as pure as your own,
+father, it must henceforth be blighted by the knowledge and
+consciousness of the past; unhappiness for me for ever!"
+
+"On the contrary, Marie, it is happiness for you,--yes, happiness for
+you. Your remorse, so full of bitterness, but so purifying, testifies
+the religious susceptibility of your mind. How many there are who, less
+nobly sensitive than you, would, in your place, have soon forgotten the
+fact, and only revelled in the delight of the present. Believe me, every
+pang that you now endure will tell in your favour when on high. God has
+left you for a moment in an unrighteous path, to reserve for you the
+glory of repentance and the everlasting reward reserved for expiation.
+Has he not said himself, 'Those who fight the good fight and come to me
+with a smile on their lips, they are my chosen; but they who, wounded in
+the struggle, come to me fainting and dying, they are the chosen amongst
+my chosen!' Courage, then, my child! Support, help, counsel,--nothing
+will fail you. I am very aged, but Madame Georges and M. Rodolph have
+still many years before them; particularly M. Rodolph, who has taken so
+deep an interest in you, who watches your progress with so much
+anxiety."
+
+[Illustration: "'_So I Have Brought Turk with Me_'"
+Original Etching by Adrian Marcel]
+
+The Goualeuse was about to reply, when she was interrupted by the
+peasant girl whom we have already mentioned, who, having followed in the
+steps of the curé and Marie, now came up to them. She was one of the
+peasants of the farm.
+
+"Beg your pardon, M. le Curé," she said to the priest, "but Madame
+Georges told me to bring this basket of fruit to the rectory, and then I
+could accompany Mlle. Marie back again, for it is getting late. So I
+have brought Turk with me," added the dairy-maid, patting an enormous
+dog of the Pyrenees, which would have mastered a bear in a struggle.
+"Although we never have any bad people about us here in the country, it
+is as well to be careful."
+
+"You are quite right, Claudine. Here we are now at the rectory. Pray
+thank Madame Georges for me."
+
+Then addressing the Goualeuse in a low tone, the curé said to her, in a
+grave voice:
+
+"I must go to-morrow to the conference of the diocese, but I shall
+return at five o'clock. If you like, my child, I will wait for you at
+the rectory. I see your state of mind, and that you require a lengthened
+conversation with me."
+
+"I thank you, father," replied Fleur-de-Marie. "To-morrow I will come,
+since you are so good as to allow me to do so."
+
+"Here we are at the garden gate," said the priest. "Leave your basket
+there, Claudine; my housekeeper will take it. Return quickly to the farm
+with Marie, for it is almost night, and the cold is increasing.
+To-morrow, Marie, at five o'clock."
+
+"To-morrow, father."
+
+The abbé went into his garden. The Goualeuse and Claudine, followed by
+Turk, took the road to the farm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE RENCOUNTER.
+
+
+The night set in clear and cold. Following the advice of the
+Schoolmaster, the Chouette had gone to that part of the hollow way which
+was the most remote from the path, and nearest to the cross-road where
+Barbillon was waiting with the hackney-coach. Tortillard, who was posted
+as an advanced guard, watched for the return of Fleur-de-Marie, whom he
+was desirous of drawing into the trap by begging her to come to the
+assistance of a poor old woman. The son of Bras Rouge had advanced a few
+steps out of the ravine to try and discern Marie, when he heard the
+Goualeuse some way off speaking to the peasant girl who accompanied her.
+The plan had failed; and Tortillard quickly went down into the ravine to
+run and inform the Chouette.
+
+"There is somebody with the young girl," said he, in a low and
+breathless tone.
+
+"May the hangman squeeze her weasand, the little beggar," exclaimed the
+Chouette in a rage.
+
+"Who's with her?" asked the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, no doubt, the country wench who passed along the road just now,
+followed by a large dog. I heard a woman's voice," said Tortillard.
+"Hark!--do you hear? There's the noise of their sabots," and, in the
+silence of the night, the wooden soles sounded clearly on the ground
+hardened by the frost.
+
+"There are two of 'em. I can manage the young 'un in the gray mantle,
+but what can we do with t'other? _Fourline_ can't see, and Tortillard
+is too weak to do for the companion--devil choke her! What can be done?"
+asked the Chouette.
+
+"I'm not strong, but, if you like, I'll cling to the legs of the
+country-woman with the dog. I'll hold on by hands and teeth, and not let
+her go, I can tell you. You can take away the little one in the
+meantime, you know, Chouette."
+
+"If they cry or resist, they will hear them at the farm," replied the
+Chouette, "and come to their assistance before we can reach Barbillon's
+coach. It is no easy thing to carry off a woman who resists."
+
+"And they have a large dog with them," said Tortillard.
+
+"Bah! bah! If it was only that, I could break the brute's skull with a
+blow of my shoe-heel," said the Chouette.
+
+"Here they are," replied Tortillard, who was listening still to the echo
+of their footsteps. "They are coming down the hollow now."
+
+"Why don't you speak, _fourline_?" said the Chouette to the
+Schoolmaster. "What is best to be done, long-headed as you are, eh? Are
+you grown dumb?"
+
+"There's nothing to be done to-day," replied the miscreant.
+
+"And the thousand 'bob' of the man in mourning," said the Chouette;
+"they are gone, then? I'd sooner--Your knife--your knife, _fourline_! I
+will stick the companion, that she may be no trouble to us; and, as to
+the young miss, Tortillard and I can make off with her."
+
+"But the man in mourning does not desire that we should kill any one."
+
+"Well, then, we must put the cold meat down as an extra in his bill. He
+must pay, for he will be an accomplice with us."
+
+"Here they come--down the hill," said Tortillard, softly.
+
+"Your knife, lad!" said the Chouette, in a similar tone.
+
+"Ah, Chouette," cried Tortillard, in alarm, and extending his hands to
+the hag, "that is too bad--to kill. No!--oh, no!"
+
+"Your knife, I tell you!" repeated the Chouette, in an undertone,
+without paying the least attention to Tortillard's supplication, and
+putting her shoes off hastily. "I have taken off my shoes," she added,
+"that I may steal on them quietly from behind. It is almost dark; but I
+can easily make out the little one by her cloak, and I will do for the
+other."
+
+"No," said the felon; "to-day it is useless. There will be plenty of
+time to-morrow."
+
+"What! you're afraid, old patterer, are you?" said the Chouette, with
+fierce contempt.
+
+"Not at all," replied the Schoolmaster. "But you may fail in your blow
+and spoil all."
+
+The dog which accompanied the country-woman, scenting the persons hidden
+in the hollow road, stopped short, and barked furiously, refusing to
+come to Fleur-de-Marie, who called him frequently.
+
+"Do you hear their dog? Here they are! Your knife!--or, if not--" cried
+the Chouette, with a threatening air.
+
+"Come and take it from me, then--by force," said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"It's all over--it's too late," added the Chouette, after listening for
+a moment attentively; "they have gone by. You shall pay for that,
+gallows-bird," added she, furiously, shaking her fist at her accomplice.
+"A thousand francs lost by your stupidity!"
+
+"A thousand--two thousand--perhaps three thousand gained," replied the
+Schoolmaster, in a tone of authority. "Listen, Chouette! Do you go back
+to Barbillon, and let him drive you to the place where you were to meet
+the man in mourning. Tell him that it was impossible to do anything
+to-day, but that to-morrow she shall be carried off. The young girl goes
+every evening to walk home with the priest, and it was only a chance
+which to-day led her to meet with any one. To-morrow we shall have a
+more secure opportunity. So to-morrow do you return and be with
+Barbillon at the cross-road in his coach at the same hour."
+
+"But thou--thou?"
+
+"Tortillard shall lead me to the farm where the young girl lives. I will
+cook up some tale--say we have lost our road, and ask leave to pass the
+night at the farm in a corner of the stable. No one could refuse us
+that. Tortillard will examine all the doors, windows, and ins and outs
+of the house. There is always money to be looked for amongst these
+farming people. You say the farm is situated in a lone spot; and, when
+once we know all the ways and outlets, we need only return with some
+safe friends, and the thing is done as easy--"
+
+"Always 'downy!' What a head-piece!" said the Chouette, softening. "Go
+on, _fourline_."
+
+"To-morrow morning, instead of leaving the farm, I will complain of a
+pain which prevents me from walking. If they will not believe me, I'll
+show them the wound which I have always had since I smashed the 'loop of
+my darbies,' and which is always painful to me. I'll say it is a burn I
+had from a red-hot bar when I was a workman, and they'll believe me.
+I'll remain at the farm part of the day, whilst Tortillard looks about
+him. When the evening comes on, and the little wench goes out as usual
+with the priest, I'll say I'm better, and fit to go away. Tortillard and
+I will follow the young wench at a distance, and await your coming to us
+here. As she will know us already, she will have no mistrust when she
+sees us. We will speak to her, Tortillard and I; and, when once within
+reach of my arms, I will answer for the rest. She's caught safe enough,
+and the thousand francs are ours. That is not all. In two or three days
+we can 'give the office' of the farm to Barbillon and some others, and
+share with them if they get any 'swag,' as it will be me who put them on
+the 'lay.'"
+
+"Well done, No-Eyes! No one can come up to you," said the Chouette,
+embracing the Schoolmaster. "Your plan is capital! Tell you what,
+_fourline_, when you are done up and old, you must turn consulting
+'prig'; you will earn as much money as a 'big-wig.' Come, kiss your old
+woman, and be off as quick as you may, for these joskins go to sleep
+with their poultry. I shall go to Barbillon; and to-morrow, at four
+o'clock, we will be at the cross-road with the 'trap,' unless he is
+nabbed for having assisted Gros-Boiteux and the Skeleton to 'do for' the
+milk-woman's husband in the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie. But if he can't
+come, another can, for the pretended hackney-coach belongs to the man in
+mourning who has used it before. A quarter of an hour after we get to
+the cross-road, I will be here and wait for you."
+
+"All right! Good-by till to-morrow, Chouette."
+
+"I had nearly forgot to give the wax to Tortillard, if there is any lock
+to get the print of at the farm. Here, chickabiddy, do you know how to
+use it?" said the one-eyed wretch to Tortillard, as she gave him a piece
+of wax.
+
+"Yes, yes, my father showed me how to use it. I took for him the print
+of the lock of the little iron chest which my master, the quack doctor,
+keeps in his small closet."
+
+"Ah, that's all right; and, that the wax may not stick, do not forget to
+moisten the wax after you have warmed it well in your hand."
+
+"I know all about it," replied Tortillard.
+
+"To-morrow, them, _fourline_," said the Chouette.
+
+"To-morrow," replied the Schoolmaster.
+
+The Chouette went towards the coach. The Schoolmaster and Tortillard
+quitted the hollow way, and bent their steps towards the farm, the
+lights which shone from the windows serving to guide them on their way.
+
+Strange fatality, which again brought Anselm Duresnel under the same
+roof with his wife, who had not seen him since his condemnation to hard
+labour for life!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE FARM.
+
+
+Perhaps a more gratifying sight does not exist than the interior of a
+large farm-kitchen prepared for the evening meal, especially during the
+winter season. Its bright wood fire, the long table covered with the
+savoury, smoking dishes, the huge tankards of foaming beer or cider,
+with the happy countenances scattered round, speak of peaceful labour
+and healthful industry. The farm-kitchen of Bouqueval was a fine
+exemplification of this remark. Its immense open chimney, about six feet
+high and eight feet wide, resembled the yawning mouth of some huge oven.
+On the hearth blazed and sparkled enormous logs of beech or oak; and
+from this prodigious brazier there issued forth such a body of light, as
+well as heat, that the large lamp suspended from the centre beam sunk
+into insignificance, and was rendered nearly useless. Every variety of
+culinary utensils, sparkling in all the brightness of the most elaborate
+cleanliness, and composed invariably of copper, brass, and tin, glowed
+in the bright radiance of the winter fire, as they stood ranged with the
+utmost nicety and effect on their appropriate shelves. An old-fashioned
+cistern of elaborately polished copper showed its bright face, polished
+as a mirror; and close beside stood a highly polished bread-trough and
+cover, composed of walnut-tree wood, rubbed by the hand of housewifery
+till you could see your face in it and from which issued a most tempting
+smell of hot bread. A long and substantial table occupied the centre of
+the kitchen; a tablecloth, which, though coarse in texture, vied with
+the falling snow for whiteness, covered its entire length; while for
+each expected guest was placed an earthenware plate, brown without, but
+white within, and by its side a knife, fork, and spoon, lustrous as
+silver itself. In the midst of the table, an immense tureen of vegetable
+soup smoked like the crater of a volcano, and diffused its savoury
+vapours over a dish of ham and greens, flanked by a most formidable
+array of mutton, most relishly stewed with onions and potatoes. Below
+was placed a large joint of roast veal, followed by two great plates of
+winter salad, supported by a couple of baskets of apples; and a similar
+number of cheeses completed the arrangements of the table. Three or four
+stone pitchers filled with sparkling cider, and a like quantity of
+loaves of brown bread, equal in size to the stones of a windmill, were
+placed at the discretionary use of the supping party.
+
+An old, shaggy, black shepherd dog, almost toothless, the superannuated
+patriarch of all the canine tribe employed on the farm, was, by reason
+of his great age and long services, indulged with permission to enjoy
+the cheering warmth of the chimney-corner; but, using his privilege with
+the utmost modesty and discretion, this venerable servitor, who answered
+to the pastoral name of Lysander, lay quietly stretched out in a secure
+side-nook, his nose resting on his paws, watching with the deepest
+attention the various culinary preparations which preceded the supper.
+
+The bill of fare thus presented to the reader, as the ordinary mode of
+living at the farm of Bouqueval, may strike some of our readers as
+unnecessarily sumptuous; but Madame Georges, faithfully following out
+the wishes of Rodolph, endeavoured by all possible means to improve the
+comforts of the labourers on the farm, who were always selected as being
+the most worthy and industrious individuals of their district. They
+were well paid, liberally treated, and so kindly used that to be
+engaged on the Bouqueval farm was the highest ambition of all the best
+labourers in that part of the country--an ambition which most
+essentially promoted the welfare and advantage of the masters they then
+served; for no applicant for employment at Bouqueval could obtain a
+favourable hearing, unless he came provided with most satisfactory
+testimonials from his last employer.
+
+Thus, though on a very small scale, had Rodolph created a species of
+model farm, which had for its aim not only the improvement of animals
+and agricultural operations, but, above all, improving the nature of man
+himself; and this he effected by making it worth their while to be
+active, honest, and intelligent.
+
+After having completed all the preparations for supper, and placed on
+the table a jug of wine to accompany the dessert, the farm-cook sounded
+the welcome tocsin, which told all that the cheering meal was prepared,
+and, their evening toil concluded, they might freely enjoy the delights
+of wholesome and temperate refreshment. Ere the sound had ceased to
+vibrate on the ear, a merry, joyous throng, composed of men and maidens
+to the number of twelve or fifteen, crowded around the table; the men
+had open, manly countenances, the women looked healthy and
+good-humoured, while the young girls belonging to the party wore the
+brightest glow of youth and innocence. Every face was lighted up with
+frank gaiety, content, and the satisfaction arising from the
+consciousness of having well fulfilled one's duty. Thus happily prepared
+in mind and body to do justice to the excellent fare set before them,
+the happy party took their appointed places at table.
+
+The upper end was occupied by an old, white-haired labourer, whose fine,
+bold, yet sensible expression of face, bespoke him a descendant of the
+ancient Gaulish mothers of the soil.
+
+Father Châtelain (for so was this Nestor called) had worked on the farm
+from his early childhood. When Rodolph purchased the farm, the old
+servant had been strongly recommended to him, and he was forthwith
+raised to the rank of overlooker, and, under the orders of Madame
+Georges, general superintendent of all outdoor work; and unbounded,
+indeed, was the influence possessed by Father Châtelain by virtue of his
+age, his knowledge, and experience.
+
+Every one having taken their seat, Father Châtelain, having fervently
+invoked a blessing, then, in pursuance of an ancient and pious custom,
+marked one of the loaves with the figure of a cross, and cut off a large
+slice as the share of the Virgin or the poor, then, pouring out a glass
+of wine with a similar consecration to charitable purposes, he
+reverently placed both bread and wine on a plate placed in the centre of
+the table purposely to receive them. At this moment the yard dogs barked
+furiously; old Lysander replied by a low growl, and, curling back his
+upper lip, displayed two or three still formidable fangs.
+
+"Some person is passing near the wall of the courtyard," observed Father
+Châtelain.
+
+Scarcely had the words been uttered, than the bell of the great gate
+sounded.
+
+"Who can this possibly be at so late an hour?" said the old labourer;
+"every one belonging to the place is in. Go and see who it is, Jean
+René."
+
+The individual thus addressed was a stout, able-bodied young labourer on
+the farm, who was then busily employed blowing his scalding hot soup,
+with a force of lungs that Æolus himself might have envied; but, used to
+prompt obedience, in a moment the half-raised spoon was deposited in its
+place, and, half stifling a sigh of regret, he departed on his errand.
+
+"This is the first time our good Madame Georges and Mlle. Marie have
+failed paying a visit to the warm chimney-corner, and looking on whilst
+we took our supper, for this long time," said Father Châtelain. "I am
+hungry as a hunter, but I shall not relish my supper half so well."
+
+"Madame Georges is in the chamber of Mlle. Marie, who found herself
+somewhat indisposed on her return from escorting M. le Curé to the
+rectory," replied Claudine, the girl who had conducted La Goualeuse back
+from the rectory, and thus unconsciously frustrated the evil designs of
+the Chouette.
+
+"I trust Mlle. Marie is only indisposed, not seriously ill, is she,
+Claudine?" inquired the old man, with almost paternal anxiety.
+
+"Oh, dear, no, Father Châtelain! God forbid! I hope and believe our dear
+mademoiselle is only just a little struck with the cold of the night,
+and her walk perhaps fatigued her. I trust she will be quite well by
+to-morrow; indeed Madame Georges told me as much, and said that, if she
+had had any fears, she should have sent to Paris for M. David, the negro
+doctor, who took such care of mademoiselle when she was so ill. Well, I
+cannot make out how any one can endure a black doctor! For my part I
+should not have the slightest confidence in anything he said or did. No,
+no! if one must have a doctor, let it be a Christian man with a white
+skin; but a downright blackamoor! O saints above! why, the very sight of
+him by my bedside would kill me!"
+
+"But did not this Monsieur David cure Mlle. Marie from the long illness
+with which she suffered when she first came here?" inquired the old man.
+
+"Yes, Father Châtelain, he certainly did."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Ah! but for all that, Father Châtelain, a doctor with a black face is
+enough to terrify any one--I should scream myself into fits if he were
+to come rolling up the great whites of his eyes at me."
+
+"But is not this M. David the same person who cured Dame Anica of that
+dreadful wound in her leg, which had confined her to her bed for upwards
+of three years?"
+
+"Yes, exactly so, Father Châtelain; he certainly did set old Dame Anica
+up again."
+
+"Well, then, my child?"
+
+"Nay, but only think!--a black man! and when one is ill, too! when one
+can so ill bear up against such horrid things. If he were only a little
+dark, or even deep brown, but quite, quite a black--all black--oh,
+Father Châtelain, I really cannot bring myself to think of it!"
+
+"Tell me, my child, what colour is your favourite heifer Musette?"
+
+"Oh, white--white as a swan, Father Châtelain; and such a milcher! I can
+say that for the poor thing without the least falsehood, a better cow we
+have not got on the farm."
+
+"And your other favourite, Rosette?"
+
+"Rosette? Oh, she is as black as a raven, not one white hair about her I
+should say; and, indeed, to do her justice, she is a first-rate milcher
+also. I hardly know which is the best, she or my pretty Musette."
+
+"And what coloured milk does she give?"
+
+"Why, white, of course, Father Châtelain; I really thought you knew
+that."
+
+"Is her milk as white and as good as the milk of your snowy pet,
+Musette?"
+
+"Every bit as good in colour and quality."
+
+"Although Rosette is a black cow?"
+
+"To be sure! why, Father Châtelain, what difference can it possibly make
+to the milk whether the cow that gives it is black, white, red, or
+brown?"
+
+"How, then, my good girl, can it in any way signify whether a doctor has
+a black or white skin, or what his complexion may be?"
+
+"Well," answered Claudine, fairly hunted into a corner from which no
+argument could rescue her,--"well, as regards what makes a black doctor
+not so good as a white one, it is--it is, because a black skin is so
+very ugly to look at, and a white one is so much more agreeable to one's
+eyes; I'm sure I can't think of any other reason, Father Châtelain, if I
+try for ever; but with cows the colour of the skin makes not the very
+least difference, of that you may be assured; but, then, you know
+there's a deal of difference between a cow and a man."
+
+These not very clear physiognomical reflections of Claudine, touching
+the effect of light or dark skins in the human and animal race, were
+interrupted by the return of Jean René, blowing his fingers with
+animation as he had before blown his soup.
+
+"Oh, how cold! how cold it is this night!" exclaimed he, on entering;
+"it is enough to freeze one to death; it is a pretty deal more snug and
+comfortable in-doors than out this bitter night. Oh, how cold it is!"
+
+"Why,--
+
+      'The frost that cometh from North and East
+       Biteth the most and ceaseth the least.'
+
+Don't you know that, my lad?" said the old superintendent Châtelain.
+"But who was it that rang so late?"
+
+"A poor blind man and a boy who leads him about, Father Châtelain."
+
+"And what does this poor blind man want?" inquired Châtelain.
+
+"The poor man and his son were going by the cross-road to Louvres, and
+have lost themselves in the snow; and as the cold is enough to turn a
+man into an icicle, and the night is pitch dark, the poor blind father
+has come to entreat permission for himself and lad to pass the night on
+the farm; he says he shall be for ever thankful for leave to lie on a
+little straw under a hovel, or in any out-building."
+
+"Oh, as for that, I am quite sure that Madame Georges, who never refuses
+charity to any unfortunate being, will willingly permit them to do so;
+but we must first acquaint her with it; go, Claudine, and tell her the
+whole story." Claudine disappeared.
+
+"And where is this poor man waiting?" asked Father Châtelain.
+
+"In the little barn just by."
+
+"But why in the barn? why put him there?"
+
+"Bless you, if I had left him in the yard, the dogs would have eaten him
+up alive! Why, Father Châtelain, it was no use for me to call out
+'Quiet, Médor! come here, Turk! down, Sultan!' I never saw dogs in such
+a fury. And, besides, we don't use our dogs on the farm to fly at poor
+folks, as they are trained to do at other places."
+
+"Well, my lads, it seems that the 'share for the poor' has not been laid
+aside in vain to-night. But try and sit a little closer; there, that'll
+do; now put two more plates and knives and forks for this blind
+traveller and his boy, for I feel quite certain what Madame Georges's
+answer will be, and that she will desire them to be housed here for the
+night."
+
+"It is really a thing I can't make out," said Jean René, "about the dogs
+being so very violent, especially Turk, who went with Claudine this
+evening to the rectory. Why, when I stroked him, to try and pacify him,
+I felt his coat standing up on end like so many bristles of a porcupine.
+Now, what do you say to that, eh, Father Châtelain--you who know almost
+everything?"
+
+"Why, my lad, I, 'who know everything,' say just this, that the beasts
+know far more than I do, and can see farther. I remember, in the autumn,
+when the heavy rains had so swollen the little river, I was returning
+with my team-horses one dark night--I was riding upon Cuckoo, the old
+roan horse, and deuce take me if I could make out any spot it would be
+safe to wade through, for the night was as dark as the mouth of a pit.
+Well, I threw the bridle on old Cuckoo's back, and he soon found what,
+I'll answer for it, none of us could have discovered. Now, who taught
+the dumb brute to know the safe from the unsafe parts of the stream, let
+me ask you?"
+
+"Ay, Father Châtelain, that's what I was waiting to ask you. Who taught
+the old roan to discover danger and escape from it so cleverly?"
+
+"The same Almighty wisdom which instructs the swallow to build in our
+chimneys, and guides the marten to make his nest among the reeds of our
+banks, my lad. Well, Claudine," said the ancient oracle of the kitchen
+to the blooming dairymaid, who just then entered, bearing on her arms
+two pairs of snowy white sheets, from which an odoriferous smell of sage
+and thyme was wafted along,--"well, I make no doubt but Madame Georges
+has sent permission for these poor creatures, the blind man and his
+child, to sleep here, has she not?"
+
+"These sheets are to prepare beds for them, in the little room at the
+end of the passage," said Claudine.
+
+"Go and bid them come in, then, Jean René; and you, Claudine, my good
+girl, put a couple of chairs near the fire--they will be glad of a good
+warm before sitting down to table."
+
+The furious barking of the dogs was now renewed, mingled with the voice
+of Jean René, who was endeavoring to pacify them; the door of the
+kitchen was abruptly opened, and the Schoolmaster and Tortillard entered
+with as much precipitation as though they feared a pursuit from some
+dangerous foe.
+
+"For the love of heaven, keep off your dogs!" cried the Schoolmaster, in
+the utmost terror; "they have been trying to bite us!"
+
+"They have torn a great bit out of my blouse," whined Tortillard,
+shivering with cold and pale with fear.
+
+"Don't be frightened, good man," said Jean René, shutting the door
+securely; "but I never before saw our dogs in such a perfect fury--it
+must be the cold makes them so spiteful; perhaps, being half frozen,
+they fancied biting you would serve to warm them--there is no knowing
+what mere animals may mean by what they do."
+
+"Why, are you going to begin, too?" exclaimed the old farmer, as
+Lysander, who had hitherto lain perfectly happy in the radiance of the
+glowing fire, started up, and, growling fiercely, was about to fly at
+the strangers. "This old dog is quiet enough, but, having heard the
+other dogs make such a furious noise, he thinks he must do the same.
+Will you lie down and be quiet, you old brute? Do you hear, sir? lie
+down!"
+
+At these words from Father Châtelain, accompanied by a significant
+motion of the foot, Lysander, with a low, deep growl of dissatisfaction,
+slowly returned to his favourite corner by the hearth, while the
+Schoolmaster and Tortillard remained trembling by the kitchen-door, as
+though fearful of approaching farther. The features of the ruffian were
+so hideous, from the frightful effects produced by the cold, that some
+of the servants in the kitchen shuddered with alarm, while others
+recoiled in disgust; this impression was not lost on Tortillard, who
+felt reassured by the terrors of the villagers, and even felt proud of
+the repulsiveness of his companion. This first confusion over, Father
+Châtelain, thinking only of worthily discharging the duties of
+hospitality, said to the Schoolmaster:
+
+"Come, my good friend--come near the fire and warm yourself thoroughly,
+and then you shall have some supper with us; for you happened to come
+very fortunately, just as we were sitting down to table. Here, sit down,
+just where I have placed your chair. But what am I thinking about?"
+added the worthy old labourer. "I ought to have spoken to your son, not
+you, seeing that it has pleased God to take away your eyesight--a heavy
+loss, a heavy loss; but let us hope all for your good, my friend, though
+you may not now think so. Here, my boy, lead your father to that snug
+place in the chimney-corner."
+
+"Yes, kind sir," drawled out Tortillard, with a nasal twang and canting,
+hypocritical tone; "may God bless you for your charity to the poor
+blind! Here, father, take my arm; lean on my shoulder, father; take
+care, take care, gently;" and, with affected zeal and tenderness, the
+urchin guided the steps of the brigand till they reached the indicated
+spot. As the pair approached Lysander, he uttered a low, growling noise;
+but as the Schoolmaster brushed past him, and the sagacious animal had
+full scent of his garments, he broke out into one of those deep howls
+with which, it is asserted by the superstitious, dogs frequently
+announce an approaching death.
+
+"What, in the devil's name, do all these cursed animals mean by their
+confounded noise?" said the Schoolmaster to himself. "Can they smell the
+blood on my clothes, I wonder? for I now recollect I wore the trousers I
+have on at present the night the cattle-dealer was murdered."
+
+"Did you notice that?" inquired Jean René of Father Châtelain. "Why, I
+vow that, as often as old Lysander had caught scent of the wandering
+stranger, he actually set up a regular death-howl."
+
+And this remark was followed up by a most singular confirmation of the
+fact; the cries of Lysander were so loud and mournful that the other
+dogs caught the sound (for the farmyard was only separated from the
+kitchen by a glazed window in the latter), and, according to the custom
+of the canine race, they each strove who should outdo the other in
+repeating and prolonging the funereal wail, which, according to vulgar
+belief, always foretells death. Though but little given to superstitious
+dread, the farm-people looked from one to another with a feeling of
+wonder not unmixed with awe. Even the Schoolmaster himself, diabolically
+hardened as he was, felt a cold shudder steal over him at the thought
+that all these fatal sounds burst forth upon the approach of him--the
+self-convicted murderer! while Tortillard, too audacious and hardened to
+enter into such alarms, with all the infidelity in which he had been
+trained, even from his mother's arms, looked on with delighted mockery
+at the universal panic, and was, perhaps, the only person present devoid
+of an uneasy feeling; but, once freed from his apprehensions of
+suffering from the violence of the animals, he listened even with
+pleasure to the horrible discord of their long-drawn-out wailings, and
+felt almost tempted to pardon them the fright they had originally
+occasioned him, in consideration of the perfect terror they had struck
+into the inhabitants of the farm, and for the gratification he derived
+from the convulsive horror of the Schoolmaster. But after the momentary
+stupor had passed away Jean René again quitted the kitchen, and the loud
+cracking of his whip soon put an end to the prophetic howlings of Médor,
+Turk, and Sultan, and quickly dispersed them to their separate kennels,
+and as the noise ceased, the gloomy cloud passed away from the kitchen,
+and the peasants looked up with the same honest cheerfulness they had
+worn upon the entrance of the two travellers. Ere long they had left off
+wondering at the repulsive ugliness of the Schoolmaster, and only
+thought with pity of his great affliction, in being blind; they
+commiserated the lameness of the poor boy, admired the interesting
+sharpness of his countenance, the deep, cute glance of his ever-moving
+eye, and, above all, loaded him with praises for the extreme care and
+watchfulness with which he attended to his afflicted parent. The
+appetite of the labourers, which had been momentarily forgotten, now
+returned with redoubled violence, and for a time nothing could be heard
+but the clattering of plates and rattling of knives and forks. Still,
+however busily employed with their suppers, the servants assembled round
+the table, both male and female, could not but remark, with infinite
+pleasure, the tender assiduity of the lad towards the blind creature who
+sat beside him. Nothing could exceed the devoted affection and filial
+care with which Tortillard prepared his meat for him, cutting both that
+and his bread with most accurate nicety, pouring out his drink, and
+never attempting even to taste a morsel himself, till his father
+expressed himself as having completed his supper. But, for all this
+dutiful attention, the young ruffian took ample and bitter revenge.
+Instigated as much by an innate spirit of cruelty as the desire of
+imitation natural to his age, Tortillard found an equal enjoyment with
+the Chouette in having something to torment (_a bête de souffrance_);
+and it was a matter of inexpressible exultation to his wretched mind
+that he, a poor, distorted, crippled, abject creature, should have it in
+his power to tyrannise over so powerful and ferocious a creature as the
+Schoolmaster,--it was like torturing a muzzled tiger. He even refined
+his gratification, by compelling his victim to endure all the agonies he
+inflicted, without wincing or exhibiting the slightest external sign of
+his suffering. Thus he accompanied each outward mark of devoted
+tenderness towards his supposed parent, by aiming a severe kick against
+the Schoolmaster's legs, on one of which there was (in common with many
+who had long worked in the galleys) a deep and severe wound, the effect
+of the heavy iron chain worn during the term of punishment around the
+right leg; and, by way of compelling the miserable sufferer to exercise
+a greater degree of stoical courage, the urchin always seized the moment
+when the object of his malice was either drinking or speaking.
+
+"Here, dear father! here is a nice peeled nut," said Tortillard, placing
+on the plate of his supposed parent a nut carefully prepared.
+
+"Good boy," said old Châtelain, smiling kindly at him. Then, addressing
+the bandit, he added: "However great may be your affliction, my friend,
+so good a son is almost sufficient to make up even for the loss of
+sight; but Providence is so gracious, he never takes away one blessing
+without sending another."
+
+"You are quite right, kind sir! My lot is a very hard one, and, but for
+the noble conduct of my excellent child, I--"
+
+A sharp cry of irrepressible anguish here broke from the quivering lips
+of the tortured man; the son of Bras Rouge had this time aimed his blow
+so effectually, that the point of his heavy-nailed shoe had reached the
+very centre of the wound, and produced unendurable agony.
+
+"Father! dear father! what is the matter?" exclaimed Tortillard, in a
+whimpering voice; then, suddenly rising, he threw both his arms round
+the Schoolmaster's neck, whose first impulse of rage and pain was to
+stifle the limping varlet in his Herculean grasp; and so powerfully did
+he compress the boy's chest against his own, that his impeded
+respiration vented itself in a low moaning sound. A few minutes, and
+Tortillard's last prank would have been played; but, reflecting that the
+lad was for the present indispensable to the furtherance of the schemes
+he had on hand, the Schoolmaster, by a violent effort, controlled his
+desire to annihilate his tormentor, and contented himself with pushing
+him off his shoulders back into his own chair. The sympathising group
+around the table were far from seeing through all this, and merely
+considered these close embraces as an interchange of paternal and filial
+tenderness, while the half suffocation and deadly pallor of Tortillard
+they attributed to emotion caused by the sudden illness of his beloved
+father.
+
+"What ailed you just now, my good man?" inquired Father Châtelain; "only
+see, you have quite frightened your poor boy. Why, he looks pale as
+death, and can scarcely breathe. Come, my little man; you must not take
+on so--your father is all right again."
+
+"I beg your pardon, gentlemen all," replied the Schoolmaster,
+controlling himself with much difficulty, for the pain he was still
+enduring was most excruciating. "I am better now. I'll tell you, with
+your kind leaves, all about it. You see I am by trade a working
+locksmith, and, one day that I was employed in beating out a huge bar of
+red hot iron, it fell over on my two legs, and burnt them so dreadfully
+that it has never healed; unfortunately, just now, I happened to strike
+the leg that is worst against the table, and the sudden agony it
+occasioned me drew forth the sudden cry which so much disturbed all this
+good company, and for which I humbly beg pardon."
+
+"Poor dear father!" whined out Tortillard, casting a look of fiendish
+malice at the shivering Schoolmaster, and wholly recovered from his late
+attack of excessive emotion. "Poor father! you have indeed got a bad leg
+nobody can cure. Ah, kind gentlemen, I hope you will never have such a
+shocking wound, and be obliged to hear all the doctors say it never will
+get well. No! never--never. Oh, my dear, dear father! how I wish I could
+but suffer the pain instead of you!"
+
+At this tender, moving speech, the females present expressed the utmost
+admiration for the dutiful speaker, and began feeling in their vast
+pockets for some more substantial mark of their regard.
+
+"It is unlucky, my honest friend," said old Châtelain, addressing the
+Schoolmaster, "you had not happened to come to this farm about three
+weeks ago, instead of to-night."
+
+"And why so, if you please?"
+
+"Because we had staying for a few days in the house a celebrated Paris
+doctor, who has an infallible remedy for all diseases of the legs. A
+worthy old woman, belonging to our village, had been confined to her
+bed upwards of three years with some affection of the legs. Well, this
+doctor, being here, as I said, heard of the case, applied an unguent to
+the wounds, and now, bless you, she is as surefooted, ay, and as swift,
+too, as any of our young girls; and the first holiday she makes she
+intends walking to the house of her benefactor, in the Allée des Veuves,
+at Paris, to return her grateful thanks. To be sure it is a good step
+from hence, but then, as Mother Anica says--Why, what has come over you
+again, my friend? Is your leg still so painful?"
+
+The mention of the Allée des Veuves had recalled such frightful
+recollections to the Schoolmaster, that, involuntarily, a cold shudder
+shook his frame, while a fearful spasm, by contracting his ghastly
+countenance, made it appear still more hideous.
+
+"Yes," replied he, trying to conceal his emotion, "a sudden darting pain
+seized me, and--Pray excuse my interrupting your kind and sensible
+discourse, and be pleased to proceed."
+
+"It really is a great pity," resumed the old labourer, "that this
+excellent doctor should not be with us at present; but I tell you what,
+he is as good as he is skilful, and I am quite sure if you let your
+little lad conduct you to his house when you return to Paris, that he
+will cure you. His address is not difficult to recollect, it is 17 Allée
+des Veuves. Even should you forget the number, it will not matter, for
+there are but very few doctors in the neighbourhood, and no other negro
+surgeon,--for, only imagine, this clever, kind, and charitable man is a
+black, but his heart is white and good. His name is David,--Doctor
+David,--you will be able to remember that name, I dare say."
+
+The features of the Schoolmaster were so seamed and scarred that it was
+difficult to perceive when his colour varied. He did, however, on the
+present occasion, turn ghastly pale as he first heard the exact number
+mentioned of Rodolph's house, and afterwards the description of the
+black doctor,--of David, the negro surgeon, who, by Rodolph's orders,
+had inflicted on him the fearful punishment, the terrible results of
+which were each hour more painfully developed. Father Châtelain,
+however, was too much interested in his subject to notice the deadly
+paleness of the Schoolmaster, and proceeded with his discourse:
+
+"When you leave us, my poor fellow, we will be sure to write his address
+on a slip of paper and give it to your son, for I know that, besides
+putting you in a certain way to be cured of your painful wound, it would
+be gratifying to M. David to be able to relieve your sufferings. Oh, he
+is so good,--never so happy as when he has rendered any person a
+service. I wish he had not always that mournful and dejected look. I
+fear he has some heavy care near his heart; and he is so good, so full
+of pity for all who suffer. Well, well, Providence will bless him in
+another world; but come, friend, let us drink to the health and
+happiness of your future benefactor,--here take this mug."
+
+"No, thank you!" returned the Schoolmaster, with a gloomy air; "none for
+me. I--I am not thirsty, and I never drink unless I am."
+
+"Nay, friend, but this is good old wine I have poured out for you; not
+cider," said the labourer. "Many tradespeople do not drink as good.
+Bless your heart, this farm is not conducted as other farms are,--what
+do you think of our style of living, by the by? have you relished your
+supper?"
+
+"All very good," responded the Schoolmaster mechanically, more and more
+absorbed in the painfulness of his ideas.
+
+"Well, then, as we live one day, so we do another. We work well, we live
+well, we have a good conscience, and an equally good bed to rest upon
+after the labours of the day. Our lives roll on in peace and
+contentment. There are seven labourers constantly employed on the farm,
+who are paid almost double wages to what others get; but then I can
+venture to assert, that if we are paid double, we do as much work among
+us as fourteen ordinary labourers would do. The mere husbandry servants
+have one hundred and fifty crowns a year, the dairy-women and other
+females engaged about the place sixty crowns, and a tenth share of the
+produce of the farm is divided among us all. You may suppose we do not
+idle away much time, or fail to make hay while the sun shines, for
+Nature is a bountiful mother, and ever returns a hundredfold to those
+who assiduously seek her favour; the more we give her, the more she
+returns."
+
+"Your master cannot get very rich if he treats you and pays you thus
+liberally," said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, our master is different to all others, and has a mode of repaying
+himself peculiarly his own."
+
+"From what you say," answered the blind man, hoping by engaging in
+conversation to escape from the gloominess of his own thoughts, "your
+master must be a very extraordinary person."
+
+"Indeed he is, my good man, a most uncommon master to meet with. Now, as
+chance has brought you among us, and a strange though a lucky chance for
+you it has proved, lying out of the highroad as this village does, it is
+so very seldom any stranger ever finds it out. Well, I was going to say,
+here you are, and no fault to find with your quarters, is there? Now, in
+all human probability, when you turn your back upon the place you will
+never return to it, but you shall not depart without hearing from me a
+description of our master and all he has done for the farm, upon
+condition that you promise to repeat it again wherever you go, and to
+whomsoever you may meet with. You will see, I mean, I beg pardon, you
+will then be able to understand."
+
+"I listen to you," answered the Schoolmaster; "proceed."
+
+"And I can promise you you will not be throwing away your time by
+listening," replied the venerable Châtelain. "Now, one day our master
+thought all at once: 'Here am I, rich enough to eat two dinners a day if
+I liked, but I don't. Now, suppose I were to provide a meal for those
+who have none at all, and enable such as can hardly procure half a
+dinner to enjoy as much good food as they desired, would not that be
+better than over-indulging myself? So it shall be,' says he, and away he
+goes to work, and, first thing, he buys this farm, which was not much of
+a concern then, and scarcely kept a couple of ploughs at work; and,
+being born and bred on the place, I ought to know something about it.
+Next, master made considerable additions to the farm. I'll tell you all
+about that by and by. At the head of the farm he placed a most worthy
+and respectable female, who had known a great deal of trouble in her
+past life--master always chose out people for their goodness and their
+misfortunes--and, when he brought the person I am telling you of here,
+he said to her in my hearing, 'I wish this place to be like the Temple
+of our great Maker, open to the deserving and the afflicted, but closed
+against the wicked and hardened reprobate.' So idle beggars are always
+turned from the gate; but those who are able and willing to work have
+always the opportunity set before them: the charity of labour, our
+master says, is no humiliation to him who receives it, but a favour and
+service conferred on the person whose labour is thus done; and the rich
+man who does not act upon this principle but ill employs his wealth. So
+said our master. But he did more than talk--he acted. There was formerly
+a road from here to Ecouen, which cut off a good mile of distance, but,
+Lord love you! it was one great rutty bog, impossible to get up or down
+it; it was the death of every horse, and certain destruction to every
+vehicle that attempted to pass through it. A little labour, and a
+trifling amount of money from each farmer in the adjoining country
+would soon have repaired the road; but they never could be brought to
+any unanimity on the subject, and, in proportion as one farmer would be
+anxious to contribute towards putting the road in order, the others
+would invariably decline sending either men or money to assist. So our
+master, perceiving all this, said, 'The road shall be repaired; but as
+those who can afford to contribute will not, and as it is more for
+convenience and accommodation to the rich than necessity for the poor,
+it shall first become useful to those who would work if they could get
+it to do, who have heart, and hands, and courage, but no employ. Well,
+this road shall be reserved as a constant occupation for persons of this
+description. Horsemen and carriages belonging to the rich and affluent,
+who care not how roads are repaired, so that they can travel at their
+ease, may go round by the farther side.' So, for example, whenever a
+strong, sturdy fellow presented himself at the farm, pleading hunger and
+want of work, I'd say to him, 'Here, my lad; here is a basin of warm
+nourishing soup--take it and welcome; then, if you wish for work, here
+is a pickaxe and spade; one of our people will show you the Ecouen road;
+make every day twelve feet of it good, by spreading and breaking the
+flints; and every evening, after your work is examined, you shall
+receive at the rate of forty sous for the quantity named; twenty sous
+for half as much; ten sous for a quarter; for less than that, nothing at
+all.' Then, towards evening, upon my return from labour, I used to go on
+the road, measure their work, and examine whether it was well done."
+
+"And only to think," interposed Jean René, in a fit of virtuous
+indignation, "only think, now, of there coming two heartless vagabonds,
+who drank their soup and walked off with the pickaxe and shovel. It is
+enough to sicken one of doing good or trying to benefit one's fellow
+creatures."
+
+"Quite right, Master René," exclaimed the other labourers; "so it is."
+
+"Come, come, lads," resumed Father Châtelain, "don't be too warm. Just
+see here. We might as well say it is useless to plant trees, or sow
+grain, because there are caterpillars, weevils, and other injurious
+insects that gnaw the leaves or devour the seeds put in the ground. No,
+no! we destroy the vermin. But God Almighty, who is no niggard, causes
+fresh buds to burst forth and new ears of corn to sprout; the damage is
+abundantly repaired, and no trace remains of the mischievous insects
+which have passed over our work. Am I not right, my friend?" said the
+old labourer, addressing the Schoolmaster.
+
+"No doubt--no doubt," replied the latter, who had appeared for some time
+past lost in a train of serious meditation.
+
+"Then, as for women and children, there is plenty of occupation for them
+also, according to their age and strength," added Father Châtelain.
+
+"Yet, spite of all this," observed Claudine, joining in the
+conversation, "the road gets on but very slowly."
+
+"Which only goes to prove, my good girl, that in this part of the
+country there is happily no scarcity of employment for the honest and
+industrious labourer."
+
+"But now, as in the case of a poor, helpless, afflicted creature such as
+I am," said the Schoolmaster, hastily, "would not the worthy owner of
+the farm grant me a humble corner in it for charity's sake--a shelter
+and a morsel of bread for the little while I have to remain a burden to
+any one in this troublesome world? Oh, my worthy sir, could I but obtain
+such a boon I would pass the remainder of my days in praying for a
+blessing on my benefactor."
+
+And these words were really pronounced in entire sincerity of meaning;
+not that compunction for his many crimes touched the brigand's stony
+heart, but he contrasted the happy peacefulness of the lives of these
+labourers to his own wretched, stormy existence; and still further did
+he envy them when he reflected upon all that the Chouette might have in
+store for him; he shuddered as he reflected upon the future she would
+provide for him, and more than ever regretted, by having recalled his
+old accomplice, having for ever lost the means of dwelling with good and
+honest persons, such as those with whom the Chourineur had placed him.
+Father Châtelain surveyed the Schoolmaster with an air of surprise.
+
+"My good man," said he, "I did not know you were so utterly destitute."
+
+"Alas! yes, it is even so. I lost my sight by an accident while working
+at my trade. I am going to Louvres to endeavour to find a distant
+relation there, who, I hope, may be willing to assist me. But, you are
+aware, people are not always so open-hearted as they should be; they do
+not like distressed objects, such as myself, coming to claim kindred,
+and are frequently harsh and unkind," answered the Schoolmaster, sighing
+deeply.
+
+"But the most selfish heart would grieve at your distress," replied the
+old labourer. "The most hard-hearted relative would pity a man like
+you--a good and honest workman overtaken by a sudden calamity, and left
+without hope or help. Then the moving spectacle of this young and tender
+child, your only friend and guide, would wring pity from the very
+stones. But how is it that the master for whom you worked previously to
+your accident has done nothing for you?"
+
+"He is now dead," said the Schoolmaster, after a short hesitation; "and
+he was my only friend on earth."
+
+"But then there is the hospital for the blind."
+
+"I am not the right age to qualify me for admission."
+
+"Poor man! yours is, indeed, a hard case."
+
+"Do you think it likely that, in the event of my relation at Louvres
+refusing to assist me, your master, whom I already respect without
+knowing, would take pity on me?"
+
+"Unfortunately, you see, the farm is not a hospital. Our general rule is
+to grant all infirm or afflicted travellers a temporary shelter of a
+night or a day in the house. Then some assistance is furnished, and they
+are put on their road with a prayer to kind Providence to take them
+under its charge."
+
+"Then you think there is no hope of interesting your master in my
+unhappy fate?" asked the brigand, with a sigh of regret.
+
+"I tell you what is the general custom here, my good man; but so
+compassionate a person as our master might go any lengths to serve you."
+
+"Do you really think so?" said the Schoolmaster. "Oh, if he would but
+permit me to remain here, I could live in any retired corner, and be
+happy and grateful for such a mere trifle of subsistence!"
+
+"As I said before, our master is capable of the most generous actions.
+But, were he to consent to your remaining at the farm, there would be no
+occasion for you to hide yourself; you would fare in every respect as
+you have seen us treated to-day. Some occupation would be found for your
+son suitable to his age and strength. He would not want for good
+instruction or wise counsels; our venerable minister would teach him
+with the other children of the village, and, in the words of Scripture,
+he would grow in goodness and in stature beneath the pious care of our
+excellent curé. But the best way for you to manage this will be to lay
+every particular of your case and petition before our 'Lady of Ready
+Help,' when she comes into the kitchen, as she is sure to do before you
+start on your journey to-morrow morning."
+
+"What name did you call your lady by?"
+
+"Nay, I meant our mistress, who always goes by that appellation amongst
+us. If she interests herself for you, your suit will be granted; for, in
+matters of charity, our master never opposes her smallest wish."
+
+"Oh, then," exclaimed the Schoolmaster, in a joyous tone, already
+exulting in his hoped-for deliverance from the power of the Chouette, "I
+will thankfully follow your advice, and speak to her whenever I have the
+blessed opportunity!"
+
+This hope found no echo in the mind of Tortillard, who felt not the
+slightest disposition to avail himself of the offers of the old
+labourer, and grow up in goodness under the auspices of the venerable
+curé. The inclinations of Bras Rouge's son were anything but rural,
+neither did his turn of mind incline to the pastoral. Faithful to the
+code of morality professed by the Chouette, and promulgated by her, he
+would have been severely distressed to see the Schoolmaster emancipate
+himself from their united tyranny; and he now thought it high time to
+recall the brigand from the illusory visions of flowery meads and all
+the _et coeteras_ of a country life, in which his fancy seemed
+revelling, to the realities of his present position.
+
+"Yes, oh, yes," repeated the Schoolmaster; "I will assuredly address my
+prayers to your 'Lady of Ready Help.' She will pity me and kindly--"
+
+Tortillard here interrupted him by a vigorous and artfully managed kick,
+so well directed, that, as before, it took the direst effect on the most
+sensitive spot. The intense agony for a time quite bereft the brigand of
+speech or breath; but remembering the fatal consequences of giving way
+to the feelings which boiled within him, he struggled for self-command,
+and, after a pause of a few minutes, added, in a faint and suffering
+voice, "Yes, I venture to hope your good mistress would pity and
+befriend me."
+
+"Dear father," said Tortillard, in a hypocritical tone, "you forget my
+poor dear aunt, Madame la Chouette, who is so fond of you. Poor Aunty
+Chouette, she would never part with you so easily, I know. Directly she
+heard of your staying here, she would come along with M. Barbillon and
+fetch you away--that she would, I know."
+
+"Madame la Chouette and M. Barbillon. Why this honest man seems to have
+relations among all the 'birds of the air and fishes of the sea,'"
+uttered Jean René in a voice of mirthful irony, giving his neighbour
+rather a vigorous poke with his elbow. "Funny, isn't it, Claudine?"
+
+"Oh, you great unfeeling calf! How can you make a joke on these poor
+creatures?" replied the tender-hearted dairy-maid, returning Jean René's
+thrust with sufficient interest to compromise the safety of his ribs.
+
+"Is Madame la Chouette a relation of yours?" inquired the old labourer
+of the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Yes, a distant one," answered the other, with a dull, dejected manner.
+
+"And is she the person you were going to Louvres to try and find?" asked
+Father Châtelain.
+
+"She is," replied the blind man; "but I think my son overrates her zeal
+on my account. However, under any circumstances, I shall speak to your
+excellent lady to-morrow, and entreat her aid to further my request with
+the kind, charitable owner of this farm, but," added he, purposely to
+divert the conversation into another channel, and so put an end to the
+imprudent remarks of Tortillard, "talking of farms, you promised to
+explain to me the difference that exists in the management of this farm
+and farms in general."
+
+"I did so," replied Father Châtelain, "and I will keep my word. Now,
+after having planned all I told you about the charity of labour, our
+master said to himself, 'There are many institutions where plans are
+devised, and rewards assigned, for improvements in the breed of horses,
+cattle, sheep, and other animals for the best constructed ploughs, and
+other agricultural implements. And I cannot help thinking that all this
+time we are not going to the fountain-head, and beginning, as we ought
+to begin, by improving the condition of the labouring classes
+themselves, before we give all this heed to the beast which perisheth.
+Good beasts are capital things, but good men are better, and more
+difficult to meet with. Give your horses and cattle plenty of good food,
+clear running water; place them either out-of-doors in a fine, healthy
+atmosphere, or give them a clean, well-managed stable, with good and
+regular attendance, and they will thrive to your heart's content, and be
+capable of reaching any degree of excellence. But with men, look you, it
+is quite another thing. You cannot elevate a man's mind as you can
+fatten an ox. The animal fattens on his pasture because its taste
+gratifies his palate; he eats because he likes what he feeds on, and his
+body profits and thrives in proportion to the pleasure with which he has
+devoured his food. Well, then, my opinion is, that to make good advice
+really profitable to men, they should be enabled clearly to perceive
+their own personal advantage in following it.'"
+
+"Just as the ox is profited by eating the fine grass that grows around
+him, Father Châtelain?" said several voices.
+
+"Precisely the same."
+
+"But, Father Châtelain," exclaimed another voice. "I have heard talk of
+a sort of farm where young thieves, who might in other respects have
+conducted themselves very well, are taken in, taught all sorts of
+farming knowledge, and fed and treated like princes."
+
+"You have heard quite right, my good fellow, there is such an
+institution, and, as far as it goes, is founded on pure and just
+motives, and is calculated to do much good. We should never despair for
+the wicked, but we should also hope all things for the good. Suppose now
+a strong, healthy, and industrious young man, of excellent character,
+ready and willing to work, but desirous of receiving good instruction in
+his way of life, were to present himself at the place you are speaking
+of--this farm of reclaimed thieves--well, the first question would be,
+'Well, my chap, are you a rogue and a vagabond?' 'No!' 'Oh, then we
+can't receive you here--we've no room for honest lads.'"
+
+"What you say, father, is right, every word of it," rejoined Jean René.
+"Rascals are provided for, while honest men want; and beasts are
+considered, and their condition continually improved, while men are
+passed over and left in ignorance and neglect."
+
+"It was purposely to remedy what you complain of, my brave lad, that our
+master took this farm (as I was mentioning to our blind visitor). 'I
+know very well,' said he, 'that honest men will be rewarded on high, but
+then, you see, it is far and long to look forward to, and there are many
+(and much to be pitied are they) who can neither look to such a
+distance, nor wait with patience the indefinite period which bids them
+live on hope alone. Then how are these poor, depressed, and toil-worn
+creatures to find leisure thus to seek religious comfort? Rising at the
+first dawn of day, they toil and labour with weary limbs, till night
+releases them and sends them to their wretched hovels. Sunday is spent
+by them at the public-house, drinking to drive away the recollections
+both of their past and future wretchedness. Neither can these poor
+beings turn their very hardships to a good account by extracting a
+useful moral from them. After a hard day's work does their bread seem
+less coarse and black, their pallet less hard, their infants less sickly
+and meagre, their wives less worn down by giving nourishment to the
+feeble babes of their breast? No, no, far from it. Alas, the thin,
+half-starved mother is but ill calculated to nourish another, when she
+is obliged to yield her slender share of the family meal to still the
+clamours of her famishing children. Yet all this might be endured, aye,
+even cheerfully, for use has familiarised them with hardships and
+privations; their bread is food, though coarse and homely, their straw
+bed rests their weary limbs, and their children, though stunted and
+sickly, live on. All these, I say, could be borne, did no comparison
+arise between their own poverty and the condition of others; but, when
+they visit the town or city on market-days, they see an abundance of
+good white loaves crowding the windows of the bakers' shops; warm, soft
+mattresses and blankets are displayed for sale to such as have the means
+of purchasing; children fresh and blooming as the flowers of May are
+playing joyously about, and even from the superabundance of their meals
+casting a portion to the dogs and other pet animals. Ah! human courage
+gives way at this reverse in the picture of human condition; and when
+the tired, care-worn men return to their mud hovels, their black bread
+and straw pallet, and are surrounded by a number of squalid,
+half-starved, wailing infants, to whom they would gladly have brought
+the share of cakes and buns thrown by the pampered children of great
+towns in the streets, or cast to the animals, then bitter discontent and
+repining take possession of their mind, and, utterly forgetting that on
+high is One who careth for all, they say, "Why is this difference
+allowed? and, if there must be both rich and poor in the world, why were
+not we born to riches? why should not every man have his turn in worldly
+prosperity? We are not justly used or fairly treated in being always
+poor and hard worked." Of course, all this is both sinful and
+unreasonable; neither does it in any manner serve to lighten their load;
+and yet they must go on, bending, staggering under the burden too heavy
+for them to bear, till they sink, utterly exhausted and worn out. They
+must toil, toil on, without hope, without relaxing their daily efforts,
+or without once daring to entertain the idea that, by a long continuance
+in honest, virtuous, industrious conduct, the day might come when, like
+the great Creator of all, they might rest from their labours, and behold
+peaceful ease succeeding the hard-griping hand of poverty. Think of a
+whole life passed thus, in one continued struggle for the bare means of
+life, without a glimmer of hope to cheer the thorny path. What must such
+a life be like? Why, it would resemble one long rainy day, without a
+single ray of brightness from the blessed sun to help us through it.
+Then labour is resumed with an unwilling and dissatisfied spirit. "What
+does it signify to us," cry the worn-out labourers, "whether the harvest
+yields ill or well? Whether the ears of corn be heavy or light makes no
+difference to us. Why should we overwork ourselves, or trouble our heads
+with matters that only concern our master? It is sufficient for us to
+act with strict honesty. We will not commit any crime, because there are
+laws ready to punish such as do; but neither will we try to perform acts
+of goodness, because for those the laws provide no recompense." Such a
+mode of arguing, my boys, is as unwise as it is wrong and sinful, but,
+depend upon it, it is true to nature. From this indifference comes
+idleness, and from idleness to crime the distance is very short. Now,
+unfortunately, among the class I have been describing, the far greater
+proportion consists of those whose conduct may be considered as neither
+good nor bad, that is to say, without any particular leaning either way,
+and, consequently, a mere trifle might firmly enlist them in the service
+of virtue or vice. These are the very individuals,' continued our
+master, 'we ought to try and improve, just as we should have done had
+they been born to the honour of figuring as animals with hoofs, horns,
+or woolly coats. Let us continue to point out to them how completely it
+is to their interest to be active, industrious, steady, and well
+qualified to discharge their several duties; let us effectually convince
+them that, by becoming better men, they will also be much happier; let
+them see how closely their good behaviour and prosperity are
+interwoven, and, that good advice may sink the deeper into their hearts,
+give them, as it were, such a taste of earthly comfort as shall, in a
+slight degree, communicate to them the hope and notion of expecting the
+unspeakable reward prepared by the Great Giver of all, whose dwelling is
+on high.'
+
+"Having well arranged his plans, our master caused it to be made known
+in the environs that he wished to engage twelve farm servants, six men
+and six females; but that his choice would be entirely regulated by the
+most satisfactory certificates of good conduct obtained from the civil
+and religious authorities in their native place. They were to be paid
+like princes, fed upon the best food to their hearts' content; and
+further, a tenth part of the produce of the harvest was to be shared
+among the labourers. The engagement at the farm was to last but two
+years, at the end of which time they were to give place to other
+labourers, chosen upon the same terms; but, at the expiration of five
+years, the original labourers were taken on again, in the event of there
+being any vacancies; so that, since the establishment of this farm, it
+is usual for the labourers and working classes in the neighbourhood to
+say, 'Let us be active, honest, and industrious, so as to obtain a high
+character for such good qualities, and, perhaps, one day we may be
+fortunate to get engaged at Bouqueval Farm. There, for a couple of
+years, we shall lead a life of perfect happiness. We shall learn our
+business thoroughly; we shall save a little money, so that, when our
+time is up, every one will be glad to engage us, because they know that
+we must have had first-rate characters to have been admitted on the
+establishment at all.'"
+
+"I am already bespoke by M. Dubreuil for his farm at Arnouville," said
+Jean René.
+
+"And I am engaged to a first-rate service at Gonesse," chimed in another
+labourer.
+
+"You see, my good friend, by this plan everybody is a gainer, the
+neighbouring farmers particularly. There are but twelve places for
+servants on the farm, but there are, perhaps, fifty candidates who have
+all earned their right to solicit an engagement by certificates and
+testimonials of excellent conduct. Well, though thirty-eight out of the
+fifty must be disappointed, yet the good which is in them will still
+remain; and there are so many good and deserving characters in the
+environs we can safely reckon upon; for, though they have failed in this
+application, they still live in hopes of succeeding another time. Why,
+for every prize animal to which the medal is assigned, whether for
+swiftness, strength, or beauty, there must be a hundred or more trained
+to stand forward and dispute the choice; and those animals rejected do
+not lose any of those qualifications because they were not accepted; far
+from it; their value is acknowledged, and they quickly find persons
+desirous of possessing them. Now, friend," said Father Châtelain, having
+fairly talked himself out of breath, "do you not confess that I was
+right when I said ours was no common farm, any more than our employer
+was no ordinary master?"
+
+"Indeed," said the Schoolmaster, "your account is most interesting, and
+fully bears out all you asserted. But, the more I hear of the exalted
+views and noble generosity of your master, the more earnestly do I pray
+he may be induced to look with pity on my wretched condition. To such a
+man, so filled with a desire to improve the condition of God's
+creatures, a charitable action more or less would make but little
+difference. Oh, tell me beforehand his name, and that of your kind Lady
+of the Ready Help, that I may already bless and thank them; for full
+certain am I, minds so bent upon good deeds will never turn a deaf ear
+to my petition."
+
+"Now I dare say you expect to be told the high-sounding titles of some
+great, grand personages. But, bless you! no such thing; no more parade
+about their names than those of the saints themselves. 'Our Lady of
+Help' is called Madame Georges, and our good master plain M. Rodolph."
+
+"Merciful powers! My wife! my judge! my executioner!" faintly exclaimed
+the robber, struck almost speechless at this unexpected revelation.
+"Rodolph!--Madame Georges!"
+
+It was wholly impossible for the Schoolmaster to entertain a doubt
+respecting the identity of the persons to whom those names belonged.
+Previously to adjudging him his fearful punishment, Rodolph had spoken
+of the lively interest he took in all that concerned Madame Georges. The
+recent visit of the negro David to this farm was another conclusive
+proof of there being no mistake in the matter. It seemed as though the
+very hand of Providence had brought about this singular rencontre,
+overthrowing as it so completely did his recently cherished hopes of
+emancipation from his present misery, through the intervention of the
+generosity of the proprietor of this farm. To fly was his first impulse.
+The very name of Rodolph inspired him with the most intense terror.
+Possibly he was even now in the house. Scarcely recovered from his first
+alarm, the brigand rose from the table, and, grasping the hand of
+Tortillard, exclaimed, in a wild and terrified manner:
+
+"Let us be gone!--quick!--lead me hence. Let us go, I say."
+
+The whole of the servants looked on with astonishment.
+
+"Go!" said Father Châtelain, with much surprise. "Why? Wherefore should
+you go? What are you thinking about, my friend? Come, what fresh whim is
+this? Are you quite in your right senses?"
+
+Tortillard cleverly availed himself of this last suggestion, and,
+uttering a deep sigh, touched his forehead significantly with his
+forefinger, so as to convey to the minds of the wondering labourers the
+impression that his pretended parent was not quite right in his head.
+The signal elicited a corresponding gesture of pity and due
+comprehension.
+
+"Come, I say, come!" persisted the Schoolmaster, endeavouring to draw
+the boy along with him; but, fully determined not to quit such
+comfortable quarters to wander about in the fields all night during the
+frost and snow, Tortillard began in a whimpering voice to say:
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear! poor father has got one of his old fits come on
+again. There, there, father, sit down and keep yourself quiet. Pray do,
+and don't think of wandering out in the cold--it would kill you, maybe.
+No, not if you are ever so angry with me, will I be so wicked as to lead
+you out in such weather." Then, addressing himself to the labourers, he
+said, "Will none of you good gentlemen help me to keep my poor dear
+father from risking his life by going out to-night?"
+
+"Yes, yes, my boy," answered Father Châtelain; "make yourself perfectly
+easy. We will not allow your father to quit the place. He shall stay
+here to-night, in spite of himself."
+
+"Surely you will not keep me here against my will?" inquired the
+wretched Schoolmaster, in hurried accents; "and perhaps, too, I should
+offend your master by my presence--that Monsieur Rodolph. You told me
+the farm was not an hospital; once more, therefore, I ask you to let me
+go forth in peace on my way."
+
+"Offend our master!--that you would not, I am quite sure. But make
+yourself easy on that score. I am sorry to say that he does not live
+here, neither do we see him half as frequently as we could wish. But, if
+even he had been here, your presence would have made no sort of
+difference to him."
+
+"No, no," persisted the blind man with continued alarm; "I have changed
+my mind about applying to him. My son is right. No doubt my relation at
+Louvres will take care of me. I will go there at once."
+
+"All I have got to say," replied Father Châtelain, kindly conceiving
+that he was speaking to a man whose brain was unhappily affected, "is
+just this--that to attempt to proceed on your journey with this poor
+child to-night is wholly out of the question. Come, let me put matters
+to rights for you, and say no more about it."
+
+Although now being reassured of Rodolph's not being at Bouqueval, the
+terrors of the Schoolmaster were by no means dissipated; and, spite of
+his frightfully disfigured countenance, he was in momentary dread of
+being recognized by his wife, who might at any moment enter the kitchen,
+when he was perfectly persuaded she would instantly denounce and give
+him into custody; his firm impression having been, from the hour of
+receiving his horrible punishment from the hands of Rodolph, that it was
+done to satisfy the hatred and vengeance of Madame Georges. But, unable
+to quit the farm, the ruffian found himself wholly at the mercy of
+Tortillard. Resigning himself, therefore, to what was unavoidable, yet
+anxious to escape from the eyes of his wife, he said to the venerable
+labourer:
+
+"Since you kindly assure me my being here will in no way displease
+either your master or mistress, I will gladly accept your hospitality;
+but, as I am much fatigued, and must set out again at break of day, I
+would humbly ask permission to go at once to my bed."
+
+"Oh, yes, to-morrow morning by all means, and as soon as you like; we
+are very early people here. And, for fear even that you should again
+wander from the right road, some one shall conduct you part of the way."
+
+"If you have no objection," said Jean René, addressing Father Châtelain,
+"I will see the poor man a good step on the road; because Madame Georges
+said yesterday I was to take the chaise and go to the lawyer's at
+Villiers le Bel to fetch a large sum of money she requires of him."
+
+"Go with the poor blind traveller by all means," replied Father
+Châtelain; "but you must walk, mind. Madame has changed her mind about
+sending to Villiers del Bel, and, wisely reflecting that it was not
+worth while to have so large a sum of money lying useless at the farm,
+has determined to let it remain with the lawyer till Monday next, which
+will be the day she requires it."
+
+"Of course, Father Châtelain; mistress knows best. But please to tell me
+why she should consider it unsafe to have money at the farm. What is she
+afraid of?"
+
+"Of nothing, my lad. Thank God, there is no occasion for fear. But, for
+all that, I would much rather have five hundred sacks of corn on the
+premises than ten bags of crowns. Come," said old Châtelain, addressing
+himself to the brigand and Tortillard, "come, follow me, friend; and you
+too, my lad." Then, taking up a small lamp, he conducted his two guests
+to a chamber on the ground floor, first traversing a large passage into
+which several doors opened. Placing the light on a table, the old
+labourer said to the Schoolmaster, "Here is your lodging, and may God
+grant you a good and peaceful night's repose, my good friend. As for
+you, my little man, you are sure to sleep sound and well; it belongs to
+your happy age to do so."
+
+The Schoolmaster, pensive and meditative, sat down by the side of the
+bed to which Tortillard conducted him. At the instant when Father
+Châtelain was quitting the room, Tortillard made him a sign indicative
+of his desire to speak with him alone, and hastily rejoined him in the
+passage.
+
+"What is it, my boy, you have to say to me?" inquired the old man,
+kindly.
+
+"Ah, my kind sir, I only wanted to say that my father is frequently
+seized during the night with most violent convulsion-fits, which require
+a much stronger person than I am to hold him; should I be obliged to
+call for help, is there any person near who could hear me?"
+
+"Poor child!" said the labourer, sympathisingly; "make yourself easy.
+There,--do you see that door beside the staircase?"
+
+"Oh, yes, good, kind gentleman; I see it."
+
+"Well, one of the farm labourers sleeps in that room. You will only just
+have to run to him. He never locks his door; and he will come to your
+father in an instant."
+
+"Thank you, sir; God bless you! I will remember all your kindness when I
+say my prayers. But suppose, sir, the man and myself were not strong
+enough together to manage my poor father when these violent convulsions
+come on, could you, who look so good, and speak so kind--could you be
+kind enough to come and tell us what to do?"
+
+"Me, my boy? Oh, I sleep, as well as all the other men servants, out of
+the house, in a large outbuilding in the courtyard. But make yourself
+quite comfortable. Jean René could manage a mad bull, he is so powerful.
+Besides, if you really wished any further help he would go and call up
+our old cook; she sleeps on the first floor, even with our mistress and
+young mademoiselle, and I can promise you that our old woman is a most
+excellent sick-nurse should your father require any one to attend to him
+when the fit is over."
+
+"Thank you, kind gentleman, a thousand times. Good-night, sir. I will go
+now and pray of God to bless you for your kindness and pity to the poor
+blind."
+
+"Good night, my lad! Let us hope both you and your father will enjoy a
+sound night's rest, and have no occasion to require any person's help.
+You had better return to your room now; your poor father may be wanting
+you."
+
+"I will, sir. Good night, and thank you!"
+
+"God preserve you both, my child!" And the old man returned to the
+kitchen.
+
+Scarcely had he turned his back than the limping rascal made one of
+those supremely insulting and derisive gestures familiar to all the
+blackguards of Paris, consisting in slapping the nape of the neck
+repeatedly with the left hand, darting the right hand quite open
+continually out in a straight line. With the most consummate audacity,
+this dangerous child had just gleaned, under the mask of guileless
+tenderness and apprehension for his father, information most important
+for the furtherance of the schemes of the Chouette and Schoolmaster. He
+had ascertained during the last few minutes that the part of the
+building where he slept was only occupied by Madame Georges,
+Fleur-de-Marie, an old female servant, and one of the farm-labourers.
+Upon his return to the room he was to share with the blind man,
+Tortillard carefully avoided approaching him. The former, however, heard
+his step, and growled out:
+
+"Where have you been, you vagabond?"
+
+"What! you want to know, do you, old blind 'un?"
+
+"Oh, I'll make you pay for all you have made me suffer this evening, you
+wretched urchin!" exclaimed the Schoolmaster, rising furiously, and
+groping about in every direction after Tortillard, feeling by the walls
+as a guide. "I'll strangle you when I catch you, you young fiend--you
+infernal viper!"
+
+"Poor, dear father! How prettily he plays at blind-man's buff with his
+own little boy," said Tortillard, grinning, and enjoying the ease with
+which he escaped from the impotent attempts of the Schoolmaster to seize
+him, who, though impelled to the exertion by his overboiling rage, was
+soon compelled to cease, and, as had been the case before, to give up
+all hopes of inflicting the revenge he yearned to bestow on the impish
+son of Bras Rouge.
+
+Thus compelled to submit to the impudent persecution of his juvenile
+tormentor, and await the propitious hour when all his injuries could
+safely be avenged, the brigand determined to reserve his powerless wrath
+for a fitting opportunity of paying off old scores, and, worn out in
+body by his futile violence, threw himself, swearing and cursing, on the
+bed.
+
+"Dear father!--sweet father!--have you got the toothache that you swear
+so? Ah, if Monsieur le Curé heard you, what would he say to you? He
+would give you such penance! Oh, my!"
+
+"That's right!--go on!" replied the ruffian, in a hollow and suppressed
+voice, after long enduring this entertaining vivacity on the part of the
+young gentleman. "Laugh at me!--mock me!--make sport of my calamity,
+cowardly scoundrel that you are! That is a fine, noble action, is it
+not? Just worthy of such a mean, ignoble, contemptible soul as dwells
+within that wretched, crooked body!"
+
+"Oh, how fine we talk! How nice we preach about being generous, and all
+that, don't we?" cried Tortillard, bursting into peals of laughter. "I
+beg your pardon, dear father, but I can't possibly help thinking it so
+funny to hear you, whose fingers were regular fish-hooks, picking and
+stealing whatever came in their way; and, as for generosity, I beg you
+don't mention it, because, till you got your eyes poked out I don't
+suppose you ever thought of such a word!"
+
+"But, at least, I never did you any harm. Why, then, torment me thus?"
+
+"Because, in the first place, you said what I did not like to the
+Chouette; then you had a fancy for stopping and playing the fool among
+the clodhoppers here. Perhaps you mean to commence a course of asses'
+milk?"
+
+"You impudent young beggar! If I had only had the opportunity of
+remaining at this farm--which I now wish sunk in the bottomless pit, or
+blasted with eternal lightning--you should not have played your tricks
+of devilish cruelty with me any longer!"
+
+"You to remain here! that would be a farce! Who, then, would Madame la
+Chouette have for her _bête de souffrance_? Me, perhaps, thank
+ye!--don't you wish you may get it?"
+
+"Miserable abortion!"
+
+"Abortion! ah, yes, another reason why I say, as well as Aunt Chouette,
+there is nothing so funny as to see you in one of your unaccountable
+passions--you, who could kill me with one blow of your fist; it's more
+funny than if you were a poor, weak creature. How very funny you were at
+supper to-night! _Dieu de Dieu!_ what a lark I had all to myself! Why,
+it was better than a play at the Gaîté. At every kick I gave you on the
+sly, your passion made all the blood fly in your face, and your white
+eyes became red all round; they only wanted a bit of blue in the middle
+to have been real tri-coloured. They would have made two fine cockades
+for the town-sergeant, wouldn't they?"
+
+"Come, come, you like to laugh--you are merry: bah! it's natural at your
+age--it's natural--I'm not angry with you," said the Schoolmaster, in an
+air of affected carelessness, hoping to propitiate Tortillard; "but,
+instead of standing there, saying saucy things, it would be much better
+for you to remember what the Chouette told you; you say you are very
+fond of her. You should examine all over the place, and get the print of
+the locks. Didn't you hear them say they expected to have a large sum of
+money here on Monday? We will be amongst them then, and have our share.
+I should have been foolish to have stayed here; I should have had enough
+of these asses of country people at the end of a week, shouldn't I,
+boy?" asked the ruffian, to flatter Tortillard.
+
+"If you had stayed here I should have been very much annoyed, 'pon my
+word and honour," replied Bras Rouge's son, in a mocking tone.
+
+"Yes, yes, there's a good business to be done in this house; and, if
+there should be nothing to steal, yet I will return here with the
+Chouette, if only to have my revenge," said the miscreant, in a tone
+full of fury and malice, "for now I am sure it is my wife who excited
+that infernal Rodolph against me; he who, in blinding me, has put me at
+the mercy of all the world, of the Chouette, and a young blackguard like
+yourself. Well, if I cannot avenge myself on him, I will have vengeance
+against my wife,--yes, she shall pay me for all, even if I set fire to
+this accursed house and bury myself in its smouldering ruins. Yes, I
+will--I will have--"
+
+"You will, you want to get hold of your wife, eh, old gentleman? She is
+within ten paces of you! that's vexing, ain't it? If I liked, I could
+lead you to the door of her room, that's what I could, for I know the
+room. I know it--I know it--I know it," added Tortillard, singing
+according to his custom.
+
+"You know her room?" said the Schoolmaster, in an agony of fervent joy;
+"you know it?"
+
+"I see you coming," said Tortillard; "come, play the pretty, and get on
+your hind legs like a dog when they throw him a dainty bone. Now, old
+Cupid!"
+
+"You know my wife's chamber?" said the miscreant, turning to the side
+whence the sound of Tortillard's voice proceeded.
+
+"Yes, I know it; and, what's still better, only one of the farm servants
+sleeps on the side of the house where we are. I know his door--the key
+is in it--click, one turn, and he's all safe and fast. Come, get up, old
+blind Cupid!"
+
+"Who told you all this?" asked the blind scoundrel, rising
+involuntarily.
+
+"Capital, Cupid! By the side of your wife's room sleeps an old cook--one
+more turn of the key, and click! we are masters of the house--masters of
+your wife, and the young girl with the gray mantle that you must catch
+hold of and carry off. Now, then, your paw, old Cupid; do the pretty to
+your master directly."
+
+"You lie! you lie! how could you know all this?"
+
+"Why, I'm lame in my leg, but not in my head. Before we left the kitchen
+I said to the old guzzling labourer that sometimes in the night you had
+convulsions, and I asked him where I could get assistance if you were
+attacked. He said if you were attacked I might call up the man servant
+and the cook; and he showed me where they slept; one down, the other up
+stairs in the first floor, close to your wife--your wife--your wife!"
+
+And Tortillard repeated his monotonous song. After a lengthened silence
+the Schoolmaster said to him, in a calm voice, but with an air of
+desperate determination:
+
+"Listen, boy. I have stayed long enough. Lately--yes, yes, I confess
+it--I had a hope which now makes my lot appear still more frightful; the
+prison, the _bagne_, the guillotine, are nothing--nothing to what I have
+endured since this morning; and I shall have the same to endure always.
+Lead me to my wife's room; I have my knife here; I will kill her. I
+shall be killed afterwards; but what of that? My hatred swells till it
+chokes me; I shall have revenge, and that will console me. What I now
+suffer is too much--too much! for me, too, before whom everybody
+trembled. Now, lad, if you knew what I endure, even you would pity me.
+Even now my brain appears ready to burst; my pulse beats as if my veins
+would burst; my head whirls--"
+
+"A cold in your 'knowledge-box,' old chap--that's it; sneeze--that'll
+cure you," said Tortillard, with a loud grin; "what say you to a pinch
+of snuff, old brick?"
+
+And striking loudly on the back of his left hand, which was clenched, as
+if he were tapping on the lid of a snuff-box, he sang:
+
+      "J'ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatière;
+       J'ai du bon tabac, tu n'en auras pas."
+
+"_Oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu!_ they will drive me mad!" cried the brigand,
+becoming really almost demented by a sort of nervous excitement arising
+from bloodthirsty revenge and implacable hatred, which in vain sought to
+satiate itself. The exuberant strength of this monster could only be
+equalled by the impossibility of satisfying his deadly desires. Let us
+imagine a hungry, furious, maddened wolf, teased during a whole day by a
+child through the bars of his den, and scenting within two paces of him
+a victim who would at once satisfy his hunger and his rage. At the last
+taunt of Tortillard the brigand almost lost his senses; unable to reach
+his victim, he desired in his frenzy to shed his own blood, for his
+blood was stifling him. One moment he resolved to kill himself, and, had
+he had a loaded pistol in his hand, he would not have hesitated; he
+fumbled in his pocket, and drew out a clasp-knife, opened it, and raised
+it to strike; but, quick as were his movements, reflection, fear, and
+vital instinct were still more rapid,--the murderer lacked courage,--his
+arm fell on his knees. Tortillard had watched all his actions with an
+attentive eye, and, when he saw the finale of this pseudo-tragedy, he
+continued, mockingly,--
+
+"How, boys, a duel? Ah, pluck the chickens!"
+
+The Schoolmaster, fearing that he should lose his senses if he gave way
+to an ineffectual burst of fury, turned a deaf ear to this fresh insult
+of Tortillard, who so impertinently commented on the cowardice of an
+assassin who recoiled from suicide. Despairing of escape from what he
+termed, by a sort of avenging fatality, the cruelty of his cursed child,
+the ruffian sought to try what could be done by assailing the avarice of
+the son of Bras Rouge.
+
+"Ah," said he to him, in a tone almost supplicatory, "lead me to the
+door of my wife's room, and take anything you like that's in her room
+and run away with it! leave me to myself. You may cry out 'murder' if
+you like; they will apprehend me--kill me on the spot--I care not, I
+shall die avenged, if I have not the courage to end my existence myself.
+Oh, lead me there--lead me there; depend on it she has gold, jewels,
+anything, and you may take all, all for yourself, for your own, do you
+mind?--your own; only lead me to the door where she is."
+
+"Yes, I mind well enough; you want me to lead you to her door, then to
+her bed, and then to tell you when to strike, then to guide your
+hand--eh! that's it, ain't it? You want to make me a handle to your
+knife, old monster!" replied Tortillard, with an expression of contempt,
+anger, and horror, which, for the first time in his life gave an
+appearance of seriousness to his weasel face, usually all impertinence
+and insolence; "I'll be killed first, I tell you, sooner than I'll lead
+you to where your wife is!"
+
+"You refuse?"
+
+The son of Bras Rouge made no reply. He approached with bare feet and
+without being heard by the Schoolmaster, who, seated on the bed, still
+held his large knife in his hand, and then, in a moment, with marvellous
+quickness and dexterity, Tortillard snatched from him his weapon, and
+with one jump skipped to the further end of the chamber.
+
+"My knife! my knife!" cried the brigand, extending his arms.
+
+"No; for then you might to-morrow morning ask to speak with your wife
+and try to kill her, since, as you say, you have had enough of life, and
+are such a coward that you don't dare kill yourself."
+
+"How he defends my wife against me!" said the bandit, whose intellect
+became obscure. "This little wretch is a devil! Where am I? Why does he
+try to save her?"
+
+"Because I like it," said Tortillard, whose face resumed its usual
+appearance of sly impudence.
+
+"Ah, is that it?" murmured the Schoolmaster, whose mind was wandering;
+"well, then, I'll fire the house! we'll all burn--all! I prefer that
+furnace to the other. The candle! the candle!"
+
+"Ah! ah! ah!" exclaimed Tortillard, bursting out again into loud
+laughter. "If your own candle--your 'peepers'--had not been snuffed out,
+and for ever, you would have known that ours had been extinguished an
+hour ago." And Tortillard sang:
+
+      "Ma chandelle est morte,
+        Je n'ai plus de feu."
+
+The Schoolmaster gave a deep groan, stretched out his arms, and fell
+heavily on the floor, his face on the ground, and, struck by a rush of
+blood, remained motionless.
+
+"Not to be caught, old boy," said Tortillard; "that's only a trick to
+make me come to you that you may serve me out! When you have been long
+enough on the floor you'll get up."
+
+Bras Rouge's boy resolved not to go to sleep for fear of being surprised
+by the Schoolmaster, so seated himself in a chair, with his eyes fixed
+on the ruffian, persuaded that it was a trap laid for him, and not
+believing the Schoolmaster in any danger. That he might employ himself
+agreeably Tortillard drew silently and carefully from his pocket a
+little red silk purse, and counted slowly, and with looks of joy and
+avarice, the seventeen pieces of gold which it contained. Tortillard had
+acquired his ill-gotten riches thus: It may be remembered that Madame
+d'Harville was nearly surprised by her husband at the rendezvous which
+she had granted to the commandant. Rodolph, when he had given the purse
+to the young lady had told her to go up to the fifth story to the
+Morels, under the pretence of bringing them assistance. Madame
+d'Harville ran quickly up the staircase holding the purse in her hands.
+When Tortillard, who was coming from the quack's, caught a glimpse of
+the purse, and, pretending to stumble as he passed the marquise, pushed
+against her, and, in the shock, slily stole the purse. Madame
+d'Harville, bewildered, and hearing her husband's footsteps, hurried on
+to the fifth story without thinking or complaining of the impudent
+robbery of the little cripple. After having counted and recounted his
+gold Tortillard cast his eyes towards the Schoolmaster who was extended
+still on the ground. Disquieted for a moment, he listened, and hearing
+the robber breathe freely he thought that he was still meditating some
+trick against him.
+
+Chance saved the Schoolmaster from a congestion of the brain which else
+must have proved mortal. His fall had caused a salutary and abundant
+bleeding at the nose. He then fell into kind of a feverish torpor--half
+sleep, half delirium, and then had this wild, this fearful dream!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE DREAM.
+
+
+This was the Schoolmaster's dream:
+
+He was again in Rodolph's house in the Allée des Veuves. The saloon in
+which the miscreant had received his appalling punishment had not
+undergone any alteration. Rodolph himself was sitting at the table on
+which were the Schoolmaster's papers and the little _Saint-Esprit_ of
+_lapis_ which he had given to the Chouette. Rodolph's countenance was
+grave and sad. On his right the negro David was standing motionless and
+silent; on his left was the Chourineur, who looked on with a bewildered
+mien. In his dream the Schoolmaster was no longer blind, but saw through
+a medium of clear blood, which filled the cavities of his eyeballs. All
+and everything seemed to him tinted with red. As birds of prey hover on
+motionless wing above the head of the victim which they fascinate before
+they devour, so a monstrous screech-owl (_chouette_), having for its
+head the hideous visage of the one-eyed hag, soared over the
+Schoolmaster, keeping fixed on him her round, glaring, and green eye.
+This fixed stare was upon his breast like a heavy weight. The
+Schoolmaster discerned a vast lake of blood separating him from the
+table at which Rodolph was seated. Then this inflexible judge, as well
+as the Chourineur and the negro, grew and grew, expanding into colossal
+proportions, until they touched the ceiling; and then it also became
+higher in proportion. The lake of blood was calm, and as unruffled as a
+red mirror; the Schoolmaster saw his hideous countenance reflected
+therein. Then that was suddenly effaced by the tumult of the swelling
+waves. From their troubled surface there arose a vapour resembling the
+foul exhalation of a marsh, a livid-coloured mist of that violet hue
+peculiar to the lips of the dead. In proportion as this miasma
+rises--rises, the faces of Rodolph, the Chourineur, and the negro
+continue to expand and expand in an extraordinary manner, and always
+remain above this fearful cloud. In the midst of the awful vapour, the
+Schoolmaster sees the pale ghosts, and those murderous scenes in which
+he had been the actor. In this fantastic mirage he first sees a little
+bald-headed old man, clad in a long brown coat, and wearing an eye-shade
+of green silk. He is employing himself in a dilapidated chamber in
+counting and arranging pieces of gold into piles by the light of a lamp.
+Through the window, lighted by the dim moonlight reflected on the tops
+of some high trees waving in the wind, the Schoolmaster recognises his
+own figure. Pressing his distorted features against the glass, following
+every motion of the old man with glaring eyes, then breaking a pane, he
+opens the window itself, leaps with a bound upon his victim, and stabs
+him between the shoulders with his long and keen knife. The movement is
+so rapid, the blow so quick and sure, that the dead body of the old man
+remains seated in the chair.
+
+The murderer tries to withdraw his weapon from the dead body,--he
+cannot! He redoubles his efforts,--in vain! He then seeks to quit the
+deadly steel,--impossible!
+
+The hand of the assassin clings to the handle of the poignard, as the
+blade of the poignard clings to the frame of the wounded man. The
+murderer then hears the sound of clinking spurs and clashing swords in
+the adjoining room. He must escape at all risks, and attempts to carry
+with him the body of the feeble old man, from which he cannot withdraw
+either his weapon or his hand.
+
+He cannot do even this. The light and feeble carcass weighs him down
+like a mass of lead. Despite his herculean shoulders, his desperate
+efforts, the Schoolmaster cannot even stir this overwhelming weight.
+
+The sound of echoing steps and jingling sabres comes nearer and nearer.
+The key turns in the lock,--the door opens. The vision disappears.
+
+And then the screech-owl flaps her wing, and shrieks out:
+
+"It is the old miser of the Rue de la Roule. Your maiden murder! murder!
+murder!"
+
+A moment's darkness,--then the miasma which covers the lake of blood
+resumes its transparency, and another spectre is revealed.
+
+The day begins to dawn,--the fog is thick and heavy. A man, clothed like
+a cattle-dealer, lies stretched, dead on the bank of the highroad. The
+trampled earth, the torn turf, proved that the victim had made a
+desperate resistance. The man has five bleeding wounds in his breast. He
+is lifeless; yet still he seems to whistle on his dogs, calling to them,
+"Help! help!"
+
+But his whistling, his cries, proceed from five large and gaping
+wounds,--
+
+      "Each one a death in nature,"--
+
+which move like so many complaining lips. The five calls, the five
+whistlings, all made and heard at once, come from the dead man by the
+mouths of his gushing wounds; and fearful are they to hear!
+
+At this instant the Chouette waves her wings, and mocks the deathly
+groans of the victim with five bursts of laughter,--a laughter as
+unearthly and as horrible as the madman's mirth; and then again she
+shrieks:
+
+"The cattle-dealer of Poissy. Murder! murder! murder!"
+
+Protracted and underground echoes first repeat aloud the malevolent
+laughter of the screech-owl. Then they seem to die away in the very
+bowels of the earth.
+
+At this sound two large dogs, as black as midnight, with eyes glaring
+like burning coals, begin to run rapidly around--around--around the
+Schoolmaster, baying furiously. They almost touch him, and yet their
+bark appears as distant as if carried on the wind of the morning.
+
+Gradually these spectres fade away as the previous one did, and are lost
+in the pale vapour which is continually ascending.
+
+A new exhalation now arises from the lake of blood, and spreads itself
+on its surface. It is a sort of greenish, transparent mist; it resembles
+the vertical section of a canal filled with water. At first he sees the
+bed of the canal covered in by a thick vase formed of numberless
+reptiles usually imperceptible to the unassisted eye, but which,
+enlarged, as if viewed through a microscope, assume monstrous forms,
+vast proportions relatively to their actual size. It is no longer mud,
+but a compact, living, crawling mass,--an inextricable conglomeration
+which wriggles and curls; so close, so dense, that a sullen and low
+undulation hardly stirs the level of this vase, or rather bed of foulest
+animalculæ. Above trickles gently--gently, a turbid stream, thick and
+stagnating, which, in its dilatory flow, disturbs the filth incessantly
+vomited by the sewers of a great city,--fragments of all sorts,
+carcasses of animals, etc., etc. Suddenly the Schoolmaster hears the
+plash of a body, which falls heavily on the water; in its recoil the
+water sprinkles his very face. In the midst of the air-bubbles which
+rise thick and fast to the surface of the canal he sees the body of a
+woman, which sinks rapidly as she struggles--struggles.
+
+Then he sees himself and the Chouette running hastily along the banks of
+St. Martin's Canal, carrying with them a box covered with black cloth;
+and yet he is still present during all the variations of agony suffered
+by the victim whom he and the Chouette have thrown into the canal. After
+the first immersion the victim rises to the surface and moves her arms
+in violent agitation like some one who, not knowing how to swim, tries
+in vain to save herself. Then she utters a piercing cry,--a cry of one
+in the last extremity,--despairing--which ends in the sullen, stifled
+sound of involuntary choking; and the woman the second time sinks
+beneath the troubled waters.
+
+The screech-owl, which hovers continually motionless, imitates the
+convulsive rattle of the drowning wretch, as she mocked the dying groans
+of the cattle-dealer. In the midst of bursts of deathlike laughter the
+screech-owl utters, "Glou! glou! glou!"
+
+The subterranean echoes repeated the sound.
+
+A second time submerged the woman is fast suffocating, and makes one
+more desperate effort for breath; but, instead of air, it is water which
+she inspires. Then her head falls back, her convulsed features are
+swollen and become livid, her neck becomes blue and tumefied, her arms
+stiffen, and, in a last spasmodic effort, the drowning woman in her
+agony moves her feet, which are resting on the vase. Then she is
+surrounded by a mass of black soil, which ascends with her to the
+surface of the water. Scarcely has the choked wretch breathed her last
+sigh than she is covered with myriads of the microscopic reptiles,--the
+greedy and horrible vermin of the mud. The carcass floats for a moment,
+balances for a moment, and then sinks slowly, horizontally, the feet
+lower than the head, and between the double waters begins to follow the
+current of the land. Sometimes the dead corpse turns, and its pale face
+is before the Schoolmaster. Then the spectre fixes on him glaringly its
+two blue, glassy, and opaque eyes; the livid mouth opens. The
+Schoolmaster is far away from the drowning woman, and yet her lips
+murmur in his ears, "Glou! glou! glou!" accompanying these appalling
+syllables with that singular noise which a bottle thrust into the water
+makes when filling itself.
+
+The screech-owl repeats, "Glou! glou! glou!" flapping her wings, and
+shrieking:
+
+"The woman of the Canal St. Martin! Murder! murder! murder!"
+
+The vision of the drowned woman disappears. The lake of blood, through
+which the Schoolmaster still constantly beholds Rodolph, becomes of a
+bronzed, black colour, then red again, and then changes instantaneously
+into a liquid, furnace-like, molten metal. Then that lake of fire
+rises--rises--rises towards the sky like an immense whirlpool. There is
+now a fiery horizon like iron at a white heat. This immense, boundless
+horizon dazzles and scorches the very eyes of the Schoolmaster, who,
+fascinated, fastened to the spot, cannot turn away his gaze. Then, at
+the bottom of this burning lava, whose reflection seems to consume him,
+he sees pass and repass, one by one, the black and giant spectres of his
+victims.
+
+"The magic-lanthorn of remorse! remorse! remorse!" shrieks the
+night-bird, flapping her hideous wings, and laughing mockingly.
+
+Notwithstanding the intolerable anguish which his impatient gaze
+creates, the Schoolmaster has his eyes fixed on the grisly phantoms
+which move in the blazing sheet. Then an indefinable horror steals over
+him. Passing through every step of indescribable torture, by dint of
+contemplating this blazing sight, he feels his eyeballs--which have
+replaced the blood with which his orbits were filled at the commencement
+of his dream--he feels his eyeballs grow hot, burning, and melt in this
+furnace--to smoke and bubble--and at last to become calcined in their
+cavities like two crucibles filled with red fire. By a fearful power,
+after having seen as well as felt the successive transformations of his
+eyeballs into ashes, he falls into the darkness of his actual blindness.
+
+But now, suddenly, his intolerable agonies are assuaged as though by
+enchantment. An odorous air of delicious freshness passes over his
+burning eyeballs. This air is a lovely admixture of the scents of
+springtime, which exhale from flowers bathed in evening dew. The
+Schoolmaster hears all about him a gentle murmur, like that of the
+breeze which just stirs the leaves--like that of a brook of running
+waters, which rushes and murmurs on its bed of stone and moss "in the
+leafy month of June." Thousands of birds warble the most enchanting
+melodies. They are stilled, and the voices of children, of angelic tone,
+sing strange, unknown words--words that are "winged" (if we may use the
+expression), and which the Schoolmaster hears mount to heaven with
+gentle motion. A feeling of moral health, of tranquillity, of undefined
+languor, creeps over him by degrees. It is an expansion of the heart, an
+elevation of the mind, an effort of the soul, of which no physical
+feeling, how delicious soever it may be, can impart the least idea. He
+feels himself softly soaring in a heavenly sphere; he seems to rise to
+an immeasurable height.
+
+       ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·   ·
+
+After having for some moments revelled in this unspeakable felicity he
+again finds himself in the dark abyss of his habitual thoughts. His
+dream continues; but he is again but the muzzled miscreant who
+blasphemes and curses in the paroxysm of his impotent rage. A voice is
+heard--sonorous--solemn. It is Rodolph's. The Schoolmaster starts "like
+a guilty thing upon a fearful summons." He has the vague consciousness
+of a dream; but the alarm with which Rodolph inspires him is so great
+that he tries, but vainly, to escape from this fresh vision. The voice
+speaks--he listens. The tone of Rodolph is not severe; it is "rather in
+sorrow than in anger."
+
+"Unhappy man," he says to the Schoolmaster, "the hour of your repentance
+has not yet sounded. God only knows when it will strike. The punishment
+of your crimes is still incomplete; you have suffered, but not expiated.
+Destiny follows out its work of full justice. Your accomplices have
+become your tormentors. A woman, a child, tame, subdue, conquer you.
+When I sentenced you to a terrible punishment for your crimes I said--do
+you remember my words?--'You have wickedly abused the great bodily
+strength bestowed upon you; I will paralyse that strength. The strongest
+have trembled before you; I will make you henceforward shrink in the
+presence of the weakest of beings.' You have left the obscure retreat in
+which you might have dwelt for repentance and expiation. You were afraid
+of silence and solitude. You sought to drown remembrance by new crimes.
+Just now, in a fearful and bloodthirsty access of passion, you have
+wished to kill your wife. She is here under the same roof as yourself.
+She sleeps without defence. You have a knife. Her apartment is close at
+hand. There was nothing to prevent you from reaching her. Nothing could
+have protected her from your rage--nothing but your impotence. The dream
+you have had, and in which you are still bound, may teach you much, may
+save you. The mysterious phantoms of this dream bear with them a most
+pregnant meaning. The lake of blood, in which your victims have
+appeared, is the blood you have shed. The molten lava which replaced it
+is the gnawing, eating remorse, which must consume you before one day,
+that the Almighty, having mercy on your protracted tortures, shall call
+you to himself, and let you taste the ineffable sweetness of his
+gracious forgiveness. But this will not be. No, no! these warnings will
+be useless. Far from repenting, you regret every day, with horrid
+blasphemies, the time when you could commit such atrocities. Alas! from
+this continual struggle between your bloodthirsty desires and the
+impossibility of satisfying them,--between your habits of fierce
+oppression and the compulsion of submitting to beings as weak as they
+are depraved,--there will result to you a fate so fearful, so appalling.
+Ah, unhappy wretch!"
+
+Rodolph's voice faltered, and for a moment he was silent, as if emotion
+and horror had hindered him from proceeding. The Schoolmaster's hair
+bristled on his brow. What could be--would be--that fate, which even his
+executioner pitied?
+
+"The fate that awaits you is so horrible," resumed Rodolph, "that, if
+the Almighty, in his inexorable and all-powerful vengeance, would make
+you in your person expiate all the crimes of all mankind, he could not
+devise a more fearful punishment! Ah, woe for you! woe for you!"
+
+At this moment the Schoolmaster uttered a piercing shriek, and awoke
+with a bound at this horrid, frightful dream.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE LETTER.
+
+
+The hour of nine had struck on the Bouqueval clock, when Madame Georges
+softly entered the chamber of Fleur-de-Marie. The light slumber of the
+young girl was quickly broken, and she awoke to find her kind friend
+standing by her bedside. A brilliant winter's sun darted its rays
+through the blinds and chintz window-curtains, the pink linings of which
+cast a bright glow on the pale countenance of La Goualeuse, giving it
+the look of health it so greatly needed.
+
+"Well, my child," said Madame Georges, sitting down and gently kissing
+her forehead, "how are you this morning?"
+
+"Much better, madame, I thank you."
+
+"I hope you were not awoke very early this morning?"
+
+"No, indeed, madame."
+
+"I am glad of it; the blind man and his son, who were permitted to sleep
+here last night, insisted upon quitting the farm immediately it was
+light, and I was fearful that the noise made in opening the gates might
+have woke you."
+
+"Poor things! why did they go so very early?"
+
+"I know not. After you became more calm and comfortable last night, I
+went down into the kitchen for the purpose of seeing them, but they had
+pleaded extreme weariness, and begged permission to retire. Father
+Châtelain tells me the blind man does not seem very right in his head;
+and the whole body of servants were unanimous in praising the tenderness
+and care with which the boy attended upon his blind parent. But now, my
+dear Marie, listen to me; you must not expose yourself to the risk of
+taking fresh cold after the attack of fever you suffered from last
+night, and, therefore, I recommend your keeping quite quiet all day, and
+not leaving the parlour at all."
+
+"Nay, madame, I have promised M. le Curé to be at the rectory at five
+o'clock; pray allow me to go, as I am expected."
+
+"Indeed I cannot, it would be very imprudent; I can perceive you have
+passed a very bad night, your eyes are quite heavy."
+
+"I have not been able to rest through the most frightful dreams which
+pursued me whenever I tried to sleep. I fancied myself in the power of a
+wicked woman who used to torment me most cruelly when I was a child; and
+I kept starting up in dread and alarm. I am ashamed of such silly
+weakness as to allow dreams to frighten me, but, indeed, I suffered so
+much during the night that when I awoke my pillow was wetted with my
+tears."
+
+"I am truly sorry for this weakness, as you justly style it, my dear
+child," said Madame Georges, with affectionate concern, seeing the eyes
+of Fleur-de-Marie again filling fast, "because I perceive the pain it
+occasions you."
+
+The poor girl, overpowered by her feelings, threw her arms around the
+neck of her adopted mother and buried her sobs in her bosom.
+
+"Marie, Marie! my child, you terrify me; why, why is this?"
+
+"Pardon me, dear madame, I beseech you! Indeed, I know not myself what
+has come over me, but for the last two days my heart has seemed full
+almost to bursting. I cannot restrain my tears, though I know not
+wherefore I weep. A fearful dread of some great evil about to befall me
+weighs down my spirits and resists every attempt to shake it off."
+
+"Come! come! I shall scold you in earnest if you thus give way to
+imaginary terrors."
+
+At this moment Claudine, whose previous tap at the door had been
+unheard, entered the room.
+
+"What is it, Claudine?"
+
+"Madame, Pierre has just arrived from Arnouville, in Madame Dubreuil's
+chaise; he brings a letter for you which he says is of great
+importance."
+
+Madame Georges took the paper from Claudine's hand, opened it and read
+as follows:
+
+    "MY DEAR MADAME GEORGES:
+
+      "You could do me a considerable favour, and assist me under very
+    perplexing circumstances, by hastening to the farm here without
+    delay. Pierre has orders to wait till you are ready, and will
+    drive you back after dinner. I really am in such confusion that I
+    hardly know what I am about. M. Dubreuil has gone to the
+    wool-fair at Pontoise; I have, therefore, no one to turn to for
+    advice and assistance but you and Marie. Clara sends her best
+    love to her very dear adopted sister, and anxiously expects her
+    arrival. Try to be with us by eleven o'clock, to luncheon.
+
+                          "Ever yours most sincerely,
+                                                "F. DUBREUIL."
+
+"What can possibly be the matter?" asked Madame Georges of
+Fleur-de-Marie; "fortunately the tone of Madame Dubreuil's letter is not
+calculated to cause alarm."
+
+"Do you wish me to accompany you, madame?" asked the Goualeuse.
+
+"Why, that would scarcely be prudent, so cold as it is. But, upon second
+thoughts," continued Madame Georges, "I think you may venture if you
+wrap yourself up very warm; it will serve to raise your spirits, and
+possibly the short ride may do you good."
+
+The Goualeuse did not immediately reply, but, after a few minutes'
+consideration, she ventured to say:
+
+"But, madame, M. le Curé expects me this evening, at five o'clock, at
+the rectory."
+
+"But I promise you to be back in good time for you to keep your
+engagement; now will you go?"
+
+"Oh, thank you, madame! Indeed, I shall be so delighted to see Mlle.
+Clara."
+
+"What! again?" uttered Madame Georges, in a tone of gentle reproach.
+"Mlle. Clara? She does not speak so distantly to you when she addresses
+you."
+
+"Oh, no, madame!" replied the poor girl, casting down her eyes, while a
+bright flush rose even to her temples; "but there is so great a
+difference between us that--"
+
+"Dear Marie! you are cruel and unkind thus needlessly to torment
+yourself. Have you so soon forgotten how I chided you but just now for
+the very same fault? There, drive away all such foolish thoughts! dress
+yourself as quickly as you can, and pray wrap up very carefully. If we
+are quick, we may reach Arnouville before eleven o'clock."
+
+Then, leaving Fleur-de-Marie to perform the duties of her simple toilet,
+Madame Georges retired to her own chamber, first dismissing Claudine
+with an intimation to Pierre that herself and niece would be ready to
+start almost immediately.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, Madame Georges and Marie were on their way to
+Arnouville, in one of those large, roomy cabriolets, in use among the
+rich farmers in the environs of Paris; and briskly did their comfortable
+vehicle, drawn by a stout Norman horse, roll over the grassy road which
+led from Bouqueval to Arnouville. The extensive buildings and numerous
+appendages to the farm, tenanted by M. Dubreuil in the latter village,
+bore testimony to the wealth and importance of the property bestowed as
+a marriage-portion on Mlle. Césarine de Noirmont upon her union with the
+Duke de Lucenay.
+
+The loud crack of Pierre's whip apprised Madame Dubreuil of the arrival
+of her friend, Madame Georges, with Fleur-de-Marie, who were most
+affectionately greeted by Clara and her mother. Madame Dubreuil was a
+good-looking woman of middle age, with a countenance expressive of
+extreme gentleness and kindness; while her daughter Clara was a handsome
+brunette, with rich hazel eyes, and a happy, innocent expression for
+ever resting on her full, rosy lips, which seemed never to open but to
+utter words of sweetness and amiability. As Clara eagerly threw her arms
+around her friend's neck as she descended the vehicle, the Goualeuse saw
+with extreme surprise that the kind-hearted girl had laid aside her more
+fashionable attire, and was habited as a simple country maiden.
+
+"Why, Clara!" said Madame Georges, affectionately returning her embrace,
+"what is the meaning of this strange costume?"
+
+"It is done in imitation and admiration of her sister Marie," answered
+Madame Dubreuil; "I assure you she let me have no peace till I had
+procured her a woollen bodice, and a fustian skirt exactly resembling
+your Marie's. But, now we are talking of whims and caprices, just come
+this way with me," added Madame Dubreuil, drawing a deep sigh, "while I
+explain to you my present difficulty, as well as the cause of my so
+abruptly summoning you hither; but you are so kind, I feel assured you
+will not only forgive it, but also render me all the assistance I
+require."
+
+Following Madame Georges and her mother to their sitting-room, Clara
+lovingly conducted the Goualeuse also thither, placing her in the
+warmest corner of the fireside, and tenderly chafing her hands to
+prevent the cold from affecting her; then fondly caressing her, and
+styling her again and again her very dear sister Marie, she playfully
+reproached her for allowing so long an interval to pass away without
+paying her a visit. After the recent conversation which passed between
+the poor Goualeuse and the curé (no doubt fresh in the reader's
+memory), it will easily be believed that these tender marks of affection
+inspired the unfortunate girl with feelings of deep humility, combined
+with a timid joy.
+
+"Now, then, dear Madame Dubreuil," said Madame Georges, when they were
+comfortably seated, "do pray tell me what has happened, and in what
+manner I can be serviceable to you."
+
+"Oh, in several ways! I will tell you exactly how. In the first place, I
+believe you are not aware that this farm is the private property of the
+Duchesse de Lucenay, and that we are accountable to her alone, having
+nothing whatever to do with the duke or his steward."
+
+"No, indeed, I never heard that before."
+
+"Neither should I have troubled you with so unimportant a matter now,
+but that it forms a necessary part of the explanation I am about to give
+you of my present pressing need of your kind services. You must know,
+then, that we consider ourselves as the tenants of Madame de Lucenay,
+and always pay our rent either to herself or to Madame Simon, her head
+_femme de chambre_; and, really, spite of some little impetuosity of
+temper, Madame la Duchesse is so amiable that it is delightful to have
+business with her. Dubreuil and I would go through fire and water to
+serve her: but, la! that is only natural, considering we have known her
+from her very cradle, and were accustomed to see her playing about as a
+child during the visits she used annually to pay to the estate during
+the lifetime of her late father, the Prince de Noirmont. Latterly she
+has asked for her rent in advance. Forty thousand francs is not 'picked
+up by the roadside,' as the old proverb says; but happily we had laid
+that sum by as Clara's dowry, and the very next morning after the
+request reached us we carried madame her money in bright, shining,
+golden louis. These great ladies spend so much, you see, in luxuries
+such as you and I have no idea of. Yet it is only within the last
+twelvemonth Madame de Lucenay has wished to be paid beforehand, she used
+always to seem as though she had plenty of money; but things are very
+different now."
+
+"Still, my dear Madame Dubreuil, I do not yet perceive in what way I can
+possibly assist you."
+
+"Don't be in a hurry! I am just coming to that part of my story; but I
+was obliged to tell you all this that you might be able to understand
+the entire confidence Madame la Duchesse places in us. To be sure, she
+showed her great regard for us by becoming, when only thirteen years of
+age, Clara's godmother, her noble father standing as the other sponsor;
+and, ever since, Madame de Lucenay has loaded her godchild with presents
+and kind attentions. But I must not keep you--I see you are impatient;
+so I will at once proceed with the business part of my tale. You must
+know, then, that last night I received by express the following letter
+from Madame de Lucenay:
+
+    "MY DEAR MADAME DUBREUIL:
+
+      "'You must prepare the small pavilion in the orchard for
+    occupation by to-morrow evening. Send there all the requisite
+    furniture, such as carpets, curtains, etc., etc. Let nothing be
+    wanted to render it, in every respect, as _comfortable_ as
+    possible.'
+
+"Do you mark the word 'comfortable,' Madame Georges?" inquired Madame
+Dubreuil, pausing in the midst of her reading; "it is even underlined."
+Then looking up at her friend with a thoughtful, puzzled expression of
+countenance, and receiving no answer, she continued the perusal of her
+letter:
+
+      "'It is so long since the pavilion has been used that it will
+    require large and constant fires both night and day to remove the
+    dampness from the walls. I wish you to behave in every respect to
+    the person who will occupy the apartments as you would do to
+    myself. And you will receive by the hands of the new visitant a
+    letter from me explanatory of all I expect from your well-known
+    zeal and attachment. I depend entirely on you and feel every
+    assurance that I may safely reckon on your fidelity and desire to
+    serve me. Adieu, my dear Madame Dubreuil; remember me most kindly
+    to my pretty goddaughter; and believe me ever,
+
+                        "'Yours, sincerely and truly,
+                                        "'NOIRMONT DE LUCENAY.
+
+      "'P.S. The person whom I so strongly recommend to your best care
+    and attention will arrive the day after to-morrow, about dusk.
+    Pray do your very utmost to render the pavilion as _comfortable_
+    as you possibly can.'
+
+"Comfortable again, you see, and underlined as before," said Madame
+Dubreuil, returning the letter of Madame de Lucenay to her pocket.
+
+"Well," replied Madame Georges, "all this is simple enough!"
+
+"How do you mean, simple enough? you cannot have heard me read the
+letter. Madame la Duchesse wishes particularly 'that the pavilion should
+be rendered as comfortable as possible.' Now that is the very reason of
+my asking you to come to me to-day; Clara and I have been knocking our
+heads together in vain to discover what 'comfortable' can possibly mean,
+but without being able to find it out. Yet it seems odd, too, that Clara
+should not know its meaning, for she was several years at school at
+Villiers le Bel, and gained a quantity of prizes for history and
+geography; however, she knows as little as I do about that outlandish
+word. I dare say it is only known at court, or in the fashionable world.
+However, be that as it may, Madame la Duchesse has thrown me into a
+pretty fuss by making use of it; she says, and you see twice repeats the
+words, and even underlines it, 'that she requests I will furnish the
+pavilion as comfortably as possible.' Now what are we to do when we have
+not the slightest notion of the meaning of that word?"
+
+"Well, heaven be praised, then, that I can relieve your perplexity by
+solving this grand mystery!" said Madame Georges, smiling. "Upon the
+present occasion the word comfortable merely means an assemblage of
+neat, well-chosen, well-arranged, and convenient furniture, so placed,
+in apartments well warmed and protected from cold or damp, that the
+occupant shall find every thing that is necessary combined with articles
+that to some might seem superfluities."
+
+"Thank you. I perfectly understand what comfortable means as regards
+furnishing apartments; but your explanation only increases my
+difficulties."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Madame la Duchesse speaks of carpets, furniture, and many _et
+coeteras_; now we have no carpets here, and our furniture is of the
+most homely description. Neither can I make out by the letter whether
+the person I am to expect is a male or female; and yet every thing must
+be prepared by to-morrow evening. What shall I do? What can I do? I can
+get nothing here. Really, Madame Georges, it is enough to drive one wild
+to be placed in such an awkward situation."
+
+"But, mother," said Clara, "suppose you take the furniture out of my
+room, and whilst you are refurnishing it I will go and pass a few days
+with dear Marie at Bouqueval."
+
+"My dear child, what nonsense you talk! as if the humble fittings-up of
+your chamber could equal what Madame la Duchesse means by the word
+'comfortable,'" returned Madame Dubreuil, with a disconsolate shrug of
+the shoulders. "Lord! Lord! why will fine ladies puzzle poor folks like
+me by going out of their way to find such expressions as comfortable?"
+
+"Then I presume the pavilion in question is ordinarily uninhabited?"
+said Madame Georges.
+
+"Oh, yes! There, you see that small white building at the end of the
+orchard--that is it. The late Prince de Noirmont, father of Madame la
+Duchesse, caused it to be built for his daughter when, in her youthful
+days, she was accustomed to visit the farm, and she then occupied it.
+There are three pretty chambers in it, and a beautiful little Swiss
+dairy at the end of the garden, where, in her childish days, Madame la
+Duchesse used to divert herself with feigning to manage. Since her
+marriage, she has only been twice at the farm, but each time she passed
+several hours in the pavilion. The first time was about six years ago,
+and then she came on horseback with--" Then, as though the presence of
+Clara and Fleur-de-Marie prevented her from saying more, Madame Dubreuil
+interrupted herself by saying, "But I am talking instead of doing; and
+that is not the way to get out of my present difficulty. Come, dear,
+good Madame Georges, and help a poor bewildered creature like myself!"
+
+"In the first place," answered Madame Georges, "tell me how is this
+pavilion furnished at the present moment."
+
+"Oh, scarcely at all! In the principal apartment there is a straw
+matting on the centre of the floor; a sofa, and a few arm-chairs
+composed of rushes, a table, and some chairs, comprise all the
+inventory, which, I think you will allow, falls far short of the word
+comfortable."
+
+"Well, I tell you what I should do in your place. Let me see; it is
+eleven o'clock. I should send a person on whom you can depend to Paris."
+
+"Our overseer![2] There cannot be a more active, intelligent person."
+
+  [2] A species of overseer employed in most of the large farming
+  establishments in the environs of Paris.
+
+"Exactly! just the right sort of messenger. Well, in two hours at the
+utmost, he may be in Paris. Let him go to some upholsterer in the
+Chaussée d'Antin--never mind which--and give him the list I will draw
+out, after I have seen what is wanting for the pavilion; and let him be
+directed to say that, let the expense be what it may--"
+
+"I don't care about expense, if I can but satisfy the duchess."
+
+"The upholsterer, then, must be told that, at any cost, he must see that
+every article named in the list be sent here either this evening or
+before daybreak to-morrow, with three or four of his most clever and
+active workmen to arrange them as quickly as possible."
+
+"They might come by the Gonesse diligence, which leaves Paris at eight
+o'clock every evening."
+
+"And as they would only have to place the furniture, lay down carpets,
+and put up curtains, all that could easily be done by to-morrow
+evening."
+
+"Oh, my dear Madame Georges, what a load you have taken off my mind! I
+should never have thought of this simple yet proper manner of
+proceeding. You are the saving of me! Now, may I ask you to be so kind
+as to draw me out the list of articles necessary to render the
+pavilion--what is that hard word? I never can recollect it."
+
+"Comfortable! Yes, I will at once set about it, and with pleasure."
+
+"Dear me! here is another difficulty. Don't you see we are not told
+whether to expect a lady or a gentleman? Madame de Lucenay, in her
+letter, only says 'a person.' It is very perplexing, isn't it?"
+
+"Then make your preparations as if for a lady, my dear Madame Dubreuil;
+and, should it turn out a gentleman, why he will only have better reason
+to be pleased with his accommodations."
+
+"Quite right; right again, as you always are."
+
+A servant here announced that breakfast was ready.
+
+"Let breakfast wait a little," said Madame Georges. "And, while I draw
+out the necessary list, send some person you can depend upon to take the
+exact height and width of the three rooms, that the curtains and carpets
+may more easily be prepared."
+
+"Thank you. I will set our overseer to work out this commission."
+
+"Madame," continued the servant, speaking to her mistress, "the new
+dairy-woman from Stains is here with her few goods in a small cart drawn
+by a donkey. The beast has not a heavy load to complain of, for the poor
+body's luggage seems but very trifling."
+
+"Poor woman!" said Madame Dubreuil, kindly.
+
+"What woman is it?" inquired Madame Georges.
+
+"A poor creature from Stains, who once had four cows of her own, and
+used to go every morning to Paris to sell her milk. Her husband was a
+blacksmith, and one day accompanied her to Paris to purchase some iron
+he required for his work, agreeing to rejoin her at the corner of the
+street where she was accustomed to sell her milk. Unhappily, as it
+afterwards turned out, the poor woman had selected a very bad part of
+Paris; for, when her husband returned, he found her in the midst of a
+set of wicked, drunken fellows, who had, for mere mischief's sake, upset
+all her milk into the gutter. The poor blacksmith tried to reason with
+them upon the score of their unfair conduct, but that only made matters
+worse; they all fell on the husband, who sought in vain to defend
+himself from their violence. The end of the story is, that, in the
+scuffle which ensued, the man received a stab with a knife, which
+stretched him a corpse before the eyes of his distracted wife."
+
+"Dreadful, indeed!" ejaculated Madame Georges. "But, at least, the
+murderer was apprehended?"
+
+"Alas, no! He managed to make his escape during the confusion which
+ensued, though the unfortunate widow asserts she should recognise him at
+any minute she might meet him, having repeatedly seen him in company
+with his associates, inhabitants of that neighbourhood. However, up to
+the present hour all attempts to discover him have been useless. But, to
+end my tale, I must tell you that, in consequence of the death of her
+husband, the poor widow was compelled, in order to pay various debts he
+had contracted, to sell not only her cows but some little land he
+possessed. The bailiff of the château at Stains recommended the poor
+creature to me as a most excellent and honest woman, as deserving as she
+was unfortunate, having three children to provide for, the eldest not
+yet twelve years of age. I happened, just then, to be in want of a
+first-rate dairy-woman, therefore offered her the place, which she
+gladly accepted, and she has now come to take up her abode on the farm."
+
+"This act of real kindness on your part, my dear Madame Dubreuil, does
+not surprise me, knowing you as well as I do."
+
+"Here, Clara," said Madame Dubreuil, as though seeking to escape from
+the praises of her friend, "will you go and show this good woman the way
+to the lodge she is to occupy, while I hasten to explain to our overseer
+the necessity for his immediate departure for Paris?"
+
+"Willingly, dear mother! Marie can come with me, can she not?"
+
+"Of course," answered Madame Dubreuil, "if she pleases." Then added,
+smilingly, "I wonder whether you two girls could do one without the
+other!"
+
+"And now," said Madame Georges, seating herself before a table, "I will
+at once begin my part of the business, that no time may be lost; for we
+must positively return to Bouqueval at four o'clock."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Madame Dubreuil; "how early! Why, what makes you in
+such a hurry?"
+
+"Marie is obliged to be at the rectory by five o'clock."
+
+"Oh, if her return relates to that good Abbé Laporte, I am sure it is a
+sacred duty with which I would not interfere for the world. Well, then,
+I will go and give the necessary orders for everything being punctual
+to that hour. Those two girls have so much to say to each other that we
+must give them as much time as we can."
+
+"Then we shall leave you at three o'clock, my dear Madame Dubreuil?"
+
+"Yes; I promise not to detain you since you so positively wish it. But
+pray let me thank you again and again for coming. What a good thing it
+was I thought of sending to ask your kind assistance," rejoined Madame
+Dubreuil. "Now then, Clara and Marie, off with you!"
+
+As Madame Georges settled herself to her writing, Madame Dubreuil
+quitted the room by a door on one side, while the young friends, in
+company with the servant who had announced the arrival of the milkwoman
+from Stains, went out by the opposite side.
+
+"Where is the poor woman?" inquired Clara.
+
+"There she is, mademoiselle, in the courtyard, near the barns, with her
+children and her little donkey-cart."
+
+"You shall see her, dear Marie," said Clara, taking the arm of la
+Goualeuse. "Poor woman! she looks so pale and sad in her deep widow's
+mourning. The last time she came here to arrange with my mother about
+the place she made my heart ache. She wept bitterly as she spoke of her
+husband; then suddenly burst into a fit of rage as she mentioned his
+murderer. Really, she quite frightened me, she looked so desperate and
+full of fury. But, after all, her resentment was natural. Poor thing! I
+am sure I pity her; some people are very unfortunate, are they not,
+Marie?"
+
+"Alas, yes, they are, indeed!" replied the Goualeuse, sighing deeply.
+"There are some persons who appear born only to trouble and sorrow, as
+you justly observe, Miss Clara."
+
+"This is really very unkind of you, Marie," said Clara, colouring with
+impatience and displeasure. "This is the second time to-day you have
+called me 'Miss Clara.' What can I have possibly done to offend you?
+For I am sure you must be angry with me, or you would not do what you
+know vexes me so very much."
+
+"How is it possible that you could ever offend me?"
+
+"Then why do you say 'miss?' You know very well that both Madame Georges
+and my mother have scolded you for doing it. And I give you due warning,
+if ever you repeat this great offence, I will have you well scolded
+again. Now then, will you be good or not? Speak!"
+
+"Dear Clara, pray pardon me! Indeed, I was not thinking when I spoke."
+
+"Not thinking!" repeated Clara, sorrowfully. "What, after eight long
+days' absence you cannot give me your attention even for five minutes?
+Not thinking! That would be bad enough; but that is not it, Marie. And I
+tell you what, it is my belief you are too proud to own so humble a
+friend as myself."
+
+Fleur-de-Marie made no answer, but her whole countenance assumed the
+pallor of death.
+
+A woman, dressed as a widow, and in deep mourning, had just caught sight
+of her, and uttered a cry of rage and horror which seemed to freeze the
+poor girl's blood. This woman was the person who supplied the Goualeuse
+with her daily milk, during the time the latter dwelt with the ogress at
+the _tapis-franc_.
+
+The scene which ensued took place in one of the yards belonging to the
+farm, in the presence of all the labourers, both male and female, who
+chanced just then to be returning to the house to take their mid-day
+meal. Beneath a shed stood a small cart, drawn by a donkey, and
+containing the few household possessions of the widow; a boy of about
+twelve years of age, aided by two younger children, was beginning to
+unload the vehicle. The milk-woman herself was a woman of about forty
+years of age, her countenance coarse, masculine, and expressive of
+great resolution. She was, as we before stated, attired in the deepest
+mourning, and her eyelids looked red and inflamed with recent weeping.
+Her first impulse at the sight of the Goualeuse had been terror; but
+quickly did that feeling change into grief and rage, while the most
+violent anger contracted her features. Rapidly darting towards the
+unhappy girl, she seized her by the arm, and, presenting her to the gaze
+of the farm servants, she exclaimed:
+
+"Here is a creature who is acquainted with the assassin of my poor
+husband! I have seen her more than twenty times speaking to the ruffian
+when I was selling my milk at the corner of the Rue de la
+Vieille-Draperie; she used to come to buy a ha'porth every morning. She
+knows well enough who it was struck the blow that made me a widow, and
+my poor children fatherless. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' and
+such loose characters as she is are sure to be linked in with thieves
+and murderers. Oh, you shall not escape me, you abandoned wretch!" cried
+the milk-woman, who had now lashed herself into a perfect fury, and who,
+seeing poor Fleur-de-Marie confused and terror-stricken at this sudden
+attack, endeavouring to escape from it by flight, grasped her fiercely
+by the other arm also. Clara, almost speechless with surprise and alarm
+at this outrageous conduct, had been quite incapable of interfering; but
+this increased violence on the part of the widow seemed to restore her
+to herself, and angrily addressing the woman she said:
+
+"What is the meaning of this improper behaviour? Are you out of your
+senses? Has grief turned your brain? Good woman, I pity you! But let us
+pass on; you are mistaken."
+
+"Mistaken!" repeated the woman, with a bitter smile. "Me mistaken! No,
+no, there is no mistake! Just look at her pale, guilty looks! Hark how
+her very teeth rattle in her head! Ah, she knows well enough there is
+no mistake! Ah, you may hold your wicked tongue if you like, but
+justice will find a way to make you speak. You shall go with me before
+the mayor; do you hear? Oh, it is not worth while resisting! I have good
+strong wrists; I can hold you. And sooner than you should escape I would
+carry you every step of the way."
+
+"You good-for-nothing, insolent woman! How dare you presume to speak in
+this way to my dear friend and sister?"
+
+"Your sister, Mlle. Clara! Believe me, it is you who are deceived--it is
+you who have lost your senses," bawled the enraged milk-woman, in a
+loud, coarse voice. "Your sister! A likely story a girl out of the
+streets, who was the companion of the very lowest wretches in the worst
+part of the Cité, should be a sister of yours!"
+
+At these words the assembled labourers, who naturally enough took that
+part in the affair which concerned a person of their own class, and who
+really sympathised with the bereaved milk-woman, gave utterance to deep,
+threatening words, in which the name of Fleur-de-Marie was angrily
+mingled. The three children, hearing their mother speaking in a loud
+tone, and fearing they knew not what, ran to her, and, clinging to her
+dress, burst out into a loud fit of weeping. The sight of these poor
+little fatherless things, dressed also in deep mourning, increased the
+pity of the spectators for the unfortunate widow, while it redoubled
+their indignation against Fleur-de-Marie; while Clara, completely
+frightened by these demonstrations of approaching violence, exclaimed,
+in an agitated tone, to a group of farm labourers:
+
+"Take this woman off the premises directly! Do you not perceive grief
+has driven her out of her senses? Marie! dear Marie! never mind what she
+says. She is mad, poor creature, and knows not what she does!"
+
+The poor Goualeuse, pale, exhausted, and almost fainting, made no effort
+to escape from the powerful grasp of the incensed milk-woman; she hung
+her head, as though unable or unwilling to meet the gaze of friend or
+foe. Clara, attributing her condition to the terror excited by so
+alarming a scene, renewed her commands to the labourers, "Did you not
+hear me desire that this mad woman might be instantly taken away from
+the farm? However, unless she immediately ceases her rude and insolent
+language, I can promise her, by way of punishment, she shall neither
+have the situation my mother promised her nor ever be suffered to put
+her foot on the premises again."
+
+Not a person stirred to obey Clara's orders; on the contrary, one of the
+boldest among the party exclaimed:
+
+"Well, but, Miss Clara, if your friend there is only a common girl out
+of the streets, and, as such, acquainted with the murderer of this poor
+woman's husband, surely she ought to go before the mayor to give an
+account of herself and her bad companions!"
+
+"I tell you," repeated Clara, with indignant warmth, and addressing the
+milk-woman, "you shall never enter this farm again unless you this very
+instant, and before all these people, humbly beg pardon of Mlle. Marie
+for all the wicked things you have been saying about her!"
+
+"You turn me off the premises then, mademoiselle, do you?" retorted the
+widow with bitterness. "Well, so be it. Come, my poor children, let us
+put the things back in the cart, and go and seek our bread elsewhere.
+God will take care of us. But, at least, when we go, we will take this
+abandoned young woman with us. She shall be made to tell the mayor, if
+she won't us, who it was that took away your dear father's life; for she
+knows well enough--she who was the daily companion of the worst set of
+ruffians who infest Paris. And you, miss," added she, looking spitefully
+and insolently at Clara, "you should not, because you choose to make
+friends with low girls out of the streets, and because you happen to be
+rich, be quite so hard-hearted and unfeeling to poor creatures like
+me!"
+
+"No more she ought," exclaimed one of the labourers; "the poor woman is
+right!"
+
+"Of course she is,--she is only standing up for her own!"
+
+"Poor thing, she has no one now to do so for her! Why, they have
+murdered her husband among them! I should think that might content them,
+without trampling the poor woman under foot."
+
+"One comfort is, nobody can stop her from doing all in her power to
+bring the murderers of her husband to justice."
+
+"It is a shame to send her away in this manner, like a dog!"
+
+"Can she help it, poor creature, if Miss Clara thinks proper to take up
+with common girls and thieves, and make them her companions?"
+
+"Infamous to turn an honest woman, a poor widow with helpless children,
+into the streets for such a base girl as that!"
+
+These different speeches, uttered nearly simultaneously by the
+surrounding crowd, were rapidly assuming a most hostile and threatening
+tone, when Clara joyfully exclaimed:
+
+"Thank God, here comes my mother!"
+
+It was, indeed, Madame Dubreuil, who was crossing the courtyard on her
+return from the pavilion.
+
+"Now, then, my children," said Madame Dubreuil, gaily approaching the
+assembled group, "will you come in to breakfast? I declare it is quite
+late! I dare say you are both hungry? Come, Marie!--Clara!"
+
+"Mother," cried Clara, pointing to the widow, "you are fortunately just
+in time to save my dear sister Marie from the insults and violence of
+that woman. Oh, pray order her away instantly! If you only knew what she
+had the audacity to say to Marie!"
+
+"Impossible, Clara!"
+
+"Nay, but, dear mother, only look at my poor dear sister! See how she
+trembles! She can scarcely support herself. Oh, it is a shame and
+disgrace such conduct should ever have been offered to a guest of ours!
+My dear, dear friend--Marie, dear!--look up, and say you are not angry
+with us. Pray tell me you will try and forget it!"
+
+"What is the meaning of all this?" inquired Madame Dubreuil, looking
+around her with a disturbed and uneasy look, after having observed the
+despairing agony of the Goualeuse.
+
+"Ah, now we shall have justice done the poor widow woman!" murmured the
+labourers. "Madame will see her righted, no doubt about it!"
+
+"Now, then," exclaimed the milk-woman, exultingly, "here is Madame
+Dubreuil. Now, my fine miss," continued she, addressing Fleur-de-Marie,
+"you will have your turn of being turned out-of-doors!"
+
+"Is it true, then," cried Madame Dubreuil, addressing the widow, who
+still kept firm hold of Fleur-de-Marie's arm, "that you have dared to
+insult my daughter's friend, as she asserts? Is this the way you show
+your gratitude for all I have done to serve you? Will you leave that
+young lady alone?"
+
+"Yes, madame," replied the woman, relinquishing her grasp of
+Fleur-de-Marie, "at your bidding I will; for I respect you too much to
+disobey you. And, besides, I owe you much gratitude for all your
+kindness to a poor, friendless creature like myself. But, before you
+blame me, and drive me off the premises with my poor children, just
+question that wretched creature that has caused all this confusion what
+she knows of me. I know a pretty deal more of her than is to her
+credit!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake, Marie," exclaimed Madame Dubreuil, almost petrified
+with astonishment, "What does this woman allude to? Do you hear what she
+says?"
+
+"Are you, or are you not known by the name of the Goualeuse?" said the
+milk-woman to Marie.
+
+"Yes," said the wretched girl, in a low, trembling voice, and without
+venturing to lift up her eyes towards Madame Dubreuil,--"yes, I am
+called so."
+
+"There you see!" vociferated the enraged labourers. "She owns it! she
+owns it!"
+
+"What does she own?" inquired Madame Dubreuil, half frightened at the
+assent given by Fleur-de-Marie.
+
+"Leave her to me, madame," resumed the widow, "and you shall hear her
+confess that she was living in a house of the most infamous description
+in the Rue-aux-Fêves in the Cité, and that she every morning purchased a
+half-pennyworth of milk of me. She cannot deny either having repeatedly
+spoken in my presence to the murderer of my poor husband. Oh, she knows
+him well enough, I am quite certain; a pale young man, who smoked a good
+deal, and always wore a cap and a blouse, and wore his hair very long;
+she could tell his name if she chose. Is this true, or is it a lie?"
+vociferously demanded the milk-woman.
+
+"I may have spoken to the man who killed your husband," answered
+Fleur-de-Marie, in a faint voice; "for, unhappily, there are more than
+one in the Cité capable of such a crime. But, indeed, I know not of whom
+you are speaking!"
+
+"What does she say?" asked Madame Dubreuil, horror-struck at her words.
+"She admits having possibly conversed with murderers?"
+
+"Oh, such lost wretches as she is," replied the widow, "have no better
+companions!"
+
+At first, utterly stupefied by so singular a discovery, confirmed,
+indeed, by Fleur-de-Marie's own admission, Madame Dubreuil seemed almost
+incapable of comprehending the scene before her; but quickly the whole
+truth presented itself to her mental vision, and shrinking from the
+unfortunate girl with horror and disgust, she hastily seized her
+daughter by the dress, as she was about to sustain the sinking form of
+the poor Goualeuse, and, drawing her towards her with sudden violence,
+she exclaimed:
+
+"Clara! For Heaven's sake approach not that vile, that abandoned young
+woman! Oh, dreadful, indeed, ever to have admitted her here! But how
+came Madame Georges to have her under her roof? And how could she so far
+insult me as to bring her here, and allow my daughter to--This is,
+indeed, disgraceful! I hardly know whether to trust the evidence of my
+own senses. But Madame Georges must have been as much imposed on as
+myself, or she never would have permitted such an indignity! No, no! She
+is incapable of such dishonourable conduct. It would, indeed, be a
+disgrace for one female so to have deceived another."
+
+Poor Clara, terrified and almost heart-broken at this distressing scene,
+could scarcely believe herself awake. It seemed as though she were under
+the influence of a fearful dream. Her innocent and pure mind
+comprehended not the frightful charges brought against her friend; but
+she understood enough to fill her with the most poignant grief at the
+unfortunate position of La Goualeuse, who stood mute, passive and
+downcast, like a criminal in the presence of the judge.
+
+"Come, come, my child," repeated Madame Dubreuil, "let us quit this
+disgraceful scene." Then, turning towards Fleur-de-Marie, she said:
+
+"As for you, worthless girl, the Almighty will punish you as you deserve
+for your deceit! That my child, good and virtuous as she is, should ever
+have been allowed to call you sister or friend. Her sister! You--the
+very vilest of the vile! the outcast of the most depraved and lost
+wretches! What hardihood, what effrontery you must have possessed, to
+dare to show your face among good and honest people, when your proper
+place would have been along with your bad companions in a prison!"
+
+"Ay, ay!" cried all the labourers at once; "let her be sent off to
+prison at once. She knows the murderer! Let her be made to declare who
+and what he is."
+
+"She is most likely his accomplice!"
+
+"You see," exclaimed the widow, doubling her fist in the face of the
+Goualeuse, "that my words have come true. Justice will overtake you
+before you can commit other crimes."
+
+"As for you, my good woman," said Madame Dubreuil to the milk-woman,
+"far from sending you away I shall reward you for the service you have
+done me in unmasking this infamous girl's real character."
+
+"There, I told you," murmured the voices of the labourers, "our mistress
+always does justice to every one!"
+
+"Come, Clara," resumed Madame Dubreuil, "let us retire and seek Madame
+Georges, that she may clear up her share of this disgraceful business,
+or she and I never meet again; for either she has herself been most
+dreadfully deceived, or her conduct towards us is of the very worst
+description."
+
+"But, mother, only look at poor Marie!"
+
+"Oh, never mind her! Let her die of shame, if she likes,--there will be
+one wicked, hardened girl less in the world. Treat her with the contempt
+she deserves. I will not suffer you to remain another instant where she
+is. It is impossible for a young person like you to notice her in any
+way without disgracing herself."
+
+"My dear mother," answered Clara, resisting her mother's attempts to
+draw her away, "I do not understand what you mean. Marie must be wrong
+in some way, since you say so! But look, only look at her--she is
+fainting! Pity her! Oh, mother, let her be ever so guilty, pray take
+pity on her present distress!"
+
+"Oh, Mlle. Clara, you are good--very, very good--to pardon me and care
+for me," uttered poor Fleur-de-Marie, in a faint voice, casting a look
+of unutterable gratitude on her young protectress. "Believe me, it was
+sorely against my will ever to deceive you; and daily, hourly, have I
+reproached myself for so doing."
+
+"Mother," exclaimed Clara, in the most piteous tones, "are you then so
+merciless? Can you not pity her?"
+
+"Pity!" returned Madame Dubreuil, scornfully. "No, I waste no pity on
+such as she is. Come, I say! Were it not that I consider it the office
+of Madame Georges to clear the place of so vile a creature, I would have
+her spurned from the doors, as though she carried the plague about with
+her." So saying, the angry mother seized her daughter's hand, and, spite
+of all her struggles, led her away, Clara continually turning back her
+head, and saying:
+
+"Marie, my sister, I know not what they accuse you of, but I am quite
+convinced of your innocence. Be assured of my constant love, whatever
+they may say or do."
+
+"Silence! silence! I command!" cried Madame Dubreuil, placing her hand
+over her daughter's mouth. "Speak not another word, I insist!
+Fortunately, we have plenty of witnesses to testify that, after the
+odious discovery we have just made, you were not suffered to remain a
+single instant with this lost and unfortunate young woman. You can all
+answer for that, can you not, my good people?" continued she, speaking
+to the assembled labourers.
+
+"Yes, yes, madame," replied one of them, "we all know well enough that
+Mlle. Clara was not allowed to stop with this bad girl a single instant
+after you found out her wickedness. No doubt she is a thief or she would
+not be so intimate with murderers."
+
+Madame Dubreuil led Clara to the house, while the Goualeuse remained in
+the midst of the hostile circle which had now formed around her. Spite
+of the reproaches of Madame Dubreuil, her presence, and that of Clara,
+had, in some degree, served to allay the fears of Fleur-de-Marie as to
+the probable termination of the scene. But, after the departure of both
+mother and daughter, when she found herself so entirely at the mercy of
+the enraged crowd, her strength seemed to forsake her, and she was
+obliged to keep herself from falling by leaning on the parapet of the
+deep watering-place where the farm cattle were accustomed to drink.
+
+Nothing could be conceived more touching than the attitude of the
+unfortunate girl, nor could a more threatening appearance have been
+displayed than was exhibited in the words and looks of the countrymen
+and women who surrounded her. Seated, or rather supporting herself on
+the narrow margin of the wall which enclosed the drinking-place, her
+head hanging down, and concealed by both hands, her neck and bosom hid
+by the ends of the little red cotton handkerchief which was twisted
+around her cap, the poor Goualeuse, mute and motionless, presented a
+most touching picture of grief and resignation.
+
+At some little distance from Fleur-de-Marie stood the widow of the
+murdered man. Triumphant in her vindictive rage, and still further
+excited by the indignation expressed by Madame Dubreuil, she pointed out
+the wretched object of her wrath to the labourers and her children, with
+gestures of contempt and detestation. The farm servants, who had now
+formed into a close circle, sought not to conceal their disgust and
+thirst for vengeance; their rude countenances expressed at once rage,
+desire for revenge, and a sort of insulting raillery. The women were
+even still more bitter, and bent upon mischief. Neither did the striking
+beauty of the Goualeuse tend to allay their wrath. But neither men nor
+women could pardon Fleur-de-Marie the heinous offence of having, up to
+that hour, been treated by their superiors as an equal; and some of the
+men now present, having been unsuccessful candidates for the vacant
+situations at Bouqueval, and attributing their failure to Madame
+Georges, when, in reality, their disappointment arose entirely from
+their recommendations not being sufficiently satisfactory, determined to
+avail themselves of the opportunity now before them to wreak their
+vexation and ill-will on the head of one she was known to protect and
+love. The impulses of ignorant minds always lead to extremes either of
+good or bad. But they speedily put on a most dangerous form, when the
+fury of an enraged multitude is directed against those who may already
+have awakened their personal anger or aversion.
+
+Although the greater number of the labourers now collected together
+might not have been so strictly virtuous and free from moral blame as to
+be justified in throwing the first stone at the trembling, fainting
+girl, who was the object of all their concentrated wrath, yet, on the
+present occasion, they unanimously spoke and acted as though her very
+presence was capable of contaminating them; and their delicacy and
+modesty alike revolted at the bare recollection of the depraved class to
+which she had belonged, and they shuddered to be so near one who
+confessed to having frequently conversed with assassins. Nothing, then,
+was wanting to urge on a blind and prejudiced crowd, still further
+instigated by the example of Madame Dubreuil.
+
+"Take her before the mayor!" cried one.
+
+"Ay, ay! and, if she won't walk, we'll drag her."
+
+"And for her to have the impudence to dress herself like one of us
+honest girls!" said an awkward, ill-looking farm-wench.
+
+"I'm sure," rejoined another female, with her mock-modest air, "one
+might have thought she would go to heaven, spite of priest or
+confession!"
+
+"Why, she had the assurance even to attend mass!"
+
+"No! Did she? Why did she not join in the communion afterwards then, I
+should like to know?"
+
+"And then she must play the young lady, and hold up her head as high as
+our betters!"
+
+"As though we were not good company enough for her!"
+
+"However, every dog has his day!"
+
+"Oh, I'll make you find your tongue, and tell who it was took my
+husband's life!" vociferated the enraged widow, breaking out into a
+fresh storm, now she felt her party so strong. "You all belong to one
+gang; and I'm not sure but I saw you among them at the very time and
+place when the bloody deed was done! Come, come; don't stand there
+shedding your crocodile tears; you are found out, and may as well leave
+off shamming any more. Show your face, I say! You are a beauty, ain't
+you?" And the infuriated woman, suiting the action to the word,
+violently snatched the two hands of poor Fleur-de-Marie from the pale
+and grief-worn countenance they concealed, and down which tears were
+fast streaming.
+
+The Goualeuse, sinking under a sense of shame, and terrified at finding
+herself thus at the mercy of her persecutors, joined her hands, and,
+turning towards the milk-woman her supplicating and timid looks, she
+said, in a gentle voice:
+
+"Indeed, indeed, madam, I have been at the farm of Bouqueval these last
+two months. How could I, then, have been witness to the dreadful
+misfortune you speak of? And--"
+
+The faint tones of Fleur-de-Marie's voice were drowned in the loud
+uproarious cries of the surrounding multitude.
+
+"Let us take her before the mayor! She can speak; and she shall, too, to
+some purpose. March, march, my fine madam! On with you!"
+
+So saying, the menacing crowd pressed upon the poor girl, who,
+mechanically crossing her hands on her bosom, looked eagerly around, as
+though in search of help.
+
+"Oh," cried the milk-woman, "you need not stare about in that wild way.
+Mlle. Clara is not here now to take your part. You don't slip through
+my fingers, I promise you!"
+
+"Alas! madam," uttered Fleur-de-Marie, trembling violently, "I seek not
+to escape from you. Be assured, I am both ready and willing to answer
+all the questions put to me, if I can be of any service to you by so
+doing. But what harm have I done to these people, who surround and
+threaten me in this manner?"
+
+"What have you done?" repeated a number of voices, "why, you have dared
+to stick yourself up with our betters, when we, who were worth thousands
+more than such as you, were made to keep our distance,--that's what you
+have done!"
+
+"And what right had you to cause this poor woman to be turned away with
+her fatherless children?" cried another.
+
+"Indeed, it was no fault of mine. It was Mlle. Clara, who wished--"
+
+"That is not true!" interrupted the speaker. "You never even opened your
+mouth in her favour. No, not you? You were too well pleased to see her
+bread taken from her."
+
+"No, no! no more she did," chimed in a burst of voices, male and female.
+
+"She is a regular bad one!"
+
+"A poor widow-woman, with three helpless children!"
+
+"If I did not plead for her with Mlle. Clara, it was because I had not
+power to utter a word."
+
+"You could find strength enough to talk to a set of thieves and
+murderers!"
+
+And, as is frequently the case in public commotions, the country people,
+more ignorant than vicious, actually talked themselves into a fury,
+until their own words and violence excited them to fresh acts of rage
+and vengeance against their unhappy victim.
+
+The menacing throng, gesticulating, and loudly threatening, advanced
+closer and closer towards Fleur-de-Marie, while the widow appeared to
+have lost all command over herself. Separated from the deep pond only by
+the parapet on which she was leaning, the Goualeuse shuddered at the
+idea of their throwing her into the water; and, extending towards them
+her supplicating hands, she exclaimed:
+
+"Good, kind people! what do you want with me? For pity's sake do not
+harm me!"
+
+And as the milk-woman, with fierce and angry gestures, kept coming
+nearer and nearer, holding her clenched fist almost in the face of
+Fleur-de-Marie, the poor girl, drawing herself back in terror, said, in
+beseeching tones:
+
+"Pray, pray, do not press so closely on me, or you will cause me to fall
+into the water."
+
+These words suggested a cruel idea to the rough spectators. Intending
+merely one of those practical jokes which, however diverting to the
+projectors, are fraught with serious harm and suffering to the
+unfortunate object of them, one of the most violent of the number called
+out, "Let's give her a plunge in! Duck her! duck her!"
+
+"Yes, yes!" chimed several voices, accompanied with brutal laughter, and
+noisy clapping of hands, with other tokens of unanimous approval. "Throw
+her in!--in with her!"
+
+"A good dip will do her good! Water won't kill her!"
+
+"That will teach her not to show her face among honest people again!"
+
+"To be sure. Toss her in!--fling her over!"
+
+"Fortunately, the ice was broken this morning!"
+
+"And when she has had her bath she may go and tell her street companions
+how the folks at Arnouville farm serve such vile girls as she is!"
+
+As these unfeeling speeches reached her ear, as she heard their
+barbarous jokes, and observed the exasperated looks of the brutally
+excited individuals who approached her to carry their threat into
+execution, Fleur-de-Marie gave herself over for lost. But to her first
+horror of a violent death succeeded a sort of gloomy satisfaction. The
+future wore so threatening and hopeless an aspect for her that she
+thanked heaven for shortening her trial. Not another complaining word
+escaped her; but gently falling on her knees, and piously folding her
+hands upon her breast, she closed her eyes, and meekly resigned herself
+to her fate.
+
+The labourers, surprised at the attitude and mute resignation of the
+Goualeuse, hesitated a moment in the accomplishment of their savage
+design; but, rallied on their folly and irresolution by the female part
+of the assemblage, they recommenced their uproarious cries, as though to
+inspire themselves with the necessary courage to complete their wicked
+purpose.
+
+Just as two of the most furious of the party were about to seize on
+Fleur-de-Marie a loud, thrilling voice was heard, exclaiming:
+
+"Stop! I command you!"
+
+And at the very instant Madame Georges, who had forced a passage through
+the crowd, reached the still kneeling Goualeuse, took her in her arms,
+and, raising her, cried:
+
+"Rise up, my child! Stand up, my beloved daughter! the knee should be
+bent to God alone!"
+
+The expression and attitude of Madame Georges were so full of courageous
+firmness that the actors in this cruel scene shrunk back speechless and
+confounded. Indignation coloured her usually pale features, and casting
+on the labourers a stern look she said to them, in a loud and
+threatening voice:
+
+"Wretches! Are you not ashamed of such brutal conduct to a helpless girl
+like this?"
+
+"She is--"
+
+"My daughter!" exclaimed Madame Georges, with severity, and abruptly
+interrupting the man who was about to speak, "and, as such, both
+cherished and protected by our worthy curé, M. l'Abbé Laporte, whom
+every one venerates and loves; and those whom he loves and esteems ought
+to be respected by every one!"
+
+These simple words effectually imposed silence on the crowd. The curé of
+Bouqueval was looked upon throughout his district almost as a saint, and
+many there present were well aware of the interest he took in the
+Goualeuse. Still a confused murmur went on, and Madame Georges, fully
+comprehending its import, added:
+
+"Suppose this poor girl were the very worst of creatures--the most
+abandoned of her sex--your conduct is not the less disgraceful! What
+offence has she committed? And what right have you to punish her?--you,
+who call yourselves men, to exert your strength and power against one
+poor, feeble, unresisting female! Surely it was a cowardly action all to
+unite against a defenceless girl! Come, Marie! come, child of my heart!
+let us return home; there, at least, you are known, and justly
+appreciated."
+
+Madame Georges took the arm of Fleur-de-Marie, while the labourers,
+ashamed of their conduct, the impropriety of which they now perceived,
+respectfully dispersed. The widow alone remained; and, advancing boldly
+to Madame Georges, she said, in a resolute tone:
+
+"I don't care for a word you say; and, as for this girl, she does not
+quit this place until after she has deposed before the mayor as to all
+she knows of my poor husband's murder."
+
+"My good woman!" said Madame Georges, restraining herself by a violent
+effort, "my daughter has no deposition to make here, but, at any future
+period that justice may require her testimony let her be summoned, and
+she shall attend with myself; until then no person has a right to
+question her."
+
+"But, madame, I say--"
+
+Madame Georges prevented the milk-woman from proceeding by replying, in
+a severe tone:
+
+"The severe affliction you have experienced can scarcely excuse your
+conduct, and you will one day regret the violence you have so improperly
+excited. Mlle. Marie lives with me at the Bouqueval farm; inform the
+judge who received your deposition of that circumstance, and say that we
+await his further orders."
+
+The widow, unable to argue against words so temperately and wisely
+spoken, seated herself on the parapet of the drinking-place, and,
+embracing her children, began to weep bitterly. Almost immediately after
+this scene Pierre brought the chaise, into which Madame Georges and
+Fleur-de-Marie mounted, to return to Bouqueval.
+
+As they passed before the farmhouse of Arnouville, the Goualeuse
+perceived Clara, who had hid herself behind a partly closed shutter,
+weeping bitterly. She was evidently watching for a last glimpse of her
+friend, to whom she waved her handkerchief in token of farewell.
+
+"Ah, madame! what shame to me, and vexation to you, has arisen this
+morning from our visit to Arnouville!" said Fleur-de-Marie to her
+adopted parent, when they found themselves in the sitting-room at
+Bouqueval; "you have probably quarrelled for ever with Madame Dubreuil,
+and all on my account! Oh, I foresaw something terrible was about to
+happen! God has justly punished me for deceiving that good lady and her
+daughter! I am the unfortunate cause of perpetual disunion between
+yourself and your friend."
+
+"My dear child, my friend is a warm-hearted, excellent woman, but rather
+weak; still I know her too well not to feel certain that by to-morrow
+she will regret her foolish violence of to-day."
+
+"Alas! madame, think not that I wish to take her part in preference to
+yours. No, God forbid! but pardon me if I say that I fear your great
+kindness towards me has induced you to shut your eyes to--Put yourself
+in the place of Madame Dubreuil--to be told that the companion of your
+darling daughter was--what I was--Ah, could any one blame such natural
+indignation?"
+
+Unfortunately Madame Georges could not find any satisfactory reply to
+this question of Fleur-de-Marie's, who continued with much excitement:
+
+"Soon will the degrading scene of yesterday be in everybody's mouth! I
+fear not for myself, but who can tell how far it may affect the
+reputation of Mlle. Clara? Who can answer for it that I may not have
+tarnished her fair fame for ever? for did she not, in the face of the
+assembled crowd, persist in calling me her friend--her sister? I ought
+to have obeyed my first impulse, and resisted the affection which
+attracted me towards Mlle. Dubreuil, and, at the risk of incurring her
+dislike, have refused the friendship she offered me. But I forgot the
+distance which separated me from her, and now, as you perceive, I am
+suffering the just penalty; I am punished--oh, how cruelly punished! for
+I have perhaps done an irreparable injury to one so virtuous and so
+good."
+
+"My child," said Madame Georges, after a brief silence, "you are wrong
+to accuse yourself so cruelly. 'Tis true your past life has been
+guilty--very highly so; but are we to reckon as nothing your having, by
+the sincerity of your repentance, obtained the protection and favour of
+our excellent curé? and was it not under his auspices and mine you were
+introduced to Madame Dubreuil? and did not your own amiable qualities
+inspire her with the attachment she so voluntarily professed for you?
+was it not she herself who requested you to call Clara your sister? and,
+finally, as I told her just now, for I neither wished nor ought to
+conceal the whole truth from her, how could I, certain as I felt of your
+sincere repentance--how could I, by divulging the past, render your
+attempts to reinstate yourself more painful and difficult, perhaps
+impossible, by throwing you, in despair of being again received by the
+good and virtuous, back upon the scorn and derision of those who,
+equally guilty, equally unfortunate as you have been, would not perhaps
+like you have preserved the secret instinct of honour and virtue? The
+disclosure made by the woman to-day is alike to be lamented and feared;
+but could I, in anticipation of an almost impossible casualty, sacrifice
+your present comfort and future repose?"
+
+"Ah, madame, a convincing proof of the false and miserable position I
+must ever hold may be found in the fact of your being obliged to conceal
+the past; and that the mother of Clara despises me for that past; views
+me in the same contemptuous light all will henceforward behold me, for
+the scene at the farm of Arnouville will be quickly spread
+abroad,--every one will hear of it! Oh, I shall die with shame! never
+again can I meet the looks of any human being!"
+
+"Not even mine, my child?" said Madame Georges, bursting into tears, and
+opening her arms to Fleur-de-Marie, "you will never find in my heart any
+other feeling than the devoted tenderness of a mother. Courage, then,
+dear Marie! console yourself with the knowledge of your hearty and
+sincere repentance; you are here surrounded with true and affectionate
+friends, let this home be your world. We will anticipate the exposure
+you dread so much; our worthy abbé shall assemble the people about the
+farm, who all regard you with love and respect, and he shall tell them
+the sad history of your past life; and, trust me, my child, told as the
+tale would be by him, whose word is law here, such a disclosure will but
+serve to increase the interest all take in your welfare."
+
+"I would fain think so, dear madame, and I submit myself. Yesterday,
+when we were conversing together, M. le Curé predicted to me that I
+should be called upon painfully to expiate my past offences; I ought
+not, therefore, to be astonished at their commencement. He told me also
+that my earthly trials would be accepted as some atonement for the great
+wrong I have done; I would fain hope so. Supported through these painful
+ordeals by you and my venerable pastor, I will not--I ought not to
+complain."
+
+"You will go to his presence ere long, and never will his counsels have
+been more valuable to you. It is already half-past four; prepare
+yourself for your visit to the rectory, my child. I shall employ myself
+in writing to M. Rodolph an account of what occurred at the farm at
+Arnouville, and send my letter off by express; I will then join you at
+our venerable abbé's, for it is most important we should talk over
+matters together."
+
+Shortly after the Goualeuse quitted the farm in order to repair to the
+rectory by the hollow road, where the old woman, the Schoolmaster, and
+Tortillard had agreed to meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As may have been perceived in her conversations with Madame Georges and
+the curé of Bouqueval, Fleur-de-Marie had so nobly profited by the
+example of her benefactors, so assimilated herself with their
+principles, that, remembering her past degradation, she daily became
+more hopeless of recovering the place she had lost in society. As her
+mind expanded so did her fine and noble instincts arrive at mature
+growth, and bring forth worthy fruits in the midst of the atmosphere of
+honour and purity in which she lived. Had she possessed a less exalted
+mind, a less exquisite sensibility, or an imagination of weaker quality,
+Fleur-de-Marie might easily have been comforted and consoled; but,
+unfortunately, not a single day passed in which she did not recall, and
+almost live over again, with an agony of horror and disgust, the
+disgraceful miseries of her past life. Let the reader figure to himself
+a young creature of sixteen, candid and pure, and rejoicing in that very
+candour and purity, thrown, by frightful circumstances, into the
+infamous den of the ogress, and irrecoverably subjected to the dominion
+of such a fiend,--such was the reaction of the past on the present on
+Fleur-de-Marie's mind. Let us still further display the resentful
+retrospect, or, rather, the moral agony with which the Goualeuse
+suffered so excruciatingly, by saying that she regretted, more
+frequently than she had courage to own to the curé, the not having
+perished in the midst of the slough of wickedness by which she was
+encompassed.
+
+However little a person may reflect, or however limited his knowledge of
+life may be, he will not refuse to assent to our remarks touching the
+commiseration which such a case as Fleur-de-Marie's fully called for.
+She was deserving of both interest and pity, not only because she had
+never known what it was to have her affections fairly roused, but
+because all her senses were torpid, and as yet unawakened by noble
+impulses--untaught, unaided, unadvised. Is it not wonderful that this
+unfortunate girl, thrown at the tender age of sixteen years in the midst
+of the herd of savage and demoralised beings who infest the Cité, should
+have viewed her degrading position with horror and disgust, and have
+escaped from the sink of iniquity morally pure and free from sin?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE HOLLOW WAY.
+
+
+The sun was descending, and the fields were silent and deserted.
+Fleur-de-Marie had reached the entrance to the hollow way, which it was
+necessary to cross in her walk to the rectory, when she saw a little
+lame lad, dressed in a gray blouse and blue cap, come out of the ravine.
+He appeared in tears, and directly he saw the Goualeuse he ran towards
+her.
+
+"Oh, good lady, have pity on me, I pray!" he exclaimed, clasping his
+hands with a supplicating look.
+
+"What do you want? What is the matter with you, my poor boy?" said the
+Goualeuse, with an air of interest.
+
+"Alas, good lady! my poor grandmother, who is very, very old, has fallen
+down in trying to climb up the ravine, and hurt herself very much. I am
+afraid she has broken her leg, and I am too weak to lift her up myself.
+_Mon Dieu!_ what shall I do if you will not come and help me? Perhaps my
+poor grandmother will die!"
+
+The Goualeuse, touched with the grief of the little cripple, replied:
+
+"I am not very strong myself, my child; but perhaps I can help you to
+assist your poor grandmother. Let us go to her as quickly as we can! I
+live at the farm close by here; and, if the poor old woman cannot walk
+there with us, I will send somebody to help her!"
+
+"Oh, good lady, _le bon Dieu_ will bless you for your kindness! It is
+close by here--not two steps down this hollow way, as I told you. It was
+in going down the slope that she fell."
+
+"You do not belong to this part of the country?" said the Goualeuse,
+inquiringly following Tortillard, whom our readers have, no doubt,
+recognised.
+
+"No, good lady, we came from Ecouen."
+
+"And where are you going?"
+
+"To a good clergyman's, who lives on the hill out there," said Bras
+Rouge's son, to increase Fleur-de-Marie's confidence.
+
+"To the Abbé Laport's, perhaps?"
+
+"Yes, good lady; to the Abbé Laport's. My poor grandmother knows him
+very, very well."
+
+"And I was going there also. How strange that we should meet," said
+Fleur-de-Marie, advancing still farther into the hollow way.
+
+"Grandmamma, I'm coming, I'm coming! Take courage, and I will bring you
+help!" cried Tortillard, to forewarn the Schoolmaster and the Chouette
+to prepare themselves to lay hands on their victim.
+
+"Your grandmother, then, did not fall down far off from here?" inquired
+the Goualeuse.
+
+"No, good lady; behind that large tree there, where the road turns,
+about twenty paces from here."
+
+Suddenly Tortillard stopped.
+
+The noise of a horse galloping was heard in the silence of the place.
+
+"All is lost again!" said Tortillard to himself.
+
+The road made a very sudden bend a few yards from the spot where Bras
+Rouge's son was with the Goualeuse. A horseman appeared at the angle,
+and when he came nigh to the young girl he stopped. And then was heard
+the trot of another horse; and some moments after there followed a groom
+in a brown coat with silver buttons, white leather breeches, and
+top-boots. A leathern belt secured around his waist his master's
+macintosh. His master was dressed simply in a stout brown frock-coat,
+and a pair of light gray trousers, which fitted closely. He was mounted
+on a thoroughbred and splendid bay horse, which he sat admirably, and
+which, in spite of the fast gallop, had not a bead of sweat on his skin,
+which was as bright and brilliant as a star. The groom's gray horse,
+which stood motionless a few paces behind his master, was also well-bred
+and perfect of his kind. In the handsome dark face of the gentleman
+Tortillard recognised the Vicomte de Saint-Rémy, who was supposed to be
+the lover of the Duchesse de Lucenay.
+
+"My pretty lass," said the viscount to the Goualeuse, whose lovely
+countenance struck him, "would you be so obliging as to tell me the way
+to the village of Arnouville?"
+
+Fleur-de-Marie's eyes sunk before the bold and admiring look of the
+young man, as she replied:
+
+"On leaving the sunken road, sir, you must take the first turning to the
+right, and that path will lead you to an avenue of cherry-trees, which
+is the straight road to Arnouville."
+
+"A thousand thanks, my pretty lass! You tell me better than an old
+woman, whom I found a few yards further on stretched under a tree, for I
+could only get groans and moans out of her."
+
+"My poor grandmother!" said Tortillard, in a whining tone.
+
+"One word more," said M. de Saint-Rémy, addressing La Goualeuse. "Can
+you tell me if I shall easily find M. Dubreuil's farm at Arnouville?"
+
+Goualeuse could not prevent a shudder at these words, which recalled to
+her the painful scene of the morning. She replied:
+
+"The farm-buildings border the avenue which you must enter to reach
+Arnouville, sir."
+
+"Once more, many thanks, my pretty dear," said M. de Saint-Rémy; and he
+galloped off with his groom.
+
+The handsome features of the viscount were in full animation whilst he
+was talking to Fleur-de-Marie, but when he was again alone they became
+darkened and contracted by painful uneasiness. Fleur-de-Marie,
+remembering the unknown person for whom they were so hastily preparing a
+pavilion at the farm of Arnouville by Madame de Lucenay's orders, felt
+convinced it was for this young and good-looking cavalier.
+
+The sound of the horses' feet as they galloped on was heard for some
+time on the hard and frozen ground, and by degrees grew fainter, then
+were no longer heard, and all was once more hushed in silence.
+Tortillard breathed again. Desirous of encouraging and warning his
+accomplices, one of whom, the Schoolmaster, was concealed from the
+horsemen, Bras Rouge's son called out:
+
+"Granny! granny! here I am! with the good lady who is coming to help
+you!"
+
+"Quick, quick, my boy! The gentleman on horseback has made us lose some
+time," said the Goualeuse, walking at a quicker pace, that she might
+reach the turning into the hollow way.
+
+She had scarcely entered it when the Chouette, who was hidden there,
+exclaimed:
+
+"Now then, _fourline_!"
+
+Then springing upon the Goualeuse, the one-eyed hag seized her by the
+neck with one hand, whilst with the other she pressed her mouth; and
+Tortillard, throwing himself at the young girl's feet, clung round her
+legs, that she might not be able to stir.
+
+This took place so rapidly that the Chouette had no time to examine the
+Goualeuse's features; but during the few instants it required for the
+Schoolmaster to quit the hole in which he was ensconced, to grope his
+way along with his cloak, the beldame recognised her old victim.
+
+"La Pegriotte!" she exclaimed, in great surprise. Then adding with
+savage delight, "What, is it you? Ah, the baker (the devil) sends you!
+It is your fate, then, to fall into my clutches! I have my vitriol in
+the _fiacre_ now, and your white skin shall have a touch, miss; for it
+makes me sick to see your fine lady countenance. Come, my man, mind she
+don't bite; and hold her tight whilst we bundle her up."
+
+The Schoolmaster seized the Goualeuse in his two powerful hands, and
+before she could utter a cry the Chouette threw the cloak over her head,
+and wrapped her up in it, tightly and securely. In a moment,
+Fleur-de-Marie, tied and enveloped, was without any power to move or
+call for assistance.
+
+"Now take up your parcel, _fourline_," said the Chouette. "He, he, he!
+This is not such a load as the 'black peter' of the woman who was
+drowned in the Canal of St. Martin---is it, my man?" And as the brigand
+shuddered at these words, which reminded him of his fearful vision, the
+one-eyed hag resumed, "Well, well, what ails you, _fourline_? Why, you
+seem frozen! Ever since the morning your teeth chatter as if you had the
+ague; and you look in the air as if you were looking for something
+there!"
+
+"Vile impostor! He is looking to see the flies," said Tortillard.
+
+"Come, quick! Haste forward, my man! Up with Pegriotte! That's it!" said
+the Chouette, as she saw the ruffian lift Fleur-de-Marie in his arms as
+he would carry a sleeping infant. "Quick to the coach! quick,--quick!"
+
+"But who will lead me?" inquired the Schoolmaster, in a hoarse voice,
+and securing his light and flexible burden in his herculean arms.
+
+"Old wise head!--he thinks of every thing!" said the Chouette.
+
+Then, lifting aside her shawl, she unfastened a red pocket-handkerchief
+which covered her skinny neck, and, twisting it into its length, said
+to the Schoolmaster:
+
+"Open your ivories, and take the end of this 'wipe' between them. Hold
+tight! Tortillard will take the other end in his hand, and you have
+nothing to do but to follow him. The good blind man requires a good dog!
+Here, brat!"
+
+The cripple cut a caper, and made a sort of low and odd barking. Then,
+taking the other end of the handkerchief in his hand, he led the
+Schoolmaster in this way, whilst the Chouette hastened forward to
+apprise Barbillon. We have not attempted to paint Fleur-de-Marie's
+terror when she found herself in the power of the Chouette and the
+Schoolmaster. She felt all her strength leave her, and could not offer
+the slightest resistance.
+
+Some minutes afterwards the Goualeuse was lifted into the _fiacre_ which
+Barbillon drove, and although it was night they closed the window-blinds
+carefully; and the three accomplices went, with their almost expiring
+victim, towards the plain of St. Denis, where Thomas Seyton awaited
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CLÉMENCE D'HARVILLE.
+
+
+The reader will kindly excuse our having left one of our heroines in a
+most critical situation, the _dénouement_ of which we shall state
+hereafter.
+
+It will be remembered that Rodolph had preserved Madame d'Harville from
+an imminent danger, occasioned by the jealousy of Sarah, who had
+acquainted M. d'Harville with the assignation Clémence had so
+imprudently granted to M. Charles Robert. Deeply affected with the scene
+he had witnessed, the prince returned directly home after quitting the
+Rue du Temple, putting off till the next day the visit he purposed
+paying to Mlle. Rigolette and the distressed family of the unfortunate
+artisan, of whom we have spoken, believing them out of the reach of
+present want, thanks to the money he had given Madame d'Harville to
+convey to them, in order that her pretended charitable visit to the
+house might assume a more convincing appearance in the eyes of her
+husband.
+
+Unfortunately, Rodolph was ignorant of Tortillard's having possessed
+himself of the purse, although the reader has already been told how the
+artful young thief contrived to effect the barefaced cheat.
+
+About four o'clock the prince received the following letter, which was
+brought by an old woman, who went away the instant she had delivered it
+without awaiting any answer.
+
+   "MY LORD:
+
+     "I owe you more than life; and I would fain express my heartfelt
+   gratitude for the invaluable service you have rendered me to-day.
+   To-morrow shame would, perhaps, close my lips. If your royal
+   highness will honour me with a call this evening, you will finish
+   the day as you began it--by a generous action.
+
+                                          "D'ORBIGNY D'HARVILLE.
+
+     "P.S. Do not, my lord, take the trouble to write an answer. I
+   shall be at home all the evening."
+
+However rejoiced Rodolph felt at having been the happy instrument of
+good to Madame d'Harville, he yet could not help regretting the sort of
+a forced intimacy which this circumstance all at once established
+between himself and the marquise. Deeply struck with the graceful
+vivacity and extreme beauty of Clémence, yet wholly incapable of
+infringing upon the friendship which existed between himself and the
+marquis, Rodolph, directly he became aware of the passion which was
+springing up in his heart for the wife of his friend, almost denied
+himself (after having previously devoted a whole month to the most
+assiduous attentions) the pleasure of beholding her. And now, too, he
+recollected with much emotion the conversation he had overheard at the
+embassy between Tom and Sarah, when the latter, by way of accounting for
+her hatred and jealousy, had affirmed, and not without truth, that
+Madame d'Harville still felt, even unknown to herself, a serious
+affection for Rodolph.
+
+Sarah was too acute, too penetrating, too well versed in the knowledge
+of the human heart, not to be well aware that Clémence, believing
+herself scorned by a man who had made so deep an impression on her
+heart, and yielding, from the effects of her irritated feelings, to the
+importunities of a perfidious friend, might be induced to interest
+herself in the imaginary woes of M. Charles Robert, without,
+consequently, forgetting Rodolph. Other women, faithful to the memory of
+a man they had once distinguished, would have remained indifferent to
+the melancholy looks of the commandant. Clémence d'Harville was
+therefore doubly blamable, although she had only yielded to the
+seduction of unhappiness, and, fortunately for her, had been preserved
+alike by a keen sense of duty and the remembrance of the prince (which
+still lurked in her heart, and kept faithful watch over it) from the
+commission of an irreparable fault.
+
+A thousand contradictory emotions disturbed the mind of Rodolph, as he
+thought of his interview with Madame d'Harville. Firmly resolved to
+resist the predilection which attracted him to her society, sometimes he
+congratulated himself on being able to cast off his love for her by the
+recollection of her having entangled herself with such a being as
+Charles Robert; and the next instant he bitterly deplored seeing the
+flattering veil with which he had invested his idol fall to the ground.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Clémence d'Harville, on her part, awaited the approaching interview with
+much anxiety; but the two prevailing sentiments which pervaded her
+breast were painful confusion, when she remembered the interference of
+Rodolph, and a fixed aversion when she thought of M. Charles Robert, and
+many reasons were concerned in this feeling of dislike almost
+approaching hatred itself. A woman will risk her honour or her life for
+a man, but she will never pardon him for having placed her in a
+mortifying or a ridiculous situation.
+
+Madame d'Harville felt her cheeks flush, and her pulse beat rapidly as
+she indignantly recalled the insulting looks and impertinent remarks of
+Madame Pipelet. Nor was this all. After receiving from Rodolph an
+intimation of the danger she was incurring, Clémence had proceeded
+rapidly towards the fifth floor, as directed, but the position of the
+staircase was such that, as she hurried on, she perceived M. Charles
+Robert in his dazzling _robe de chambre_, at the very instant when,
+recognising the light step of the woman he expected, he, with a
+self-satisfied, confident, and triumphant look, set the door of his
+apartment half open. The air of insolent familiarity, expressed by the
+_negligée_ toilet he had assumed, quickly enabled the marquise to
+perceive how entirely she had been mistaken in his character. Led away
+by the kindness and goodness of her heart, and the generosity of her
+disposition, to take a step which might for ever destroy her reputation,
+she had accorded this meeting, not from love, but solely from
+commiseration, in order to console him for the ridiculous part the bad
+taste of the Duke de Lucenay had made him play before her at the
+embassy. Words can ill describe the disgust and vexation with which
+Madame d'Harville beheld the slipshod _déshabillé_ of the commandant,
+implying as it did his opinion how completely her ill-judged
+condescension had broken down the barriers of etiquette, and led him to
+consider no further respect towards her necessary.
+
+The timepiece in the small salon which Madame d'Harville ordinarily
+occupied struck nine o'clock. Dressmakers and tavern-keepers have so
+much abused the style of Louis XV. and the Renaissance, that the
+marquise, a woman of infinite taste, had excluded from her apartments
+this description of ornament, now become so vulgarised, and confined it
+to that part of the hôtel devoted to the reception of visitors and grand
+entertainments. Nothing could be more elegant or more _distingué_ than
+the fitting-up of the salon in which the marquise awaited Rodolph. The
+colour of the walls as well as the curtains (which, without either
+valances or draperies, were of Indian texture) was bright straw colour,
+on which were embroidered, in a darker shade, in unwrought silk,
+arabesques of the most beautiful designs and whimsical devices. Double
+curtains of point d'Alençon entirely concealed the windows. The
+rosewood doors were set off with gold mouldings, most beautifully
+carved, surrounding in each panel an oval medallion of Sèvres china,
+nearly a foot in diameter, representing a numberless variety of birds
+and flowers of surpassing brilliancy and beauty. The frames of the
+looking-glasses and the cornices of the curtains were also of rosewood,
+ornamented with similar raised work of silver gilt. The white marble
+mantelpiece, with its supporting caryatides of antique beauty and
+exquisite grace, was from the chisel of the proud and imperious
+Marochetti, that great artist having consented to sculpture this
+delicious _chef-d'oeuvre_ in imitation of Benvenuto Cellini, who
+disdained not to model ewers and armour. Two candelabras, and two
+candlesticks of vermeil, forming groups of small figures beautifully
+executed, stood on either side of the timepiece, which was formed of a
+square block of lapis lazuli raised on a pedestal of Oriental jasper,
+and surmounted with a large and magnificently enamelled golden cup,
+richly studded with rubies and pearls, once the property of the
+Florentine Republic. Several excellent pictures of the Venetian school,
+of middle size, completed this assemblage of elegance and refined taste.
+
+Thanks to a most charming invention but recently introduced, this
+splendid yet simple apartment was lighted only by the soft rays of a
+lamp, the unground surface of whose crystal globe was half hid among a
+mass of real flowers, contained in an immensely large and deep blue and
+gold Japan cup, suspended from the ceiling like a lustre by three chains
+of vermeil, around which were entwined the green stalks of several
+climbing plants; while some of the flexible branches, thickly laden with
+flowers, overhanging the edge of the cup and hanging gracefully down,
+formed a waving fringe of fresh verdure, beautifully contrasting with
+the blue and gold enamel of the purple porcelain.
+
+We have been thus precise in these details, trifling as they may seem,
+in order to give some idea of the exquisite taste possessed by Madame
+d'Harville (the almost invariable companion of an elevated mind), and
+also because misfortunes always strike us as more poignantly cruel when
+they insinuate themselves into abodes like this, the favoured possessors
+of which seem gifted by Providence with everything to make life happy
+and enviable.
+
+Buried in the downy softness of a large armchair, totally covered by the
+same straw-coloured Indian silk as formed the rest of the hangings,
+Clémence d'Harville sat, awaiting the arrival of Rodolph. Her hair was
+arranged in the most simple manner. She wore a high dress of black
+velvet, which well displayed the beauty and admirable workmanship of her
+large collar and cuffs of English lace, which prevented the extreme
+black of the velvet from contrasting too harshly with the dazzling
+whiteness of her throat and hands.
+
+In proportion as the hour approached for her interview with Rodolph, the
+emotion of the marquise increased; but by degrees her embarrassment
+ceased, and firmer resolves took possession of her mind. After a long
+and mature reflection she came to the determination of confiding to
+Rodolph a great, a cruel secret, hoping by her frankness to win back
+that esteem she now so highly prized. Awakened by gratitude, her
+pristine admiration of Rodolph returned with fresh force; one of those
+secret whispers, which rarely deceives the heart that loves, told her
+that chance alone had not brought the prince so opportunely to her
+succour, and that his studied avoidance of her society during the last
+few months had originated in anything but indifference. A vague
+suspicion also arose in her mind as to the reality and sincerity of the
+affection Sarah professed for her.
+
+While deeply meditating on all these things, a _valet de chambre_,
+having first gently tapped at the door, entered, saying:
+
+"Will it please you, my lady, to see Madame Ashton and my young lady?"
+
+Madame d'Harville made an affirmative gesture of assent, and a little
+girl slowly entered the room.
+
+The child was about four years old, and her countenance would have been
+a very charming one but for its sickly pallor and extreme meagreness.
+Madame Ashton, the governess, held her by the hand, but, directly Claire
+(that was the name of the little girl) saw her mother, she opened her
+arms, and, spite of her feebleness, ran towards her. Her light brown
+hair was plaited, and tied at each side of her forehead with bows of
+cherry-coloured riband. Her health was so delicate that she wore a
+wrapping-dress of dark brown silk instead of one of those pretty little
+white muslin frocks trimmed with ribands of a similar colour as those in
+the hair, and well cut over the bosom to show the plump, pinky arms, and
+smooth, fair shoulders, so lovely in healthy children. So sunken were
+the cheeks of poor Claire that her large dark eyes looked quite
+enormous. But, spite of every appearance of weakness, a sweet and gentle
+smile lit up her small features when she was placed on the lap of her
+mother, whom she kissed and embraced with intense yet mournful
+affection.
+
+"How has she been of late, Madame Ashton?" inquired Madame d'Harville of
+the governess.
+
+"Tolerably well, madame; although at one time I feared."
+
+"Again!" cried Clémence, pressing her daughter to her heart with a
+movement of involuntary horror.
+
+"Fortunately, madame, I was mistaken," said the governess, "and the
+whole passed away without any further alarm; Mademoiselle Claire became
+composed, and merely suffered from a momentary feeling of weakness. She
+has not slept much this afternoon, but I could not coax her to bed
+without allowing her the pleasure of paying a visit to you."
+
+"Dear little angel!" cried Madame d'Harville, covering her daughter with
+kisses.
+
+The interesting child repaid her mother's caresses with infantine
+delight, when the groom of the chambers entered and announced:
+
+"His royal highness the Grand Duke of Gerolstein."
+
+Claire, standing on her mother's lap, had thrown her arms about her
+neck, and was clasping her with all the force of which her tiny arms
+were capable. At the sight of Rodolph, Clémence blushed deeply, set her
+child gently down on the carpet, and signed to Madame Ashton to take her
+away; she then rose to receive her guest.
+
+"You must give me leave," said Rodolph, smilingly, after having
+respectfully bowed to the marquise, "to renew my acquaintance with my
+little friend here, who I fear has almost forgotten me."
+
+And, stooping down a little, he extended his hand to Claire, who, first
+gazing at him with her large eyes, curiously scrutinised his features,
+then, recognising him, she made a gentle inclination of the head, and
+blew him a kiss from the tips of her small, thin fingers.
+
+"You remember my lord, then, my child?" asked Clémence of little Claire,
+who gave an assenting nod, and kissed her hand to Rodolph a second time.
+
+"Her health appears to me much improved since I last saw her," said he,
+addressing himself with unfeigned interest to Clémence.
+
+"Thank heaven, my lord, she is better, though still sadly delicate and
+suffering."
+
+The marquise and the prince, mutually embarrassed at the thoughts of the
+approaching interview, would have been equally glad to defer its
+commencement, through the medium of Claire's presence; but, the discreet
+Madame Ashton having taken her away, Rodolph and Clémence were left
+quite alone.
+
+[Illustration: "_You Must Give Me Leave_"
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau]
+
+The armchair in which Madame d'Harville was reclining stood on the right
+hand of the chimney, and Rodolph remained without attempting to seat
+himself, gracefully leaning his elbow on the mantelpiece. Never had
+Clémence been so strongly impressed with admiration at the noble and
+prepossessing appearance of the prince; never had his voice sounded more
+gentle or sweet upon her ear. Fully understanding how painful it must be
+to the marquise to open the conversation, Rodolph at once proceeded to
+the main point by observing:
+
+"You have been, madame, the victim of a base and treacherous action. A
+cowardly and dishonourable disclosure on the part of the Countess
+Macgregor has well-nigh effected irremediable mischief."
+
+"Is it, indeed, so?" exclaimed Clémence, painfully surprised; "then my
+presentiments were not ill-founded! And by what means did your royal
+highness discover this?"
+
+"Last night, at the ball given by the Countess C----, I discovered this
+infamous secret. I was sitting in a lone part of the 'Winter Garden,'
+when Countess Sarah and her brother, unconscious that a mass of verdure
+alone concealed me from them, while it enabled me to hear each word they
+spoke, began conversing freely upon their own projects, and the snare
+they had spread for you. Anxious to warn you of the danger with which
+you were threatened, I hastened to Madame de Nerval's ball, hoping to
+meet you there, but you did not appear. To write and direct my letter
+here was to incur the risk of its falling into the hands of the marquis,
+whose suspicions were already aroused by your treacherous friend; and I
+therefore preferred awaiting your arrival in the Rue du Temple, that I
+might unfold to you the perfidy of Countess Macgregor. Let me hope you
+will pardon my thus long dwelling on a subject which must be so painful
+to you. And, but for the few lines you were kind enough to write, never
+would my lips have in any way reverted to it."
+
+After a momentary silence, Madame d'Harville said to Rodolph:
+
+"There is but one way, my lord, in which I can prove to you my gratitude
+for your late generous conduct. It is to confess to you that which I
+have never revealed to a human being. What I have to say will not
+exculpate me in your estimation, but it will, perhaps, enable you to
+make some allowances for my imprudence."
+
+"Candidly speaking, madame," said Rodolph, smiling, "my position as
+regards you is a very embarrassing one."
+
+Clémence, astonished at the almost jesting tone in which he spoke,
+looked at Rodolph with extreme surprise, while she said, "How so, my
+lord?"
+
+"Thanks to a circumstance you are doubtless acquainted with, I am
+obliged to assume the grave airs of a mentor touching an incident which,
+since you have so happily escaped the vile snare laid for you by
+Countess Sarah, scarcely merits being treated with so much importance.
+But," continued Rodolph with a slight shade of gentle and affectionate
+earnestness, "your husband and myself are almost as brothers; and,
+before our time, our fathers had vowed the sincerest friendship for each
+other. I have, therefore, a double motive in most warmly congratulating
+you on having secured the peace and happiness of your husband!"
+
+"And it is from my knowledge of the high regard and esteem with which
+you honour M. d'Harville, that I have determined upon revealing the
+whole truth, as well as to explain myself relative to an interest which
+must appear to you as ill-chosen and unworthy as it now seems to me. I
+wish also to clear up that part of my conduct which bears an injurious
+appearance against the tranquillity and honour of him your highness
+styles 'almost a brother.'"
+
+"Believe me, madame, I shall at all times be most proud and happy to
+receive the smallest proof of your confidence. Yet permit me to say, as
+regards the interest you speak of, that I am perfectly aware it
+originated as much in sincere pity as from the constant importunities of
+Countess Sarah Macgregor, who had her own reasons for seeking to injure
+you. And I also know equally well that you long hesitated ere you could
+make up your mind to take the step you now so much regret."
+
+Clémence looked at the prince with surprise.
+
+"You seem astonished. Well, that you may not fancy I dabble in
+witchcraft, some of these days I will tell you all about it," said
+Rodolph, smiling. "But your husband is perfectly tranquillised, is he
+not?"
+
+"Yes, my lord," said Clémence, looking down in much confusion; "and it
+is most painful to me to hear him asking my pardon for having ever
+suspected me, and then eulogising my modest silence respecting my good
+deeds."
+
+"Nay, do not chide an illusion which renders him so happy. On the
+contrary, endeavour to maintain the innocent deception. Were it not
+forbidden to treat your late adventure lightly, and had not you, madame,
+been so much involved in it, I would say that a woman never appears more
+charming in the eyes of her husband than when she has some fault to
+conceal. It is inconceivable how many little cajoleries, and what
+winning smiles, are employed to ease a troubled conscience. When I was
+young," added Rodolph, smiling, "I always, in spite of myself,
+mistrusted any unusual marks of tenderness. And, by the same rule, I can
+say of myself, that I never felt more disposed to appear in an amiable
+light than when I was conscious of requiring forgiveness. So, directly I
+perceived a more than ordinary anxiety to please and gratify me, I was
+very sure (judging by my own conduct) to ascribe it to some little
+peccadillo that needed overlooking and pardoning."
+
+The light tone with which Rodolph continued to discuss an affair which
+might have been attended with circumstances so fearful, at first excited
+Madame d'Harville's wonder; but she quickly perceived that the prince,
+beneath his outward appearance of trifling, sought to conceal, or at
+least lessen, the importance of the service he had rendered her. And,
+profoundly touched with his delicacy, she said:
+
+"I comprehend your generous meaning, my lord; and you are fully at
+liberty to jest and forget as much as you like the peril from which you
+have preserved me. But that which I have to relate to you is of so
+grave, so serious, and mournful a nature, is so closely connected with
+the events of this morning, and your advice may so greatly benefit me,
+that I beseech you to remember that to you I owe both my honour and my
+life: yes, my lord, my life! My husband was armed; and he has owned, in
+the excess of his repentance, that it was his intention to have killed
+me, had his suspicions proved correct."
+
+"Great God!" exclaimed Rodolph with emotion.
+
+"And he would have been justified in so doing," rejoined Madame
+d'Harville, bitterly.
+
+"I beseech you, madame," said Rodolph,--and this time he spoke with deep
+seriousness,--"I beseech you to be assured I am incapable of being
+careless or indifferent to any matter in which you are concerned. If I
+seemed but now to jest, it was but to make you think less of a
+circumstance which has already occasioned you so much pain. But now,
+madame, you may command my most solemn attention. Since you honour me by
+saying my advice may be useful, I listen most anxiously and eagerly."
+
+"You can, indeed, counsel me most beneficially, my lord. But, before I
+explain to you my reasons for seeking your aid, I must say a few words
+concerning a period of which you are ignorant,--I mean the years which
+preceded my marriage with M. d'Harville."
+
+Rodolph bowed, and Clémence continued:
+
+"At sixteen years of age I lost my mother (and here a tear stole down
+the fair cheek of Madame d'Harville). I cannot attempt to describe how
+much I adored that beloved parent. Imagine, my lord, the very
+personification of all earthly goodness. Her fondness for me was
+excessive, and appeared her only consolation amid the many bitter
+sorrows she had to endure. Caring but little for what is styled the
+world, with delicate health, and a natural predilection for sedentary
+occupation, her great delight had been in attending solely to my
+education, and her ample store of solid and varied knowledge well fitted
+her for the task. Conceive, my lord, her astonishment and mine when, in
+my sixteenth year, my dear preceptress considered my education nearly
+completed, my father--making the feeble health of my mother a
+pretext--announced to us that a young and accomplished widow, whose
+misfortunes rendered her justly interesting, would henceforth be charged
+with finishing what my dear parent had begun. My mother at first
+resolutely refused obedience to my father's command, while I in vain
+besought him not to interpose a stranger's authority between myself and
+my beloved mother. He was inexorable alike to our tears and prayers, and
+Madame Roland, who stated herself to be the widow of a colonel who had
+died in India, came to take up her abode with us, in the character of
+governess to myself."
+
+"What! the same Madame Roland your father married almost immediately
+after the death of your mother?"
+
+"The same, my lord."
+
+"Was she, then, very beautiful?"
+
+"Tolerably so,--nothing more."
+
+"Clever,--witty, perhaps?"
+
+"She was a clever dissembler,--a skilful manoeuvrer; her talent went
+no higher. She might be about five and twenty years of age, with
+extremely light hair and nearly white eyelashes; her eyes were large,
+round, and a clear blue; the expression of her countenance was humble
+and gentle; and while her outward manner was attentive, even to
+servility, her real disposition was as perfidious as it was unfeeling."
+
+"And what were her acquirements?"
+
+"Positively none at all, my lord; and I cannot conceive how my father,
+who until then had been so completely a slave to the dictates of worldly
+propriety, did not reflect that the utter incapacity of this woman must
+shamefully proclaim the real cause of her being in the house. My mother
+earnestly pointed out to him the extreme ignorance of Madame Roland; he,
+however, merely replied, in a tone which admitted of no further
+argument, that, competent or otherwise, the young and interesting widow
+should retain the situation in his establishment in which he had placed
+her. This I heard subsequently. From that instant my poor mother
+comprehended the whole affair, over which she deeply grieved; regretting
+less, I fancy, her husband's infidelity than the domestic unhappiness
+which would result from so indecorous a _liaison_, the account of which
+she feared might reach my ears."
+
+"But, even so far as his foolish passion was concerned, it seems to me
+that your father acted very unwisely in introducing this woman into his
+house."
+
+"And you would be still more at a loss to understand his conduct if you
+had but known the extreme formality and circumspection of his character.
+Nothing could ever have induced him thus to trample under foot all the
+established rules of society but the unbounded influence of Madame
+Roland,--an influence she exercised with so much the more certainty as
+she veiled her designs under the mask of the most passionate love for
+him."
+
+"But what was your father's age then?"
+
+"About sixty."
+
+"And he really credited the professions of love made by so much younger
+a woman?"
+
+"My father had been in his time one of the most fashionable and admired
+men of the day. And Madame Roland, either following the suggestions of
+her own artful mind or urged on by the counsels of others, who could
+countenance much more--"
+
+"Counsel such a person!"
+
+"I will tell you, my lord. Imagining that a man whose reputation for
+gallantry had always stood high in the world would, as he advanced in
+years, be more easily delighted than another by being flattered upon his
+personal advantages, and more credulously receive such compliments as
+served to recall those days most soothing to his vanity to remember,
+well, my lord, incredible as it may appear, this woman began to flatter
+my poor misguided father upon the graceful _tournure_ of his features
+and the inimitable elegance of his shape. And he in his sixtieth year!
+Strange as you may consider it, spite of the excellent sense with which
+my father was endowed, he fell blindly into the snare, coarse and vulgar
+as it was. Such was--such still is, I doubt not--the secret of the
+unbounded influence this woman obtained over him. And really, my lord,
+spite of my present disinclination for mirth, I can scarcely restrain a
+smile at the recollection of having frequently, before my marriage,
+heard Madame Roland assert and maintain that what she styled real
+maturity was the finest portion of a person's existence, and that this
+maturity never began until about the fifty-fifth or sixtieth year of
+one's age."
+
+"I suppose that happened to be your father's age?"
+
+"Precisely so, my lord! Then, and then only, according to Madame Roland,
+had the understanding, combined with experience, attained their full
+development; then only could a man, occupying a distinguished position
+in the world, enjoy the consideration to which he was entitled; at that
+period only were the _tout ensemble_ of his countenance, and the
+exquisite grace of his manners, in their highest perfection; the
+physiognomy offering at this delightful epoch of a man's life a heavenly
+mixture of winning serenity and gentle gravity. Then the slight tinge of
+melancholy, caused by the many recollections of the past deceit
+experience is fain to look back upon, completes the irresistible charm
+of real maturity; unappreciable (Madame Roland hastily added) except by
+women with head and heart sufficiently good to despise the youthful
+frivolity of a poor, inexperienced forty years, when the character and
+countenance can scarcely be called formed, and when good taste turns
+away from the boyish folly of such an immature season of life, and seeks
+the fine, majestic features impressed with the sublime and poetic
+expression resulting from a sixty years' study of the vast book of human
+existence."
+
+Rodolph could not restrain smiling at the powerful irony with which
+Madame d'Harville sketched the portrait of her mother-in-law.
+
+"There is one thing," said he to the marquise, "for which I cannot
+forgive ridiculous people."
+
+"What is that, my lord?"
+
+"The being also wicked; which prevents our being able to laugh at them
+as much as they deserve."
+
+"They probably calculate upon that available advantage," replied
+Clémence.
+
+"Indeed, it is very probable, though equally lamentable, for, if it were
+not for the recollection of all the pain Madame Roland has occasioned
+you, I could be highly diverted with her system of real maturity as
+opposed to the insipidity of mere boys of only forty years of age, who,
+according to her assertion, would be scarcely out of their
+leading-strings, as our grandfathers and grandmothers would say."
+
+"What principally excited my aversion for her was the shamefulness of
+her conduct towards my dear mother, and the unfortunately over-zealous
+part she took in my marriage," said the marquise, after a moment's
+pause.
+
+Rodolph looked at her with much surprise.
+
+"Nay, my lord," said Clémence, in a firm, though gentle tone, "I well
+remember that M. d'Harville is your friend and my husband. I know
+perfectly the grave importance of the words I have just uttered:
+hereafter you yourself shall admit the justice of them. But to return to
+Madame Roland, who was now, spite of her acknowledged incapacity,
+established as my instructress: my mother had a long and most painful
+altercation with my father on the subject, which drew down on us his
+extreme displeasure, and from that period my mother and myself remained
+secluded in our apartments, while Madame Roland, in quality of my
+governess, directed the whole household, and almost publicly did the
+honours of the mansion."
+
+"What must your mother have suffered!"
+
+"She did, indeed, my lord; but her sorrow was less for herself than me,
+whose future destiny might be so deeply affected by the introduction of
+this woman. Her health, always delicate, became daily weaker, and she
+fell seriously ill. It chanced, most unfortunately, that our family
+doctor, M. Sorbier, in whom she had the highest confidence, died about
+this period, to my mother's extreme regret. Madame Roland immediately
+urged my father to place my mother's case in the hands of an Italian
+doctor, a particular friend of her own, and whom she described as
+possessing a more than ordinary skill in the treatment of diseases.
+Thanks to her importunities, my father, who had himself consulted him in
+trifling maladies, and found no cause to be dissatisfied, proposed him
+to my mother, who, alas, raised no objection. And this man it was who
+attended upon her during her last illness."
+
+Tears filled the eyes of Madame d'Harville as she uttered these words.
+
+"I am ashamed to confess my weakness, my lord," added she; "but, for the
+simple reason of this doctor having been appointed at the suggestion of
+Madame Roland, he inspired me (and at that time without any cause) with
+the most involuntary repugnance, and it was with the most painful
+misgivings I saw him established in my mother's confidence. Still, as
+regarded his knowledge of his profession, Doctor Polidori--"
+
+"What do I hear?" exclaimed Rodolph.
+
+"Are you indisposed, my lord?" inquired Clémence, struck with the sudden
+expression the prince's countenance had assumed.
+
+"No, no!" said Rodolph, as though unconscious of the presence of Madame
+d'Harville, "no, I must be mistaken. Five or six years must have elapsed
+since all this occurred, while I am informed that it is not more than
+two years since Polidori came to Paris, and then under a feigned name.
+He it was I saw yesterday,--I am sure of it,--the quack dentist
+Bradamanti and Polidori are one and the same. Still, 'tis singular; two
+doctors of the same name,[3]--what a strange rencontre!"
+
+  [3] We must remind the reader that Polidori was a doctor of some
+  eminence when he undertook the education of Rodolph.
+
+"Madame," said Rodolph, turning to Madame d'Harville, whose astonishment
+at his preoccupation still increased, "we will, if you please, compare
+notes as to this Italian. What age was he?"
+
+"About fifty."
+
+"And his appearance,--his countenance?"
+
+"Most sinister. Never shall I forget his clear, piercing, green eye, and
+his nose curved like the bill of an eagle."
+
+"'Tis he,--'tis he himself!" exclaimed Rodolph. "And do you think,
+madame, that the Doctor Polidori you were describing is still in Paris?"
+
+"That I cannot tell you, my lord. He quitted Paris about a year after my
+father's marriage. A lady of my acquaintance, who at this period also
+employed the Italian as her medical adviser--this lady, Madame de
+Lucenay--"
+
+"The Duchess de Lucenay?" interrupted Rodolph.
+
+"Yes, my lord. But why this surprise?"
+
+"Permit me to be silent on that subject. But, at the time of which you
+speak, what did Madame de Lucenay tell you of this man?"
+
+"She said that he travelled much after quitting Paris, and that she
+often received from him very clever and amusing letters, descriptive of
+the various places he visited. Now I recollect that, about a month ago,
+happening to ask Madame de Lucenay whether she had heard lately from M.
+Polidori, she replied, with an embarrassed manner, 'that nothing had
+been heard of or concerning him for some time; that no one knew what had
+become of him; and that by many he was supposed to be dead.'"
+
+"Strange, indeed," said Rodolph, recalling the recent visit of Madame de
+Lucenay to the charlatan Bradamanti.
+
+"You know this man, then, my lord?"
+
+"Unfortunately for myself, I do; but let me beseech you to continue your
+recital; hereafter I will give you an insight into the history of this
+Polidori."
+
+"Do you mean the doctor?"
+
+"Say, rather, the wretch stained with the most atrocious crimes."
+
+"Crimes!" cried Madame d'Harville, in alarm; "can it be possible, the
+man whom Madame Roland so highly extolled, and into whose hands my poor
+mother was delivered, was guilty of crimes? Alas, my dear parent
+lingered but a very short time after she passed into his care! Ah, my
+lord, my presentiments have not deceived me!"
+
+"Your presentiments?"
+
+"Oh, yes! I was telling you just now of the invincible antipathy I felt
+for this man from the circumstance of his having been introduced among
+us by Madame Roland; but I did not tell you all, my lord."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I was fearful lest the bitterness of my own griefs should make me
+guilty of injustice towards an innocent person; but now, my lord, you
+shall know everything. My mother had lain dangerously ill about five
+days; I had always watched beside her, night as well as day. One
+evening, that I felt much oppressed with confinement and fatigue, I went
+to breathe the fresh air on the terrace of the garden: after remaining
+about a quarter of an hour, I was returning by a long and obscure
+gallery; by a faint light which streamed from the apartment of Madame
+Roland I saw M. Polidori quit the room, accompanied by the mistress of
+the chamber. Being in the shadow, they did not perceive me; Madame
+Roland spoke some words to the doctor, but in so low a tone I could not
+catch them; the doctor's answer was given in a louder key, and consisted
+only of these words: 'The day after to-morrow;' and, when Madame Roland
+seemed to urge him, still in so low a voice as to prevent the words
+reaching me, he replied, with singular emphasis, 'The day after
+to-morrow, I tell you,--the day after to-morrow.'"
+
+"What could those words mean?"
+
+"What did they mean? Alas, alas, my lord, it was on the Wednesday
+evening I heard M. Polidori say 'The day after to-morrow;' on the Friday
+my mother was a corpse!"
+
+"Horrible, indeed!"
+
+"After this mournful event I was consigned to the care of a relation,
+who, forgetful of the afflicted state of my mind, as well as tender age,
+told me, without reserve or consideration of the consequences, what
+powerful reasons there were for my hating Madame Roland, and fully
+enlightened me as to the ambitious projects entertained by this woman:
+full well I could then imagine all my poor mother must have endured. I
+thought my heart would break the first time I again saw my father, which
+was upon the occasion of his coming to fetch me from the house of my
+relation to take me into Normandy, where we were to pass the first
+months of our mourning. During the journey he informed me, without the
+least embarrassment, and as though it had been the most natural thing in
+the world, that, out of regard for himself and me, madame had kindly
+consented to take the command of the establishment, and to act as my
+guide and friend. On arriving at Aubiers (so was my father's estate
+called), the first object we beheld was Madame Roland, who had
+established herself here on the very day of my mother's death. Spite of
+her modest, gentle manner, her countenance betrayed an ill-disguised
+triumph; never shall I forget the look, at once ironical and spiteful,
+she cast on me as I descended from the carriage; it seemed to say, 'I am
+mistress here,--'tis you who are the intruder.' A fresh grief awaited
+me; whether from an inexcusable want of proper judgment or unpardonable
+assurance, this woman occupied the apartment which had been my mother's:
+in my just indignation I loudly complained to my father of this
+unpleasant forgetfulness of my rights as well as wishes. He reprimanded
+me severely for making any remonstrance on the subject, adding that it
+was needless for me either to feel or express surprise on the subject,
+as it was his desire I should habituate myself to consider Madame Roland
+in every respect as a second mother, and show her a corresponding
+deference. I replied that it would be a profanation to that sacred name
+to act as he commanded; and, to his extreme wrath, I never allowed any
+opportunity to escape by which I could evince my deeply rooted aversion
+to Madame Roland. At times my father's rage knew no bounds, and bitterly
+would he reproach me in the presence of that woman for the coldness and
+ingratitude of my conduct towards an angel, as he styled her, sent by
+heaven for our consolation and happiness. 'Let me entreat of you to
+speak for yourself alone,' said I, one day, quite wearied with the
+hypocritical conduct of Madame Roland and my father's blind infatuation.
+The harshness and unreasonableness of his conduct became at last quite
+unendurable; while Madame Roland, with the honeyed words of feigned
+affection, would artfully intercede for me, because she well knew by so
+doing she should only increase the storm she had raised. 'You must make
+some allowances for Clémence,' she would say; 'the sorrow she
+experiences for the excellent parent we all deplore is so natural, and
+even praiseworthy, that you should respect her just grief, and pity her
+for her unfounded suspicions.' 'You hear her! you hear her!' would my
+father exclaim, pointing with mingled triumph and admiration to the
+accomplished hypocrite; 'what angelic goodness! what enchanting
+nobleness and generosity! Instantly entreat her pardon for the
+unworthiness of your conduct.' 'Never!' I used to reply; 'the spirit of
+my angel mother, who now beholds me, would be pained to witness such a
+degradation in her child;' and, bursting with grief and mortification, I
+would fly to my own chamber, leaving my father to dry the tears, and
+calm the ruffled feelings of the woman I despised and hated. You will, I
+hope, excuse me, my lord, for dwelling so long and so minutely on all my
+early troubles, but it is only by so doing I can accurately describe to
+you the sort of life I led at that period."
+
+"I can enter fully into the painful subject; yet how often have the same
+scenes been enacted in other families, and still, it is much to be
+feared, will they be repeated till the end of time. But in what capacity
+did your father introduce Madame Roland to the neighbourhood?"
+
+"As my instructress and his friend, and she was estimated accordingly."
+
+"I need scarcely inquire whether he shared in the solitude to which her
+questionable character condemned the lady?"
+
+"With the exception of some few and unavoidable visits, she saw no one.
+My father, guided by his passion, or influenced by Madame Roland, threw
+off his mourning for my mother ere he had worn it three months, under
+the plea that the sable garb continually reminded him of his loss, and
+prevented him from regaining his lost tranquillity. His manners to me
+daily became colder and more estranged, while his perfect indifference
+concerning me allowed a degree of liberty almost incredible in a person
+of my age. I met him only at breakfast, after which he returned to his
+study with Madame Roland, who acted as his secretary, read and answered
+all his letters, etc.; that completed, they either walked or drove out
+together, returning only an hour before dinner, against which, Madame
+Roland would array herself in an elegant and well-chosen evening dress;
+while my father would make a most studiously elaborate toilet, as
+uncalled for as ill-adapted to his time of life. Occasionally, after
+dinner, he received a few persons he could not avoid asking to his
+house, when he would play at tric-trac with Madame Roland until ten
+o'clock, at which hour he would offer his arm to conduct her to my
+mother's apartment, and return to his guests. As for myself, I had
+unrestrained permission to go where I pleased throughout the whole day.
+Attended by a servant, I used to take long rides in the extensive woods
+surrounding the château, and when, as occasionally happened, I felt my
+spirits unequal to appearing at the dinner-table, not the slightest
+inquiry was ever made after me, or my absence noticed."
+
+"What singular neglect and forgetfulness!"
+
+"Having accidentally encountered one of our neighbours during several
+successive days of my excursions in the woods, I gave up riding there,
+and confined myself entirely to the park."
+
+"And how did this infamous woman conduct herself towards you when
+alone?"
+
+"She shunned all occasions of being with me as sedulously as I avoided
+her; but once that we were unexpectedly _tête-à-tête_ with each other,
+and that she was reproaching me for some severe words I had spoken the
+preceding evening, she said, coldly, 'Have a care: you cannot contend
+against my power; any such attempt will bring down certain ruin on your
+head.' 'As it did upon that of my mother,' answered I. 'It is a pity,
+madame, you have not M. Polidori by your side, to announce to you that
+your vengeance can be satisfied--the day after to-morrow."
+
+"And what reply did she make when you thus recalled those fearful
+words?"
+
+"She changed colour rapidly, her features were almost convulsed; then,
+by a strong effort conquering her emotion, she angrily demanded what I
+meant by the expression. 'Ask your own heart, madame,' answered I; 'in
+the solitude of your chamber inquire of yourself to what I allude: your
+conscience will find a ready explanation.' Shortly after that, a scene
+occurred which for ever sealed my destiny.
+
+"Among a great number of family portraits, which graced the walls of the
+salon in which we usually spent the evening, was that of my mother. One
+day I observed it had been removed from its accustomed place. Two
+neighbours had dined with us. One of them, a M. Dorval, a country
+lawyer, had always expressed the utmost veneration and respect for my
+mother. When we reached the salon after dinner, I inquired of my father
+what had become of my dear mother's picture. 'Cease!' cried my father,
+significantly pointing to our guests, as though intimating his desire
+that they should not hear any discussion on the subject; 'the reason of
+the picture being taken away is that the sight of it continually
+reminded me of the heavy loss I have sustained, and so prevented my
+regaining my usual calmness and peace of mind.' 'And where is the
+portrait at present?' inquired I. Turning towards Madame Roland, with an
+impatient and uneasy air, he said, 'Where has the picture been put?' 'In
+the lumber-room,' replied she, casting on me a glance of defiance,
+evidently under the impression that the presence of witnesses would
+prevent me from proceeding further in the matter. 'I can easily believe,
+madame,' cried I, indignantly, 'that the recollection of my mother must
+have been painful to you; but that was not a sufficient reason for
+banishing from the walls the likeness of her who, when you were in want
+and misery, kindly and charitably afforded you the shelter of her
+roof.'"
+
+"Excellent!" exclaimed Rodolph; "yours was, indeed, a stinging and a
+just reproach."
+
+"'Mademoiselle,' cried my father, 'you forget that this lady has
+watched, and still continues to preside, with maternal solicitude over
+your education; you also seem to banish from your recollection the very
+high esteem and respect you are aware I entertain for her; and, since
+you allow yourself thus to attack her before strangers, you will permit
+me to tell you that, in my opinion, the charge of ingratitude lies at
+the door of her who, overlooking the tender cares she has received,
+presumes to reproach a person, deserving of the utmost interest and
+respect, with misfortunes and calamities she so nobly sustained.' 'I
+cannot venture to discuss the subject with you, my dear father,' said I,
+submissively. 'Perhaps, then, mademoiselle, you will favour me with your
+polite arguments in favour of rudeness and unmerited abuse,' cried
+Madame Roland, carried away by rage into a neglect of her usual caution
+and prudence; 'perhaps you will permit me to assert that, so far from
+owing the slightest obligation to your mother, I have nothing to
+remember but the constant coldness and dislike she invariably manifested
+towards me, fully expressive of the disgust and displeasure with which
+my residence in the house inspired her.' 'Forbear, madame!' exclaimed I,
+interrupting her. 'Out of respect for my father, if not to spare your
+own blushes, cease such shameful confessions as the one you have just
+made, or you will make even me regret having exposed you to so
+humiliating a disclosure.'"
+
+"Better and better!" cried Rodolph; "this was, indeed, cutting with a
+two-edged sword. Pray go on. And what said this woman?"
+
+"By a very hackneyed, though convenient expedient, Madame Roland
+contrived to end a scene in which she felt she was likely to have the
+worst. With a sudden cry she threw herself into a chair, and very
+naturally imitated a fainting-fit. Thanks to this incident, the two
+visitors quitted the room in search of restoratives; while I retired to
+my own apartment, leaving my father hanging in deep anxiety over the
+wicked cause of all this confusion."
+
+"Doubtless your next interview with your father must have been a stormy
+one."
+
+"He came to me next morning, and, without further preamble, addressed me
+as follows: 'In order to prevent a recurrence of the disgraceful scene
+of yesterday, I think proper to inform you, that, immediately that
+decency permits both you and myself to throw off our mourning, it is my
+intention to celebrate my marriage with Madame Roland, which will
+compel you to treat her with the respect and deference due to my wife.
+For certain reasons, it is expedient you should marry before me. You
+will have as a dowry your mother's fortune, amounting to more than a
+million francs. From this very day, I shall take the necessary steps to
+form a suitable match for you, and, for that purpose, I shall accept one
+of the many offers I have received for your hand.' After this
+conversation, I lived more alone than ever, never meeting my father
+except at mealtimes, which generally passed off in the utmost silence.
+So really dull and lonely was my present existence, that I only waited
+for my father to propose any suitor he might approve of, to accept him
+with perfect willingness. Madame Roland, having relinquished all further
+ill-natured remarks upon the memory of my deceased parent, indemnified
+herself by inflicting on me the continual pain of seeing her appropriate
+to herself the various trifles my dear mother had exclusively made use
+of. Her easy chair, embroidery-frame, the books which composed her
+private library, even a screen I myself had embroidered for her, and in
+the centre of which were our united ciphers: this woman laid her
+sacrilegious hands on all the elegant articles with which my mother's
+taste and my affection had ornamented her apartments."
+
+"I can well imagine all the horror these profanations must have caused
+you."
+
+"Still, great as were my sufferings, the state of loneliness, in which I
+found myself, rendered them even greater."
+
+"And you had no one, no person in whom you could confide?"
+
+"No one; but at this time I received a touching proof of the interest my
+fate excited, and which might have opened my eyes to the dangers
+preparing for me. One of the two persons present, during the scene with
+Madame Roland I so lately described, was a M. Dorval, a worthy old
+notary, to whom my mother had rendered some signal service. By my
+father's orders, I never since then entered the salon when strangers
+were there; I had never, therefore, seen M. Dorval after the eventful
+day when I spoke so undisguisedly to Madame Roland; great, therefore,
+was my surprise to see him coming towards me one day, in the park, while
+I was taking my accustomed walk. 'Mademoiselle,' said he to me, with a
+mysterious air, 'I am fearful of being observed by your father; here is
+a letter,--read it, and destroy it immediately,--its contents are most
+important to you.' So saying, he disappeared as quickly as he came. In
+the letter he informed me that it was in agitation to marry me to the
+Marquis d'Harville, and that the match appeared in every respect
+eligible, inasmuch as every one concurred in bearing testimony to the
+many excellent qualities of M. d'Harville, who was young, rich,
+good-looking, and highly distinguished for his talents and mental
+attainments; yet that the families of two young ladies, with whom he had
+been on the point of marriage, had abruptly broken off the matches. The
+notary added that, although entirely ignorant of the cause of these
+ruptures, he still considered it his duty to apprise me of them, without
+in the slightest degree insinuating that they originated in any
+circumstance prejudicial to the high opinion entertained of M.
+d'Harville. The two young ladies alluded to were, one, the daughter of
+M. Beauregard, a peer of France; the other, of Lord Dudley. M. Dorval
+concluded by saying that his motive in making the communication was
+because my father, in his extreme desire to conclude the marriage, did
+not appear to attach sufficient importance to the facts now detailed."
+
+"Now you recall it to my recollection," said Rodolph, after some minutes
+spent in deep meditation on what he had just heard, "I remember that
+your husband, at intervals of nearly twelve months, told me of two
+marriages which had been broken off just as they were on the point of
+taking place, and ascribing their abrupt termination to a difficulty in
+arranging matters of a mere pecuniary nature."
+
+Madame d'Harville smiled bitterly as she replied:
+
+"You shall know what those motives really were, my lord, very shortly.
+After reading the letter, so kindly intentioned on the part of the
+worthy notary, I felt both my uneasiness and curiosity rapidly increase.
+Who was D'Harville? My father had never mentioned him to me. In vain I
+ransacked my memory; I could not recollect ever to have heard the name.
+Soon, however, the current of my thoughts was directed into another
+channel by the abrupt departure of Madame Roland for Paris. Although the
+period of her absence was limited to eight days at the utmost, yet my
+father expressed the deepest grief at even this trifling separation from
+her. His temper became altogether soured, and his coldness towards me
+hourly increased; he even went so far as to reply, when one day I
+inquired after his health, 'I am ill,--and all through you.' 'Through
+me?' exclaimed I. 'Assuredly, through you; you know full well how
+indispensable to my happiness is the company of Madame Roland, yet this
+incomparable woman, who has been so grossly insulted by you, has left me
+to undertake her present journey solely on your account.' This mark of
+interest on the part of Madame Roland filled me with the most lively
+apprehensions of evil, and a vague presentiment floated across my mind
+that my marriage was in some way or other mixed up with it. I must leave
+it to your imagination, my lord, to picture the delight of my father
+upon the return of my future mother-in-law. The next day he sent to
+desire my company; I found him alone with her. 'I have, for some time,'
+said he, 'been thinking of establishing you in the world; in another
+month your mourning will have expired. To-morrow I expect M.
+d'Harville, a young man possessed of every requisite, both as to fortune
+and figure, to secure any woman's approbation; he is well looked upon in
+society, and is capable of securing the happiness of any lady he may
+seek in marriage. Now, having seen you, though accidentally, his choice
+has fallen on you. In fact, he is most anxious to obtain your hand.
+Every pecuniary arrangement is concluded. It therefore remains solely
+with yourself to be married ere the next six weeks have elapsed. If, on
+the contrary, from any capricious whim impossible for me to foresee, you
+think fit to refuse the unlooked-for good offer now before you, it will
+in no respect alter my own plans, as my marriage will take place,
+according to my original intention, directly my mourning expires. And,
+in this latter case, I am bound to inform you that your presence in my
+house will not be agreeable to me, unless I have your promise to treat
+my wife with the respect and tenderness to which she is entitled.' 'I
+understand you,' replied I; 'whether I accept M. d'Harville or no, you
+will marry; and my only resource will then be to retire to the Convent
+of the Holy Heart?' 'It will,' answered he, coldly."
+
+"His conduct now ceases to be classed under the term weakness," said
+Rodolph; "it assumes the form of positive cruelty."
+
+"Shall I tell you, my lord, what has always prevented me from feeling
+the least resentment at my father's conduct? It is because I have always
+had a strong presentiment that he would one day pay dearly--too dearly,
+alas!--for his blind passion for Madame Roland. Thank Heaven, that evil
+day has not yet arrived!"
+
+"And did you not mention to your father what the old notary had informed
+you of,--the abrupt breaking off of the two marriages M. d'Harville had
+been on the point of contracting?"
+
+"Indeed, I did, my lord. I signified to my father, upon the occasion of
+the conversation I was relating to you, a wish to speak with him alone,
+upon which Madame Roland abruptly rose and quitted the apartment. 'I
+have no objection to the union you propose with M. d'Harville,' said I;
+'only, as I understand, he has twice been upon the point of marriage,
+and--' 'Enough--enough!' interrupted he, hastily. 'I know all about
+those two affairs, which were so abruptly broken off merely because
+matters of a pecuniary nature were not satisfactorily arranged;
+although, I am bound to assure you, that not the slightest shadow of
+blame was attributable to M. d'Harville. If that be your only objection,
+you may consider the match as concluded on, and yourself as
+married,--ay, and happily, too,--for, spite of your conduct, my first
+wish is for your happiness.'"
+
+"No doubt Madame Roland was delighted with your marriage?"
+
+"Delighted? Yes, my lord," said Clémence, with bitterness. "She was, and
+well might be, delighted with this union, which was, in fact, of her
+effecting. She it was who had first suggested it to my father; she knew
+full well the real occasion of breaking off the marriages so nearly
+completed by M. d'Harville, and hence arose her exceeding anxiety for
+him to become my husband."
+
+"What motive could she possibly have had?"
+
+"She sought to avenge herself on me by condemning me to a life of
+wretchedness."
+
+"But your father--"
+
+"Deceived by Madame Roland, he fully and implicitly believed that
+interested motives alone had set aside the two former marriages of M.
+d'Harville."
+
+"What a horrible scheme! But what was this mysterious reason?"
+
+"You shall know shortly. Well, M. d'Harville arrived at Aubiers, and, I
+confess, I was much pleased with his appearance, manners, and cultivated
+mind. He seemed very amiable and kind, though somewhat melancholy. I
+remarked in him a contradiction which charmed and astonished me at the
+same time. His personal and mental advantages were considerable, his
+fortune princely, and his birth illustrious; yet, at times, the
+expression of his countenance would change, from a firm and manly energy
+and decision of purpose, to an almost timid, shrinking look, as though
+he feared even his own self; then an utter dejection of spirits and
+exhaustion would ensue. There was, at these strangely contrasted
+periods, such a look of deprecating humility, such an appearance of
+conscious wrong, as touched me deeply, and won my pity to a great
+extent. I admired greatly the kindness of manner he ever evinced to an
+old servant,--a _valet de chambre_ who had been about him from his
+birth, and who alone was suffered to attend upon his master now he had
+reached man's estate. Shortly after M. d'Harville's arrival he remained
+for two days secluded in his apartment. My father wished to visit him;
+but the old servant alluded to objected, stating that his master had so
+violent a headache, he could receive no one. When M. d'Harville emerged
+from his chamber, he was excessively pale, and looked extremely ill. He
+afterwards appeared to experience a sort of impatience and uneasiness
+when any reference was made to his temporary indisposition. In
+proportion as I became better acquainted with M. d'Harville, I
+discovered that, on many points, a singular similarity of taste existed
+between us. He had so much to be proud of, and so many reasons for being
+happy, that his excessive and shrinking modesty struck me as something
+more than admirable. The day for our marriage being fixed, he seemed to
+delight in anticipating every wish I could form for the future, and,
+when sometimes I alluded to the deep melancholy which at times
+possessed him, and begged to know the cause, he would speak of his
+deceased parents, and of the delight it would have afforded them to see
+him married, to their hearts' dearest wish, to one so justly approved
+both by his own judgment and affections, I could not well find fault
+with reasons so complimentary to myself. M. d'Harville easily guessed
+the terms on which I must have been living with my father and Madame
+Roland, although the former, delighted at my marriage, which would serve
+as a plea for accelerating his own, had latterly treated me with
+excessive tenderness. In some of our conversations, M. d'Harville, with
+infinite tact and good feeling, explained to me that his regard was
+considerably heightened by the knowledge of all I had suffered since my
+dear mother's death. I thought it my duty to hint to him, at such a
+time, that, as my father was about to marry again, it might very
+possibly affect the property I might be expected to inherit. He would
+not even permit me to proceed, but most effectually convinced me of his
+own utterly disinterested motives in seeking my hand. I could not but
+think that the families, who had so abruptly broken off his former
+projected alliances, must have been very unreasonable or avaricious
+people if they made pecuniary matters a stumbling-block with one so
+generous, easy, and liberal as M. d'Harville."
+
+"And such as you describe him, so have I always found him," cried
+Rodolph; "all heart, disinterestedness, and delicacy! But did you never
+speak to him of the marriages so hastily broken off?"
+
+"I will confess to you, my lord, that the question was several times on
+my lips; but, when I recollected the sensitiveness of his nature, I
+feared to pain him by questions which might, at any rate, have wounded
+his self-love, or taxed his honour to reply to truly. The nearer the day
+fixed for our marriage approached, the more delighted did M. d'Harville
+appear. Yet I several times detected him absorbed in the most perfect
+dejection, the deepest melancholy. One day, in particular, I caught his
+eyes fixed on me with a settled gaze, as though resolving to confide to
+me some important secret he yet could not bring himself to reveal. I
+perceived a large tear trickle slowly down his cheek, as though wrung
+from his very heart. The recollection of his two former prospects of
+marriage, so suddenly destroyed, rose to my mind; and, I confess, I
+almost felt afraid to proceed. A vague presentiment whispered within me
+that the happiness of my whole life was at stake,--perhaps perilled for
+ever. But then, on the other hand, such was my eager desire to quit my
+father's house, that I turned a deaf ear to every suggestion of evil
+arising from my union with M. d'Harville."
+
+"And did M. d'Harville make you no voluntary confession?"
+
+"Not any. When I inquired the cause of his continual fits of melancholy,
+he would answer, 'Pray, do not heed it! But I am always most sad when
+most happy.' These words, pronounced in the kindest and most touching
+manner, reassured me a little. And how, indeed, was it possible, when
+his voice would quiver with emotion, and his eyes fill with tears, to
+manifest any further suspicion, by repeating my questions as to the
+past, when it was with the future only I had any business? The persons
+appointed to witness the contract on the part of M. d'Harville, M. de
+Lucenay and M. de Saint-Rémy, arrived at Aubiers some days previous to
+the marriage; my nearest relations alone were invited. Immediately after
+the conclusion of the ceremony, we were to depart for Paris; and it is
+true I felt for M. d'Harville none of that love with which a young wife
+ought to regard the man she vows her future life to, but I admired and
+respected his character and disposition, and, but for the disastrous
+events which followed this fatal union, a more tender feeling could
+doubtless soon have attached me to him. Well, we were married."
+
+At these words, Madame d'Harville turned rather pale, and her resolution
+appeared to forsake her. After a pause, she resumed:
+
+"Immediately after the ceremony, my father embraced me tenderly, as did
+Madame Roland also. Before so many persons I could not avoid the display
+of this fresh exhibition of hypocrisy. With her dry and white hand she
+squeezed mine so hard as to pain me, and said, in a whisper, and in a
+tone as gentle as it was perfidious, these words, which I never can
+forget: 'Think of me sometimes in the midst of your bliss, for it was I
+who arranged your marriage.' Alas, I was far from comprehending at that
+moment the full force of those words! Our marriage took place at eleven
+o'clock, and we immediately entered our carriage, followed by my
+waiting-woman and the old _valet de chambre_ of M. d'Harville's, and we
+travelled so rapidly that we reached Paris before ten o'clock in the
+evening. I should have been surprised at the silence and melancholy of
+M. d'Harville had I not known that he had what he termed his happy
+sadness. I was myself painfully disturbed; I was returning to Paris for
+the first time since my mother's death; I arrived there alone with my
+husband, whom I had hardly known more than six weeks, and who, up to the
+evening before, had not addressed a word to me but what was marked by
+respectful formality. Men, however well bred, do not think sufficiently
+of the fear which the sudden change in their tone and manners occasions
+to a young female as soon as she belongs to them; they do not reflect
+that a youthful maiden cannot in a few hours forget all her timidity and
+virgin scruples."
+
+"Nothing is to me more barbarous than this system of carrying off a
+young female as soon as the wedding ceremony is over,--a ceremony which
+ought to consecrate the right and duty to employ still more every
+tenderness of love and effort to render mutual affection still stronger
+and more endearing."
+
+"You will imagine, monseigneur, the indefinable alarm with which I found
+myself in Paris,--in the city in which my mother had died hardly a year
+before. We reached the Hôtel d'Harville--"
+
+The emotion of the young lady redoubled, her cheeks were flushed with
+scarlet, and she added, in a voice scarcely intelligible:
+
+"You must know all; if not, I shall appear too contemptible in your
+eyes. Well, then," she resumed, with desperate resolution, "I was led to
+my apartment and left there alone; after an hour M. d'Harville joined me
+there. I was weeping bitterly. My husband came towards me, and was about
+to take my arm, when he fell at my feet in agony. He could not hear my
+voice, his countenance was spasmodic with fearful convulsions, his eyes
+rolled in their orbits with a rapidity that appalled me, his contorted
+mouth was filled with blood and foam, and his hand grasped me with
+inconceivable force. I made a desperate effort, and his stiffened
+fingers at length unclasped from my wrist, and I fainted at the moment
+when M. d'Harville was struggling in the paroxysm of this horrible
+attack. This was my wedding night, my lord,--this was the vengeance of
+Madame Roland!"
+
+"Unhappy woman!" said Rodolph, overwhelmed. "I understand,--an
+epileptic. Ah, 'tis horrible!"
+
+"And that is not all," added Clémence, in a voice almost choked by
+emotion; "my child, my angel girl, she has inherited this frightful
+malady."
+
+"Your daughter! She! What? Her paleness--her weakness--"
+
+"Is, I dread to believe, hereditary; and the physicians think,
+therefore, that it is incurable."
+
+Madame d'Harville hid her face in her hands; overcome by this painful
+disclosure, she had not courage to add another word. Rodolph also
+remained silent. His mind recoiled affrighted from the terrible
+mysteries of this night. He pictured to himself the young maiden,
+already sad, in consequence of her return to the city in which her
+mother had died, arriving at a strange house, alone with a man for whom
+she felt an interest and esteem, but not love, nor any of those
+sentiments which enchant the mind, none of the engrossing feeling which
+removes the chaste alarms of a woman in the participation of a lawful
+and reciprocal affection. No, no; on the contrary, Clémence arrived
+agitated and distressed, with depressed spirits and tearful eyes. She
+was, however, resolved on resignation and the fulfilment of duty, when,
+instead of listening to language full of devotion, love, and tenderness,
+which would compensate for the sorrowful feelings which were uppermost
+in her mind, she sees convulsed at her feet a stricken man, who twists,
+and foams, and shrieks, in the hideous convulsions of one of the most
+fearful infirmities with which a man can be incurably smitten! This is
+not all: his child, poor little innocent angel! is also withered from
+her birth. These sad and painful avowals excited bitter reflections in
+Rodolph's mind. "Such," said he, "is the law of the land. A young,
+handsome, and pure girl, the confiding and gentle victim of a shameful
+dissimulation, unites her destiny to that of a man tainted with an
+incurable malady,--a fatal inheritance which he will assuredly transmit
+to his children. The unhappy wife discovers this horrid mystery. What
+can she do? Nothing,--nothing but suffer and weep; nothing but endeavour
+to overcome her disgust and fright; nothing but pass her days in
+anguish, in indefinable and endless terror; nothing but seek, perhaps,
+culpable consolation without the desolate existence which has been
+created around her. Again," said Rodolph, "these strange laws sometimes
+produce horrible unions: fearful for humanity. In these laws, animals
+always appear superior to man in the care bestowed upon them; in the
+improvements that are studied for them; in the protection which
+encircles, the guarantees which attend them. Buy an animal, and, if an
+infirmity decried by the law is detected after the purchase, the sale is
+null and void. Indeed, what a shame, what a case of public injury would
+it be to compel a man to keep an animal which has a cough, is lame, or
+has lost an eye! Why, it would be scandalous, criminal, unheard-of
+infamy! Only imagine being compelled to keep, and keep for ever, a mule
+with a cough, a horse that was blind, or an ass that was lame! What
+frightful consequences might not such injustice entail on the community!
+Therefore, no such bargains hold good, no words bind, no contract is
+valid: the omnipotent law unlooses all that was thus bound. But if it
+relates to a creature made after God's own image, if it respects a young
+girl who, in the full and innocent reliance on the good faith of a man,
+unites her lot with his, and wakes up in the company of an epileptic, an
+unhappy wretch stricken with a fearful malady, whose moral and physical
+consequences are immeasurably distressing, a malady which may throw
+disorder and aversion into a family, perpetuate a horrible disease,
+vitiate whole generations, yes, this law, so inexorable when lame,
+blind, or coughing animals are the consideration--this law, so
+singularly clear-sighted, which will not allow an unsound horse to
+increase the species--this law will not loosen the victim of a union
+such as we have described. These bonds are sacred, indissoluble: it is
+to offend God and man to break them. In truth," continued Rodolph, "men
+sometimes display a humility most shameful and an egotistical pride
+which is only execrable. He values himself at less than the beast which
+he protects by warranties which he refuses for himself; and he imposes
+on himself, makes sacred, and perpetuates his most distressing
+infirmities by putting them under the protection of the immutability of
+laws, human and divine." Rodolph greatly blamed M. d'Harville, but he
+promised to himself to excuse him in the eyes of Clémence, although
+fully persuaded, after her sad disclosure, that the marquis was for ever
+alienated from her heart. One thought led to another, and Rodolph said
+to himself, "I have kept aloof from a woman I love, and who, perhaps,
+already feels a secret inclination for me. Either from an attachment of
+heart or friendship, she has bestowed her honour--her life--for the sake
+of a fool whom she thought unhappy. If, instead of leaving her, I had
+paid her all sorts of attentions, love, and consideration, my name would
+have been such that her reputation would not have received the slightest
+stain, the suspicions of her husband would never have been excited:
+whilst, now, she is all but at the mercy of such an ass as M. Charles
+Robert, who, I fear, will become the more indiscreet in proportion as he
+has the less right to be so. And then, too, who knows if, in spite of
+the dangers she has risked, the heart of Madame d'Harville will always
+remain free? Any return to her husband is henceforward impossible.
+Young, handsome, courted, with a disposition sympathising with all who
+suffer, what dangers, what shoals and quicksands, lie before her! For M.
+d'Harville, what anguish and what deep chagrin! At the same time jealous
+of and in love with his wife, who cannot subdue the disgust and fright
+which he excited in her on their nuptials,--what a lot is his!"
+
+Clémence, with her forehead hidden by her hands, her eyes brimful of
+tears, and her cheek reddened by embarrassment, avoided Rodolph's look,
+such pain had the disclosure cost her.
+
+"Ah, now," said Rodolph, after a long silence, "I can understand the
+cause of M. d'Harville's sadness, which I could not before account for.
+I can imagine his regrets--"
+
+"His regrets!" exclaimed Clémence; "say his remorse, monseigneur, if he
+have any, for never was such a crime more coolly meditated."
+
+"A crime, madame?"
+
+"What else is it, my lord, to bind to yourself in indissoluble bonds a
+young girl, who confides in your honour, when you are fatally stricken
+with a malady which inspires fear and horror? What else is it, to devote
+with certainty an unhappy child to similar misery? What forced M.
+d'Harville to make two victims? A blind, insensate passion? No; he found
+my birth, my fortune, and my person, to his taste. He wished to make a
+convenient marriage, because, doubtless, a bachelor's life wearied him."
+
+"Madame, at least pity him."
+
+"Pity him? If you wish pity, pray let it be bestowed on my child. Poor
+victim of this odious union, what nights and days have I passed near
+her! What tears have not her misfortunes wrung from me!"
+
+"But her father suffers from the same unmerited afflictions."
+
+"Yet it is that father who has condemned her to a sickly infancy, a
+withering youth, and, if she should survive, to a life of isolation and
+misery, for she will never marry. Ah, no! I love her too well to expose
+her to the chance of one day's weeping over her own offspring, similarly
+smitten, as I weep over her. I have suffered too much from treachery, to
+render myself guilty of, or an accomplice in, such wickedness!"
+
+"You are right; the vengeance of your mother-in-law was really
+atrocious. But patience, and perhaps in your turn you will be avenged,"
+said Rodolph, after a moment's reflection.
+
+"What do you mean, my lord?" inquired Clémence, astonished at the change
+in his voice.
+
+"I have generally had the satisfaction of seeing those whom I have known
+to be wicked most severely punished," he replied, in a voice that made
+Clémence shudder. "But the day after this unhappy event what did your
+husband say?"
+
+"He confessed, with singular candour, that his two former marriages had
+been broken off in consequence of the families becoming acquainted with
+the secret of his fearful malady. Thus, then, after having been twice
+rejected, he had the shameful, the unmanly courage, to drag a third poor
+victim into the abyss of misery the kind intervention of friends had
+preserved the others from. And this is what the world calls a gentleman
+and a man of honour!"
+
+"For one so good, so full of pity to others, yours are harsh words."
+
+"Because I feel I have been unworthily treated. M. d'Harville easily
+penetrated the girlish openness of my character; why, then, did he not
+trust to my sympathy and generosity of feeling, and tell me the whole
+truth?"
+
+"Because you would have refused him."
+
+"This very expression proves how guilty he was, and how treacherous was
+his conduct, if he really entertained the idea of my rejecting his hand
+if informed of the truth!"
+
+"He loved you too well to incur the risk of losing you."
+
+"No, no, my lord; had he really loved me, he would never have sacrificed
+me to his selfish passion. Nay, so wretched was my position at that
+time, and such was my desire to quit my father's roof, that, had he been
+candid and explicit with me, it is more than probable he would have
+moved me to pity the species of misery he was condemned to endure, and
+to sympathise with one so cut off from the tender ties which sweeten
+life. I really believe, at this moment, that, touched by his open, manly
+confession, as well as interested for one labouring under so severe an
+infliction of the Almighty's hand, I should scarcely have had the
+courage to refuse him my hand; and, once aware of all I had undertaken,
+nothing should have deterred me from the full and conscientious
+discharge of every solemn duty towards him. But to compel this pity and
+interest, merely because he had me in his power, and to exact my
+consideration and sympathy, because, unhappily, I was his wife, and had
+sworn to obligations, the full force of which had been concealed from
+me, was at once the act of a coward and a wrong-judging mind. How could
+I hold myself bound to endure the heavy penalties of my unfortunate
+marriage, when my husband had trampled on every tie which binds an
+honourable mind? And now, my lord, you may form some little idea of my
+wedded life; you are now aware how shamefully I was deceived, and that,
+too, by the person in whose hands I unsuspectingly placed the future
+happiness of my whole existence. I had implicitly trusted in M.
+d'Harville, and he had most dishonourably and treacherously repaid my
+trustfulness with bitter and irremediable wrongs. The gentle, timid
+melancholy which had so greatly interested me in his favour, and which
+he attributed to pious recollections, was, in truth, only the workings
+of a conscience ill at ease, and the knowledge of his own incurable
+infirmity."
+
+"Still, were he a stranger or an enemy, a heart so noble and generous as
+yours would pity such sufferings as he endures?"
+
+"But can I calm those sufferings? If he could distinguish my voice, or
+if only a look of recognition answered my sorrowing glance! But no. Oh,
+my lord, it is impossible for such as have never seen them to form an
+idea of those frightful paroxysms, in which every sense is suspended,
+and the unfortunate sufferer merely recovers from his frenzy to fall
+into a sort of sullen dejection! When my dear child experiences one of
+these attacks, it almost breaks my heart to see her tender frame
+twisted, stiffened, and distorted, by the dreadful convulsions which
+accompany it. Still, she is my own, my beloved infant, and, when I see
+her bitter agonies, my hatred and aversion to her father are increased
+an hundredfold. But, when my poor child becomes calmer, so does my
+irritation against my husband subside also; and then--ah, then--the
+natural tenderness of my heart makes my angry feelings give place to a
+species of sorrow and pity for him. Yet surely I did not marry at only
+seventeen years of age merely to experience the alternations of hatred
+and painful commiseration, and to weep over a frail and sickly infant,
+whom, after all, I may not be permitted to rear. And, as regards this
+beloved object of my incessant prayers, permit me, my lord, to
+anticipate a reproach I doubtless deserve, and which you would be
+unwilling to make. My daughter, young as she is, is capable of
+interesting my affections and fully occupying my heart; but the love she
+inspires is so cruelly mixed with present anguish and future
+apprehensions, that my tenderness for my child invariably ends in tears
+and bitter grief. When I am with her, my heart is torn with agony, a
+heavy, crushing weight presses on my heart at the thoughts of her
+hopeless, suffering state. Not all the fondest devices of a mother's
+love can overcome a malady pronounced by all our faculty as incurable.
+Thus, then, by way of relief and refuge from the atmosphere of
+wretchedness which surrounded me, I had pictured to myself the
+possibility of finding calm and repose for my troubled spirit in an
+attachment, so vain, so empty, that--But I have been deceived a second
+time, most unworthily deceived; and there is now nothing left for me but
+to resign myself to the gloom and misery of the life my husband's want
+of candour has entailed upon me. But tell me, my lord, is it such an
+existence as I was justified in expecting when I bestowed my hand on M.
+d'Harville? And am I alone to blame for those injuries, to avenge which
+my husband had this day determined to take my life? My fault was great,
+very great; and the more so, because the object I had selected was every
+way so unworthy, and leaves me the additional shame of having to blush
+for my choice. Happily for me, my lord, the conversation you overheard
+between the Countess Sarah and her brother on the subject of M. Charles
+Robert spares me much of the humiliation I should otherwise have
+experienced in making this confession. I only venture to hope that,
+since listening to my relation, you may be induced to consider me as
+much an object of pity as I admit I am of blame."
+
+"I cannot express to you, madame, how deeply your narrative has touched
+me. What gnawing grief, what hidden sorrows have you not been called
+upon to endure, from the death of your mother to the birth of your
+child! Who would ever believe such ills could reach one so envied, so
+admired, and so calculated to enjoy and impart happiness to others?"
+
+"Oh, my lord, there are some sorrows so deep, so unapproachable, that
+for worlds we would not even have them suspected; and the severest
+increase of suffering would arise from the very doubt of our being the
+enviable creatures we are believed to be."
+
+"You are right; nothing would be more painful than the question, openly
+expressed, 'Is she or he as happy as they seem to be?' Still, if there
+is any happiness in the knowledge, be assured you are not the only one
+who has to struggle with the fearful contrast between reality and that
+which the world believes."
+
+"How so, my lord?"
+
+"Because, in the eyes of all who know you, your husband is esteemed even
+happier than yourself, since he possesses one so rich in every good
+gift; and yet is not he also much to be pitied? Can there be a more
+miserable existence than the one he leads? He has acted unfairly and
+selfishly towards you, but has he not been bitterly punished? He loves
+you with a passion, deep and sincere, worthy of you to have inspired,
+yet he knows that your only feeling towards him is insurmountable
+aversion and contempt. In his feeble, suffering child he beholds a
+constant reproach; nor is that all he is called upon to endure;
+jealousy also assails him with her nameless tortures."
+
+"And how can I help that, my lord? By giving him no occasion for
+jealousy, you reply. And certainly you are right. But, think you,
+because no other person would possess my love, it would any the more be
+his? He knows full well it would not. Since the fearful scene I related
+to you, we have lived entirely apart, while in the eyes of the world I
+have kept up every necessary appearance of married happiness. With the
+exception of yourself, my lord, I have never breathed a syllable of this
+fatal secret to mortal ears: thus, therefore, I venture to ask advice of
+you I could not solicit from any human being."
+
+"And I, madame, can with truth assure you that, if the trifling service
+I have rendered you be deemed worthy of notice, I hold myself a thousand
+times overpaid by the confidence you have reposed in me. But, since you
+deign to ask my advice, and permit me to speak candidly--"
+
+"Oh, yes, my lord, I beseech you to use the frankness and sincerity you
+would show to a sister!"
+
+"Then allow me to tell you that, for want of employing one of your most
+precious qualities, you lose vast enjoyments, which would not only fill
+up that void in your heart, but would distract you from your domestic
+sorrows and supply that need of stirring emotions, excitement, and,"
+added the prince, smiling, "I dare almost to venture to add,--pray
+forgive me for having so bad an opinion of your sex,--that natural love
+for mystery and intrigue which exercises so powerful an empire over
+many, if not all, females."
+
+"What do you mean, my lord?"
+
+"I mean that, if you would play at the game of doing good, nothing would
+please or interest you more."
+
+Madame d'Harville surveyed Rodolph with astonishment.
+
+"And understand," resumed he, "I speak not of sending large sums
+carelessly, almost disdainfully, to unfortunate creatures, of whom you
+know nothing, and who are frequently undeserving of your favour. But if
+you would amuse yourself, as I do, at playing, from time to time, at the
+game of Providence, you would acknowledge that occasionally our good
+deeds put on all the piquancy and charms of a romance."
+
+"I must confess, my lord," said Clémence, with a smile, "it never
+occurred to me to class charity under the head of amusements."
+
+"It is a discovery I owe to my horror of all tediums, all wearisome,
+long-protracted affairs,--a sort of horror which has been principally
+inspired by long political conferences and ministerial discussions. But
+to return to our game of amusing beneficence: I cannot, alas, aspire to
+possess that disinterested virtue which makes some people content to
+entrust others with the office of either ill or well distributing their
+bounty, and, if it merely required me to send one of my chamberlains to
+carry a few hundred louis to each of the divisions in and around Paris,
+I confess, to my shame, that the scheme would not interest me nearly as
+much as it does at present, while doing good, after my notions on the
+subject, is one of the most entertaining and exciting amusements you can
+imagine. I prefer the word 'amusing,' because to me it conveys the idea
+of all that pleases, charms, and allures us. And, really, madame, if you
+would only become my accomplice in a few dark intrigues of this sort,
+you would see that, apart from the praiseworthiness of the action,
+nothing is really more curious, inviting, attractive, or diverting, than
+these charitable adventures. And then, what mystery is requisite to
+conceal the benefits we render! what precautions to prevent ourselves
+from being discovered! what varied, yet powerful, emotions are excited
+at the aspect of poor but worthy people shedding tears of joy and
+calling down Heaven's blessing on your head! Depend upon it, such a
+group is, after all, more gratifying than the pale, angry countenance of
+either a jealous or an unfaithful lover, and there are very few who do
+not class either under one head or the other. The emotions I describe
+are closely allied to those you experienced this morning while going to
+the Rue du Temple. Simply dressed, that you may escape observation, you
+go forth with a palpitating heart; you also ascend with a throbbing
+breast some modest _fiacre_, carefully drawing down the blinds to
+prevent yourself from being seen; then, looking cautiously from side to
+side that you are not observed, you quickly enter a mean-looking
+dwelling, just like this morning, you see, the only difference being
+that, whereas to-day you said, 'If I am discovered I am lost!' then you
+would only smile as you mentally uttered, 'If I am discovered, they will
+overwhelm me with praises and blessings!' Now, since you possess your
+many adorable qualities in all their pure modesty, you would employ the
+most artful schemes, the most complicated manoeuvres, to prevent
+yourself from being known, and, consequently, wept over and blessed as
+an angel of goodness."
+
+"Ah, my lord," cried Madame d'Harville, deeply moved, "you are indeed my
+preserver! I cannot express the new ideas, the consoling hopes, awakened
+within me by your words. You are quite right; to endeavour to gain the
+blessing and gratitude of such as are poor and in misery is almost equal
+to being loved even as I would wish to be; nay, it is even superior in
+its purity and absence of self. When I compare the existence I now
+venture to anticipate with the shameful and degraded lot I was preparing
+for myself, my own reproaches become more bitter and severe."
+
+"I should, indeed, be grieved," said Rodolph, smiling, "were that to be
+the case, since all my desire is to make you forget the past, and to
+prove to you that there are various modes of recreating and distracting
+our minds; the means of good and evil are very frequently nearly the
+same: it is the end, only, which differs. In a word, if good is as
+attractive, as amusing, as evil, why should we prefer the latter? I am
+going to use a very commonplace and hackneyed simile. Why do many women
+take as lovers men not nearly as worthy of that distinction as their own
+husbands? Because the greatest charm of love consists in the
+difficulties which surround it; for once deprived of the hopes, the
+fears, the anxieties, difficulties, mysteries, and dangers, and little
+or nothing would remain, merely the lover, stripped of all the prestige
+derivable from these causes, and a very every-day object he would
+appear; very much after the fashion of the individual who, when asked by
+a friend why he did not marry his mistress, replied, 'Why, I was
+thinking of it; but, if I did, where should I go to pass my evenings?'"
+
+"Your picture is coloured after nature, my lord," said Madame
+d'Harville, smiling.
+
+"Well, then, if I can find the means of enabling you to experience the
+fears, the anxieties, the excitement, which seem to have such charms for
+you, if I can render useful your natural love for mystery and romance,
+your inclination for dissimulation and artifice,--you see my bad opinion
+of your sex will peep out in spite of me," added Rodolph, gaily,--"shall
+I not change into fine and generous qualities instincts which otherwise
+are mere ungovernable and unmanageable impulses, excellent, if well
+employed, most fatal, if directed badly? Now, then, what do you say?
+Shall we get up all manner of benevolent plots and charitable
+dissipations? We will have our rendezvous, our correspondence, our
+secrets, and, above all, we will carefully conceal all our doings from
+the marquis, for your visit of to-day to the Morels has, in all
+probability, excited his suspicions. There, you see, it only requires
+your consent to commence a regular intrigue."
+
+"I accept with joy and gratitude the mysterious associations you
+propose, my lord," said Clémence; "and, by way of beginning our romance,
+I will return to-morrow to visit those poor creatures to whom,
+unfortunately, this morning I could only utter a few words of
+consolation; for, taking advantage of my terror and alarm, the purse you
+so thoughtfully supplied me with was stolen from me by a lame boy as I
+ascended the stairs. Ah, my lord," added Clémence (and her countenance
+lost the expression of gentle gaiety by which a few minutes before it
+was animated), "if you only knew what misery, what a picture of
+wretchedness--no! oh, no! I never could have believed so horrid a scene,
+or that such want existed; and yet I bewail my condition and complain of
+my severe destiny."
+
+Rodolph, wishing to conceal from Madame d'Harville how deeply he was
+touched at this application of the woes of others, as teaching patience
+and resignation, yet fully recognising in the meek and subdued spirit
+the fine and noble qualities of her mind, said, gaily:
+
+"With your permission, I shall except the Morels from your jurisdiction;
+you shall resign them to my care, and, above all things, promise me not
+again to enter that miserable place, for, to tell you the truth, I live
+there."
+
+"You, my lord? What an idea!"
+
+"Nay, but you really must believe me when I say I live there, for it is
+actually true. I confess mine is somewhat a humble lodging, a mere
+matter of eight pounds a year, in addition to which I pay the large and
+liberal sum of six francs a month to the porteress, Madame Pipelet, that
+ugly old woman you saw; but, to make up for all this, I have as my next
+neighbour, Mlle. Rigolette, the prettiest grisette in the Quartier du
+Temple. And you must allow that, for a merchant's clerk, with a salary
+of only seventy-two pounds a year (I pass as a clerk), such a domicile
+is well suited to my means."
+
+"Your unhoped-for presence in that fatal house proves to me that you are
+speaking seriously, my lord; some generous action leads you there, no
+doubt! But what good action do you reserve for me? What part do you
+propose for me to sustain?"
+
+"That of an angel of consolation, and--pray excuse and allow me the
+word--a very demon of cunning and manoeuvres! For there are some
+wounds so painful, as well as delicate, that the hand of a woman only
+can watch over and heal them. There are, also, unfortunate beings so
+proud, so reserved, and so hidden from observation, that it requires
+uncommon penetration to discover them, and an irresistible charm to win
+their confidence."
+
+"And when shall I have an opportunity of displaying the penetration and
+skill for which you give me credit?" asked Madame d'Harville,
+impatiently.
+
+"Soon, I hope, you will have to make a conquest worthy of you; but, to
+succeed, you must employ all your most ingenious resources."
+
+"And when, my lord, will you confide this great secret to me?"
+
+"Let me see! You perceive, we have already got as far as arranging our
+rendezvous. Could you do me the favour to grant me an audience in four
+days' time?"
+
+"Dear me! so long first?" said Clémence, innocently.
+
+"But what would become of the mystery of the affair, and all the strict
+forms and appearances necessary to be kept up, if we were to meet
+sooner? Just imagine! If our partnership were suspected, people would be
+on their guard, and we should seldom achieve our purpose. I may very
+probably have to write to you. Who was that aged female who brought me
+your note?"
+
+"An old servant of my mother's, the very personification of prudence and
+discretion."
+
+"I will then address my letters under cover to her, and she will
+deliver them into your hands. If you are kind enough to return any
+answer, address 'To M. Rodolph, Rue Plumet,' and let your maid put your
+letters in the post."
+
+"I will do that myself, my lord, when taking my usual morning's walk."
+
+"Do you often walk out alone?"
+
+"In fine weather nearly every day."
+
+"That's right! It is a custom all young women should observe from the
+very earliest period of their marriage,--either from a good or an
+improper provision against future evil. The habit once established, it
+becomes what the lawyers style a precedent; and, in subsequent days,
+these habitual promenades excite no dangerous interpretations. If I had
+been a woman,--and, between ourselves, I fear I should have been very
+charitable, but equally flighty,--the very day after my marriage I
+should, in all possible innocence, have taken the most mysterious steps,
+and, with perfect simplicity, have involved myself in all manner of
+suspicious and compromising proceedings, for the purpose of establishing
+the precedent I spoke of, in order to be at liberty either to visit my
+poor pensioners or to meet my lover."
+
+"But that would be downright perfidy to one's husband, would it not, my
+lord?" said Madame d'Harville, smiling.
+
+"Fortunately for you, madame, you have never been driven to the
+necessity of admitting the utility of such provisionary measures."
+
+Madame d'Harville's smile left her lips. She cast down her eyes, and,
+blushing deeply, said, in a low and sad voice, "This is not generous, my
+lord!"
+
+At first Rodolph regarded the marquise with astonishment, then added, "I
+understand you, madame. But, once for all, let us weigh well your
+position as regards M. Charles Robert. I will just imagine that one of
+your acquaintances may one day have pointed out to you one of those
+pitiable-looking mendicants who roll their eyes most sentimentally, and
+play on the clarionet with desperate energy, to awaken the sympathy of
+the passers-by. 'That is really and truly a genuine case of distress,'
+observes your friend. 'That interesting musician has at least seven
+children, and a wife deaf, dumb, blind,' etc. 'Ah, poor fellow!' you
+reply, charitably aiding him with your purse. And so, each time you meet
+this case of genuine distress, the clarionet-player, the moment he
+discerns you from afar, fixes his imploring eyes upon you, while the
+most touching strains of his instrument are directed to touch your
+charitable sympathies, and that, too, so successfully, that again your
+purse opens at this fresh appeal. One day, more than usually disposed to
+pity this very unfortunate object by the importunities of the friend who
+first pointed him out to you, and who is most wickedly abusing your
+generous heart, you resolve to visit this case of genuine distress, as
+your false friend terms it, and to behold the poor object of your
+solicitude in the midst of his misery. Well, you go. But, lo! the
+grief-stricken musician has vanished; and in his place you find a
+lively, rollicking fellow, enjoying himself over some of the good things
+of this world, and mirthfully carolling forth the last new alehouse
+catch. Then disgust succeeds to pity; for you have bestowed your
+sympathy and charity alike upon an impostor, neither more nor less. Is
+it not so?"
+
+Madame d'Harville could not restrain a smile at this singular apologue.
+She, however, soon checked it, as she added:
+
+"However grateful I may feel for this mode of justifying my great
+imprudence, my lord, I can but confess I dare not avail myself of so
+favourable a pretext as that of mistaken charity."
+
+"Yet, after all, yours was an error based upon motives of noble and
+generous pity for the wounded feelings of one you believed a genuine
+object for commiseration. Fortunately, there are so many ways left you
+of atoning for one indiscretion, that your regret need be but small.
+Shall I not have the pleasure of seeing M. d'Harville this evening?"
+
+"No, my lord. The scene of this morning has so much affected him that he
+is--ill," said the marquise, in a low, tremulous tone.
+
+"Ah," replied Rodolph, sadly, "I understand! Come, courage! you were
+saying that you required an aim, a motive, a means of directing your
+thoughts. Permit me to hope that all this will be accomplished by
+following out the plan I have proposed. Your heart will be then so
+filled with the delightful recollection of all the happiness you have
+caused, and all the good you have effected, that, in all probability,
+you will find no room for resentment against your husband. In place of
+angry feelings, you will regard him with the same sorrowing pity you
+look on your dear child. And as for the interesting little creature
+herself, now you have confided to me the cause of her delicate health, I
+almost think myself warranted in bidding you yet to entertain hopes of
+overcoming the fearful complaint which has hitherto affected her tender
+frame."
+
+"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed Clémence, clasping her hands with eagerness,
+"can it be possible? How? In what manner can my child be saved?"
+
+"I have, as physician to myself and household, a man almost unknown,
+though possessed of a first-rate science. Great part of his life was
+passed in America; and I remember his speaking to me of some marvellous
+cures performed by him on slaves attacked by this distressing
+complaint."
+
+"And do you really think, my lord--"
+
+"Nay, you must not allow yourself to dwell too confidently upon success;
+the disappointment would be so very severe. Only, do not let us wholly
+despair."
+
+Clémence d'Harville cast a hasty glance of unutterable gratitude over
+the noble features of Rodolph, the firm, unflinching friend, who
+reconciled her to herself with so much good sense, intelligence, and
+delicacy of feeling. Then she asked herself how, for one instant, she
+could ever have been interested in the fate of such a being as M.
+Charles Robert,--the very idea was hateful to her.
+
+"What do I not owe you, my lord?" cried she, in a voice of thrilling
+emotion; "you console me for the past; you open to me a glimpse of hope
+for my child; and you place before me a plan of future occupation which
+shall afford me both consolation and the delight of doing my duty. Ah,
+was I not right when I said that, if you would come here to-night, you
+would finish the day as you had begun it,--by performing a good action?"
+
+"And pray, madame, do not omit to add,--an action after my own heart,
+where all is pleasure and unmixed enjoyment in its performance. And now,
+adieu!" said Rodolph, rising as the clock struck half-past eleven.
+
+"Adieu, my lord, and pray do not forget to send me news ere long of
+those poor people in the Rue du Temple."
+
+"I will see them to-morrow, for, unfortunately, I knew not of that
+little limping rascal having stolen your purse; and I fear that the
+unhappy creatures are in the most deplorable want. Have the kindness to
+bear in mind that, in the course of four days, I shall come to explain
+to you the nature of the part you will be required to undertake. One
+thing I must prepare you for; and that is, the probability of its being
+requisite for you to assume a disguise on the occasion."
+
+"A disguise? Oh, how charming! What sort of one, my lord?"
+
+"I cannot tell you at present. I will leave the choice to you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"All that is requisite," said the prince, on his return home, "to save
+this excellent woman from the perils of another attachment, is to fill
+her mind with generous thoughts; and, since an invincible repugnance
+separates her from her husband, to employ her love for the romantic in
+such charitable actions as shall require being enshrouded in mystery."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MISERY.
+
+
+The reader has probably not forgotten that the garret in the Rue du
+Temple was occupied by an unfortunate family, the father of whom was a
+working lapidary, named Morel. We shall now endeavour to describe the
+wretched abode of Morel and his children.
+
+It was six o'clock in the morning; a deep silence dwelt around. The
+streets were still deserted, for the snow fell fast, and the cold,
+biting wind froze as it blew. A miserable candle, stuck upon a small
+block of wood, and supported by two slips of the same material, scarcely
+penetrated with its yellow, flickering light the misty darkness of the
+garret,--a narrow, low-built place, two-thirds of which was formed by
+the sloping roof, which communicated by a sharp angle with the wretched
+flooring, and freely exposed the moss-covered tiles of the outer roof.
+Walls covered with plaster, blackened by time, and split into countless
+crevices, displayed the rotten, worm-eaten laths, which formed the frail
+division from other chambers, while in one corner of this deplorable
+habitation a door off the hinges opened upon a narrow staircase. The
+ground, of a nameless colour, but foul, fetid, and slippery, was partly
+strewed with bits of dirty straw, old rags, and bones, the residue of
+that unwholesome and vitiated food sold by the dealers in condemned
+meat, and frequently bought by starving wretches, for the purpose of
+gnawing the few cartilages that may adhere.[4]
+
+  [4] It is no uncommon thing to meet, in densely crowded parts
+  of Paris, with persons who openly sell the flesh of animals born
+  dead, as well as of others who have died of disease, etc.
+
+So wretched a condition either arises from improvidence and vice, or
+from unavoidable misery,--misery so great, so overwhelming and
+paralysing, as to enfeeble every energy, and to render the unhappy
+object of it too hopeless, too despairing, even to attempt to extricate
+himself from the squalor of his utter destitution, and he crouches in
+his dirt and desolation like an animal in its den.
+
+During the day, Morel's garret was lighted by a species of long, narrow
+skylight formed in the descending roof, framed and glazed, and made to
+open and shut by means of a pulley and string; but, at the hour which we
+are describing, a heavy fall of snow encumbered the window, and
+effectually prevented its affording any light. The candle placed on
+Morel's working-table, which stood in the centre of the chamber,
+diffused a kind of halo of pale, sickly beams, which, gradually
+diminishing, was at last lost in the dim shadow which overspread the
+place, in whose murky duskiness might be seen the faint outline of
+several white-looking masses. On the work-table, which was merely a
+heavy and roughly cut wooden block of unpolished oak, covered with
+grease and soot, lay, loosely scattered about, a handful of rubies and
+diamonds, of more than ordinary size and brilliancy, while, as the mean
+rays of the small candle were reflected on them, they glittered and
+sparkled like so many coruscating fires.
+
+Morel was a worker of real stones, and not false ones, as he had given
+out, and as was universally believed, in the Rue du Temple. Thanks to
+this innocent deception, the costly jewels entrusted to him were merely
+supposed to be so many pieces of glass, too valueless to tempt the
+cupidity of any one. Such riches, confided to the care of one as poor
+and miserably destitute as Morel, will render any reference to the
+honesty of his character quite unnecessary.
+
+Seated on a high stool, and wholly overcome by fatigue, cold, and
+weariness, after a long winter's night, passed in unceasing labour, the
+poor lapidary had fallen asleep on his block, with his head upon his
+half-frozen arms, and his forehead resting against a small grindstone,
+placed horizontally on the table, and generally put in motion by a
+little hand-wheel, while a fine steel saw, and various other tools
+belonging to his trade, were lying beside him. The man himself, of whom
+nothing but the skull, surrounded by a fringe of gray hairs, was
+visible, was dressed in a shabby fustian jacket, without any species of
+linen or garment beneath it, and an old pair of cloth trousers, while
+his worn-out slippers scarcely concealed the blue, cold feet they
+partially covered, from resting solely on the damp, shiny floor; and so
+bitter, so freezing, was the sharp winter wind which freely entered into
+this scarcely human dwelling, that, spite of the weariness and
+exhaustion of the overworked artisan, his frame shuddered and shivered
+with involuntary frequency. The length of the wick of the unsnuffed
+candle bespoke the length of time even this uneasy slumber must have
+lasted, and no sound save his troubled and irregular breathing broke the
+deathlike silence that prevailed; for, alas! the other occupants of this
+mean abode were not so fortunate as to be able to forget their
+sufferings in sleep. Yet this narrow, pent-up, unwholesome spot
+contained no less than seven other persons,--five children, the youngest
+of whom was four years of age, the eldest twelve, a sick and declining
+wife, with an aged grandmother, the parent of Morel's wife, now in her
+eightieth year, and an idiot!
+
+The cold must have been intense, indeed, when the natural warmth of so
+many persons, so closely packed together in so small a place, could not
+in any way affect the freezing atmosphere; it was evident, therefore,
+to speak scientifically, that but little caloric was given out by the
+poor, weak, emaciated, shivering creatures, all suffering and almost
+expiring with cold and hunger, from the puny infant to the idiotic old
+grandmother.
+
+With the exception of the father of the family, who had temporarily
+yielded to the aching of his heavy eyelids, no other creature slept,--no
+other; because cold, starvation, and sickness will not allow so sweet an
+enjoyment as the closing the eyes in peaceful rest. Little does the
+world believe how rarely comes that sound, healthful, and refreshing
+slumber to the poor man's pillow, which at once invigorates the mind and
+body, and sends the willing labourer back to his toil refreshed and
+recruited by the blessing of a beneficent Creator. To taste of nature's
+sweet, refreshing, balmy sleep, sickness, sorrow, poverty, and mental
+disquietude must not share the humble pallet.
+
+In contrasting the deep misery of the poor artisan, with whose woes we
+are now occupying the reader, with the immense value of the jewelry
+confided to him, we are struck by one of those comparisons which afflict
+while they elevate the mind. With the distracting spectacle of his
+family's want and wretchedness, embracing a wide field from cold and
+hunger to drivelling idiocy, constantly before his eyes, this man, in
+the pursuance of his daily labour, is compelled to touch and handle and
+gaze upon bright and sparkling gems, the smallest of which would be a
+mine of wealth to him, and save those dearest to him from sufferings and
+privations which wring his very heart; would snatch them from the slow
+and lingering death which is consuming them before his eyes. Yet, amid
+all these trials and temptations, the artisan remains firmly, truly, and
+unflinchingly honest, and would no more appropriate one of the
+glittering stones entrusted to him than he would satisfy his hunger at
+the expense of his starving babes. Doubtless the man but performed his
+duty to his employer,--his simple duty; but because it is enjoined to
+all to be honest and faithful in that which is committed to them, does
+that render the action itself less noble, magnanimous, or praiseworthy?
+Is not this unfortunate artisan, so courageously, so bravely upright and
+honest while entrusted with the property of another, the type and model
+of an immense class of working people, who, doomed to a life of
+continual poverty and privation, see, with calm, patient looks,
+thousands of their brethren rolling in splendour and abounding in
+riches, yet they toil on, resigned and unenvying, but still
+industriously striving for bread their hardest efforts cannot always
+procure? And is there not something consolatory, as well as gratifying
+to our feelings, to consider that it is neither force nor terror, but
+good natural sense and a right mind which alone restrain this formidable
+ocean, this heaving mass, whose bounds once broken, a moral inundation
+would ensue, in which society itself would be swallowed up? Shall we,
+then, refuse to cooperate with all the powers of our mind and body with
+those generous and enlightened spirits, who ask but a little sunshine
+for so much misfortune, courage, and resignation?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let us now return to the, alas! too true specimen of distressing want we
+shall endeavour to describe in all its fearful and startling reality.
+
+The lapidary possessed only a thin mattress and a portion of a blanket
+appropriated to the old grandmother, who, in her stupid and ferocious
+selfishness, would not allow any person to share them with her. In the
+beginning of the winter she had become quite violent, and had even
+attempted to strangle the youngest child, who had been put to sleep with
+her. This poor infant was a sickly little creature, of about four years
+old, now far gone in consumption, and who found it too cold inside the
+mattress, where she slept with her brothers and sisters. Hereafter we
+shall explain this mode of sleeping so frequently employed by the very
+poor, in comparison with whom the very animals are treated luxuriously,
+for their litter is changed. Such was the picture presented in the
+humble garret of the poor lapidary, when the eye was enabled to pierce
+the gloomy penumbra caused by the flickering rays of the candle. By the
+side of the partition wall, not less damp and cracked than the others,
+was placed on the floor the mattress on which the idiot grandmother
+reposed; as she could not bear anything on her head, her white hair was
+cut very short, and revealed the shape of her head and flat forehead;
+while her shaggy, gray eyebrows shaded the deep orbits, from which
+glared a wild, savage, yet crafty look; her pale, hollow, wrinkled
+cheeks hung upon the bones of the face and the sharp angles of her jaws.
+Lying upon her side, and almost doubled up, her chin nearly touching her
+knees, she lay, shivering with cold, beneath the gray rug, too small to
+cover her all over, and which, as she drew it over her shoulders,
+exposed her thin, emaciated legs, as well as the wretched old petticoat
+in which she was clad. An odour most fetid and repulsive issued from
+this bed.
+
+At a little distance from the mattress of the grandmother, and still
+extending along the side of the wall, was placed the _paillasse_ which
+served as a sleeping-place for the five children, who were accommodated
+after the following manner:
+
+An opening was made at each side of the cloth which covered the straw,
+and the children were inserted into this bed, or, rather, foul and
+noisome dunghill, the outer case serving both for sheet and counterpane.
+Two little girls, one of whom was extremely ill, shivered on one side,
+and three young boys on the other, all going to bed without undressing,
+if, indeed, the miserable rags they wore could be termed clothes. Masses
+of thick, dry, light hair, tangled, ragged, and uncombed, left uncut
+because their poor mother fancied it helped to keep them warm, half
+covered their pale, thin, pinched features. One of the boys drew, with
+his cold, benumbed fingers, the covering over their straw bed up to his
+chin, in order to defend himself from the cold; while another, fearful
+of exposing his hands to the influence of the frost, tried to grasp the
+bed-covering with his teeth, which rattled and shook in his head; while
+a third strove to huddle up to his brothers in the hopes of gaining a
+little warmth. The youngest of the two girls, fatally attacked by
+consumption, leaned her poor little face, which already bore the hue of
+death, languidly against the chilly bosom of her sister, a girl just one
+year older, who vainly sought, by pressing her in her arms, to impart
+comfort and ease to the little sufferer, over whom she watched with the
+anxious solicitude of a parent.
+
+On another _paillasse_, also placed on the ground, at the foot of that
+of the children, the wife of the artisan was extended, groaning in
+helpless exhaustion from the effects of a slow fever and an internal
+complaint, which had not permitted her to quit her bed for several
+months. Madeleine Morel was in her thirty-sixth year; a blue cotton
+handkerchief, tied round her low forehead, made the bilious pallor of
+her countenance and sharp, emaciated features still more conspicuous. A
+dark halo encircled her hollow, sunken eyes, while her lips were split
+and bleeding from the effects of the fever which consumed her; her
+dejected, grief-worn physiognomy, and small, insignificant features,
+indicated one of those gentle but weak natures, without resource or
+energy, which unable to struggle with misfortunes, yield at once, and
+know no remedy but vain and ceaseless lamentations and regrets. Weak,
+spiritless, and of limited capacity, she had remained honest because her
+husband was so; had she been left to herself, it is probable that
+ignorance and misfortune might have depraved her mind and driven her to
+any lengths. She loved her husband and her children, but she had neither
+the courage nor resolution to restrain giving vent to loud and open
+complaints respecting their mutual misery; and frequently was the
+lapidary, whose unflinching labour alone maintained the family, obliged
+to quit his work to console and pacify the poor valetudinarian. Over and
+above an old ragged sheet of coarse brown cloth, which partially covered
+his wife, Morel had, in order to impart a little warmth, laid a few old
+clothes, so worn out, and patched and pieced, that the pawnbroker had
+refused to have anything to do with them.
+
+A stove, a saucepan, a damaged earthen stewpan, two or three cracked
+cups, scattered about on the floor, a bucket, a board to wash on, and a
+large stone pitcher, placed beneath the angle of the roof near the
+broken door, which the wind kept continually blowing to and fro,
+completed the whole of the family possessions.
+
+This picture of squalid misery and desolation was lighted up by the
+candle, whose flame, agitated by the cold northeasterly wind which found
+its way through the tiles on the roof, sometimes imparted a pale,
+unearthly light on the wretched scene, and then, playing on the heaps of
+diamonds and rubies lying beside the sleeping artisan, caused a thousand
+scintillating sparks to spring forth and dazzle the eye with their
+prismatic rays of brightness.
+
+Although the profoundest silence reigned around, seven out of the eight
+unfortunate dwellers in this attic were awake; and each, from the
+grandmother to the youngest child, watched the sleeping lapidary with
+intense emotion, as their only hope, their only resource, and, in their
+childlike selfishness, they murmured at seeing him thus inactive and
+relinquishing that labour which they well knew was all they had to
+depend on; but with different feelings of regret and uneasiness did the
+lookers-on observe the slumber of the toil-worn man. The mother trembled
+for her children's meal; the children thought but of themselves; while
+the idiot neither thought of nor cared for any one. All at once she sat
+upright in her wretched bed, crossed her long, bony arms, yellow and
+dry as box-wood, on her shrivelled bosom, and kept watching the candle
+with twinkling eyes; then, rising slowly and stealthily, she crept
+along, trailing after her her old ragged coverlet, which clung around
+her as though it had been her winding-sheet. She was above the middle
+height, and her hair being so closely shaven made her head appear
+disproportionately small; a sort of spasmodic movement kept up a
+constant trembling in her thick, pendulous under-lip, while her whole
+countenance offered the hideous model of ferocious stupidity. Slowly and
+cautiously the idiot approached the lapidary's work-table, like a child
+about to commit some forbidden act. When she reached the candle, she
+held her two trembling hands over the flame; and such was their
+skeleton-like condition, that the flickering light shone through them,
+imparting a pale, livid hue to her features. From her pallet Madeleine
+Morel watched every movement of the old woman, who, still warming
+herself over the candle, stooped her head, and with a silly kind of
+delight watched the sparkling of the diamonds and rubies, which lay
+glittering on the table. Wholly absorbed in the wondrous contemplation
+of such bright and beautiful things, the idiot allowed her hands to fall
+into the flame of the candle, nor did she seem to recollect where they
+were till the sense of burning recalled her attention, when she
+manifested her pain and anger by a harsh, screaming cry.
+
+At this sound Morel started, and quickly raised his head. He was about
+forty years of age, with an open, intelligent, and mild expression of
+countenance, but yet wearing the sad, dejected look of one who had been
+the sport of misery and misfortune till they had planted furrows in his
+cheeks and crushed and broken his spirit. A gray beard of many weeks'
+growth covered the lower part of his face, which was deeply marked by
+the smallpox; premature wrinkles furrowed his already bald forehead;
+while his red and inflamed eyelids showed the overtaxed and sleepless
+days and nights of toil he so courageously endured. A circumstance, but
+too common with such of the working class as are doomed by their
+occupation to remain nearly all day in one position, had warped his
+figure, and, acting upon a naturally feeble constitution, had produced a
+contraction of his whole frame. Continually obliged to stoop over his
+work-table and to lean to the left, in order to keep his grindstone
+going, the lapidary, in a manner petrified, ossified in the attitude he
+was frequently obliged to preserve from twelve to fifteen hours a day,
+had acquired an habitual stoop of the shoulders, and was completely
+drawn on one side. So his left arm, incessantly exercised by the
+difficult management of the grindstone, had acquired a considerable
+muscular development; whilst the right arm, always inert and leaning on
+the table, the better to present the faces of the diamonds to the action
+of the grindstone, had wasted to the most extreme attenuation; his
+wasted limbs, almost paralysed by complete want of exercise, could
+scarcely support the weary, worn-out body, as though all strength,
+substance, and vitality had concentrated themselves in the only part
+called into play when toiling for the subsistence of, with himself,
+eight human creatures.
+
+And often would poor Morel touchingly observe: "It is not for myself
+that I care to eat, but to give strength to the arm which turns the
+mill."
+
+Awaking with a sudden start, the lapidary found himself directly
+opposite to the poor idiot.
+
+"What ails you? what is the matter, mother?" said Morel; and then added,
+in a lower tone, for fear of awaking the family, whom he hoped and
+believed were asleep, "Go back to bed, mother; Madeleine and the
+children are asleep!"
+
+"No, father," cried the eldest of the little girls, "I am awake; I am
+trying to warm poor little Adèle."
+
+"And I am too hungry to go to sleep," added one of the boys; "it was not
+my turn to-night to have supper with Mlle. Rigolette."
+
+"Poor things!" said Morel, sorrowfully; "I thought you were asleep--at
+least--"
+
+"I was afraid of awaking you, Morel," said the wife, "or I should have
+begged of you to give me a drink of water; I am devoured with thirst! My
+feverish fit has come on again!"
+
+"I will directly," said the lapidary; "only let me first get mother back
+to bed. Come! come! what are you meddling with those stones for? Let
+them alone, I say!" cried he to the old woman, whose whole attention
+seemed riveted upon a splendid ruby, the bright scintillations of which
+had so charmed the poor idiot that she was trying by every possible
+means to gain possession of it.
+
+"There's a pretty thing! there, there!" replied the woman, pointing with
+vehement gestures to the prize she so ardently coveted.
+
+"I shall be angry in a few minutes," exclaimed Morel, speaking in a loud
+voice to terrify his mother-in-law into submission, and gently pushing
+back the hand she advanced to seize her desired treasure.
+
+"Oh, Morel! Morel!" murmured Madeleine, "I am parching, dying with
+thirst. How can you be so cruel as to refuse me a little water?"
+
+"But how can I at present? I must not allow mother to meddle with these
+stones,--perhaps to lose me a diamond, as she did a year ago; and God
+alone knows the wretchedness and misery it cost us,--ay, may still
+occasion us. Ah, that unfortunate loss of the diamond, what have we not
+suffered by it!"
+
+As the poor lapidary uttered these words, he passed his hand over his
+aching brow with a desponding air, and said to one of the children:
+
+"Felix, give your mother something to drink. You are awake, and can
+attend to her."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Madeleine; "he will take cold. I will wait."
+
+"Oh, mother," said the boy, rising, "never mind me. I shall be quite as
+warm up as I am in this _paillasse_."
+
+"Come, will you let the things alone?" cried Morel, in a threatening
+tone, to the idiot woman, who kept bending over the precious stones and
+trying to seize them, spite of all his efforts to move her from the
+table.
+
+"Mother," called out Felix, "what shall I do? The water in the pitcher
+is frozen quite hard."
+
+"Then break the ice," murmured Madeleine.
+
+"It is so thick, I can't," answered the boy.
+
+"Morel!" exclaimed Madeleine, in a querulous and impatient tone, "since
+there is nothing but water for me to drink, let me at least have a
+draught of that! You are letting me die with thirst!"
+
+"God of heaven grant me patience!" cried the unfortunate man. "How can I
+leave your mother to lose and destroy these stones? Pray let me manage
+her first."
+
+But the lapidary found it no easy matter to get rid of the idiot, who,
+beginning to feel irritated at the constant opposition she met with,
+gave utterance to her displeasure in a sort of hideous growl.
+
+"Call her, wife!" said Morel. "She will attend to you sometimes."
+
+"Mother! mother!" called Madeleine, "go to bed, and be good, and then
+you shall have some of that nice coffee you are so fond of!"
+
+"I want that! and that! There! there!" replied the idiot, making a
+desperate effort this time to possess herself of a heap of rubies she
+particularly coveted. Morel firmly, but gently, repulsed her,--all in
+vain; with pertinacious obstinacy the old woman kept struggling to break
+from his grasp, and snatch the bright gems, on which she kept her eyes
+fixed with eager fondness.
+
+"You will never manage her," said Madeleine, "unless you frighten her
+with the whip; there is no other means of making her quiet."
+
+"I am afraid not," returned Morel; "but, though she has no sense, it yet
+goes to my heart to be obliged to threaten an old woman, like her, with
+the whip."
+
+Then, addressing the old woman, who was trying to bite him, and whom he
+was holding back with one hand, he said, in a loud and terrible voice:
+"Take care; you'll have the whip on your shoulders if you don't make
+haste to bed this very instant!"
+
+These menaces were equally vain with his former efforts to subdue her.
+Morel then took a whip which lay beside his work-table, and, cracking it
+violently, said: "Get to bed with you directly! Get to bed!"
+
+As the loud noise of the whip saluted the ear of the idiot, she hurried
+away from the lapidary's work-table, then, suddenly turning around, she
+uttered low, grumbling sounds between her clenched teeth; while she
+surveyed her son-in-law with looks of the deepest hatred.
+
+"To bed! to bed, I say!" continued he, still advancing, and feigning to
+raise his whip with the intention of striking; while the idiot, holding
+her fist towards her son-in-law, retreated backwards to her wretched
+couch.
+
+The lapidary, anxious to terminate this painful scene, that he might be
+at liberty to attend to his sick wife, kept still advancing towards the
+idiot woman, brandishing and cracking his whip, though without allowing
+it to touch the unhappy creature, repeatedly exclaiming, "To bed! to
+bed,--directly! Do you hear?"
+
+The old woman, now thoroughly conquered, and fully believing in the
+reality of the threats held out, began to howl most hideously; and
+crawling into her bed, like a dog to his kennel, she kept up a continued
+series of cries, screams, and yells, while the frightened children,
+believing their poor old grandmother had actually been beaten, began
+crying piteously, exclaiming, "Don't beat poor granny, father! Pray
+don't flog granny!"
+
+It is wholly impossible to describe the fearful effect of these
+nocturnal horrors, in which were mingled, in one turmoil of sounds, the
+supplicating cries of the children, the furious yellings of the idiot,
+and the wailing complaints of the lapidary's sick wife.
+
+To poor Morel such scenes as this were but too frequent. Still, upon the
+present occasion, his patience and courage seemed utterly to forsake
+him; and, throwing down the whip upon his work-table, he exclaimed, in
+bitter despair, "Oh, what a life! what a life!"
+
+"Is it my fault if my mother is an idiot?" asked Madeleine, weeping.
+
+"Is it mine, then?" replied Morel. "All I ask for is peace and quiet
+enough to allow me to work myself to death for you all. God knows I
+labour alike night and day! Yet I complain not. And, as long as my
+strength holds out, I will exert myself to the utmost; but it is quite
+impossible for me to attend to my business, and be at once a keeper to a
+mad woman and a nurse to sick people and young children. And Heaven is
+unjust to put it upon me,--yes, I say unjust! It is too much misery to
+heap on one man," added Morel, in a tone bordering on distraction. So
+saying, the heart-broken lapidary threw himself on his stool, and
+covered his face with his hands.
+
+"Can I help the people at the hospital having refused to receive my
+mother, because she was not raving mad?" asked Madeleine, in a low,
+peevish, and complaining voice. "What can I do to alter it? What is the
+use of your grumbling to me about my mother? and, if you fret ever so
+much about what neither you nor I can alter, what good will that do?"
+
+"None at all," rejoined the artisan, hastily brushing the large bitter
+drops despair had driven to his eyes; "none whatever,--you are right;
+but when everything goes against you, it is difficult to know what to
+do or say."
+
+"Gracious Father!" cried Madeleine; "what an agony of thirst I am
+enduring! My lips are parched with the fever which is consuming me, and
+yet I shiver as though death were on me!"
+
+"Wait one instant, and I will give you some drink!" So saying, Morel
+took the pitcher which stood beneath the roof, and, after having with
+difficulty broken the ice which covered the water, he filled a cup with
+the frozen liquid, and brought it to the bedside of his wife, who
+stretched forth her impatient hands to receive it; but, after a moment's
+reflection, he said, "No, no, I must not let you have it cold as this;
+in your present state of fever it would be dangerous."
+
+"So much the better if it be dangerous! Quick, quick--give it me!" cried
+Madeleine, with bitterness; "it will the sooner end my misery, and free
+you from such an incumbrance as I am; then you will only have to look
+after mad folks and young children,--there will be no sick-nurse to take
+up your time."
+
+"Why do you say such hard words to me, Madeleine?" asked Morel,
+mournfully; "you know I do not deserve them. Pray do not add to my
+vexations, for I have scarcely strength or reason enough left to go on
+with my work; my head feels as though something were amiss with it, and
+I fear much my brain will give way,--and then what would become of you
+all? 'Tis for you I speak; were there only myself, I should trouble very
+little about to-morrow,--thank Heaven, the river flows for every one!"
+
+"Poor Morel!" said Madeleine, deeply affected. "I was very wrong to
+speak so angrily to you, and to say I knew you would be glad to get rid
+of me. Pray forgive me, for indeed I did not mean any harm; for, after
+all, what use am I either to you or the children? For the last sixteen
+months I have kept my bed! Gracious God! what I do suffer with thirst!
+For pity's sake, husband, give me something to moisten my burning lips!"
+
+"You shall have it directly; I was trying to warm the cup between my
+hands."
+
+"How good you are! and yet I could say such wicked things to you!"
+
+"My poor wife, you are ill and in pain, and that makes you impatient;
+say anything you like to me, but pray never tell me again I wish to get
+rid of you!"
+
+"But what good am I to any one? what good are our children? None
+whatever; on the contrary, they heap more toil upon you than you can
+bear."
+
+"True; yet you see that my love for them and you has endued me with
+strength and resolution to work frequently twenty hours out of the
+twenty-four, till my body is bent and deformed by such incessant labour.
+Do you believe for one instant that I would thus toil and struggle on my
+own account? Oh, no! life has no such charms for me; and if I were the
+only sufferer, I would quickly put an end to it."
+
+"And so would I," said Madeleine. "God knows, but for the children I
+should have said to you, long ago, 'Morel, we have had more than enough
+to weary us of our lives; there is nothing left but to finish our misery
+by the help of a pan of charcoal!' But then I recollected the poor,
+dear, helpless children, and my heart would not let me leave them, alone
+and unprotected, to starve by themselves."
+
+"Well, then, you see, wife, that the children are, after all, of real
+good to us, since they prevent us giving way to despair, and serve as a
+motive for exerting ourselves," replied Morel, with ready ingenuity, yet
+perfect simplicity of tone and manner. "Now, then, take your drink, but
+only swallow a little at a time, for it is very cold still."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Morel!" cried Madeleine, snatching the cup, and drinking
+it eagerly.
+
+"Enough! enough! no more! you shall not have any more just now,
+Madeleine."
+
+"Gracious Heaven!" exclaimed Madeleine, giving back the cup, "how cold
+it seems now I have swallowed it,--it has brought back those dreadful
+shiverings!"
+
+"Alas!" ejaculated Morel, "I told you so,--ah, now you are quite ill
+again!"
+
+"I have not strength even to tremble,--I seem as though I were covered
+over with ice."
+
+Morel took off his jacket, and laid it over his wife's feet, remaining
+quite naked down to his waist,--the unhappy man did not possess a shirt.
+
+"But you will be frozen to death, Morel!"
+
+"Never mind me; if I find it cold by and by, I will put my jacket on for
+a few minutes."
+
+"Poor fellow!" sighed Madeleine. "Ah, as you say, Heaven is not just!
+What have we done to be so wretched, while so many others--"
+
+"Every one has their troubles,--some more, some less,--the great as well
+as the small."
+
+"Yes; but great people know nothing of the gnawings of hunger, or the
+bitter pinching of the cold. Why, when I look on those diamonds, and
+remember that the smallest amongst them would place us and the poor
+children in ease and comfort, my heart sickens, and I ask myself why it
+is some should have so much, and others nothing? And what good are these
+diamonds, after all, to their owners?"
+
+"Why, if we were to go to the question of what half the luxuries of life
+are really good for, we might go a great way; for instance, what is the
+good of that grand gentleman Madame Pipelet calls the commandant having
+engaged and furnished the first floor of this house, when he seldom
+enters it? What use is it his having there good beds, and warm covering
+to them, since he never sleeps in them?"
+
+"Very true; there is more furniture lying idle there than would supply
+two or three poor families like ours. And then Madame Pipelet lights a
+fire every day, to preserve the things from the damp. Only think of so
+much comfortable warmth being lost, while we and the children are almost
+frozen to death! But then, you will say, we are not articles of value;
+no, indeed, we are not. Oh, these rich folks, what hard hearts they
+have!"
+
+"Not harder than other people's, Madeleine; but then, you see, they do
+not know what misery or want are. They are born rich and happy, they
+live and die so. How, then, do you expect they can ever think such poor
+distressed beings exist in a world which to them is all happiness? No! I
+tell you, they have no idea of such things as fellow creatures toiling
+beyond their strength for food, and perishing at last with hunger! How
+is it possible for them to imagine privations like ours? The greater
+their hunger, the greater enjoyment of their abundant meal. Is the
+weather severe, or the cold intense, they call it a fine frost, a
+healthful, bracing season. If they walk out, they return to a glowing,
+cheerful fire, which the cold only makes them relish the more; so that
+they can scarcely be expected to sympathise with such as are said to
+suffer from cold and hunger, when those two things rather add to than
+diminish their pleasure."
+
+"Ah, poor folks are better than rich, since they can feel for each
+other, and are always ready and willing to assist each other as much as
+lies in their power. Look at that kind, good Mlle. Rigolette, who has so
+often sat up all night, either with me or the children, during our
+illness. Why, last night she took Jérome and Pierre into her room, to
+share her supper, and it was not much, either, she had for
+herself,--only a cup of milk and some bread; at her age, all young
+people have good appetites, and she must have deprived herself to give
+to the children."
+
+"Poor girl! she is indeed most kind,--and why is she so? Because she
+knows what poverty is. As I said to you just now, if the rich only
+knew--"
+
+"And then that nice-looking lady who came, seeming so frightened all the
+while, to ask us if we wanted anything. Well, now she knows that we do
+want everything, will she ever come again, think you?"
+
+"I dare say she will; for, spite of her uneasy and terrified looks, she
+seemed very good and kind."
+
+"Oh, yes; if a person be but rich, they are always right in your
+opinion. One might almost suppose that rich folks are made of different
+materials to poor creatures like us."
+
+"Stop, wife!" said Morel, gently; "you are getting on too fast. I did
+not say that; on the contrary, I agree that rich people have as many
+faults as poor ones; all I mean is, that, unfortunately, they are not
+aware of the wretchedness of one-half of the world. Agents in plenty are
+employed to hunt out poor wretches who have committed any crime, but
+there are no paid agents to find out half-starving families and honest
+artisans, worn-out with toil and privations, who, driven to the last
+extremity of distress, are, for want of a little timely succour, led
+into sore temptation. It is quite right to punish evil-doers; it would,
+perhaps, be better still to prevent ill deeds. A man may have striven
+hard to remain honest for fifty years; but want, misery, and utter
+destitution put bad thoughts in his head, and one rascal more is let
+loose on the world; whilst there are many who, if they had but known of
+his distressed condition--However, it is no use talking of that,--the
+world is as it is: I am poor and wretched, and therefore I speak as I
+do; were I rich, my talk would be of fêtes, and happy days, and worldly
+engagements--And how do you find yourself now, wife?"
+
+"Much the same; I seem to have lost all feeling in my limbs. But how you
+shiver! Here, take your jacket, and pray put it on. Blow out that
+candle, which is burning uselessly,--see, it is nearly day!"
+
+And, true enough, a faint, glimmering light began to struggle through
+the snow with which the skylight was encumbered, and cast a dismal ray
+on the interior of this deplorable human abode, rendering its
+squalidness still more apparent; the shade of night had at least
+concealed a part of its horrors.
+
+"I shall wait now for the daylight before I go back to work," said the
+lapidary, seating himself beside his wife's _paillasse_, and leaning his
+forehead upon his two hands.
+
+After a short interval of silence, Madeleine said:
+
+"When is Madame Mathieu to come for the stones you are at work upon?"
+
+"This morning. I have only the side of one false diamond to polish."
+
+"A false diamond! How is that?--you who only make up real stones,
+whatever the people in the house may believe."
+
+"Don't you know? But I forgot, you were asleep the other day when Madame
+Mathieu came about them. Well, then, she brought me ten false
+diamonds--Rhine crystals--to cut exactly to the same size and form as
+the like number of real diamonds she also brought. There, those are them
+mixed with the rubies on my table. I think I never saw more splendid
+stones, or of purer water, than those ten diamonds, which must, at
+least, be worth 60,000 francs."
+
+"And why did she wish them imitated?"
+
+"Because a great lady to whom they belonged--a duchess, I think she
+said--had given directions to M. Baudoin, the jeweller, to dispose of
+her set of diamonds, and to make her one of false stones to replace it.
+Madame Mathieu, who matches stones for M. Baudoin, explained this to me,
+when she gave me the real diamonds, in order that I might be quite sure
+to cut the false ones to precisely the same size and form. Madame
+Mathieu gave a similar job to four other lapidaries, for there are from
+forty to fifty stones to cut; and I could not do them all, as they were
+required by this morning, because M. Baudoin must have time to set the
+false gems. Madame Mathieu says that grand ladies, very frequently
+unknown to anybody but the jeweller, sell their valuable diamonds, and
+replace them with Rhenish crystals."
+
+"Why, don't you see, the mock stones look every bit as well as the real
+stones? Yet great ladies, who only use such things as ornaments, would
+never think of sacrificing one of their diamonds to relieve the distress
+of such unfortunate beings as we are."
+
+"Come, come, wife! Be more reasonable than this; sorrow makes you
+unjust. Who do you think knows that such people as Morel and his family
+are in existence, still less that they are in want?"
+
+"Oh, what a man you are, Morel! I really believe, if any one were to cut
+you in pieces, that, while they were doing it, you would try to say,
+'Thank you!'"
+
+Morel compassionately shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"And how much will Madame Mathieu owe you this morning?" asked
+Madeleine.
+
+"Nothing; because you know I have already had an advance of 120 francs."
+
+"Nothing! Why, our last sou went the day before yesterday. We have not a
+single farthing belonging to us!"
+
+"Alas, no!" cried Morel, with a dejected air.
+
+"Well, then, what are we to do?"
+
+"I know not."
+
+"The baker refuses to let us have anything more on credit,--will he?"
+
+"No; and I was obliged yesterday to beg Madame Pipelet to lend me part
+of a loaf."
+
+"Can we borrow anything more of Mother Burette?"
+
+"She has already every article belonging to us in pledge. What have we
+to offer her to lend more money on,--our children?" asked Morel, with a
+smile of bitterness.
+
+"But yourself, my mother, and all the children had but part of a loaf
+among you all yesterday. You cannot go on in this way; you will be
+starved to death. It is all your fault that we are not on the books of
+the charitable institution this year."
+
+"They will not admit any persons without they possess furniture, or some
+such property; and you know we have nothing in the world. We are looked
+upon as though we lived in furnished apartments, and, consequently,
+ineligible. Just the same if we tried to get into any asylum, the
+children are required to have at least a blouse, while our poor things
+have only rags. Then, as to the charitable societies, one must go
+backwards and forwards twenty times before we should obtain relief; and
+then what would it be? Why, a loaf once a month, and half a pound of
+meat once a fortnight.[5] I should lose more time than it would be
+worth."
+
+  [5] Such is the ordinary allowance made at charitable
+  societies, in consequence of the vast number of applicants for
+  relief.
+
+"But, still, what are we to do?"
+
+"Perhaps the lady who came yesterday will not forget us!"
+
+"Perhaps not. But don't you think Madame Mathieu would lend us four or
+five francs, just to keep us from starving? You have worked for her
+upwards of ten years; and surely she will not see an honest workman like
+you, burthened with a large and sickly family, perish for want of a
+little assistance like that?"
+
+"I do not think it is in her power to aid us. She did all in her power
+when she advanced me little by little 120 francs. That is a large sum
+for her. Because she buys diamonds, and has sometimes 50,000 francs in
+her reticule, she is not the more rich for that. If she gains 100
+francs a month, she is well content, for she has heavy expenses,--two
+nieces to bring up; and five francs is as much to her as it would be to
+me. There are times when one does not possess that sum, you know; and
+being already so deeply in her debt, I could not ask her to take bread
+from her own mouth and that of her family to give it to me."
+
+"This comes of working for mere agents in jewelry, instead of procuring
+employment from first-hand master jewellers. They are sometimes less
+particular. But you are such a poor, easy creature, you would almost let
+any one take the eyes out of your head. It is all your fault that--"
+
+"My fault!" exclaimed the unhappy man, exasperated by this absurd
+reproach. "Was it or was it not your mother who occasioned all our
+misfortunes, by compelling me to make good the price of the diamond she
+lost? But for that we should be beforehand with the world; we should
+receive the amount of my daily earnings; we should have the 1,100 francs
+in our possession we were obliged to draw out of the savings-bank to put
+to the 1,300 francs lent us by M. Jacques Ferrand. May every curse light
+on him!"
+
+"And you still persist in not asking him to help you? Certainly he is so
+stingy that I daresay he would do nothing for you; but then it is right
+to try. You cannot know without you do try."
+
+"Ask him to help me!" cried Morel. "Ask him! I had rather be burnt
+before a slow fire. Hark ye, Madeleine! Unless you wish to drive me mad,
+mention that man's name no more to me."
+
+As he uttered these words, the usually mild, resigned expression of the
+lapidary's countenance was exchanged for a look of gloomy energy, while
+a slight suffusion coloured the ordinarily pale features of the agitated
+man, as, rising abruptly from the pallet beside which he had been
+sitting, he began to pace the miserable apartment with hurried steps;
+and, spite of the deformed and attenuated appearance of poor Morel, his
+attitude and action bespoke the noblest, purest indignation.
+
+"I am not ill-disposed towards any man," cried he, at length, pausing of
+a sudden; "and never, to my knowledge, harmed a human being. But, I tell
+you, when I think of this notary, I wish him--ah! I wish him--as much
+wretchedness as he has caused me." Then pressing both hands to his
+forehead, he murmured, in a mournful tone: "Just God! what crime have I
+committed that a hard fate should deliver me and mine, tied hand and
+foot, into the power of such a hypocrite? Have his riches been given him
+only to worry, harass, and destroy those his bad passions lead him to
+persecute, injure, and corrupt?"
+
+"That's right! that's right!" said Madeleine; "go on abusing him. You
+will have done yourself a great deal of good, shall you not, when he
+puts you in prison, as he can do any day, for that promissory note of
+1,300 francs on which he obtained judgment against you? He holds you
+fast as a bird at the end of a string. I hate this notary as badly as
+you do; but since we are so completely in his power, why you should--"
+
+"Let him ruin and dishonour my child, I suppose?" burst from the pale
+lips of the lapidary, with violent and impatient energy.
+
+"For heaven's sake, Morel, don't speak so loud; the children are awake,
+and will hear you."
+
+"Pooh, pooh!" returned Morel, with bitter irony; "it will serve as a
+fine example for our two little girls. It will instruct them to expect
+that, one of these days, some villain or other like the notary may take
+a fancy to them,--perhaps the same man; and then, I suppose, you would
+tell me, as now, to be careful how I offended him, since he had me in
+his power. You say, if I displease him, he can put me in prison. Now,
+tell the truth: you advise me, then, to leave my daughter at his mercy,
+do you not?"
+
+And then, passing from the extreme of rage at the idea of all the
+wickedness practised by the notary to tender recollections of his child,
+the unhappy man burst into a sort of convulsive weeping, mingled with
+deep and heavy sobs, for his kindly nature could not long sustain the
+tone of sarcastic indignation he had assumed.
+
+"Oh, my children!" cried he, with bitter grief; "my poor children! My
+good, my beautiful, too--too beautiful Louise! 'Tis from those rich
+gifts of nature all our troubles proceeded. Had you been less lovely,
+that man would never have pressed his money upon me. I am honest and
+hard-working; and if the jeweller had given me time, I should never have
+been under the obligation to the old monster, of which he avails himself
+to seek to dishonour my child. I should not then have left her a single
+hour within his power; but I dare not remove her,--I dare not! For am I
+not at his mercy? Oh, want! oh, misery! What insults do they not make us
+endure!"
+
+"But what can you do?" asked Madeleine. "You know he threatens Louise
+that if she quits him he will put you in prison directly."
+
+"Oh, yes! He dares address her as though she were the very vilest of
+creatures."
+
+"Well, you must not mind that; for should she leave the notary, there is
+no doubt he would instantly throw you into prison, and then what would
+become of me, with these five helpless creatures and my mother? Suppose
+Louise did earn twenty francs a month in another place, do you think
+seven persons can live on that?"
+
+"And so that we may live, Louise is to be disgraced and left to ruin?"
+
+"You always make things out worse than they are. It is true the notary
+makes offers of love to Louise; she has told us so repeatedly. But then
+you know what a good girl she is; she would never listen to him."
+
+"She is good, indeed; and so right-minded, active, and industrious!
+When, seeing how badly we were off in consequence of your long illness,
+she insisted upon going to service that she might not be a burthen to
+us, did I not say what it cost me to part with her? To think of my sweet
+Louise being subjected to all the harshness and humiliation of a
+servant's life,--she who was naturally so proud that we used
+jokingly--ah, we could joke then!--to call her the Princess, because she
+always said that, by dint of care and cleanliness, she would make our
+little home like a palace! Dear Louise! It would have been my greatest
+happiness to have kept her with me, though I had worked all day and all
+night too. And when I saw her blooming face, with her bright eyes
+glancing at me as she sat beside my work-table, my labour always seemed
+lightened; and when she sung like a bird those little songs she knew I
+liked to hear, I used to fancy myself the happiest father alive. Poor
+dear Louise! so hard-working, yet always so gay and lively! Why, she
+could even manage your mother, and make her do whatever she wished. But
+I defy any one to resist her sweet words or winning smile. And how she
+watched over and waited upon you! What pains she would take to try and
+divert you from thinking of what you suffered! And how tenderly she
+looked after her little brothers and sisters, finding time for
+everything! Ah, with our Louise all our joy and happiness--all--all--left
+us!"
+
+"Don't go on so, Morel. Don't remind me of all these things, or you will
+break my heart," cried Madeleine, weeping bitterly.
+
+"And, then, when I think that perhaps that old monster--Do you know,
+when that idea flashes across my brain, my senses seem disturbed, and I
+have but one thought, that of first killing him and then killing
+myself?"
+
+"What would become of all of us if you were to do so? Besides, I tell
+you again, you make things worse than they really are. I dare say the
+notary was only joking with Louise. He is such a pious man, and goes so
+regularly to mass every Sunday, and only keeps company with priests
+folks say. Why, many people think that he is safer to place money with
+than the bank itself."
+
+"Well, and what does all that prove? Merely that he is a rich hypocrite,
+instead of a poor one. I know well enough what a good girl Louise is;
+but then she loves us so tenderly that it breaks her heart to see the
+want and wretchedness we are in. She knows well enough that if anything
+were to happen to me you would all perish with hunger; and by
+threatening to put me into prison he might work on the dear child's
+mind,--like a villain as he is,--and persuade her, on our account! O,
+God, my brain burns! I feel as though I were going mad."
+
+"But, Morel, if ever that were the case, the notary would be sure to
+make her a great number of fine presents or money, and, I am sure, she
+would not have kept them all to herself. She would certainly have
+brought part to us."
+
+"Silence, woman! Let me hear no more such words escape your lips. Louise
+touch the wages of infamy! My good, my virtuous girl, accept such foul
+gifts! Oh, wife!"
+
+"Not for herself, certainly. But to bring to us perhaps she would--"
+
+"Madeleine," exclaimed Morel, excited almost to frenzy, "again, I say,
+let me not hear such language from your lips; you make me shudder.
+Heaven only knows what you and the children also would become were I
+taken away, if such are your principles."
+
+"Why, what harm did I say?"
+
+"Oh, none."
+
+"Then what makes you uneasy about Louise?"
+
+The lapidary impatiently interrupted his wife by saying:
+
+"Because I have noticed for the last three months that, whenever Louise
+comes to see us, she seems embarrassed, and even confused. When I take
+her in my arms and embrace her, as I have been used to do from her
+birth, she blushes."
+
+"Ah, that is with delight at seeing you, or from shame."
+
+"She seems sadder and more dejected, too, each visit she pays us."
+
+"Because she finds our misery constantly increasing. Besides, when I
+spoke to her concerning the notary, she told me he had quite ceased his
+threats of putting you in prison."
+
+"But did she tell you the price she has paid to induce him to lay aside
+his threats? She did not tell you that, I dare say, did she? Ah, a
+father's eye is not to be deceived; and her blushes and embarrassments,
+when giving me her usual kiss, make me dread I know not what. Why, would
+it not be an atrocious thing to say to a poor girl, whose bread depended
+on her employer's word, 'Either sacrifice your virtuous principles, and
+become what I would have you, or quit my house? And if any one should
+inquire of me respecting the character you have with me, I shall speak
+of you in such terms that no one will take you into their service.'
+Well, then, how much worse is it to frighten a fond and affectionate
+child into surrendering her innocence, by threatening to put her father
+into prison if she refused, when the brute knows that upon the labour of
+that father a whole family depends? Surely the earth contains nothing
+more infamous, more fiendlike, than such conduct."
+
+"Ah," replied Madeleine, "and then only to think that with the value of
+one, only one of those diamonds now lying on your table, we might pay
+the notary all we owe him, and so take Louise out of his power and keep
+her at home with us. Don't you see, husband?"
+
+"What is the use of your repeating the same thing over and over again?
+You might just as well tell me that if I were rich I should not be
+poor," answered Morel, with sorrowful impatience. For such was the
+innate and almost constitutional honesty of this man, that it never once
+occurred to him that his weak-minded partner, bowed down and irritated
+by long suffering and want, could ever have conceived the idea of
+tempting him to a dishonourable appropriation of that which belonged to
+another.
+
+With a heavy sigh, the unfortunate man resigned himself to his hard
+fate. "Thrice happy those parents who can retain their innocent children
+beneath the paternal roof, and defend them from the thousand snares laid
+to entrap their unsuspecting youth. But who is there to watch over the
+safety of the poor girl condemned at an early age to seek employment
+from home? Alas, no one! Directly she is capable of adding her mite to
+the family earnings, she leaves her dwelling at an early hour, and
+repairs to the manufactory where she may happen to be engaged.
+Meanwhile, both father and mother are too busily employed to have
+leisure to attend to their daughter's comings or goings. 'Our time is
+our stock in trade,' cry they, 'and bread is too dear to enable us to
+lay aside our work while we look after our children.' And then there is
+an outcry raised as to the quantity of depraved females constantly to be
+met with, and of the impropriety of conduct among those of the lower
+orders, wholly forgetting that the parents have neither the means of
+keeping them at home, nor of watching over their morals when away from
+them."
+
+Thus mentally moralised Morel. Then, speaking aloud, he added:
+
+"After all, our greatest privation is when forced to quit our parents,
+wives, or children. It is to the poor that family affection is most
+comforting and beneficial. Yet, directly our children grow up, and are
+capable of becoming our dearest companions, we are forced to part with
+them."
+
+At this moment some one knocked loudly at the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION.
+
+
+The lapidary, much astonished, rose and opened the door. Two men entered
+the garret. One, tall, lanky, with an ill-favoured and pimply face,
+shaded by thick grizzly whiskers, held in his hand a thick cane, loaded
+at the head; he wore a battered hat, and a long-tailed and bespattered
+green coat, buttoned up close to his throat. Above the threadbare velvet
+collar was displayed his long neck, red and bald like that of a vulture.
+This man's name was Malicorne. The other was a shorter man, with a look
+as low-lived, and red, fat, puffed features, dressed with a great effort
+at ridiculous splendour. Shiny buttons were in the folds of the front of
+his shirt, whose cleanliness was most suspicious, and a long chain of
+mosaic gold serpentined down a faded plaid waistcoat, which was seen
+beneath his seedy Chesterfield, of a yellowish gray colour. This
+gentleman's name was Bourdin.
+
+"How poverty-stricken this hole smells," said Malicorne, pausing on the
+threshold.
+
+"Why, it does not scent of lavender-water. Confound it, but we have a
+lowish customer to deal with," responded Bourdin, with a gesture of
+disgust and contempt, and then advanced towards the artisan, who was
+looking at him with as much surprise as indignation.
+
+Through the door, left a little ajar, might be seen the villainous,
+watchful, and cunning face of the young scamp Tortillard, who, having
+followed these strangers unknown to them, was sneaking after, spying,
+and listening to them.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired the lapidary, abruptly, disgusted at the
+coarseness of these fellows.
+
+"Jérome Morel?" said Bourdin.
+
+"I am he!"
+
+"Working lapidary?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are quite sure?"
+
+"Quite sure. But you are troublesome, so tell me at once your business,
+or leave the room."
+
+"Really, your politeness is remarkable! Much obliged! I say, Malicorne,"
+said the man, turning to his comrade, "there's not so much fat to cut at
+here as there was at that 'ere Viscount de Saint-Rémy's."
+
+"I believe you; but when there is fat, why the door's kept shut in your
+face, as we found in the Rue de Chaillot. The bird had hopped the twig,
+and precious quick, too, whilst such vermin as these hold on to their
+cribs like a snail to his shell."
+
+"I believe you; well, the stone jug just suits such individuals."
+
+"The sufferer (creditor) must be a good fellow, for it will cost him
+more than it's worth; but that's his lookout."
+
+"If," said Morel, angrily, "you were not drunk, as you seem to be, I
+should be angry with you. Leave this apartment instantly!"
+
+"Ha! ha! He's a fine fellow with his elegant curve," said Bourdin,
+making an insulting allusion to the contorted figure of the poor
+lapidary. "I say, Malicorne, he has cheek enough to call this an
+apartment,--a hole in which I would not put my dog."
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed Madeleine, who had been so frightened
+that she could not say a word before. "Call for assistance; perhaps they
+are rogues. Take care of your diamonds!"
+
+And, seeing these two ill-looking strangers come closer to his
+working-bench, on which his precious stones were still lying, Morel,
+fearful of some evil intentions, ran towards the table, and covered the
+jewels with his two hands.
+
+Tortillard, still on the watch, caught at Madeleine's words, observed
+the movement of the artisan, and said to himself:
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! So they said he was a lapidary of sham stones; if they were
+mock he would not be afraid of being robbed; this is a good thing to
+know. So Mother Mathieu, who comes here so often, is a matcher of _real_
+stones, after all, and has real diamonds in her basket; this is a good
+thing to know, and I'll tell the Chouette," added Bras Rouge's brat.
+
+"If you do not leave this room, I will call in the guard," said Morel.
+
+The children, alarmed at this scene, began to cry, and the idiotic
+mother sat up in her bed.
+
+"If any one has a right to call for the guard, it is we, you Mister
+Twistabout," said Bourdin.
+
+"And the guard would lend us a hand to carry you off to gaol if you
+resist," added Malicorne. "We have not the magistrate with us, it is
+true; but if you have any wish for his company, we'll find you one, just
+out of bed, hot and heavy; Bourdin will go and fetch him."
+
+"To prison! me?" exclaimed Morel, struck with dismay.
+
+"Yes, to Clichy."
+
+"To Clichy?" repeated the artisan, with an air of despair.
+
+"It seems a hardish pill," said Malicorne.
+
+"Well, then, to the debtors' jail, if you like that better," said
+Bourdin.
+
+"You--what--indeed--why--the notary--ah, _mon Dieu_!"
+
+And the workman, pale as death, fell on his stool, unable to add another
+word.
+
+"We are bound bailiffs, come to lay hold of you; now are you fly?"
+
+"Morel, it is the note of Louise's master! We are undone!" exclaimed
+Madeleine, in a tone of agony.
+
+"Hear the judgment," said Malicorne, taking from his dirty and crammed
+pocketbook a stamped writ.
+
+After having skimmed over, according to custom, a part of this document
+in an unintelligible tone, he distinctly articulated the last words,
+which were, unfortunately, but too important to the artisan:
+
+    "Judgment finally given. The Tribunal condemns Jérome Morel to
+    pay to Pierre Petit-Jean, merchant,[6] by every available means,
+    even to the arrest of body, the sum of 1,300 francs, with
+    interest from the day of protest, and to pay all other and extra
+    costs. Given and judged at Paris, 13 September, etc., etc."
+
+  [6] The cunning notary, unable to prosecute in his own name,
+  had made the unfortunate Morel give a blank acceptance, and
+  had filled up the note of hand with the name of a third party.
+
+"And Louise! Louise!" cried Morel, almost distracted in his brain, and
+apparently unheeding the long preamble which had just been read. "Where
+is Louise, then, for, doubtless, she has quitted the notary, since he
+sends me to prison? My child! My Louise! What has become of you?"
+
+"Who the devil is Louise?" asked Bourdin.
+
+"Let him alone!" replied Malicorne, brutally; "don't you see the
+respectable old twaddler is not right in his nonsense-box?" Then,
+approaching Morel, he added: "I say, my fine fellow, right about file!
+March on! Let us get out of here, will you, and have a little fresh air.
+You stink enough to poison a cat in this here hole!"
+
+"Morel!" shrieked Madeleine, wildly, "don't go! Kill those wretches! Oh,
+you coward, not to knock them down! What! are you going to let them
+take you away? Are you going to abandon us all?"
+
+"Pray don't put yourself out of the way, ma'am," said Bourdin, with an
+ironical grin. "I've only just got to remark that if your good man lays
+his little finger on me, why I'll make him remember it," continued he,
+swinging his loaded stick round and round.
+
+Entirely occupied with thoughts of Louise, Morel scarcely heard a word
+of what was passing. All at once an expression of bitter satisfaction
+passed over his countenance, as he said:
+
+"Louise has doubtless left the notary's house; now I shall go to prison
+willingly." Then, casting a troubled look around him, he exclaimed: "But
+my wife! Her mother! The children! Who will provide for them? No one
+will trust me with stones to work at in prison, for it will be supposed
+my bad conduct has sent me there. Does this hard-hearted notary wish the
+destruction of myself and all my family also?"
+
+"Once, twice, old chap," said Bourdin, "will you stop your gammon? You
+are enough to bore a man to death. Come, put on your things, and let us
+be off."
+
+"Good gentlemen, kind gentlemen," cried Madeleine, from her sick-bed,
+"pray forgive what I said just now! Surely you will not be so cruel as
+to take my husband away; what will become of me and my five poor
+children, and my old mother, who is an idiot? There she lies; you see
+her, poor old creature, huddled up on her mattress; she is quite out of
+her senses, my good gentlemen; she is, indeed, quite mad!"
+
+"La! what, that old bald-headed thing a woman? Well, hang me if that
+ain't enough to astonish a man!"
+
+"I'll be hanged if it isn't, then!" cried the other bailiff, bursting
+into a horse-laugh; "why, I took it for something tied up in an old
+sack. Look! her old head is shaved quite close; it seems as though she
+had got a white skull-cap on."
+
+"Go, children, and kneel down, and beg of these good gentlemen not to
+take away your poor father, our only support," said Madeleine, anxious
+by a last effort to touch the hearts of the bailiffs. But, spite of
+their mother's orders, the terrified children remained weeping on their
+miserable mattress.
+
+At the unusual noise which prevailed, added to the aspect of two strange
+men in the room, the poor idiot turned herself towards the wall, as
+though striving to hide from them, uttering all the time the most
+discordant cries and moans. Morel, meanwhile, appeared unconscious of
+all that was going on; this last stroke of fate had been so frightful
+and unexpected, and the consequences of his arrest were so dreadful,
+that his mind seemed almost unequal to understanding its reality. Worn
+out by all manner of privations, and exhausted by over-toil, his
+strength utterly forsook him, and he remained seated on his stool, pale
+and haggard, and as though incapable of speech or motion, his head
+drooping on his breast, and his arms hanging listlessly by his side.
+
+"Deuce take me," cried Malicorne, "if that old patterer is not going
+fast asleep! Why, I say, my chap, you seem to think nothing of keeping
+gen'l'men like us waiting; just remember, will you, our time is
+precious! You know this is not exactly a party of pleasure, so march, or
+I shall be obliged to make you."
+
+Suiting the action to the word, the man grasped the artisan by the
+shoulder, and shook him roughly; which so alarmed the children, that,
+unable to restrain their terror, the three little boys emerged from
+their _paillasse_, and, half naked as they were, came in an agony of
+tears to throw themselves at the feet of the bailiffs, holding up their
+clasped hands, and crying, in tones of touching earnestness:
+
+"Pray, pray don't hurt our dear father!"
+
+At the sight of these poor, shivering, half-clad infants, weeping with
+affright, and trembling with cold, Bourdin, spite of his natural
+callousness and long acquaintance with scenes of this sort, could not
+avoid a feeling almost resembling compassion from stealing over him,
+while his pitiless companion, brutally disengaging himself from the
+grasp of the small, weak creatures who were clinging to him, exclaimed:
+
+"Hands off, you young ragamuffins! A devilish fine trade ours would be,
+if we were to allow ourselves to be mauled about by a set of beggars'
+brats like you!"
+
+As though the scene were not sufficiently distressing, a fearful
+addition was made to its horrors. The eldest of the little girls, who
+had remained in the _paillasse_ with her sick sister, suddenly
+exclaimed:
+
+"Mother! mother! I don't know what's the matter with Adèle! She is so
+cold, and her eyes are fixed on my face, and yet she does not breathe."
+
+The poor little child, whose consumptive appearance we have before
+noticed, had expired gently, and without a sigh, her looks fixed
+earnestly on the sister she so tenderly loved.
+
+No language can describe the cry which burst from the lips of the
+lapidary's wife at these words, which at once revealed the dreadful
+truth; it was one of those wild, despairing, convulsive shrieks, which
+seem to sever the very heart-strings of a mother.
+
+"My poor little sister looks as though she were dead!" continued the
+child; "she frightens me, with her eyes fixed on me, and her face so
+cold!"
+
+Saying which, in an agony of terror, she leaped from beside the corpse
+of the infant, and ran to shelter herself in her mother's arms, while
+the distracted parent, forgetting that her almost paralysed limbs were
+incapable of supporting her, made a violent effort to rise and go to the
+assistance of her child, whom she could not believe was actually past
+recovery; but her strength failed her, and with a deep sigh of despair
+she sunk upon the floor. That cry found an echo in the heart of Morel,
+and roused him from his stupor. He sprang with one bound to the
+_paillasse_, and withdrew from it the stiffened form of an infant four
+years old, dead and cold. Want and misery had accelerated its end,
+although its complaint, which had originated in the positive want of
+common necessaries, was beyond the reach of any human aid to remove. Its
+poor little limbs were already rigid with death. Morel, whose very hair
+seemed to stand on end with despair and terror, stood holding his dead
+child in his arms, motionlessly contemplating its thin features with a
+fixed bloodshot gaze, though no tear moistened his dry, burning
+eyeballs.
+
+"Morel! Morel, give Adèle to me!" cried the unhappy mother, extending
+her arms towards him; "she is not dead,--it is not possible! Let me have
+her, and I shall be able to warm her in my arms."
+
+The curiosity of the idiot was excited by observing the pertinacity with
+which the bailiffs kept close to the lapidary, who would not part with
+the body of his child. She ceased her yells and cries, and, rising from
+her mattress, approached gently, protruded her hideous, senseless
+countenance over Morel's shoulder, staring in vacant wonder at the pale
+corpse of her grandchild, the features of the idiot retaining their
+usual expression of stupid sullenness. At the end of a few minutes, she
+uttered a sort of horrible yawning noise, almost resembling the roar of
+a famished animal; then, hurrying back to her mattress, she threw
+herself upon it, exclaiming:
+
+"Hungry! hungry! hungry!"
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the poor, half-crazed artisan, with haggard
+looks, "you see all that is left me of my poor child, my Adèle,--we
+called her Adèle, she was so pretty she deserved a pretty name; and she
+was just four years old last night. Ay, and this morning even I kissed
+her, and she put her little arms about my neck and embraced me,--oh, so
+fondly! And now, you see, gentlemen, perhaps you will tell me there is
+one mouth less to feed, and that I am lucky to get rid of one,--you
+think so, don't you?"
+
+The unfortunate man's reason was fast giving way under the many shocks
+he had received.
+
+"Morel," cried Madeleine, "give me my child! I will have her!"
+
+"To be sure," replied the lapidary; "that is only fair. Everybody ought
+to secure their own happiness!" So saying, he laid the child in its
+mother's arms, and uttering a groan, such as comes only from a breaking
+heart, he covered his face with his hands; while Madeleine, almost as
+frenzied as her husband, placed the body of her child amid the straw of
+her wretched bed, watching it with frantic jealousy, while the other
+children, kneeling around her, filled the air with their wailings.
+
+The bailiffs, who had experienced a temporary feeling of compassion at
+the death of the child, soon fell back into their accustomed brutality.
+
+"I say, friend," said Malicorne to the lapidary, "your child is dead,
+and there's an end of it! I dare say you think it a misfortune; but
+then, you see, we are all mortal, and neither we nor you can bring it
+back to life. So come along with us; for, to tell you the truth, we're
+upon the scent of a spicy one we must nab to-day. So don't delay us,
+that's a trump!"
+
+But Morel heard not a word he said. Entirely preoccupied with his own
+sad thoughts, the bewildered man kept up a kind of wandering delivery of
+his own afflicting ideas.
+
+"My poor Adèle!" murmured he; "we must now see about laying you in the
+grave, and watching by her little corpse till the people come to carry
+it to its last home,--to lay it in the ground. But how are we to do that
+without a coffin,--and where shall we get one? Who will give me credit
+for one? Oh, a very small coffin will do,--only for a little creature of
+four years of age! And we shall want no bearers! Oh, no, I can carry it
+under my arm. Ha! ha! ha!" added he, with a burst of frightful mirth;
+"what a good thing it is she did not live to be as old as Louise! I
+never could have persuaded anybody to trust me for a coffin large enough
+for a girl of eighteen years of age."
+
+"I say, just look at that chap!" said Bourdin to Malicorne. "I'll be
+dashed if I don't think as he's a-going mad, like the old woman there!
+Only see how he rolls his eyes about,--enough to frighten one! Come, I
+say, let's make haste and be off. Only hark, how that idiot creature is
+a-roaring for something to eat! Well, they are rum customers, from
+beginning to end!"
+
+"We must get done with them as soon as we can. Although the law only
+allows us seventy-six francs, seventy-five centièmes, for arresting this
+beggar, yet, in justice to ourselves, we must swell the costs to two
+hundred and forty or two hundred and fifty francs. You know the sufferer
+(the creditor) pays us!"
+
+"You mean, advances the cash. Old Gaffer there will have to pay the
+piper, since he must dance to the music."
+
+"Well, by the time he has paid his creditor 2,500 francs for debt,
+interest, and expenses, etc., he'll find it pretty warm work."
+
+"A devilish sight more than we do our job up here! I'm a'most
+frost-bitten!" cried the bailiff, blowing the ends of his fingers.
+"Come, old fellow, make haste, will you! Just look sharp! You can
+snivel, you know, as we go along. Why, how the devil can we help it, if
+your brat has kicked the bucket?"
+
+"These beggars always have such a lot of children, if they have nothing
+else!"
+
+"Yes, so they have," responded Malicorne. Then, slapping Morel on the
+shoulder, he called out in a loud voice, "I tell you what it is, my
+friend, we're not going to be kept dawdling here all day,--our time is
+precious. So either out with the stumpy, or march off to prison,
+without any more bother!"
+
+"Prison!" exclaimed a clear, youthful voice; "take M. Morel to prison!"
+and a bright, beaming face appeared at the door.
+
+"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette," cried the weeping children, as they recognised
+the happy, healthful countenance of their young protectress and friend,
+"these wicked men are going to take our poor father away, and put him in
+prison! And sister Adèle is just dead!"
+
+"Dead!" cried the kind-hearted girl, her dark eyes filling with
+compassionating tears; "poor little thing! But it cannot be true that
+your father is in danger of a prison;" and, almost stupefied with
+surprise, she gazed alternately from the children to Morel, and from him
+to the bailiffs.
+
+"I say, my girl," said Bourdin, approaching Rigolette, "as you do seem
+to have the use of your senses, just make this good man hear reason,
+will you? His child has just died. Well, that can't be helped now; but,
+you see, he is a-keeping of us, because we're a-waiting to take him to
+the debtors' prison, being sheriffs' officers, duly sworn in and
+appointed. Tell him so!"
+
+"Then it is true!" exclaimed the feeling girl.
+
+"True? I should say it was and no mistake! Now, don't you see, while the
+mother is busy with the dead babby--and, bless you! she's got it there,
+hugging it up in bed, and won't part with it!--she won't notice us? So I
+want the father to be off while she isn't thinking nothing about it!"
+
+"Good God! Good God!" replied Rigolette, in deep distress; "what is to
+be done?"
+
+"Done? Why, pay the money, or go to prison! There is nothing between
+them two ways. If you happen to have two or three thousand francs by you
+you can oblige him with, why, shell out, and we'll be off, and glad
+enough to be gone!"
+
+"How can you," cried Rigolette, "be so barbarous as to make a jest of
+such distress as this?"
+
+"Well, then," rejoined the other man, "all joking apart, if you really
+do wish to be useful, try to prevent the woman from seeing us take her
+husband away. You will spare them both a very disagreeable ten minutes!"
+
+Coarse as was this counsel, it was not destitute of good sense; and
+Rigolette, feeling she could do nothing else, approached the bedside of
+Madeleine, who, distracted by her grief, appeared unconscious of the
+presence of Rigolette, as, gathering the children together, she knelt
+with them beside their afflicted mother.
+
+Meanwhile Morel, upon recovering from his temporary wildness, had sunk
+into a state of deep and bitter reflections upon his present position,
+which, now that his mind saw things through a calmer medium, only
+increased the poignancy of his sufferings. Since the notary had
+proceeded to such extremities, any hope from his mercy was vain. He felt
+there was nothing left but to submit to his fate, and let the law take
+its course.
+
+"Are we ever to get off?" inquired Bourdin. "I tell you what, my man, if
+you are not for marching, we must make you, that's all."
+
+"I cannot leave these diamonds about in this manner,--my wife is half
+distracted," cried Morel, pointing to the stones lying on his
+work-table. "The person for whom I am polishing them will come to fetch
+them away either this morning or during the day. They are of
+considerable value."
+
+"Capital!" whispered Tortillard, who was still peeping in at the half
+closed door; "capital, capital! What will Mother Chouette say when I
+tell her this bit of luck?"
+
+"Only give me till to-morrow," said Morel, beseechingly; "only till I
+can return these diamonds to my employer."
+
+"I tell you, the thing can't be done. So let's have no more to say about
+it."
+
+"But it is impossible for me to leave diamonds of such value as these
+exposed, to be lost or even stolen in my absence."
+
+"Well, then, take them along with you. We have got a coach waiting
+below, for which you will have to pay when you settle the costs. We will
+go all together to your employer's house, and, if you don't meet with
+him, why, then, you can deposit these jewels at the office of the
+prison, where they will be as safe as in the bank; only look sharp, and
+let's be off before your wife and children perceive us."
+
+"Give me but till to-morrow,--only to bury my child!" implored Morel, in
+a supplicating voice, half stifled by the heavy sobs he strove in vain
+to repress.
+
+"Nonsense, I tell you; why, we have lost an hour here already!"
+
+"Besides, it's dull work going to berrins," chimed in Malicorne. "It
+would be too much for your feelings, p'raps."
+
+"Yes," said Morel, bitterly; "it is dull work to see what we would have
+given our lives to save laid in the cold earth. But, as you are men,
+grant me that satisfaction." Then, looking up, and observing the
+nonchalant air with which his prayer was received, he added, "But no,
+persons of so much feeling as you are would fear to indulge me, lest I
+should find it a gloomy sight. Well, then, at least grant me one word!"
+
+"The deuce take your last words! Why, old chap, there seems no end to
+them. Come, put the steam on; make haste," said Malicorne, with brutal
+impatience, "or we shall lose t'other gent we're after."
+
+"When did you receive orders to arrest me?"
+
+"Oh, why, judgment was signed four months ago! But it was only yesterday
+our officer got instructions to put it in execution."
+
+"Only yesterday! And why has it been delayed so long?"
+
+"How the devil should I know? Come, look about you, and put up your
+things."
+
+"Only yesterday? And during the whole day we saw nothing of Louise!
+Where can she be? Or what has become of her?" inquired the lapidary
+mentally, as he took from his table a small box filled with cotton, in
+which he placed his stones. "But never mind all that now. I shall have
+plenty of time to think about it when I am in prison."
+
+"Come, look sharp there a bit. Tie up your things to take with you, and
+put your clothes on, there's a fine fellow!"
+
+"I have no clothes to tie up, and have nothing whatever to take with me
+except these jewels, that I may deposit them at the office of the
+prison."
+
+"Well, then, dress yourself as quick as you can."
+
+"I have no other dress than that you now see me in."
+
+"I say, mate," cried Bourdin, "does he really mean to be seen in our
+company with such rags as those on?"
+
+"I fear, indeed, I shall shame such gentlemen as you are!" said Morel,
+bitterly.
+
+"It don't much signify," replied Malicorne, "as nobody will see us in
+the coach."
+
+"Father!" cried one of the children, "mother is calling for you!"
+
+"Listen to me!" said Morel, addressing one of the men with hurried
+tones; "if one spark of human pity dwells within you, grant me one
+favour! I have not the courage to bid my wife and children farewell; it
+would break my heart! And if they see you take me away, they will try to
+follow me. I wish to spare all this. Therefore, I beseech you to say, in
+a loud voice, that you will come again in three or four days, and
+pretend to go away. You can wait for me at the next landing-place, and I
+will come to you in less than five minutes; that will spare all the
+misery of taking leave. I am quite sure it would be too much for me, and
+that I should become mad! I was not far off it a little while ago."
+
+"Not to be caught!" answered Malicorne; "you want to do me! But I'm up
+to you! You mean to give us the slip, you old chouse!"
+
+"God of heaven!" cried Morel, with a mixture of grief and indignation,
+"has it come to this?"
+
+"I don't think he means what you say," whispered Bourdin to his
+companion; "let us do what he asks; we shall never get away unless we
+do. I'll stand outside the door; there is no other way of escaping from
+this garret; he cannot get away from us."
+
+"Very well. But what a dog-hole! What a place for a man to care about
+leaving! Why, a prison will be a palace to it!" Then, addressing Morel,
+he said, "Now, then, be quick, and we will wait for you on the next
+landing; so make up some pretence for our going."
+
+"Well," said Bourdin in a loud voice, and bestowing a significant look
+on the unhappy artisan, "since things are as you say, and as you think
+you shall be able to pay us in a short time, why, we shall leave you for
+the present, and return in about four or five days; but you must not
+disappoint us then, remember!"
+
+"Thank you, gentlemen. I have no doubt I shall be able to pay you then."
+
+The bailiffs then withdrew, while Tortillard, hearing the men talk of
+quitting the room, had hastened down-stairs for fear of being detected
+listening.
+
+"There, Madame Morel!" said Rigolette, endeavouring to draw the wife of
+the lapidary from the state of gloomy abstraction into which she had
+fallen, "do you hear that? The men have gone, and left your husband
+undisturbed."
+
+"Mother! mother!" exclaimed the children, joyfully, "they have not taken
+father away!"
+
+"Morel, Morel!" murmured Madeleine, her brain quite turned, "take one
+of those diamonds--take the largest--and sell it; no one will know it,
+and then we shall be delivered from our misery; poor little Adèle will
+get warm then, and come back to us."
+
+Taking advantage of the instant when no one was observing him, the
+lapidary profited by it to steal from the room. One of the men was
+waiting for him on the little landing-place, which was also covered only
+by the roof; on this small spot opened the door of a garret, which
+adjoined the apartment occupied by the Morels, and in which M. Pipelet
+kept his dépôt of leather; and, further, this little angular recess, in
+which a person could not stand upright, was dignified by the melancholy
+porter with the name of his Melodramatic Cabinet, because, by means of a
+hole between the lath and plaster, he frequently indulged in the luxury
+of woe by witnessing the many touching scenes occasioned by the distress
+of the wretched family who dwelt in the garret beyond it. This door had
+not escaped the lynx eye of the bailiff, who had, for a time, suspected
+his prisoner of intending either to escape or conceal himself by means
+of it.
+
+"Now, then, let us make a start of it!" cried he, beginning to descend
+the stairs as Morel emerged from the garret. "Rather a ragged recruit to
+march with," added he, beckoning to the lapidary to follow him.
+
+"Only an instant, one single instant, for the love of God!" exclaimed
+Morel, as, kneeling down, he cast a last look on his wife and children
+through a chink in the door. Then clasping his hands, he said, in a low,
+heart-broken voice, while bitter tears flowed down his haggard cheeks:
+
+"Adieu, my poor children! my wife! May Heaven preserve you all!
+Farewell, farewell!"
+
+"Come, don't get preaching!" said Bourdin, coarsely, "or your sermons
+may keep us here till night, which is what I can't stand, for I am
+almost froze to death as it is. Ugh! what a kennel! what a hole!"
+
+Morel rose from his knees and was about to follow the bailiff, when the
+words, "Father! father!" sounded up the staircase.
+
+"Louise!" exclaimed the lapidary, raising his hands towards heaven in a
+transport of gratitude; "thank God I shall be able to embrace you before
+I go!"
+
+"Heaven be praised, I am here in time!" cried the voice, as it rapidly
+approached, and quick, light steps were distinguishable, swiftly
+ascending the stairs.
+
+"Don't be uneasy, my dear," said a second voice, evidently proceeding
+from some individual considerably behind the first speaker, but whose
+thick puffing and laborious breathing announced the coming of one who
+did not find mounting to the top of the house so easy an affair as it
+seemed to her light-footed companion.
+
+The reader may, perhaps, have already guessed that the last comer was no
+other than Madame Pipelet, who, less agile than Louise, was compelled to
+advance at a much slower pace.
+
+"Louise! Is it, indeed, you, my own, my good Louise?" said Morel, still
+weeping. "But how pale you look! For mercy's sake, my child, what is the
+matter?"
+
+"Nothing, father, nothing, I assure you!" said Louise, in much
+agitation; "but I have run so fast! See, I have brought the money!"
+
+"What?"
+
+"You are free!"
+
+"You knew, then, that--"
+
+"Oh, yes! Here, sir, you will find it quite right," said the poor girl,
+placing the rouleau of gold in the hands of Malicorne.
+
+"But this money, Louise,--how did you become possessed of it?"
+
+"I will tell you all about it by and by; pray do not be uneasy; let us
+go and comfort my mother. Come, father."
+
+"No, not just this minute!" cried Morel, remembering that, as yet,
+Louise was entirely ignorant of the death of her little sister; "wait an
+instant. I have something to say to you first. But about this money?"
+
+"All right," said Malicorne, as, having finished counting the gold, he
+put it in his pocket; "precisely one thousand three hundred francs. And
+is that all you have got for me, my pretty dear?"
+
+"I thought, father," said Louise, struck with alarm and surprise at the
+man's question, "that you only owed one thousand three hundred francs."
+
+"Nor do I," replied Morel.
+
+"Precisely so!" answered the bailiff; "the original debt is one thousand
+three hundred francs; well, that is all right now, and we may put
+'settled' against that: but then, you see, there are the costs, caption,
+etc., amounting to eleven hundred and forty francs, still to be paid."
+
+"Gracious heavens!" cried Louise, "I thought one thousand three hundred
+francs would pay everything! But, sir, we will make up the money, and
+bring it to you very soon; take this for the present, it is a good sum;
+take it as paid on account; it will go towards the debt, at least, won't
+it, father?"
+
+"Very well; then all you have to do is to bring the required sum to the
+prison, and then, and not till then, your father--if he is your
+father--will be set at liberty. Come, master, we must start, or we never
+shall get there."
+
+"Do you really mean to take him away?"
+
+"Do I? Don't I? Just look here; I am ready to give you a memorandum of
+having received so much on account; and, whenever you bring the rest,
+you shall have a receipt in full, and your father along with it. There,
+now, that's a handsome offer, ain't it?"
+
+"Mercy! mercy!" supplicated Louise.
+
+"Whew!" cried the man, "here's a scene over again! My stars, I hope this
+one isn't a-going mad, too, for the whole family seems uncommon queer
+about the head! Well, I declare I never see anything like it! It is
+enough to set a man 'prespiring' in the midst of winter!" and here the
+bailiff burst into a loud, coarse laugh at his own brutal wit.
+
+"Oh, my poor, dear father!" exclaimed Louise, almost distractedly; "when
+I had hoped to have saved you!"
+
+"No, no!" cried the lapidary, in a tone of utter despair, and stamping
+his foot in wild desperation, "hope nothing for me; God has forgotten
+me, and Heaven has ceased to be just to a wretch like me!"
+
+"Calm yourself, my worthy friend," said a rich, manly voice; "there is
+always a kind Providence that watches over and preserves good and honest
+men like you."
+
+At the same instant Rodolph appeared at the door of the small recess we
+have spoken of, from whence he had been an invisible spectator of much
+that we have related; he was pale, and extremely agitated. At this
+sudden apparition the bailiff drew back, with surprise; while Morel and
+his daughter gazed on the stranger with bewildered wonder. Taking from
+his waistcoat pocket a quantity of folded bank-notes, Rodolph selected
+three, and, presenting them to Malicorne, he said:
+
+"Here are two thousand five hundred francs; give this young woman back
+the money you have just received from her."
+
+Still more and more astonished at this singular interference, the man
+half hesitated to take the notes, and, when he had received them, he
+eyed them with the utmost suspicion, turning and twisting them about in
+every direction; at length, satisfied both as to their reality and
+genuineness, he finally deposited them in his pocketbook: but, as his
+surprise and alarm began to subside, so did his natural coarseness of
+idea return, and, eyeing Rodolph from head to foot with an impertinent
+stare, he exclaimed:
+
+"The notes are right enough; but pray who and what are you that go about
+with such sums? I should just wish to know whose it is, and how you came
+by it?"
+
+Rodolph was very plainly dressed, and his appearance by no means
+improved by the dust and dirt his clothes had gathered during his stay
+in M. Pipelet's Cabinet of Melodrama.
+
+"I desired you to give back the gold you received just now from this
+young person," replied Rodolph, in a severe and authoritative tone.
+
+"You desired me! And who the devil are you, to give your orders?"
+answered the man, approaching Rodolph in a threatening manner.
+
+"Give back the gold! Give it back, I say!" said the prince, grasping the
+wrist of Malicorne so tightly that the unhappy bailiff winced beneath
+his iron clutch.
+
+"I say," bawled he, "hands off, will you? Curse me if I don't think
+you're old Nick himself! I am sure your fingers are cased with iron."
+
+"Then return the money! Why, you despicable wretch! do you want to be
+paid twice over? Now return the gold and begone, or, if you utter one
+insolent word, I'll fling you over the banisters!"
+
+"Well, don't kick up such a row! There's the girl's money," said
+Malicorne, giving back to Louise the rouleau he had received. "But mind
+what you are about, my sparky, and don't think to ill-use me because you
+happen to be the strongest!"
+
+"That's right!" said Bourdin, ensconcing himself behind his taller
+associate. "And who are you, I should like to know, who give yourself
+such airs?"
+
+"Who is he? Why, my lodger, my king of lodgers, you ill-looking,
+half-starved, hungry hounds! you ill-taught, dirty fellows!" exclaimed
+Madame Pipelet, who, puffing and panting for breath, had at last reached
+the landing where they stood; her head, as usual, adorned with her
+Brutus wig, which, during the heat and bustle she had experienced in
+ascending the stairs, had got pushed somewhat awry, while in her hand
+she bore an earthen stewpan, filled with smoking-hot broth, which she
+was charitably conveying to the Morels.
+
+"What the devil does this old hedgehog want?" cried Bourdin.
+
+"If you dare make any of your saucy speeches about me," returned Madame
+Pipelet, "I'll make you feel my nails,--ay, and my teeth, too, if you
+provoke me! And, if you don't mend your manners, my lodger, my king of
+lodgers will pitch you over the banisters, and I will sweep you out into
+the street, as I would a heap of rubbish."
+
+"This old beldam will bring the whole house about our ears," said
+Bourdin to Malicorne; "we've touched the blunt, our expenses and all, so
+I say 'Off' is a good word."
+
+"Here, take your property," said the latter, flinging a bundle of
+law-papers at the feet of Morel.
+
+"Pick them up, and deliver them decently; you have been paid as a
+respectable officer would have been, act like one!" cried Rodolph,
+seizing the bailiff vigorously with one hand, while with the other he
+pointed to the papers.
+
+Fully convinced by this second powerful grip how useless any attempt at
+resistance would prove, the bailiff stooped down, and, mechanically
+picking up the papers, gave them to Morel, who, scarcely venturing to
+credit his senses, believed himself under the influence of a delightful
+dream.
+
+"Well, young chap," grumbled out Malicorne, "although you have got a
+fist as strong as a drayman's, mind you, if ever you fall into my
+clutches, I'll make you smart for this!" So saying, he doubled his fist
+at Rodolph, and then scrambled down the stairs, taking four or five at a
+time, followed by his companion, who kept looking behind him with
+indescribable terror; while Madame Pipelet, burning to avenge the
+insults offered to her king of lodgers, looked at her steaming stewpan
+with an air of inspiration, and heroically exclaimed:
+
+"The debts of the Morels are paid! Henceforward they will have plenty of
+food, and can do without my messes! Look out there below!"
+
+So saying, she stooped over the banisters, and poured the contents of
+her stewpan down the backs and shoulders of the two bailiffs, who had
+just reached the first floor landing.
+
+"There goes!" screamed out the delighted porteress. "Capital! Ha, ha,
+ha! there they are! two regular sops, in the pan! Well, I do enjoy
+this!"
+
+"What the devil is this?" exclaimed Malicorne, thoroughly soaked with
+the hot, greasy liquid. "I say, I wish you would mind what you are about
+up there, you old figure of fun!"
+
+"Alfred!" bawled Madame Pipelet, in a tone sharp and shrill enough to
+have split the tympanum of a deaf man; "Alfred, my old darling, have at
+'em! They wanted to behave ill to your 'Stasie (Anastasie)! The nasty
+fellows have been taking liberties,--quite violent! Knock them down with
+your broom! And call the oyster-woman, and the man at the wine-vaults,
+to help you! Get out, you! Get--get--get out! Cht, cht, cht! Thieves!
+thieves! robbers! Cht--b-r-r-r-r-r-r--hou, hou, hou! Knock them--knock
+them down! That's right, old dear! Pay them off! Break their bones!
+Serve them out! Boum, boum, boum!"
+
+And, by way of conclusion to this concatenation of discordant noises,
+accompanied by a constant succession of stamping and kicking of feet,
+Madame Pipelet, carried away by the excitement of the moment, flung her
+earthen stewpan to the bottom of the staircase, which, breaking into a
+thousand pieces at the very instant that the two bailiffs, terrified by
+the yells and noises from overhead, were precipitately descending the
+stairs with hasty strides, added not a little to their terror.
+
+"Ah, ah, ah!" cried Anastasie, bursting into loud fits of laughter. "Now
+be off with you,--I think you have had enough!" Then, crossing her arms,
+she stood, like a triumphant Amazon, rejoicing in the victory she had
+achieved.
+
+While Madame Pipelet was thus venting her rage upon the bailiffs, Morel
+had thrown himself, in heartfelt gratitude, at the feet of Rodolph.
+
+"Ah, sir," exclaimed he, when at last words came to his assistance, "you
+have saved a whole family! To whom do we owe this unhoped-for
+assistance?"
+
+"'To the God who watches over and protects all honest men,' as your
+immortal Béranger says."
+
+
+   NOTE.--The following are some curious particulars relative to
+   bodily restraint, as cited in the "Pauvre Jacques," a journal
+   published under the patronage of the "Society for the
+   Furtherance and Protection of Christianity:"
+
+           (Prison Committee.)   (_Comité des Prisons._)
+
+   "A protest and intimation of bodily restraint are generally
+   carried about by sheriffs' officers, and charged by law, the
+   first, 4_f._ 35_c._, the second, 4_f._ 70_c._; for these,
+   however, the officers usually demand, for the former, 10_f._
+   40_c._, for the second, 16_f._ 40_c._; thus illegally claiming
+   from the unfortunate victims of law 26_f._ 80_c._, for that
+   which is fixed by that very law at 9_f._ 50_c._
+
+   "For an arrest, the legal charge is, including stamp and
+   registering, 3_f._ 50_c._; coach-hire, 5_f._; for arrest and
+   entry in the prison books, 60_f._ 25_c._; office dues, 8_f._
+   Total, 76_f._ 75_c._ A bill of the usual scale ordinarily
+   charged by sheriffs' officers, now lying before us, shows that
+   these allowances by law are magnified by the extortion of the
+   officers into a sum of about 240_f._, instead of the 76_f._ they
+   are alone entitled to claim."
+
+   The same journal says: "Sheriffs' officer ---- has been to our
+   office, requesting us to correct an article which appeared in
+   one of our numbers, headed, 'A woman hung.' 'I did not hang the
+   woman!' observed he, angrily. We did not assert that he did,
+   but, to prevent any further misapprehension, content ourselves
+   with reprinting the paragraph in question: 'A few days ago, a
+   sheriffs' officer, named ----, went to the Rue de la Lune, to
+   arrest a carpenter, who dwelt there. The man, perceiving him
+   from the street, rushed hastily into his house, exclaiming, "I
+   am a ruined man! The officers are here to arrest me!" His wife,
+   at these words, hastened to secure the door; while the carpenter
+   ran to a room on the top of the house, to conceal himself. The
+   officer, finding admittance refused, went and fetched a
+   magistrate and a blacksmith; the door was forced, and, on
+   proceeding up-stairs, the woman was found hanging in her own
+   bedchamber. The officer did not allow himself to be diverted
+   from the pursuit by the sight of the corpse; he continued his
+   search, and at length discovered the husband in his
+   hiding-place. "I arrest you!" cried the bailiff. "I have no
+   money!" replied the man. "Then you must go to prison." "Let me
+   at least bid my wife adieu!" "It is not worth while waiting for
+   that,--your wife is dead! She has hung herself!"' Now, M. ----
+   (adds the journal we have quoted), what have you to say to that?
+   You see we have merely copied your own statement upon oath, in
+   which you have detailed all these frightful circumstances with
+   horrible minuteness!"
+
+   The same journal also cites two or three hundred similar facts,
+   of which the following may serve as a specimen: "The expenses
+   upon a note of hand for 300_f._ have been run up by the
+   sheriffs' officers to 964_f._; the debtor, therefore, who is a
+   mere artisan, with a family of five children, has been detained
+   in prison for the last seven months!"
+
+   The author of this work had a double reason for borrowing thus
+   largely from the pages of the "Pauvre Jacques." In the first
+   place, to show that the horrors of the last chapter are far
+   below reality in their painful details. And secondly, to prove
+   that, if only viewed in a philanthropic light, the allowing such
+   a state of things to go on (namely, the exorbitant and illegal
+   fees both demanded and exacted by certain public functionaries),
+   frequently acts as a preventive to the exercise of benevolence,
+   and paralyses the hand of charity. Thus, were a small capital of
+   1000_f._ collected among kind-hearted individuals, three or four
+   honest, though unfortunate, artisans might be released from a
+   prison and restored to their families, by employing the
+   above-named sum in paying the debts of such as were incarcerated
+   for amounts varying from 250 to 300_f._! But when the original
+   debt is increased threefold by the excessive and illegal
+   expenses, even the most charitable recede from the good work of
+   delivering a fellow creature, from the impression that
+   two-thirds of their well-intentioned bounty would only go into
+   the pockets of pampered sheriffs' officers and their satellites.
+   And yet no class of unfortunate beings stand more in need of aid
+   and charitable assistance than the unfortunate class we have
+   just been speaking of.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+RIGOLETTE.
+
+
+Louise, the daughter of the lapidary, was possessed of more than
+ordinary loveliness of countenance, a fine, tall, graceful person,
+uniting, by the strict regularity of her faultless features and elegance
+of her figure, the classic beauty of Juno with the lightness and
+elegance assigned to the statue of the hunting Diana. Spite of the
+injury her complexion had received from exposure to weather, and the
+redness of her well-shaped hands and arms, occasioned by household
+labour,--despite even the humble dress she wore, the whole appearance of
+Louise Morel was stamped with that indescribable air of grace and
+superiority Nature sometimes is pleased to bestow upon the lowly-born,
+in preference to the descendant of high lineage.
+
+We shall not attempt to paint the joy, the heartfelt gratitude of this
+family, so wondrously preserved from so severe a calamity; even the
+recent death of the little girl was forgotten during the first burst of
+happiness. Rodolph alone found leisure to remark the extreme paleness
+and utter abstraction of Louise, whose first ecstasy at finding her
+father free passed away, apparently plunged in a deep and painful
+reverie. Anxious to relieve the mind of Morel of any apprehensions for
+the future, and also to explain a liberality which might have raised
+suspicions as to the character he chose to assume, Rodolph drew the
+lapidary to the further end of the staircase, leaving to Rigolette the
+task of acquainting Louise with the death of her little sister, and said
+to him:
+
+"Did not a young lady come to visit you and your family on the morning
+of the day before yesterday?"
+
+"Yes, and appeared much grieved to see the distress we were in."
+
+"Then you must thank her,--not me."
+
+"Can it be possible, sir? That young lady--"
+
+"Is your benefactress. I frequently wait upon her from our warehouse;
+when I hired an apartment here, I learned from the porteress all the
+particulars of your case, and the painful situation you were placed in;
+relying on this lady's well-known kindness and benevolence, I hastened
+to acquaint her with all I had heard respecting you; and, the day before
+yesterday, she came herself, in order to be fully aware of the extent of
+your misery. The distress she witnessed deeply affected her; but as it
+might have been brought about by misconduct, she desired me to take upon
+myself the task of inquiring into every circumstance relative to your
+past and present condition with as little delay as possible, being
+desirous of regulating her benevolent aid by the good or bad accounts
+she might receive of your honesty and good conduct."
+
+"Kind, excellent lady! Well might I say--"
+
+"As you observed just now to Madeleine, 'If the rich did but know!'--was
+not that it?"
+
+"Is it possible that you are acquainted with the name of my wife? Who
+could have told you that?"
+
+"My worthy friend," said Rodolph, interrupting Morel, "I have been
+concealed in the little garret adjoining your attic since six o'clock
+this morning."
+
+"Have you, indeed, sir?"
+
+"Yes, my honest fellow, I have, and from my hiding-place heard all that
+passed among you."
+
+"Oh, sir! but why did you do so?"
+
+"I could not have employed more satisfactory means of getting at your
+real character and sentiments; and I was desirous of seeing and hearing
+all you did or said without your being aware of my presence. The porter
+had made me acquainted with this small retreat, which he offered to me
+for a wood-closet. This morning, I asked his permission to visit it, and
+remained there more than an hour, during which time I had ample proof
+that a more upright, noble mind did not exist, and that the courageous
+resignation with which you bore your heavy trials was above all praise."
+
+"Nay, indeed, sir, I do not merit such words as these. I was born
+honest, I hope, and it comes natural to me to act as I have done."
+
+"I am quite sure of that; therefore I do not laud your conduct, I
+appreciate it. Just as I was about to quit my hiding-place, to relieve
+you of the presence of the bailiffs, I heard the voice of your daughter,
+and I meant to have allowed her the happiness of saving you. Unhappily,
+the rapacity of the men deprived poor Louise of the full completion of
+her pious task. I then made my appearance. Fortunately, I yesterday
+received several sums that were due to me, so that I was enabled to
+advance the money for your benefactress, and to pay off your unfortunate
+debt. But your distress has been so great, so unmerited, and so nobly
+sustained, that the well-deserved interest you have excited shall not
+stop here; and I take upon myself, in the name of your preserving angel,
+to promise you henceforward calmness, peace, and happiness, for yourself
+and family."
+
+"Can it be possible? But, at least, sir, let me beseech you to tell me
+the name of this angel of goodness,--this heavenly preserver,--that it
+may dwell in our hearts and on our lips! By what name shall we bless her
+in our prayers?"
+
+"Think of her and speak of her as the angel she is. Ah, you were right
+in saying just now that both rich and poor had their sorrows!"
+
+"And is this dear lady, then, unhappy?"
+
+"Who is free from care and suffering in this world of trial? But I see
+no cause for concealing from you the name of your protectress. The lady,
+then, is named--"
+
+Remembering that Madame Pipelet was aware of Madame d'Harville's having,
+at her first coming to the house, inquired for the commandant, and
+fearing her indiscreet mention of the circumstance, Rodolph resumed,
+after a short pause:
+
+"I will venture to tell you this lady's name, upon one condition--"
+
+"Pray go on, sir."
+
+"That you never mention it again to any one,--mind, I say to any person
+whatever."
+
+"I solemnly promise you never to let it pass my lips; but may I not hope
+to be permitted to thank this friend of the unfortunate?"
+
+"I will let Madame d'Harville know your wish; but I scarcely think she
+will consent to it."
+
+"Then this generous lady is called--"
+
+"The Marquise d'Harville."
+
+"Never will that name be forgotten by me! Henceforward it will be to me
+as that of my patron saint,--the object of my grateful worship! Oh, when
+I remember that, thanks to her, my wife, children,--all, are
+saved!--saved--no, no, not all,--my little Adèle has gone from us! We
+shall see her sweet face no more; but still, I know we must have parted
+with her sooner or later; the dear child's doom was long since decreed!"
+
+Here the poor lapidary wiped away the tears which filled his eyes at the
+recollection of his lost darling.
+
+"As for the last duties that have now to be performed for your poor
+child," said Rodolph, "if you will be guided by me, this is how we will
+arrange it. I have not yet begun to occupy my chamber; it is large,
+airy, and convenient. There is already one bed in it; and I will give
+orders to add all that may be requisite for the accommodation of
+yourself and family, until Madame d'Harville is enabled to find an
+eligible abode for you. The remains of your little daughter can then be
+left in your attic, where, until the period of interment, they can be
+properly watched and guarded by a priest with all requisite attention. I
+will request M. Pipelet to take upon himself every necessary arrangement
+for the mournful office of laying the poor babe in its peaceful grave."
+
+"Nay, sir,--but, indeed, I cannot allow you to be turned out of your
+apartment! Now that we are so happily freed from our misery, and that I
+have no longer the dread of being dragged to prison, our poor garret
+will seem to me like a palace,--more especially if my Louise remains to
+watch over the family as she used to do."
+
+"Your daughter shall never again quit you. You said, awhile ago, that
+the first desire of your heart was to have Louise always with you. Well
+then, as a reward for your past sufferings, I promise you she shall
+never leave you more."
+
+"Oh, sir, this is too much; it cannot be reality! It seems as though I
+were dreaming some happy dream. I fear I have never been as religious as
+I ought. I have, in fact, known no other religion than that of honour.
+But such a reverse, such a change from wretchedness to joy, would make
+even an atheist believe, if not in priests, at least in a gracious,
+interposing, and preserving Providence."
+
+"And if," said Rodolph, sadly, "a father's sorrow for the loss of his
+child can be assuaged by promises of rewards or recompense, I would say
+that the heavenly hand which takes one child from you gives you back the
+other."
+
+"True,--most true! And henceforward our dear Louise will be with us to
+help us to forget our poor Adèle."
+
+"Then you will accept the offer of my chamber, will you not? Or else how
+shall we be able to arrange for the mournful duties to the poor infant?
+Think of your wife, whose head is already in so weak a state. It will
+never do to allow her to remain with so afflicting a spectacle
+constantly before her eyes."
+
+"What goodness," exclaimed the lapidary, "thus to remember all,--to
+think of all! Oh, you are indeed a friend! May Heaven bless and
+recompense you!"
+
+"Come, you must reserve your thanks for the excellent lady you term your
+protecting angel. 'Tis her goodness inspires me with a desire to imitate
+her benevolence and charity. I feel assured I am but speaking as she
+would speak, were she here, and that all I do she will fully approve. So
+now, then, it is arranged you will occupy my room. But, just tell me,
+this Jacques Ferrand--"
+
+The forehead of Morel became clouded over at the mention of this name.
+
+"I suppose," continued Rodolph, "there is no doubt as to his being the
+same Jacques Ferrand who practises as a notary in the Rue du Sentier?"
+
+"None whatever, sir," answered Morel; "but do you know him?" Then,
+assailed afresh by his fears for Louise, the lapidary continued: "Since
+you overheard all our conversation, tell me, sir,--tell me, do you not
+think I have just cause to hate this man, as I do? For who knows but my
+daughter--my Louise--"
+
+The unhappy artisan could not proceed; he groaned with anguish, and
+concealed his face with his hands.
+
+Rodolph easily divined the nature of his apprehensions.
+
+"The very step taken by the notary ought to reassure your mind," said
+he, "as, there can be no doubt, he was instigated by revenge for your
+daughter's rejection of his improper advances to proceed to the hostile
+measures adopted. However, I have every reason to believe he is a very
+bad and dangerous man; and if my suspicions respecting him are
+realised," said Rodolph, after a few moments' silence, "then rely on
+Providence to punish him. If the just vengeance of the Almighty seems
+occasionally to slumber, it awakens, sooner or later."
+
+"He is both rich and hypocritical!" cried the lapidary.
+
+"At the moment of your deepest despair, a guardian angel appeared to
+save you from ruin; so, at the moment when least expected, will an
+inexorable Avenger call upon the notary to atone for his past crimes, if
+he be guilty."
+
+At this moment Rigolette came out of the miserable garret belonging to
+Morel; the kind-hearted girl had evidently been shedding tears, and was
+trying to dry her eyes before she descended the stairs. Directly Rodolph
+perceived her, he exclaimed:
+
+"Tell me, my good neighbour, will it not be much better for M. Morel and
+his family to occupy my chamber while they are waiting till his
+benefactress, whose agent I am, shall have found a comfortable residence
+for him?"
+
+Rigolette surveyed Rodolph with an air of unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Really," cried she, at length, "are you in earnest in making so kind
+and considerate an offer?"
+
+"Quite so, on one condition, which depends on yourself."
+
+"Oh, all that is in my power!"
+
+"You see, I had some rather difficult accounts to arrange for my
+employer, which are wanted as early as possible,--indeed, I expect they
+will be sent for almost directly; my papers are in my room. Now would
+you be neighbourly enough to let me bring my work into your apartment,
+and just spare a little corner of your table? I should not disturb your
+work the least in the world, and then the whole of the Morel family, by
+the assistance of Madame Pipelet and her husband, may be at once
+established in my apartment."
+
+"Certainly I will, and with great pleasure; neighbours should always be
+ready to help and oblige each other. I am sure, after all you have done
+for poor M. Morel, you have set a good example; so I shall be very glad
+to give you all the assistance in my power, monsieur."
+
+"No, no,--don't call me monsieur! say 'my dear friend,' or 'neighbour,'
+whichever you prefer; unless you lay aside all ceremony, I shall not
+have courage to intrude myself and papers into your room," said Rodolph,
+smiling.
+
+"Well, pray don't let that be any hindrance; then, if you like, I'll
+call you 'neighbour,' because, you know, you are so."
+
+"Father! father!" said one of Morel's little boys, coming out of the
+garret, "mother is calling for you! Make haste, father,--pray do!"
+
+The lapidary hastily followed the child back to his chamber.
+
+"Now, then, neighbour," said Rodolph to Rigolette, "you must do me one
+more service."
+
+"With all my heart, if it lies in my power to do so."
+
+"I feel quite sure you are a clever manager and housekeeper; now we must
+go to work at once to provide the Morels with comfortable clothing, and
+such matters as may be essential for their accommodation in my
+apartment, which at present merely contains my slender stock of
+bachelor's furniture, sent in yesterday. Beds, bedding, and a great
+quantity of requisites will be needed for so many persons; and I want
+you to assist me in procuring them all the comforts I wish them to have
+with as little delay as possible."
+
+Rigolette reflected a moment, and then replied:
+
+"You shall have all this before two hours have passed: good clothes,
+nicely made, warm and comfortable, good white linen for all the family,
+two small beds for the children, one for the grandmother, and, in fact,
+all that is required; but, I can tell you, all this will cost a great,
+great deal of money."
+
+"_Diable!_ and how much?"
+
+"Oh, at least--the very least, five or six hundred francs."
+
+"For everything?"
+
+"Yes; you see it is a great sum of money," said Rigolette, opening her
+eyes very wide and shaking her head.
+
+"But we could procure all this?"
+
+"Within two hours."
+
+"My little neighbour, you must be a fairy!"
+
+"Oh, no! it is easy enough. The Temple is but two steps from here, and
+you will get there everything you require."
+
+"The Temple?"
+
+"Yes, the Temple."
+
+"What place is that?"
+
+"What, neighbour, don't you know the Temple?"
+
+"No, neighbour."
+
+"Yet it is the place where such persons as you and I fit themselves out
+in furniture and clothes, when they are economical. It is much cheaper
+than any other place, and the things are also good."
+
+"Really!"
+
+"I think so. Well, now, I suppose--how much did you pay for your
+greatcoat?"
+
+"I cannot say precisely."
+
+"What, neighbour! not know how much you gave for your greatcoat?"
+
+"I will tell you, in confidence, neighbour," said Rodolph, smiling,
+"that I owe for it; so, you see, I cannot exactly say."
+
+"Oh, neighbour, neighbour, you do not appear to me to be very orderly in
+your habits!"
+
+"Alas, neighbour, I fear not!"
+
+"I must cure you of that, if you desire that we should continue friends;
+and I see already that we shall be, for you seem so kind! You will not
+be sorry to have me for a neighbour, I can see. You will assist me and I
+shall assist you,--we are neighbours, and that's why. I shall look after
+your linen; you will give me your help in cleaning my room. I am up very
+early in the morning, and will call you, that you may not be late in
+going to your work; I will knock against the wainscot until you say to
+me, 'Good morning, neighbour!'"
+
+"That's agreed; you shall awaken me, you shall take charge of my linen,
+and I will clean out your room."
+
+"Certainly. And, when you have anything to buy, you must go to the
+Temple; for see now, for example, your greatcoat must have cost you
+eighty francs, I have no doubt; well, you might have bought one just as
+good at the Temple for thirty francs."
+
+"Really, that is marvellous! And so you think that for four or five
+hundred francs these poor Morels--"
+
+"Will be completely set up, and very comfortable for a long while."
+
+"Neighbour, an idea comes across me."
+
+"Well, what is this idea?"
+
+"Do you understand all about household affairs?"
+
+"Yes; I should think so," said Rigolette, with a slight affectation of
+manner.
+
+"Take my arm, then, and let us go to the Temple and buy all these things
+for the Morels; won't that be a good way?"
+
+"Oh, how capital! Poor souls! But, then, the money?"
+
+"I have it."
+
+"What, five hundred francs?"
+
+"The benefactor of the Morels has given me _carte blanche_; and she
+will spare nothing to see these poor people restored to comfort. Is
+there any place where we can buy better supplies than at the Temple?"
+
+"Certainly not; you will not find better things anywhere; and then there
+is everything, and all ready, there; little frocks for children, and
+gowns for the mother."
+
+"Well, then, neighbour, let us go at once to the Temple:"
+
+"Ah, _mon Dieu_! but--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Nothing; only, you see, my time is everything to me, and I am already a
+little behindhand, through coming here to watch over poor Madame Morel;
+and you must know that an hour in one way, and an hour in another, that
+by little and little makes whole days; well, a day is thirty sous, and,
+whether we gain something or nothing, we must live; but bah! never mind.
+I will make up for that at night, and then, d'ye see, parties of
+pleasure are very rare, and I call this one. It will seem to me that I
+am rich, rich, rich, and that it is with my own money that I shall buy
+all these things for the Morels. So come along, neighbour, I will throw
+on my shawl and cap, and then I am ready."
+
+"Suppose, whilst you are doing this, I bring my papers to your
+apartment?"
+
+"Willingly; and then you will see my room," said Rigolette, with pride,
+"for it is all tidy, which will convince you how early I am in the
+morning; and that, if you are idle and a sluggard, so much the worse for
+you, for I shall be a troublesome neighbour."
+
+So saying, light as a bird, Rigolette descended the staircase, followed
+by Rodolph, who went into his own room to brush off the dust which had
+settled on him in M. Pipelet's garret. We will hereafter disclose how it
+was that Rodolph was not informed of the carrying off of Fleur-de-Marie
+from the farm at Bouqueval, and why he had not visited the Morels the
+day after his conversation with Madame d'Harville.
+
+Rodolph, furnished, by way of saving appearances, with a thick roll of
+papers, entered Rigolette's chamber.
+
+Rigolette was nearly the same age as Goualeuse, her old prison
+acquaintance. There was between these two young girls the same
+difference that there is between laughter and tears; between joyous
+light-heartedness and melancholy dejection; between the wildest
+thoughtlessness and a dark and constant reflection on the future;
+between a delicate, refined, elevated, poetic nature, exquisitely
+sensitive, and incurably wounded by remorse, and a gay, lively, happy,
+good, and compassionate nature. Rigolette had no sorrows but those
+derived from the woes of others, and with these she sympathised with all
+her might, devoting herself, body and soul, to any suffering fellow
+creature; but, her back turned on them, to use a common expression, she
+thought no more about them. She often checked her bursts of laughter by
+a flood of tears, and then checked her tears by renewing her laughter.
+Like a real Parisian, Rigolette preferred excitement to calm, and motion
+to repose; the loud and echoing harmony of the orchestra at the fête of
+the Chartreuse or the Colysée to the soft murmurs of the breeze, waters,
+and leaves; the bustling disturbance of the thoroughfares of Paris to
+the silent solitude of the fields; the brilliancy of fireworks, the
+flaring of the grand finale, the uproar of the maroons and Roman
+candles, to the serenity of a lovely night,--starlight, clear, and
+still. Alas, yes! the dear, good little girl actually preferred the
+pavement of the streets of the capital to the fresh moss of the shaded
+paths, perfumed with violets; the dust of the Boulevards to the waving
+of the ears of corn, mingled with the scarlet of the wild poppies and
+the azure of the bluebells.
+
+Rigolette only left her chamber on Sundays, and each morning to provide
+her prescribed allowance of chickweed, bread, milk, and millet, for
+herself and her two birds, as Madame Pipelet observed; but she lived in
+Paris for Paris, and would have been wretched to have resided anywhere
+but in the capital.
+
+A few words as to the personal appearance of the grisette, and we will
+then introduce Rodolph into the chamber of his neighbour.
+
+Rigolette was scarcely eighteen years of age, of middle height, rather
+small than large, but so gracefully formed, so admirably proportioned,
+so delightfully filled out, so entirely in accordance with her step,
+which was light and easy, that she seemed perfect of her kind. The
+movement of her finely formed feet, always encased in well-made boots of
+black cloth, with a rather thick sole, reminded you of the quick,
+pretty, and cautious tread of the quail or wagtail. She did not seem to
+walk, but to pass over the pavement as if she were gliding over the
+surface. This step, so peculiar to grisettes, at once nimble,
+attractive, and as if somewhat alarmed, may doubtless be attributed to
+three causes: their desire to be thought pretty, their fear of being
+mistaken for what they are not, and to the desire they always have not
+to lose a minute in their peregrinations.
+
+Rodolph had not seen Rigolette but by the dim light of Morel's garret,
+or on the landing-place, equally obscure, and he was therefore really
+struck by the bright and fresh countenance of the young girl when he
+softly entered her apartment, which was lighted up by two large windows.
+He remained motionless for a moment, in admiration of the striking
+picture before his eyes. Standing in front of a glass placed over her
+mantelpiece, Rigolette was tying under her chin the ribands of a small
+cap of bordered tulle, ornamented with a light trimming of
+cherry-coloured riband. The cap, which fitted tightly, was placed at the
+back of her head, and thus revealed two large and thick bandeaux of
+glossy hair, shining like jet, and falling very low in front. Her
+eyebrows, fine and well defined, seemed as if traced in ink, and curved
+above two large black, piercing, and intelligent eyes; her firm and
+velvety cheeks were suffused with the rosy hue of health, fresh to the
+eye, fresh to the touch, like a ripe peach covered with the dew of dawn;
+her small, upturned, attractive, and saucy nose, would have been a
+fortune to any Lisette or Marton; her mouth, which was rather large, had
+rosy and moist lips, small, white, close, and pearly teeth, and was
+laughter-loving and sportive; three charming dimples, which gave a
+characteristic grace to her features, were placed, two in her cheeks,
+and the other in her chin, close to a beauty-spot, a small ebony speck,
+which was most killingly situated at the corner of her mouth. Between a
+worked collar, which fell very low, and the border of the little cap,
+gathered in by a cherry-coloured riband, was seen a forest of beautiful
+hair, so accurately twisted and turned up that their roots were seen as
+clearly and as black as if they had been painted on the ivory of that
+lovely neck. A plum-coloured merino gown, with a plain back and close
+sleeves, made skilfully by Rigolette, covered a figure so small and
+slender that the young girl never wore a corset,--for economy's sake. An
+ease and unusual freedom in the smallest action of the shoulders and
+body, which resembled the facile undulations of a cat's motions, evinced
+this fact. Imagine a gown fitting tightly to a form rounded and polished
+as marble, and we must agree that Rigolette could easily dispense with
+this accessory to the toilet of which we have spoken. The tie of a small
+apron of dark green levantine formed a girdle around a waist which might
+have been spanned by the ten fingers.
+
+Believing herself to be alone (for Rodolph still remained at the door,
+motionless and unperceived), the grisette, having smoothed down her
+bandeaux with her small hand, white and delicately clean, put her small
+foot on a chair and stooped to tie the lace of her boot. This attitude
+developed to Rodolph a portion of a cotton stocking, white as snow, and
+a well-formed ankle and leg.
+
+After the detail we have given of this toilet, we may guess that
+Rigolette had selected her prettiest cap and best apron to do honour to
+her neighbour on their excursion to the Temple. She found the pretended
+tradesman's clerk very much to her taste; his face, at once kind, bold,
+and animated, pleased her greatly; and then he had been so kind to the
+Morels, by giving up his room to them; so that, thanks to this proof of
+goodness, and, perhaps, also to his good looks, Rodolph had unwittingly
+advanced into the confidence of the grisette with giant strides. She,
+according to her ideas, founded on the compelled intimacy and reciprocal
+obligation which neighbourhood invites, thought herself very fortunate
+in having such a neighbour as Rodolph to succeed to the travelling
+clerk, Cabrion, and François Germain; for she was beginning to find that
+the next room had remained very long empty, and was afraid that she
+should never again see it occupied in an agreeable manner.
+
+Rodolph took advantage of his invisibility to cast a curious eye around
+him, and he found the apartment even beyond the praises which Madame
+Pipelet had bestowed on the extreme cleanliness of the humble home of
+Rigolette. Nothing could be more lively or better arranged than this
+apartment. A gray paper, with green garlands, covered the walls; the
+floor, painted of a red colour, shone like a looking-glass; a small
+earthenware stone was placed in the chimney, where was piled up, very
+symmetrically, a small store of wood, cut so short, so thin, that,
+without exaggeration, each piece might have been compared to a very
+large match. On the stone mantelpiece, painted gray marble, there were,
+for ornaments, two pots of common flowers, covered in with green moss; a
+small case of boxwood contained a silver watch instead of a pendule. On
+one side was a brass candlestick, shining like gold, and having in it a
+small piece of wax-light; and, on the other side, no less
+resplendently, one of those lamps formed by a cylinder and a brass
+reflector, supported by a bar of steel, and having a base of lead. A
+tolerably large square glass, in a black wood frame, was over the
+mantelpiece. Curtains of gray and green Persian cloth, with a
+woollen-fringed border, cut and worked by Rigolette, and hung in light
+rings of black iron, decorated the windows; and the bed was covered with
+a counterpane of the same make and material. Two closets, with glass
+doors, and painted white, were in each side of the recess, enclosing, no
+doubt, household utensils,--the portable stove, the fountain, brooms,
+etc.; for none of these things spoiled the neat appearance of the
+chamber. A chest of drawers of well veined and shining walnut-tree; four
+chairs of the same wood; a large table for ironing and working, covered
+with one of those green woollen coverings which we sometimes see in a
+peasant's cottage; a straw armchair, with a stool to match, the constant
+seat of the workwoman,--such was the unpretending furniture. There was,
+too, in one of the window-seats, a cage with two canary birds, the
+faithful companions of Rigolette. By one of those notable ideas which
+occur to the poor, this cage was placed in the middle of a large wooden
+chest, about a foot deep, placed on a table. This chest, which Rigolette
+called her bird's garden, was filled with mould, covered with moss
+during the winter, and in spring the young girl sowed grass seeds, and
+planted flowers there. Rodolph examined the place with interest, and
+entered fully into the cheerful disposition of the grisette. He pictured
+to himself this solitude, enlivened by the song of the birds and of
+Rigolette herself. In summer, no doubt, she worked at the open window,
+half veiled by a verdant curtain of sweet peas, roses, nasturtiums, and
+blue and white convolvulus. In winter she warmed herself near her small
+stove, by the soft light of her lamp.
+
+Rodolph was thus reflecting, when, looking mechanically at the door, he
+saw there a large bolt,--a bolt which would not have been out of place
+on the door of a prison. This bolt made him reflect. It might have two
+meanings, two very distinct uses: to close the door on the lover within;
+to close the door on the lover without. Rodolph was aroused from his
+reflections by Rigolette, who, turning her head, saw him, and, without
+changing her attitude, said to him:
+
+"What, neighbour, are you there?" Then the well-formed ankle instantly
+disappeared beneath the ample skirt of the plum-coloured gown, and
+Rigolette added, "Ah, Mr. Cunning!"
+
+"I was here admiring in silence."
+
+"Admiring what, neighbour?"
+
+"This pretty little room; for, neighbour, you are lodged like a queen."
+
+"Why, you must know that is my enjoyment. I never go out, and so I can
+do no less than make my home comfortable."
+
+"But really I never saw anything half so nice. What pretty curtains! and
+the drawers as handsome as mahogany! You must have spent a great deal of
+money here."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it! I had, of my own, four hundred and twenty-five
+francs when I left the prison, and almost all has been spent."
+
+"When you left the prison!--you?"
+
+"Yes, but it is a very long story. Of course, you do not suppose that I
+was in prison for anything wrong?"
+
+"Of course not; but how was it?"
+
+"After the cholera, I was quite alone in the world. I was then, I think,
+ten years of age."
+
+"But who had taken care of you till then?"
+
+"Ah, some excellent people! But they died of the cholera;" here
+Rigolette's large eyes became moistened. "They had sold the little they
+possessed to pay their small debts, and I remained without having any
+one who would take care of me. Not knowing what to do, I went to the
+guard-house, opposite to our house, and said to the sentinel: 'Sir, my
+relations are dead, and I do not know where to go to; what must I do?'
+Then the officer came, and he took me to the commissary, who put me in
+prison as a vagabond, and I did not go out until I was sixteen years
+old."
+
+"But your relations?"
+
+"I do not know who my father was, and I was six years old when I lost my
+mother, who had recovered me from the Enfants Trouvés (Foundling
+Hospital), where she had been compelled at first to place me. The kind
+people of whom I spoke to you lived in our house; they had no children,
+and, seeing me an orphan, they took care of me."
+
+"And what were they? What was their business or pursuit?"
+
+"Papa Crétu, so I always called him, was a house-painter, and his wife
+worked at her needle."
+
+"Then they were pretty well off?"
+
+"Oh, like other people in their station, though they were not married;
+but they called each other husband and wife. They had their ups and
+downs; to-day plenty, if there was work to be had; to-morrow short
+commons, if there was none; but that did not prevent the couple from
+being content and always cheerful;" at this remembrance Rigolette's face
+brightened up. "There was not such a household in the quarter,--always
+merry, always singing, and, with it all, as good as they could be. What
+they had any one was welcome to share. Mamma Crétu was a plump body,
+about thirty years old, as neat as a penny, as active as an eel, as
+merry as a lark. Her husband was a regular good-tempered fellow, with a
+large nose, a wide mouth, and always a paper cap on his head, and such a
+funny face,--oh, so funny,--you could not look at him without laughing.
+When he came home after work, he did nothing but sing, and make faces,
+and gambol like a child. He used to dance me on his knees, and play
+with me like a child of my own age; and his wife spoiled me, as if I had
+been a blessing to her. They both required only one thing from me, and
+that was to be in a good humour; and in that I never thwarted them,
+thank Heaven. So they called me Rigolette,[7] and the name has stuck to
+me. As to mirth, they set me the example, for I never saw them
+sorrowful. If ever there was a word, it was the wife who said to her
+husband, 'Crétu, you silly fellow, do be quiet, you make me laugh too
+much.' Then he said to her, 'Hold your foolish tongue, Ramonette,'--I
+don't know why he called her Ramonette,--'do be still, you really make
+my sides ache, you are so funny.' And then I laughed to see them laugh,
+and in this way I was brought up, and in this way they formed my
+disposition; and I hope I have profited by it."
+
+  [7] The French verb _rigoler_ is "to be merry."--E. T.
+
+"Most assuredly you have, neighbour. So there never were any disputes
+between them?"
+
+"Never, oh, never! Sunday, Monday, and sometimes on Tuesday, they made
+holiday, or kept wedding-day, as they called it, and always took me with
+them. Papa Crétu was an excellent workman, and, when he chose to work,
+he could earn what he pleased, and so could his wife, too. If they had
+got enough to do for Sunday and Monday, and live on pretty comfortably,
+they were perfectly satisfied. If, after this, they were on short
+allowance for a time, they didn't mind it. I remember, when we had only
+bread and water, Papa Crétu took from his library--"
+
+"He had a library, then?"
+
+"Oh, he used to call a little box so, in which he put his collection of
+new songs; for he bought all the new ones, and knew them every one.
+When, then, there was nothing but bread in the house, he used to take an
+old cookery book from his library, and say to us, 'Well, now, let us
+see, what shall we eat to-day? This, or that?' And then he used to read
+out a long list of good things. Each of us chose a dish, and then Papa
+Crétu took an empty saucepan, and, with the funniest airs and gestures
+in the world, pretended to put into the saucepan all the ingredients
+requisite for making a capital stew; and then he used to pretend to pour
+it all out into a dish--also empty--which he placed on the table, with
+still the same drolleries, which almost split our sides. Then he took up
+his book again, and, whilst he was reading to us, for instance, the
+recipe of a good fricassée of chicken, which we had chosen, and which
+made our mouths water, we ate our bread, all laughing like so many mad
+people."
+
+"And, in this happy household, were there any debts to trouble them?"
+
+"None whatever. So long as the money lasted, they ate, drank, and made
+merry, and, when it was all gone, they lived upon 'make believe,' as
+before."
+
+"And did they never think of the future?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they thought of it, of course; but what is the future to such
+as we? Present and future are like Sunday and Monday; the one we spend
+gaily and happily outside the barriers, the other is got over in the
+faubourgs."
+
+"And why, since this couple seemed so well assorted, did they never
+marry?"
+
+"A friend of theirs once put that very question in my presence."
+
+"Well, and what did they say?"
+
+"'Oh,' said they, 'if ever we have any children, it may be all very well
+to marry, but as far as we are concerned, we do very well as we are. And
+why should we make an obligation of that which we now perform willingly?
+Besides, getting married costs money, and we have none to spare in
+unnecessary expenses.' But, my goodness," added Rigolette, "how I am
+running on. But, really, when once I begin to talk of these kind people,
+who were so good to me, I never know when to leave off. Here,
+neighbour, will you give me my shawl off the bed, and put it nicely over
+my shoulders, then pin it underneath the collar of my habit-shirt with
+this large pin, and then we will set off, for it will take us some time
+to select the different things you wish to buy for the poor Morels."
+
+Rodolph readily obeyed the directions of Rigolette. First he took from
+the bed a large plaid shawl, which he placed with all imaginable care on
+the well-formed shoulders of Rigolette.
+
+"That will do, neighbour. Now, lift up my collar, and press the shawl
+and dress together; then stick in the pin; but pray try not to prick me
+with it."
+
+The prince executed the orders given with zealous accuracy; then
+observed, smilingly, to the grisette:
+
+"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette, I should not like to be your _femme de chambre_;
+there is danger in it!"
+
+"Yes, I know," answered Rigolette gaily; "there is great danger for me
+of having a pin run in by your awkwardness. But now," added she, after
+they had left the room, and carefully locked the door after them, "take
+my key; it is so large, I always expect it will burst my pocket; it is
+as large as a pistol," and here the light-hearted girl laughed merrily
+at her own conceit.
+
+Rodolph accordingly "took charge" (that is the prescribed form of
+speech) of an enormous key, which might well have figured in one of
+those allegorical devices in which the vanquished are represented as
+humbly offering the keys of their lost cities to the conquerors.
+Although Rodolph believed himself too much changed by years to run any
+risk of being recognised by Polidori, he still deemed it prudent to draw
+up the collar of his paletot as he passed by the door of the apartments
+belonging to the quack, Bradamanti.
+
+"Neighbour," said Rigolette, "don't forget to tell M. Pipelet that you
+are about to send in some things which are to be carried at once up to
+your chamber."
+
+"You are right, my good friend; let us step into the porter's lodge for
+an instant."
+
+M. Pipelet, with his everlasting bell-shaped hat on his head, dressed,
+as usual, in the accustomed green coat, and seated before a table
+covered with scraps of leather and fragments of boots and shoes, was
+occupied in fixing a new sole on a boot, his whole look and manner
+impressed with the same deeply meditative air which characterised his
+usual proceedings. Anastasie was just then absent from the lodge.
+
+"Well, M. Pipelet," said Rigolette, "I hope you will be pleased to hear
+the good news. Thanks to my good neighbour here, the poor Morels have
+got out of trouble. La! when one thinks of that poor man being taken off
+to prison--oh, those bailiffs have no hearts!"
+
+"Nor manners either, mademoiselle," rejoined M. Pipelet, in an angry
+tone, wrathfully brandishing the boot then in progress of repair, and
+into which he had inserted his left hand and arm. "No! I have no
+hesitation in declaring, in the face of all mankind, that they are a set
+of mannerless scoundrels. Why, taking advantage of the darkness of our
+stairs, they actually carried their indecent violence so far as to lay
+their audacious fingers upon the waist of my wife. When I first heard
+the cries of her insulted modesty, I could not restrain myself, and,
+spite of all efforts to restrain myself, I yielded to the natural
+impetuosity of my disposition. Yes, I will frankly confess, my first
+impulse was to remain perfectly motionless."
+
+"But, I suppose, afterwards," said Rigolette, who had much ado to
+preserve a serious air, "afterwards, M. Pipelet, you pursued them, and
+bestowed the punishment they so well deserved?"
+
+"I'll tell you, mademoiselle," answered Pipelet, deliberately; "when
+these shameless ruffians passed before my lodge, my blood boiled, and I
+could not prevent myself from hastily covering my face, that I might not
+be shocked by the sight of these luxurious malefactors; but, afterwards,
+I ceased to be astonished; for well I knew I might expect some sight or
+sound to shock my senses; full well I was prepared for some direful
+misfortune ere the day had passed, for I dreamed last night of Cabrion."
+
+Rigolette smiled, while the heavy groans which broke from the oppressed
+mind of the porter were mingled with blows of his hammer, as he
+vigorously applied it to the sole of the boot he was mending.
+
+"You wisely chose the wisest part, my dear M. Pipelet, that of despising
+offences, and holding it beneath you to revenge them; but try to forget
+these ill-conducted bailiffs, and oblige me by doing me a great favour."
+
+"Man is born to help his fellow man," drawled out Pipelet, in a
+melancholy and sententious tone; "and he is still further called upon so
+to do when a good and worthy gentleman, moreover, a lodger in one's
+house, is concerned."
+
+"What I have to request of you is to carry up to my apartments for me
+several things I am about to send in, and which are for the Morels."
+
+"Make yourself easy upon that point, monsieur," replied Pipelet. "I will
+faithfully perform your wishes."
+
+"And afterwards," said Rodolph, mournfully, "you must obtain a priest to
+watch by a little girl the Morels have lost in the night. Go and give
+the requisite notification of the death, and bespeak a suitable
+funeral."
+
+"Make your mind easy, monsieur," replied Pipelet, more gravely even than
+before; "directly my wife returns, I will go to the mayor, the church,
+and the _traiteur's_: to the church, for the soul of the dead; to the
+_traiteur's_, for the body of the living," added M. Pipelet,
+philosophically and poetically. "Consider it done in both cases; my good
+sir, consider it done."
+
+At the entrance to the alley, Rodolph and Rigolette encountered
+Anastasie returning from market with a huge basket of provisions.
+
+"That's right! That's right!" cried the porteress, looking at the pair
+with a knowing and significant air; "there you go, arm in arm already.
+To be sure, look and love, love and look. Young people will be young
+people, no doubt on't. Me and Alfred was just the same. Whoever heard of
+a pretty girl without a beau? So, go along, my dears, and make
+yourselves happy while you can." Then, after gazing after them some
+minutes, the old woman disappeared in the depths of the alley, crying
+out, "Alfred, my old darling! Don't worry yourself; 'Stasie's coming to
+bring you something nice,--oh, so nice!"
+
+
+END OF VOLUME II.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+This e-text was prepared from numbered edition 505 of the 1000 printed.
+
+Minor punctuation and capitalization corrections have been made without
+comment.
+
+Minor typographical errors of single words, otherwise spelled correctly
+throughout the text have been made without comment.
+
+Word Variations appearing in the original text which have been retained:
+
+"box-wood" and "boxwood"
+"court-yard" and "courtyard"
+"dairy-maid" and "dairymaid"
+"incumber" and "encumber"
+"milk-woman" and "milkwoman"
+"out-building" and "outbuilding"
+"Saint-Remy" (16) and "Saint-Rémy" (6)
+"stew-pan" and "stewpan"
+
+Words using the [oe] ligature, which have been herein represented as
+"oe": manoeuvre, <i>et coeteras</i>, <i>chef-d'oeuvre</i>
+
+Throughout the text, illustrations and their captions were placed on
+facing pages. For the purpose of this e-text these pages have been
+combined into one entry.
+
+Footnotes, originally at the bottom of a printed page, have been placed
+directly below the paragraph in which their anchor symbol appears.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, by 
+Eugène Sue
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mysteries of Paris, by Eugene Sue. (In Six Volumes, Volume II.)
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, by Eugène 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 Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6
+
+Author: Eugène Sue
+
+Illustrators: G. Mercier
+              Bicknell
+              Léon Poiteau
+              Adrian Marcel
+
+Release Date: September 22, 2010 [EBook #33801]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, V.2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+(Stanford University, SUL Books in the Public Domain)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px;"><a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a>
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="318" height="500" alt="&quot;He Took from the Bed a Large Plaid Shawl&quot;
+Etching by Adrian Marcel, after the drawing by Frank T. Merrill" title="&quot;He Took from the Bed a Large Plaid Shawl&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;<i>He Took from the Bed a Large Plaid Shawl</i>&quot;<br />
+<span class="artist">Etching by Adrian Marcel, after the drawing by Frank T. Merrill</span></span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="frontmatter">
+<h1>The Mysteries of Paris.</h1>
+
+<p class="title"><i>ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS<br />
+BY MERCIER, BICKNELL, POITEAU,<br />
+AND ADRIAN MARCEL.</i><br />
+<span class="pad8"><span class="smcap"><i>By</i></span> <i>EUGENE SUE</i></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="volume"><i>IN SIX VOLUMES<br />
+VOLUME II.</i></p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>PRINTED FOR<br />
+FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS &amp; CO.<br />
+BOSTON</i></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p class="edition"><i>EDITION DE LUXE.</i></p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Limited to One Thousand Copies.</i></p>
+
+<p class="edition">No.____</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="allcaps">CHAPTER</span></td><td class="tcol2">&nbsp;</td><td class="tcol3"><span class="allcaps">PAGE</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">I.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Ball</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">II.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Rendezvous</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">III.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">An Idyl</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">IV.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Ambuscade</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">V.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Rectory-house</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">VI.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Rencounter</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">VII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">An Evening at the Farm</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">VIII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Dream</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">IX.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Letter</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">X.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Hollow Way</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">XI.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Clémence d'Harville</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">XII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Misery</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">XIII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Judgment and Execution</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol1">XIV.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Rigolette</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations">
+<tr><td class="tcol2">&nbsp;</td><td class="tcol3"><span class="allcaps">PAGE</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">He took from the bed a large plaid shawl</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><i><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">At length alighted on her shoulder</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image66">66</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol2">"'<span class="smcap">So I have brought Turk with me</span>'"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image97">97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcol2">"'<span class="smcap">You must give me leave</span>'"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image208">208</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 10%;" />
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE BALL.</h5>
+
+
+<p>Belonging to one of the first families in France, still
+young, and with a face that would have been agreeable
+had it not been for the almost ridiculous and disproportionate
+length of his nose, M. de Lucenay joined to a
+restless love of constant motion the habit of talking and
+laughing fearfully loud upon subjects quite at variance
+with good taste or polished manners, and throwing himself
+into attitudes so abrupt and awkward that it was
+only by recalling who he was, that his being found in
+the midst of the most distinguished societies in Paris
+could be accounted for, or a reason assigned for tolerating
+his gestures and language; for both of which he had
+now, by dint of long practice and adherence, acquired a
+sort of free license or impunity. He was shunned like
+the plague, although not deficient in a certain description
+of wit, which told here and there amid the indescribable
+confusion of remarkable phraseology which he
+allowed himself the use of; in fact, he was one of those
+unintentional instruments of vengeance one would always
+like to employ in the wholesale chastisement of persons
+who have rendered themselves either ridiculous
+or abhorrent.</p>
+
+<p>The Duchess de Lucenay, one of the most agreeable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+and, at the same time, most fashionable women in Paris
+(spite of her having numbered thirty summers), had
+more than once furnished matter of conversation among
+the scandal-dealers of Paris; but her errors, whatever
+they were supposed to be, were pardoned, in consideration
+of the heavy drawback of such a partner as M. de
+Lucenay.</p>
+
+<p>Another feature in the character of this latter-named
+individual was a singular affectation of the most absurd
+and unknown expressions, relative to imaginary complaints
+and ridiculous infirmities he amused himself in
+supposing you suffered from, and concerning which he
+would make earnest inquiries, in a loud voice, and in the
+immediate presence of a hundred persons. But possessed
+of first-rate courage, and always ready to take the consequences
+of his disagreeable jokes, M. de Lucenay had
+been concerned in various affairs of honour arising out
+of them, with varied success; coming off sometimes
+victor, sometimes vanquished, without being in any way
+cured of his unpleasant and annoying tricks.</p>
+
+<p>All this premised, we will ask the reader to imagine
+the loud, harsh voice of the personage we have been
+describing, shouting from the distance at which he first
+recognised Madame d'Harville and Sarah:</p>
+
+<p>"Holla! holla! who is that out there? Come, who is
+it? Let's see. What! the prettiest woman at the ball
+sitting out here, away from everybody! I can't have
+this; it is high time I returned from the other end of
+the world to put a stop to such doings as this. I tell
+you what, marquise, if you persist in thus concealing
+yourself from general view, and cheating people from
+looking at you, I will set up a cry of fire! fire! that
+shall bring every one out of the ballroom, around you."</p>
+
+<p>And then, by way of terminating his discourse, M. de
+Lucenay threw himself almost on his back beside the
+two ladies, crossed his left leg over his right thigh, and
+held his foot in his hand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You have soon returned from Constantinople, my
+lord," observed Madame d'Harville, fancying it was
+necessary to say something, and, at the same time,
+drawing away from her unpleasant neighbour with ill-concealed
+impatience.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that is just what my wife said! 'Already back,
+my lord?' exclaimed she, when she saw me alight from
+my travelling-carriage; 'Why, bless me, I did not expect
+you so soon!' And, do you know, instead of flying to
+my arms, as if the surprise had delighted her, she turned
+quite sulky, and refused to appear with me at this, my
+first ball since my return! And, upon my soul, I declare
+her staying away has caused a far greater sensation
+than my presence,&mdash;droll, isn't it? 'Pon my life, I
+declare I can't make it out. When she is with me,
+nobody pays the least attention to me; but when I
+entered the room alone to-night, such a crowd came humming
+and buzzing around me, all calling out at once,
+'Where is Madame de Lucenay? Is not she coming this
+evening? Oh, dear, what a disappointment! How vexatious!
+How disagreeable!' etc., etc. And then, marquise,
+when I come where you are, and expect, after
+returning all the way from Constantinople, you will be
+overjoyed to see me, you look upon me as if I were a
+dog running amidst an interesting game of ninepins;
+and yet, for all I see, I am just as agreeable as other
+people."</p>
+
+<p>"And it would have been so easy for you to have
+continued agreeable&mdash;in the East," added Madame
+d'Harville, slightly smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop abroad, you mean, I suppose; yes, I dare say.
+I tell you I could not, and I would not; and it is not
+quite what I like, to hear you say so!" exclaimed M. de
+Lucenay, uncrossing his legs, and beating the crown of
+his hat after the fashion of a tambourine.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, for heaven's sake, my lord, be still, and do
+not call out so very loudly," said Madame d'Harville,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+angrily, "or really you will compel me to change my
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"Change your place! Ah, to be sure! You want to
+take my arm, and walk about the gallery a little; come
+along, then, I'm ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Walk with you! Certainly not! And pray let me
+beg of you not to meddle with that bouquet&mdash;and have
+the goodness not to touch the fan either; you will only
+break it, as you always do."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, bless you! talking of breaking fans, I am unlucky.
+Did my wife ever show you a magnificent
+Chinese fan, given to her by Madame de Vaudémont?
+Well, I broke that!" And, having delivered himself of
+these comforting words, M. de Lucenay again threw
+himself back on the divan he had been lounging on, but,
+with his accustomed gaucherie, contrived to pitch himself
+over the back of it, on to the ground, grasping in his
+hand a quantity of the floating wreaths of climbing
+plants which depended from the boughs of the trees
+under which the party was sitting, and which he had
+been, for some time, amusing himself with essaying to
+catch, as, moved by the light breeze admitted into the
+place, they undulated gracefully over his head. The
+suddenness of his fall brought down, not only those he
+held, but the parent stems belonging to them; and poor
+De Lucenay was so covered by the mass of foliage thus
+unexpectedly obtained, that, ere he could thoroughly disengage
+himself from their circling tendrils, he presented
+the appearance of some monarch of May-day crowned
+with his leafy diadem. So whimsical an appearance as
+he presented drew down roars of deafening, stunning
+laughter; much to the annoyance of Madame d'Harville,
+who would quickly have got out of the vicinity of so
+awkward and unpleasant a person had she not perceived
+M. Charles Robert (the commandant of Madame Pipelet's
+accounts) advancing from the other end of the gallery;
+and, unwilling to appear as though going to meet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+him, she once more resumed her seat beside M. de
+Lucenay.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, Lady Macgregor," vociferated the incorrigible
+De Lucenay, "didn't I look preciously like a wild man
+of the woods, or the god Pan, or a sylvan, or a naiad,
+or some of those savage creatures, with that green wreath
+round my head? Oh, but talking of savages," added he,
+abruptly approaching Sarah, "Lady Macgregor, I must
+tell you a most outrageously indecent story. Just imagine
+that at Otaheite&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"My lord duke&mdash;" interrupted Sarah, in a tone of
+freezing rebuke.</p>
+
+<p>"Just as you like,&mdash;you are not obliged to hear my
+story if you don't like it; you are the loser, that's all.
+Ah! I see Madame de Fonbonne out there; I shall keep
+it for her; she is a dear, kind creature, and will be
+delighted to hear it; so I'll save it for her."</p>
+
+<p>Madame de Fonbonne was a fat little woman, of about
+fifty years of age, very pretending, and very ridiculous.
+Her fat double chin rested on her equally fat throat;
+and she was continually talking, with upturned eyes, of
+her tender, her sensitive soul; the languor of her soul;
+the craving of her soul; the aspirations of her soul. To
+these disadvantages, she added the additional one of
+being particularly ill-dressed, upon the present occasion,
+in a horrible-looking copper-coloured turban, with a
+sprinkling of green flowers over it.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," again asserted De Lucenay, in his loudest
+voice, "that charming anecdote shall be told to Madame
+de Fonbonne."</p>
+
+<p>"May I be permitted, my lord duke, to inquire the
+subject of your conversation?" said the lady thus apostrophised,
+who, hearing her name mentioned, immediately
+commenced her usual mincing, bridling attempts to draw
+up her chubby self, but, failing in the effort, fell back
+upon the easier man&oelig;uvre of "rolling up the whites of
+her eyes," as it is commonly called.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It refers, madame, to a most horribly indecent, revolting,
+and strange story."</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven bless me! and who dares&mdash;oh, dear me,
+who would venture&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I would, madame. I can answer for the truth of the
+anecdote, and that it would make a stick or a stone
+blush to hear it; but, as I am aware how dearly you
+love such stories, I will relate it to you. You must
+know, then, that in Otaheite&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," exclaimed the indignant lady, turning up
+her eyes with indignant horror, "it really is surprising
+you can allow yourself to&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Now for those unkind looks you shall not hear my
+pretty story either, though I had been reserving it for
+you. And, now I look at you, I can but wonder that
+you, so celebrated for the taste and good style of your
+dress, should have put that wretched thing on your head
+for a turban, but which looks more like an old copper
+baking-dish spotted all over with verdigris." So saying,
+the duke, as if charmed with his own wit, burst into a
+loud and long peal of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"If, my lord," exclaimed the enraged lady, "you
+merely returned from the East to resume your offensive
+jokes, which are tolerated because you are supposed to
+be only half in your senses, all who know you are bound
+to hope you intend to return as quickly as you came;"
+saying which she arose, and majestically waddled away.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what, Lady Macgregor, if I don't take
+devilish good care, I shall let fly at that stupid old prude
+and pull her old stew-pan off her head," said M. de
+Lucenay, thrusting his hands deep down into his pockets
+as if to prevent their committing the retaliating mischief
+he contemplated. "But no," said he, after a pause, "I
+won't hurt the 'sensitive soul,' poor innocent thing!
+Ha! ha! ha! Besides, think of her being an orphan
+at her tender age!" And renewed peals of laughter
+announced that the imagination of the duke had again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+found a fresh fund of amusement in some reminiscence
+of Madame de Fonbonne; which, however, soon gave
+place to an expression of surprise, as the figure of the
+commandant, sauntering towards them, caught his eye.</p>
+
+<p>"Holla!" cried he, "there's M. Charles Robert.
+I met him last summer at the German baths; he is
+a deuced fine fellow,&mdash;sings like a swan. Now, marquise,
+I'll show you some fun,&mdash;just see how I'll bother
+him. Would you like me to introduce him to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Be quiet, if you can," said Sarah, turning her back
+most unceremoniously upon M. de Lucenay, "and let us
+alone, I beg."</p>
+
+<p>As M. Charles Robert, while affecting to be solely
+occupied in admiring the rare plants on either side of
+him, continued to advance, M. de Lucenay had cleverly
+contrived to get possession of Sarah's <i>flacon d'esprit</i>, and
+was deeply and silently engaged in the interesting
+employment of demolishing the stopper of the trinket.</p>
+
+<p>Still M. Charles Robert kept on his gradual approach
+to the party he was, in reality, making the object of his
+visit. His figure was tall and finely proportioned; his
+features boasted the most faultless regularity; his dress
+was in the first style of modern elegance; yet his
+countenance, his whole person, were destitute of grace,
+or that <i>distingué</i> air which is more to be coveted than
+mere beauty, whether of face or figure; his movements
+were stiff and constrained, and his hands and feet large
+and coarse. As he approached Madame d'Harville his
+insipid and insignificant countenance assumed, all at
+once, an expression of the deepest melancholy, too
+sudden to be genuine; nevertheless he acted the part as
+closely to nature as might be. M. Robert had the air
+of a man so thoroughly wretched, so oppressed by a
+multitude of sorrows, that as he came up to Madame
+d'Harville she could not help recalling to mind the
+fearful mention made by Sarah touching the violence
+to which grief such as his might drive him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How are you? How are you, my dear sir?"
+exclaimed the Duke de Lucenay, interrupting the
+further approach of the commandant. "I have not
+had the pleasure of seeing you since we met at the
+spas of &mdash;&mdash;. But what the devil ails you,&mdash;are you
+ill?"</p>
+
+<p>Hereupon M. Charles Robert assumed a languid and
+sentimental air, and, casting a melancholy look towards
+Madame d'Harville, replied, in a tone of deep depression:</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, my lord, I am very far from being well."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless me! Why, what is the matter with you?
+Ah! I suppose that confounded plaguy cough still sticks
+to you," said M. de Lucenay, with an appearance of the
+most serious interest in the inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>At this ridiculous question, M. Charles Robert stood
+for a moment as though struck dumb with astonishment,
+but, quickly recovering himself, said, while his face
+crimsoned, and his voice trembled with rage, in a short,
+firm voice, to M. de Lucenay:</p>
+
+<p>"Since you express so much uneasiness respecting my
+health, my lord, I trust you will not fail calling to-morrow
+to know how I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my life and soul, my dear sir, I&mdash;but most
+certainly I will send," said the duke, with a haughty
+bow to M. Charles Robert, who, coolly returning it,
+walked away.</p>
+
+<p>"The best of the joke is," said M. de Lucenay,
+throwing himself again by the side of Sarah, "that
+our tall friend there had no more of a spitting complaint
+than the great Turk himself,&mdash;unless, indeed, I stumbled
+upon the truth without knowing it. Well, he might
+have that complaint for anything I know or care.
+What do you think, Lady Macgregor,&mdash;did that great,
+tall fellow look, to you, as though he were suffering
+from <i>la pituite?</i>"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> A sort of viscous, phlegmy complaint.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Sarah's only reply was an indignant rising from her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+seat, and hasty removal from the vicinage of the annoying
+Duke de Lucenay.</p>
+
+<p>All this had passed with the rapidity of thought.
+Sarah had experienced considerable difficulty in restraining
+her inclination to indulge in a hearty fit of laughter
+at the absurd question put by the Duke de Lucenay to
+the commandant; but Madame d'Harville had painfully
+sympathised with the feelings of a man so ridiculously
+interrogated in the presence of the woman he loved.
+Then, horror-struck as the probable consequences of
+the duke's jest rose to her mind, led away by her dread
+of the duel which might arise out of it, and still further
+instigated by a feeling of deep pity for one who seemed
+to her misled imagination as marked out for every
+venomed shaft of envy, malice, and revenge, Clémence
+rose abruptly from her seat, took the arm of Sarah,
+overtook M. Charles Robert, who was boiling over with
+rage, and whispered to him, as she passed:</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow, at one o'clock, I will be there."</p>
+
+<p>Then, regaining the gallery with the countess, she
+immediately quitted the ball.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph, in appearing at this fête, besides fulfilling
+a duty imposed on him by his exalted rank and place
+in society, was further influenced by the earnest desire
+to ascertain how far his suspicions, as regarded Madame
+d'Harville, were well founded, and if she were, indeed,
+the heroine of Madame Pipelet's account. After quitting
+the winter garden with the Countess de &mdash;&mdash;, he had,
+in vain, traversed the various salons in the hopes of
+meeting Madame d'Harville alone. He was returning
+to the hothouse when, being momentarily delayed at
+the top of the stairs, he was witness to the rapid scene
+between Madame d'Harville and M. Charles Robert after
+the joke played off by the Duke de Lucenay. The
+significant glances exchanged between Clémence and
+the commandant struck Rodolph powerfully, and impressed
+him with the firm conviction that this tall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+and prepossessing individual was the mysterious lodger
+of the Rue du Temple. Wishing for still further confirmation
+of the idea, he returned to the gallery.
+A waltz was about to commence, and in the course
+of a few minutes he saw M. Charles Robert standing
+in the doorway, evidently revelling in the satisfaction
+of his own ideas; enjoying, in the first place, the
+recollection of his own retort to M. de Lucenay (for
+M. Charles Robert, spite of his egregious folly and
+vanity, was by no means destitute of bravery), and,
+secondly, revelling in the triumph of thus obtaining
+a voluntary assignation with Madame d'Harville for
+the morrow; and something assured him that this time
+she would be punctual. Rodolph sought for Murphy.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see that fair young man," said he, "standing
+in the midst of that group out there?"</p>
+
+<p>"You mean the tall individual who seems so much
+amused with his own thoughts, do you not? Yes, yes,
+I see him."</p>
+
+<p>"Endeavour to get sufficiently near to him to be
+enabled to whisper, so that he alone can catch the
+words, while you carefully avoid allowing him to see
+the person who utters them, this sentence, 'You are
+late, my angel!'"</p>
+
+<p>The squire gazed at Rodolph with a perplexed air.</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, do you seriously wish me to do this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Seriously, my dear Murphy, I do; and should he
+hastily turn around when you have spoken, assume that
+incomparable air of perfect nonchalance for which you
+are so justly celebrated, so as to prevent his being able
+to fix upon you as the person who has spoken."</p>
+
+<p>"Depend upon my perfect obedience, my lord, although
+I am far from having the slightest idea of your intention
+in assigning to me such a task."</p>
+
+<p>Before the conclusion of the waltz, the worthy
+Murphy had contrived to place himself immediately
+behind M. Charles Robert, while Rodolph, posted in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+situation most advantageous for watching the effect of
+this experiment, carefully observed Murphy's movements.
+In a minute, M. Charles Robert turned suddenly
+around, as though struck with astonishment and
+wonder. The immovable squire stirred not a feature;
+and certainly Murphy's tall, portly figure, bald head,
+and grave, composed countenance, appeared the least
+likely of any in the room to be those of a man taking
+part in such a trick; and, indeed, it was evident, from
+the continued gaze of the commandant in every other
+part of the space they stood in, that M. Charles Robert
+was far from suspecting his respectable, middle-aged
+neighbour of giving utterance to a phrase so disagreeably
+recalling the <i>quid pro quo</i> of which Madame Pipelet
+had been alike the cause and the heroine. The waltz
+concluded, Murphy rejoined Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my lord," said he, "that smart young gentleman
+jumped as though he had trodden on a hornet's
+nest. The words I uttered appeared to have the effect of
+magic on him."</p>
+
+<p>"They were so far magical, my dear Murphy, as they
+assisted me to discover a circumstance I was most
+anxious to find out."</p>
+
+<p>Conviction thus painfully obtained, Rodolph could
+only deplore the dangerous position in which Madame
+d'Harville had placed herself, and which seemed to him
+fraught with fresh evils, from a vague presentiment of
+Sarah's being either a sharer or a confidant in the
+transaction, and with this discovery came the fresh
+pain of believing that he had now found out the source
+of M. d'Harville's secret sorrow; the man he so highly
+esteemed, and for whom he felt a brother's regard, was
+pining in silence over the misconduct of a wife he so
+tenderly loved, yet who, in spite of her many charming
+qualities, could sacrifice her own and her husband's
+happiness for the sake of an object so every way
+unworthy. Master of so important a secret, yet incapable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+of betraying it, unable to devise any plan to
+open the eyes of Madame d'Harville, who seemed rather
+to yield to than resist her unlicensed passion for her
+lover, Rodolph found himself obliged to remain a passive
+witness to the utter ruin of a woman he had so
+passionately adored with as much silence as devotion;
+nay, whom, spite of his best efforts, he still loved. He
+was roused from these reflections by M. de Graün.</p>
+
+<p>"If your royal highness," said the baron, bowing,
+"will deign to grant me a brief interview in one of
+the lower rooms, which is now quite devoid of company,
+I shall have the honour to lay before you the particulars
+you desired me to collect."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph signed to M. de Graün to conduct him to the
+place named, when the baron proceeded with his recital,
+as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"The only duchess to whose name the initials 'N.'
+and 'L.' can possibly belong is Madame de Lucenay,
+whose maiden name was Normant. Her grace is not
+here this evening. I have just seen M. de Lucenay, her
+husband, who, it seems, left Paris five months ago, with
+the expressed intention of travelling in the East during
+the next year or two, but has unexpectedly returned
+within the last day or two."</p>
+
+<p>It may be recollected that, during Rodolph's visit to
+the Rue du Temple, he picked up, on the landing-place
+adjoining the door of the charlatan dentist's apartments,
+a cambric handkerchief, richly embroidered and trimmed
+with costly lace, and bearing in the corner a ducal coronet
+with the initials "N. L." It will also be borne in
+mind that this elegant indication of high rank was wetted
+with the bitter tears of its noble owner. In pursuance of
+his instructions, but in total ignorance of the circumstances
+suggesting them, M. de Graün had inquired the
+name of every duchess then in Paris, and gleaned the information
+now repeated to Rodolph, and which the latter
+perfectly comprehended. He had no reason for interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+himself in the fate of Madame de Lucenay; but he
+could not reflect without a shudder that, if it were really
+she who visited the pretended doctor (but who, he felt
+assured, was no other than the infamous Polidori), this
+wretch, having possessed himself of her real name and
+address through the agency of Tortillard, might make
+a fearful use of a secret which placed the duchess so
+completely in his power.</p>
+
+<p>"Chance is a strange thing, my lord, is it not?"
+resumed M. de Graün.</p>
+
+<p>"It is; but how does it apply to the present case?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, at the very instant that M. de Grangeneuve
+was giving me these facts concerning M. and Madame de
+Lucenay, and was adding, rather ill-naturedly, that the
+unlooked-for return of the duke must have proved particularly
+disagreeable, not only to the duchess but to the
+Viscount de Saint-Remy, one of the most elegant and
+fashionable men in Paris, his excellency the ambassador
+came up and inquired whether your royal highness would
+permit him to present the viscount to you, as, having just
+been appointed on the legation to Gerolstein, he would
+be happy to avail himself of the present opportunity of
+paying his court to your highness."</p>
+
+<p>An expression of impatience escaped Rodolph, who
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing could have been less agreeable to me. However,
+it is impossible to refuse. Let the count know,
+therefore, that I am ready to receive M. de Saint-Remy."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph knew too well how to support his princely
+dignity to allow his feelings to interfere with the courtesy
+and affability required on the present occasion;
+added to which, the world gave M. de Saint-Remy as
+a favoured lover to the Duchess de Lucenay, and this
+circumstance greatly excited the curiosity of Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>The Viscount de Saint-Remy, conducted by the Count
+de &mdash;&mdash;, now approached. He was an exceedingly handsome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+young man, of about twenty-five years of age,
+tall and slender, with the most <i>distingué</i> air and prepossessing
+physiognomy; his olive complexion had that rich,
+soft glow of amber cast over its transparent surface, so
+remarkable in the paintings of Murillo; his glossy black
+hair, parted over his left temple, was worn smooth over
+his forehead, and fell in light and easy curls down the
+sides of his face, almost concealing the pale, well-shaped
+ear. The deep, dark eyelash contrasted well with the
+clear eye it shaded, the crystal of which was tinged with
+that blue cast which bestows so much and such charming
+expression to the Indian eye. By a singular caprice of
+nature, the thick, silky moustache which graced his lip
+was the only ornament of a similar description visible
+on his countenance, the chin and cheeks being smooth
+as those of a young maiden. Perhaps it might be
+vanity which dictated the narrow black satin cravat
+placed so low as to reveal the perfect contour of a
+throat which, for whiteness and symmetrical roundness,
+might have furnished a model for the artist's
+studio. The long ends of his cravat were confined by
+a single pearl, inestimable for its size, the beauty of its
+shape, and the splendour of its colour,&mdash;so vivid, that an
+opal could scarcely have rivalled its continued prismatic
+changes. The perfect taste, and exquisite style of M.
+de Saint-Remy harmonised well with the magnificent
+simplicity of this jewel.</p>
+
+<p>Once seen, the face and figure of M. de Saint-Remy was
+never forgotten, so entirely did it differ from the usual
+style of <i>élégants</i>. He spared no expense in procuring the
+most faultless turnout, and his carriages and horses were
+everywhere cited as models of taste and correct judgment.
+He played high, but skilfully; while the annual
+amount of his betting-book was never less than from two
+to three thousand louis. The costly elegance of his
+mansion, in the Rue de Chaillot, was everywhere spoken
+of and admired. There he gave the most exquisite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+dinner-parties. The highest play followed, and the
+hospitable host would lose large and heavy sums
+with the most perfect indifference, though it was known
+that his fortune had been dissipated long ago. All
+the viscount's property had been derived from his
+mother; while his father lived in utter seclusion in the
+wilds of Anjou, upon an income of the most slender
+description.</p>
+
+<p>By way of accounting for the unbounded expenditure
+of M. de Saint-Remy, many among the envious or ill-natured
+referred, as Sarah had done, to the large fortune
+of the Duchess de Lucenay; but they forgot that, setting
+aside the infamy of the idea, M. de Lucenay would naturally
+direct the disposal of his wife's property, and that
+M. de Saint-Remy's annual expenses were at least two
+hundred thousand francs. Suspicions were entertained
+of his being deeply indebted to imprudent money-lenders;
+for Saint-Remy had no further inheritance to look forward
+to. Others, again, spoke of his great successes on
+the turf, and hinted, in an undertone, dark stories of
+training-grounds, and jockeys bribed by him to make
+the horses against which he had betted largely lose;
+but by far the greater number of the crowd by which
+Saint-Remy was surrounded was content to eat his
+dinners, and occasionally to win his rouleaux, without
+troubling themselves with conjectures as to how the one
+was provided, and where the other came from.</p>
+
+<p>By birth and education he was fully entitled to the
+rank he occupied in the fashionable world; he was lively,
+witty, brave, a most amusing companion, obliging and
+complaisant to the wishes of others; he gave first-rate
+bachelor dinners, and afterwards took every bet that was
+offered him. What more was required to secure his
+popularity? He was an universal favourite with the
+fair sex, and could boast the most unvaried success
+in all his love affairs; he was young, handsome,
+gallant, and unsparingly munificent upon all occasions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+where opportunities occurred of marking his
+devotion towards the high-bred females with whom
+he associated in the <i>grande monde</i>; in a word, thanks
+to the general infatuation he excited, the air of mystery
+thrown over the source of the Pactolus from which he
+derived his golden supplies rather embellished him with
+a certain mysterious charm, which seemed but to add to
+his attractions. Sometimes it would be said, with a
+careless smile, "What a fellow that Saint-Remy is: he
+must have discovered the philosopher's stone to be able
+to go the pace he does." And when it was known that
+he had caused himself to be attached to the legation of
+France to the court of Gerolstein, there were not wanting
+voices to assert that it was a "devilish good way of
+making an honourable retreat." Such was M. de Saint-Remy.</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me," said the Count de &mdash;&mdash;, presenting M.
+de Saint-Remy, "to introduce to your royal highness
+the Viscount de Saint-Remy, attached to the embassy
+of Gerolstein."</p>
+
+<p>The viscount bowed profoundly, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"May I trust your royal highness will deign to pardon
+my impatience in requesting the honour of this introduction
+during the present evening? I am, perhaps, unduly
+hasty in my wishes to secure a gratification I have so
+long aspired to."</p>
+
+<p>"It will give me much pleasure, my lord, to welcome
+you to Gerolstein. Do you propose going thither
+immediately?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your royal highness being in Paris diminishes very
+materially my desire to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear the peaceful contrast of our German courts
+will scarcely assort with a life of Parisian fashion, such
+as you have always been accustomed to."</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me to assure your royal highness that the
+gracious kindness you have now shown me, and which it
+shall be my study to merit a continuance of in Gerolstein,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+would of itself far outweigh any attractions Paris may
+have had for me."</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be my fault, my lord, should you see
+cause to alter your sentiments when at Gerolstein."</p>
+
+<p>A slight inclination of Rodolph's head announced that
+the presentation was concluded, upon which the viscount
+bowed and retired. The prince, a practised physiognomist,
+was subject to involuntary likes and dislikes upon
+the first interview with an individual, and these impulses
+were in his case almost invariably borne out by after-circumstances.
+His first sensation after the exchange of
+the very few words we have related between himself and
+Saint-Remy was an unaccountable feeling of repugnance
+and aversion for the gay and fascinating young man; to
+his eye, the handsome features wore a sinister look, and
+danger seemed to lurk even in his honeyed words and
+smooth, polished manner.</p>
+
+<p>We shall hereafter meet M. de Saint-Remy under circumstances
+differing widely and fearfully from the splendour
+of the position he occupied at his first interview
+with Rodolph. It will then be seen how far these
+presentiments were ill or well founded.</p>
+
+<p>The presentation over, Rodolph, in deep meditation
+upon the singular rencontres effected by the hand of
+chance, bent his steps towards the winter garden. It
+was now the hour of supper, and the rooms were nearly
+deserted. The most retired spot in the hothouse was at
+the end of a clump of trees placed against the corner of
+a wall, and an enormous banana, covered with climbing
+plants, effectually concealed a small side door, masked
+by the trellis, and conducting to the banquetting-hall
+by a long corridor. This door, which was scarcely a
+yard distant from the tree above mentioned, had been
+left temporarily ajar. Sheltered by this verdant screen,
+Rodolph seated himself, and was soon lost in a profound
+reverie, when the sound of a well-known voice, pronouncing
+his name, made Rodolph start. It was Sarah, who,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+seated with her brother Tom on the other side of the
+clump of trees which effectually hid Rodolph from their
+view, was conversing with him in the English language.
+The prince listened attentively, and the following dialogue
+ensued:</p>
+
+<p>"The marquise has just gone to show herself for a
+few minutes at Baron de Nerval's ball," said Sarah;
+"she has luckily quitted this place without once having
+an opportunity of exchanging a word with Rodolph, who
+has been looking everywhere for her. I still dread the
+influence he possesses over her, even unknown to herself,&mdash;an
+influence it has cost me so much labour and difficulty
+to combat, and partly to destroy. However, to-morrow
+will rid me of any further fears of a rival who, if not
+effectually destroyed, might so powerfully derange and
+overthrow my plans. Listen to me, brother, for it is of
+serious matters I would speak to you. To-morrow
+witnesses the eternal ruin of my hated rival."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken, Sarah," answered Tom's well-remembered
+voice; "Rodolph never loved the marquise;
+of that I am certain; your jealous fears mislead you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is time," returned Sarah, "that I enlightened you
+on this subject. Many things occurred during your last
+journey, and as it is necessary to take decisive steps even
+earlier than I had expected,&mdash;nay, this very night,&mdash;so
+soon as we quit this place, it becomes indispensably
+necessary we should take serious counsel together.
+Happily we are now quite alone, for the gay butterflies
+of the night have found fresh attraction around the
+supper-tables. Now, then, brother, give your close and
+undivided attention to what I am about to say."</p>
+
+<p>"Proceed, I am all impatience."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, before Clémence d'Harville met Rodolph, I
+feel assured the passion of love was wholly unknown to
+her, for what reason I have never been able to discover.
+She entertains the most invincible repugnance and aversion
+towards her husband, who perfectly adores her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+There is some deep mystery in this part of the business
+I have never succeeded in fathoming. A thousand new
+and delightful emotions sprang up in the breast of Clémence
+after she became acquainted with Rodolph; but I
+stifled her growing love by the most frightful disclosures,
+or rather ingeniously invented calumnies, concerning the
+prince. Still, the void in her heart required an object
+to fill it, and chance having thrown M. Charles Robert
+in her way during a morning call she was making at my
+house, she appeared struck with his appearance, much
+after the manner in which we are attracted by a fine
+picture. Unfortunately, however, this man is as silly
+as he is handsome, though he certainly has a very prepossessing
+<i>tout ensemble</i>. I praised him enthusiastically
+to Madame d'Harville, exalted the nobleness of his sentiments,
+the elevation of his mind, and, as I knew her
+weak side, I worked upon her sympathy and pity, by
+representing him as loaded with every trouble and
+affliction unrelenting fate could heap upon a devoted
+but most innocent head. I directed M. Robert to assume
+a melancholy and sentimental air; to utter only deep
+sighs, and to preserve a gloomy and unbroken silence
+in the presence of Madame d'Harville. He carefully
+pursued the path marked out by me, and, thanks to his
+vocal skill, his fine person and the constant expression
+of silent suffering, so far engaged the interest of Madame
+d'Harville, that, ere long, she transferred to my handsome
+friend the warm and sympathising regard Rodolph
+had first awakened. Do you comprehend me thus far?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly; proceed."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame d'Harville and Robert met only upon terms
+of intimacy at my house; to draw them more effectually
+together I projected devoting three mornings in the
+week to music, and my mournful ally sighed softly as
+the breath of evening while turning over the leaves of the
+music, ventured to utter a few impassioned words, and
+even to slip two or three billets among the pieces he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+copied out for the marquise to practise at home. I own
+I was more fearful of his epistolary efforts than even his
+powers of speech; but a woman always looks indulgently
+upon the first declaration of love she receives; so far,
+therefore, the written nonsense of my silly pupil did no
+harm, for, in obedience to my advice, his <i>billets doux</i>
+were very laconic. The great point was to obtain a
+rendezvous, and this was no easy matter, for Clémence's
+principles were stronger than her love; or, rather, her
+passion was not sufficiently deep to induce her to sacrifice
+those principles. Unknown, even to herself, the
+image of Rodolph still filled her heart, and seemed in
+a manner to preserve her from yielding to her weak fancy
+for M. Charles Robert,&mdash;a fancy, as I well knew, far
+more imaginary than real; but, led on by my continual
+and exaggerated praises of this brainless Apollo, whom
+I persisted in describing as suffering under the daily
+increase of every imaginary evil I could invent, Clémence,
+vanquished by the deep despair of her dejected
+adorer, consented one day, more from pity than love,
+to grant him the rendezvous so long desired."</p>
+
+<p>"Did she, then, make you her confidant?"</p>
+
+<p>"She confessed to me her regard for M. Charles
+Robert,&mdash;nothing more; neither did I seek to learn
+more; it would have annoyed and vexed her. But, as
+for him, boiling over with love, or, rather, intoxicated
+with pride, he came voluntarily to impart his good fortune,
+without, however, entrusting me either with the
+time or place of the intended meeting."</p>
+
+<p>"How, then, did you know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Karl, by my order, hovered about the door of
+M. Robert during the following day from an early hour;
+nothing, however, transpired till the next day, when our
+love-stricken youth proceeded in a <i>fiacre</i> to an obscure
+part of the town, and finally alighted before a mean-looking
+house in the Rue du Temple; there he remained
+for an hour and a half, when he came out and walked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+away. Karl waited a long while to see whether any person
+followed M. Charles Robert out of the house; but
+no one came. The marquise had evidently failed in her
+appointment. This was confirmed to me on the morrow,
+when the lover came to pour out all his rage and disappointment.
+I advised him to assume even an increase
+of wretchedness and despair. The plan succeeded; the
+pity of Clémence was again excited; a fresh assignation
+was wrung from her, but which she failed to keep equally
+with the former; the third and last rendezvous, however,
+produced more decided effects, Madame d'Harville positively
+going as far as the door of the house I have
+specified as the appointed place; then, repenting so
+rash a step, returned home without having even quitted
+the humble <i>fiacre</i> in which she rode. You may judge
+by all these capricious changes of purpose how this
+woman struggles to be free. And wherefore? Why,
+because (and hence arises my bitter, deadly hatred
+to Clémence d'Harville) because the recollection of
+Rodolph still lingers in her heart, and, with pertinacious
+love she shrinks from aught that she fancies
+breathes of preference for another; thus shielding herself
+from harm or danger beneath his worshipped image.
+Now this very night the marquise has made a fresh
+assignation with M. Charles Robert for to-morrow, and
+this time I doubt not her punctuality; the Duke de Lucenay
+has so grossly ridiculed this young man that, carried
+away by pity for the humiliation of her admirer, the
+marquise has granted that to compassion he would not
+else have obtained. But this time, I feel persuaded she
+will keep her word, and be punctual to the appointed
+time and hour."</p>
+
+<p>"And how do you propose to act?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. Charles Robert is so perfectly unable to comprehend
+the delicacy of feeling which this evening dictated
+the marquise's resolution of meeting him, that he is safe
+to rush with vulgar eagerness to the rendezvous, and this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+will effectually ruin his plans, for pity alone has instigated
+Clémence to take this compromising step.
+No love,&mdash;no infatuation has hurried her into a
+measure so fatal to her future resolution. I know
+every turn of her mind; and I am confident she will
+keep her appointment solely from a courageous idea of
+generous devotion, but with a firm resolve not for one
+instant to forget her duties as a wife and mother. Now
+the coarse, vulgar mind of M. Charles Robert is sure to
+take the fullest advantage of the marquise's concession in
+his favour. Clémence will detest him from that instant;
+and the illusion once destroyed which has bound herself
+and Charles Robert in bonds of imaginary sympathy,
+she will fall again beneath the influence of her love
+for Rodolph, which I am certain still nestles in her
+heart."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well! I would have her for ever lost to Rodolph,
+whose high sense of honour and deep friendship for
+M. d'Harville I feel perfectly sure would not have
+proved equal to preventing his returning the love of
+Clémence; but I will so manage things that he shall
+henceforward look upon her with loathing and disgust,
+as the guilty partner in a crime committed without his
+participation. No, no! I know my man. He might
+pardon the offence, but never the being excluded from
+his share in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then do you propose apprising the husband of all
+that is going on, so that the prince should learn the disgraceful
+circumstances from the publicity the affair would
+obtain?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do. And the thing is so much the easier to accomplish
+as, from what fell from Clémence to-night, I can
+learn that the marquis has vague and undefined suspicions,
+without knowing on whom to fix them. It is
+now midnight; we shall almost directly leave the ball, I
+will set you down at the first café we meet with, whence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+you shall write M. d'Harville a minute account of his
+wife's love affair, with the projected assignation of to-morrow,
+with the time and place where it is arranged
+to take place. Oh! but I forgot, I didn't state that the
+place of meeting is No. 17 Rue du Temple. And the
+time, to-morrow at one o'clock. The marquis is already
+jealous of Clémence; well, he will by this information
+surprise her under most suspicious circumstances; the
+rest follows as a matter of course."</p>
+
+<p>"But this is a most abominable mode of action," said
+Seyton, coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"What! my trusty and well-behaved brother and
+colleague growing scrupulous?" said Sarah, sarcastically.
+"This will never do; suppose my modes of
+action are odious,&mdash;so be it. I trample on all and
+every thing that interferes with my designs,&mdash;agreed.
+I do&mdash;I shall, till I have secured my purpose. But let
+me ask you, Who thought of scruples when my destruction
+was aimed at? Who thought of me or my feelings,
+let me ask you? How have I been treated?"</p>
+
+<p>"Say no more, sister,&mdash;say no more,&mdash;here is my
+hand, and you may safely reckon upon my firm participation
+in all that concerns you, even to writing the letter
+to M. d'Harville. But still I say, and repeat, such conduct
+is horrible!"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind sermonising, but say, do you consent
+fully and entirely to what I wish you, or do you not?
+Ay, or nay?"</p>
+
+<p>"Since it must be so, M. d'Harville shall this night
+be fully instructed as to all his wife's proceedings,&mdash;but&mdash;what
+is that? I fancied I heard some one on the other
+side of this thicket,&mdash;there was a rustling of leaves and
+branches," said Seyton, interrupting himself, and speaking
+to Sarah in a low and suppressed voice.</p>
+
+<p>"For heaven's sake," cried Sarah, uneasily, "don't
+stop to talk about it, but quick! and examine the other
+side of this place!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Seyton rose,&mdash;made the tour of the clump of trees,&mdash;but
+saw no one.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph had just disappeared by the side door, of
+which we have before spoken.</p>
+
+<p>"I must have made a mistake," said Seyton, returning;
+"there is no appearance of any persons but ourselves
+being in this place."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought there could not possibly be."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, Sarah, hear what I have got to say on
+the subject of Madame d'Harville, who, I feel quite
+satisfied, you make an object of unnecessary apprehension,
+as far as it would be possible for her to
+interfere with your schemes. The prince, moreover,
+has certain principles nothing would induce him to
+infringe. I am infinitely more alarmed, and with
+greater justice, too, as to what can have been his intentions
+in conducting that young girl to his farm at
+Bouqueval, five or six weeks ago. He is constant in his
+superintendence of her health and comfort; is having
+her well educated, and, moreover, has been several times
+to see her. Now we are altogether ignorant who she is
+or where she came from; she seems, however, to belong
+only to the humbler ranks of society; still, the exquisite
+style of her beauty, the fact of the prince having worn
+the disguise he did when escorting her to the farm, the
+increasing interest he seems to take in her welfare, all
+go to prove that his regard for her is of no common
+description. I have, therefore, in this affair anticipated
+your wishes; but to remove this greater, and, as I believe,
+more serious obstacle to our plans, the utmost
+circumspection was requisite to obtain information
+respecting the lives and habits of these mysterious
+occupants of the farm, and particularly concerning
+the girl herself. I have been fortunate enough to
+learn nearly sufficient to point out what is to be
+done the moment for action has arrived. A most
+singular chance threw that horrid old woman in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+way, to whom, as you remember, I once gave my address,
+which she it seems has carefully preserved. Her
+connection with such persons as the robber who attacked
+us during our late visit to the Cité will powerfully assist
+us. All is provided for and preconsidered,&mdash;there can
+be no proof against us,&mdash;and, besides, if, as seems evident,
+this young creature belongs to the humblest class of
+society it is not very probable she will hesitate between
+our offers and the splendid prospect she may, perchance,
+picture to herself, for the prince, I have ascertained, has
+preserved a strict incognito towards her. But to-morrow
+shall decide the question otherwise,&mdash;we shall see,&mdash;we
+shall see."</p>
+
+<p>"And these two obstacles overcome, then, Tom, for
+our grand project."</p>
+
+<p>"There are many, and serious obstacles in the way;
+still, they may be overcome."</p>
+
+<p>"And would it not be a lucky chance if we should
+bring it to pass at the very moment when Rodolph
+would be writhing under the double misery occasioned
+by the disclosure of Madame d'Harville's conduct, and
+the disappearance of the creature for whom he chooses
+to evince so deep an interest? Would not that be an
+auspicious moment to persuade him that the daughter,
+whose loss he daily more and more deplores, still lives?
+And then&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, sister," interrupted Seyton, "I hear the
+steps of the guests from the supper-table, returning to
+resume the ball. Since you deem it expedient to apprise
+the Marquis d'Harville of the morrow's rendezvous, let
+us depart; it is past midnight."</p>
+
+<p>"The lateness of the hour in which the anonymous
+information will reach M. d'Harville, will but tend still
+more to impress him with an idea of its importance."</p>
+
+<p>And with these words Tom and Sarah quitted the
+splendid ball of the ambassadress of the court of &mdash;&mdash;.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE RENDEZVOUS.</h5>
+
+
+<p>Determined at all risks to warn Madame d'Harville of
+the danger she was incurring, Rodolph had quitted the
+winter garden without waiting to hear the remainder of
+the conversation between Sarah and her brother, thus
+remaining ignorant of their designs against Fleur-de-Marie,
+and of the extreme peril which threatened the
+poor girl. But, spite of his earnest desire to apprise
+the marquise of the plot laid against her peace and
+honour, he was unable to carry his design into execution,
+for Madame d'Harville, unable to bear up longer after
+the trying events of the evening, had abandoned her
+original intention of visiting the entertainment given by
+Madame de Nerval and gone direct home.</p>
+
+<p>This contretemps ruined his hopes. Nearly the whole
+of the company present at the ambassadress's ball had
+been invited to that of Madame de Nerval's, and Rodolph
+drove rapidly thither, taking with him M. de Graün, to
+whom he gave instructions to look for Madame d'Harville
+among the guests, and to acquaint her that the
+prince, having something of the utmost consequence to
+communicate to her without the least delay, would walk
+onwards to the Hôtel d'Harville, and await her return
+home, when he would say a few words at the carriage-door
+while her servants were attending to the opening of
+the entrance-gates.</p>
+
+<p>After much time spent in fruitless endeavours to find
+Madame d'Harville, De Graün was compelled to return<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+with the account of his ill success. This failure made
+Rodolph despair of being able, now, to save the marquise
+from impending ruin; his first thought had been to
+warn her of the treachery intended, and so prevent the
+statement of Sarah, which he had no means of keeping
+from the hands of M. d'Harville, from obtaining the
+slightest credence. Alas! it was now too late. The
+infamous epistle dictated by the Countess Macgregor had
+reached the Marquis d'Harville shortly after midnight
+on the night in question.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p>It was morning; and M. d'Harville continued slowly
+to pace his sleeping-apartment, the bed of which gave no
+indication of having been used during the night, though
+the silken counterpane hung in fragments, evidently
+proving that some powerful and devastating storm had
+possessed the mind of its owner.</p>
+
+<p>The chamber in question was furnished with elegant
+simplicity, its only ornaments consisting of a stand of
+modern arms and a range of shelves furnished with a
+well-chosen collection of books. Yet a sudden frenzy,
+or the hand of ungovernable rage, had reduced the quiet
+elegance which ordinarily reigned to a scene of frantic
+disorder. Chairs, tables, broken and overset; the carpet
+strewed with fragments of the crystal lamp kept burning
+through the night; the wax-lights and gilded chandelier
+which had contained them, lying around, gave manifest
+evidence of a fearful scene.</p>
+
+<p>M. d'Harville was about thirty years of age, with
+a fine, manly countenance, whose usual expression was
+mild and prepossessing, but now contracted, haggard,
+and livid. He had not changed his dress since the preceding
+evening; his throat was bare, his waistcoat thrown
+open, and on the torn and rumpled cambric of his shirt-front
+were drops of blood. His rich, dark hair, which
+generally fell in curls around his face, now hung in tangled
+wildness over his pale countenance. Wholly buried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+in the misery of his own thoughts, with folded arms,
+drooping head, and fixed, bloodshot eyes, M. d'Harville
+continued to pace his chamber; then, stopping opposite
+his fireplace, in which, spite of the almost unendurable
+severity of the frost of the past night, the fire had been
+allowed to expire, he took from the marble mantelpiece
+the following brief note, which he continued to read over
+and over with the most eager attention by the wan, pale
+light of the cold glimmer of an early winter morning:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="indent">"To-morrow, at one o'clock, your wife has appointed to meet
+her favoured lover. Go to the Rue du Temple, No. 17, and you
+will obtain every requisite confirmation of this intelligence.</p>
+
+<p class="sigs">"<span class="smcap">From one who pities you</span>."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Whilst reading these words, perused, with such deep
+anguish and sickness of heart, so many times through
+the long midnight hours, the blue, cold lips of M. d'Harville
+appeared convulsively to spell each syllable of this
+fatal <i>billet</i>.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the chamber door opened and a servant
+entered; the man who now made his appearance
+was old, even gray-headed, but the expression of his
+countenance was frank and honest. The noise of the
+man entering disturbed not the marquis from his bitter
+contemplations; he merely turned his head without altering
+his position, but still grasped the letter in his
+clenched hands.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want?" inquired he, sternly, of the
+servant.</p>
+
+<p>The man, instead of answering, continued to gaze with
+an air of painful surprise at the disordered state of the
+room; then, regarding his master more attentively,
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Blood on your clothes! My lord, my lord! How
+is this? You have hurt yourself,&mdash;and all alone, too;
+why, my lord, did you not summon me, as of old,
+when these attacks came on?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Begone!"</p>
+
+<p>"I entreat your lordship's pardon, but your fire is out,&mdash;the
+cold is intense,&mdash;indeed, I must remind your lordship
+that after your late&mdash;your&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Will you be silent? Leave me I say!"</p>
+
+<p>"Pray do not be angry, my lord," replied the trembling
+valet; "but, if your lordship pleases to recollect,
+you appointed M. Doublet to be here to-day at half past
+ten, and he is now waiting with the notary."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite proper," said the marquis, with a bitter smile;
+"when a man is rich he ought, he should look carefully
+to his affairs. Fortune is a fine thing,&mdash;a very fine
+thing; or would be if it could but purchase happiness."
+Then, resuming a cold and collected manner, he added:</p>
+
+<p>"Show M. Doublet into my study."</p>
+
+<p>"I have done so, my lord marquis."</p>
+
+<p>"Then give me my clothes,&mdash;quick, I am in haste;
+I shall be going out shortly. I&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But if your lordship would only&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Do as I desire you, Joseph," said M. d'Harville, in a
+more gentle tone; then added, "Is your lady stirring
+yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not yet heard her ladyship's bell, my lord
+marquis."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me know when she rings."</p>
+
+<p>"I will, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven and earth, man, how slow you are!" exclaimed
+M. d'Harville, whose raging thoughts almost
+chafed him into madness; "summon Philip to assist
+you; you will keep me all day."</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, please to allow me to set matters a little
+straight first," replied Joseph, sorrowfully; "I would
+much rather no one but myself witnessed the state of
+your chamber, or they would wonder, and talk about it,
+because they could not understand what had taken place
+during the night, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>"And if they were to find out, it would be a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+shocking affair,&mdash;would it not?" asked M. d'Harville,
+in a tone of gloomy irony.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God, my lord, not a soul in the house has
+the least suspicion of it!"</p>
+
+<p>"No one suspects it," repeated M. d'Harville, despondingly;
+"no one,&mdash;that's well, for her at least; well, let
+us hope to keep the secret."</p>
+
+<p>And, while Joseph was occupying himself in repairing
+the havoc in his master's apartment, D'Harville walked
+up to the stage of arms we before mentioned, examined
+them with an expression of deep interest, then, turning
+towards Joseph, with a sinister smile, said:</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you have not omitted to clean the guns which
+are placed at the top of the stand,&mdash;I mean those in my
+hunting-case."</p>
+
+<p>"I had not your lordship's orders to do so," replied
+the astonished servant.</p>
+
+<p>"You had, sir, and have neglected them!"</p>
+
+<p>"I humbly assure you, my lord&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"They must be in a fine state!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your lordship will please to bear in mind that it is
+scarcely a month since they were regularly repaired and
+put in order for use by the gunsmith."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind! As soon as I am dressed reach down
+my shooting-case; I will examine the guns myself. I
+may very possibly go out shooting either to-morrow or
+next day."</p>
+
+<p>"I will reach them down directly, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>The chamber being by this time replaced in its ordinary
+state, a second <i>valet de chambre</i> was summoned to
+assist Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>His toilet concluded, M. d'Harville repaired to his
+study, where the steward (M. Doublet) and his lawyer's
+clerk were awaiting him.</p>
+
+<p>"We have brought the agreement that my lord marquis
+may hear it read over," said the bowing clerk; "my lord
+will then only have to sign it, and the affair is concluded."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Have you perused it, M. Doublet?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have, my lord, attentively."</p>
+
+<p>"In that case I will affix my signature at once."</p>
+
+<p>The necessary forms completed, the clerk withdrew,
+when M. Doublet, rubbing his hands, and looking triumphantly,
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, by this last addition to your lordship's
+estates, your manorial property cannot be less than a
+hundred and twenty-six thousand francs per annum, in
+round numbers. And permit me to say, my lord marquis,
+that a rent-roll of a hundred and twenty-six thousand
+francs per annum is of no common occurrence
+nowadays."</p>
+
+<p>"I am a happy man, am I not, M. Doublet? A hundred
+and twenty-six thousand livres per annum! Surely
+the man owning such an income must be blessed indeed,&mdash;sorrow
+or care cannot reach him through so
+golden a shield!"</p>
+
+<p>"And that is wholly independent of my lord's funded
+property, amounting at least to two millions more; or
+reckoning&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly; I know what you would say; without
+reckoning my other blessings and comforts."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, heaven be praised, your lordship is as rich in
+all earthly blessings as in revenue. Not a precious gift
+but it has been largely bestowed upon you; ay, and such
+as even money will not buy: youth, uninterrupted health,
+the power of enjoying every happiness, amongst which,
+or, rather, at the head of which," said M. Doublet, gracefully
+smiling, and gallantly bowing, "place that of being
+the husband of so sweet a lady as Madame la Marquise,
+and the parent of a lovely little girl, who might be mistaken
+for a cherubim."</p>
+
+<p>M. d'Harville cast a look of gloomy mistrust on the
+poor steward; who, revelling in his own ecstasy at seeing
+the princely rent-roll committed to his charge, exceeding
+all others in magnificent amount, was far from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+perceiving the scowling brow of his master, thus congratulated
+on being the happiest man alive, when, to his
+own view, a verier wretch, or more complete bankrupt
+in happiness existed not. Striking M. Doublet familiarly
+on the shoulder, and breaking into a wild, ironical laugh,
+M. d'Harville rejoined:</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think that with an income of two hundred
+and sixty thousand livres, a wife like mine, and a
+daughter resembling a cherubim, a man has nothing
+more to wish for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, my lord," replied the steward, with honest
+zeal, "you have still to wish for the blessing of lengthened
+days, that you may be spared to see mademoiselle
+married as happily as yourself. Ah, my lord, I may
+not hope to see it, but I should be thankful to witness
+you and my honoured lady surrounded by your grandchildren,&mdash;ay,
+and great-grandchildren too,&mdash;why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent, M. Doublet! A regular Baucis and Philemon
+idea. You have always a capital illustration to
+your ideas."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too good to me, my lord. Has your lordship
+any further orders for me?"</p>
+
+<p>"None. Stay, though; what cash have you in
+hand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty-nine thousand three hundred and odd
+francs for current expenses, my lord marquis; but
+there is a heavy sum at the bank belonging to this
+quarter's income."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, bring me twenty thousand francs in gold,
+and, should I have gone out, give them to Joseph
+for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Does your lordship wish for them this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do."</p>
+
+<p>"Within an hour the gold shall be here. You have
+nothing else to say to me, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, M. Doublet."</p>
+
+<p>"A hundred and twenty-six thousand francs per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+annum, wholly unincumbered," repeated the steward,
+as he was about to quit the room; "this is a glorious
+day for me to see; I almost feared at one time that we
+should not secure this desirable property. Your lordship's
+most humble servant, I take my leave."</p>
+
+<p>"Good morning, M. Doublet."</p>
+
+<p>As the door closed upon the steward, M. d'Harville,
+overcome with the mental agony he had repressed thus
+far, threw himself into an armchair, leaned his elbows
+on the desk before which he sat, and covering his face
+with his hands, for the first time since receiving the
+fatal <i>billet</i>, gave vent to a flood of hot, burning
+tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Cruel mockery of fate!" cried he, at length, "to
+have made me rich, but to have given me only shame
+and dishonour to place within the gilded frame: the
+perjury of Clémence, the disgrace which will descend
+upon my innocent child. Can I suffer this? Or shall
+I for the sake of her unoffending offspring spare the
+guilty mother from the opprobrium of an exposure?"
+Then rising suddenly from his seat, with sparkling eyes
+and clenched teeth he cried, in a deep, determined
+voice, "No, no! Blood, blood! The fearful protection
+from laughter and derision. Ah, full well I
+can now comprehend her coldness, her antipathy,
+wretched, wretched woman!" Then, stopping all at
+once, as though melted by some tender recollection,
+he resumed, in a hoarse tone, "Aversion! Alas!
+too well I know its cause. I inspire her with loathing,
+with disgust!" Then, after a lengthened silence, he
+cried, in a voice broken by sighs, "Yet, was it my
+fault or my misfortune? Should she have wronged me
+thus for a calamity beyond my power to avert? Surely
+I am a more fitting object for her pity than scorn and
+hatred." Again rekindling into his excited feelings, he
+reiterated, "Nothing but blood&mdash;the blood of both&mdash;can
+wash out this guilty stain! Doubtless he, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>
+favoured lover, has been informed why she flies her
+husband's arms."</p>
+
+<p>This latter thought redoubled the fury of the marquis.
+He elevated his tightly compressed hands towards
+heaven, as though invoking its vengeance; then, passing
+his burning fingers over his eyes as he recollected
+the necessity that existed for concealing his emotion
+from the servants of his establishment, he returned to
+his sleeping-apartment with an appearance of perfect
+tranquillity. There he found Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in what state are the guns?"</p>
+
+<p>"In perfect order. Please to examine them, my
+lord."</p>
+
+<p>"I came for the purpose of so doing. Has your lady
+yet rung?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>"Then inquire."</p>
+
+<p>Directly the servant had quitted the room, M. d'Harville
+hastily took from the gun-case a small powder-flask,
+some balls and caps; then, locking the case, put
+the key in his pocket. Then going to the stand of
+arms, he took from it a pair of moderate-sized Manton's
+pistols, loaded them, and placed them without difficulty
+in the pockets of his morning wrapper. Joseph returned
+with the intimation that Madame d'Harville was in her
+dressing-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Has your lady ordered her carriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, I heard Mlle. Juliette say to the head-coachman,
+when he came to inquire her ladyship's orders
+for the day, that, 'as it was cold, dry walking, if her
+ladyship went out at all, she would prefer going on foot.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. Stay,&mdash;I forgot. I shall not go out
+hunting before to-morrow, or probably, next day.
+Desire Williams to look the small travelling-britcska
+carefully over. Do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly, my lord; it shall be attended to. Will
+not your lordship require a stick?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No. Pray tell me, is there not a hackney coach-stand
+near here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite close, my lord,&mdash;in the Rue de Lille."</p>
+
+<p>After a moment's hesitation, the marquis continued:
+"Go and inquire of Mlle. Juliette whether Madame
+d'Harville can see me for a few minutes." Joseph
+obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," murmured the marquis, "I will see the cause
+of all my misery,&mdash;my disgrace. I will contemplate
+the guilty mask beneath which the impure heart conceals
+its adulterous designs. I will listen to the false lips that
+speak the words of innocence, while deep dishonour lurks
+in the candid smile,&mdash;a smile that seemed to me as that
+of an angel. Yet 'tis an appalling spectacle to watch
+the words, the looks, of one who, breathing only the sentiments
+of a chaste wife and mother, is about to sully
+your name with one of those deep, deadly stains which
+can only be washed out in blood. Fool that I am to
+give her the chance of again bewildering my senses!
+She will look at me with her accustomed sweetness and
+candour; greet me (all guilty as she is) with the same
+pure smile she bestows upon her child, as, kneeling at her
+lap, it lisps its early prayer. That look,&mdash;those eyes, mirrors
+of the soul,&mdash;the more modest and pure the glance"
+(D'Harville shuddered with contempt) "the greater
+must be the innate corruption and falsehood! Alas!
+she has proved herself a consummate dissembler; and
+I&mdash;I&mdash;have been the veriest dupe! Only let me consider
+with what sentiments must that woman look upon
+me, if just previous to her meeting with her favoured
+lover I pay her my accustomed visit, and express my
+usual devotion and love for her,&mdash;the young, the virtuous
+wife, the tender, sensible, and devoted mother, as
+until this wretched moment I would have died to prove
+her. Can I, dare I, trust myself in her presence, with
+the knowledge of her being but too impatient for the arrival
+of that blessed hour which conveys her to her guilty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+rendezvous and infamous paramour? Oh, Clémence,
+Clémence, you in whom all my hopes and fondest affections
+were placed, is this a just return? No! no!
+no!" again repeated M. d'Harville, with rapidly returning
+excitement. "False, treacherous woman! I will
+not see you! I will not trust my ears to your feigned
+words! Nor you, my child. At the sight of your innocent
+countenance I should unman myself, and compromise
+my just revenge."</p>
+
+<p>Quitting his apartment, M. d'Harville, instead of repairing
+to those of the marquise, contented himself with
+leaving a message for her through Mlle. Juliette, to the
+effect that he wished a short conversation with Madame
+d'Harville, but that being obliged to go out just then, he
+should be glad, if it assorted with Madame la Marquise's
+perfect convenience, to breakfast with her at twelve
+o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>"And so," said the unhappy M. d'Harville, "fancying
+that after twelve o'clock I shall be safe at home, she
+will consider herself more at liberty to follow out her
+own plans."</p>
+
+<p>He then repaired to the coach-stand contiguous to his
+mansion, and summoned a vehicle from the ranks.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, coachee," said he, affecting to disguise his
+rank, "what's o'clock?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right, master," said the man, drawing up to the
+side of the footway, "where am I to drive to? Let's
+have a right understanding, and a look at the clock.
+Why, it's as close on half-after eleven as may be."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, drive to the corner of the Rue St.
+Dominique, and wait at the end of the garden wall
+which runs along there; do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes,&mdash;I know."</p>
+
+<p>M. d'Harville then drew down the blinds of the <i>fiacre</i>;
+the coachman drove on, and soon arrived opposite the
+Hôtel d'Harville, from which point of observation it
+was impossible for any person to enter or quit the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+without the marquis having a full view of them. One
+o'clock was the hour fixed in the note; and with his
+eyes riveted on the entrance-gates of the mansion, the
+marquis waited in painful suspense, absorbed in a whirl
+of fearful thoughts and maddening conjectures. Time
+stole on imperceptibly; twelve o'clock reverberated from
+the dome of St. Thomas Aquinas, when the door opened
+slowly at the Hôtel d'Harville, and Madame d'Harville
+herself came timidly forth.</p>
+
+<p>"Already?" exclaimed the unhappy husband; "how
+punctual she is! She fears to keep him waiting," cried
+the marquis, with a mixture of irony and savage rage.</p>
+
+<p>The cold was excessive; the pavement hard and dry.
+Clémence was dressed in a black velvet bonnet, covered
+with a veil of the same colour, and a thickly wadded
+pelisse of dark ruby satin, a large shawl of dark blue
+cashmere fell to the very hem of her pelisse, which she
+lightly and gracefully held up while crossing the street.
+Thanks to this movement, the taper foot and graceful
+ankle of Madame d'Harville, cased in an exquisitely
+fitting boot of black satin, were exposed to view.</p>
+
+<p>It was strange, that amid the painful and bewildering
+ideas that crowded the brain of D'Harville, he should
+have found one thought to waste upon the beauty of his
+wife's foot; but so it was; and at the moment that was
+about to separate them for ever, to his eager gaze that
+fairy foot and well-turned ankle had never looked so
+charming; and then, as by a rapid train of thought he
+recalled the matchless loveliness of his wife, and, as
+he had ever believed till now, her purity, her mental
+graces, he groaned aloud as he remembered that another
+was preferred to him, and that the light figure that
+glided on before his fixed gaze, was but the hollow
+spectre of fallen goodness, a lost, degraded creature, hastening
+to steep her husband and infant in irremediable
+disgrace, for the indulging of a base and guilty passion.
+Even in that wretched moment he felt how dearly, how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+exclusively he had loved her; and for the first time during
+the blow which had fallen on him, he knew that he
+mourned the lovely woman almost equally with the
+virtuous mother and chaste wife. A cry of rage and
+mingled fury escaped him, as he pictured the rapture of
+her meeting with the lover of her choice; and a sharp,
+darting pain quivered through his heart as he remembered
+that Clémence, with all her youth and beauty, her
+countless charms, both of body and mind, was lost to
+him for ever.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto his passionate grief had been unmixed by
+any alloy of self. He had bewailed the sanctity of the
+marriage-vow trampled under foot, the abandonment of
+all sworn and sacred duties; but his sufferings of rage,
+jealousy, and regret almost overpowered him, and with
+much difficulty was he able to command his voice sufficiently
+to say to the coachman, while partially drawing
+up the blind:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see that lady in the blue shawl and black
+bonnet walking along by the wall?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes! I see her safe enough."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, go slowly along, and keep up with her.
+Should she go to the coach-stand I had you from,
+pull up; and when she has got into a <i>fiacre</i>, follow it
+wherever it goes."</p>
+
+<p>"All right,&mdash;I understand! Now this is what I call
+a good joke!"</p>
+
+<p>M. d'Harville had conjectured rightly. Madame
+d'Harville repaired directly to the coach-stand, and
+beckoning a <i>fiacre</i> off the stand, instantly got in, and
+drove off, closely followed by the vehicle containing
+her husband.</p>
+
+<p>They had proceeded but a very short distance, when
+the coachman took the road to the church of St. Thomas
+Aquinas, and, to the surprise of M. d'Harville, pulled
+up directly in front.</p>
+
+<p>"What is this for? What are you about?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, master, the lady you told me to follow has
+just alighted here, and a smart, tidy leg and foot of her
+own she has got. Her dress somehow caught; so, you
+see, I couldn't help having a peep, nohow. This is
+downright good fun though, this is!"</p>
+
+<p>A thousand varied thoughts agitated M. d'Harville.
+One minute he fancied that his wife, fearing pursuit, had
+taken this step to escape detection; then hope whispered
+that the letter which had given him so much uneasiness,
+might after all be only an infamous calumny; for if
+guilty, what could be gained by this false assumption
+of piety? Would it not be a species of sacrilegious
+mockery? At this suggestion a bright ray of hope shot
+across the troubled mind of M. d'Harville, arising from
+the striking contrast between Clémence's present occupation
+and the crime alleged as her motive for quitting
+her home. Alas! this consolatory illusion was speedily
+destroyed. Leaning in at the open window the coachman
+observed:</p>
+
+<p>"I say, master, that nice little woman you are after
+has got back into her coach."</p>
+
+<p>"Then follow quickly."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm off! Now this is what I call downright good
+fun. Capital; hang me if it ain't!"</p>
+
+<p>The vehicle reached the Quais, the Hôtel de Ville, the
+Rue St. Avoye, and, at last, Rue du Temple.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," said the coachman, turning round to speak to
+M. d'Harville from his seat, "master, just look. My
+mate, there, has stopped at No. 17; we are about at 13.
+Shall I stop here or go on to 17?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop here."</p>
+
+<p>"I say,&mdash;look'ee,&mdash;you'll lose your pretty lady. She
+has gone into the alley leading to No. 17."</p>
+
+<p>"Open the door."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm coming, sir."</p>
+
+<p>And quickly following the steps of his wife, M.
+d'Harville entered the obscure passage up which she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+had disappeared. Madame d'Harville, however, had so
+far the start as to have entered the house previously.</p>
+
+<p>Attracted by the most devouring curiosity, Madame
+Pipelet, with her melancholy Alfred and her friend the
+oyster-woman, were huddled close together on the sill at
+the lodge door. The staircase was so dark that a person
+just emerging from the daylight into the gloom of the
+passage could not discern a single step of it; and
+Madame d'Harville, agitated and almost sinking with
+apprehension, found herself constrained to apply to
+Madame Pipelet for further advice how to proceed,
+saying, in a low, tremulous voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Which way must I turn, madame, to find the staircase
+of the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop, if you please. Pray, whom do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish to go to the apartments of M. Charles,
+madame."</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur who?" repeated the old woman, feigning
+not to have heard her, but in reality to afford sufficient
+leisure to her husband and her friend thoroughly
+to scrutinise the unhappy woman's countenance, even
+through the folds of her thick veil.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Charles, madame," repeated Clémence, in a low,
+trembling tone, and bending down her head, so as to
+escape the rude and insolent examination to which her
+features were subjected.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! M. Charles; very well; you should have spoken
+so that one could hear you. Well, my pretty dear, if
+you want M. Charles,&mdash;and a good-looking fellow he is
+as ever won a woman's heart,&mdash;go straight on, and the
+door will stare you in the face. Eh! eh! eh!" laughed
+out the old woman, shaking her fat sides with spiteful
+glee, "it seems he has not waited for nothing this time.
+Success to love and love-makings, and a merry end to
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>The marquise, ready to sink with confusion, began
+slowly to grope her way up the dingy staircase.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I say," bawled out the old shell-fish woman, "our
+commandant knows what he is about, don't he? Leave
+him alone to choose a pretty girl. His marm is a
+regular swell, ain't she?"</p>
+
+<p>Had it not been requisite for her to run the gauntlet
+of the trio who occupied the entrance-door, Madame
+d'Harville, ready to sink with shame and terror, would
+gladly have retraced her steps. She made another effort,
+and at last reached the landing-place, where, to her
+unutterable consternation and surprise, she saw Rodolph
+waiting, impatiently, her arrival. Instantly flying to
+meet her, he hastily placed a purse in her hand, saying,
+in a hurried manner:</p>
+
+<p>"Your husband knows all, and is now following your
+very steps."</p>
+
+<p>At this instant, the sharp tones of Madame Pipelet
+were heard crying out, "Where are you going to, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis he!" exclaimed Rodolph, and then, almost
+forcing Madame d'Harville up the second staircase, he
+added, in a rapid manner, "make all haste to the very
+top of the house; on the fifth floor you will find a
+wretched family, named Morel. Remember your sole
+business in coming hither was to relieve their distress."</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, sir," screamed Madame Pipelet, "that
+unless you tell me your name, you shall trample over
+me, as they walked over our brave men at Waterloo,
+before I let you pass."</p>
+
+<p>Having, from the entrance to the alley, observed
+Madame d'Harville stop to speak to the porteress, the
+marquis had likewise prepared himself to pass through
+some sort of questioning.</p>
+
+<p>"I belong to the lady who just now entered," said the
+marquis.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless me!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, looking the
+picture of wonderment, "why, that, of course, is a satisfactory
+answer. You can pass on, if you please."</p>
+
+<p>Hearing an unusual stir, M. Charles Robert had set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+the door of his apartments ajar, and Rodolph, unwilling
+to be recognised by M. d'Harville, whose quick, searching
+eye might have detected him, spite of the murkiness
+of the staircase, hearing him rapidly ascending the stairs,
+just as he reached the landing-place, dashed into the
+chamber of the astonished commandant, locking the door
+after him. M. Charles Robert, magnificently attired in
+his <i>robe de chambre</i> of scarlet damask with orange-coloured
+stripes, and Greek cap of embroidered velvet,
+was struck with astonishment at the unexpected appearance
+of Rodolph, whom he had not seen the preceding
+evening at the embassy, and who was upon the present
+occasion very plainly dressed.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" asked he
+at length, assuming a tone of killing haughtiness.</p>
+
+<p>"Be silent!" replied Rodolph; and there was that in
+his voice and manner that Charles Robert obeyed, even
+in spite of his own determination to strike terror into
+the bold invader of his private moments.</p>
+
+<p>A violent and continued noise, as of some heavy
+substance falling from one stair to the other, resounded
+through the dull silence of the gloomy staircase.</p>
+
+<p>"Unhappy man! He has murdered her!" exclaimed
+Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>"Murdered!" ejaculated M. Charles Robert, turning
+very pale; "for the love of Heaven, what is all this
+about?"</p>
+
+<p>But, without heeding his inquiry, Rodolph partially
+opened the door, and discovered little Tortillard half
+rolling, half limping, down the stairs, holding in his
+hand the red silk purse Rodolph had just given to
+Madame d'Harville. Tortillard, with another scrambling
+shuffle, disappeared at the bottom of the last
+flight of stairs. The light step of Madame d'Harville,
+and the heavier tread of her husband, as he continued
+his pursuit of her from one story to another, could be
+distinctly heard. Somewhat relieved of his worst fears,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+yet unable to make out by what chance the purse so
+recently committed to Madame d'Harville's hands should
+have been transferred to those of Tortillard, Rodolph
+said, authoritatively, to M. Robert:</p>
+
+<p>"Do not think of quitting your apartments for the
+next hour, I request!"</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my life and soul, that is a pretty thing to say
+to a gentleman in his own house," replied M. Robert in
+an impatient and wrathful tone. "I ask you, again,
+what is the meaning of all this? Who the devil are
+you, sir? And how dare you dictate to me, a
+gentleman?"</p>
+
+<p>"M. d'Harville is informed of everything,&mdash;has followed
+his wife to your very door,&mdash;and is now pursuing
+her to the upper part of the house."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless me! Here's a situation!" exclaimed
+Charles Robert, with an appearance of utter consternation.
+"But what is to be done? What is the
+use of her going up-stairs? And how will she manage
+to get down again unobserved?"</p>
+
+<p>"Remain where you are, neither speak nor move
+until the porteress comes to you," rejoined Rodolph,
+who hastened to give his final instructions to Madame
+Pipelet, leaving the commandant a prey to the most
+alarming apprehensions.</p>
+
+<p>"Well! well!" cried Madame Pipelet, her face
+radiant with chuckling exultation; "there's rare sport
+going on! The lady who came to visit my fine gentleman
+on the first floor has been followed by another
+gentleman, who seems rather in a passion,&mdash;the
+husband of that silly young creature, I make no
+doubt. Directly the truth flashed across me, I tells
+him to go straight up; for, thinks I, he'll be sure to
+murder our commandant. That'll make a deal of talk
+in the neighbourhood; and folks will come crowding to
+see the house, just as they did at No. 36 after the man
+was killed there. Lord! I wonder the fighting has not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+begun yet. I have been listening to hear them set to;
+but I can't catch the least sound."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Madame Pipelet, will you do me a great
+favour?" said Rodolph, putting five louis into her hand.
+"When this lady comes down-stairs, ask her how she
+found the poor Morels. Tell her she has performed an
+act of real charity in coming to see them, according to
+her promise, the last time she called to inquire respecting
+them."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Pipelet looked first at the money and then at
+Rodolph, with an air of petrified astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"What am I to do with this money?" inquired she,
+at length; "do you give it to me? Ah, I see! This
+handsome lady, then, does not come altogether for the
+commandant?"</p>
+
+<p>"The gentleman who followed her was her husband,
+as you justly supposed; but, being warned in time, the
+poor lady went straight on to the Morels, as though her
+only business here was to afford them succour. Now do
+you understand!"</p>
+
+<p>"I should think I did,&mdash;clear as noonday. 'A nod
+is as good as a wink,' as the old woman said. I know!
+You want me to help you cheat the husband? Lord
+bless you! I'm up to all those things,&mdash;quick as
+lightning, silent as the grave! Go along with you!
+I'm a regular good hand at keeping husbands in the
+dark; you might fancy I'd been used to it all my life.
+But tell me&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The huge hat of M. Pipelet was here observed sending
+its dark shadow across the floor of the lodge.</p>
+
+<p>"Anastasie," said Alfred, gravely, "you are like M.
+César Bradamanti; you have no respect for anything
+or anybody. And let me tell you that there are subjects
+that should never be made the subject of a jest,
+even amongst the most familiar acquaintances."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, my old darling. Don't stand there rolling
+up your eyes, and looking about as wise as a pig in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+pound. You know well enough I was only joking; you
+know well enough that no living soul beneath the canopy
+of heaven can ever say I gave him a liberty. But
+that'll do; so let's talk of this good gentleman's business.
+Suppose I do go out of my usual way to save
+this young lady, I'm sure I do it solely to oblige our
+new lodger, who, for his generosity, may well deserve to
+be called the king of lodgers." Then, turning towards
+Rodolph, she added, "You shall see how cleverly I will
+go to work. Just hide yourself there in that corner
+behind the curtain. Quick,&mdash;quick! I hear them
+coming."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph had scarcely time to conceal himself ere
+M. and Madame d'Harville descended the stairs. The
+features of the marquis shone with happiness, mingled
+with a confused and astonished expression, while the
+countenance of his wife, as she hung on his arm, looked
+calm but pale.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my good lady," cried Madame Pipelet, going
+out of her lodge to address her, as she descended the
+last stair, "how did you find the poor creatures,&mdash;I
+mean the Morels? Ah, I doubt not, such a sight made
+your heart ache? God knows your charity was well
+bestowed! I told you the other day, when you called
+to inquire about them, what a state of starvation and
+misery they were in. Be assured, kind lady, these poor
+things are fit objects of your bounty; you will never
+have to regret coming to this out-of-the-way place to
+examine into their case. They really are deserving all
+your kindness,&mdash;don't you think so, Alfred?"</p>
+
+<p>Alfred, the strictness of whose ideas touching a due
+regard for all conjugal duties made him revolt at the
+thoughts of helping to deceive a husband, replied only
+by a sort of grumbling sound, as vague as discordant.</p>
+
+<p>"Please to excuse my husband, madame," resumed
+Madame Pipelet; "he has got the cramp in his stomach,
+and cannot speak loud enough to be understood, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+he would tell you as well as myself that the poor people
+you have so fortunately relieved will pray of the Almighty,
+night and day, to bless and reward you, my
+worthy lady."</p>
+
+<p>M. d'Harville gazed on his wife with feelings approaching
+to adoration, as he exclaimed, "Angel of goodness,
+how has base slander dared to disturb your heavenly
+work!"</p>
+
+<p>"An angel!" repeated Madame Pipelet; "that she is,
+and one of the very best heaven could send. There is
+not a better."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us return home, I entreat!" said Madame
+d'Harville, who was suffering acutely under the restraint
+she had put upon herself since entering the house, and,
+now that the necessity for exertion was over, found her
+strength rapidly forsaking her.</p>
+
+<p>"Instantly," replied the marquis.</p>
+
+<p>At the instant of their emerging into the open air from
+the obscurity of the alley, M. d'Harville, observing the
+pale looks of his wife, said, tenderly:</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Clémence, I have deep cause to solicit your pity
+and forgiveness."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! my lord," said the marquise, sighing deeply,
+"which of us has not need of pardon?"</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph quitted his hiding-place, deeply ruminating
+upon so terrible a scene, thus intermingled with absurdity
+and coarseness, and pondering over the curious termination
+to a drama, the commencement of which had
+called forth such different passions.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, now," exclaimed Madame Pipelet, "you must
+say I played my part well. Didn't I send that donkey
+of a husband home with longer ears than he came out
+with? Lord bless you! he'll put his wife under a glass
+case, and worship her from this day forward. Poor,
+dear gentleman! I really could not help feeling sorry
+for him. Oh! but about your furniture, M. Rodolph; it
+has not come yet."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am now going to see about it. By the by, you
+had better go and inform the commandant that he may
+venture out."</p>
+
+<p>"True; I'll go and let the caged bird out. But what
+stuff and nonsense for him to hire apartments of no
+more use to him than they are to the King of Prussia!
+He is a fine fellow, he is, with his paltry twelve francs
+a month. This is the fourth time he has been made a
+fool of."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph quitted the house, and Madame Pipelet, turning
+to her husband, said, with a chuckling laugh, "Now,
+Alfred, the commandant's turn has come; now for it!
+I mean to have a jolly good laugh at my gentleman,&mdash;up
+and dressed for nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the apartments of M. Charles Robert, the
+porteress rang the bell; the door was opened by the
+commandant himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Commandant," said Anastasie, giving him a military
+salute, by placing the back of her little fat hand against
+the front of her wig, "I have come to set you free. Your
+friends have gone away arm in arm, happy as doves,
+under your very nose. Well, you are out of a nice mess,
+thanks to M. Rodolph. You ought to stand something
+very handsome to him for all he has done upon the present
+occasion."</p>
+
+<p>"Then this slim individual with the moustachios is
+called M. Rodolph, is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly so; neither more nor less."</p>
+
+<p>"And who and what is the fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fellow, indeed!" cried Madame Pipelet, in a wrathful
+voice; "he is as good as other men,&mdash;better than
+some I could mention. Why, he is a travelling clerk,
+but the very king of lodgers; for, though he has only
+one room, he does not haggle and beat folks down,&mdash;not
+he. Why, he gave me six francs for doing for him,&mdash;six
+francs, mind, I say, without a word. Think of
+that!&mdash;without ever offering me a sou less. Oh,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+he is a lodger! I wish other people were at all like
+him!"</p>
+
+<p>"There, there, that's enough; take the key."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I light the fire to-morrow, commandant?"</p>
+
+<p>"No!"</p>
+
+<p>"Next day?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! Don't bother me."</p>
+
+<p>"I say, commandant, if you recollect, I warned you
+that you would have your trouble for your pains."</p>
+
+<p>M. Charles Robert threw a glance at his grinning
+tormentor that spoke of annihilation at least, and, dashing
+furiously by her, quitted the house, wondering much
+how a mere clerk should have become acquainted with
+his assignation with the Marquise d'Harville.</p>
+
+<p>As the commandant left the alley, Tortillard came
+hobbling along.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what do you want?" said Madame Pipelet.</p>
+
+<p>"Has the Borgnesse been to call upon me?" asked
+the young scamp, without attending to the porteress's
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"The Chouette? No, you ugly monster! What
+should she come for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, to take me with her into the country, to be
+sure," said Tortillard, swinging on the lodge gate.</p>
+
+<p>"And what does your master say to it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, father managed all that. He sent this
+morning to M. Bradamanti, to ask him to give me leave
+to go in the country,&mdash;the country,&mdash;the country,"
+sang or rather screamed the amiable scion of M. Bras
+Rouge, beating time most melodiously on the window-panes.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you leave off, you young rascal, or are
+you going to break my window? Oh, here comes a
+coach!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! oh! oh!" shrieked the urchin; "it is my dear
+Chouette! Oh, how nice the ride in a coach!"</p>
+
+<p>And, looking through the window, they saw reflected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+upon the red blind of the opposite glass the hideous profile
+of the Borgnesse. She beckoned to Tortillard, who
+ran out to her. The coachman descended from his box,
+and opened the door; Tortillard sprang into the vehicle,
+which instantly drove off.</p>
+
+<p>Another person beside the Chouette was in the carriage.
+In the farther corner, and wrapped in an old
+cloak with a furred collar, his features shrouded by a
+black silk cap pulled down over his brows, sat the
+Schoolmaster. His inflamed lids formed a horrible
+contrast with the white globeless space beneath; and
+this fearful spectacle was rendered still more hideous
+by the action of the severe cold upon his seamed and
+frightful countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, small boy, squat yourself down on the pins of
+my man; you'll serve to keep him warm," said the Borgnesse
+to Tortillard, who crouched like a dog close to the
+feet of the Schoolmaster and the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, my coves," said the driver, "on we go to
+the 'ken' at Bouqueval, don't we, La Chouette? You
+shall see whether I can 'tool a drag' or not."</p>
+
+<p>"And keep your pads on the move, my fine fellow;
+for we must get hold of the girl to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, my blind un; we'll go the pace."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I give you a hint?" said the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"What about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, cut it fine as you pass by the 'nabs' at the
+barrier; the meeting might lead to disagreeable recollections.
+It is not every old acquaintance it is worth
+while to renew our friendship with. You have been
+wanted at the barriers for some time."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll keep my weather-eye open," replied the driver,
+getting on his box.</p>
+
+<p>It needs scarcely be told, after this specimen of slang,
+that the coachman was a robber, one of the Schoolmaster's
+worthy associates. The vehicle then quitted the Rue du
+Temple.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Two hours afterwards, towards the closing of a winter's
+day, the vehicle containing the Chouette, the Schoolmaster,
+and Tortillard, stopped before a wooden cross,
+marking out the sunken and lonely road which conducted
+to the farm at Bouqueval, where the Goualeuse remained
+under the kind protection of Madame Georges.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<h5>AN IDYL.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The hour of five had just struck from the church clock
+of the little village of Bouqueval; the cold was intense,
+the sky clear, the sun, sinking slowly behind the vast
+leafless woods which crowned the heights of Ecouen,
+cast a purple hue over the horizon, and sent its faint,
+sloping rays across the extensive plains, white and hard
+with winter's frost.</p>
+
+<p>In the country each season has its own distinctive
+features, its own peculiar charm; at times the dazzling
+snow changes the whole scene into immense landscapes
+of purest alabaster, exhibiting their spotless beauties to
+the reddish gray of the sky. Then may be seen in the
+glimmer of twilight, either ascending or descending the
+hill, a benighted farmer returning to his habitation; his
+horse, cloak, and hat, are covered with the falling snow.
+Bitter is the cold, biting the north wind, dark and
+gloomy the approaching night; but what cares he?
+There, amid those leafless trees, he sees the bright taper
+burning in the window of his cheerful home; while from
+the tall chimney a column of dark smoke rolls upwards
+through the flaky shower that descends, and speaks to
+the toil-worn farmer of a blazing hearth and humble
+meal prepared by kind affection to welcome him after
+the fatigues of his journey. Then the rustic gossip by
+the fireside, on which the fagot burns and crackles, and
+a peaceful, comfortable night's rest, amid the whistling
+of the winds, and the barking of the various dogs at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+different farms scattered around, with the answering cry
+from the distant watch-dog.</p>
+
+<p>Daylight opens upon a scene of fairy-land. Surely
+the tiny elves have been celebrating some grand fête,
+and have left some of their adornments behind them, for
+on each branch hang long spiracles of crystal, glittering
+in the rays of a winter's sun with all the prismatic brilliancy
+of the diamond. The damp, rich soil of the
+arable land is laid down in furrows, where hides the
+timid hare in her form, or the speckled partridge runs
+merrily. Here and there is heard the melancholy tinkling
+of the sheep-bell hanging from the neck of some
+important leader of the numerous flocks scattered over
+the verdant heights and turfy valleys of the neighbourhood;
+while, carefully wrapped in his dark gray cloak,
+the shepherd, seated under shelter of those knotted
+trunks and interlaced branches, chants his cheerful lay,
+while his fingers are busily employed weaving a basket
+of rushes.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally a more animated scene presents itself;
+distant echo gives out the faint sound of the hunting-horn,
+and the cry of hounds; suddenly a frightened deer
+bursts from the neighbouring forest, stands for a few
+seconds in terrified alarm upon the frozen plain, then
+darts onward, and is quickly lost amid the thickets on
+the opposite side. The trampling of horses, the barking
+of dogs, are rapidly brought nearer by the breeze; and now,
+in their turn, a pack of dogs with brown and tawny-spotted
+skins issue from the brushwood from which the
+frightened deer but just now came; they run eagerly
+over the sterile ground, the fallow fields, with noses
+closely pointed to the ground they pursue with loud cries
+the traces left by the flying deer. At their heels come
+the hunters in their scarlet coats, bending over the necks
+of their swift steeds; they encourage their dogs by their
+voices mingled with the notes of the horn. Swift as
+lightning the brilliant cortège passes on; the noise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+decreases; by degrees all is still; dogs, horses, and
+huntsmen are lost in the tangled mazes of the forest,
+where the frightened stag had sought and found a hiding-place.
+Then peace and calm resumed their reign;
+and the profound stillness of these vast plains was interrupted
+only by the monotonous song of the shepherd.</p>
+
+<p>These sights,&mdash;these rustic views abounded in the
+environs of the village of Bouqueval, which, spite of its
+proximity to Paris, was situated in a sort of desert, to
+which there was no approach except by cross-roads.
+Concealed during the summer among the trees, like
+a nest amid the sheltering foliage, the farm which had
+become the home of the poor Goualeuse was now utterly
+bereft of its leafy screen, and entirely exposed to view.
+The course of the little river, now quite frozen over,
+resembled a long silver riband stretched along the
+ever verdant meadows, through which a number of fine
+cows were leisurely wending their way to their stable.
+Brought home by the approach of night, flocks of pigeons
+were successively arriving, and perching on the peaked
+roof of the dove-house; while the immense walnut-tree,
+that during the summer afforded an umbrageous screen
+both to the farmhouse and its numerous out-buildings,
+stripped of its rich foliage, exhibited only bare branches,
+through which could plainly be discerned the tiled roof
+of the one, and the thatched tops of the others, overgrown
+with patches of moss of mingled green and dingy
+brown.</p>
+
+<p>A heavy cart, drawn by three strong, sturdy horses,
+with long, thick manes and shining coats, with blue collars
+ornamented with bells and tassels of red worsted,
+was bringing in a load of wheat from a neighbouring
+rick. This ponderous machine entered the courtyard
+by the large gate, while immense flocks of sheep were
+pressing eagerly round the side entrances; both men
+and beasts appeared impatient to escape from the severity
+of the cold, and to enjoy the comfort of repose. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+horses neighed joyously at the sight of their stable, the
+sheep bleated their satisfaction at returning to their
+warm folds, while the hungry labourers cast a longing
+look towards the kitchen windows, from which streamed
+forth pleasant promise of a warm and savoury meal.</p>
+
+<p>The whole of the exterior arrangements of the farm
+were indicative of the most scrupulous order, neatness,
+and exactitude. Instead of being covered with dirt and
+dust, scattered about, and exposed to the inclemency of
+the season, the carts, rollers, harrows, etc., with every
+agricultural implement (and some were of the last and
+best invention), were placed, well cleaned and painted,
+under a vast shed, where the carters were accustomed to
+arrange their cart-harness with the most symmetrical
+attention to order and method. Large, clean, and well
+laid out, the court-yard had none of those huge dung-heaps,
+those stagnant pools of filthy water, which deface
+the finest establishments of La Beauce or La Brie.</p>
+
+<p>The poultry-yard, surrounded by a green trellising,
+received and shut in all the feathered tribe, who after
+wandering in the fields all day, returned home by a small
+door left open till all were collected, when it was carefully
+closed and secured. Without dwelling too minutely
+upon every detail, we shall merely observe, that in all
+respects this farm passed most justly in the environs for
+a model farm, as much for the excellency of the method
+by which it was conducted, and the abundant crops it
+produced, as for the respectability and correct mode of
+life which distinguished the various labourers employed
+there, who were soon ranked among the most creditable
+and efficient workmen of the place.</p>
+
+<p>The cause of all this prosperity shall be spoken of
+hereafter. Meanwhile we will conduct the reader to the
+trellised gate of the poultry-yard, which, for the rustic
+elegance of its perches and poultry-houses, was noways
+inferior to the farm itself; while through the centre
+flowed a small stream of clear, limpid water, the bed of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+which was laid down with smooth pebbles, carefully
+cleansed from any obstructing substance.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden stir arose among the winged inhabitants of
+this charming spot; the fowls flew fluttering and cackling
+from their perches, the turkeys gabbled, the guinea-fowls
+screamed, and the pigeons, forsaking their elevated
+position on the summit of the dove-house, descended to
+the sandy surface of the yard, and stood cooing and
+caressing each other with every manifestation of joy.
+The arrival of Fleur-de-Marie had occasioned all these
+ecstatic delights.</p>
+
+<p>A more charming model than the Goualeuse could
+not have been desired by Greuze or Watteau, had her
+cheeks possessed a little more <i>rondeur</i> or been visited by
+a brighter tinge; but, spite of their delicate paleness,
+the expression of her features, the <i>tout ensemble</i> of her
+figure, and the gracefulness of her attitude would have
+rendered her worthy of exercising the crayons of even
+the celebrated artists we have alluded to.</p>
+
+<p>The small round cap of Fleur-de-Marie displayed her
+fair forehead and light, braided hair, in common with
+all the young girls in the environs of Paris; above this
+cap, but still exposing the crown and ears, she wore a
+large red cotton handkerchief, folded smoothly, and
+pinned behind her head; while the long ends waving
+gracefully over her shoulders formed a costume which,
+for graceful effect, might be envied by the tasteful <i>coiffeurs</i>
+of Italy or Switzerland. A handkerchief of snow-white
+linen, crossed over her bosom, was half concealed by the
+high and spreading front of her coarse cloth apron. A
+jacket of blue woollen cloth with tight sleeves displayed
+her slender figure, and descended half way down her
+thick skirt of dark-striped fustian; white cotton stockings
+and tied shoes, partly covered by sabots, furnished
+with a leather strap for the instep, completed this costume
+of rustic simplicity, to which the natural grace of
+Fleur-de-Marie lent an inexpressible charm.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Holding in one hand the two corners of her apron,
+with the other she distributed handfuls of grain among
+the winged crowd by which she was surrounded. One
+beautiful pigeon of a silvery whiteness, with beak and
+feet of a rich purple colour, more presuming or more
+indulged than the rest, after having flown several times
+around Fleur-de-Marie, at length alighted on her shoulder;
+the young girl, as though well used to these
+familiarities, continued, wholly undisturbed, to throw
+out continued supplies of grain; but, half turning her
+head till its perfect outline alone was visible, she gently
+raised her head, and smilingly offered her small rosy
+lips to meet those of her fond, caressing friend. The
+last rays of the setting sun shed a pale golden light over
+this innocent picture.</p>
+
+<p>While the Goualeuse was thus occupied with her rural
+cares, Madame Georges and the Abbé Laporte, curé of
+Bouqueval, sitting by the fireside in the neat little parlour
+of the farm, were conversing on the one constant
+theme,&mdash;Fleur-de-Marie. The old curé, with a pensive,
+thoughtful air, his head bent downwards, and his elbows
+leaning on his knees, mechanically stretched his two
+trembling hands before the fire. Madame Georges, laying
+aside the needlework on which she had been occupied, kept
+an anxious eye on the abbé, as though eagerly waiting for
+some observation from him. After a moment's silence:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said he, "you are right, Madame Georges; it
+will be better for M. Rodolph to question Marie, for she
+is so filled with deep gratitude and devotion to him, that
+she will probably reveal to him what she persists in
+concealing from us."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, since you agree with me, M. le Curé, I will
+write, this very evening, to the address he left with me,&mdash;the
+Allée des Veuves."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor child," sighed the kind old man, "she ought
+to have been so happy here! What secret grief can thus
+be preying on her mind?"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 320px;"><a name="image66" id="image66"></a>
+<img src="images/i002.jpg" width="320" height="500" alt="&quot;At Length Alighted on Her Shoulder&quot;
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau" title="&quot;At Length Alighted on Her Shoulder&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;<i>At Length Alighted on Her Shoulder</i>&quot;<br />
+<span class="artist">Original Etching by L. Poiteau</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Her unhappiness is too deeply fixed to be removed
+even by her earnest and passionate application to study."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet she has made a most rapid and extraordinary
+progress since she has been under our care,
+has she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"She has, indeed; already she can read and write
+with the utmost fluency, and is already sufficiently
+advanced in arithmetic to assist me in keeping my
+farm accounts; and then the dear child is so active
+and industrious, and really affords me so much assistance
+as both surprises me and moves me to tears. You
+know that, spite of my repeated remonstrances, she persisted
+in working so hard, that I became quite alarmed
+lest such toil should seriously affect her health."</p>
+
+<p>"I am thankful to hear from you," resumed the
+worthy curé, "that your negro doctor has fully quieted
+your apprehensions respecting the cough your young
+friend suffered from; he says it is merely temporary,
+and gives no reason for uneasiness."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that kind, excellent M. David! He really appeared
+to feel the same interest in the poor girl that
+we did who know her sad story. She is universally
+beloved and respected by all on the farm; though that
+is not surprising, as, thanks to the generous and elevated
+views of M. Rodolph, all the persons employed on it are
+selected for their good sense and excellent conduct, from
+all parts of the kingdom; but were it not so,&mdash;were they
+of the common herd of vulgar-minded labourers, they
+could not help feeling the influence of Marie's angelic
+sweetness, and timid, graceful manner, as though she
+were always deprecating anger, or beseeching pardon
+for some involuntary fault. Unfortunate being! as
+though she alone were to blame."</p>
+
+<p>After remaining for several minutes buried in reflection,
+the abbé resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not tell me that this deep dejection of
+Marie's might be dated from the time when Madame<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+Dubreuil, who rents under the Duke de Lucenay, paid
+her a visit during the feast of the Holy Ghost?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, M. le Curé, I did. And yet Madame Dubreuil
+and her daughter Clara (a perfect model of candour and
+goodness) were as much taken with our dear child as
+every one else who approaches her; and both of them
+lavished on her every mark of the most affectionate
+regard. You know that we pass the Sunday alternately
+at each other's house; but it invariably happens that,
+when we return from our Sunday excursion to Arnouville,
+where Madame Dubreuil and her daughter reside,
+the melancholy of my dear Marie seems augmented, and
+her spirits more depressed than ever. I cannot comprehend
+why this should be, when Madame Dubreuil treats
+her like a second daughter, and the sweet Clara loves
+her with the tender affection of a sister."</p>
+
+<p>"In truth, Madame Georges, it is a fearful mystery;
+what can occasion all this hidden sorrow, when here she
+need not have a single care? The difference between
+her present and past life must be as great as that which
+exists between heaven and the abode of the damned.
+Surely, hers is not an ungrateful disposition?"</p>
+
+<p>"She ungrateful! Oh, no, M. le Curé! her sensitive
+and affectionate nature magnifies the slightest service
+rendered her, and she appears as though her gratitude
+could never be sufficiently evinced. There is, too, in
+her every thought an instinctive delicacy and fineness of
+feeling wholly incompatible with ingratitude, which could
+never be harboured in so noble a nature as that of my
+charge. Dear Marie, how anxious does she seem to earn
+the bread she eats, and how eagerly she strives to compensate
+the hospitality shown her, by every exertion she
+can make, or service she can render! And, then, except
+on Sunday, when I make it a point she should dress
+herself with more regard to appearance to accompany
+me to church, she will only wear the coarse, humble garments
+worn by our young peasant girls; and yet there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+is in her such an air of native superiority, so natural a
+grace, that one would not desire to see her otherwise
+attired, would they, M. le Curé?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, mother's pride! Beware!" said the old priest,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>At these words, tears filled the eyes of Madame
+Georges; she thought of her long-lost child, and of
+his possible destiny.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, dear friend, cheer up! Look upon our
+dear Marie as sent by a gracious Providence to occupy
+your maternal affections until the blessed moment when
+he shall restore you your son; and, besides, you have a
+sacred duty to perform towards this child of your adoption.
+Are you not her baptismal godmother? And, believe
+me, when that office is worthily discharged, it almost
+equals that of a mother. As for M. Rodolph, he has
+discharged his obligation of godfather by anticipation,
+for, in snatching her from the abyss of crime into which
+her misfortunes and her helplessness had cast her, he
+may be said to have caused her immortal existence
+to begin."</p>
+
+<p>"Doubtless the poor thing has never received the
+sacrament of our holy church. Do you think, M. le Curé,
+she is now sufficiently acquainted with its sanctified
+purposes to be admitted to a participation of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will take an opportunity of learning her sentiments
+on the subject as we walk back to the rectory. I
+shall then apprise her that the holy ceremony will take
+place probably in about a fortnight from hence."</p>
+
+<p>"How gratefully she will receive such an information;
+her religious feelings are the strongest I have ever
+met with."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, poor thing! she has deep and heavy expiation
+to make for the errors of her past life."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, M. l'Abbé, consider. Abandoned so young,
+without resource, without friends, almost without a knowledge
+of good or evil, plunged involuntarily into the very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+vortex of crime, what was there to prevent her from
+falling the bitter sacrifice she has been?"</p>
+
+<p>"The clear, moral sense of right and wrong implanted
+by the Creator in every breast should have withheld
+her; and, besides, we have no evidence of her having
+even sought to escape from the horrible fate into which
+she had fallen. Is there no friendly hand to be found
+in Paris to listen to the cries of suffering virtue? Is
+charity so rare, so hard to obtain in that large city?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope not, M. l'Abbé; but how to discover it
+is the difficulty. Ere arriving at the knowledge of one
+kind, commiserating Christian, think of the refusals,
+the rebukes, the denials to be endured. And, then, in
+such a case as our poor Marie's, it was no passing
+temporary aid that could avail her, but the steady,
+continued patronage and support, the being placed in
+the way to earn an honest livelihood. Many tender and
+pitying mothers would have succoured her had they
+known her sad case, I doubt not, but it was first requisite
+to secure the happiness of knowing where to meet
+with them. Trust me, I, too, have known want and
+misery. But for one of those providential chances
+which, alas! too late, threw poor Marie in the way of
+M. Rodolph,&mdash;but for one of those casualties, the
+wretched and destitute, most commonly repulsed with
+rude denial on their first applications, believe pity irretrievably
+lost, and, pressed by hunger, fierce, clamorous
+hunger, often seek in vice that relief they despair to
+obtain from commiseration."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the Goualeuse entered the parlour.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been, my dear child?" inquired
+Madame Georges, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Visiting the fruit-house, madame, after having shut
+up the hen-houses and gates of the poultry-yard. All
+the fruit has kept excellently,&mdash;all but those I ran away
+with and ate."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Marie, why take all this fatigue upon yourself?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+You should have left all this tiring work to Claudine; I
+fear you have quite tired yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! dear Madame Georges; I wouldn't let
+Claudine help me for the world. I take so much delight
+in my fruit-house,&mdash;the smell of the beautiful ripe fruit
+is so delicious."</p>
+
+<p>"M. le Curé," said Madame Georges, "you must go
+some day and see Marie's fruit-house. You can scarcely
+imagine the taste with which she has arranged it; each
+different variety of fruit is separated by rows of grapes,
+and the grapes are again divided off by strips of moss."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, M. le Curé; pray do come and see it," said
+the Goualeuse, innocently; "I am sure you would be
+pleased with it. You would be surprised what a pretty
+contrast the moss makes to the bright rosy apples or the
+rich golden pears. There are some such lovely waxen
+apples, quite a pure red and white; and really, as they
+lie surrounded by the soft green moss, I cannot help
+thinking of the heads of little cherubim just peeping
+out from the glorious clouds of heaven," added the
+delighted Goualeuse, speaking with all the enthusiasm
+of an artist of the work of her creation.</p>
+
+<p>The curé looked at Madame Georges, then smilingly
+replied to Fleur-de-Marie:</p>
+
+<p>"I have already admired the dairy over which you
+preside, my child, and can venture to declare it perfect
+in its way; the most particular dairy-woman might envy
+you the perfection to which you have brought it. Ere
+long, I promise myself the pleasure of visiting your
+fruit-house, and passing a similar compliment on your
+skill in arrangement. You shall then introduce me to
+those charming rosy apples and delicious golden pears,
+as well as to the little cherubim pippins so prettily peeping
+from their mossy beds. But see! the sun has
+already set; you will scarcely have sufficient time to
+conduct me back to the rectory-house and return before
+dark. Come, my child, fetch your cloak, and let us be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+gone; or, now I think of it, do you remain at home
+this cold bitter night, and let one of the farm servants
+go home with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, M. le Curé," replied the kind Madame Georges,
+"Marie will be quite wretched if she is not allowed to
+accompany you; she so much enjoys the happiness of
+escorting you home every evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Monsieur le Curé," added the Goualeuse,
+timidly raising her large blue eyes to the priest's countenance,
+"I shall fear you are displeased with me if you
+do not permit me to accompany you as usual."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, my dear child, wrap yourself up very
+warm, and let us go."</p>
+
+<p>Fleur-de-Marie hastily threw over her shoulders a sort
+of cloak of coarse white cloth, edged with black velvet,
+and with a large hood, to be drawn at pleasure over the
+head. Thus equipped, she eagerly offered her arm to her
+venerable friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Happily," said he, in taking it, "the distance is but
+trifling, and the road both good and safe to pass at all
+hours."</p>
+
+<p>"As it is somewhat later to-night than usual," said
+Madame Georges, "will you have one of the farm-people
+to return with you, Marie?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you take me for a coward?" said Marie, playfully.
+"I am very much obliged to you for your good
+opinion, madame. No, pray do not let any one be called
+away on my account. It is not a quarter of an hour's
+walk from here to the rectory. I shall be back long
+before dark."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, as you like. I merely thought it would be
+company for you; for as to fearing, thank heaven, there
+is no cause. Loose vagabond people, likely to interrupt
+your progress, are wholly unknown here."</p>
+
+<p>"And, were I not equally sure of the absence of all
+danger, I would not accept this dear child's arm," added
+the curé, "useful as, I confess, I find it."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And, leaning on Fleur-de-Marie, who regulated her
+light step to suit the slow and laboured pace of the old
+man, the two friends quitted the farm.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes' walk brought the Goualeuse and the
+priest close to the hollow road in which the Schoolmaster,
+the Chouette, and Tortillard, were lying in
+ambush.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE AMBUSCADE.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The church and parsonage of Bouqueval were placed
+on the side of a hill covered with chestnut-trees, and
+commanded an entire view of the village. Fleur-de-Marie
+and the abbé reached a winding path which led to
+the clergyman's home, crossing the sunken road by which
+the hill was intersected diagonally. The Chouette, the
+Schoolmaster, and Tortillard, concealed in one of the
+hollows of the road, saw the priest and Fleur-de-Marie
+descend into the ravine, and leave it again by a steep declivity.
+The features of the young girl being hidden
+under the hood of her cloak, the Chouette did not recognise
+her old victim.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, my old boy," said the old harridan to the
+Schoolmaster; "the young 'mot' and the 'black slug' are
+just crossing the path. I know her by the description
+which the tall man in black gave us; a country appearance,
+neither tall nor short; a petticoat shot with brown,
+and a woollen mantle with a black border. She walks
+every day with a 'devil-dodger' to his 'crib,' and returns
+alone. When she come back, which she will do presently
+by the end of the road, we must spring upon her
+and carry her off to the coach."</p>
+
+<p>"If she cries for help," replied the Schoolmaster,
+"they will hear her at the farm, if, as you say, the out-buildings
+are visible from here; for you&mdash;you can see,"
+he added, in a sullen tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, we can see the buildings from here quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+plainly," said Tortillard. "It is only a minute ago that
+I climbed to the top of the bank, and, lying down on my
+belly, I could hear a carter who was talking to his horses
+in the yard there."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you, then, what we must do," said the Schoolmaster,
+after a moment's silence. "Let Tortillard have
+the watch at the entrance to the path. When he sees
+the young girl returning, let him go and meet her, saying
+that he is the son of a poor old woman who has hurt
+herself by falling down the hollow road, and beg the
+girl to come to her assistance."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm up to you, <i>fourline</i>; the poor old woman is your
+darling Chouette. You're 'wide-awake!' My man, you
+are always the king of the 'downy ones' (<i>têtards</i>). What
+must I do afterwards?"</p>
+
+<p>"Conceal yourself in the hollow way on the side where
+Barbillon is waiting with the coach. I will be at hand.
+When Tortillard has brought the wench to you in the
+middle of the ravine, leave off whimpering and spring
+upon her, put one 'mauley' round her 'squeeze,' and the
+other into her 'patter-box,' and 'grab' her 'red rag' to
+prevent her from squeaking."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, I know, <i>fourline</i>; as we did with the woman
+at the canal of St. Martin, when we gave her cold water
+for supper (drowned her), after having 'prigged' her 'negress'
+(the parcel wrapped in black oil-skin) which she
+had under her arm,&mdash;the same 'dodge,' isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, precisely. But mind, grab the girl tight whilst
+Tortillard comes and fetches me. We three will then
+bundle her up in my cloak, carry her to Barbillon's
+coach, from thence to the plain of St. Denis, where the
+man in black will await us."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the way to do business, my <i>fourline</i>; you are
+without an equal! If I could, I would let off a firework
+on your head, and illuminate you with the colours of
+Saint Charlot, the patron of 'scragsmen.' Do you see,
+you urchin? If you would be an 'out-and-outer,' make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+my husband your model," said the Chouette, boastingly to
+Tortillard. Then, addressing the Schoolmaster, "By
+the way, do you know that Barbillon is in an awful 'funk'
+(fright)? He thinks that he shall be had up before the
+'beaks' on a swinging matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"The other day, returning from Mother Martial's, the
+widow of the man who was scragged, and who keeps the
+boozing-ken in the Ile du Ravageur, Barbillon, the Gros-Boiteux,
+and the Skeleton had a row with the husband of
+the milkwoman who comes every morning from the
+country in a little cart drawn by a donkey, to sell her
+milk in the Cité, at the corner of the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie,
+close to the ogress's of the 'White Rabbit,'
+and they 'walked into him with their slashers' (killed him
+with their knives)."</p>
+
+<p>The son of Bras Rouge, who did not understand slang,
+listened to the Chouette with a sort of disappointed
+curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"You would like to know, little man, what we are
+saying, wouldn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. You were talking of Mother Martial, who is
+at the Ile du Ravageur, near Asnières. I know her very
+well, and her daughter Calebasse and François and Amandine,
+who are about as old as I am, and who are made to
+bear everybody's snubs and thumps in the house. But
+when you talked of 'walking into (<i>buter</i>) any one,'
+that's slang, I know."</p>
+
+<p>"It is; and, if you're a very good chap, I'll teach you
+to 'patter flash.' You're just the age when it may be
+very useful to you. Would you like to learn, my precious
+lambkin?"</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think I should, too, and no mistake; and
+I would rather live with you than with my old cheat of
+a mountebank, pounding his drugs. If I knew where he
+hides his 'rat-poison for men,' I'd put some in his soup,
+and then that would settle the quarrel between us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Chouette laughed heartily, and said to Tortillard,
+drawing him towards her:</p>
+
+<p>"Come, chick, and kiss his mammy. What a droll
+boy it is&mdash;a darling! But, my manikin, how didst
+know that he had 'rat-poison for men'?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, 'cause I heard him say so one day when I was
+hid in the cupboard in the room where he keeps his bottles,
+his brass machines, and where he mixes his stuffs
+together."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you hear him say?" asked the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"I heard him say to a gentleman that he gave a powder
+to, in a paper, 'When you are tired of life, take this
+in three doses, and you will sleep without sickness or
+sorrow.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Who was the gentleman?" asked the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, a very handsome gentleman with black moustachios,
+and a face as pretty as a girl's. He came
+another time; and then, when he left, I followed him,
+by M. Bradamanti's order, to find out where he perched.
+The fine gentleman went into the Rue de Chaillot, and
+entered a very grand house. My master said to me,
+'No matter where this gentleman goes, follow and wait
+for him at the door. If he comes out again, still keep
+your eye on him, until he does not come out of the place
+where he enters, and that will prove that he lives there.
+Then Tortillard, my boy, twist (<i>tortille</i>) yourself about
+to find out his name, or I will twist your ears in a way
+that will astonish you.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I did twist myself about, and found out his
+name."</p>
+
+<p>"How did you manage it?" inquired the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, so. I'm not a fool; so I went to the porter
+at the house in the Rue de Chaillot, where this gentleman
+had gone in and not come out again. The porter
+had his hair finely powdered, with a fine brown coat with
+a yellow collar trimmed with silver. So I says to him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+'Good gentleman, I have come to ask for a hundred
+sous which the gentleman of the house has promised me
+for having found his dog and brought it back to him&mdash;a
+little black dog called Trumpet; and the gentleman
+with dark features, with black moustachios, a white
+riding-coat, and light blue pantaloons, told me he lived
+at No. 11 Rue de Chaillot, and that his name was
+Dupont.' 'The gentleman you're talking of is my master,
+and his name is the Viscount de St. Remy, and we
+have no dog here but yourself, you young scamp; so "cut
+your stick," or I'll make you remember coming here, and
+trying to do me out of a hundred sous,' says the porter
+to me; and he gave me a kick as he said it. But I
+didn't mind that," added Tortillard most philosophically,
+"for I found out the name of the handsome young gentleman
+with black moustachios, who came to my master's
+to buy the 'rat-poison for men' who are tired of
+living. He is called the Viscount de St. Remy,&mdash;my&mdash;my&mdash;St.
+Remy," added the son of Bras Rouge,
+humming the last words, as was his usual habit.</p>
+
+<p>"Clever little darling&mdash;I could eat him up alive!"
+said the Chouette, embracing Tortillard. "Never was
+such a knowing fellow. He deserves that I should be
+his mother, the dear rascal does."</p>
+
+<p>And the hag embraced Tortillard with an absurd
+affectation. The son of Bras Rouge, touched by this
+proof of affection, and desirous of showing his gratitude,
+eagerly answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Only you tell me what to do, and you shall see how
+I'll do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you, though? Well, then, you sha'n't repent
+doing so."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I should like always to stay with you!"</p>
+
+<p>"If you behave well, we may see about that. You
+sha'n't leave us if you are a good boy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the Schoolmaster, "you shall lead me
+about like a poor blind man, and say you are my son.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+We will get into houses in this way, and then&mdash;ten
+thousand slaughters!" added the assassin with enthusiasm;
+"the Chouette will assist us in making lucky
+hits. I will then teach that devil of a Rodolph, who
+blinded me, that I am not yet quite done for. He took
+away my eyesight, but he could not, did not remove my
+bent for mischief. I would be the head, Tortillard the
+eyes, and you the hand,&mdash;eh, Chouette? You will help
+me in this, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Am I not with you to gallows and rope, <i>fourline?</i>
+Didn't I, when I left the hospital, and learnt that you
+had sent the 'yokel' from St. Mandé to ask for me at the
+ogress's&mdash;didn't I run to you at the village directly,
+telling those chawbacons of labourers that I was your
+<i>rib?</i>"</p>
+
+<p>These words of the "one-eyed's" reminded the
+Schoolmaster of an unpleasant affair, and, altering
+his tone and language with the Chouette, he said, in
+a surly tone:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I was getting tired of being all by myself with
+these honest people. After a month I could not stand it
+any longer; I was frightened. So then I thought of
+trying to find you out; and a nice thing I did for myself,"
+he added, in a tone of increasing anger; "for the
+day after you arrived I was robbed of the rest of the
+money which that devil in the Allée des Veuves had
+given me. Yes, some one stole my belt full of gold
+whilst I was asleep. It was only you who could have
+done it; and so now I am at your mercy. Whenever I
+think of it, I can hardly restrain myself from killing you
+on the spot&mdash;you cursed old robber, you!" and he
+stepped towards the old woman.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out for yourself, if you try to do any harm to
+the Chouette!" cried Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"I will smash you both&mdash;you and she&mdash;base vipers
+as you are!" cried the ruffian, enraged; and, hearing
+the boy mumbling near him, he aimed at him so violent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+a blow with his fist, as must have killed him if it had
+struck him. Tortillard, as much to revenge himself as
+the Chouette, picked up a stone, took aim, and struck
+the Schoolmaster on the forehead. The blow was not
+dangerous, but very painful. The brigand grew furious
+with passion, raging like a wounded bull, and, rushing
+forward swiftly and at random, stumbled.</p>
+
+<p>"What, break your own back?" shouted the Chouette,
+laughing till she cried.</p>
+
+<p>Despite the bloody ties which bound her to this monster,
+she saw how entirely, and with a sort of savage
+delight, this man, formerly so dreaded, and so proud of
+his giant strength, was reduced to impotence. The old
+wretch, by these feelings, justified that cold-blooded idea
+of La Rochefoucauld's, that "there is something in the
+misfortunes of our best friends which does not displease
+us." The disgusting brat, with his tawny cheeks and
+weasel face, enjoyed and participated in the mirth of
+the one-eyed hag. The Schoolmaster tripped again,
+and the urchin exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Open your peepers, old fellow; look about you.
+You are going the wrong way. What capers you are
+cutting! Can't you see your way? Why don't you
+wipe your eye-glasses?"</p>
+
+<p>Unable to seize on the boy, the athletic murderer
+stopped, struck his foot violently on the ground, put his
+enormous and hairy fists to his eyes, and then uttered a
+sound which resembled the hoarse scream of a muzzled
+tiger.</p>
+
+<p>"Got a bad cough, I'm afraid, old chap!" said Bras
+Rouge's brat. "You're hoarse, I'm afraid? I have
+some capital liquorice which a <i>gen-d'arme</i> gave me.
+P'raps you'd like to try it?" and, taking up a handful
+of sand, he threw it in the face of the ruffian.</p>
+
+<p>Struck full in his countenance by this shower of
+gravel, the Schoolmaster suffered still more severely by
+this last attack than by the blow from the stone. Become<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+pale, in spite of his livid and cicatrised features,
+he extended his two arms suddenly in the form of a
+cross, in a moment of inexpressible agony and despair,
+and, raising his frightful face to heaven, he cried, in a
+voice of deep suffering:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>This involuntary appeal to divine mercy by a man
+stained by every crime, a bandit in whose presence but
+very recently the most resolute of his fellows trembled,
+appeared like an interposition of Providence.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha!" said the Chouette, in a mocking
+tone; "look at the thief making the crucifix! You
+mistake your road, my man. It is the 'old one' you
+should call to your help."</p>
+
+<p>"A knife! Oh, for a knife to kill myself! A knife!
+since all the world abandons me!" shrieked the wretch,
+gnawing his fists for very agony and rage.</p>
+
+<p>"A knife!&mdash;there's one in your pocket, cut-throat,
+and with an edge, too. The little old man in the Rue
+du Roule, you know, one moonlight night, and the cattle-dealer
+in the Poissy road, could tell the 'moles' all about
+it. But if you want it, it's here."</p>
+
+<p>The Schoolmaster, when thus instructed, changed the
+conversation, and replied, in a surly and threatening
+tone:</p>
+
+<p>"The Chourineur was true; he did not rob, but had
+pity on me."</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you say that I had 'prigged your blunt'?"
+inquired the Chouette, hardly able to restrain her
+laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"It was only you who came into my room," said the
+miscreant. "I was robbed on the night of your arrival,
+and who else could I suspect? Those country people
+could not have done such a thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should not country people steal as well as
+other folks? Is it because they drink milk and gather
+grass for their rabbits?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. I only know I'm robbed."</p>
+
+<p>"And is that the fault of your own Chouette? What!
+suspect me? Do you think if I had got your belt that I
+should stay any longer with you. What a fool you are!
+Why, if I had chosen to 'pouch your blunt,' I could, of
+course; but, as true as I'm Chouette, you would have
+seen me again when the 'pewter' was spent, for I like
+you as well now with your eyes white, as I did&mdash;you
+rogue, you! Come, be decent, and leave off grinding
+your 'snags' in that way, or you'll break 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"It's just as if he was a-cracking nuts," said Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha! what a droll baby it is! But
+quiet, now, quiet, my man of men; let him laugh,
+it is but an infant. You must own you have been
+unfair; for when the tall man in mourning, who
+looks like a mute at a funeral, said to me, 'A
+thousand francs are yours if you carry off this young
+girl from the farm at Bouqueval, and bring her to the
+spot in the Plain of St. Denis that I shall tell you,'
+say, cut-throat, didn't I directly tell you of the affair
+and agree to share with you, instead of choosing some
+'pal' with his eyesight clear? Why, it's like making you
+a handsome present for doing nothing; for unless to
+bundle up the girl and carry her, with Tortillard's
+assistance, you would be of no more use to me than
+the fifth wheel to an omnibus. But never mind; for,
+although I could have robbed you if I would, I like,
+on the contrary, to do you service. I should wish you
+to owe everything to your darling Chouette&mdash;that's my
+way, that is. We must give two hundred 'bob' to Barbillon
+for driving the coach, and coming once before
+with the servant of the tall man in mourning, to look
+about the place and determine where we should hide
+ourselves whilst we waited for the young miss; and
+then we shall have eight hundred 'bob' between us.
+What do you say to that old boy? What! still angry
+with your old woman?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How do I know that you will give me a 'mag'
+when once the thing's done? Why!&mdash;I"&mdash;said the
+ruffian, in a tone of gloomy distrust.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, if I like, I need not give you a dump, that's
+true enough; for you are on my gridiron, my lad, as
+I once had the Goualeuse; and so I will broil you to
+my own taste, till the 'old one' gets the cooking of my
+darling&mdash;ha! ha! ha! What, still sulky with your
+Chouette?" added the horrible woman, patting the
+shoulder of the ruffian, who stood mute and motionless.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right," said he, with a sigh of concentrated
+rage; "it is my fate&mdash;mine&mdash;mine! At the mercy
+of a woman and child whom but lately I could have
+killed with a blow. Oh, if I were not afraid of dying!"
+said he, falling back against the bank.</p>
+
+<p>"What! a coward!&mdash;you&mdash;you a coward!" said
+the Chouette, contemptuously. "Why, you'll be talking
+next of your conscience! What a precious farce!
+Well, if you haven't more pluck than that, I'll 'cut' and
+leave you."</p>
+
+<p>"And that I cannot have my revenge of the man who
+in thus making a martyr of me has reduced me to
+the wretched situation in which I am!" screamed the
+Schoolmaster, in a renewal of fury. "I am afraid
+of death&mdash;yes, I own it, I am afraid. But if I were
+told, 'This man Rodolph is between your arms&mdash;your
+two arms&mdash;and now you shall both be flung into a pit,'
+I would say, 'Throw us, then, at once.' Yes, for then I
+should be safe not to relax my clutch, till we both
+reached the bottom together. I would fix my teeth
+in his face&mdash;his throat&mdash;his heart. I would tear
+him to pieces with my teeth&mdash;yes, my teeth; for I
+should be jealous of a knife!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bravo, <i>fourline!</i> now you are my own dear love
+again. Calm yourself. We will find him again, that
+wretch of a Rodolph, and the Chourineur too. Come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+pluck up, old man; we will yet work our will on them
+both. I say it, on both!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, you will not forsake me?" cried the
+brigand to the Chouette in a subdued tone, mingled,
+however, with distrust. "If you do leave me, what
+will become of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's true. I say, <i>fourline</i>, what a joke if Tortillard
+and I were to 'mizzle' with the 'drag,' and leave you
+where you are&mdash;in the middle of the fields; and the
+night air begins to nip very sharp. I say, it would be
+a joke, old cutpurse, wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>At this threat the Schoolmaster shuddered, and,
+coming towards the Chouette, said tremulously, "No,
+no, you wouldn't do that, Chouette; nor you, Tortillard.
+It would be too bad, wouldn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha! 'Too bad,' says he, the gentle dear!
+And the little old man in the Rue du Roule; and the
+cattle-dealer and the woman in Saint Martin's Canal;
+and the gentleman in the Allée des Veuves; they found
+you nice and amiable, I don't think&mdash;didn't they&mdash;with
+your 'larding-pin?' Why, then, in your turn, shouldn't
+you be left to such tender mercy as you have showed?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm in your power, don't abuse it," said the Schoolmaster.
+"Come, come, I confess I was wrong to suspect
+you. I was wrong to try and thump Tortillard; and,
+you see, I beg pardon; and of you too, Tortillard. Yes,
+I ask pardon of both."</p>
+
+<p>"I will have you ask pardon on your knees for having
+tried to beat the Chouette," said Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"You rum little beggar, how funny you are!" said
+the Chouette, laughing loudly; "but I should like to
+see what a 'guy' you will make of yourself. So on
+your knees, as if you were 'pattering' love to your old
+darling. Come, do it directly, or we will leave you;
+and I tell you that in half an hour it will be quite dark,
+though you don't look as if you thought so, old
+'No-Eyes.'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Night or day, what's that to him?" said Tortillard,
+saucily. "The gentleman always has his shutters
+closed."</p>
+
+<p>"Then here, on my knees, I humbly ask your pardon,
+Chouette; and yours also, Tortillard! Will not that
+content you?" said the robber, kneeling in the middle
+of the highway. "And now will you leave me?"</p>
+
+<p>This strange group, enclosed by the embankment of
+the ravine, and lighted by the red glimmer of the twilight,
+was hideous to behold. In the middle of the road
+the Schoolmaster, on his knees, extended his large and
+coarse hands towards the one-eyed hag; his thick and
+matted hair, which his fright had dishevelled, left exposed
+his motionless, rigid, glassy, dead eyeballs&mdash;the
+very glance of a corpse. Stooping deprecatingly his
+broad-spread shoulders, this Hercules kneels abjectly,
+and trembles at the feet of an old woman and a child!</p>
+
+<p>The old hag herself, wrapped in a red-checked shawl,
+her head covered with an old cap of black lace, which
+allowed some locks of her grizzled hair to escape, looked
+down with an air of haughty contempt and domineering
+pride on the Schoolmaster. The bony, scorched,
+shrivelled, and livid countenance of the parrot-nosed old
+harridan expressed a savage and insulting joy; her small
+but fierce eye glistened like a burning coal; a sinister
+expression curled her lips, shaded with long straight
+hairs, and revealed three or four large, yellow, and
+decayed fangs.</p>
+
+<p>Tortillard, clothed in a blouse with a leathern belt,
+standing on one leg, leaned on the Chouette's arm to
+keep himself upright. The bad expression and cunning
+look of this deformed imp, with a complexion as sallow
+as his hair, betokened at this moment his disposition&mdash;half
+fiend, half monkey. The shadow cast from the
+declivity of the ravine increased the horrid <i>tout ensemble</i>
+of the scene, which the increasing darkness half hid.</p>
+
+<p>"Promise me,&mdash;oh, promise me&mdash;at least, not to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+forsake me!" repeated the Schoolmaster, frightened by
+the silence of the Chouette and Tortillard, who were
+enjoying his dismay. "Are you not here?" added the
+murderer, leaning forward to listen, and advancing his
+arms mechanically.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my man, we are here; don't be frightened.
+Forsake you! leave my love! the man of my heart!
+No, I'd sooner be 'scragged'! Once for all, I will tell
+you why I will not forsake you. Listen, and profit. I
+have always liked to have some one in my grip&mdash;beast
+or Christian. Before I had Pegriotte (oh! that the
+'old one' would return her to my clutch! for I have
+still my idea of scaling off her beauty with my bottle of
+vitriol)&mdash;before Pegriotte's turn, I had a brat who
+froze to death under my care. For that little job, I got
+six years in the 'Stone Jug.' Then I used to have little
+birds, which I used to tame, and then pluck 'em alive.
+Ha! ha! but that was troublesome work, for they did
+not last long. When I left the 'Jug,' the Goualeuse came
+to hand; but the little brat ran away before I had had
+half my fun out of her carcass. Well, then I had a dog,
+who had his little troubles as well as she had; and I cut
+off one of his hind feet and one of his four feet; and you
+never saw such a rum beggar as I made of him; I
+almost burst my sides with laughing at him!"</p>
+
+<p>"I must serve a dog I know of, who bit me one
+day, in the same way," said the promising Master
+Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"When I fell in again with you, my darling," continued
+the Chouette, "I was trying what I could do that
+was miserable with a cat. Well, now, at this moment,
+you, old boy, shall be my cat, my dog, my bird, my
+Pegriotte; you shall be anything to worry (<i>bête de souffrance</i>).
+Do you understand, my love? Instead of
+having a bird or a child to make miserable, I shall have,
+as it were, a wolf or a tiger. I think that's rather a
+bright idea; isn't it?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Hag! devil!" cried the Schoolmaster, rising in a
+desperate rage.</p>
+
+<p>"What, my pet angry with his darling old deary?
+Well, if it must be so, it must. Have your own way;
+you have a right to it. Good night, blind sheep!"</p>
+
+<p>"The field-gate is wide open, so walk alone, Mister
+No-eyes; and, if you toddle straight, you'll reach the
+right road somehow," said Tortillard, laughing heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that I could die! die! die!" said the Schoolmaster,
+writhing and twisting his arms about in agony.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment, Tortillard, stooping to the ground,
+exclaimed, in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I hear footsteps in the path; let us hide; it is not
+the young miss, for they come the same way as she did."</p>
+
+<p>On the instant, a stout peasant girl in the prime of
+youth, followed by a large shepherd's dog, carrying on
+her head an open basket, appeared, and followed the
+same path which the priest and the Goualeuse had taken.
+We will rejoin the two latter, leaving the three accomplices
+concealed in the hollow of the path.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE RECTORY-HOUSE.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The last rays of the sun were gradually disappearing
+behind the vast pile of the Château d'Ecouen
+and the woods which surrounded it. On all sides, until the
+sight lost them in the distance, were vast tracts of land
+lying in brown furrows hardened by the frost&mdash;an
+extensive desert, of which the hamlet of Bouqueval
+appeared to be the oasis. The sky, which was serenely
+glorious, was tinted by the sunset, and glowed with long
+lines of empurpled light, the certain token of wind and
+cold. These tints, which were at first of a deep red,
+became violet; then a bluish black, as the twilight grew
+more and more dark on the atmosphere. The crescent
+of the moon was as delicately and clearly defined as a
+silver ring, and began to shine beautifully in the midst
+of the blue and dimmed sky, where many stars already
+had appeared. The silence was profound; the hour
+most solemn. The curate stopped for a moment on the
+summit of the acclivity to enjoy the calm of this delicious
+evening. After some minutes' reflection, he extended his
+trembling hand towards the depths of the horizon, half
+veiled by the shadows of the evening, and said to Fleur-de-Marie,
+who was walking pensively beside him:</p>
+
+<p>"Look, my child, at the vastness and extent to which
+we have no visible limit; we hear not the slightest
+sound. Say, does not this silence give us an idea of
+infinity and of eternity? I say this to you, Marie,
+because you are peculiarly sensitive of the beauties of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+creation. I have often been struck at the admiration,
+alike poetical and religious, with which they inspire you,&mdash;you,
+a poor prisoner so long deprived of them. Are
+you not, as I am, struck with the solemn tranquillity of
+the hour?"</p>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse made no reply. The curé, regarding
+her with astonishment, found she was weeping.</p>
+
+<p>"What ails you, my child?"</p>
+
+<p>"My father, I am unhappy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Unhappy!&mdash;you?&mdash;still unhappy!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know it is ingratitude to complain of my lot after
+all that has been and is done for me; and yet&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And yet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I pray of you forgive my sorrows; their
+expression may offend my benefactors."</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Marie. We have often asked you the cause
+of these sorrows with which you are depressed, and
+which excite in your second mother the most serious
+uneasiness. You have avoided all reply, and we have
+respected your secret whilst we have been afflicted at
+not being able to solace your sorrows."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas; good father, I dare not tell you what is passing
+in my mind. I have been moved, as you have been,
+at the sight of this calm and saddening evening. My
+heart is sorely afflicted, and I have wept."</p>
+
+<p>"But what ails you, Marie? You know how we love
+you! Come, tell me all. You should; for I must tell
+you that the time is very close at hand when Madame
+Georges and M. Rodolph will present you at the baptismal
+font, and take upon themselves the engagement
+before God to protect you all the days of your life."</p>
+
+<p>"M. Rodolph&mdash;he who has saved me?" cried Fleur-de-Marie,
+clasping her hands; "he will deign to give
+me this new proof of affection! Oh, indeed, my father,
+I can no longer conceal from you anything, lest I
+should, indeed, deserve to be called and thought an
+ingrate."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"An ingrate! How?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you may understand me, I must begin and tell
+you of my first day at the farm."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us talk as we walk on."</p>
+
+<p>"You will be indulgent to me, my father? What I
+shall say may perhaps be wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"The Lord has shown his mercy unto you. Be of
+good heart."</p>
+
+<p>"When," said Fleur-de-Marie, after a moment's reflection,
+"I knew that, on arriving here, I should not again
+leave the farm and Madame Georges, I believed it was
+all a dream. At first I felt giddy with my happiness, and
+thought every moment of M. Rodolph. Very often
+when I was alone, and in spite of myself, I raised my
+eyes to heaven, as if to seek him there and thank him.
+Afterwards&mdash;and I was wrong, father&mdash;I thought more
+of him than God, attributing to him what God alone
+could do. I was happy&mdash;as happy as a creature who
+had suddenly and entirely escaped from a great danger.
+You and Madame Georges were so kind to me, that I
+thought I deserved pity rather than blame."</p>
+
+<p>The curé looked at the Goualeuse with an air of
+surprise. She continued:</p>
+
+<p>"Gradually I became used to my sweet course of life.
+I no longer felt fear when I awoke, of finding myself at
+the ogress's. I seemed to sleep in full security, and all
+my delight was to assist Madame Georges in her work,
+and to apply myself to the lesson you gave me, my
+father, as well as to profit by your advice and exhortation.
+Except some moments of shame, when I reflected
+on the past, I thought myself equal to all the world, because
+all the world was so kind to me. When, one
+day&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Here sobs cut short poor Fleur-de-Marie's narration.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, my poor child, calm yourself. Courage,
+courage!"</p>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse wiped her eyes, and resumed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You recollect, father, during the fêtes of the Toussaints,
+that Madame Dubreuil, who superintends the
+Duke de Lucenay's farm at Arnouville, came, with her
+daughter, to pass some time with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do; and I was delighted to see you form an
+acquaintance with Clara Dubreuil, who is a very excellent
+girl."</p>
+
+<p>"She is an angel&mdash;an angel, father. When I knew
+that she was coming to stay for some days at the farm,
+my delight was so great that I could think of nothing
+else but the moment when she should arrive. At length
+she came. I was in my room, which she was to share
+with me; and, whilst I was putting it into nice order I
+was sent for. I went into the saloon, my heart beating
+excessively, when Madame Georges, presenting me to
+the pretty young lady, whose looks were so kind and
+good, said, 'Marie, here is a friend for you.' 'I hope,'
+added Madame Dubreuil, 'that you and my daughter
+will soon be like two sisters;' and hardly had her
+mother uttered these words, than Mademoiselle Clara
+came and embraced me. Then, father," continued Fleur-de-Marie,
+weeping, "I do not know what came over me;
+but, when I felt the fresh and fair face of Clara pressed
+against my cheek of shame, that cheek became scorching
+with guilt&mdash;remorse. I remembered who and what I
+was;&mdash;I&mdash;I&mdash;to receive the caresses of a good and
+virtuous girl!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, my child?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, interrupting
+the curé with painful emotion, "when M. Rodolph took
+me away from the Cité, I began vaguely to be conscious
+of the depth of my degradation. But do you think that
+education, advice, the examples I receive from Madame
+Georges and yourself, have not, whilst they have enlightened
+my mind, made me, alas! to comprehend but too
+clearly that I have been more culpable than unfortunate?
+Before Clara's arrival, when these thoughts grew upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+me, I drove them away by seeking to please Madame
+Georges and you, father. If I blushed for the past it
+was only in my own presence. But the sight of this
+young lady of my own age, so charming, so virtuous, has
+conjured up the recollection of the distance that exists
+between us; and, for the first time, I have felt that
+there are wrongs which nothing can efface. From that
+time the thought has haunted me perpetually, and, in
+spite of myself, I recur to it. From that day I have not
+had one moment's repose." The Goualeuse again wiped
+her eyes, that swam in tears.</p>
+
+<p>After having looked at her for some moments with a
+gaze of the tenderest pity, the curé replied:</p>
+
+<p>"Reflect, my child, that if Madame Georges desired
+to see you the friend of Mademoiselle Dubreuil, it was
+that she felt you were worthy of such a confidence
+from your good conduct. Your reproaches, addressed
+to yourself, seem almost to impugn your second mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel that, father, and was wrong, no doubt; but I
+could not subdue my shame and fear. When Clara was
+once settled at the farm, I was as sad as I had before
+thought I should be happy, when I reflected on the
+pleasure of having a companion of my own age. She, on
+the contrary, was all joy and lightness. She had a bed
+in my apartment; and the first evening before she went
+to bed she kissed me, saying that she loved me already,
+and felt every kind sentiment towards me. She made
+me to call her Clara, and she would call me Marie. Then
+she said her prayers, telling me that she would join my
+name with hers in her prayers, if I would also unite her
+name with mine. I did not dare to refuse; and, after
+talking for some time, she went to sleep. I had not got
+into my bed, and, approaching her bedside, I contemplated
+her angel face with tears in my eyes; and then, reflecting
+that she was sleeping in the same chamber with me&mdash;with
+one who had been at the ogress's, mixed up with
+robbers and murderers, I trembled as if I had committed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
+some crime, and a thousand nameless fears beset me. I
+thought that God would one day punish me. I went to
+sleep and had horrid dreams. I saw again those frightful
+objects I had nearly forgotten&mdash;the Chourineur, the
+Schoolmaster, the Chouette&mdash;that horrible, one-eyed
+woman who had tortured my earliest infancy. Oh, what
+a night! <i>Mon Dieu!</i>&mdash;what a night! What dreams!"
+said the Goualeuse, shuddering at their very recollection.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Marie!" said the curé with emotion. "Why
+did you not earlier tell me all this? I should have found
+comfort for you. But go on."</p>
+
+<p>"I slept so late, that Mademoiselle Clara awoke me by
+kissing me. To overcome what she called my coldness,
+and show her regard, she told me a secret&mdash;that she
+was going to be married when she was eighteen to the
+son of a farmer at Goussainville, whom she loved very
+dearly, and the union had long been agreed upon by the
+two families. Then she added a few words of her past
+life, so simple, calm, and happy! She had never quitted
+her mother, and never intended to do so, for her husband
+was to take part in the management of the farm with M.
+Dubreuil. 'Now, Marie,' she said, 'you know me as well
+as if you were my sister. So tell me all about your early
+days.'</p>
+
+<p>"I thought when I heard the words that I should
+have died of them; I blushed and stammered; I did
+not know what Madame Georges had said of me, and I
+was fearful of telling a falsehood; I answered vaguely,
+that I had been an orphan, educated by a very rigid
+person; and that I had not been happy in my infancy;
+and that my happiness was dated from the moment
+when I had come to live with Madame Georges; then
+Clara, as much by interest as curiosity, asked me where
+I had been educated, in the city or the country, my
+father's name, and, above all, if I remembered anything
+of my mother. All these questions embarrassed as much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+as they pained me, for I was obliged to reply with falsehood,
+and you have taught me, father, how wicked it is
+to lie; but Clara did not think that I was deceiving her;
+she attributed the hesitation of my answers to the pain
+which my early sorrows renewed; she believed me and
+pitied me with a sincerity that cut me to the soul. Oh,
+father, you never can know what I suffered in this conversation,
+and how much it cost me only to reply in
+language of falsehood and hypocrisy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunate girl! The anger of heaven will weigh
+heavily on those who, by casting you into the vile road
+of perdition, have compelled you to undergo all your life
+the sad consequences of a first fault."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they were indeed cruel, father," replied
+Fleur-de-Marie, bitterly, "for my shame is ineffaceable.
+As Clara talked to me of the happiness that awaited her,&mdash;her
+marriage, her peaceful joys of home, I could not
+help comparing my lot with hers; for, in spite of the
+kindness showered upon me, my fate must always be
+miserable. You and Madame Georges, in teaching me
+what virtue is, have taught me the depth of that abasement
+into which I had fallen; nothing can take from me
+the brand of having been the refuse of all that is vilest
+in the world. Alas! if the knowledge of good and evil
+was to be so sad to me, why not have abandoned me to
+my unhappy fate?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Marie, Marie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I speak ill, do I not? Alas! I dare not
+confess it; but I am at times so ungrateful as to repine
+at the benefits heaped upon me, and to say to myself,
+'If I had not been snatched from infamy, why, wretchedness,
+misery, blows, would soon have ended my life; and,
+at least, I should have remained in ignorance of that
+purity which I must for ever regret.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! Marie, that is indeed fatal! A nature ever
+so nobly endowed by the Creator, though plunged but
+for one day in the foul mire from which you have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+been extricated, will preserve for ever the ineffaceable
+stigma."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, full of
+grief, "I must despair until I die!"</p>
+
+<p>"You must despair of ever tearing out this frightful
+page from the book of your existence," said the priest,
+in a sad and serious voice; "but you must have faith in
+the infinite mercy of the Almighty. Here, on earth, my
+poor child, there are for you tears, remorse, expiation;
+but, one day, there,&mdash;up there," and he raised his hand
+to the sky, now filling with stars, "there is pardon and
+everlasting happiness."</p>
+
+<p>"Pity, pity, <i>mon Dieu!</i> I am so young, and my life
+may still endure so long," said the Goualeuse, in a voice
+rent by agony, and falling at the curé's knees almost
+involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>The priest was standing at the top of the hill, not far
+from where his "modest mansion rose;" his black cassock,
+his venerable countenance, shaded by long white
+locks, lighted by the last ray of twilight, stood out from
+the horizon, which was of a deep transparency,&mdash;a perfect
+clearness: pale gold in the west, sapphire over his
+head. The priest again elevated towards heaven one of
+his tremulous hands, and gave the other to Fleur-de-Marie,
+who bedewed it with her tears. The hood of
+her gray cloak fell at this moment from her shoulders,
+displaying the perfect outline of her lovely profile,&mdash;her
+charming features full of suffering, and suffused
+with tears.</p>
+
+<p>This simple and sublime scene offered a strange contrast,&mdash;a
+singular coincidence with the horrid one which,
+almost at the same moment, was passing in the ravine
+between the Schoolmaster and the Chouette. Concealed
+in the darkness of the sombre cleft, assailed by base
+fears, a fearful murderer, carrying on his person the
+punishment of his crimes, was also on his knees, but
+in the presence of an accessory, a sneering, revengeful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+Fury, who tormented him mercilessly, and urged him on
+to fresh crimes,&mdash;that accomplice, the first cause of
+Fleur-de-Marie's misery.</p>
+
+<p>Of Fleur-de-Marie, whose days and nights were embittered
+by never-dying remorse; whose anguish, hardly
+endurable, was not conceivable; surrounded from her
+earliest days by degraded, cruel, infamous outcasts of
+society; leaving the walls of a prison for the den of the
+ogress,&mdash;even a more horrid prison; never leaving the
+precincts of her gaol, or the squalid streets of the Cité;
+this unhappy young creature had hitherto lived in utter
+ignorance of the beautiful and the good, as strange to
+noble and religious sentiments as to the magnificent
+splendour of nature. Then all that was admirable in
+the creature and in the Creator was revealed in a moment
+to her astonished soul. At this striking spectacle her
+mind expanded, her intelligence unfolded itself, her noble
+instincts were awakened; and because her mind expanded,
+because her intelligence was unfolded, because
+her noble instincts were awakened, yet the very consciousness
+of her early degradation brings with it the
+feeling of horror for her past life, alike torturing and
+enduring,&mdash;she feels, as she had described, that, alas!
+there are stains which nothing can remove.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, unhappiness for me!" said the Goualeuse, in
+despair; "my whole life has long to run, it may be;
+were it as long, as pure as your own, father, it must
+henceforth be blighted by the knowledge and consciousness
+of the past; unhappiness for me for ever!"</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary, Marie, it is happiness for you,&mdash;yes,
+happiness for you. Your remorse, so full of bitterness,
+but so purifying, testifies the religious susceptibility
+of your mind. How many there are who, less nobly
+sensitive than you, would, in your place, have soon forgotten
+the fact, and only revelled in the delight of the
+present. Believe me, every pang that you now endure
+will tell in your favour when on high. God has left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+you for a moment in an unrighteous path, to reserve for
+you the glory of repentance and the everlasting reward
+reserved for expiation. Has he not said himself, 'Those
+who fight the good fight and come to me with a smile
+on their lips, they are my chosen; but they who, wounded
+in the struggle, come to me fainting and dying, they are
+the chosen amongst my chosen!' Courage, then, my
+child! Support, help, counsel,&mdash;nothing will fail you.
+I am very aged, but Madame Georges and M. Rodolph
+have still many years before them; particularly M.
+Rodolph, who has taken so deep an interest in you,
+who watches your progress with so much anxiety."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 325px;"><a name="image97" id="image97"></a>
+<img src="images/i003.jpg" width="325" height="500" alt="&quot;&#39;So I Have Brought Turk with Me&#39;&quot;
+Original Etching by Adrian Marcel" title="&quot;&#39;So I Have Brought Turk with Me&#39;&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;<i>So I Have Brought Turk with Me</i>&#39;&quot;<br />
+<span class="artist">Original Etching by Adrian Marcel</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse was about to reply, when she was
+interrupted by the peasant girl whom we have already
+mentioned, who, having followed in the steps of the curé
+and Marie, now came up to them. She was one of the
+peasants of the farm.</p>
+
+<p>"Beg your pardon, M. le Curé," she said to the priest,
+"but Madame Georges told me to bring this basket of
+fruit to the rectory, and then I could accompany Mlle.
+Marie back again, for it is getting late. So I have
+brought Turk with me," added the dairy-maid, patting
+an enormous dog of the Pyrenees, which would have
+mastered a bear in a struggle. "Although we never
+have any bad people about us here in the country, it is
+as well to be careful."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite right, Claudine. Here we are now
+at the rectory. Pray thank Madame Georges for
+me."</p>
+
+<p>Then addressing the Goualeuse in a low tone, the curé
+said to her, in a grave voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I must go to-morrow to the conference of the diocese,
+but I shall return at five o'clock. If you like, my child,
+I will wait for you at the rectory. I see your state of
+mind, and that you require a lengthened conversation
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you, father," replied Fleur-de-Marie. "To-morrow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+I will come, since you are so good as to allow
+me to do so."</p>
+
+<p>"Here we are at the garden gate," said the priest.
+"Leave your basket there, Claudine; my housekeeper
+will take it. Return quickly to the farm with Marie,
+for it is almost night, and the cold is increasing.
+To-morrow, Marie, at five o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow, father."</p>
+
+<p>The abbé went into his garden. The Goualeuse and
+Claudine, followed by Turk, took the road to the farm.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE RENCOUNTER.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The night set in clear and cold. Following the advice
+of the Schoolmaster, the Chouette had gone to that part
+of the hollow way which was the most remote from the
+path, and nearest to the cross-road where Barbillon was
+waiting with the hackney-coach. Tortillard, who was
+posted as an advanced guard, watched for the return of
+Fleur-de-Marie, whom he was desirous of drawing into
+the trap by begging her to come to the assistance of a
+poor old woman. The son of Bras Rouge had advanced
+a few steps out of the ravine to try and discern Marie,
+when he heard the Goualeuse some way off speaking to
+the peasant girl who accompanied her. The plan had
+failed; and Tortillard quickly went down into the ravine
+to run and inform the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"There is somebody with the young girl," said he, in
+a low and breathless tone.</p>
+
+<p>"May the hangman squeeze her weasand, the little
+beggar," exclaimed the Chouette in a rage.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's with her?" asked the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no doubt, the country wench who passed along
+the road just now, followed by a large dog. I heard a
+woman's voice," said Tortillard. "Hark!&mdash;do you
+hear? There's the noise of their sabots," and, in the
+silence of the night, the wooden soles sounded clearly on
+the ground hardened by the frost.</p>
+
+<p>"There are two of 'em. I can manage the young 'un
+in the gray mantle, but what can we do with t'other?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+<i>Fourline</i> can't see, and Tortillard is too weak to do for
+the companion&mdash;devil choke her! What can be done?"
+asked the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not strong, but, if you like, I'll cling to the
+legs of the country-woman with the dog. I'll hold on
+by hands and teeth, and not let her go, I can tell you.
+You can take away the little one in the meantime, you
+know, Chouette."</p>
+
+<p>"If they cry or resist, they will hear them at the
+farm," replied the Chouette, "and come to their assistance
+before we can reach Barbillon's coach. It is no
+easy thing to carry off a woman who resists."</p>
+
+<p>"And they have a large dog with them," said Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"Bah! bah! If it was only that, I could break the
+brute's skull with a blow of my shoe-heel," said the
+Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"Here they are," replied Tortillard, who was listening
+still to the echo of their footsteps. "They are coming
+down the hollow now."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you speak, <i>fourline?</i>" said the Chouette
+to the Schoolmaster. "What is best to be done, long-headed
+as you are, eh? Are you grown dumb?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's nothing to be done to-day," replied the
+miscreant.</p>
+
+<p>"And the thousand 'bob' of the man in mourning,"
+said the Chouette; "they are gone, then? I'd sooner&mdash;Your
+knife&mdash;your knife, <i>fourline!</i> I will stick the
+companion, that she may be no trouble to us; and, as to
+the young miss, Tortillard and I can make off with her."</p>
+
+<p>"But the man in mourning does not desire that we
+should kill any one."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, we must put the cold meat down as an
+extra in his bill. He must pay, for he will be an accomplice
+with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Here they come&mdash;down the hill," said Tortillard,
+softly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Your knife, lad!" said the Chouette, in a similar
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Chouette," cried Tortillard, in alarm, and extending
+his hands to the hag, "that is too bad&mdash;to kill.
+No!&mdash;oh, no!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your knife, I tell you!" repeated the Chouette, in
+an undertone, without paying the least attention to Tortillard's
+supplication, and putting her shoes off hastily.
+"I have taken off my shoes," she added, "that I may
+steal on them quietly from behind. It is almost dark;
+but I can easily make out the little one by her cloak, and
+I will do for the other."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the felon; "to-day it is useless. There
+will be plenty of time to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"What! you're afraid, old patterer, are you?" said
+the Chouette, with fierce contempt.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," replied the Schoolmaster. "But you
+may fail in your blow and spoil all."</p>
+
+<p>The dog which accompanied the country-woman, scenting
+the persons hidden in the hollow road, stopped short,
+and barked furiously, refusing to come to Fleur-de-Marie,
+who called him frequently.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear their dog? Here they are! Your
+knife!&mdash;or, if not&mdash;" cried the Chouette, with a threatening
+air.</p>
+
+<p>"Come and take it from me, then&mdash;by force," said
+the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all over&mdash;it's too late," added the Chouette,
+after listening for a moment attentively; "they have
+gone by. You shall pay for that, gallows-bird," added
+she, furiously, shaking her fist at her accomplice. "A
+thousand francs lost by your stupidity!"</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand&mdash;two thousand&mdash;perhaps three thousand
+gained," replied the Schoolmaster, in a tone of authority.
+"Listen, Chouette! Do you go back to Barbillon,
+and let him drive you to the place where you were to
+meet the man in mourning. Tell him that it was impossible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+to do anything to-day, but that to-morrow she
+shall be carried off. The young girl goes every evening
+to walk home with the priest, and it was only a chance
+which to-day led her to meet with any one. To-morrow
+we shall have a more secure opportunity. So to-morrow
+do you return and be with Barbillon at the cross-road in
+his coach at the same hour."</p>
+
+<p>"But thou&mdash;thou?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tortillard shall lead me to the farm where the young
+girl lives. I will cook up some tale&mdash;say we have lost
+our road, and ask leave to pass the night at the farm in
+a corner of the stable. No one could refuse us that.
+Tortillard will examine all the doors, windows, and ins
+and outs of the house. There is always money to be
+looked for amongst these farming people. You say the
+farm is situated in a lone spot; and, when once we know
+all the ways and outlets, we need only return with some
+safe friends, and the thing is done as easy&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Always 'downy!' What a head-piece!" said the
+Chouette, softening. "Go on, <i>fourline</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow morning, instead of leaving the farm, I
+will complain of a pain which prevents me from walking.
+If they will not believe me, I'll show them the wound
+which I have always had since I smashed the 'loop of
+my darbies,' and which is always painful to me. I'll say
+it is a burn I had from a red-hot bar when I was a workman,
+and they'll believe me. I'll remain at the farm
+part of the day, whilst Tortillard looks about him.
+When the evening comes on, and the little wench goes
+out as usual with the priest, I'll say I'm better, and fit to
+go away. Tortillard and I will follow the young wench
+at a distance, and await your coming to us here. As she
+will know us already, she will have no mistrust when she
+sees us. We will speak to her, Tortillard and I; and,
+when once within reach of my arms, I will answer for
+the rest. She's caught safe enough, and the thousand
+francs are ours. That is not all. In two or three days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+we can 'give the office' of the farm to Barbillon and some
+others, and share with them if they get any 'swag,' as
+it will be me who put them on the 'lay.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well done, No-Eyes! No one can come up to you,"
+said the Chouette, embracing the Schoolmaster. "Your
+plan is capital! Tell you what, <i>fourline</i>, when you are
+done up and old, you must turn consulting 'prig'; you
+will earn as much money as a 'big-wig.' Come, kiss
+your old woman, and be off as quick as you may, for
+these joskins go to sleep with their poultry. I shall go
+to Barbillon; and to-morrow, at four o'clock, we will be
+at the cross-road with the 'trap,' unless he is nabbed for
+having assisted Gros-Boiteux and the Skeleton to 'do
+for' the milk-woman's husband in the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie.
+But if he can't come, another can, for the
+pretended hackney-coach belongs to the man in mourning
+who has used it before. A quarter of an hour after
+we get to the cross-road, I will be here and wait for
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"All right! Good-by till to-morrow, Chouette."</p>
+
+<p>"I had nearly forgot to give the wax to Tortillard, if
+there is any lock to get the print of at the farm. Here,
+chickabiddy, do you know how to use it?" said the one-eyed
+wretch to Tortillard, as she gave him a piece of
+wax.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, my father showed me how to use it. I
+took for him the print of the lock of the little iron chest
+which my master, the quack doctor, keeps in his small
+closet."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that's all right; and, that the wax may not
+stick, do not forget to moisten the wax after you have
+warmed it well in your hand."</p>
+
+<p>"I know all about it," replied Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow, them, <i>fourline</i>," said the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow," replied the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>The Chouette went towards the coach. The Schoolmaster
+and Tortillard quitted the hollow way, and bent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+their steps towards the farm, the lights which shone from
+the windows serving to guide them on their way.</p>
+
+<p>Strange fatality, which again brought Anselm Duresnel
+under the same roof with his wife, who had not seen
+him since his condemnation to hard labour for life!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<h5>AN EVENING AT THE FARM.</h5>
+
+
+<p>Perhaps a more gratifying sight does not exist than
+the interior of a large farm-kitchen prepared for the
+evening meal, especially during the winter season. Its
+bright wood fire, the long table covered with the savoury,
+smoking dishes, the huge tankards of foaming beer or
+cider, with the happy countenances scattered round,
+speak of peaceful labour and healthful industry. The
+farm-kitchen of Bouqueval was a fine exemplification of
+this remark. Its immense open chimney, about six feet
+high and eight feet wide, resembled the yawning mouth
+of some huge oven. On the hearth blazed and sparkled
+enormous logs of beech or oak; and from this prodigious
+brazier there issued forth such a body of light, as well
+as heat, that the large lamp suspended from the centre
+beam sunk into insignificance, and was rendered nearly
+useless. Every variety of culinary utensils, sparkling in
+all the brightness of the most elaborate cleanliness, and
+composed invariably of copper, brass, and tin, glowed in
+the bright radiance of the winter fire, as they stood
+ranged with the utmost nicety and effect on their appropriate
+shelves. An old-fashioned cistern of elaborately
+polished copper showed its bright face, polished as a
+mirror; and close beside stood a highly polished bread-trough
+and cover, composed of walnut-tree wood, rubbed
+by the hand of housewifery till you could see your face
+in it and from which issued a most tempting smell of
+hot bread. A long and substantial table occupied the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+centre of the kitchen; a tablecloth, which, though coarse
+in texture, vied with the falling snow for whiteness, covered
+its entire length; while for each expected guest was
+placed an earthenware plate, brown without, but white
+within, and by its side a knife, fork, and spoon, lustrous
+as silver itself. In the midst of the table, an immense
+tureen of vegetable soup smoked like the crater of a
+volcano, and diffused its savoury vapours over a dish of
+ham and greens, flanked by a most formidable array
+of mutton, most relishly stewed with onions and potatoes.
+Below was placed a large joint of roast veal, followed by
+two great plates of winter salad, supported by a couple
+of baskets of apples; and a similar number of cheeses
+completed the arrangements of the table. Three or four
+stone pitchers filled with sparkling cider, and a like
+quantity of loaves of brown bread, equal in size to the
+stones of a windmill, were placed at the discretionary
+use of the supping party.</p>
+
+<p>An old, shaggy, black shepherd dog, almost toothless,
+the superannuated patriarch of all the canine tribe
+employed on the farm, was, by reason of his great age
+and long services, indulged with permission to enjoy the
+cheering warmth of the chimney-corner; but, using his
+privilege with the utmost modesty and discretion, this
+venerable servitor, who answered to the pastoral name
+of Lysander, lay quietly stretched out in a secure side-nook,
+his nose resting on his paws, watching with the
+deepest attention the various culinary preparations which
+preceded the supper.</p>
+
+<p>The bill of fare thus presented to the reader, as the
+ordinary mode of living at the farm of Bouqueval, may
+strike some of our readers as unnecessarily sumptuous;
+but Madame Georges, faithfully following out the wishes
+of Rodolph, endeavoured by all possible means to improve
+the comforts of the labourers on the farm, who
+were always selected as being the most worthy and
+industrious individuals of their district. They were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+well paid, liberally treated, and so kindly used that
+to be engaged on the Bouqueval farm was the highest
+ambition of all the best labourers in that part of the
+country&mdash;an ambition which most essentially promoted
+the welfare and advantage of the masters they then
+served; for no applicant for employment at Bouqueval
+could obtain a favourable hearing, unless he came provided
+with most satisfactory testimonials from his last
+employer.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, though on a very small scale, had Rodolph
+created a species of model farm, which had for its aim
+not only the improvement of animals and agricultural
+operations, but, above all, improving the nature of man
+himself; and this he effected by making it worth their
+while to be active, honest, and intelligent.</p>
+
+<p>After having completed all the preparations for supper,
+and placed on the table a jug of wine to accompany the
+dessert, the farm-cook sounded the welcome tocsin, which
+told all that the cheering meal was prepared, and, their
+evening toil concluded, they might freely enjoy the
+delights of wholesome and temperate refreshment. Ere
+the sound had ceased to vibrate on the ear, a merry,
+joyous throng, composed of men and maidens to the
+number of twelve or fifteen, crowded around the table;
+the men had open, manly countenances, the women
+looked healthy and good-humoured, while the young
+girls belonging to the party wore the brightest glow of
+youth and innocence. Every face was lighted up with
+frank gaiety, content, and the satisfaction arising from
+the consciousness of having well fulfilled one's duty.
+Thus happily prepared in mind and body to do justice
+to the excellent fare set before them, the happy party
+took their appointed places at table.</p>
+
+<p>The upper end was occupied by an old, white-haired
+labourer, whose fine, bold, yet sensible expression of
+face, bespoke him a descendant of the ancient Gaulish
+mothers of the soil.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Father Châtelain (for so was this Nestor called) had
+worked on the farm from his early childhood. When
+Rodolph purchased the farm, the old servant had been
+strongly recommended to him, and he was forthwith
+raised to the rank of overlooker, and, under the orders
+of Madame Georges, general superintendent of all outdoor
+work; and unbounded, indeed, was the influence
+possessed by Father Châtelain by virtue of his age,
+his knowledge, and experience.</p>
+
+<p>Every one having taken their seat, Father Châtelain,
+having fervently invoked a blessing, then, in pursuance
+of an ancient and pious custom, marked one of the
+loaves with the figure of a cross, and cut off a large
+slice as the share of the Virgin or the poor, then,
+pouring out a glass of wine with a similar consecration
+to charitable purposes, he reverently placed both bread
+and wine on a plate placed in the centre of the table
+purposely to receive them. At this moment the yard
+dogs barked furiously; old Lysander replied by a low
+growl, and, curling back his upper lip, displayed two
+or three still formidable fangs.</p>
+
+<p>"Some person is passing near the wall of the courtyard,"
+observed Father Châtelain.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had the words been uttered, than the bell of
+the great gate sounded.</p>
+
+<p>"Who can this possibly be at so late an hour?" said
+the old labourer; "every one belonging to the place is
+in. Go and see who it is, Jean René."</p>
+
+<p>The individual thus addressed was a stout, able-bodied
+young labourer on the farm, who was then
+busily employed blowing his scalding hot soup, with a
+force of lungs that Æolus himself might have envied;
+but, used to prompt obedience, in a moment the half-raised
+spoon was deposited in its place, and, half stifling
+a sigh of regret, he departed on his errand.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the first time our good Madame Georges
+and Mlle. Marie have failed paying a visit to the warm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+chimney-corner, and looking on whilst we took our
+supper, for this long time," said Father Châtelain.
+"I am hungry as a hunter, but I shall not relish my
+supper half so well."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame Georges is in the chamber of Mlle. Marie,
+who found herself somewhat indisposed on her return
+from escorting M. le Curé to the rectory," replied
+Claudine, the girl who had conducted La Goualeuse back
+from the rectory, and thus unconsciously frustrated the
+evil designs of the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust Mlle. Marie is only indisposed, not seriously
+ill, is she, Claudine?" inquired the old man, with almost
+paternal anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear, no, Father Châtelain! God forbid! I hope
+and believe our dear mademoiselle is only just a little
+struck with the cold of the night, and her walk perhaps
+fatigued her. I trust she will be quite well by to-morrow;
+indeed Madame Georges told me as much, and
+said that, if she had had any fears, she should have sent
+to Paris for M. David, the negro doctor, who took such
+care of mademoiselle when she was so ill. Well, I
+cannot make out how any one can endure a black doctor!
+For my part I should not have the slightest confidence in
+anything he said or did. No, no! if one must have a
+doctor, let it be a Christian man with a white skin; but
+a downright blackamoor! O saints above! why, the
+very sight of him by my bedside would kill me!"</p>
+
+<p>"But did not this Monsieur David cure Mlle. Marie
+from the long illness with which she suffered when she
+first came here?" inquired the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Father Châtelain, he certainly did."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! but for all that, Father Châtelain, a doctor with
+a black face is enough to terrify any one&mdash;I should
+scream myself into fits if he were to come rolling up the
+great whites of his eyes at me."</p>
+
+<p>"But is not this M. David the same person who cured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+Dame Anica of that dreadful wound in her leg, which
+had confined her to her bed for upwards of three years?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, exactly so, Father Châtelain; he certainly did
+set old Dame Anica up again."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, my child?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, but only think!&mdash;a black man! and when one
+is ill, too! when one can so ill bear up against such
+horrid things. If he were only a little dark, or even
+deep brown, but quite, quite a black&mdash;all black&mdash;oh,
+Father Châtelain, I really cannot bring myself to think
+of it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, my child, what colour is your favourite
+heifer Musette?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, white&mdash;white as a swan, Father Châtelain; and
+such a milcher! I can say that for the poor thing without
+the least falsehood, a better cow we have not got on
+the farm."</p>
+
+<p>"And your other favourite, Rosette?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rosette? Oh, she is as black as a raven, not one
+white hair about her I should say; and, indeed, to do her
+justice, she is a first-rate milcher also. I hardly know
+which is the best, she or my pretty Musette."</p>
+
+<p>"And what coloured milk does she give?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, white, of course, Father Châtelain; I really
+thought you knew that."</p>
+
+<p>"Is her milk as white and as good as the milk of your
+snowy pet, Musette?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every bit as good in colour and quality."</p>
+
+<p>"Although Rosette is a black cow?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure! why, Father Châtelain, what difference
+can it possibly make to the milk whether the cow that
+gives it is black, white, red, or brown?"</p>
+
+<p>"How, then, my good girl, can it in any way signify
+whether a doctor has a black or white skin, or what his
+complexion may be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," answered Claudine, fairly hunted into a corner
+from which no argument could rescue her,&mdash;"well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+as regards what makes a black doctor not so good as a
+white one, it is&mdash;it is, because a black skin is so very
+ugly to look at, and a white one is so much more agreeable
+to one's eyes; I'm sure I can't think of any other
+reason, Father Châtelain, if I try for ever; but with
+cows the colour of the skin makes not the very least
+difference, of that you may be assured; but, then, you
+know there's a deal of difference between a cow and a
+man."</p>
+
+<p>These not very clear physiognomical reflections of
+Claudine, touching the effect of light or dark skins in
+the human and animal race, were interrupted by the
+return of Jean René, blowing his fingers with animation
+as he had before blown his soup.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how cold! how cold it is this night!" exclaimed
+he, on entering; "it is enough to freeze one to death; it
+is a pretty deal more snug and comfortable in-doors than
+out this bitter night. Oh, how cold it is!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'The frost that cometh from North and East</span><br />
+<span class="i0h">Biteth the most and ceaseth the least.'</span><br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Don't you know that, my lad?" said the old superintendent
+Châtelain. "But who was it that rang so late?"</p>
+
+<p>"A poor blind man and a boy who leads him about,
+Father Châtelain."</p>
+
+<p>"And what does this poor blind man want?" inquired
+Châtelain.</p>
+
+<p>"The poor man and his son were going by the cross-road
+to Louvres, and have lost themselves in the snow;
+and as the cold is enough to turn a man into an icicle,
+and the night is pitch dark, the poor blind father has
+come to entreat permission for himself and lad to pass
+the night on the farm; he says he shall be for ever
+thankful for leave to lie on a little straw under a hovel,
+or in any out-building."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as for that, I am quite sure that Madame
+Georges, who never refuses charity to any unfortunate
+being, will willingly permit them to do so; but
+we must first acquaint her with it; go, Claudine, and
+tell her the whole story." Claudine disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>"And where is this poor man waiting?" asked Father
+Châtelain.</p>
+
+<p>"In the little barn just by."</p>
+
+<p>"But why in the barn? why put him there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bless you, if I had left him in the yard, the dogs
+would have eaten him up alive! Why, Father Châtelain,
+it was no use for me to call out 'Quiet, Médor!
+come here, Turk! down, Sultan!' I never saw dogs in
+such a fury. And, besides, we don't use our dogs on the
+farm to fly at poor folks, as they are trained to do at
+other places."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my lads, it seems that the 'share for the poor'
+has not been laid aside in vain to-night. But try and sit
+a little closer; there, that'll do; now put two more
+plates and knives and forks for this blind traveller and
+his boy, for I feel quite certain what Madame Georges's
+answer will be, and that she will desire them to be
+housed here for the night."</p>
+
+<p>"It is really a thing I can't make out," said Jean
+René, "about the dogs being so very violent, especially
+Turk, who went with Claudine this evening to the rectory.
+Why, when I stroked him, to try and pacify him,
+I felt his coat standing up on end like so many bristles
+of a porcupine. Now, what do you say to that, eh,
+Father Châtelain&mdash;you who know almost everything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, my lad, I, 'who know everything,' say just this,
+that the beasts know far more than I do, and can see
+farther. I remember, in the autumn, when the heavy
+rains had so swollen the little river, I was returning
+with my team-horses one dark night&mdash;I was riding
+upon Cuckoo, the old roan horse, and deuce take me
+if I could make out any spot it would be safe to wade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+through, for the night was as dark as the mouth of a
+pit. Well, I threw the bridle on old Cuckoo's back, and
+he soon found what, I'll answer for it, none of us could
+have discovered. Now, who taught the dumb brute to
+know the safe from the unsafe parts of the stream, let
+me ask you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, Father Châtelain, that's what I was waiting to
+ask you. Who taught the old roan to discover danger
+and escape from it so cleverly?"</p>
+
+<p>"The same Almighty wisdom which instructs the
+swallow to build in our chimneys, and guides the marten
+to make his nest among the reeds of our banks, my lad.
+Well, Claudine," said the ancient oracle of the kitchen
+to the blooming dairymaid, who just then entered, bearing
+on her arms two pairs of snowy white sheets, from
+which an odoriferous smell of sage and thyme was wafted
+along,&mdash;"well, I make no doubt but Madame Georges
+has sent permission for these poor creatures, the blind
+man and his child, to sleep here, has she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"These sheets are to prepare beds for them, in the
+little room at the end of the passage," said Claudine.</p>
+
+<p>"Go and bid them come in, then, Jean René; and you,
+Claudine, my good girl, put a couple of chairs near the
+fire&mdash;they will be glad of a good warm before sitting
+down to table."</p>
+
+<p>The furious barking of the dogs was now renewed,
+mingled with the voice of Jean René, who was endeavoring
+to pacify them; the door of the kitchen was abruptly
+opened, and the Schoolmaster and Tortillard entered with
+as much precipitation as though they feared a pursuit
+from some dangerous foe.</p>
+
+<p>"For the love of heaven, keep off your dogs!" cried
+the Schoolmaster, in the utmost terror; "they have been
+trying to bite us!"</p>
+
+<p>"They have torn a great bit out of my blouse,"
+whined Tortillard, shivering with cold and pale with
+fear.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Don't be frightened, good man," said Jean René,
+shutting the door securely; "but I never before saw
+our dogs in such a perfect fury&mdash;it must be the cold
+makes them so spiteful; perhaps, being half frozen, they
+fancied biting you would serve to warm them&mdash;there
+is no knowing what mere animals may mean by what
+they do."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, are you going to begin, too?" exclaimed the
+old farmer, as Lysander, who had hitherto lain perfectly
+happy in the radiance of the glowing fire, started up,
+and, growling fiercely, was about to fly at the strangers.
+"This old dog is quiet enough, but, having heard the
+other dogs make such a furious noise, he thinks he must
+do the same. Will you lie down and be quiet, you old
+brute? Do you hear, sir? lie down!"</p>
+
+<p>At these words from Father Châtelain, accompanied
+by a significant motion of the foot, Lysander, with a
+low, deep growl of dissatisfaction, slowly returned to his
+favourite corner by the hearth, while the Schoolmaster
+and Tortillard remained trembling by the kitchen-door,
+as though fearful of approaching farther. The features
+of the ruffian were so hideous, from the frightful effects
+produced by the cold, that some of the servants in the
+kitchen shuddered with alarm, while others recoiled in
+disgust; this impression was not lost on Tortillard, who
+felt reassured by the terrors of the villagers, and even
+felt proud of the repulsiveness of his companion. This
+first confusion over, Father Châtelain, thinking only of
+worthily discharging the duties of hospitality, said to the
+Schoolmaster:</p>
+
+<p>"Come, my good friend&mdash;come near the fire and
+warm yourself thoroughly, and then you shall have some
+supper with us; for you happened to come very fortunately,
+just as we were sitting down to table. Here, sit
+down, just where I have placed your chair. But what
+am I thinking about?" added the worthy old labourer.
+"I ought to have spoken to your son, not you, seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+that it has pleased God to take away your eyesight&mdash;a
+heavy loss, a heavy loss; but let us hope all for your
+good, my friend, though you may not now think so.
+Here, my boy, lead your father to that snug place in the
+chimney-corner."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, kind sir," drawled out Tortillard, with a nasal
+twang and canting, hypocritical tone; "may God bless
+you for your charity to the poor blind! Here, father,
+take my arm; lean on my shoulder, father; take care,
+take care, gently;" and, with affected zeal and tenderness,
+the urchin guided the steps of the brigand till they
+reached the indicated spot. As the pair approached
+Lysander, he uttered a low, growling noise; but as the
+Schoolmaster brushed past him, and the sagacious animal
+had full scent of his garments, he broke out into one
+of those deep howls with which, it is asserted by the superstitious,
+dogs frequently announce an approaching death.</p>
+
+<p>"What, in the devil's name, do all these cursed animals
+mean by their confounded noise?" said the Schoolmaster
+to himself. "Can they smell the blood on my
+clothes, I wonder? for I now recollect I wore the
+trousers I have on at present the night the cattle-dealer
+was murdered."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you notice that?" inquired Jean René of Father
+Châtelain. "Why, I vow that, as often as old Lysander
+had caught scent of the wandering stranger, he actually
+set up a regular death-howl."</p>
+
+<p>And this remark was followed up by a most singular
+confirmation of the fact; the cries of Lysander were so
+loud and mournful that the other dogs caught the sound
+(for the farmyard was only separated from the kitchen
+by a glazed window in the latter), and, according to the
+custom of the canine race, they each strove who should
+outdo the other in repeating and prolonging the funereal
+wail, which, according to vulgar belief, always foretells
+death. Though but little given to superstitious dread,
+the farm-people looked from one to another with a feeling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+of wonder not unmixed with awe. Even the Schoolmaster
+himself, diabolically hardened as he was, felt a
+cold shudder steal over him at the thought that all these
+fatal sounds burst forth upon the approach of him&mdash;the
+self-convicted murderer! while Tortillard, too audacious
+and hardened to enter into such alarms, with all the
+infidelity in which he had been trained, even from his
+mother's arms, looked on with delighted mockery at the
+universal panic, and was, perhaps, the only person present
+devoid of an uneasy feeling; but, once freed from
+his apprehensions of suffering from the violence of the
+animals, he listened even with pleasure to the horrible
+discord of their long-drawn-out wailings, and felt almost
+tempted to pardon them the fright they had originally
+occasioned him, in consideration of the perfect terror
+they had struck into the inhabitants of the farm, and for
+the gratification he derived from the convulsive horror
+of the Schoolmaster. But after the momentary stupor
+had passed away Jean René again quitted the kitchen,
+and the loud cracking of his whip soon put an end to
+the prophetic howlings of Médor, Turk, and Sultan, and
+quickly dispersed them to their separate kennels, and as
+the noise ceased, the gloomy cloud passed away from
+the kitchen, and the peasants looked up with the same
+honest cheerfulness they had worn upon the entrance of
+the two travellers. Ere long they had left off wondering
+at the repulsive ugliness of the Schoolmaster, and
+only thought with pity of his great affliction, in being
+blind; they commiserated the lameness of the poor boy,
+admired the interesting sharpness of his countenance,
+the deep, cute glance of his ever-moving eye, and, above
+all, loaded him with praises for the extreme care and
+watchfulness with which he attended to his afflicted
+parent. The appetite of the labourers, which had been
+momentarily forgotten, now returned with redoubled
+violence, and for a time nothing could be heard but the
+clattering of plates and rattling of knives and forks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+Still, however busily employed with their suppers, the
+servants assembled round the table, both male and
+female, could not but remark, with infinite pleasure, the
+tender assiduity of the lad towards the blind creature
+who sat beside him. Nothing could exceed the devoted
+affection and filial care with which Tortillard prepared
+his meat for him, cutting both that and his bread with
+most accurate nicety, pouring out his drink, and never
+attempting even to taste a morsel himself, till his father
+expressed himself as having completed his supper. But,
+for all this dutiful attention, the young ruffian took
+ample and bitter revenge. Instigated as much by an
+innate spirit of cruelty as the desire of imitation natural
+to his age, Tortillard found an equal enjoyment with
+the Chouette in having something to torment (<i>a bête de
+souffrance</i>); and it was a matter of inexpressible exultation
+to his wretched mind that he, a poor, distorted,
+crippled, abject creature, should have it in his power
+to tyrannise over so powerful and ferocious a creature as
+the Schoolmaster,&mdash;it was like torturing a muzzled
+tiger. He even refined his gratification, by compelling
+his victim to endure all the agonies he inflicted, without
+wincing or exhibiting the slightest external sign of his
+suffering. Thus he accompanied each outward mark of
+devoted tenderness towards his supposed parent, by aiming
+a severe kick against the Schoolmaster's legs, on one
+of which there was (in common with many who had
+long worked in the galleys) a deep and severe wound, the
+effect of the heavy iron chain worn during the term of
+punishment around the right leg; and, by way of compelling
+the miserable sufferer to exercise a greater
+degree of stoical courage, the urchin always seized the
+moment when the object of his malice was either drinking
+or speaking.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, dear father! here is a nice peeled nut," said
+Tortillard, placing on the plate of his supposed parent a
+nut carefully prepared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Good boy," said old Châtelain, smiling kindly at
+him. Then, addressing the bandit, he added: "However
+great may be your affliction, my friend, so good a son is
+almost sufficient to make up even for the loss of sight;
+but Providence is so gracious, he never takes away one
+blessing without sending another."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite right, kind sir! My lot is a very
+hard one, and, but for the noble conduct of my excellent
+child, I&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A sharp cry of irrepressible anguish here broke from
+the quivering lips of the tortured man; the son of Bras
+Rouge had this time aimed his blow so effectually, that
+the point of his heavy-nailed shoe had reached the very
+centre of the wound, and produced unendurable agony.</p>
+
+<p>"Father! dear father! what is the matter?" exclaimed
+Tortillard, in a whimpering voice; then, suddenly
+rising, he threw both his arms round the Schoolmaster's
+neck, whose first impulse of rage and pain was to stifle
+the limping varlet in his Herculean grasp; and so powerfully
+did he compress the boy's chest against his own,
+that his impeded respiration vented itself in a low moaning
+sound. A few minutes, and Tortillard's last prank
+would have been played; but, reflecting that the lad
+was for the present indispensable to the furtherance of
+the schemes he had on hand, the Schoolmaster, by a
+violent effort, controlled his desire to annihilate his tormentor,
+and contented himself with pushing him off his
+shoulders back into his own chair. The sympathising
+group around the table were far from seeing through all
+this, and merely considered these close embraces as an
+interchange of paternal and filial tenderness, while the
+half suffocation and deadly pallor of Tortillard they
+attributed to emotion caused by the sudden illness of his
+beloved father.</p>
+
+<p>"What ailed you just now, my good man?" inquired
+Father Châtelain; "only see, you have quite frightened
+your poor boy. Why, he looks pale as death, and can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+scarcely breathe. Come, my little man; you must not
+take on so&mdash;your father is all right again."</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, gentlemen all," replied the
+Schoolmaster, controlling himself with much difficulty,
+for the pain he was still enduring was most excruciating.
+"I am better now. I'll tell you, with your kind leaves,
+all about it. You see I am by trade a working locksmith,
+and, one day that I was employed in beating out
+a huge bar of red hot iron, it fell over on my two legs,
+and burnt them so dreadfully that it has never healed;
+unfortunately, just now, I happened to strike the leg
+that is worst against the table, and the sudden agony it
+occasioned me drew forth the sudden cry which so much
+disturbed all this good company, and for which I humbly
+beg pardon."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor dear father!" whined out Tortillard, casting a
+look of fiendish malice at the shivering Schoolmaster, and
+wholly recovered from his late attack of excessive emotion.
+"Poor father! you have indeed got a bad leg
+nobody can cure. Ah, kind gentlemen, I hope you will
+never have such a shocking wound, and be obliged to
+hear all the doctors say it never will get well. No!
+never&mdash;never. Oh, my dear, dear father! how I wish
+I could but suffer the pain instead of you!"</p>
+
+<p>At this tender, moving speech, the females present
+expressed the utmost admiration for the dutiful speaker,
+and began feeling in their vast pockets for some more
+substantial mark of their regard.</p>
+
+<p>"It is unlucky, my honest friend," said old Châtelain,
+addressing the Schoolmaster, "you had not happened to
+come to this farm about three weeks ago, instead of
+to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"And why so, if you please?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because we had staying for a few days in the house
+a celebrated Paris doctor, who has an infallible remedy
+for all diseases of the legs. A worthy old woman, belonging
+to our village, had been confined to her bed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+upwards of three years with some affection of the legs.
+Well, this doctor, being here, as I said, heard of the
+case, applied an unguent to the wounds, and now,
+bless you, she is as surefooted, ay, and as swift, too, as
+any of our young girls; and the first holiday she makes
+she intends walking to the house of her benefactor, in
+the Allée des Veuves, at Paris, to return her grateful
+thanks. To be sure it is a good step from hence, but
+then, as Mother Anica says&mdash;Why, what has come over
+you again, my friend? Is your leg still so painful?"</p>
+
+<p>The mention of the Allée des Veuves had recalled
+such frightful recollections to the Schoolmaster, that,
+involuntarily, a cold shudder shook his frame, while a
+fearful spasm, by contracting his ghastly countenance,
+made it appear still more hideous.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied he, trying to conceal his emotion, "a
+sudden darting pain seized me, and&mdash;Pray excuse my
+interrupting your kind and sensible discourse, and be
+pleased to proceed."</p>
+
+<p>"It really is a great pity," resumed the old labourer,
+"that this excellent doctor should not be with us at
+present; but I tell you what, he is as good as he is
+skilful, and I am quite sure if you let your little lad
+conduct you to his house when you return to Paris,
+that he will cure you. His address is not difficult to
+recollect, it is 17 Allée des Veuves. Even should you
+forget the number, it will not matter, for there are but
+very few doctors in the neighbourhood, and no other
+negro surgeon,&mdash;for, only imagine, this clever, kind,
+and charitable man is a black, but his heart is white and
+good. His name is David,&mdash;Doctor David,&mdash;you will
+be able to remember that name, I dare say."</p>
+
+<p>The features of the Schoolmaster were so seamed and
+scarred that it was difficult to perceive when his colour
+varied. He did, however, on the present occasion, turn
+ghastly pale as he first heard the exact number mentioned
+of Rodolph's house, and afterwards the description<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+of the black doctor,&mdash;of David, the negro surgeon,
+who, by Rodolph's orders, had inflicted on him the fearful
+punishment, the terrible results of which were each
+hour more painfully developed. Father Châtelain, however,
+was too much interested in his subject to notice
+the deadly paleness of the Schoolmaster, and proceeded
+with his discourse:</p>
+
+<p>"When you leave us, my poor fellow, we will be sure
+to write his address on a slip of paper and give it to your
+son, for I know that, besides putting you in a certain way
+to be cured of your painful wound, it would be gratifying
+to M. David to be able to relieve your sufferings. Oh, he
+is so good,&mdash;never so happy as when he has rendered
+any person a service. I wish he had not always that
+mournful and dejected look. I fear he has some heavy
+care near his heart; and he is so good, so full of pity
+for all who suffer. Well, well, Providence will bless
+him in another world; but come, friend, let us drink to
+the health and happiness of your future benefactor,&mdash;here
+take this mug."</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you!" returned the Schoolmaster, with a
+gloomy air; "none for me. I&mdash;I am not thirsty, and
+I never drink unless I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, friend, but this is good old wine I have poured
+out for you; not cider," said the labourer. "Many
+tradespeople do not drink as good. Bless your heart,
+this farm is not conducted as other farms are,&mdash;what
+do you think of our style of living, by the by? have you
+relished your supper?"</p>
+
+<p>"All very good," responded the Schoolmaster mechanically,
+more and more absorbed in the painfulness
+of his ideas.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, as we live one day, so we do another.
+We work well, we live well, we have a good conscience,
+and an equally good bed to rest upon after the labours of
+the day. Our lives roll on in peace and contentment.
+There are seven labourers constantly employed on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+farm, who are paid almost double wages to what others
+get; but then I can venture to assert, that if we are paid
+double, we do as much work among us as fourteen ordinary
+labourers would do. The mere husbandry servants
+have one hundred and fifty crowns a year, the dairy-women
+and other females engaged about the place sixty
+crowns, and a tenth share of the produce of the farm is
+divided among us all. You may suppose we do not
+idle away much time, or fail to make hay while the
+sun shines, for Nature is a bountiful mother, and
+ever returns a hundredfold to those who assiduously
+seek her favour; the more we give her, the more she
+returns."</p>
+
+<p>"Your master cannot get very rich if he treats you
+and pays you thus liberally," said the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, our master is different to all others, and has a
+mode of repaying himself peculiarly his own."</p>
+
+<p>"From what you say," answered the blind man, hoping
+by engaging in conversation to escape from the
+gloominess of his own thoughts, "your master must be
+a very extraordinary person."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed he is, my good man, a most uncommon
+master to meet with. Now, as chance has brought you
+among us, and a strange though a lucky chance for you
+it has proved, lying out of the highroad as this village
+does, it is so very seldom any stranger ever finds it out.
+Well, I was going to say, here you are, and no fault to
+find with your quarters, is there? Now, in all human
+probability, when you turn your back upon the place
+you will never return to it, but you shall not depart
+without hearing from me a description of our master
+and all he has done for the farm, upon condition that
+you promise to repeat it again wherever you go, and to
+whomsoever you may meet with. You will see, I mean,
+I beg pardon, you will then be able to understand."</p>
+
+<p>"I listen to you," answered the Schoolmaster; "proceed."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And I can promise you you will not be throwing
+away your time by listening," replied the venerable
+Châtelain. "Now, one day our master thought all at
+once: 'Here am I, rich enough to eat two dinners a day
+if I liked, but I don't. Now, suppose I were to provide
+a meal for those who have none at all, and enable such
+as can hardly procure half a dinner to enjoy as much
+good food as they desired, would not that be better than
+over-indulging myself? So it shall be,' says he, and
+away he goes to work, and, first thing, he buys this farm,
+which was not much of a concern then, and scarcely
+kept a couple of ploughs at work; and, being born and
+bred on the place, I ought to know something about it.
+Next, master made considerable additions to the farm.
+I'll tell you all about that by and by. At the head of
+the farm he placed a most worthy and respectable female,
+who had known a great deal of trouble in her past life&mdash;master
+always chose out people for their goodness
+and their misfortunes&mdash;and, when he brought the person
+I am telling you of here, he said to her in my hearing,
+'I wish this place to be like the Temple of our
+great Maker, open to the deserving and the afflicted, but
+closed against the wicked and hardened reprobate.' So
+idle beggars are always turned from the gate; but those
+who are able and willing to work have always the opportunity
+set before them: the charity of labour, our master
+says, is no humiliation to him who receives it, but a favour
+and service conferred on the person whose labour is thus
+done; and the rich man who does not act upon this
+principle but ill employs his wealth. So said our master.
+But he did more than talk&mdash;he acted. There
+was formerly a road from here to Ecouen, which cut off
+a good mile of distance, but, Lord love you! it was one
+great rutty bog, impossible to get up or down it; it was
+the death of every horse, and certain destruction to
+every vehicle that attempted to pass through it. A little
+labour, and a trifling amount of money from each farmer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+in the adjoining country would soon have repaired the
+road; but they never could be brought to any unanimity
+on the subject, and, in proportion as one farmer would
+be anxious to contribute towards putting the road in
+order, the others would invariably decline sending either
+men or money to assist. So our master, perceiving all
+this, said, 'The road shall be repaired; but as those
+who can afford to contribute will not, and as it is more
+for convenience and accommodation to the rich than necessity
+for the poor, it shall first become useful to those
+who would work if they could get it to do, who have
+heart, and hands, and courage, but no employ. Well,
+this road shall be reserved as a constant occupation for
+persons of this description. Horsemen and carriages
+belonging to the rich and affluent, who care not how
+roads are repaired, so that they can travel at their ease,
+may go round by the farther side.' So, for example,
+whenever a strong, sturdy fellow presented himself at
+the farm, pleading hunger and want of work, I'd say to
+him, 'Here, my lad; here is a basin of warm nourishing
+soup&mdash;take it and welcome; then, if you wish for
+work, here is a pickaxe and spade; one of our people
+will show you the Ecouen road; make every day twelve
+feet of it good, by spreading and breaking the flints;
+and every evening, after your work is examined, you
+shall receive at the rate of forty sous for the quantity
+named; twenty sous for half as much; ten sous for
+a quarter; for less than that, nothing at all.' Then,
+towards evening, upon my return from labour, I used to
+go on the road, measure their work, and examine
+whether it was well done."</p>
+
+<p>"And only to think," interposed Jean René, in a fit
+of virtuous indignation, "only think, now, of there coming
+two heartless vagabonds, who drank their soup and
+walked off with the pickaxe and shovel. It is enough
+to sicken one of doing good or trying to benefit one's
+fellow creatures."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Quite right, Master René," exclaimed the other labourers;
+"so it is."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, lads," resumed Father Châtelain, "don't
+be too warm. Just see here. We might as well say it
+is useless to plant trees, or sow grain, because there are
+caterpillars, weevils, and other injurious insects that gnaw
+the leaves or devour the seeds put in the ground. No,
+no! we destroy the vermin. But God Almighty, who is
+no niggard, causes fresh buds to burst forth and new
+ears of corn to sprout; the damage is abundantly repaired,
+and no trace remains of the mischievous insects
+which have passed over our work. Am I not right, my
+friend?" said the old labourer, addressing the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt&mdash;no doubt," replied the latter, who had
+appeared for some time past lost in a train of serious
+meditation.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, as for women and children, there is plenty of
+occupation for them also, according to their age and
+strength," added Father Châtelain.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet, spite of all this," observed Claudine, joining in
+the conversation, "the road gets on but very slowly."</p>
+
+<p>"Which only goes to prove, my good girl, that in this
+part of the country there is happily no scarcity of employment
+for the honest and industrious labourer."</p>
+
+<p>"But now, as in the case of a poor, helpless, afflicted
+creature such as I am," said the Schoolmaster, hastily,
+"would not the worthy owner of the farm grant me a
+humble corner in it for charity's sake&mdash;a shelter and a
+morsel of bread for the little while I have to remain
+a burden to any one in this troublesome world? Oh,
+my worthy sir, could I but obtain such a boon I would
+pass the remainder of my days in praying for a blessing
+on my benefactor."</p>
+
+<p>And these words were really pronounced in entire
+sincerity of meaning; not that compunction for his
+many crimes touched the brigand's stony heart, but he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+contrasted the happy peacefulness of the lives of these
+labourers to his own wretched, stormy existence; and
+still further did he envy them when he reflected upon
+all that the Chouette might have in store for him; he
+shuddered as he reflected upon the future she would
+provide for him, and more than ever regretted, by having
+recalled his old accomplice, having for ever lost the
+means of dwelling with good and honest persons, such
+as those with whom the Chourineur had placed him.
+Father Châtelain surveyed the Schoolmaster with an air
+of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"My good man," said he, "I did not know you were
+so utterly destitute."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! yes, it is even so. I lost my sight by an
+accident while working at my trade. I am going to
+Louvres to endeavour to find a distant relation there,
+who, I hope, may be willing to assist me. But, you are
+aware, people are not always so open-hearted as they
+should be; they do not like distressed objects, such as
+myself, coming to claim kindred, and are frequently harsh
+and unkind," answered the Schoolmaster, sighing deeply.</p>
+
+<p>"But the most selfish heart would grieve at your
+distress," replied the old labourer. "The most hard-hearted
+relative would pity a man like you&mdash;a good
+and honest workman overtaken by a sudden calamity,
+and left without hope or help. Then the moving spectacle
+of this young and tender child, your only friend and
+guide, would wring pity from the very stones. But how
+is it that the master for whom you worked previously to
+your accident has done nothing for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is now dead," said the Schoolmaster, after a
+short hesitation; "and he was my only friend on
+earth."</p>
+
+<p>"But then there is the hospital for the blind."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not the right age to qualify me for admission."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor man! yours is, indeed, a hard case."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it likely that, in the event of my relation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+at Louvres refusing to assist me, your master, whom
+I already respect without knowing, would take pity on
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately, you see, the farm is not a hospital.
+Our general rule is to grant all infirm or afflicted travellers
+a temporary shelter of a night or a day in the house.
+Then some assistance is furnished, and they are put on
+their road with a prayer to kind Providence to take
+them under its charge."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think there is no hope of interesting your
+master in my unhappy fate?" asked the brigand, with a
+sigh of regret.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what is the general custom here, my good
+man; but so compassionate a person as our master might
+go any lengths to serve you."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really think so?" said the Schoolmaster.
+"Oh, if he would but permit me to remain here, I could
+live in any retired corner, and be happy and grateful
+for such a mere trifle of subsistence!"</p>
+
+<p>"As I said before, our master is capable of the most
+generous actions. But, were he to consent to your
+remaining at the farm, there would be no occasion for
+you to hide yourself; you would fare in every respect as
+you have seen us treated to-day. Some occupation
+would be found for your son suitable to his age and
+strength. He would not want for good instruction or
+wise counsels; our venerable minister would teach him
+with the other children of the village, and, in the words
+of Scripture, he would grow in goodness and in stature
+beneath the pious care of our excellent curé. But the
+best way for you to manage this will be to lay every
+particular of your case and petition before our 'Lady of
+Ready Help,' when she comes into the kitchen, as she
+is sure to do before you start on your journey to-morrow
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>"What name did you call your lady by?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I meant our mistress, who always goes by that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+appellation amongst us. If she interests herself for you,
+your suit will be granted; for, in matters of charity, our
+master never opposes her smallest wish."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then," exclaimed the Schoolmaster, in a joyous
+tone, already exulting in his hoped-for deliverance from
+the power of the Chouette, "I will thankfully follow
+your advice, and speak to her whenever I have the
+blessed opportunity!"</p>
+
+<p>This hope found no echo in the mind of Tortillard,
+who felt not the slightest disposition to avail himself of
+the offers of the old labourer, and grow up in goodness
+under the auspices of the venerable curé. The inclinations
+of Bras Rouge's son were anything but rural,
+neither did his turn of mind incline to the pastoral.
+Faithful to the code of morality professed by the
+Chouette, and promulgated by her, he would have been
+severely distressed to see the Schoolmaster emancipate
+himself from their united tyranny; and he now thought
+it high time to recall the brigand from the illusory
+visions of flowery meads and all the <i>et c&oelig;teras</i> of a
+country life, in which his fancy seemed revelling, to the
+realities of his present position.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, oh, yes," repeated the Schoolmaster; "I will
+assuredly address my prayers to your 'Lady of Ready
+Help.' She will pity me and kindly&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Tortillard here interrupted him by a vigorous and
+artfully managed kick, so well directed, that, as before,
+it took the direst effect on the most sensitive spot. The
+intense agony for a time quite bereft the brigand of
+speech or breath; but remembering the fatal consequences
+of giving way to the feelings which boiled
+within him, he struggled for self-command, and, after
+a pause of a few minutes, added, in a faint and suffering
+voice, "Yes, I venture to hope your good mistress would
+pity and befriend me."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear father," said Tortillard, in a hypocritical tone,
+"you forget my poor dear aunt, Madame la Chouette,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+who is so fond of you. Poor Aunty Chouette, she
+would never part with you so easily, I know. Directly
+she heard of your staying here, she would come along
+with M. Barbillon and fetch you away&mdash;that she would,
+I know."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame la Chouette and M. Barbillon. Why this
+honest man seems to have relations among all the 'birds
+of the air and fishes of the sea,'" uttered Jean René in
+a voice of mirthful irony, giving his neighbour rather a
+vigorous poke with his elbow. "Funny, isn't it,
+Claudine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you great unfeeling calf! How can you make a
+joke on these poor creatures?" replied the tender-hearted
+dairy-maid, returning Jean René's thrust with sufficient
+interest to compromise the safety of his ribs.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Madame la Chouette a relation of yours?" inquired
+the old labourer of the Schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, a distant one," answered the other, with a dull,
+dejected manner.</p>
+
+<p>"And is she the person you were going to Louvres to
+try and find?" asked Father Châtelain.</p>
+
+<p>"She is," replied the blind man; "but I think my son
+overrates her zeal on my account. However, under any
+circumstances, I shall speak to your excellent lady to-morrow,
+and entreat her aid to further my request with
+the kind, charitable owner of this farm, but," added he,
+purposely to divert the conversation into another channel,
+and so put an end to the imprudent remarks of
+Tortillard, "talking of farms, you promised to explain
+to me the difference that exists in the management of
+this farm and farms in general."</p>
+
+<p>"I did so," replied Father Châtelain, "and I will keep
+my word. Now, after having planned all I told you
+about the charity of labour, our master said to himself,
+'There are many institutions where plans are devised,
+and rewards assigned, for improvements in the breed of
+horses, cattle, sheep, and other animals for the best constructed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+ploughs, and other agricultural implements.
+And I cannot help thinking that all this time we are
+not going to the fountain-head, and beginning, as we
+ought to begin, by improving the condition of the labouring
+classes themselves, before we give all this heed to the
+beast which perisheth. Good beasts are capital things,
+but good men are better, and more difficult to meet with.
+Give your horses and cattle plenty of good food, clear
+running water; place them either out-of-doors in a fine,
+healthy atmosphere, or give them a clean, well-managed
+stable, with good and regular attendance, and they will
+thrive to your heart's content, and be capable of reaching
+any degree of excellence. But with men, look you, it is
+quite another thing. You cannot elevate a man's mind
+as you can fatten an ox. The animal fattens on his
+pasture because its taste gratifies his palate; he eats
+because he likes what he feeds on, and his body profits
+and thrives in proportion to the pleasure with which he
+has devoured his food. Well, then, my opinion is, that
+to make good advice really profitable to men, they should
+be enabled clearly to perceive their own personal advantage
+in following it.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Just as the ox is profited by eating the fine grass
+that grows around him, Father Châtelain?" said several
+voices.</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely the same."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Father Châtelain," exclaimed another voice.
+"I have heard talk of a sort of farm where young
+thieves, who might in other respects have conducted
+themselves very well, are taken in, taught all sorts of
+farming knowledge, and fed and treated like princes."</p>
+
+<p>"You have heard quite right, my good fellow, there
+is such an institution, and, as far as it goes, is founded
+on pure and just motives, and is calculated to do much
+good. We should never despair for the wicked, but we
+should also hope all things for the good. Suppose now
+a strong, healthy, and industrious young man, of excellent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+character, ready and willing to work, but desirous
+of receiving good instruction in his way of life, were to
+present himself at the place you are speaking of&mdash;this
+farm of reclaimed thieves&mdash;well, the first question
+would be, 'Well, my chap, are you a rogue and a vagabond?'
+'No!' 'Oh, then we can't receive you here&mdash;we've
+no room for honest lads.'"</p>
+
+<p>"What you say, father, is right, every word of it,"
+rejoined Jean René. "Rascals are provided for, while
+honest men want; and beasts are considered, and their
+condition continually improved, while men are passed
+over and left in ignorance and neglect."</p>
+
+<p>"It was purposely to remedy what you complain of,
+my brave lad, that our master took this farm (as I was
+mentioning to our blind visitor). 'I know very well,'
+said he, 'that honest men will be rewarded on high, but
+then, you see, it is far and long to look forward to, and
+there are many (and much to be pitied are they) who
+can neither look to such a distance, nor wait with
+patience the indefinite period which bids them live on
+hope alone. Then how are these poor, depressed, and
+toil-worn creatures to find leisure thus to seek religious
+comfort? Rising at the first dawn of day, they toil and
+labour with weary limbs, till night releases them and
+sends them to their wretched hovels. Sunday is spent
+by them at the public-house, drinking to drive away the
+recollections both of their past and future wretchedness.
+Neither can these poor beings turn their very hardships
+to a good account by extracting a useful moral from
+them. After a hard day's work does their bread seem
+less coarse and black, their pallet less hard, their infants
+less sickly and meagre, their wives less worn down by
+giving nourishment to the feeble babes of their breast?
+No, no, far from it. Alas, the thin, half-starved mother
+is but ill calculated to nourish another, when she is
+obliged to yield her slender share of the family meal to
+still the clamours of her famishing children. Yet all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+this might be endured, aye, even cheerfully, for use has
+familiarised them with hardships and privations; their
+bread is food, though coarse and homely, their straw bed
+rests their weary limbs, and their children, though
+stunted and sickly, live on. All these, I say, could be
+borne, did no comparison arise between their own poverty
+and the condition of others; but, when they visit the
+town or city on market-days, they see an abundance of
+good white loaves crowding the windows of the bakers'
+shops; warm, soft mattresses and blankets are displayed
+for sale to such as have the means of purchasing; children
+fresh and blooming as the flowers of May are playing
+joyously about, and even from the superabundance
+of their meals casting a portion to the dogs and other
+pet animals. Ah! human courage gives way at this
+reverse in the picture of human condition; and when
+the tired, care-worn men return to their mud hovels,
+their black bread and straw pallet, and are surrounded
+by a number of squalid, half-starved, wailing infants, to
+whom they would gladly have brought the share of cakes
+and buns thrown by the pampered children of great
+towns in the streets, or cast to the animals, then bitter
+discontent and repining take possession of their mind,
+and, utterly forgetting that on high is One who careth
+for all, they say, "Why is this difference allowed? and, if
+there must be both rich and poor in the world, why were
+not we born to riches? why should not every man have
+his turn in worldly prosperity? We are not justly used
+or fairly treated in being always poor and hard worked."
+Of course, all this is both sinful and unreasonable; neither
+does it in any manner serve to lighten their load; and
+yet they must go on, bending, staggering under the
+burden too heavy for them to bear, till they sink, utterly
+exhausted and worn out. They must toil, toil on, without
+hope, without relaxing their daily efforts, or without
+once daring to entertain the idea that, by a long continuance
+in honest, virtuous, industrious conduct, the day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+might come when, like the great Creator of all, they
+might rest from their labours, and behold peaceful ease
+succeeding the hard-griping hand of poverty. Think of
+a whole life passed thus, in one continued struggle for
+the bare means of life, without a glimmer of hope to
+cheer the thorny path. What must such a life be like?
+Why, it would resemble one long rainy day, without a
+single ray of brightness from the blessed sun to help us
+through it. Then labour is resumed with an unwilling
+and dissatisfied spirit. "What does it signify to us," cry
+the worn-out labourers, "whether the harvest yields ill or
+well? Whether the ears of corn be heavy or light makes
+no difference to us. Why should we overwork ourselves,
+or trouble our heads with matters that only concern
+our master? It is sufficient for us to act with strict
+honesty. We will not commit any crime, because there
+are laws ready to punish such as do; but neither will we
+try to perform acts of goodness, because for those the
+laws provide no recompense." Such a mode of arguing,
+my boys, is as unwise as it is wrong and sinful, but,
+depend upon it, it is true to nature. From this indifference
+comes idleness, and from idleness to crime the distance
+is very short. Now, unfortunately, among the
+class I have been describing, the far greater proportion
+consists of those whose conduct may be considered as
+neither good nor bad, that is to say, without any particular
+leaning either way, and, consequently, a mere trifle
+might firmly enlist them in the service of virtue or vice.
+These are the very individuals,' continued our master,
+'we ought to try and improve, just as we should have
+done had they been born to the honour of figuring as
+animals with hoofs, horns, or woolly coats. Let us continue
+to point out to them how completely it is to their
+interest to be active, industrious, steady, and well qualified
+to discharge their several duties; let us effectually
+convince them that, by becoming better men, they will
+also be much happier; let them see how closely their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+good behaviour and prosperity are interwoven, and, that
+good advice may sink the deeper into their hearts, give
+them, as it were, such a taste of earthly comfort as shall,
+in a slight degree, communicate to them the hope and
+notion of expecting the unspeakable reward prepared by
+the Great Giver of all, whose dwelling is on high.'</p>
+
+<p>"Having well arranged his plans, our master caused
+it to be made known in the environs that he wished to
+engage twelve farm servants, six men and six females;
+but that his choice would be entirely regulated by the
+most satisfactory certificates of good conduct obtained
+from the civil and religious authorities in their native
+place. They were to be paid like princes, fed upon the
+best food to their hearts' content; and further, a tenth
+part of the produce of the harvest was to be shared
+among the labourers. The engagement at the farm was
+to last but two years, at the end of which time they were
+to give place to other labourers, chosen upon the same
+terms; but, at the expiration of five years, the original
+labourers were taken on again, in the event of there
+being any vacancies; so that, since the establishment of
+this farm, it is usual for the labourers and working classes
+in the neighbourhood to say, 'Let us be active, honest, and
+industrious, so as to obtain a high character for such
+good qualities, and, perhaps, one day we may be fortunate
+to get engaged at Bouqueval Farm. There, for a
+couple of years, we shall lead a life of perfect happiness.
+We shall learn our business thoroughly; we shall save
+a little money, so that, when our time is up, every one
+will be glad to engage us, because they know that we
+must have had first-rate characters to have been admitted
+on the establishment at all.'"</p>
+
+<p>"I am already bespoke by M. Dubreuil for his farm at
+Arnouville," said Jean René.</p>
+
+<p>"And I am engaged to a first-rate service at Gonesse,"
+chimed in another labourer.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, my good friend, by this plan everybody is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+a gainer, the neighbouring farmers particularly. There
+are but twelve places for servants on the farm, but there
+are, perhaps, fifty candidates who have all earned their
+right to solicit an engagement by certificates and testimonials
+of excellent conduct. Well, though thirty-eight
+out of the fifty must be disappointed, yet the good which
+is in them will still remain; and there are so many
+good and deserving characters in the environs we can
+safely reckon upon; for, though they have failed in this
+application, they still live in hopes of succeeding another
+time. Why, for every prize animal to which the medal
+is assigned, whether for swiftness, strength, or beauty,
+there must be a hundred or more trained to stand
+forward and dispute the choice; and those animals rejected
+do not lose any of those qualifications because
+they were not accepted; far from it; their value is
+acknowledged, and they quickly find persons desirous
+of possessing them. Now, friend," said Father Châtelain,
+having fairly talked himself out of breath, "do you
+not confess that I was right when I said ours was no
+common farm, any more than our employer was no
+ordinary master?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed," said the Schoolmaster, "your account is
+most interesting, and fully bears out all you asserted.
+But, the more I hear of the exalted views and noble
+generosity of your master, the more earnestly do I pray
+he may be induced to look with pity on my wretched
+condition. To such a man, so filled with a desire to
+improve the condition of God's creatures, a charitable
+action more or less would make but little difference.
+Oh, tell me beforehand his name, and that of your kind
+Lady of the Ready Help, that I may already bless and
+thank them; for full certain am I, minds so bent upon
+good deeds will never turn a deaf ear to my petition."</p>
+
+<p>"Now I dare say you expect to be told the high-sounding
+titles of some great, grand personages. But,
+bless you! no such thing; no more parade about their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+names than those of the saints themselves. 'Our Lady
+of Help' is called Madame Georges, and our good master
+plain M. Rodolph."</p>
+
+<p>"Merciful powers! My wife! my judge! my executioner!"
+faintly exclaimed the robber, struck almost
+speechless at this unexpected revelation. "Rodolph!&mdash;Madame
+Georges!"</p>
+
+<p>It was wholly impossible for the Schoolmaster to
+entertain a doubt respecting the identity of the persons
+to whom those names belonged. Previously to adjudging
+him his fearful punishment, Rodolph had spoken of
+the lively interest he took in all that concerned Madame
+Georges. The recent visit of the negro David to this
+farm was another conclusive proof of there being no
+mistake in the matter. It seemed as though the very
+hand of Providence had brought about this singular
+rencontre, overthrowing as it so completely did his recently
+cherished hopes of emancipation from his present
+misery, through the intervention of the generosity of the
+proprietor of this farm. To fly was his first impulse.
+The very name of Rodolph inspired him with the most
+intense terror. Possibly he was even now in the house.
+Scarcely recovered from his first alarm, the brigand rose
+from the table, and, grasping the hand of Tortillard,
+exclaimed, in a wild and terrified manner:</p>
+
+<p>"Let us be gone!&mdash;quick!&mdash;lead me hence. Let us
+go, I say."</p>
+
+<p>The whole of the servants looked on with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Go!" said Father Châtelain, with much surprise.
+"Why? Wherefore should you go? What are you
+thinking about, my friend? Come, what fresh whim
+is this? Are you quite in your right senses?"</p>
+
+<p>Tortillard cleverly availed himself of this last suggestion,
+and, uttering a deep sigh, touched his forehead
+significantly with his forefinger, so as to convey to the
+minds of the wondering labourers the impression that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+his pretended parent was not quite right in his head.
+The signal elicited a corresponding gesture of pity and
+due comprehension.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, I say, come!" persisted the Schoolmaster,
+endeavouring to draw the boy along with him; but, fully
+determined not to quit such comfortable quarters to
+wander about in the fields all night during the frost and
+snow, Tortillard began in a whimpering voice to say:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear! oh, dear! poor father has got one of his
+old fits come on again. There, there, father, sit down
+and keep yourself quiet. Pray do, and don't think of
+wandering out in the cold&mdash;it would kill you, maybe.
+No, not if you are ever so angry with me, will I be so
+wicked as to lead you out in such weather." Then, addressing
+himself to the labourers, he said, "Will none
+of you good gentlemen help me to keep my poor dear
+father from risking his life by going out to-night?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, my boy," answered Father Châtelain;
+"make yourself perfectly easy. We will not allow your
+father to quit the place. He shall stay here to-night, in
+spite of himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely you will not keep me here against my will?"
+inquired the wretched Schoolmaster, in hurried accents;
+"and perhaps, too, I should offend your master by my
+presence&mdash;that Monsieur Rodolph. You told me the
+farm was not an hospital; once more, therefore, I ask
+you to let me go forth in peace on my way."</p>
+
+<p>"Offend our master!&mdash;that you would not, I am quite
+sure. But make yourself easy on that score. I am sorry
+to say that he does not live here, neither do we see him
+half as frequently as we could wish. But, if even he
+had been here, your presence would have made no sort
+of difference to him."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," persisted the blind man with continued
+alarm; "I have changed my mind about applying to
+him. My son is right. No doubt my relation at Louvres
+will take care of me. I will go there at once."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"All I have got to say," replied Father Châtelain,
+kindly conceiving that he was speaking to a man whose
+brain was unhappily affected, "is just this&mdash;that to attempt
+to proceed on your journey with this poor child
+to-night is wholly out of the question. Come, let me
+put matters to rights for you, and say no more about it."</p>
+
+<p>Although now being reassured of Rodolph's not being
+at Bouqueval, the terrors of the Schoolmaster were by no
+means dissipated; and, spite of his frightfully disfigured
+countenance, he was in momentary dread of being recognized
+by his wife, who might at any moment enter the
+kitchen, when he was perfectly persuaded she would instantly
+denounce and give him into custody; his firm
+impression having been, from the hour of receiving his
+horrible punishment from the hands of Rodolph, that it
+was done to satisfy the hatred and vengeance of Madame
+Georges. But, unable to quit the farm, the ruffian
+found himself wholly at the mercy of Tortillard. Resigning
+himself, therefore, to what was unavoidable, yet
+anxious to escape from the eyes of his wife, he said to
+the venerable labourer:</p>
+
+<p>"Since you kindly assure me my being here will in no
+way displease either your master or mistress, I will gladly
+accept your hospitality; but, as I am much fatigued, and
+must set out again at break of day, I would humbly ask
+permission to go at once to my bed."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, to-morrow morning by all means, and as
+soon as you like; we are very early people here. And,
+for fear even that you should again wander from the
+right road, some one shall conduct you part of the way."</p>
+
+<p>"If you have no objection," said Jean René, addressing
+Father Châtelain, "I will see the poor man a good
+step on the road; because Madame Georges said yesterday
+I was to take the chaise and go to the lawyer's at
+Villiers le Bel to fetch a large sum of money she requires
+of him."</p>
+
+<p>"Go with the poor blind traveller by all means," replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+Father Châtelain; "but you must walk, mind.
+Madame has changed her mind about sending to Villiers
+del Bel, and, wisely reflecting that it was not worth
+while to have so large a sum of money lying useless at
+the farm, has determined to let it remain with the lawyer
+till Monday next, which will be the day she requires it."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, Father Châtelain; mistress knows best.
+But please to tell me why she should consider it unsafe
+to have money at the farm. What is she afraid of?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of nothing, my lad. Thank God, there is no occasion
+for fear. But, for all that, I would much rather
+have five hundred sacks of corn on the premises than ten
+bags of crowns. Come," said old Châtelain, addressing
+himself to the brigand and Tortillard, "come, follow me,
+friend; and you too, my lad." Then, taking up a small
+lamp, he conducted his two guests to a chamber on the
+ground floor, first traversing a large passage into which
+several doors opened. Placing the light on a table, the
+old labourer said to the Schoolmaster, "Here is your
+lodging, and may God grant you a good and peaceful
+night's repose, my good friend. As for you, my little
+man, you are sure to sleep sound and well; it belongs to
+your happy age to do so."</p>
+
+<p>The Schoolmaster, pensive and meditative, sat down
+by the side of the bed to which Tortillard conducted
+him. At the instant when Father Châtelain was quitting
+the room, Tortillard made him a sign indicative of
+his desire to speak with him alone, and hastily rejoined
+him in the passage.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, my boy, you have to say to me?"
+inquired the old man, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my kind sir, I only wanted to say that my
+father is frequently seized during the night with most
+violent convulsion-fits, which require a much stronger
+person than I am to hold him; should I be obliged to
+call for help, is there any person near who could hear
+me?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Poor child!" said the labourer, sympathisingly;
+"make yourself easy. There,&mdash;do you see that door
+beside the staircase?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, good, kind gentleman; I see it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, one of the farm labourers sleeps in that room.
+You will only just have to run to him. He never locks
+his door; and he will come to your father in an
+instant."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir; God bless you! I will remember
+all your kindness when I say my prayers. But suppose,
+sir, the man and myself were not strong enough together
+to manage my poor father when these violent
+convulsions come on, could you, who look so good, and
+speak so kind&mdash;could you be kind enough to come and
+tell us what to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me, my boy? Oh, I sleep, as well as all the other
+men servants, out of the house, in a large outbuilding in
+the courtyard. But make yourself quite comfortable.
+Jean René could manage a mad bull, he is so powerful.
+Besides, if you really wished any further help he would
+go and call up our old cook; she sleeps on the first
+floor, even with our mistress and young mademoiselle,
+and I can promise you that our old woman is a most
+excellent sick-nurse should your father require any one
+to attend to him when the fit is over."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, kind gentleman, a thousand times.
+Good-night, sir. I will go now and pray of God to
+bless you for your kindness and pity to the poor
+blind."</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, my lad! Let us hope both you and
+your father will enjoy a sound night's rest, and have no
+occasion to require any person's help. You had better
+return to your room now; your poor father may be
+wanting you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will, sir. Good night, and thank you!"</p>
+
+<p>"God preserve you both, my child!" And the old
+man returned to the kitchen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he turned his back than the limping
+rascal made one of those supremely insulting and derisive
+gestures familiar to all the blackguards of Paris,
+consisting in slapping the nape of the neck repeatedly
+with the left hand, darting the right hand quite open
+continually out in a straight line. With the most consummate
+audacity, this dangerous child had just gleaned,
+under the mask of guileless tenderness and apprehension
+for his father, information most important for the
+furtherance of the schemes of the Chouette and Schoolmaster.
+He had ascertained during the last few minutes
+that the part of the building where he slept was only
+occupied by Madame Georges, Fleur-de-Marie, an old
+female servant, and one of the farm-labourers. Upon
+his return to the room he was to share with the blind
+man, Tortillard carefully avoided approaching him.
+The former, however, heard his step, and growled
+out:</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been, you vagabond?"</p>
+
+<p>"What! you want to know, do you, old blind 'un?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll make you pay for all you have made me
+suffer this evening, you wretched urchin!" exclaimed
+the Schoolmaster, rising furiously, and groping about in
+every direction after Tortillard, feeling by the walls as a
+guide. "I'll strangle you when I catch you, you young
+fiend&mdash;you infernal viper!"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor, dear father! How prettily he plays at blind-man's
+buff with his own little boy," said Tortillard,
+grinning, and enjoying the ease with which he escaped
+from the impotent attempts of the Schoolmaster to seize
+him, who, though impelled to the exertion by his overboiling
+rage, was soon compelled to cease, and, as had
+been the case before, to give up all hopes of inflicting
+the revenge he yearned to bestow on the impish son of
+Bras Rouge.</p>
+
+<p>Thus compelled to submit to the impudent persecution
+of his juvenile tormentor, and await the propitious hour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+when all his injuries could safely be avenged, the brigand
+determined to reserve his powerless wrath for a fitting
+opportunity of paying off old scores, and, worn out in
+body by his futile violence, threw himself, swearing and
+cursing, on the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear father!&mdash;sweet father!&mdash;have you got the
+toothache that you swear so? Ah, if Monsieur le Curé
+heard you, what would he say to you? He would give
+you such penance! Oh, my!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!&mdash;go on!" replied the ruffian, in a
+hollow and suppressed voice, after long enduring this
+entertaining vivacity on the part of the young gentleman.
+"Laugh at me!&mdash;mock me!&mdash;make sport of my
+calamity, cowardly scoundrel that you are! That is a
+fine, noble action, is it not? Just worthy of such a
+mean, ignoble, contemptible soul as dwells within that
+wretched, crooked body!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how fine we talk! How nice we preach about
+being generous, and all that, don't we?" cried Tortillard,
+bursting into peals of laughter. "I beg your pardon,
+dear father, but I can't possibly help thinking it so funny
+to hear you, whose fingers were regular fish-hooks, picking
+and stealing whatever came in their way; and, as
+for generosity, I beg you don't mention it, because, till
+you got your eyes poked out I don't suppose you ever
+thought of such a word!"</p>
+
+<p>"But, at least, I never did you any harm. Why, then,
+torment me thus?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because, in the first place, you said what I did not
+like to the Chouette; then you had a fancy for stopping
+and playing the fool among the clodhoppers here. Perhaps
+you mean to commence a course of asses' milk?"</p>
+
+<p>"You impudent young beggar! If I had only had the
+opportunity of remaining at this farm&mdash;which I now
+wish sunk in the bottomless pit, or blasted with eternal
+lightning&mdash;you should not have played your tricks of
+devilish cruelty with me any longer!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You to remain here! that would be a farce! Who,
+then, would Madame la Chouette have for her <i>bête de
+souffrance?</i> Me, perhaps, thank ye!&mdash;don't you wish
+you may get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Miserable abortion!"</p>
+
+<p>"Abortion! ah, yes, another reason why I say, as
+well as Aunt Chouette, there is nothing so funny as to
+see you in one of your unaccountable passions&mdash;you,
+who could kill me with one blow of your fist; it's more
+funny than if you were a poor, weak creature. How
+very funny you were at supper to-night! <i>Dieu de Dieu!</i>
+what a lark I had all to myself! Why, it was better
+than a play at the Gaîté. At every kick I gave you on
+the sly, your passion made all the blood fly in your face,
+and your white eyes became red all round; they only
+wanted a bit of blue in the middle to have been real tri-coloured.
+They would have made two fine cockades for
+the town-sergeant, wouldn't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, you like to laugh&mdash;you are merry:
+bah! it's natural at your age&mdash;it's natural&mdash;I'm not
+angry with you," said the Schoolmaster, in an air of
+affected carelessness, hoping to propitiate Tortillard;
+"but, instead of standing there, saying saucy things, it
+would be much better for you to remember what the
+Chouette told you; you say you are very fond of her.
+You should examine all over the place, and get the print
+of the locks. Didn't you hear them say they expected
+to have a large sum of money here on Monday? We will
+be amongst them then, and have our share. I should
+have been foolish to have stayed here; I should have
+had enough of these asses of country people at the end
+of a week, shouldn't I, boy?" asked the ruffian, to flatter
+Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"If you had stayed here I should have been very
+much annoyed, 'pon my word and honour," replied Bras
+Rouge's son, in a mocking tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, there's a good business to be done in this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+house; and, if there should be nothing to steal, yet I
+will return here with the Chouette, if only to have my
+revenge," said the miscreant, in a tone full of fury and
+malice, "for now I am sure it is my wife who excited
+that infernal Rodolph against me; he who, in blinding
+me, has put me at the mercy of all the world, of the
+Chouette, and a young blackguard like yourself. Well,
+if I cannot avenge myself on him, I will have vengeance
+against my wife,&mdash;yes, she shall pay me for all, even if
+I set fire to this accursed house and bury myself in its
+smouldering ruins. Yes, I will&mdash;I will have&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You will, you want to get hold of your wife, eh, old
+gentleman? She is within ten paces of you! that's vexing,
+ain't it? If I liked, I could lead you to the door of
+her room, that's what I could, for I know the room. I
+know it&mdash;I know it&mdash;I know it," added Tortillard,
+singing according to his custom.</p>
+
+<p>"You know her room?" said the Schoolmaster, in an
+agony of fervent joy; "you know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I see you coming," said Tortillard; "come, play the
+pretty, and get on your hind legs like a dog when they
+throw him a dainty bone. Now, old Cupid!"</p>
+
+<p>"You know my wife's chamber?" said the miscreant,
+turning to the side whence the sound of Tortillard's
+voice proceeded.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know it; and, what's still better, only one of
+the farm servants sleeps on the side of the house where
+we are. I know his door&mdash;the key is in it&mdash;click,
+one turn, and he's all safe and fast. Come, get up, old
+blind Cupid!"</p>
+
+<p>"Who told you all this?" asked the blind scoundrel,
+rising involuntarily.</p>
+
+<p>"Capital, Cupid! By the side of your wife's room
+sleeps an old cook&mdash;one more turn of the key, and
+click! we are masters of the house&mdash;masters of your
+wife, and the young girl with the gray mantle that you
+must catch hold of and carry off. Now, then, your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+paw, old Cupid; do the pretty to your master directly."</p>
+
+<p>"You lie! you lie! how could you know all this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I'm lame in my leg, but not in my head.
+Before we left the kitchen I said to the old guzzling
+labourer that sometimes in the night you had convulsions,
+and I asked him where I could get assistance if
+you were attacked. He said if you were attacked I
+might call up the man servant and the cook; and he
+showed me where they slept; one down, the other up
+stairs in the first floor, close to your wife&mdash;your wife&mdash;your
+wife!"</p>
+
+<p>And Tortillard repeated his monotonous song. After
+a lengthened silence the Schoolmaster said to him, in a
+calm voice, but with an air of desperate determination:</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, boy. I have stayed long enough. Lately&mdash;yes,
+yes, I confess it&mdash;I had a hope which now makes
+my lot appear still more frightful; the prison, the <i>bagne</i>,
+the guillotine, are nothing&mdash;nothing to what I have
+endured since this morning; and I shall have the same
+to endure always. Lead me to my wife's room; I have
+my knife here; I will kill her. I shall be killed afterwards;
+but what of that? My hatred swells till it
+chokes me; I shall have revenge, and that will console
+me. What I now suffer is too much&mdash;too much! for
+me, too, before whom everybody trembled. Now, lad,
+if you knew what I endure, even you would pity me.
+Even now my brain appears ready to burst; my pulse
+beats as if my veins would burst; my head whirls&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"A cold in your 'knowledge-box,' old chap&mdash;that's it;
+sneeze&mdash;that'll cure you," said Tortillard, with a loud
+grin; "what say you to a pinch of snuff, old brick?"</p>
+
+<p>And striking loudly on the back of his left hand,
+which was clenched, as if he were tapping on the lid of
+a snuff-box, he sang:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"J'ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatière;</span><br />
+<span class="i0h">J'ai du bon tabac, tu n'en auras pas."</span><br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu!</i> they will drive me
+mad!" cried the brigand, becoming really almost
+demented by a sort of nervous excitement arising
+from bloodthirsty revenge and implacable hatred, which
+in vain sought to satiate itself. The exuberant strength
+of this monster could only be equalled by the impossibility
+of satisfying his deadly desires. Let us imagine a
+hungry, furious, maddened wolf, teased during a whole
+day by a child through the bars of his den, and scenting
+within two paces of him a victim who would at once
+satisfy his hunger and his rage. At the last taunt of
+Tortillard the brigand almost lost his senses; unable to
+reach his victim, he desired in his frenzy to shed his
+own blood, for his blood was stifling him. One moment
+he resolved to kill himself, and, had he had a loaded
+pistol in his hand, he would not have hesitated; he
+fumbled in his pocket, and drew out a clasp-knife,
+opened it, and raised it to strike; but, quick as were his
+movements, reflection, fear, and vital instinct were still
+more rapid,&mdash;the murderer lacked courage,&mdash;his arm
+fell on his knees. Tortillard had watched all his actions
+with an attentive eye, and, when he saw the finale of
+this pseudo-tragedy, he continued, mockingly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"How, boys, a duel? Ah, pluck the chickens!"</p>
+
+<p>The Schoolmaster, fearing that he should lose his
+senses if he gave way to an ineffectual burst of fury,
+turned a deaf ear to this fresh insult of Tortillard,
+who so impertinently commented on the cowardice of
+an assassin who recoiled from suicide. Despairing
+of escape from what he termed, by a sort of avenging
+fatality, the cruelty of his cursed child, the ruffian
+sought to try what could be done by assailing the
+avarice of the son of Bras Rouge.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said he to him, in a tone almost supplicatory,
+"lead me to the door of my wife's room, and take anything
+you like that's in her room and run away with it!
+leave me to myself. You may cry out 'murder' if you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+like; they will apprehend me&mdash;kill me on the spot&mdash;I
+care not, I shall die avenged, if I have not the courage
+to end my existence myself. Oh, lead me there&mdash;lead
+me there; depend on it she has gold, jewels, anything,
+and you may take all, all for yourself, for your own, do
+you mind?&mdash;your own; only lead me to the door where
+she is."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I mind well enough; you want me to lead you
+to her door, then to her bed, and then to tell you when
+to strike, then to guide your hand&mdash;eh! that's it, ain't
+it? You want to make me a handle to your knife, old
+monster!" replied Tortillard, with an expression of contempt,
+anger, and horror, which, for the first time in his
+life gave an appearance of seriousness to his weasel face,
+usually all impertinence and insolence; "I'll be killed
+first, I tell you, sooner than I'll lead you to where your
+wife is!"</p>
+
+<p>"You refuse?"</p>
+
+<p>The son of Bras Rouge made no reply. He approached
+with bare feet and without being heard by the Schoolmaster,
+who, seated on the bed, still held his large knife
+in his hand, and then, in a moment, with marvellous
+quickness and dexterity, Tortillard snatched from him
+his weapon, and with one jump skipped to the further
+end of the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"My knife! my knife!" cried the brigand, extending
+his arms.</p>
+
+<p>"No; for then you might to-morrow morning ask to
+speak with your wife and try to kill her, since, as you
+say, you have had enough of life, and are such a coward
+that you don't dare kill yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"How he defends my wife against me!" said the
+bandit, whose intellect became obscure. "This little
+wretch is a devil! Where am I? Why does he try to
+save her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I like it," said Tortillard, whose face
+resumed its usual appearance of sly impudence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ah, is that it?" murmured the Schoolmaster, whose
+mind was wandering; "well, then, I'll fire the house!
+we'll all burn&mdash;all! I prefer that furnace to the other.
+The candle! the candle!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! ah! ah!" exclaimed Tortillard, bursting out
+again into loud laughter. "If your own candle&mdash;your
+'peepers'&mdash;had not been snuffed out, and for ever, you
+would have known that ours had been extinguished
+an hour ago." And Tortillard sang:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Ma chandelle est morte,</span><br />
+<span class="i1">Je n'ai plus de feu."</span><br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The Schoolmaster gave a deep groan, stretched out
+his arms, and fell heavily on the floor, his face on the
+ground, and, struck by a rush of blood, remained motionless.</p>
+
+<p>"Not to be caught, old boy," said Tortillard; "that's
+only a trick to make me come to you that you may
+serve me out! When you have been long enough on
+the floor you'll get up."</p>
+
+<p>Bras Rouge's boy resolved not to go to sleep for fear
+of being surprised by the Schoolmaster, so seated himself
+in a chair, with his eyes fixed on the ruffian, persuaded
+that it was a trap laid for him, and not believing
+the Schoolmaster in any danger. That he might employ
+himself agreeably Tortillard drew silently and
+carefully from his pocket a little red silk purse, and
+counted slowly, and with looks of joy and avarice, the
+seventeen pieces of gold which it contained. Tortillard
+had acquired his ill-gotten riches thus: It may be remembered
+that Madame d'Harville was nearly surprised
+by her husband at the rendezvous which she had granted
+to the commandant. Rodolph, when he had given the
+purse to the young lady had told her to go up to the
+fifth story to the Morels, under the pretence of bringing
+them assistance. Madame d'Harville ran quickly up the
+staircase holding the purse in her hands. When Tortillard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+who was coming from the quack's, caught a glimpse
+of the purse, and, pretending to stumble as he passed the
+marquise, pushed against her, and, in the shock, slily
+stole the purse. Madame d'Harville, bewildered, and
+hearing her husband's footsteps, hurried on to the fifth
+story without thinking or complaining of the impudent
+robbery of the little cripple. After having counted and
+recounted his gold Tortillard cast his eyes towards the
+Schoolmaster who was extended still on the ground.
+Disquieted for a moment, he listened, and hearing the
+robber breathe freely he thought that he was still meditating
+some trick against him.</p>
+
+<p>Chance saved the Schoolmaster from a congestion of
+the brain which else must have proved mortal. His
+fall had caused a salutary and abundant bleeding at
+the nose. He then fell into kind of a feverish torpor&mdash;half
+sleep, half delirium, and then had this wild, this
+fearful dream!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE DREAM.</h5>
+
+
+<p>This was the Schoolmaster's dream:</p>
+
+<p>He was again in Rodolph's house in the Allée des
+Veuves. The saloon in which the miscreant had received
+his appalling punishment had not undergone any alteration.
+Rodolph himself was sitting at the table on which
+were the Schoolmaster's papers and the little <i>Saint-Esprit</i>
+of <i>lapis</i> which he had given to the Chouette.
+Rodolph's countenance was grave and sad. On his right
+the negro David was standing motionless and silent; on
+his left was the Chourineur, who looked on with a
+bewildered mien. In his dream the Schoolmaster was
+no longer blind, but saw through a medium of clear
+blood, which filled the cavities of his eyeballs. All and
+everything seemed to him tinted with red. As birds of
+prey hover on motionless wing above the head of the
+victim which they fascinate before they devour, so a
+monstrous screech-owl (<i>chouette</i>), having for its head the
+hideous visage of the one-eyed hag, soared over the
+Schoolmaster, keeping fixed on him her round, glaring,
+and green eye. This fixed stare was upon his breast
+like a heavy weight. The Schoolmaster discerned a vast
+lake of blood separating him from the table at which
+Rodolph was seated. Then this inflexible judge, as well
+as the Chourineur and the negro, grew and grew, expanding
+into colossal proportions, until they touched the
+ceiling; and then it also became higher in proportion.
+The lake of blood was calm, and as unruffled as a red<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+mirror; the Schoolmaster saw his hideous countenance
+reflected therein. Then that was suddenly effaced by
+the tumult of the swelling waves. From their troubled
+surface there arose a vapour resembling the foul exhalation
+of a marsh, a livid-coloured mist of that violet hue
+peculiar to the lips of the dead. In proportion as this
+miasma rises&mdash;rises, the faces of Rodolph, the Chourineur,
+and the negro continue to expand and expand
+in an extraordinary manner, and always remain above
+this fearful cloud. In the midst of the awful vapour,
+the Schoolmaster sees the pale ghosts, and those murderous
+scenes in which he had been the actor. In this fantastic
+mirage he first sees a little bald-headed old man,
+clad in a long brown coat, and wearing an eye-shade of
+green silk. He is employing himself in a dilapidated
+chamber in counting and arranging pieces of gold into
+piles by the light of a lamp. Through the window,
+lighted by the dim moonlight reflected on the tops of
+some high trees waving in the wind, the Schoolmaster
+recognises his own figure. Pressing his distorted features
+against the glass, following every motion of the
+old man with glaring eyes, then breaking a pane, he
+opens the window itself, leaps with a bound upon his
+victim, and stabs him between the shoulders with his
+long and keen knife. The movement is so rapid, the
+blow so quick and sure, that the dead body of the old
+man remains seated in the chair.</p>
+
+<p>The murderer tries to withdraw his weapon from the
+dead body,&mdash;he cannot! He redoubles his efforts,&mdash;in
+vain! He then seeks to quit the deadly steel,&mdash;impossible!</p>
+
+<p>The hand of the assassin clings to the handle of the
+poignard, as the blade of the poignard clings to the frame
+of the wounded man. The murderer then hears the
+sound of clinking spurs and clashing swords in the
+adjoining room. He must escape at all risks, and
+attempts to carry with him the body of the feeble old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+man, from which he cannot withdraw either his weapon
+or his hand.</p>
+
+<p>He cannot do even this. The light and feeble carcass
+weighs him down like a mass of lead. Despite his herculean
+shoulders, his desperate efforts, the Schoolmaster
+cannot even stir this overwhelming weight.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of echoing steps and jingling sabres comes
+nearer and nearer. The key turns in the lock,&mdash;the
+door opens. The vision disappears.</p>
+
+<p>And then the screech-owl flaps her wing, and shrieks
+out:</p>
+
+<p>"It is the old miser of the Rue de la Roule. Your
+maiden murder! murder! murder!"</p>
+
+<p>A moment's darkness,&mdash;then the miasma which
+covers the lake of blood resumes its transparency,
+and another spectre is revealed.</p>
+
+<p>The day begins to dawn,&mdash;the fog is thick and heavy.
+A man, clothed like a cattle-dealer, lies stretched, dead
+on the bank of the highroad. The trampled earth, the
+torn turf, proved that the victim had made a desperate
+resistance. The man has five bleeding wounds in his
+breast. He is lifeless; yet still he seems to whistle on
+his dogs, calling to them, "Help! help!"</p>
+
+<p>But his whistling, his cries, proceed from five large
+and gaping wounds,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Each one a death in nature,"&mdash;</span><br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p>which move like so many complaining lips. The five
+calls, the five whistlings, all made and heard at once,
+come from the dead man by the mouths of his gushing
+wounds; and fearful are they to hear!</p>
+
+<p>At this instant the Chouette waves her wings, and
+mocks the deathly groans of the victim with five bursts
+of laughter,&mdash;a laughter as unearthly and as horrible
+as the madman's mirth; and then again she shrieks:</p>
+
+<p>"The cattle-dealer of Poissy. Murder! murder!
+murder!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Protracted and underground echoes first repeat aloud
+the malevolent laughter of the screech-owl. Then they
+seem to die away in the very bowels of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>At this sound two large dogs, as black as midnight,
+with eyes glaring like burning coals, begin to run rapidly
+around&mdash;around&mdash;around the Schoolmaster, baying
+furiously. They almost touch him, and yet their bark
+appears as distant as if carried on the wind of the
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually these spectres fade away as the previous
+one did, and are lost in the pale vapour which is
+continually ascending.</p>
+
+<p>A new exhalation now arises from the lake of blood,
+and spreads itself on its surface. It is a sort of greenish,
+transparent mist; it resembles the vertical section of a
+canal filled with water. At first he sees the bed of the
+canal covered in by a thick vase formed of numberless
+reptiles usually imperceptible to the unassisted eye, but
+which, enlarged, as if viewed through a microscope,
+assume monstrous forms, vast proportions relatively
+to their actual size. It is no longer mud, but a compact,
+living, crawling mass,&mdash;an inextricable conglomeration
+which wriggles and curls; so close, so dense, that
+a sullen and low undulation hardly stirs the level of this
+vase, or rather bed of foulest animalculæ. Above trickles
+gently&mdash;gently, a turbid stream, thick and stagnating,
+which, in its dilatory flow, disturbs the filth incessantly
+vomited by the sewers of a great city,&mdash;fragments of
+all sorts, carcasses of animals, etc., etc. Suddenly the
+Schoolmaster hears the plash of a body, which falls
+heavily on the water; in its recoil the water sprinkles
+his very face. In the midst of the air-bubbles which
+rise thick and fast to the surface of the canal he sees
+the body of a woman, which sinks rapidly as she
+struggles&mdash;struggles.</p>
+
+<p>Then he sees himself and the Chouette running
+hastily along the banks of St. Martin's Canal, carrying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+with them a box covered with black cloth; and yet
+he is still present during all the variations of agony
+suffered by the victim whom he and the Chouette have
+thrown into the canal. After the first immersion the
+victim rises to the surface and moves her arms in violent
+agitation like some one who, not knowing how to swim,
+tries in vain to save herself. Then she utters a piercing
+cry,&mdash;a cry of one in the last extremity,&mdash;despairing&mdash;which
+ends in the sullen, stifled sound of involuntary
+choking; and the woman the second time sinks
+beneath the troubled waters.</p>
+
+<p>The screech-owl, which hovers continually motionless,
+imitates the convulsive rattle of the drowning wretch, as
+she mocked the dying groans of the cattle-dealer. In the
+midst of bursts of deathlike laughter the screech-owl
+utters, "Glou! glou! glou!"</p>
+
+<p>The subterranean echoes repeated the sound.</p>
+
+<p>A second time submerged the woman is fast suffocating,
+and makes one more desperate effort for breath;
+but, instead of air, it is water which she inspires. Then
+her head falls back, her convulsed features are swollen
+and become livid, her neck becomes blue and tumefied,
+her arms stiffen, and, in a last spasmodic effort, the
+drowning woman in her agony moves her feet, which are
+resting on the vase. Then she is surrounded by a mass
+of black soil, which ascends with her to the surface of
+the water. Scarcely has the choked wretch breathed her
+last sigh than she is covered with myriads of the microscopic
+reptiles,&mdash;the greedy and horrible vermin of the
+mud. The carcass floats for a moment, balances for a
+moment, and then sinks slowly, horizontally, the feet
+lower than the head, and between the double waters
+begins to follow the current of the land. Sometimes
+the dead corpse turns, and its pale face is before the
+Schoolmaster. Then the spectre fixes on him glaringly
+its two blue, glassy, and opaque eyes; the livid mouth
+opens. The Schoolmaster is far away from the drowning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+woman, and yet her lips murmur in his ears, "Glou!
+glou! glou!" accompanying these appalling syllables with
+that singular noise which a bottle thrust into the water
+makes when filling itself.</p>
+
+<p>The screech-owl repeats, "Glou! glou! glou!" flapping
+her wings, and shrieking:</p>
+
+<p>"The woman of the Canal St. Martin! Murder!
+murder! murder!"</p>
+
+<p>The vision of the drowned woman disappears. The
+lake of blood, through which the Schoolmaster still constantly
+beholds Rodolph, becomes of a bronzed, black
+colour, then red again, and then changes instantaneously
+into a liquid, furnace-like, molten metal. Then that lake
+of fire rises&mdash;rises&mdash;rises towards the sky like an
+immense whirlpool. There is now a fiery horizon like
+iron at a white heat. This immense, boundless horizon
+dazzles and scorches the very eyes of the Schoolmaster,
+who, fascinated, fastened to the spot, cannot turn away
+his gaze. Then, at the bottom of this burning lava,
+whose reflection seems to consume him, he sees pass
+and repass, one by one, the black and giant spectres of
+his victims.</p>
+
+<p>"The magic-lanthorn of remorse! remorse! remorse!"
+shrieks the night-bird, flapping her hideous
+wings, and laughing mockingly.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the intolerable anguish which his
+impatient gaze creates, the Schoolmaster has his eyes
+fixed on the grisly phantoms which move in the blazing
+sheet. Then an indefinable horror steals over him.
+Passing through every step of indescribable torture, by
+dint of contemplating this blazing sight, he feels his
+eyeballs&mdash;which have replaced the blood with which
+his orbits were filled at the commencement of his dream&mdash;he
+feels his eyeballs grow hot, burning, and melt in
+this furnace&mdash;to smoke and bubble&mdash;and at last to
+become calcined in their cavities like two crucibles filled
+with red fire. By a fearful power, after having seen as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+well as felt the successive transformations of his eyeballs
+into ashes, he falls into the darkness of his actual
+blindness.</p>
+
+<p>But now, suddenly, his intolerable agonies are assuaged
+as though by enchantment. An odorous air of delicious
+freshness passes over his burning eyeballs. This air is
+a lovely admixture of the scents of springtime, which
+exhale from flowers bathed in evening dew. The
+Schoolmaster hears all about him a gentle murmur, like
+that of the breeze which just stirs the leaves&mdash;like that
+of a brook of running waters, which rushes and murmurs
+on its bed of stone and moss "in the leafy month
+of June." Thousands of birds warble the most enchanting
+melodies. They are stilled, and the voices of children,
+of angelic tone, sing strange, unknown words&mdash;words
+that are "winged" (if we may use the expression),
+and which the Schoolmaster hears mount to
+heaven with gentle motion. A feeling of moral health,
+of tranquillity, of undefined languor, creeps over him by
+degrees. It is an expansion of the heart, an elevation
+of the mind, an effort of the soul, of which no physical
+feeling, how delicious soever it may be, can impart the
+least idea. He feels himself softly soaring in a heavenly
+sphere; he seems to rise to an immeasurable height.</p>
+
+<p class="center dots">&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;&middot;</p>
+
+<p>After having for some moments revelled in this unspeakable
+felicity he again finds himself in the dark
+abyss of his habitual thoughts. His dream continues;
+but he is again but the muzzled miscreant who blasphemes
+and curses in the paroxysm of his impotent
+rage. A voice is heard&mdash;sonorous&mdash;solemn. It is
+Rodolph's. The Schoolmaster starts "like a guilty
+thing upon a fearful summons." He has the vague consciousness
+of a dream; but the alarm with which
+Rodolph inspires him is so great that he tries, but
+vainly, to escape from this fresh vision. The voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+speaks&mdash;he listens. The tone of Rodolph is not severe;
+it is "rather in sorrow than in anger."</p>
+
+<p>"Unhappy man," he says to the Schoolmaster, "the
+hour of your repentance has not yet sounded. God only
+knows when it will strike. The punishment of your
+crimes is still incomplete; you have suffered, but not
+expiated. Destiny follows out its work of full justice.
+Your accomplices have become your tormentors. A
+woman, a child, tame, subdue, conquer you. When I
+sentenced you to a terrible punishment for your crimes
+I said&mdash;do you remember my words?&mdash;'You have
+wickedly abused the great bodily strength bestowed upon
+you; I will paralyse that strength. The strongest have
+trembled before you; I will make you henceforward
+shrink in the presence of the weakest of beings.' You
+have left the obscure retreat in which you might have
+dwelt for repentance and expiation. You were afraid of
+silence and solitude. You sought to drown remembrance
+by new crimes. Just now, in a fearful and
+bloodthirsty access of passion, you have wished to kill
+your wife. She is here under the same roof as yourself.
+She sleeps without defence. You have a knife. Her
+apartment is close at hand. There was nothing to
+prevent you from reaching her. Nothing could have
+protected her from your rage&mdash;nothing but your impotence.
+The dream you have had, and in which you are
+still bound, may teach you much, may save you. The
+mysterious phantoms of this dream bear with them a
+most pregnant meaning. The lake of blood, in which
+your victims have appeared, is the blood you have shed.
+The molten lava which replaced it is the gnawing, eating
+remorse, which must consume you before one day,
+that the Almighty, having mercy on your protracted tortures,
+shall call you to himself, and let you taste the ineffable
+sweetness of his gracious forgiveness. But this
+will not be. No, no! these warnings will be useless.
+Far from repenting, you regret every day, with horrid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+blasphemies, the time when you could commit such atrocities.
+Alas! from this continual struggle between your
+bloodthirsty desires and the impossibility of satisfying
+them,&mdash;between your habits of fierce oppression and the
+compulsion of submitting to beings as weak as they are
+depraved,&mdash;there will result to you a fate so fearful, so
+appalling. Ah, unhappy wretch!"</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph's voice faltered, and for a moment he was
+silent, as if emotion and horror had hindered him from
+proceeding. The Schoolmaster's hair bristled on his
+brow. What could be&mdash;would be&mdash;that fate, which
+even his executioner pitied?</p>
+
+<p>"The fate that awaits you is so horrible," resumed
+Rodolph, "that, if the Almighty, in his inexorable and
+all-powerful vengeance, would make you in your person
+expiate all the crimes of all mankind, he could not
+devise a more fearful punishment! Ah, woe for you!
+woe for you!"</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the Schoolmaster uttered a piercing
+shriek, and awoke with a bound at this horrid, frightful
+dream.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE LETTER.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The hour of nine had struck on the Bouqueval clock,
+when Madame Georges softly entered the chamber of
+Fleur-de-Marie. The light slumber of the young girl
+was quickly broken, and she awoke to find her kind
+friend standing by her bedside. A brilliant winter's sun
+darted its rays through the blinds and chintz window-curtains,
+the pink linings of which cast a bright glow on
+the pale countenance of La Goualeuse, giving it the look
+of health it so greatly needed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my child," said Madame Georges, sitting down
+and gently kissing her forehead, "how are you this
+morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Much better, madame, I thank you."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you were not awoke very early this
+morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed, madame."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad of it; the blind man and his son, who
+were permitted to sleep here last night, insisted upon
+quitting the farm immediately it was light, and I was
+fearful that the noise made in opening the gates might
+have woke you."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor things! why did they go so very early?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know not. After you became more calm and
+comfortable last night, I went down into the kitchen
+for the purpose of seeing them, but they had pleaded
+extreme weariness, and begged permission to retire.
+Father Châtelain tells me the blind man does not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+seem very right in his head; and the whole body of
+servants were unanimous in praising the tenderness and
+care with which the boy attended upon his blind parent.
+But now, my dear Marie, listen to me; you must not
+expose yourself to the risk of taking fresh cold after the
+attack of fever you suffered from last night, and, therefore,
+I recommend your keeping quite quiet all day, and
+not leaving the parlour at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, madame, I have promised M. le Curé to be at
+the rectory at five o'clock; pray allow me to go, as I am
+expected."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I cannot, it would be very imprudent; I can
+perceive you have passed a very bad night, your eyes are
+quite heavy."</p>
+
+<p>"I have not been able to rest through the most frightful
+dreams which pursued me whenever I tried to sleep.
+I fancied myself in the power of a wicked woman who
+used to torment me most cruelly when I was a child;
+and I kept starting up in dread and alarm. I am
+ashamed of such silly weakness as to allow dreams to
+frighten me, but, indeed, I suffered so much during the
+night that when I awoke my pillow was wetted with my
+tears."</p>
+
+<p>"I am truly sorry for this weakness, as you justly
+style it, my dear child," said Madame Georges, with
+affectionate concern, seeing the eyes of Fleur-de-Marie
+again filling fast, "because I perceive the pain it
+occasions you."</p>
+
+<p>The poor girl, overpowered by her feelings, threw her
+arms around the neck of her adopted mother and buried
+her sobs in her bosom.</p>
+
+<p>"Marie, Marie! my child, you terrify me; why, why
+is this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, dear madame, I beseech you! Indeed, I
+know not myself what has come over me, but for the
+last two days my heart has seemed full almost to bursting.
+I cannot restrain my tears, though I know not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+wherefore I weep. A fearful dread of some great evil
+about to befall me weighs down my spirits and resists
+every attempt to shake it off."</p>
+
+<p>"Come! come! I shall scold you in earnest if you
+thus give way to imaginary terrors."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Claudine, whose previous tap at the
+door had been unheard, entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Claudine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madame, Pierre has just arrived from Arnouville, in
+Madame Dubreuil's chaise; he brings a letter for you
+which he says is of great importance."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Georges took the paper from Claudine's
+hand, opened it and read as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Madame Georges</span>:</p>
+
+<p class="indent">"You could do me a considerable favour, and assist me under
+very perplexing circumstances, by hastening to the farm here
+without delay. Pierre has orders to wait till you are ready, and
+will drive you back after dinner. I really am in such confusion
+that I hardly know what I am about. M. Dubreuil has gone to
+the wool-fair at Pontoise; I have, therefore, no one to turn to for
+advice and assistance but you and Marie. Clara sends her best
+love to her very dear adopted sister, and anxiously expects her
+arrival. Try to be with us by eleven o'clock, to luncheon.</p>
+
+<p class="closesal">"Ever yours most sincerely,</p>
+<p class="sigs"><span class="smcap">F. Dubreuil</span>."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>"What can possibly be the matter?" asked Madame
+Georges of Fleur-de-Marie; "fortunately the tone of
+Madame Dubreuil's letter is not calculated to cause
+alarm."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you wish me to accompany you, madame?"
+asked the Goualeuse.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that would scarcely be prudent, so cold as it is.
+But, upon second thoughts," continued Madame Georges,
+"I think you may venture if you wrap yourself up very
+warm; it will serve to raise your spirits, and possibly
+the short ride may do you good."</p>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse did not immediately reply, but, after a
+few minutes' consideration, she ventured to say:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But, madame, M. le Curé expects me this evening,
+at five o'clock, at the rectory."</p>
+
+<p>"But I promise you to be back in good time for you
+to keep your engagement; now will you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, thank you, madame! Indeed, I shall be so
+delighted to see Mlle. Clara."</p>
+
+<p>"What! again?" uttered Madame Georges, in a tone
+of gentle reproach. "Mlle. Clara? She does not speak
+so distantly to you when she addresses you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, madame!" replied the poor girl, casting
+down her eyes, while a bright flush rose even to her
+temples; "but there is so great a difference between us
+that&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Marie! you are cruel and unkind thus needlessly
+to torment yourself. Have you so soon forgotten
+how I chided you but just now for the very same fault?
+There, drive away all such foolish thoughts! dress yourself
+as quickly as you can, and pray wrap up very
+carefully. If we are quick, we may reach Arnouville
+before eleven o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>Then, leaving Fleur-de-Marie to perform the duties of
+her simple toilet, Madame Georges retired to her own
+chamber, first dismissing Claudine with an intimation to
+Pierre that herself and niece would be ready to start
+almost immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour afterwards, Madame Georges and Marie
+were on their way to Arnouville, in one of those large,
+roomy cabriolets, in use among the rich farmers in the
+environs of Paris; and briskly did their comfortable
+vehicle, drawn by a stout Norman horse, roll over the
+grassy road which led from Bouqueval to Arnouville.
+The extensive buildings and numerous appendages to the
+farm, tenanted by M. Dubreuil in the latter village, bore
+testimony to the wealth and importance of the property
+bestowed as a marriage-portion on Mlle. Césarine de Noirmont
+upon her union with the Duke de Lucenay.</p>
+
+<p>The loud crack of Pierre's whip apprised Madame<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+Dubreuil of the arrival of her friend, Madame Georges,
+with Fleur-de-Marie, who were most affectionately greeted
+by Clara and her mother. Madame Dubreuil was a good-looking
+woman of middle age, with a countenance expressive
+of extreme gentleness and kindness; while her
+daughter Clara was a handsome brunette, with rich hazel
+eyes, and a happy, innocent expression for ever resting
+on her full, rosy lips, which seemed never to open but
+to utter words of sweetness and amiability. As Clara
+eagerly threw her arms around her friend's neck as she
+descended the vehicle, the Goualeuse saw with extreme
+surprise that the kind-hearted girl had laid aside her
+more fashionable attire, and was habited as a simple
+country maiden.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Clara!" said Madame Georges, affectionately
+returning her embrace, "what is the meaning of this
+strange costume?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is done in imitation and admiration of her sister
+Marie," answered Madame Dubreuil; "I assure you she
+let me have no peace till I had procured her a woollen
+bodice, and a fustian skirt exactly resembling your
+Marie's. But, now we are talking of whims and caprices,
+just come this way with me," added Madame
+Dubreuil, drawing a deep sigh, "while I explain to you
+my present difficulty, as well as the cause of my so
+abruptly summoning you hither; but you are so kind,
+I feel assured you will not only forgive it, but also
+render me all the assistance I require."</p>
+
+<p>Following Madame Georges and her mother to their
+sitting-room, Clara lovingly conducted the Goualeuse
+also thither, placing her in the warmest corner of the
+fireside, and tenderly chafing her hands to prevent the
+cold from affecting her; then fondly caressing her, and
+styling her again and again her very dear sister Marie,
+she playfully reproached her for allowing so long an interval
+to pass away without paying her a visit. After
+the recent conversation which passed between the poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+Goualeuse and the curé (no doubt fresh in the reader's
+memory), it will easily be believed that these tender
+marks of affection inspired the unfortunate girl with
+feelings of deep humility, combined with a timid joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, dear Madame Dubreuil," said Madame
+Georges, when they were comfortably seated, "do pray
+tell me what has happened, and in what manner I can
+be serviceable to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, in several ways! I will tell you exactly how. In
+the first place, I believe you are not aware that this
+farm is the private property of the Duchesse de Lucenay,
+and that we are accountable to her alone, having nothing
+whatever to do with the duke or his steward."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed, I never heard that before."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither should I have troubled you with so unimportant
+a matter now, but that it forms a necessary part of
+the explanation I am about to give you of my present
+pressing need of your kind services. You must know,
+then, that we consider ourselves as the tenants of
+Madame de Lucenay, and always pay our rent either to
+herself or to Madame Simon, her head <i>femme de chambre</i>;
+and, really, spite of some little impetuosity of temper,
+Madame la Duchesse is so amiable that it is delightful
+to have business with her. Dubreuil and I would go
+through fire and water to serve her: but, la! that is
+only natural, considering we have known her from her
+very cradle, and were accustomed to see her playing
+about as a child during the visits she used annually to
+pay to the estate during the lifetime of her late father,
+the Prince de Noirmont. Latterly she has asked for
+her rent in advance. Forty thousand francs is not
+'picked up by the roadside,' as the old proverb says;
+but happily we had laid that sum by as Clara's dowry,
+and the very next morning after the request reached us
+we carried madame her money in bright, shining, golden
+louis. These great ladies spend so much, you see, in
+luxuries such as you and I have no idea of. Yet it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+only within the last twelvemonth Madame de Lucenay
+has wished to be paid beforehand, she used always to
+seem as though she had plenty of money; but things are
+very different now."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, my dear Madame Dubreuil, I do not yet perceive
+in what way I can possibly assist you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be in a hurry! I am just coming to that part
+of my story; but I was obliged to tell you all this that
+you might be able to understand the entire confidence
+Madame la Duchesse places in us. To be sure, she showed
+her great regard for us by becoming, when only thirteen
+years of age, Clara's godmother, her noble father standing
+as the other sponsor; and, ever since, Madame de
+Lucenay has loaded her godchild with presents and kind
+attentions. But I must not keep you&mdash;I see you are
+impatient; so I will at once proceed with the business
+part of my tale. You must know, then, that last night
+I received by express the following letter from Madame
+de Lucenay:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Madame Dubreuil</span>:</p>
+
+<p class="indent">"'You must prepare the small pavilion in the orchard for
+occupation by to-morrow evening. Send there all the requisite
+furniture, such as carpets, curtains, etc., etc. Let nothing be
+wanted to render it, in every respect, as <i>comfortable</i> as possible.'</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Do you mark the word 'comfortable,' Madame
+Georges?" inquired Madame Dubreuil, pausing in the
+midst of her reading; "it is even underlined." Then
+looking up at her friend with a thoughtful, puzzled expression
+of countenance, and receiving no answer, she
+continued the perusal of her letter:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="indent">"'It is so long since the pavilion has been used that it will
+require large and constant fires both night and day to remove
+the dampness from the walls. I wish you to behave in every respect
+to the person who will occupy the apartments as you would
+do to myself. And you will receive by the hands of the new
+visitant a letter from me explanatory of all I expect from your
+well-known zeal and attachment. I depend entirely on you and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+feel every assurance that I may safely reckon on your fidelity
+and desire to serve me. Adieu, my dear Madame Dubreuil;
+remember me most kindly to my pretty goddaughter; and believe
+me ever,</p>
+
+<p class="closesal">"'Yours, sincerely and truly,</p>
+<p class="sigs">"'<span class="smcap">Noirmont de Lucenay</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="indent">"'P.S. The person whom I so strongly recommend to your
+best care and attention will arrive the day after to-morrow, about
+dusk. Pray do your very utmost to render the pavilion as <i>comfortable</i>
+as you possibly can.'</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Comfortable again, you see, and underlined as before,"
+said Madame Dubreuil, returning the letter of
+Madame de Lucenay to her pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," replied Madame Georges, "all this is simple
+enough!"</p>
+
+<p>"How do you mean, simple enough? you cannot have
+heard me read the letter. Madame la Duchesse wishes
+particularly 'that the pavilion should be rendered as
+comfortable as possible.' Now that is the very reason
+of my asking you to come to me to-day; Clara and I
+have been knocking our heads together in vain to discover
+what 'comfortable' can possibly mean, but without
+being able to find it out. Yet it seems odd, too, that
+Clara should not know its meaning, for she was several
+years at school at Villiers le Bel, and gained a quantity
+of prizes for history and geography; however, she knows
+as little as I do about that outlandish word. I dare say
+it is only known at court, or in the fashionable world.
+However, be that as it may, Madame la Duchesse has
+thrown me into a pretty fuss by making use of it; she
+says, and you see twice repeats the words, and even
+underlines it, 'that she requests I will furnish the pavilion
+as comfortably as possible.' Now what are we to
+do when we have not the slightest notion of the meaning
+of that word?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, heaven be praised, then, that I can relieve
+your perplexity by solving this grand mystery!" said
+Madame Georges, smiling. "Upon the present occasion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+the word comfortable merely means an assemblage of
+neat, well-chosen, well-arranged, and convenient furniture,
+so placed, in apartments well warmed and protected
+from cold or damp, that the occupant shall find every
+thing that is necessary combined with articles that to
+some might seem superfluities."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I perfectly understand what comfortable
+means as regards furnishing apartments; but your explanation
+only increases my difficulties."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Madame la Duchesse speaks of carpets, furniture,
+and many <i>et c&oelig;teras</i>; now we have no carpets here,
+and our furniture is of the most homely description.
+Neither can I make out by the letter whether the person
+I am to expect is a male or female; and yet every
+thing must be prepared by to-morrow evening. What
+shall I do? What can I do? I can get nothing here.
+Really, Madame Georges, it is enough to drive one wild
+to be placed in such an awkward situation."</p>
+
+<p>"But, mother," said Clara, "suppose you take the
+furniture out of my room, and whilst you are refurnishing
+it I will go and pass a few days with dear Marie at
+Bouqueval."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, what nonsense you talk! as if the
+humble fittings-up of your chamber could equal what
+Madame la Duchesse means by the word 'comfortable,'"
+returned Madame Dubreuil, with a disconsolate shrug of
+the shoulders. "Lord! Lord! why will fine ladies
+puzzle poor folks like me by going out of their way to
+find such expressions as comfortable?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I presume the pavilion in question is ordinarily
+uninhabited?" said Madame Georges.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! There, you see that small white building
+at the end of the orchard&mdash;that is it. The late Prince
+de Noirmont, father of Madame la Duchesse, caused it
+to be built for his daughter when, in her youthful days,
+she was accustomed to visit the farm, and she then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+occupied it. There are three pretty chambers in it, and
+a beautiful little Swiss dairy at the end of the garden,
+where, in her childish days, Madame la Duchesse used
+to divert herself with feigning to manage. Since her
+marriage, she has only been twice at the farm, but each
+time she passed several hours in the pavilion. The
+first time was about six years ago, and then she came
+on horseback with&mdash;" Then, as though the presence of
+Clara and Fleur-de-Marie prevented her from saying
+more, Madame Dubreuil interrupted herself by saying,
+"But I am talking instead of doing; and that is not the
+way to get out of my present difficulty. Come, dear,
+good Madame Georges, and help a poor bewildered
+creature like myself!"</p>
+
+<p>"In the first place," answered Madame Georges,
+"tell me how is this pavilion furnished at the present
+moment."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, scarcely at all! In the principal apartment
+there is a straw matting on the centre of the floor; a
+sofa, and a few arm-chairs composed of rushes, a table,
+and some chairs, comprise all the inventory, which, I
+think you will allow, falls far short of the word
+comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I tell you what I should do in your place.
+Let me see; it is eleven o'clock. I should send a
+person on whom you can depend to Paris."</p>
+
+<p>"Our overseer!<a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> There cannot be a more active,
+intelligent person."</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> A species of overseer employed in most of the large farming establishments
+in the environs of Paris.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Exactly! just the right sort of messenger. Well,
+in two hours at the utmost, he may be in Paris. Let
+him go to some upholsterer in the Chaussée d'Antin&mdash;never
+mind which&mdash;and give him the list I will draw
+out, after I have seen what is wanting for the pavilion;
+and let him be directed to say that, let the expense be
+what it may&mdash;"</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+<p>"I don't care about expense, if I can but satisfy the
+duchess."</p>
+
+<p>"The upholsterer, then, must be told that, at any
+cost, he must see that every article named in the list
+be sent here either this evening or before daybreak to-morrow,
+with three or four of his most clever and active
+workmen to arrange them as quickly as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"They might come by the Gonesse diligence, which
+leaves Paris at eight o'clock every evening."</p>
+
+<p>"And as they would only have to place the furniture,
+lay down carpets, and put up curtains, all that could
+easily be done by to-morrow evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear Madame Georges, what a load you have
+taken off my mind! I should never have thought of
+this simple yet proper manner of proceeding. You are
+the saving of me! Now, may I ask you to be so kind
+as to draw me out the list of articles necessary to render
+the pavilion&mdash;what is that hard word? I never can
+recollect it."</p>
+
+<p>"Comfortable! Yes, I will at once set about it, and
+with pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me! here is another difficulty. Don't you see
+we are not told whether to expect a lady or a gentleman?
+Madame de Lucenay, in her letter, only says 'a
+person.' It is very perplexing, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then make your preparations as if for a lady, my
+dear Madame Dubreuil; and, should it turn out a gentleman,
+why he will only have better reason to be pleased
+with his accommodations."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite right; right again, as you always are."</p>
+
+<p>A servant here announced that breakfast was
+ready.</p>
+
+<p>"Let breakfast wait a little," said Madame Georges.
+"And, while I draw out the necessary list, send some
+person you can depend upon to take the exact height
+and width of the three rooms, that the curtains and
+carpets may more easily be prepared."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I will set our overseer to work out
+this commission."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame," continued the servant, speaking to her
+mistress, "the new dairy-woman from Stains is here
+with her few goods in a small cart drawn by a donkey.
+The beast has not a heavy load to complain of, for the
+poor body's luggage seems but very trifling."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor woman!" said Madame Dubreuil, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>"What woman is it?" inquired Madame Georges.</p>
+
+<p>"A poor creature from Stains, who once had four
+cows of her own, and used to go every morning to Paris
+to sell her milk. Her husband was a blacksmith, and
+one day accompanied her to Paris to purchase some iron
+he required for his work, agreeing to rejoin her at the
+corner of the street where she was accustomed to sell
+her milk. Unhappily, as it afterwards turned out, the
+poor woman had selected a very bad part of Paris; for,
+when her husband returned, he found her in the midst
+of a set of wicked, drunken fellows, who had, for mere
+mischief's sake, upset all her milk into the gutter. The
+poor blacksmith tried to reason with them upon the
+score of their unfair conduct, but that only made matters
+worse; they all fell on the husband, who sought in
+vain to defend himself from their violence. The end of
+the story is, that, in the scuffle which ensued, the man
+received a stab with a knife, which stretched him a
+corpse before the eyes of his distracted wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Dreadful, indeed!" ejaculated Madame Georges.
+"But, at least, the murderer was apprehended?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, no! He managed to make his escape during
+the confusion which ensued, though the unfortunate
+widow asserts she should recognise him at any minute
+she might meet him, having repeatedly seen him in company
+with his associates, inhabitants of that neighbourhood.
+However, up to the present hour all attempts
+to discover him have been useless. But, to end my tale,
+I must tell you that, in consequence of the death of her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+husband, the poor widow was compelled, in order to pay
+various debts he had contracted, to sell not only her
+cows but some little land he possessed. The bailiff of
+the château at Stains recommended the poor creature to
+me as a most excellent and honest woman, as deserving
+as she was unfortunate, having three children to provide
+for, the eldest not yet twelve years of age. I happened,
+just then, to be in want of a first-rate dairy-woman,
+therefore offered her the place, which she gladly accepted,
+and she has now come to take up her abode on
+the farm."</p>
+
+<p>"This act of real kindness on your part, my dear
+Madame Dubreuil, does not surprise me, knowing you
+as well as I do."</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Clara," said Madame Dubreuil, as though
+seeking to escape from the praises of her friend, "will
+you go and show this good woman the way to the lodge
+she is to occupy, while I hasten to explain to our overseer
+the necessity for his immediate departure for
+Paris?"</p>
+
+<p>"Willingly, dear mother! Marie can come with me,
+can she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," answered Madame Dubreuil, "if she
+pleases." Then added, smilingly, "I wonder whether
+you two girls could do one without the other!"</p>
+
+<p>"And now," said Madame Georges, seating herself
+before a table, "I will at once begin my part of the
+business, that no time may be lost; for we must positively
+return to Bouqueval at four o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Madame Dubreuil; "how
+early! Why, what makes you in such a hurry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Marie is obliged to be at the rectory by five
+o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if her return relates to that good Abbé Laporte,
+I am sure it is a sacred duty with which I would not
+interfere for the world. Well, then, I will go and give
+the necessary orders for everything being punctual to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+that hour. Those two girls have so much to say to
+each other that we must give them as much time as we
+can."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we shall leave you at three o'clock, my dear
+Madame Dubreuil?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I promise not to detain you since you so positively
+wish it. But pray let me thank you again and
+again for coming. What a good thing it was I thought
+of sending to ask your kind assistance," rejoined
+Madame Dubreuil. "Now then, Clara and Marie, off
+with you!"</p>
+
+<p>As Madame Georges settled herself to her writing,
+Madame Dubreuil quitted the room by a door on one
+side, while the young friends, in company with the servant
+who had announced the arrival of the milkwoman
+from Stains, went out by the opposite side.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the poor woman?" inquired Clara.</p>
+
+<p>"There she is, mademoiselle, in the courtyard, near
+the barns, with her children and her little donkey-cart."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall see her, dear Marie," said Clara, taking
+the arm of la Goualeuse. "Poor woman! she looks so
+pale and sad in her deep widow's mourning. The last
+time she came here to arrange with my mother about
+the place she made my heart ache. She wept bitterly
+as she spoke of her husband; then suddenly burst into
+a fit of rage as she mentioned his murderer. Really,
+she quite frightened me, she looked so desperate and
+full of fury. But, after all, her resentment was natural.
+Poor thing! I am sure I pity her; some people are very
+unfortunate, are they not, Marie?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, yes, they are, indeed!" replied the Goualeuse,
+sighing deeply. "There are some persons who appear
+born only to trouble and sorrow, as you justly observe,
+Miss Clara."</p>
+
+<p>"This is really very unkind of you, Marie," said
+Clara, colouring with impatience and displeasure.
+"This is the second time to-day you have called me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+'Miss Clara.' What can I have possibly done to offend
+you? For I am sure you must be angry with me, or
+you would not do what you know vexes me so very
+much."</p>
+
+<p>"How is it possible that you could ever offend me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then why do you say 'miss?' You know very
+well that both Madame Georges and my mother have
+scolded you for doing it. And I give you due warning,
+if ever you repeat this great offence, I will have you
+well scolded again. Now then, will you be good or
+not? Speak!"</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Clara, pray pardon me! Indeed, I was not
+thinking when I spoke."</p>
+
+<p>"Not thinking!" repeated Clara, sorrowfully. "What,
+after eight long days' absence you cannot give me your
+attention even for five minutes? Not thinking! That
+would be bad enough; but that is not it, Marie. And
+I tell you what, it is my belief you are too proud to own
+so humble a friend as myself."</p>
+
+<p>Fleur-de-Marie made no answer, but her whole countenance
+assumed the pallor of death.</p>
+
+<p>A woman, dressed as a widow, and in deep mourning,
+had just caught sight of her, and uttered a cry of rage
+and horror which seemed to freeze the poor girl's blood.
+This woman was the person who supplied the Goualeuse
+with her daily milk, during the time the latter dwelt
+with the ogress at the <i>tapis-franc</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The scene which ensued took place in one of the
+yards belonging to the farm, in the presence of all the
+labourers, both male and female, who chanced just then
+to be returning to the house to take their mid-day meal.
+Beneath a shed stood a small cart, drawn by a donkey,
+and containing the few household possessions of the
+widow; a boy of about twelve years of age, aided by
+two younger children, was beginning to unload the vehicle.
+The milk-woman herself was a woman of about
+forty years of age, her countenance coarse, masculine,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+and expressive of great resolution. She was, as we
+before stated, attired in the deepest mourning, and her
+eyelids looked red and inflamed with recent weeping.
+Her first impulse at the sight of the Goualeuse had been
+terror; but quickly did that feeling change into grief
+and rage, while the most violent anger contracted her
+features. Rapidly darting towards the unhappy girl,
+she seized her by the arm, and, presenting her to the
+gaze of the farm servants, she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Here is a creature who is acquainted with the
+assassin of my poor husband! I have seen her more
+than twenty times speaking to the ruffian when I was
+selling my milk at the corner of the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie;
+she used to come to buy a ha'porth every
+morning. She knows well enough who it was struck
+the blow that made me a widow, and my poor children
+fatherless. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' and such
+loose characters as she is are sure to be linked in with
+thieves and murderers. Oh, you shall not escape me,
+you abandoned wretch!" cried the milk-woman, who
+had now lashed herself into a perfect fury, and who,
+seeing poor Fleur-de-Marie confused and terror-stricken
+at this sudden attack, endeavouring to escape from it
+by flight, grasped her fiercely by the other arm also.
+Clara, almost speechless with surprise and alarm at this
+outrageous conduct, had been quite incapable of interfering;
+but this increased violence on the part of the
+widow seemed to restore her to herself, and angrily
+addressing the woman she said:</p>
+
+<p>"What is the meaning of this improper behaviour?
+Are you out of your senses? Has grief turned your
+brain? Good woman, I pity you! But let us pass on;
+you are mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>"Mistaken!" repeated the woman, with a bitter smile.
+"Me mistaken! No, no, there is no mistake! Just look
+at her pale, guilty looks! Hark how her very teeth rattle
+in her head! Ah, she knows well enough there is no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+mistake! Ah, you may hold your wicked tongue if you
+like, but justice will find a way to make you speak.
+You shall go with me before the mayor; do you hear?
+Oh, it is not worth while resisting! I have good strong
+wrists; I can hold you. And sooner than you should
+escape I would carry you every step of the way."</p>
+
+<p>"You good-for-nothing, insolent woman! How dare
+you presume to speak in this way to my dear friend and
+sister?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your sister, Mlle. Clara! Believe me, it is you who
+are deceived&mdash;it is you who have lost your senses,"
+bawled the enraged milk-woman, in a loud, coarse voice.
+"Your sister! A likely story a girl out of the streets,
+who was the companion of the very lowest wretches in
+the worst part of the Cité, should be a sister of yours!"</p>
+
+<p>At these words the assembled labourers, who naturally
+enough took that part in the affair which concerned a
+person of their own class, and who really sympathised
+with the bereaved milk-woman, gave utterance to deep,
+threatening words, in which the name of Fleur-de-Marie
+was angrily mingled. The three children, hearing their
+mother speaking in a loud tone, and fearing they knew
+not what, ran to her, and, clinging to her dress, burst
+out into a loud fit of weeping. The sight of these poor
+little fatherless things, dressed also in deep mourning,
+increased the pity of the spectators for the unfortunate
+widow, while it redoubled their indignation against Fleur-de-Marie;
+while Clara, completely frightened by these
+demonstrations of approaching violence, exclaimed, in an
+agitated tone, to a group of farm labourers:</p>
+
+<p>"Take this woman off the premises directly! Do you
+not perceive grief has driven her out of her senses?
+Marie! dear Marie! never mind what she says. She is
+mad, poor creature, and knows not what she does!"</p>
+
+<p>The poor Goualeuse, pale, exhausted, and almost fainting,
+made no effort to escape from the powerful grasp of
+the incensed milk-woman; she hung her head, as though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+unable or unwilling to meet the gaze of friend or foe.
+Clara, attributing her condition to the terror excited by
+so alarming a scene, renewed her commands to the
+labourers, "Did you not hear me desire that this mad
+woman might be instantly taken away from the farm?
+However, unless she immediately ceases her rude and
+insolent language, I can promise her, by way of punishment,
+she shall neither have the situation my mother
+promised her nor ever be suffered to put her foot on the
+premises again."</p>
+
+<p>Not a person stirred to obey Clara's orders; on the
+contrary, one of the boldest among the party exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, but, Miss Clara, if your friend there is only a
+common girl out of the streets, and, as such, acquainted
+with the murderer of this poor woman's husband, surely
+she ought to go before the mayor to give an account of
+herself and her bad companions!"</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you," repeated Clara, with indignant warmth,
+and addressing the milk-woman, "you shall never enter
+this farm again unless you this very instant, and before
+all these people, humbly beg pardon of Mlle. Marie for
+all the wicked things you have been saying about her!"</p>
+
+<p>"You turn me off the premises then, mademoiselle, do
+you?" retorted the widow with bitterness. "Well, so
+be it. Come, my poor children, let us put the things
+back in the cart, and go and seek our bread elsewhere.
+God will take care of us. But, at least, when we go, we
+will take this abandoned young woman with us. She
+shall be made to tell the mayor, if she won't us, who it
+was that took away your dear father's life; for she knows
+well enough&mdash;she who was the daily companion of the
+worst set of ruffians who infest Paris. And you, miss,"
+added she, looking spitefully and insolently at Clara,
+"you should not, because you choose to make friends
+with low girls out of the streets, and because you happen
+to be rich, be quite so hard-hearted and unfeeling to poor
+creatures like me!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No more she ought," exclaimed one of the labourers;
+"the poor woman is right!"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she is,&mdash;she is only standing up for her
+own!"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor thing, she has no one now to do so for her!
+Why, they have murdered her husband among them! I
+should think that might content them, without trampling
+the poor woman under foot."</p>
+
+<p>"One comfort is, nobody can stop her from doing all
+in her power to bring the murderers of her husband to
+justice."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a shame to send her away in this manner, like
+a dog!"</p>
+
+<p>"Can she help it, poor creature, if Miss Clara thinks
+proper to take up with common girls and thieves, and
+make them her companions?"</p>
+
+<p>"Infamous to turn an honest woman, a poor widow
+with helpless children, into the streets for such a base
+girl as that!"</p>
+
+<p>These different speeches, uttered nearly simultaneously
+by the surrounding crowd, were rapidly assuming
+a most hostile and threatening tone, when Clara joyfully
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God, here comes my mother!"</p>
+
+<p>It was, indeed, Madame Dubreuil, who was crossing
+the courtyard on her return from the pavilion.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, my children," said Madame Dubreuil,
+gaily approaching the assembled group, "will you come
+in to breakfast? I declare it is quite late! I dare say
+you are both hungry? Come, Marie!&mdash;Clara!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," cried Clara, pointing to the widow, "you
+are fortunately just in time to save my dear sister Marie
+from the insults and violence of that woman. Oh, pray
+order her away instantly! If you only knew what she
+had the audacity to say to Marie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible, Clara!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, but, dear mother, only look at my poor dear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+sister! See how she trembles! She can scarcely support
+herself. Oh, it is a shame and disgrace such conduct
+should ever have been offered to a guest of ours! My
+dear, dear friend&mdash;Marie, dear!&mdash;look up, and say
+you are not angry with us. Pray tell me you will
+try and forget it!"</p>
+
+<p>"What is the meaning of all this?" inquired Madame
+Dubreuil, looking around her with a disturbed and uneasy
+look, after having observed the despairing agony of
+the Goualeuse.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, now we shall have justice done the poor widow
+woman!" murmured the labourers. "Madame will see
+her righted, no doubt about it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then," exclaimed the milk-woman, exultingly,
+"here is Madame Dubreuil. Now, my fine miss," continued
+she, addressing Fleur-de-Marie, "you will have
+your turn of being turned out-of-doors!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it true, then," cried Madame Dubreuil, addressing
+the widow, who still kept firm hold of Fleur-de-Marie's
+arm, "that you have dared to insult my daughter's
+friend, as she asserts? Is this the way you show your
+gratitude for all I have done to serve you? Will you
+leave that young lady alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, madame," replied the woman, relinquishing her
+grasp of Fleur-de-Marie, "at your bidding I will; for I
+respect you too much to disobey you. And, besides,
+I owe you much gratitude for all your kindness to a
+poor, friendless creature like myself. But, before you
+blame me, and drive me off the premises with my poor
+children, just question that wretched creature that has
+caused all this confusion what she knows of me. I know
+a pretty deal more of her than is to her credit!"</p>
+
+<p>"For Heaven's sake, Marie," exclaimed Madame
+Dubreuil, almost petrified with astonishment, "What
+does this woman allude to? Do you hear what she says?"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you, or are you not known by the name of
+the Goualeuse?" said the milk-woman to Marie.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the wretched girl, in a low, trembling
+voice, and without venturing to lift up her eyes towards
+Madame Dubreuil,&mdash;"yes, I am called so."</p>
+
+<p>"There you see!" vociferated the enraged labourers.
+"She owns it! she owns it!"</p>
+
+<p>"What does she own?" inquired Madame Dubreuil,
+half frightened at the assent given by Fleur-de-Marie.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave her to me, madame," resumed the widow,
+"and you shall hear her confess that she was living in
+a house of the most infamous description in the Rue-aux-Fêves
+in the Cité, and that she every morning purchased
+a half-pennyworth of milk of me. She cannot
+deny either having repeatedly spoken in my presence to
+the murderer of my poor husband. Oh, she knows him
+well enough, I am quite certain; a pale young man,
+who smoked a good deal, and always wore a cap and
+a blouse, and wore his hair very long; she could tell
+his name if she chose. Is this true, or is it a lie?"
+vociferously demanded the milk-woman.</p>
+
+<p>"I may have spoken to the man who killed your husband,"
+answered Fleur-de-Marie, in a faint voice; "for,
+unhappily, there are more than one in the Cité capable
+of such a crime. But, indeed, I know not of
+whom you are speaking!"</p>
+
+<p>"What does she say?" asked Madame Dubreuil, horror-struck
+at her words. "She admits having possibly
+conversed with murderers?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, such lost wretches as she is," replied the widow,
+"have no better companions!"</p>
+
+<p>At first, utterly stupefied by so singular a discovery,
+confirmed, indeed, by Fleur-de-Marie's own admission,
+Madame Dubreuil seemed almost incapable of comprehending
+the scene before her; but quickly the whole
+truth presented itself to her mental vision, and shrinking
+from the unfortunate girl with horror and disgust, she
+hastily seized her daughter by the dress, as she was
+about to sustain the sinking form of the poor Goualeuse,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+and, drawing her towards her with sudden violence,
+she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Clara! For Heaven's sake approach not that vile,
+that abandoned young woman! Oh, dreadful, indeed,
+ever to have admitted her here! But how came Madame
+Georges to have her under her roof? And how
+could she so far insult me as to bring her here, and
+allow my daughter to&mdash;This is, indeed, disgraceful!
+I hardly know whether to trust the evidence of my own
+senses. But Madame Georges must have been as much
+imposed on as myself, or she never would have permitted
+such an indignity! No, no! She is incapable of such
+dishonourable conduct. It would, indeed, be a disgrace
+for one female so to have deceived another."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Clara, terrified and almost heart-broken at this
+distressing scene, could scarcely believe herself awake.
+It seemed as though she were under the influence of a
+fearful dream. Her innocent and pure mind comprehended
+not the frightful charges brought against her
+friend; but she understood enough to fill her with the
+most poignant grief at the unfortunate position of La
+Goualeuse, who stood mute, passive and downcast, like
+a criminal in the presence of the judge.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, my child," repeated Madame Dubreuil,
+"let us quit this disgraceful scene." Then, turning
+towards Fleur-de-Marie, she said:</p>
+
+<p>"As for you, worthless girl, the Almighty will punish
+you as you deserve for your deceit! That my child,
+good and virtuous as she is, should ever have been
+allowed to call you sister or friend. Her sister! You&mdash;the
+very vilest of the vile! the outcast of the most
+depraved and lost wretches! What hardihood, what
+effrontery you must have possessed, to dare to show
+your face among good and honest people, when your
+proper place would have been along with your bad
+companions in a prison!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay!" cried all the labourers at once; "let her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+be sent off to prison at once. She knows the murderer!
+Let her be made to declare who and what he is."</p>
+
+<p>"She is most likely his accomplice!"</p>
+
+<p>"You see," exclaimed the widow, doubling her fist in
+the face of the Goualeuse, "that my words have come
+true. Justice will overtake you before you can commit
+other crimes."</p>
+
+<p>"As for you, my good woman," said Madame Dubreuil
+to the milk-woman, "far from sending you away I shall
+reward you for the service you have done me in unmasking
+this infamous girl's real character."</p>
+
+<p>"There, I told you," murmured the voices of the
+labourers, "our mistress always does justice to every
+one!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Clara," resumed Madame Dubreuil, "let us
+retire and seek Madame Georges, that she may clear up
+her share of this disgraceful business, or she and I never
+meet again; for either she has herself been most dreadfully
+deceived, or her conduct towards us is of the very
+worst description."</p>
+
+<p>"But, mother, only look at poor Marie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, never mind her! Let her die of shame, if she
+likes,&mdash;there will be one wicked, hardened girl less in
+the world. Treat her with the contempt she deserves.
+I will not suffer you to remain another instant where
+she is. It is impossible for a young person like you to
+notice her in any way without disgracing herself."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear mother," answered Clara, resisting her
+mother's attempts to draw her away, "I do not understand
+what you mean. Marie must be wrong in some
+way, since you say so! But look, only look at her&mdash;she
+is fainting! Pity her! Oh, mother, let her be ever
+so guilty, pray take pity on her present distress!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mlle. Clara, you are good&mdash;very, very good&mdash;to
+pardon me and care for me," uttered poor Fleur-de-Marie,
+in a faint voice, casting a look of unutterable
+gratitude on her young protectress. "Believe me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+it was sorely against my will ever to deceive you; and
+daily, hourly, have I reproached myself for so doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," exclaimed Clara, in the most piteous tones,
+"are you then so merciless? Can you not pity her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pity!" returned Madame Dubreuil, scornfully. "No,
+I waste no pity on such as she is. Come, I say! Were
+it not that I consider it the office of Madame Georges to
+clear the place of so vile a creature, I would have her
+spurned from the doors, as though she carried the
+plague about with her." So saying, the angry mother
+seized her daughter's hand, and, spite of all her struggles,
+led her away, Clara continually turning back her
+head, and saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Marie, my sister, I know not what they accuse you
+of, but I am quite convinced of your innocence. Be
+assured of my constant love, whatever they may say
+or do."</p>
+
+<p>"Silence! silence! I command!" cried Madame Dubreuil,
+placing her hand over her daughter's mouth.
+"Speak not another word, I insist! Fortunately, we
+have plenty of witnesses to testify that, after the odious
+discovery we have just made, you were not suffered to
+remain a single instant with this lost and unfortunate
+young woman. You can all answer for that, can you
+not, my good people?" continued she, speaking to the
+assembled labourers.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes, madame," replied one of them, "we all
+know well enough that Mlle. Clara was not allowed to
+stop with this bad girl a single instant after you found
+out her wickedness. No doubt she is a thief or she
+would not be so intimate with murderers."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Dubreuil led Clara to the house, while the
+Goualeuse remained in the midst of the hostile circle
+which had now formed around her. Spite of the
+reproaches of Madame Dubreuil, her presence, and that
+of Clara, had, in some degree, served to allay the fears
+of Fleur-de-Marie as to the probable termination of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+scene. But, after the departure of both mother and
+daughter, when she found herself so entirely at the
+mercy of the enraged crowd, her strength seemed to
+forsake her, and she was obliged to keep herself from
+falling by leaning on the parapet of the deep watering-place
+where the farm cattle were accustomed to drink.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be conceived more touching than the
+attitude of the unfortunate girl, nor could a more threatening
+appearance have been displayed than was exhibited
+in the words and looks of the countrymen and women
+who surrounded her. Seated, or rather supporting herself
+on the narrow margin of the wall which enclosed
+the drinking-place, her head hanging down, and concealed
+by both hands, her neck and bosom hid by the
+ends of the little red cotton handkerchief which was
+twisted around her cap, the poor Goualeuse, mute and
+motionless, presented a most touching picture of grief
+and resignation.</p>
+
+<p>At some little distance from Fleur-de-Marie stood the
+widow of the murdered man. Triumphant in her vindictive
+rage, and still further excited by the indignation
+expressed by Madame Dubreuil, she pointed out the
+wretched object of her wrath to the labourers and her
+children, with gestures of contempt and detestation.
+The farm servants, who had now formed into a close
+circle, sought not to conceal their disgust and thirst for
+vengeance; their rude countenances expressed at once
+rage, desire for revenge, and a sort of insulting raillery.
+The women were even still more bitter, and bent upon
+mischief. Neither did the striking beauty of the Goualeuse
+tend to allay their wrath. But neither men nor
+women could pardon Fleur-de-Marie the heinous offence
+of having, up to that hour, been treated by their superiors
+as an equal; and some of the men now present,
+having been unsuccessful candidates for the vacant situations
+at Bouqueval, and attributing their failure to
+Madame Georges, when, in reality, their disappointment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+arose entirely from their recommendations not being
+sufficiently satisfactory, determined to avail themselves
+of the opportunity now before them to wreak their vexation
+and ill-will on the head of one she was known
+to protect and love. The impulses of ignorant minds
+always lead to extremes either of good or bad. But
+they speedily put on a most dangerous form, when the
+fury of an enraged multitude is directed against those
+who may already have awakened their personal anger
+or aversion.</p>
+
+<p>Although the greater number of the labourers now
+collected together might not have been so strictly virtuous
+and free from moral blame as to be justified in
+throwing the first stone at the trembling, fainting girl,
+who was the object of all their concentrated wrath, yet,
+on the present occasion, they unanimously spoke and
+acted as though her very presence was capable of contaminating
+them; and their delicacy and modesty alike
+revolted at the bare recollection of the depraved class to
+which she had belonged, and they shuddered to be so
+near one who confessed to having frequently conversed
+with assassins. Nothing, then, was wanting to urge on
+a blind and prejudiced crowd, still further instigated by
+the example of Madame Dubreuil.</p>
+
+<p>"Take her before the mayor!" cried one.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay! and, if she won't walk, we'll drag her."</p>
+
+<p>"And for her to have the impudence to dress herself
+like one of us honest girls!" said an awkward, ill-looking
+farm-wench.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure," rejoined another female, with her mock-modest
+air, "one might have thought she would go to
+heaven, spite of priest or confession!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, she had the assurance even to attend mass!"</p>
+
+<p>"No! Did she? Why did she not join in the communion
+afterwards then, I should like to know?"</p>
+
+<p>"And then she must play the young lady, and hold
+up her head as high as our betters!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"As though we were not good company enough for
+her!"</p>
+
+<p>"However, every dog has his day!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'll make you find your tongue, and tell who it
+was took my husband's life!" vociferated the enraged
+widow, breaking out into a fresh storm, now she felt her
+party so strong. "You all belong to one gang; and I'm
+not sure but I saw you among them at the very time
+and place when the bloody deed was done! Come,
+come; don't stand there shedding your crocodile tears;
+you are found out, and may as well leave off shamming
+any more. Show your face, I say! You are a beauty,
+ain't you?" And the infuriated woman, suiting the
+action to the word, violently snatched the two hands of
+poor Fleur-de-Marie from the pale and grief-worn countenance
+they concealed, and down which tears were fast
+streaming.</p>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse, sinking under a sense of shame, and
+terrified at finding herself thus at the mercy of her persecutors,
+joined her hands, and, turning towards the
+milk-woman her supplicating and timid looks, she said,
+in a gentle voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, indeed, madam, I have been at the farm of
+Bouqueval these last two months. How could I, then,
+have been witness to the dreadful misfortune you speak
+of? And&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The faint tones of Fleur-de-Marie's voice were
+drowned in the loud uproarious cries of the surrounding
+multitude.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us take her before the mayor! She can speak;
+and she shall, too, to some purpose. March, march, my
+fine madam! On with you!"</p>
+
+<p>So saying, the menacing crowd pressed upon the poor
+girl, who, mechanically crossing her hands on her bosom,
+looked eagerly around, as though in search of help.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," cried the milk-woman, "you need not stare
+about in that wild way. Mlle. Clara is not here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+now to take your part. You don't slip through my
+fingers, I promise you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! madam," uttered Fleur-de-Marie, trembling
+violently, "I seek not to escape from you. Be assured,
+I am both ready and willing to answer all the questions
+put to me, if I can be of any service to you by so
+doing. But what harm have I done to these people,
+who surround and threaten me in this manner?"</p>
+
+<p>"What have you done?" repeated a number of
+voices, "why, you have dared to stick yourself up with
+our betters, when we, who were worth thousands more
+than such as you, were made to keep our distance,&mdash;that's
+what you have done!"</p>
+
+<p>"And what right had you to cause this poor woman
+to be turned away with her fatherless children?" cried
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, it was no fault of mine. It was Mlle.
+Clara, who wished&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That is not true!" interrupted the speaker. "You
+never even opened your mouth in her favour. No, not
+you? You were too well pleased to see her bread taken
+from her."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! no more she did," chimed in a burst of
+voices, male and female.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a regular bad one!"</p>
+
+<p>"A poor widow-woman, with three helpless children!"</p>
+
+<p>"If I did not plead for her with Mlle. Clara, it was
+because I had not power to utter a word."</p>
+
+<p>"You could find strength enough to talk to a set of
+thieves and murderers!"</p>
+
+<p>And, as is frequently the case in public commotions,
+the country people, more ignorant than vicious, actually
+talked themselves into a fury, until their own words and
+violence excited them to fresh acts of rage and vengeance
+against their unhappy victim.</p>
+
+<p>The menacing throng, gesticulating, and loudly threatening,
+advanced closer and closer towards Fleur-de-Marie,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+while the widow appeared to have lost all
+command over herself. Separated from the deep pond
+only by the parapet on which she was leaning, the
+Goualeuse shuddered at the idea of their throwing
+her into the water; and, extending towards them her
+supplicating hands, she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Good, kind people! what do you want with me?
+For pity's sake do not harm me!"</p>
+
+<p>And as the milk-woman, with fierce and angry gestures,
+kept coming nearer and nearer, holding her
+clenched fist almost in the face of Fleur-de-Marie, the
+poor girl, drawing herself back in terror, said, in
+beseeching tones:</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, pray, do not press so closely on me, or you
+will cause me to fall into the water."</p>
+
+<p>These words suggested a cruel idea to the rough spectators.
+Intending merely one of those practical jokes
+which, however diverting to the projectors, are fraught
+with serious harm and suffering to the unfortunate
+object of them, one of the most violent of the number
+called out, "Let's give her a plunge in! Duck her!
+duck her!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes!" chimed several voices, accompanied with
+brutal laughter, and noisy clapping of hands, with other
+tokens of unanimous approval. "Throw her in!&mdash;in
+with her!"</p>
+
+<p>"A good dip will do her good! Water won't kill
+her!"</p>
+
+<p>"That will teach her not to show her face among
+honest people again!"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure. Toss her in!&mdash;fling her over!"</p>
+
+<p>"Fortunately, the ice was broken this morning!"</p>
+
+<p>"And when she has had her bath she may go and tell
+her street companions how the folks at Arnouville farm
+serve such vile girls as she is!"</p>
+
+<p>As these unfeeling speeches reached her ear, as she
+heard their barbarous jokes, and observed the exasperated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+looks of the brutally excited individuals who
+approached her to carry their threat into execution,
+Fleur-de-Marie gave herself over for lost. But to her
+first horror of a violent death succeeded a sort of gloomy
+satisfaction. The future wore so threatening and hopeless
+an aspect for her that she thanked heaven for
+shortening her trial. Not another complaining word
+escaped her; but gently falling on her knees, and piously
+folding her hands upon her breast, she closed her eyes,
+and meekly resigned herself to her fate.</p>
+
+<p>The labourers, surprised at the attitude and mute
+resignation of the Goualeuse, hesitated a moment in the
+accomplishment of their savage design; but, rallied on
+their folly and irresolution by the female part of the
+assemblage, they recommenced their uproarious cries, as
+though to inspire themselves with the necessary courage
+to complete their wicked purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Just as two of the most furious of the party were
+about to seize on Fleur-de-Marie a loud, thrilling voice
+was heard, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>"Stop! I command you!"</p>
+
+<p>And at the very instant Madame Georges, who had
+forced a passage through the crowd, reached the still
+kneeling Goualeuse, took her in her arms, and, raising
+her, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Rise up, my child! Stand up, my beloved daughter!
+the knee should be bent to God alone!"</p>
+
+<p>The expression and attitude of Madame Georges were
+so full of courageous firmness that the actors in this
+cruel scene shrunk back speechless and confounded.
+Indignation coloured her usually pale features, and
+casting on the labourers a stern look she said to
+them, in a loud and threatening voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Wretches! Are you not ashamed of such brutal
+conduct to a helpless girl like this?"</p>
+
+<p>"She is&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"My daughter!" exclaimed Madame Georges, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+severity, and abruptly interrupting the man who was
+about to speak, "and, as such, both cherished and
+protected by our worthy curé, M. l'Abbé Laporte,
+whom every one venerates and loves; and those whom he
+loves and esteems ought to be respected by every one!"</p>
+
+<p>These simple words effectually imposed silence on the
+crowd. The curé of Bouqueval was looked upon throughout
+his district almost as a saint, and many there present
+were well aware of the interest he took in the
+Goualeuse. Still a confused murmur went on, and
+Madame Georges, fully comprehending its import,
+added:</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose this poor girl were the very worst of creatures&mdash;the
+most abandoned of her sex&mdash;your conduct
+is not the less disgraceful! What offence has she committed?
+And what right have you to punish her?&mdash;you,
+who call yourselves men, to exert your strength
+and power against one poor, feeble, unresisting female!
+Surely it was a cowardly action all to unite against a
+defenceless girl! Come, Marie! come, child of my
+heart! let us return home; there, at least, you are
+known, and justly appreciated."</p>
+
+<p>Madame Georges took the arm of Fleur-de-Marie,
+while the labourers, ashamed of their conduct, the impropriety
+of which they now perceived, respectfully dispersed.
+The widow alone remained; and, advancing
+boldly to Madame Georges, she said, in a resolute tone:</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care for a word you say; and, as for this
+girl, she does not quit this place until after she has
+deposed before the mayor as to all she knows of my
+poor husband's murder."</p>
+
+<p>"My good woman!" said Madame Georges, restraining
+herself by a violent effort, "my daughter has no
+deposition to make here, but, at any future period that
+justice may require her testimony let her be summoned,
+and she shall attend with myself; until then no person
+has a right to question her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But, madame, I say&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Madame Georges prevented the milk-woman from proceeding
+by replying, in a severe tone:</p>
+
+<p>"The severe affliction you have experienced can
+scarcely excuse your conduct, and you will one day
+regret the violence you have so improperly excited. Mlle.
+Marie lives with me at the Bouqueval farm; inform the
+judge who received your deposition of that circumstance,
+and say that we await his further orders."</p>
+
+<p>The widow, unable to argue against words so temperately
+and wisely spoken, seated herself on the parapet of
+the drinking-place, and, embracing her children, began
+to weep bitterly. Almost immediately after this scene
+Pierre brought the chaise, into which Madame Georges
+and Fleur-de-Marie mounted, to return to Bouqueval.</p>
+
+<p>As they passed before the farmhouse of Arnouville,
+the Goualeuse perceived Clara, who had hid herself behind
+a partly closed shutter, weeping bitterly. She was
+evidently watching for a last glimpse of her friend, to
+whom she waved her handkerchief in token of farewell.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, madame! what shame to me, and vexation to
+you, has arisen this morning from our visit to Arnouville!"
+said Fleur-de-Marie to her adopted parent, when
+they found themselves in the sitting-room at Bouqueval;
+"you have probably quarrelled for ever with Madame
+Dubreuil, and all on my account! Oh, I foresaw something
+terrible was about to happen! God has justly punished
+me for deceiving that good lady and her daughter!
+I am the unfortunate cause of perpetual disunion between
+yourself and your friend."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear child, my friend is a warm-hearted, excellent
+woman, but rather weak; still I know her too well
+not to feel certain that by to-morrow she will regret her
+foolish violence of to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! madame, think not that I wish to take her
+part in preference to yours. No, God forbid! but pardon
+me if I say that I fear your great kindness towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+me has induced you to shut your eyes to&mdash;Put yourself
+in the place of Madame Dubreuil&mdash;to be told that
+the companion of your darling daughter was&mdash;what I
+was&mdash;Ah, could any one blame such natural indignation?"</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately Madame Georges could not find any
+satisfactory reply to this question of Fleur-de-Marie's,
+who continued with much excitement:</p>
+
+<p>"Soon will the degrading scene of yesterday be in
+everybody's mouth! I fear not for myself, but who
+can tell how far it may affect the reputation of Mlle.
+Clara? Who can answer for it that I may not have tarnished
+her fair fame for ever? for did she not, in the
+face of the assembled crowd, persist in calling me her
+friend&mdash;her sister? I ought to have obeyed my first
+impulse, and resisted the affection which attracted me
+towards Mlle. Dubreuil, and, at the risk of incurring
+her dislike, have refused the friendship she offered me.
+But I forgot the distance which separated me from
+her, and now, as you perceive, I am suffering the just
+penalty; I am punished&mdash;oh, how cruelly punished! for
+I have perhaps done an irreparable injury to one so virtuous
+and so good."</p>
+
+<p>"My child," said Madame Georges, after a brief silence,
+"you are wrong to accuse yourself so cruelly.
+'Tis true your past life has been guilty&mdash;very highly so;
+but are we to reckon as nothing your having, by the sincerity
+of your repentance, obtained the protection and
+favour of our excellent curé? and was it not under his
+auspices and mine you were introduced to Madame Dubreuil?
+and did not your own amiable qualities inspire
+her with the attachment she so voluntarily professed for
+you? was it not she herself who requested you to call
+Clara your sister? and, finally, as I told her just now, for
+I neither wished nor ought to conceal the whole truth
+from her, how could I, certain as I felt of your sincere
+repentance&mdash;how could I, by divulging the past, render<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+your attempts to reinstate yourself more painful and difficult,
+perhaps impossible, by throwing you, in despair of
+being again received by the good and virtuous, back
+upon the scorn and derision of those who, equally guilty,
+equally unfortunate as you have been, would not perhaps
+like you have preserved the secret instinct of honour and
+virtue? The disclosure made by the woman to-day is
+alike to be lamented and feared; but could I, in anticipation
+of an almost impossible casualty, sacrifice your
+present comfort and future repose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, madame, a convincing proof of the false and
+miserable position I must ever hold may be found in the
+fact of your being obliged to conceal the past; and that
+the mother of Clara despises me for that past; views me
+in the same contemptuous light all will henceforward
+behold me, for the scene at the farm of Arnouville will
+be quickly spread abroad,&mdash;every one will hear of it!
+Oh, I shall die with shame! never again can I meet the
+looks of any human being!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not even mine, my child?" said Madame Georges,
+bursting into tears, and opening her arms to Fleur-de-Marie,
+"you will never find in my heart any other feeling
+than the devoted tenderness of a mother. Courage,
+then, dear Marie! console yourself with the knowledge
+of your hearty and sincere repentance; you are here surrounded
+with true and affectionate friends, let this home
+be your world. We will anticipate the exposure you
+dread so much; our worthy abbé shall assemble the people
+about the farm, who all regard you with love and
+respect, and he shall tell them the sad history of your
+past life; and, trust me, my child, told as the tale
+would be by him, whose word is law here, such a disclosure
+will but serve to increase the interest all take in
+your welfare."</p>
+
+<p>"I would fain think so, dear madame, and I submit
+myself. Yesterday, when we were conversing together,
+M. le Curé predicted to me that I should be called upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+painfully to expiate my past offences; I ought not, therefore,
+to be astonished at their commencement. He told
+me also that my earthly trials would be accepted as
+some atonement for the great wrong I have done; I
+would fain hope so. Supported through these painful
+ordeals by you and my venerable pastor, I will not&mdash;I
+ought not to complain."</p>
+
+<p>"You will go to his presence ere long, and never will
+his counsels have been more valuable to you. It is
+already half-past four; prepare yourself for your visit
+to the rectory, my child. I shall employ myself in
+writing to M. Rodolph an account of what occurred at
+the farm at Arnouville, and send my letter off by
+express; I will then join you at our venerable abbé's,
+for it is most important we should talk over matters
+together."</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the Goualeuse quitted the farm in
+order to repair to the rectory by the hollow road,
+where the old woman, the Schoolmaster, and Tortillard
+had agreed to meet.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p>As may have been perceived in her conversations
+with Madame Georges and the curé of Bouqueval, Fleur-de-Marie
+had so nobly profited by the example of her
+benefactors, so assimilated herself with their principles,
+that, remembering her past degradation, she daily became
+more hopeless of recovering the place she had lost
+in society. As her mind expanded so did her fine and
+noble instincts arrive at mature growth, and bring forth
+worthy fruits in the midst of the atmosphere of honour
+and purity in which she lived. Had she possessed a
+less exalted mind, a less exquisite sensibility, or an
+imagination of weaker quality, Fleur-de-Marie might
+easily have been comforted and consoled; but, unfortunately,
+not a single day passed in which she did not
+recall, and almost live over again, with an agony of
+horror and disgust, the disgraceful miseries of her past<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+life. Let the reader figure to himself a young creature
+of sixteen, candid and pure, and rejoicing in that very
+candour and purity, thrown, by frightful circumstances,
+into the infamous den of the ogress, and irrecoverably
+subjected to the dominion of such a fiend,&mdash;such was
+the reaction of the past on the present on Fleur-de-Marie's
+mind. Let us still further display the resentful
+retrospect, or, rather, the moral agony with which the
+Goualeuse suffered so excruciatingly, by saying that she
+regretted, more frequently than she had courage to own
+to the curé, the not having perished in the midst of the
+slough of wickedness by which she was encompassed.</p>
+
+<p>However little a person may reflect, or however limited
+his knowledge of life may be, he will not refuse to
+assent to our remarks touching the commiseration which
+such a case as Fleur-de-Marie's fully called for. She
+was deserving of both interest and pity, not only because
+she had never known what it was to have her affections
+fairly roused, but because all her senses were torpid,
+and as yet unawakened by noble impulses&mdash;untaught,
+unaided, unadvised. Is it not wonderful that this unfortunate
+girl, thrown at the tender age of sixteen years in
+the midst of the herd of savage and demoralised beings
+who infest the Cité, should have viewed her degrading
+position with horror and disgust, and have escaped from
+the sink of iniquity morally pure and free from sin?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<h5>THE HOLLOW WAY.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The sun was descending, and the fields were silent
+and deserted. Fleur-de-Marie had reached the entrance
+to the hollow way, which it was necessary to cross in
+her walk to the rectory, when she saw a little lame lad,
+dressed in a gray blouse and blue cap, come out of the
+ravine. He appeared in tears, and directly he saw the
+Goualeuse he ran towards her.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, good lady, have pity on me, I pray!" he exclaimed,
+clasping his hands with a supplicating look.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want? What is the matter with you,
+my poor boy?" said the Goualeuse, with an air of
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, good lady! my poor grandmother, who is
+very, very old, has fallen down in trying to climb up the
+ravine, and hurt herself very much. I am afraid she
+has broken her leg, and I am too weak to lift her up
+myself. <i>Mon Dieu!</i> what shall I do if you will not
+come and help me? Perhaps my poor grandmother will
+die!"</p>
+
+<p>The Goualeuse, touched with the grief of the little
+cripple, replied:</p>
+
+<p>"I am not very strong myself, my child; but perhaps
+I can help you to assist your poor grandmother. Let us
+go to her as quickly as we can! I live at the farm
+close by here; and, if the poor old woman cannot walk
+there with us, I will send somebody to help her!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, good lady, <i>le bon Dieu</i> will bless you for your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+kindness! It is close by here&mdash;not two steps down
+this hollow way, as I told you. It was in going down
+the slope that she fell."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not belong to this part of the country?"
+said the Goualeuse, inquiringly following Tortillard,
+whom our readers have, no doubt, recognised.</p>
+
+<p>"No, good lady, we came from Ecouen."</p>
+
+<p>"And where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>"To a good clergyman's, who lives on the hill out
+there," said Bras Rouge's son, to increase Fleur-de-Marie's
+confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"To the Abbé Laport's, perhaps?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, good lady; to the Abbé Laport's. My poor
+grandmother knows him very, very well."</p>
+
+<p>"And I was going there also. How strange that we
+should meet," said Fleur-de-Marie, advancing still farther
+into the hollow way.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmamma, I'm coming, I'm coming! Take
+courage, and I will bring you help!" cried Tortillard, to
+forewarn the Schoolmaster and the Chouette to prepare
+themselves to lay hands on their victim.</p>
+
+<p>"Your grandmother, then, did not fall down far off
+from here?" inquired the Goualeuse.</p>
+
+<p>"No, good lady; behind that large tree there, where
+the road turns, about twenty paces from here."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Tortillard stopped.</p>
+
+<p>The noise of a horse galloping was heard in the silence
+of the place.</p>
+
+<p>"All is lost again!" said Tortillard to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The road made a very sudden bend a few yards from
+the spot where Bras Rouge's son was with the Goualeuse.
+A horseman appeared at the angle, and when he
+came nigh to the young girl he stopped. And then was
+heard the trot of another horse; and some moments
+after there followed a groom in a brown coat with silver
+buttons, white leather breeches, and top-boots. A
+leathern belt secured around his waist his master's macintosh.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+His master was dressed simply in a stout brown
+frock-coat, and a pair of light gray trousers, which fitted
+closely. He was mounted on a thoroughbred and splendid
+bay horse, which he sat admirably, and which, in
+spite of the fast gallop, had not a bead of sweat on his
+skin, which was as bright and brilliant as a star. The
+groom's gray horse, which stood motionless a few paces
+behind his master, was also well-bred and perfect of his
+kind. In the handsome dark face of the gentleman
+Tortillard recognised the Vicomte de Saint-Rémy, who
+was supposed to be the lover of the Duchesse de Lucenay.</p>
+
+<p>"My pretty lass," said the viscount to the Goualeuse,
+whose lovely countenance struck him, "would you be so
+obliging as to tell me the way to the village of Arnouville?"</p>
+
+<p>Fleur-de-Marie's eyes sunk before the bold and admiring
+look of the young man, as she replied:</p>
+
+<p>"On leaving the sunken road, sir, you must take the
+first turning to the right, and that path will lead you to
+an avenue of cherry-trees, which is the straight road to
+Arnouville."</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand thanks, my pretty lass! You tell me
+better than an old woman, whom I found a few yards
+further on stretched under a tree, for I could only get
+groans and moans out of her."</p>
+
+<p>"My poor grandmother!" said Tortillard, in a whining
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>"One word more," said M. de Saint-Rémy, addressing
+La Goualeuse. "Can you tell me if I shall easily find
+M. Dubreuil's farm at Arnouville?"</p>
+
+<p>Goualeuse could not prevent a shudder at these words,
+which recalled to her the painful scene of the morning.
+She replied:</p>
+
+<p>"The farm-buildings border the avenue which you
+must enter to reach Arnouville, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Once more, many thanks, my pretty dear," said M.
+de Saint-Rémy; and he galloped off with his groom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The handsome features of the viscount were in full
+animation whilst he was talking to Fleur-de-Marie, but
+when he was again alone they became darkened and
+contracted by painful uneasiness. Fleur-de-Marie, remembering
+the unknown person for whom they were so
+hastily preparing a pavilion at the farm of Arnouville
+by Madame de Lucenay's orders, felt convinced it was
+for this young and good-looking cavalier.</p>
+
+<p>The sound of the horses' feet as they galloped on was
+heard for some time on the hard and frozen ground,
+and by degrees grew fainter, then were no longer heard,
+and all was once more hushed in silence. Tortillard
+breathed again. Desirous of encouraging and warning
+his accomplices, one of whom, the Schoolmaster, was
+concealed from the horsemen, Bras Rouge's son called
+out:</p>
+
+<p>"Granny! granny! here I am! with the good lady
+who is coming to help you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Quick, quick, my boy! The gentleman on horseback
+has made us lose some time," said the Goualeuse,
+walking at a quicker pace, that she might reach the
+turning into the hollow way.</p>
+
+<p>She had scarcely entered it when the Chouette, who
+was hidden there, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Now then, <i>fourline!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Then springing upon the Goualeuse, the one-eyed hag
+seized her by the neck with one hand, whilst with the
+other she pressed her mouth; and Tortillard, throwing
+himself at the young girl's feet, clung round her legs,
+that she might not be able to stir.</p>
+
+<p>This took place so rapidly that the Chouette had no
+time to examine the Goualeuse's features; but during
+the few instants it required for the Schoolmaster to quit
+the hole in which he was ensconced, to grope his way
+along with his cloak, the beldame recognised her old
+victim.</p>
+
+<p>"La Pegriotte!" she exclaimed, in great surprise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+Then adding with savage delight, "What, is it you?
+Ah, the baker (the devil) sends you! It is your fate,
+then, to fall into my clutches! I have my vitriol in the
+<i>fiacre</i> now, and your white skin shall have a touch, miss;
+for it makes me sick to see your fine lady countenance.
+Come, my man, mind she don't bite; and hold her tight
+whilst we bundle her up."</p>
+
+<p>The Schoolmaster seized the Goualeuse in his two
+powerful hands, and before she could utter a cry the
+Chouette threw the cloak over her head, and wrapped
+her up in it, tightly and securely. In a moment, Fleur-de-Marie,
+tied and enveloped, was without any power to
+move or call for assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"Now take up your parcel, <i>fourline</i>," said the
+Chouette. "He, he, he! This is not such a load as
+the 'black peter' of the woman who was drowned in
+the Canal of St. Martin&mdash;-is it, my man?" And as
+the brigand shuddered at these words, which reminded
+him of his fearful vision, the one-eyed hag resumed,
+"Well, well, what ails you, <i>fourline?</i> Why, you seem
+frozen! Ever since the morning your teeth chatter as
+if you had the ague; and you look in the air as if you
+were looking for something there!"</p>
+
+<p>"Vile impostor! He is looking to see the flies," said
+Tortillard.</p>
+
+<p>"Come, quick! Haste forward, my man! Up with
+Pegriotte! That's it!" said the Chouette, as she saw
+the ruffian lift Fleur-de-Marie in his arms as he would
+carry a sleeping infant. "Quick to the coach! quick,&mdash;quick!"</p>
+
+<p>"But who will lead me?" inquired the Schoolmaster,
+in a hoarse voice, and securing his light and flexible
+burden in his herculean arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Old wise head!&mdash;he thinks of every thing!" said
+the Chouette.</p>
+
+<p>Then, lifting aside her shawl, she unfastened a red
+pocket-handkerchief which covered her skinny neck,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+and, twisting it into its length, said to the Schoolmaster:</p>
+
+<p>"Open your ivories, and take the end of this 'wipe'
+between them. Hold tight! Tortillard will take the
+other end in his hand, and you have nothing to do but
+to follow him. The good blind man requires a good
+dog! Here, brat!"</p>
+
+<p>The cripple cut a caper, and made a sort of low and
+odd barking. Then, taking the other end of the handkerchief
+in his hand, he led the Schoolmaster in this
+way, whilst the Chouette hastened forward to apprise
+Barbillon. We have not attempted to paint Fleur-de-Marie's
+terror when she found herself in the power of
+the Chouette and the Schoolmaster. She felt all her
+strength leave her, and could not offer the slightest
+resistance.</p>
+
+<p>Some minutes afterwards the Goualeuse was lifted into
+the <i>fiacre</i> which Barbillon drove, and although it was
+night they closed the window-blinds carefully; and the
+three accomplices went, with their almost expiring victim,
+towards the plain of St. Denis, where Thomas
+Seyton awaited them.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<h5>CLÉMENCE D'HARVILLE.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The reader will kindly excuse our having left one of
+our heroines in a most critical situation, the <i>dénouement</i>
+of which we shall state hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>It will be remembered that Rodolph had preserved
+Madame d'Harville from an imminent danger, occasioned
+by the jealousy of Sarah, who had acquainted
+M. d'Harville with the assignation Clémence had so
+imprudently granted to M. Charles Robert. Deeply
+affected with the scene he had witnessed, the prince
+returned directly home after quitting the Rue du
+Temple, putting off till the next day the visit he
+purposed paying to Mlle. Rigolette and the distressed
+family of the unfortunate artisan, of whom we have
+spoken, believing them out of the reach of present want,
+thanks to the money he had given Madame d'Harville to
+convey to them, in order that her pretended charitable
+visit to the house might assume a more convincing
+appearance in the eyes of her husband.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, Rodolph was ignorant of Tortillard's
+having possessed himself of the purse, although the
+reader has already been told how the artful young thief
+contrived to effect the barefaced cheat.</p>
+
+<p>About four o'clock the prince received the following
+letter, which was brought by an old woman, who went
+away the instant she had delivered it without awaiting
+any answer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>:</p>
+
+<p class="indent">"I owe you more than life; and I would fain express my
+heartfelt gratitude for the invaluable service you have rendered
+me to-day. To-morrow shame would, perhaps, close my lips. If
+your royal highness will honour me with a call this evening, you
+will finish the day as you began it&mdash;by a generous action.</p>
+
+<p class="sigs">"<span class="smcap">D'Orbigny d'Harville</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="indent">"P.S. Do not, my lord, take the trouble to write an answer.
+I shall be at home all the evening."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>However rejoiced Rodolph felt at having been the
+happy instrument of good to Madame d'Harville, he
+yet could not help regretting the sort of a forced intimacy
+which this circumstance all at once established
+between himself and the marquise. Deeply struck with
+the graceful vivacity and extreme beauty of Clémence,
+yet wholly incapable of infringing upon the friendship
+which existed between himself and the marquis,
+Rodolph, directly he became aware of the passion
+which was springing up in his heart for the wife of
+his friend, almost denied himself (after having previously
+devoted a whole month to the most assiduous
+attentions) the pleasure of beholding her. And now,
+too, he recollected with much emotion the conversation
+he had overheard at the embassy between Tom and
+Sarah, when the latter, by way of accounting for her
+hatred and jealousy, had affirmed, and not without
+truth, that Madame d'Harville still felt, even unknown
+to herself, a serious affection for Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was too acute, too penetrating, too well versed
+in the knowledge of the human heart, not to be well aware
+that Clémence, believing herself scorned by a man who
+had made so deep an impression on her heart, and yielding,
+from the effects of her irritated feelings, to the
+importunities of a perfidious friend, might be induced
+to interest herself in the imaginary woes of M. Charles
+Robert, without, consequently, forgetting Rodolph.
+Other women, faithful to the memory of a man they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+had once distinguished, would have remained indifferent
+to the melancholy looks of the commandant.
+Clémence d'Harville was therefore doubly blamable,
+although she had only yielded to the seduction of unhappiness,
+and, fortunately for her, had been preserved
+alike by a keen sense of duty and the remembrance of
+the prince (which still lurked in her heart, and kept
+faithful watch over it) from the commission of an
+irreparable fault.</p>
+
+<p>A thousand contradictory emotions disturbed the
+mind of Rodolph, as he thought of his interview with
+Madame d'Harville. Firmly resolved to resist the
+predilection which attracted him to her society, sometimes
+he congratulated himself on being able to cast
+off his love for her by the recollection of her having
+entangled herself with such a being as Charles Robert;
+and the next instant he bitterly deplored seeing the
+flattering veil with which he had invested his idol fall
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p>Clémence d'Harville, on her part, awaited the approaching
+interview with much anxiety; but the two
+prevailing sentiments which pervaded her breast were
+painful confusion, when she remembered the interference
+of Rodolph, and a fixed aversion when she thought
+of M. Charles Robert, and many reasons were concerned
+in this feeling of dislike almost approaching
+hatred itself. A woman will risk her honour or her
+life for a man, but she will never pardon him for having
+placed her in a mortifying or a ridiculous situation.</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville felt her cheeks flush, and her
+pulse beat rapidly as she indignantly recalled the
+insulting looks and impertinent remarks of Madame
+Pipelet. Nor was this all. After receiving from
+Rodolph an intimation of the danger she was incurring,
+Clémence had proceeded rapidly towards the fifth
+floor, as directed, but the position of the staircase was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+such that, as she hurried on, she perceived M. Charles
+Robert in his dazzling <i>robe de chambre</i>, at the very instant
+when, recognising the light step of the woman he
+expected, he, with a self-satisfied, confident, and triumphant
+look, set the door of his apartment half open.
+The air of insolent familiarity, expressed by the <i>negligée</i>
+toilet he had assumed, quickly enabled the marquise
+to perceive how entirely she had been mistaken in his
+character. Led away by the kindness and goodness of
+her heart, and the generosity of her disposition, to take
+a step which might for ever destroy her reputation, she
+had accorded this meeting, not from love, but solely
+from commiseration, in order to console him for the
+ridiculous part the bad taste of the Duke de Lucenay
+had made him play before her at the embassy. Words
+can ill describe the disgust and vexation with which
+Madame d'Harville beheld the slipshod <i>déshabillé</i> of the
+commandant, implying as it did his opinion how completely
+her ill-judged condescension had broken down
+the barriers of etiquette, and led him to consider no
+further respect towards her necessary.</p>
+
+<p>The timepiece in the small salon which Madame
+d'Harville ordinarily occupied struck nine o'clock.
+Dressmakers and tavern-keepers have so much abused
+the style of Louis XV. and the Renaissance, that the
+marquise, a woman of infinite taste, had excluded from
+her apartments this description of ornament, now become
+so vulgarised, and confined it to that part of the
+hôtel devoted to the reception of visitors and grand
+entertainments. Nothing could be more elegant or
+more <i>distingué</i> than the fitting-up of the salon in which
+the marquise awaited Rodolph. The colour of the walls
+as well as the curtains (which, without either valances
+or draperies, were of Indian texture) was bright straw
+colour, on which were embroidered, in a darker shade,
+in unwrought silk, arabesques of the most beautiful designs
+and whimsical devices. Double curtains of point<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+d'Alençon entirely concealed the windows. The rosewood
+doors were set off with gold mouldings, most
+beautifully carved, surrounding in each panel an oval
+medallion of Sèvres china, nearly a foot in diameter,
+representing a numberless variety of birds and flowers
+of surpassing brilliancy and beauty. The frames of the
+looking-glasses and the cornices of the curtains were
+also of rosewood, ornamented with similar raised work
+of silver gilt. The white marble mantelpiece, with its
+supporting caryatides of antique beauty and exquisite
+grace, was from the chisel of the proud and imperious
+Marochetti, that great artist having consented to sculpture
+this delicious <i>chef-d'&oelig;uvre</i> in imitation of Benvenuto
+Cellini, who disdained not to model ewers and
+armour. Two candelabras, and two candlesticks of
+vermeil, forming groups of small figures beautifully
+executed, stood on either side of the timepiece, which
+was formed of a square block of lapis lazuli raised on
+a pedestal of Oriental jasper, and surmounted with a
+large and magnificently enamelled golden cup, richly
+studded with rubies and pearls, once the property of the
+Florentine Republic. Several excellent pictures of the
+Venetian school, of middle size, completed this assemblage
+of elegance and refined taste.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to a most charming invention but recently
+introduced, this splendid yet simple apartment was
+lighted only by the soft rays of a lamp, the unground
+surface of whose crystal globe was half hid among a
+mass of real flowers, contained in an immensely large
+and deep blue and gold Japan cup, suspended from the
+ceiling like a lustre by three chains of vermeil, around
+which were entwined the green stalks of several climbing
+plants; while some of the flexible branches, thickly
+laden with flowers, overhanging the edge of the cup and
+hanging gracefully down, formed a waving fringe of
+fresh verdure, beautifully contrasting with the blue
+and gold enamel of the purple porcelain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We have been thus precise in these details, trifling
+as they may seem, in order to give some idea of the
+exquisite taste possessed by Madame d'Harville (the
+almost invariable companion of an elevated mind), and
+also because misfortunes always strike us as more poignantly
+cruel when they insinuate themselves into abodes
+like this, the favoured possessors of which seem gifted
+by Providence with everything to make life happy and
+enviable.</p>
+
+<p>Buried in the downy softness of a large armchair,
+totally covered by the same straw-coloured Indian silk
+as formed the rest of the hangings, Clémence d'Harville
+sat, awaiting the arrival of Rodolph. Her hair was
+arranged in the most simple manner. She wore a high
+dress of black velvet, which well displayed the beauty
+and admirable workmanship of her large collar and
+cuffs of English lace, which prevented the extreme
+black of the velvet from contrasting too harshly with
+the dazzling whiteness of her throat and hands.</p>
+
+<p>In proportion as the hour approached for her interview
+with Rodolph, the emotion of the marquise increased;
+but by degrees her embarrassment ceased, and
+firmer resolves took possession of her mind. After a
+long and mature reflection she came to the determination
+of confiding to Rodolph a great, a cruel secret, hoping
+by her frankness to win back that esteem she now
+so highly prized. Awakened by gratitude, her pristine
+admiration of Rodolph returned with fresh force; one
+of those secret whispers, which rarely deceives the heart
+that loves, told her that chance alone had not brought
+the prince so opportunely to her succour, and that his
+studied avoidance of her society during the last few
+months had originated in anything but indifference.
+A vague suspicion also arose in her mind as to the
+reality and sincerity of the affection Sarah professed for
+her.</p>
+
+<p>While deeply meditating on all these things, a <i>valet de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+chambre</i>, having first gently tapped at the door, entered,
+saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Will it please you, my lady, to see Madame Ashton
+and my young lady?"</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville made an affirmative gesture of
+assent, and a little girl slowly entered the room.</p>
+
+<p>The child was about four years old, and her countenance
+would have been a very charming one but for its
+sickly pallor and extreme meagreness. Madame Ashton,
+the governess, held her by the hand, but, directly Claire
+(that was the name of the little girl) saw her mother,
+she opened her arms, and, spite of her feebleness, ran
+towards her. Her light brown hair was plaited, and
+tied at each side of her forehead with bows of cherry-coloured
+riband. Her health was so delicate that she
+wore a wrapping-dress of dark brown silk instead of one
+of those pretty little white muslin frocks trimmed with
+ribands of a similar colour as those in the hair, and well
+cut over the bosom to show the plump, pinky arms, and
+smooth, fair shoulders, so lovely in healthy children.
+So sunken were the cheeks of poor Claire that her large
+dark eyes looked quite enormous. But, spite of every
+appearance of weakness, a sweet and gentle smile lit up
+her small features when she was placed on the lap of
+her mother, whom she kissed and embraced with intense
+yet mournful affection.</p>
+
+<p>"How has she been of late, Madame Ashton?" inquired
+Madame d'Harville of the governess.</p>
+
+<p>"Tolerably well, madame; although at one time I
+feared."</p>
+
+<p>"Again!" cried Clémence, pressing her daughter to
+her heart with a movement of involuntary horror.</p>
+
+<p>"Fortunately, madame, I was mistaken," said the
+governess, "and the whole passed away without any
+further alarm; Mademoiselle Claire became composed,
+and merely suffered from a momentary feeling of weakness.
+She has not slept much this afternoon, but I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+could not coax her to bed without allowing her the
+pleasure of paying a visit to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear little angel!" cried Madame d'Harville, covering
+her daughter with kisses.</p>
+
+<p>The interesting child repaid her mother's caresses
+with infantine delight, when the groom of the chambers
+entered and announced:</p>
+
+<p>"His royal highness the Grand Duke of Gerolstein."</p>
+
+<p>Claire, standing on her mother's lap, had thrown her
+arms about her neck, and was clasping her with all the
+force of which her tiny arms were capable. At the
+sight of Rodolph, Clémence blushed deeply, set her child
+gently down on the carpet, and signed to Madame Ashton
+to take her away; she then rose to receive her guest.</p>
+
+<p>"You must give me leave," said Rodolph, smilingly,
+after having respectfully bowed to the marquise, "to
+renew my acquaintance with my little friend here, who
+I fear has almost forgotten me."</p>
+
+<p>And, stooping down a little, he extended his hand to
+Claire, who, first gazing at him with her large eyes, curiously
+scrutinised his features, then, recognising him, she
+made a gentle inclination of the head, and blew him a
+kiss from the tips of her small, thin fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"You remember my lord, then, my child?" asked
+Clémence of little Claire, who gave an assenting nod,
+and kissed her hand to Rodolph a second time.</p>
+
+<p>"Her health appears to me much improved since I
+last saw her," said he, addressing himself with unfeigned
+interest to Clémence.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank heaven, my lord, she is better, though still
+sadly delicate and suffering."</p>
+
+<p>The marquise and the prince, mutually embarrassed
+at the thoughts of the approaching interview, would
+have been equally glad to defer its commencement,
+through the medium of Claire's presence; but, the
+discreet Madame Ashton having taken her away,
+Rodolph and Clémence were left quite alone.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 323px;"><a name="image208" id="image208"></a>
+<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="323" height="500" alt="&quot;You Must Give Me Leave&quot;
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau" title="&quot;You Must Give Me Leave&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;<i>You Must Give Me Leave</i>&quot;<br />
+<span class="artist">Original Etching by L. Poiteau</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The armchair in which Madame d'Harville was reclining
+stood on the right hand of the chimney, and
+Rodolph remained without attempting to seat himself,
+gracefully leaning his elbow on the mantelpiece. Never
+had Clémence been so strongly impressed with admiration
+at the noble and prepossessing appearance of the
+prince; never had his voice sounded more gentle or
+sweet upon her ear. Fully understanding how painful
+it must be to the marquise to open the conversation,
+Rodolph at once proceeded to the main point by
+observing:</p>
+
+<p>"You have been, madame, the victim of a base and
+treacherous action. A cowardly and dishonourable disclosure
+on the part of the Countess Macgregor has well-nigh
+effected irremediable mischief."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it, indeed, so?" exclaimed Clémence, painfully
+surprised; "then my presentiments were not ill-founded!
+And by what means did your royal highness discover
+this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Last night, at the ball given by the Countess C&mdash;&mdash;,
+I discovered this infamous secret. I was sitting in a
+lone part of the 'Winter Garden,' when Countess Sarah
+and her brother, unconscious that a mass of verdure
+alone concealed me from them, while it enabled
+me to hear each word they spoke, began conversing
+freely upon their own projects, and the snare they had
+spread for you. Anxious to warn you of the danger
+with which you were threatened, I hastened to Madame
+de Nerval's ball, hoping to meet you there, but you did
+not appear. To write and direct my letter here was to
+incur the risk of its falling into the hands of the marquis,
+whose suspicions were already aroused by your
+treacherous friend; and I therefore preferred awaiting
+your arrival in the Rue du Temple, that I might unfold
+to you the perfidy of Countess Macgregor. Let me hope
+you will pardon my thus long dwelling on a subject
+which must be so painful to you. And, but for the few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+lines you were kind enough to write, never would my
+lips have in any way reverted to it."</p>
+
+<p>After a momentary silence, Madame d'Harville said
+to Rodolph:</p>
+
+<p>"There is but one way, my lord, in which I can prove
+to you my gratitude for your late generous conduct.
+It is to confess to you that which I have never revealed
+to a human being. What I have to say will
+not exculpate me in your estimation, but it will,
+perhaps, enable you to make some allowances for my
+imprudence."</p>
+
+<p>"Candidly speaking, madame," said Rodolph, smiling,
+"my position as regards you is a very embarrassing one."</p>
+
+<p>Clémence, astonished at the almost jesting tone in
+which he spoke, looked at Rodolph with extreme surprise,
+while she said, "How so, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks to a circumstance you are doubtless acquainted
+with, I am obliged to assume the grave airs
+of a mentor touching an incident which, since you have
+so happily escaped the vile snare laid for you by Countess
+Sarah, scarcely merits being treated with so much
+importance. But," continued Rodolph with a slight
+shade of gentle and affectionate earnestness, "your
+husband and myself are almost as brothers; and, before
+our time, our fathers had vowed the sincerest friendship
+for each other. I have, therefore, a double motive
+in most warmly congratulating you on having secured the
+peace and happiness of your husband!"</p>
+
+<p>"And it is from my knowledge of the high regard
+and esteem with which you honour M. d'Harville, that
+I have determined upon revealing the whole truth, as
+well as to explain myself relative to an interest which
+must appear to you as ill-chosen and unworthy as it now
+seems to me. I wish also to clear up that part of my
+conduct which bears an injurious appearance against the
+tranquillity and honour of him your highness styles
+'almost a brother.'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Believe me, madame, I shall at all times be most
+proud and happy to receive the smallest proof of your
+confidence. Yet permit me to say, as regards the interest
+you speak of, that I am perfectly aware it originated
+as much in sincere pity as from the constant importunities
+of Countess Sarah Macgregor, who had her own
+reasons for seeking to injure you. And I also know
+equally well that you long hesitated ere you could make
+up your mind to take the step you now so much regret."</p>
+
+<p>Clémence looked at the prince with surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem astonished. Well, that you may not
+fancy I dabble in witchcraft, some of these days I will
+tell you all about it," said Rodolph, smiling. "But your
+husband is perfectly tranquillised, is he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my lord," said Clémence, looking down in
+much confusion; "and it is most painful to me to hear
+him asking my pardon for having ever suspected me,
+and then eulogising my modest silence respecting my
+good deeds."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, do not chide an illusion which renders him so
+happy. On the contrary, endeavour to maintain the innocent
+deception. Were it not forbidden to treat your
+late adventure lightly, and had not you, madame, been
+so much involved in it, I would say that a woman never
+appears more charming in the eyes of her husband than
+when she has some fault to conceal. It is inconceivable
+how many little cajoleries, and what winning smiles,
+are employed to ease a troubled conscience. When I
+was young," added Rodolph, smiling, "I always, in spite
+of myself, mistrusted any unusual marks of tenderness.
+And, by the same rule, I can say of myself, that I never
+felt more disposed to appear in an amiable light than
+when I was conscious of requiring forgiveness. So,
+directly I perceived a more than ordinary anxiety to
+please and gratify me, I was very sure (judging by my
+own conduct) to ascribe it to some little peccadillo that
+needed overlooking and pardoning."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The light tone with which Rodolph continued to
+discuss an affair which might have been attended with
+circumstances so fearful, at first excited Madame
+d'Harville's wonder; but she quickly perceived that the
+prince, beneath his outward appearance of trifling,
+sought to conceal, or at least lessen, the importance
+of the service he had rendered her. And, profoundly
+touched with his delicacy, she said:</p>
+
+<p>"I comprehend your generous meaning, my lord;
+and you are fully at liberty to jest and forget as much
+as you like the peril from which you have preserved me.
+But that which I have to relate to you is of so grave, so
+serious, and mournful a nature, is so closely connected
+with the events of this morning, and your advice may
+so greatly benefit me, that I beseech you to remember
+that to you I owe both my honour and my life: yes, my
+lord, my life! My husband was armed; and he has
+owned, in the excess of his repentance, that it was his
+intention to have killed me, had his suspicions proved
+correct."</p>
+
+<p>"Great God!" exclaimed Rodolph with emotion.</p>
+
+<p>"And he would have been justified in so doing," rejoined
+Madame d'Harville, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"I beseech you, madame," said Rodolph,&mdash;and this
+time he spoke with deep seriousness,&mdash;"I beseech you
+to be assured I am incapable of being careless or indifferent
+to any matter in which you are concerned.
+If I seemed but now to jest, it was but to make you
+think less of a circumstance which has already occasioned
+you so much pain. But now, madame, you may
+command my most solemn attention. Since you honour
+me by saying my advice may be useful, I listen most
+anxiously and eagerly."</p>
+
+<p>"You can, indeed, counsel me most beneficially, my
+lord. But, before I explain to you my reasons for
+seeking your aid, I must say a few words concerning
+a period of which you are ignorant,&mdash;I mean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+the years which preceded my marriage with M. d'Harville."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph bowed, and Clémence continued:</p>
+
+<p>"At sixteen years of age I lost my mother (and here
+a tear stole down the fair cheek of Madame d'Harville).
+I cannot attempt to describe how much I adored that
+beloved parent. Imagine, my lord, the very personification
+of all earthly goodness. Her fondness for me was
+excessive, and appeared her only consolation amid the
+many bitter sorrows she had to endure. Caring but
+little for what is styled the world, with delicate health,
+and a natural predilection for sedentary occupation, her
+great delight had been in attending solely to my education,
+and her ample store of solid and varied knowledge
+well fitted her for the task. Conceive, my lord, her astonishment
+and mine when, in my sixteenth year, my
+dear preceptress considered my education nearly completed,
+my father&mdash;making the feeble health of my
+mother a pretext&mdash;announced to us that a young and
+accomplished widow, whose misfortunes rendered her
+justly interesting, would henceforth be charged with
+finishing what my dear parent had begun. My mother
+at first resolutely refused obedience to my father's command,
+while I in vain besought him not to interpose a
+stranger's authority between myself and my beloved
+mother. He was inexorable alike to our tears and
+prayers, and Madame Roland, who stated herself to be
+the widow of a colonel who had died in India, came to
+take up her abode with us, in the character of governess
+to myself."</p>
+
+<p>"What! the same Madame Roland your father
+married almost immediately after the death of your
+mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"The same, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>"Was she, then, very beautiful?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tolerably so,&mdash;nothing more."</p>
+
+<p>"Clever,&mdash;witty, perhaps?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She was a clever dissembler,&mdash;a skilful man&oelig;uvrer;
+her talent went no higher. She might be about
+five and twenty years of age, with extremely light hair
+and nearly white eyelashes; her eyes were large, round,
+and a clear blue; the expression of her countenance was
+humble and gentle; and while her outward manner was
+attentive, even to servility, her real disposition was as
+perfidious as it was unfeeling."</p>
+
+<p>"And what were her acquirements?"</p>
+
+<p>"Positively none at all, my lord; and I cannot conceive
+how my father, who until then had been so completely
+a slave to the dictates of worldly propriety, did
+not reflect that the utter incapacity of this woman must
+shamefully proclaim the real cause of her being in the
+house. My mother earnestly pointed out to him the
+extreme ignorance of Madame Roland; he, however,
+merely replied, in a tone which admitted of no further
+argument, that, competent or otherwise, the young and
+interesting widow should retain the situation in his establishment
+in which he had placed her. This I heard
+subsequently. From that instant my poor mother
+comprehended the whole affair, over which she deeply
+grieved; regretting less, I fancy, her husband's infidelity
+than the domestic unhappiness which would result from
+so indecorous a <i>liaison</i>, the account of which she feared
+might reach my ears."</p>
+
+<p>"But, even so far as his foolish passion was concerned,
+it seems to me that your father acted very unwisely in
+introducing this woman into his house."</p>
+
+<p>"And you would be still more at a loss to understand
+his conduct if you had but known the extreme formality
+and circumspection of his character. Nothing could ever
+have induced him thus to trample under foot all the established
+rules of society but the unbounded influence of
+Madame Roland,&mdash;an influence she exercised with so
+much the more certainty as she veiled her designs under
+the mask of the most passionate love for him."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But what was your father's age then?"</p>
+
+<p>"About sixty."</p>
+
+<p>"And he really credited the professions of love made
+by so much younger a woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"My father had been in his time one of the most
+fashionable and admired men of the day. And Madame
+Roland, either following the suggestions of her own artful
+mind or urged on by the counsels of others, who
+could countenance much more&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Counsel such a person!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you, my lord. Imagining that a man
+whose reputation for gallantry had always stood high
+in the world would, as he advanced in years, be more
+easily delighted than another by being flattered upon
+his personal advantages, and more credulously receive
+such compliments as served to recall those days most
+soothing to his vanity to remember, well, my lord, incredible
+as it may appear, this woman began to flatter
+my poor misguided father upon the graceful <i>tournure</i>
+of his features and the inimitable elegance of his shape.
+And he in his sixtieth year! Strange as you may
+consider it, spite of the excellent sense with which my
+father was endowed, he fell blindly into the snare, coarse
+and vulgar as it was. Such was&mdash;such still is, I doubt
+not&mdash;the secret of the unbounded influence this woman
+obtained over him. And really, my lord, spite of my
+present disinclination for mirth, I can scarcely restrain
+a smile at the recollection of having frequently, before
+my marriage, heard Madame Roland assert and maintain
+that what she styled real maturity was the finest
+portion of a person's existence, and that this maturity
+never began until about the fifty-fifth or sixtieth year of
+one's age."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that happened to be your father's
+age?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely so, my lord! Then, and then only,
+according to Madame Roland, had the understanding,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+combined with experience, attained their full development;
+then only could a man, occupying a distinguished
+position in the world, enjoy the consideration
+to which he was entitled; at that period only were the
+<i>tout ensemble</i> of his countenance, and the exquisite grace
+of his manners, in their highest perfection; the physiognomy
+offering at this delightful epoch of a man's life a
+heavenly mixture of winning serenity and gentle gravity.
+Then the slight tinge of melancholy, caused by the
+many recollections of the past deceit experience is fain
+to look back upon, completes the irresistible charm of
+real maturity; unappreciable (Madame Roland hastily
+added) except by women with head and heart sufficiently
+good to despise the youthful frivolity of a poor, inexperienced
+forty years, when the character and countenance
+can scarcely be called formed, and when good taste
+turns away from the boyish folly of such an immature
+season of life, and seeks the fine, majestic features impressed
+with the sublime and poetic expression resulting
+from a sixty years' study of the vast book of human
+existence."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph could not restrain smiling at the powerful
+irony with which Madame d'Harville sketched the portrait
+of her mother-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one thing," said he to the marquise, "for
+which I cannot forgive ridiculous people."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"The being also wicked; which prevents our being
+able to laugh at them as much as they deserve."</p>
+
+<p>"They probably calculate upon that available advantage,"
+replied Clémence.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, it is very probable, though equally lamentable,
+for, if it were not for the recollection of all the
+pain Madame Roland has occasioned you, I could be
+highly diverted with her system of real maturity as
+opposed to the insipidity of mere boys of only forty
+years of age, who, according to her assertion, would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+scarcely out of their leading-strings, as our grandfathers
+and grandmothers would say."</p>
+
+<p>"What principally excited my aversion for her was
+the shamefulness of her conduct towards my dear
+mother, and the unfortunately over-zealous part she
+took in my marriage," said the marquise, after a moment's
+pause.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph looked at her with much surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, my lord," said Clémence, in a firm, though
+gentle tone, "I well remember that M. d'Harville is
+your friend and my husband. I know perfectly the
+grave importance of the words I have just uttered:
+hereafter you yourself shall admit the justice of them.
+But to return to Madame Roland, who was now, spite
+of her acknowledged incapacity, established as my instructress:
+my mother had a long and most painful
+altercation with my father on the subject, which drew
+down on us his extreme displeasure, and from that
+period my mother and myself remained secluded in
+our apartments, while Madame Roland, in quality of
+my governess, directed the whole household, and almost
+publicly did the honours of the mansion."</p>
+
+<p>"What must your mother have suffered!"</p>
+
+<p>"She did, indeed, my lord; but her sorrow was less
+for herself than me, whose future destiny might be so
+deeply affected by the introduction of this woman.
+Her health, always delicate, became daily weaker, and
+she fell seriously ill. It chanced, most unfortunately,
+that our family doctor, M. Sorbier, in whom she had
+the highest confidence, died about this period, to my
+mother's extreme regret. Madame Roland immediately
+urged my father to place my mother's case in the hands
+of an Italian doctor, a particular friend of her own, and
+whom she described as possessing a more than ordinary
+skill in the treatment of diseases. Thanks to her importunities,
+my father, who had himself consulted him
+in trifling maladies, and found no cause to be dissatisfied,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+proposed him to my mother, who, alas, raised no
+objection. And this man it was who attended upon her
+during her last illness."</p>
+
+<p>Tears filled the eyes of Madame d'Harville as she
+uttered these words.</p>
+
+<p>"I am ashamed to confess my weakness, my lord,"
+added she; "but, for the simple reason of this doctor
+having been appointed at the suggestion of Madame
+Roland, he inspired me (and at that time without any
+cause) with the most involuntary repugnance, and it
+was with the most painful misgivings I saw him established
+in my mother's confidence. Still, as regarded his
+knowledge of his profession, Doctor Polidori&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What do I hear?" exclaimed Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you indisposed, my lord?" inquired Clémence,
+struck with the sudden expression the prince's countenance
+had assumed.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" said Rodolph, as though unconscious of
+the presence of Madame d'Harville, "no, I must be
+mistaken. Five or six years must have elapsed since
+all this occurred, while I am informed that it is not more
+than two years since Polidori came to Paris, and then
+under a feigned name. He it was I saw yesterday,&mdash;I
+am sure of it,&mdash;the quack dentist Bradamanti and
+Polidori are one and the same. Still, 'tis singular; two
+doctors of the same name,<a name="FNanchor_1_3" id="FNanchor_1_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>&mdash;what a strange rencontre!"</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_3" id="Footnote_1_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> We must remind the reader that Polidori was a doctor of some eminence
+when he undertook the education of Rodolph.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Madame," said Rodolph, turning to Madame d'Harville,
+whose astonishment at his preoccupation still increased,
+"we will, if you please, compare notes as to
+this Italian. What age was he?"</p>
+
+<p>"About fifty."</p>
+
+<p>"And his appearance,&mdash;his countenance?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most sinister. Never shall I forget his clear, piercing,
+green eye, and his nose curved like the bill of an
+eagle."</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p>
+<p>"'Tis he,&mdash;'tis he himself!" exclaimed Rodolph.
+"And do you think, madame, that the Doctor Polidori
+you were describing is still in Paris?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I cannot tell you, my lord. He quitted Paris
+about a year after my father's marriage. A lady of my
+acquaintance, who at this period also employed the
+Italian as her medical adviser&mdash;this lady, Madame de
+Lucenay&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The Duchess de Lucenay?" interrupted Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my lord. But why this surprise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me to be silent on that subject. But, at the
+time of which you speak, what did Madame de Lucenay
+tell you of this man?"</p>
+
+<p>"She said that he travelled much after quitting Paris,
+and that she often received from him very clever and
+amusing letters, descriptive of the various places he
+visited. Now I recollect that, about a month ago,
+happening to ask Madame de Lucenay whether she had
+heard lately from M. Polidori, she replied, with an embarrassed
+manner, 'that nothing had been heard of or
+concerning him for some time; that no one knew what
+had become of him; and that by many he was supposed
+to be dead.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Strange, indeed," said Rodolph, recalling the
+recent visit of Madame de Lucenay to the charlatan
+Bradamanti.</p>
+
+<p>"You know this man, then, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately for myself, I do; but let me beseech
+you to continue your recital; hereafter I will give you
+an insight into the history of this Polidori."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean the doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Say, rather, the wretch stained with the most atrocious
+crimes."</p>
+
+<p>"Crimes!" cried Madame d'Harville, in alarm; "can
+it be possible, the man whom Madame Roland so highly
+extolled, and into whose hands my poor mother was delivered,
+was guilty of crimes? Alas, my dear parent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+lingered but a very short time after she passed into his
+care! Ah, my lord, my presentiments have not deceived
+me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Your presentiments?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! I was telling you just now of the invincible
+antipathy I felt for this man from the circumstance
+of his having been introduced among us by Madame
+Roland; but I did not tell you all, my lord."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was fearful lest the bitterness of my own griefs
+should make me guilty of injustice towards an innocent
+person; but now, my lord, you shall know everything.
+My mother had lain dangerously ill about five days; I
+had always watched beside her, night as well as day.
+One evening, that I felt much oppressed with confinement
+and fatigue, I went to breathe the fresh air on the
+terrace of the garden: after remaining about a quarter
+of an hour, I was returning by a long and obscure
+gallery; by a faint light which streamed from the
+apartment of Madame Roland I saw M. Polidori quit
+the room, accompanied by the mistress of the chamber.
+Being in the shadow, they did not perceive me; Madame
+Roland spoke some words to the doctor, but in so low a
+tone I could not catch them; the doctor's answer was
+given in a louder key, and consisted only of these words:
+'The day after to-morrow;' and, when Madame Roland
+seemed to urge him, still in so low a voice as to prevent
+the words reaching me, he replied, with singular emphasis,
+'The day after to-morrow, I tell you,&mdash;the day after
+to-morrow.'"</p>
+
+<p>"What could those words mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"What did they mean? Alas, alas, my lord, it was
+on the Wednesday evening I heard M. Polidori say 'The
+day after to-morrow;' on the Friday my mother was a
+corpse!"</p>
+
+<p>"Horrible, indeed!"</p>
+
+<p>"After this mournful event I was consigned to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+care of a relation, who, forgetful of the afflicted state
+of my mind, as well as tender age, told me, without reserve
+or consideration of the consequences, what powerful
+reasons there were for my hating Madame Roland,
+and fully enlightened me as to the ambitious projects
+entertained by this woman: full well I could then imagine
+all my poor mother must have endured. I thought
+my heart would break the first time I again saw my
+father, which was upon the occasion of his coming to
+fetch me from the house of my relation to take me into
+Normandy, where we were to pass the first months of
+our mourning. During the journey he informed me,
+without the least embarrassment, and as though it had
+been the most natural thing in the world, that, out of
+regard for himself and me, madame had kindly consented
+to take the command of the establishment, and
+to act as my guide and friend. On arriving at Aubiers
+(so was my father's estate called), the first object we
+beheld was Madame Roland, who had established herself
+here on the very day of my mother's death. Spite
+of her modest, gentle manner, her countenance betrayed
+an ill-disguised triumph; never shall I forget the look,
+at once ironical and spiteful, she cast on me as I descended
+from the carriage; it seemed to say, 'I am
+mistress here,&mdash;'tis you who are the intruder.' A
+fresh grief awaited me; whether from an inexcusable
+want of proper judgment or unpardonable assurance,
+this woman occupied the apartment which had been my
+mother's: in my just indignation I loudly complained
+to my father of this unpleasant forgetfulness of my
+rights as well as wishes. He reprimanded me severely
+for making any remonstrance on the subject,
+adding that it was needless for me either to feel or
+express surprise on the subject, as it was his desire I
+should habituate myself to consider Madame Roland in
+every respect as a second mother, and show her a corresponding
+deference. I replied that it would be a profanation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+to that sacred name to act as he commanded;
+and, to his extreme wrath, I never allowed any opportunity
+to escape by which I could evince my deeply
+rooted aversion to Madame Roland. At times my
+father's rage knew no bounds, and bitterly would he
+reproach me in the presence of that woman for the
+coldness and ingratitude of my conduct towards an
+angel, as he styled her, sent by heaven for our consolation
+and happiness. 'Let me entreat of you to speak
+for yourself alone,' said I, one day, quite wearied with
+the hypocritical conduct of Madame Roland and my
+father's blind infatuation. The harshness and unreasonableness
+of his conduct became at last quite unendurable;
+while Madame Roland, with the honeyed
+words of feigned affection, would artfully intercede
+for me, because she well knew by so doing she should
+only increase the storm she had raised. 'You must
+make some allowances for Clémence,' she would say;
+'the sorrow she experiences for the excellent parent
+we all deplore is so natural, and even praiseworthy,
+that you should respect her just grief, and pity her
+for her unfounded suspicions.' 'You hear her! you
+hear her!' would my father exclaim, pointing with
+mingled triumph and admiration to the accomplished
+hypocrite; 'what angelic goodness! what enchanting
+nobleness and generosity! Instantly entreat her pardon
+for the unworthiness of your conduct.' 'Never!'
+I used to reply; 'the spirit of my angel mother, who
+now beholds me, would be pained to witness such a
+degradation in her child;' and, bursting with grief
+and mortification, I would fly to my own chamber,
+leaving my father to dry the tears, and calm the
+ruffled feelings of the woman I despised and hated.
+You will, I hope, excuse me, my lord, for dwelling so
+long and so minutely on all my early troubles, but it
+is only by so doing I can accurately describe to you
+the sort of life I led at that period."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I can enter fully into the painful subject; yet how
+often have the same scenes been enacted in other families,
+and still, it is much to be feared, will they be
+repeated till the end of time. But in what capacity
+did your father introduce Madame Roland to the
+neighbourhood?"</p>
+
+<p>"As my instructress and his friend, and she was
+estimated accordingly."</p>
+
+<p>"I need scarcely inquire whether he shared in the
+solitude to which her questionable character condemned
+the lady?"</p>
+
+<p>"With the exception of some few and unavoidable
+visits, she saw no one. My father, guided by his passion,
+or influenced by Madame Roland, threw off his
+mourning for my mother ere he had worn it three
+months, under the plea that the sable garb continually
+reminded him of his loss, and prevented him from regaining
+his lost tranquillity. His manners to me daily
+became colder and more estranged, while his perfect
+indifference concerning me allowed a degree of liberty
+almost incredible in a person of my age. I met him
+only at breakfast, after which he returned to his study
+with Madame Roland, who acted as his secretary, read
+and answered all his letters, etc.; that completed,
+they either walked or drove out together, returning
+only an hour before dinner, against which, Madame
+Roland would array herself in an elegant and well-chosen
+evening dress; while my father would make
+a most studiously elaborate toilet, as uncalled for as ill-adapted
+to his time of life. Occasionally, after dinner,
+he received a few persons he could not avoid asking
+to his house, when he would play at tric-trac with
+Madame Roland until ten o'clock, at which hour he
+would offer his arm to conduct her to my mother's
+apartment, and return to his guests. As for myself,
+I had unrestrained permission to go where I pleased
+throughout the whole day. Attended by a servant, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+used to take long rides in the extensive woods surrounding
+the château, and when, as occasionally happened, I
+felt my spirits unequal to appearing at the dinner-table,
+not the slightest inquiry was ever made after me, or my
+absence noticed."</p>
+
+<p>"What singular neglect and forgetfulness!"</p>
+
+<p>"Having accidentally encountered one of our neighbours
+during several successive days of my excursions
+in the woods, I gave up riding there, and confined myself
+entirely to the park."</p>
+
+<p>"And how did this infamous woman conduct herself
+towards you when alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"She shunned all occasions of being with me as
+sedulously as I avoided her; but once that we were
+unexpectedly <i>tête-à-tête</i> with each other, and that she
+was reproaching me for some severe words I had spoken
+the preceding evening, she said, coldly, 'Have a care:
+you cannot contend against my power; any such attempt
+will bring down certain ruin on your head.' 'As it did
+upon that of my mother,' answered I. 'It is a pity,
+madame, you have not M. Polidori by your side, to announce
+to you that your vengeance can be satisfied&mdash;the
+day after to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"And what reply did she make when you thus recalled
+those fearful words?"</p>
+
+<p>"She changed colour rapidly, her features were almost
+convulsed; then, by a strong effort conquering her
+emotion, she angrily demanded what I meant by the expression.
+'Ask your own heart, madame,' answered I;
+'in the solitude of your chamber inquire of yourself to
+what I allude: your conscience will find a ready explanation.'
+Shortly after that, a scene occurred which for
+ever sealed my destiny.</p>
+
+<p>"Among a great number of family portraits, which
+graced the walls of the salon in which we usually spent the
+evening, was that of my mother. One day I observed it
+had been removed from its accustomed place. Two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+neighbours had dined with us. One of them, a M. Dorval,
+a country lawyer, had always expressed the utmost veneration
+and respect for my mother. When we reached
+the salon after dinner, I inquired of my father what had
+become of my dear mother's picture. 'Cease!' cried
+my father, significantly pointing to our guests, as though
+intimating his desire that they should not hear any discussion
+on the subject; 'the reason of the picture being
+taken away is that the sight of it continually reminded
+me of the heavy loss I have sustained, and so prevented
+my regaining my usual calmness and peace of mind.'
+'And where is the portrait at present?' inquired I.
+Turning towards Madame Roland, with an impatient
+and uneasy air, he said, 'Where has the picture been
+put?' 'In the lumber-room,' replied she, casting on
+me a glance of defiance, evidently under the impression
+that the presence of witnesses would prevent me from
+proceeding further in the matter. 'I can easily believe,
+madame,' cried I, indignantly, 'that the recollection of
+my mother must have been painful to you; but that
+was not a sufficient reason for banishing from the walls
+the likeness of her who, when you were in want and
+misery, kindly and charitably afforded you the shelter
+of her roof.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent!" exclaimed Rodolph; "yours was, indeed,
+a stinging and a just reproach."</p>
+
+<p>"'Mademoiselle,' cried my father, 'you forget that
+this lady has watched, and still continues to preside,
+with maternal solicitude over your education; you also
+seem to banish from your recollection the very high
+esteem and respect you are aware I entertain for her;
+and, since you allow yourself thus to attack her before
+strangers, you will permit me to tell you that, in my
+opinion, the charge of ingratitude lies at the door of her
+who, overlooking the tender cares she has received, presumes
+to reproach a person, deserving of the utmost
+interest and respect, with misfortunes and calamities she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+so nobly sustained.' 'I cannot venture to discuss the
+subject with you, my dear father,' said I, submissively.
+'Perhaps, then, mademoiselle, you will favour me with
+your polite arguments in favour of rudeness and unmerited
+abuse,' cried Madame Roland, carried away by
+rage into a neglect of her usual caution and prudence;
+'perhaps you will permit me to assert that, so far from
+owing the slightest obligation to your mother, I have
+nothing to remember but the constant coldness and
+dislike she invariably manifested towards me, fully expressive
+of the disgust and displeasure with which my
+residence in the house inspired her.' 'Forbear,
+madame!' exclaimed I, interrupting her. 'Out of
+respect for my father, if not to spare your own
+blushes, cease such shameful confessions as the one
+you have just made, or you will make even me regret
+having exposed you to so humiliating a disclosure.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Better and better!" cried Rodolph; "this was, indeed,
+cutting with a two-edged sword. Pray go on.
+And what said this woman?"</p>
+
+<p>"By a very hackneyed, though convenient expedient,
+Madame Roland contrived to end a scene in which she
+felt she was likely to have the worst. With a sudden
+cry she threw herself into a chair, and very naturally
+imitated a fainting-fit. Thanks to this incident, the two
+visitors quitted the room in search of restoratives; while
+I retired to my own apartment, leaving my father hanging
+in deep anxiety over the wicked cause of all this
+confusion."</p>
+
+<p>"Doubtless your next interview with your father
+must have been a stormy one."</p>
+
+<p>"He came to me next morning, and, without further
+preamble, addressed me as follows: 'In order to prevent
+a recurrence of the disgraceful scene of yesterday, I
+think proper to inform you, that, immediately that decency
+permits both you and myself to throw off our
+mourning, it is my intention to celebrate my marriage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+with Madame Roland, which will compel you to treat
+her with the respect and deference due to my wife.
+For certain reasons, it is expedient you should marry
+before me. You will have as a dowry your mother's
+fortune, amounting to more than a million francs.
+From this very day, I shall take the necessary steps to
+form a suitable match for you, and, for that purpose, I
+shall accept one of the many offers I have received for
+your hand.' After this conversation, I lived more alone
+than ever, never meeting my father except at mealtimes,
+which generally passed off in the utmost silence.
+So really dull and lonely was my present existence, that
+I only waited for my father to propose any suitor he
+might approve of, to accept him with perfect willingness.
+Madame Roland, having relinquished all further
+ill-natured remarks upon the memory of my deceased
+parent, indemnified herself by inflicting on me the continual
+pain of seeing her appropriate to herself the various
+trifles my dear mother had exclusively made use of.
+Her easy chair, embroidery-frame, the books which composed
+her private library, even a screen I myself had
+embroidered for her, and in the centre of which were
+our united ciphers: this woman laid her sacrilegious
+hands on all the elegant articles with which my
+mother's taste and my affection had ornamented her
+apartments."</p>
+
+<p>"I can well imagine all the horror these profanations
+must have caused you."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, great as were my sufferings, the state of loneliness,
+in which I found myself, rendered them even
+greater."</p>
+
+<p>"And you had no one, no person in whom you could
+confide?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one; but at this time I received a touching
+proof of the interest my fate excited, and which might
+have opened my eyes to the dangers preparing for me.
+One of the two persons present, during the scene with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+Madame Roland I so lately described, was a M. Dorval,
+a worthy old notary, to whom my mother had rendered
+some signal service. By my father's orders, I never
+since then entered the salon when strangers were there;
+I had never, therefore, seen M. Dorval after the eventful
+day when I spoke so undisguisedly to Madame
+Roland; great, therefore, was my surprise to see him
+coming towards me one day, in the park, while I was
+taking my accustomed walk. 'Mademoiselle,' said he
+to me, with a mysterious air, 'I am fearful of being
+observed by your father; here is a letter,&mdash;read it, and
+destroy it immediately,&mdash;its contents are most important
+to you.' So saying, he disappeared as quickly as he
+came. In the letter he informed me that it was in agitation
+to marry me to the Marquis d'Harville, and that
+the match appeared in every respect eligible, inasmuch
+as every one concurred in bearing testimony to the
+many excellent qualities of M. d'Harville, who was
+young, rich, good-looking, and highly distinguished for
+his talents and mental attainments; yet that the families
+of two young ladies, with whom he had been on the
+point of marriage, had abruptly broken off the matches.
+The notary added that, although entirely ignorant of
+the cause of these ruptures, he still considered it his
+duty to apprise me of them, without in the slightest
+degree insinuating that they originated in any circumstance
+prejudicial to the high opinion entertained of M.
+d'Harville. The two young ladies alluded to were, one,
+the daughter of M. Beauregard, a peer of France; the
+other, of Lord Dudley. M. Dorval concluded by saying
+that his motive in making the communication was because
+my father, in his extreme desire to conclude the
+marriage, did not appear to attach sufficient importance
+to the facts now detailed."</p>
+
+<p>"Now you recall it to my recollection," said Rodolph,
+after some minutes spent in deep meditation on what he
+had just heard, "I remember that your husband, at intervals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+of nearly twelve months, told me of two marriages
+which had been broken off just as they were on
+the point of taking place, and ascribing their abrupt
+termination to a difficulty in arranging matters of a
+mere pecuniary nature."</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville smiled bitterly as she replied:</p>
+
+<p>"You shall know what those motives really were, my
+lord, very shortly. After reading the letter, so kindly
+intentioned on the part of the worthy notary, I felt both
+my uneasiness and curiosity rapidly increase. Who
+was D'Harville? My father had never mentioned him
+to me. In vain I ransacked my memory; I could not
+recollect ever to have heard the name. Soon, however,
+the current of my thoughts was directed into another
+channel by the abrupt departure of Madame Roland for
+Paris. Although the period of her absence was limited
+to eight days at the utmost, yet my father expressed the
+deepest grief at even this trifling separation from her.
+His temper became altogether soured, and his coldness
+towards me hourly increased; he even went so far as to
+reply, when one day I inquired after his health, 'I am
+ill,&mdash;and all through you.' 'Through me?' exclaimed
+I. 'Assuredly, through you; you know full well how
+indispensable to my happiness is the company of
+Madame Roland, yet this incomparable woman, who
+has been so grossly insulted by you, has left me to undertake
+her present journey solely on your account.'
+This mark of interest on the part of Madame Roland
+filled me with the most lively apprehensions of evil, and
+a vague presentiment floated across my mind that my
+marriage was in some way or other mixed up with it.
+I must leave it to your imagination, my lord, to picture
+the delight of my father upon the return of my future
+mother-in-law. The next day he sent to desire my
+company; I found him alone with her. 'I have, for
+some time,' said he, 'been thinking of establishing you
+in the world; in another month your mourning will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+have expired. To-morrow I expect M. d'Harville, a
+young man possessed of every requisite, both as to
+fortune and figure, to secure any woman's approbation;
+he is well looked upon in society, and is capable of
+securing the happiness of any lady he may seek in marriage.
+Now, having seen you, though accidentally, his
+choice has fallen on you. In fact, he is most anxious to
+obtain your hand. Every pecuniary arrangement is concluded.
+It therefore remains solely with yourself to be
+married ere the next six weeks have elapsed. If, on the
+contrary, from any capricious whim impossible for me to
+foresee, you think fit to refuse the unlooked-for good
+offer now before you, it will in no respect alter my own
+plans, as my marriage will take place, according to my
+original intention, directly my mourning expires. And,
+in this latter case, I am bound to inform you that your
+presence in my house will not be agreeable to me, unless
+I have your promise to treat my wife with the respect
+and tenderness to which she is entitled.' 'I understand
+you,' replied I; 'whether I accept M. d'Harville or no,
+you will marry; and my only resource will then be to
+retire to the Convent of the Holy Heart?' 'It will,'
+answered he, coldly."</p>
+
+<p>"His conduct now ceases to be classed under the
+term weakness," said Rodolph; "it assumes the form
+of positive cruelty."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I tell you, my lord, what has always prevented
+me from feeling the least resentment at my father's conduct?
+It is because I have always had a strong presentiment
+that he would one day pay dearly&mdash;too
+dearly, alas!&mdash;for his blind passion for Madame
+Roland. Thank Heaven, that evil day has not yet
+arrived!"</p>
+
+<p>"And did you not mention to your father what the
+old notary had informed you of,&mdash;the abrupt breaking
+off of the two marriages M. d'Harville had been on the
+point of contracting?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I did, my lord. I signified to my father,
+upon the occasion of the conversation I was relating
+to you, a wish to speak with him alone, upon which
+Madame Roland abruptly rose and quitted the apartment.
+'I have no objection to the union you propose
+with M. d'Harville,' said I; 'only, as I understand, he
+has twice been upon the point of marriage, and&mdash;'
+'Enough&mdash;enough!' interrupted he, hastily. 'I know
+all about those two affairs, which were so abruptly
+broken off merely because matters of a pecuniary
+nature were not satisfactorily arranged; although, I
+am bound to assure you, that not the slightest shadow
+of blame was attributable to M. d'Harville. If that
+be your only objection, you may consider the match
+as concluded on, and yourself as married,&mdash;ay, and
+happily, too,&mdash;for, spite of your conduct, my first
+wish is for your happiness.'"</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt Madame Roland was delighted with your
+marriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Delighted? Yes, my lord," said Clémence, with
+bitterness. "She was, and well might be, delighted
+with this union, which was, in fact, of her effecting.
+She it was who had first suggested it to my father; she
+knew full well the real occasion of breaking off the
+marriages so nearly completed by M. d'Harville, and
+hence arose her exceeding anxiety for him to become
+my husband."</p>
+
+<p>"What motive could she possibly have had?"</p>
+
+<p>"She sought to avenge herself on me by condemning
+me to a life of wretchedness."</p>
+
+<p>"But your father&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Deceived by Madame Roland, he fully and implicitly
+believed that interested motives alone had set aside the
+two former marriages of M. d'Harville."</p>
+
+<p>"What a horrible scheme! But what was this mysterious
+reason?"</p>
+
+<p>"You shall know shortly. Well, M. d'Harville arrived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+at Aubiers, and, I confess, I was much pleased
+with his appearance, manners, and cultivated mind.
+He seemed very amiable and kind, though somewhat
+melancholy. I remarked in him a contradiction which
+charmed and astonished me at the same time. His
+personal and mental advantages were considerable, his
+fortune princely, and his birth illustrious; yet, at times,
+the expression of his countenance would change, from a
+firm and manly energy and decision of purpose, to an almost
+timid, shrinking look, as though he feared even his
+own self; then an utter dejection of spirits and exhaustion
+would ensue. There was, at these strangely contrasted
+periods, such a look of deprecating humility, such
+an appearance of conscious wrong, as touched me deeply,
+and won my pity to a great extent. I admired greatly
+the kindness of manner he ever evinced to an old servant,&mdash;a
+<i>valet de chambre</i> who had been about him
+from his birth, and who alone was suffered to attend
+upon his master now he had reached man's estate.
+Shortly after M. d'Harville's arrival he remained for
+two days secluded in his apartment. My father wished
+to visit him; but the old servant alluded to objected,
+stating that his master had so violent a headache, he
+could receive no one. When M. d'Harville emerged
+from his chamber, he was excessively pale, and looked
+extremely ill. He afterwards appeared to experience a
+sort of impatience and uneasiness when any reference
+was made to his temporary indisposition. In proportion
+as I became better acquainted with M. d'Harville, I discovered
+that, on many points, a singular similarity of
+taste existed between us. He had so much to be proud
+of, and so many reasons for being happy, that his excessive
+and shrinking modesty struck me as something
+more than admirable. The day for our marriage being
+fixed, he seemed to delight in anticipating every wish
+I could form for the future, and, when sometimes I alluded
+to the deep melancholy which at times possessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+him, and begged to know the cause, he would speak of
+his deceased parents, and of the delight it would have
+afforded them to see him married, to their hearts' dearest
+wish, to one so justly approved both by his own judgment
+and affections, I could not well find fault with
+reasons so complimentary to myself. M. d'Harville
+easily guessed the terms on which I must have been
+living with my father and Madame Roland, although
+the former, delighted at my marriage, which would
+serve as a plea for accelerating his own, had latterly
+treated me with excessive tenderness. In some of our
+conversations, M. d'Harville, with infinite tact and good
+feeling, explained to me that his regard was considerably
+heightened by the knowledge of all I had suffered since
+my dear mother's death. I thought it my duty to hint
+to him, at such a time, that, as my father was about to
+marry again, it might very possibly affect the property I
+might be expected to inherit. He would not even permit
+me to proceed, but most effectually convinced me of
+his own utterly disinterested motives in seeking my hand.
+I could not but think that the families, who had so
+abruptly broken off his former projected alliances, must
+have been very unreasonable or avaricious people if they
+made pecuniary matters a stumbling-block with one so
+generous, easy, and liberal as M. d'Harville."</p>
+
+<p>"And such as you describe him, so have I always
+found him," cried Rodolph; "all heart, disinterestedness,
+and delicacy! But did you never speak to him of
+the marriages so hastily broken off?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will confess to you, my lord, that the question was
+several times on my lips; but, when I recollected the
+sensitiveness of his nature, I feared to pain him by questions
+which might, at any rate, have wounded his self-love,
+or taxed his honour to reply to truly. The nearer
+the day fixed for our marriage approached, the more delighted
+did M. d'Harville appear. Yet I several times
+detected him absorbed in the most perfect dejection, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+deepest melancholy. One day, in particular, I caught
+his eyes fixed on me with a settled gaze, as though
+resolving to confide to me some important secret he yet
+could not bring himself to reveal. I perceived a large tear
+trickle slowly down his cheek, as though wrung from his
+very heart. The recollection of his two former prospects
+of marriage, so suddenly destroyed, rose to my mind;
+and, I confess, I almost felt afraid to proceed. A vague
+presentiment whispered within me that the happiness of
+my whole life was at stake,&mdash;perhaps perilled for ever.
+But then, on the other hand, such was my eager desire
+to quit my father's house, that I turned a deaf ear to
+every suggestion of evil arising from my union with
+M. d'Harville."</p>
+
+<p>"And did M. d'Harville make you no voluntary confession?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not any. When I inquired the cause of his continual
+fits of melancholy, he would answer, 'Pray, do not heed
+it! But I am always most sad when most happy.' These
+words, pronounced in the kindest and most touching manner,
+reassured me a little. And how, indeed, was it possible,
+when his voice would quiver with emotion, and his
+eyes fill with tears, to manifest any further suspicion, by
+repeating my questions as to the past, when it was with
+the future only I had any business? The persons appointed
+to witness the contract on the part of M. d'Harville,
+M. de Lucenay and M. de Saint-Rémy, arrived at
+Aubiers some days previous to the marriage; my nearest
+relations alone were invited. Immediately after the conclusion
+of the ceremony, we were to depart for Paris;
+and it is true I felt for M. d'Harville none of that love
+with which a young wife ought to regard the man she
+vows her future life to, but I admired and respected his
+character and disposition, and, but for the disastrous
+events which followed this fatal union, a more tender
+feeling could doubtless soon have attached me to him.
+Well, we were married."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At these words, Madame d'Harville turned rather pale,
+and her resolution appeared to forsake her. After a
+pause, she resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"Immediately after the ceremony, my father embraced
+me tenderly, as did Madame Roland also. Before so many
+persons I could not avoid the display of this fresh exhibition
+of hypocrisy. With her dry and white hand she
+squeezed mine so hard as to pain me, and said, in a
+whisper, and in a tone as gentle as it was perfidious,
+these words, which I never can forget: 'Think of me
+sometimes in the midst of your bliss, for it was I who
+arranged your marriage.' Alas, I was far from comprehending
+at that moment the full force of those words!
+Our marriage took place at eleven o'clock, and we immediately
+entered our carriage, followed by my waiting-woman
+and the old <i>valet de chambre</i> of M. d'Harville's,
+and we travelled so rapidly that we reached Paris before
+ten o'clock in the evening. I should have been surprised
+at the silence and melancholy of M. d'Harville had I not
+known that he had what he termed his happy sadness.
+I was myself painfully disturbed; I was returning to
+Paris for the first time since my mother's death; I
+arrived there alone with my husband, whom I had
+hardly known more than six weeks, and who, up to
+the evening before, had not addressed a word to me
+but what was marked by respectful formality. Men,
+however well bred, do not think sufficiently of the fear
+which the sudden change in their tone and manners
+occasions to a young female as soon as she belongs to
+them; they do not reflect that a youthful maiden cannot
+in a few hours forget all her timidity and virgin scruples."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing is to me more barbarous than this system
+of carrying off a young female as soon as the wedding
+ceremony is over,&mdash;a ceremony which ought to consecrate
+the right and duty to employ still more every tenderness
+of love and effort to render mutual affection still
+stronger and more endearing."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You will imagine, monseigneur, the indefinable alarm
+with which I found myself in Paris,&mdash;in the city in which
+my mother had died hardly a year before. We reached
+the Hôtel d'Harville&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The emotion of the young lady redoubled, her cheeks
+were flushed with scarlet, and she added, in a voice
+scarcely intelligible:</p>
+
+<p>"You must know all; if not, I shall appear too contemptible
+in your eyes. Well, then," she resumed, with
+desperate resolution, "I was led to my apartment and
+left there alone; after an hour M. d'Harville joined me
+there. I was weeping bitterly. My husband came towards
+me, and was about to take my arm, when he fell at my
+feet in agony. He could not hear my voice, his countenance
+was spasmodic with fearful convulsions, his eyes
+rolled in their orbits with a rapidity that appalled me,
+his contorted mouth was filled with blood and foam, and
+his hand grasped me with inconceivable force. I made
+a desperate effort, and his stiffened fingers at length unclasped
+from my wrist, and I fainted at the moment
+when M. d'Harville was struggling in the paroxysm of
+this horrible attack. This was my wedding night, my
+lord,&mdash;this was the vengeance of Madame Roland!"</p>
+
+<p>"Unhappy woman!" said Rodolph, overwhelmed. "I
+understand,&mdash;an epileptic. Ah, 'tis horrible!"</p>
+
+<p>"And that is not all," added Clémence, in a voice
+almost choked by emotion; "my child, my angel girl,
+she has inherited this frightful malady."</p>
+
+<p>"Your daughter! She! What? Her paleness&mdash;her
+weakness&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Is, I dread to believe, hereditary; and the physicians
+think, therefore, that it is incurable."</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville hid her face in her hands; overcome
+by this painful disclosure, she had not courage to
+add another word. Rodolph also remained silent. His
+mind recoiled affrighted from the terrible mysteries of
+this night. He pictured to himself the young maiden,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+already sad, in consequence of her return to the city in
+which her mother had died, arriving at a strange house,
+alone with a man for whom she felt an interest and
+esteem, but not love, nor any of those sentiments which
+enchant the mind, none of the engrossing feeling which
+removes the chaste alarms of a woman in the participation
+of a lawful and reciprocal affection. No, no; on
+the contrary, Clémence arrived agitated and distressed,
+with depressed spirits and tearful eyes. She was, however,
+resolved on resignation and the fulfilment of duty,
+when, instead of listening to language full of devotion,
+love, and tenderness, which would compensate for the
+sorrowful feelings which were uppermost in her mind,
+she sees convulsed at her feet a stricken man, who
+twists, and foams, and shrieks, in the hideous convulsions
+of one of the most fearful infirmities with which
+a man can be incurably smitten! This is not all: his
+child, poor little innocent angel! is also withered from
+her birth. These sad and painful avowals excited bitter
+reflections in Rodolph's mind. "Such," said he, "is the
+law of the land. A young, handsome, and pure girl,
+the confiding and gentle victim of a shameful dissimulation,
+unites her destiny to that of a man tainted with
+an incurable malady,&mdash;a fatal inheritance which he will
+assuredly transmit to his children. The unhappy wife
+discovers this horrid mystery. What can she do?
+Nothing,&mdash;nothing but suffer and weep; nothing but
+endeavour to overcome her disgust and fright; nothing
+but pass her days in anguish, in indefinable and endless
+terror; nothing but seek, perhaps, culpable consolation
+without the desolate existence which has been created
+around her. Again," said Rodolph, "these strange
+laws sometimes produce horrible unions: fearful for
+humanity. In these laws, animals always appear superior
+to man in the care bestowed upon them; in the
+improvements that are studied for them; in the protection
+which encircles, the guarantees which attend them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+Buy an animal, and, if an infirmity decried by the law
+is detected after the purchase, the sale is null and void.
+Indeed, what a shame, what a case of public injury
+would it be to compel a man to keep an animal which
+has a cough, is lame, or has lost an eye! Why, it
+would be scandalous, criminal, unheard-of infamy! Only
+imagine being compelled to keep, and keep for ever, a
+mule with a cough, a horse that was blind, or an ass
+that was lame! What frightful consequences might not
+such injustice entail on the community! Therefore, no
+such bargains hold good, no words bind, no contract is
+valid: the omnipotent law unlooses all that was thus
+bound. But if it relates to a creature made after God's
+own image, if it respects a young girl who, in the full
+and innocent reliance on the good faith of a man, unites
+her lot with his, and wakes up in the company of an
+epileptic, an unhappy wretch stricken with a fearful
+malady, whose moral and physical consequences are
+immeasurably distressing, a malady which may throw
+disorder and aversion into a family, perpetuate a horrible
+disease, vitiate whole generations, yes, this law, so
+inexorable when lame, blind, or coughing animals are
+the consideration&mdash;this law, so singularly clear-sighted,
+which will not allow an unsound horse to increase the
+species&mdash;this law will not loosen the victim of a union
+such as we have described. These bonds are sacred,
+indissoluble: it is to offend God and man to break
+them. In truth," continued Rodolph, "men sometimes
+display a humility most shameful and an egotistical
+pride which is only execrable. He values himself at
+less than the beast which he protects by warranties
+which he refuses for himself; and he imposes on himself,
+makes sacred, and perpetuates his most distressing
+infirmities by putting them under the protection of the
+immutability of laws, human and divine." Rodolph
+greatly blamed M. d'Harville, but he promised to himself
+to excuse him in the eyes of Clémence, although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+fully persuaded, after her sad disclosure, that the marquis
+was for ever alienated from her heart. One thought led
+to another, and Rodolph said to himself, "I have kept
+aloof from a woman I love, and who, perhaps, already
+feels a secret inclination for me. Either from an
+attachment of heart or friendship, she has bestowed
+her honour&mdash;her life&mdash;for the sake of a fool whom
+she thought unhappy. If, instead of leaving her, I had
+paid her all sorts of attentions, love, and consideration,
+my name would have been such that her reputation
+would not have received the slightest stain, the suspicions
+of her husband would never have been excited:
+whilst, now, she is all but at the mercy of such an ass
+as M. Charles Robert, who, I fear, will become the more
+indiscreet in proportion as he has the less right to be so.
+And then, too, who knows if, in spite of the dangers she
+has risked, the heart of Madame d'Harville will always
+remain free? Any return to her husband is henceforward
+impossible. Young, handsome, courted, with a
+disposition sympathising with all who suffer, what
+dangers, what shoals and quicksands, lie before her!
+For M. d'Harville, what anguish and what deep chagrin!
+At the same time jealous of and in love with his wife,
+who cannot subdue the disgust and fright which he
+excited in her on their nuptials,&mdash;what a lot is his!"</p>
+
+<p>Clémence, with her forehead hidden by her hands, her
+eyes brimful of tears, and her cheek reddened by embarrassment,
+avoided Rodolph's look, such pain had the
+disclosure cost her.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, now," said Rodolph, after a long silence, "I can
+understand the cause of M. d'Harville's sadness, which
+I could not before account for. I can imagine his
+regrets&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"His regrets!" exclaimed Clémence; "say his remorse,
+monseigneur, if he have any, for never was such
+a crime more coolly meditated."</p>
+
+<p>"A crime, madame?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What else is it, my lord, to bind to yourself in
+indissoluble bonds a young girl, who confides in your
+honour, when you are fatally stricken with a malady
+which inspires fear and horror? What else is it, to
+devote with certainty an unhappy child to similar
+misery? What forced M. d'Harville to make two victims?
+A blind, insensate passion? No; he found my
+birth, my fortune, and my person, to his taste. He
+wished to make a convenient marriage, because, doubtless,
+a bachelor's life wearied him."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame, at least pity him."</p>
+
+<p>"Pity him? If you wish pity, pray let it be bestowed
+on my child. Poor victim of this odious union, what
+nights and days have I passed near her! What tears
+have not her misfortunes wrung from me!"</p>
+
+<p>"But her father suffers from the same unmerited
+afflictions."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it is that father who has condemned her to a
+sickly infancy, a withering youth, and, if she should
+survive, to a life of isolation and misery, for she will
+never marry. Ah, no! I love her too well to expose
+her to the chance of one day's weeping over her own
+offspring, similarly smitten, as I weep over her. I have
+suffered too much from treachery, to render myself
+guilty of, or an accomplice in, such wickedness!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are right; the vengeance of your mother-in-law
+was really atrocious. But patience, and perhaps in your
+turn you will be avenged," said Rodolph, after a moment's
+reflection.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, my lord?" inquired Clémence,
+astonished at the change in his voice.</p>
+
+<p>"I have generally had the satisfaction of seeing those
+whom I have known to be wicked most severely punished,"
+he replied, in a voice that made Clémence shudder.
+"But the day after this unhappy event what did
+your husband say?"</p>
+
+<p>"He confessed, with singular candour, that his two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>
+former marriages had been broken off in consequence of
+the families becoming acquainted with the secret of his
+fearful malady. Thus, then, after having been twice
+rejected, he had the shameful, the unmanly courage, to
+drag a third poor victim into the abyss of misery the
+kind intervention of friends had preserved the others
+from. And this is what the world calls a gentleman
+and a man of honour!"</p>
+
+<p>"For one so good, so full of pity to others, yours are
+harsh words."</p>
+
+<p>"Because I feel I have been unworthily treated. M.
+d'Harville easily penetrated the girlish openness of my
+character; why, then, did he not trust to my sympathy
+and generosity of feeling, and tell me the whole truth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you would have refused him."</p>
+
+<p>"This very expression proves how guilty he was, and
+how treacherous was his conduct, if he really entertained
+the idea of my rejecting his hand if informed of
+the truth!"</p>
+
+<p>"He loved you too well to incur the risk of losing
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, my lord; had he really loved me, he would
+never have sacrificed me to his selfish passion. Nay, so
+wretched was my position at that time, and such was
+my desire to quit my father's roof, that, had he been
+candid and explicit with me, it is more than probable
+he would have moved me to pity the species of misery he
+was condemned to endure, and to sympathise with one
+so cut off from the tender ties which sweeten life. I
+really believe, at this moment, that, touched by his open,
+manly confession, as well as interested for one labouring
+under so severe an infliction of the Almighty's hand, I
+should scarcely have had the courage to refuse him my
+hand; and, once aware of all I had undertaken, nothing
+should have deterred me from the full and conscientious
+discharge of every solemn duty towards him. But to
+compel this pity and interest, merely because he had me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+in his power, and to exact my consideration and sympathy,
+because, unhappily, I was his wife, and had sworn to
+obligations, the full force of which had been concealed
+from me, was at once the act of a coward and a wrong-judging
+mind. How could I hold myself bound to endure
+the heavy penalties of my unfortunate marriage,
+when my husband had trampled on every tie which binds
+an honourable mind? And now, my lord, you may form
+some little idea of my wedded life; you are now aware
+how shamefully I was deceived, and that, too, by the
+person in whose hands I unsuspectingly placed the future
+happiness of my whole existence. I had implicitly
+trusted in M. d'Harville, and he had most dishonourably
+and treacherously repaid my trustfulness with bitter and
+irremediable wrongs. The gentle, timid melancholy
+which had so greatly interested me in his favour, and
+which he attributed to pious recollections, was, in truth,
+only the workings of a conscience ill at ease, and the
+knowledge of his own incurable infirmity."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, were he a stranger or an enemy, a heart so
+noble and generous as yours would pity such sufferings
+as he endures?"</p>
+
+<p>"But can I calm those sufferings? If he could
+distinguish my voice, or if only a look of recognition
+answered my sorrowing glance! But no. Oh, my
+lord, it is impossible for such as have never seen them
+to form an idea of those frightful paroxysms, in which
+every sense is suspended, and the unfortunate sufferer
+merely recovers from his frenzy to fall into a sort of
+sullen dejection! When my dear child experiences one
+of these attacks, it almost breaks my heart to see her
+tender frame twisted, stiffened, and distorted, by the
+dreadful convulsions which accompany it. Still, she is
+my own, my beloved infant, and, when I see her bitter
+agonies, my hatred and aversion to her father are increased
+an hundredfold. But, when my poor child
+becomes calmer, so does my irritation against my husband<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+subside also; and then&mdash;ah, then&mdash;the natural
+tenderness of my heart makes my angry feelings give
+place to a species of sorrow and pity for him. Yet
+surely I did not marry at only seventeen years of age
+merely to experience the alternations of hatred and painful
+commiseration, and to weep over a frail and sickly
+infant, whom, after all, I may not be permitted to rear.
+And, as regards this beloved object of my incessant
+prayers, permit me, my lord, to anticipate a reproach I
+doubtless deserve, and which you would be unwilling to
+make. My daughter, young as she is, is capable of
+interesting my affections and fully occupying my heart;
+but the love she inspires is so cruelly mixed with present
+anguish and future apprehensions, that my tenderness
+for my child invariably ends in tears and bitter grief.
+When I am with her, my heart is torn with agony,
+a heavy, crushing weight presses on my heart at the
+thoughts of her hopeless, suffering state. Not all the
+fondest devices of a mother's love can overcome a malady
+pronounced by all our faculty as incurable. Thus, then,
+by way of relief and refuge from the atmosphere of
+wretchedness which surrounded me, I had pictured to
+myself the possibility of finding calm and repose for my
+troubled spirit in an attachment, so vain, so empty,
+that&mdash;But I have been deceived a second time, most
+unworthily deceived; and there is now nothing left for
+me but to resign myself to the gloom and misery of the
+life my husband's want of candour has entailed upon me.
+But tell me, my lord, is it such an existence as I was
+justified in expecting when I bestowed my hand on M.
+d'Harville? And am I alone to blame for those injuries,
+to avenge which my husband had this day determined
+to take my life? My fault was great, very great; and
+the more so, because the object I had selected was every
+way so unworthy, and leaves me the additional shame
+of having to blush for my choice. Happily for me, my
+lord, the conversation you overheard between the Countess<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+Sarah and her brother on the subject of M.
+Charles Robert spares me much of the humiliation
+I should otherwise have experienced in making this
+confession. I only venture to hope that, since listening
+to my relation, you may be induced to consider
+me as much an object of pity as I admit I am of
+blame."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot express to you, madame, how deeply your
+narrative has touched me. What gnawing grief, what
+hidden sorrows have you not been called upon to endure,
+from the death of your mother to the birth of your child!
+Who would ever believe such ills could reach one so
+envied, so admired, and so calculated to enjoy and impart
+happiness to others?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my lord, there are some sorrows so deep, so
+unapproachable, that for worlds we would not even have
+them suspected; and the severest increase of suffering
+would arise from the very doubt of our being the enviable
+creatures we are believed to be."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right; nothing would be more painful than
+the question, openly expressed, 'Is she or he as happy as
+they seem to be?' Still, if there is any happiness in the
+knowledge, be assured you are not the only one who has
+to struggle with the fearful contrast between reality and
+that which the world believes."</p>
+
+<p>"How so, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because, in the eyes of all who know you, your husband
+is esteemed even happier than yourself, since he
+possesses one so rich in every good gift; and yet is not he
+also much to be pitied? Can there be a more miserable
+existence than the one he leads? He has acted unfairly
+and selfishly towards you, but has he not been bitterly
+punished? He loves you with a passion, deep and sincere,
+worthy of you to have inspired, yet he knows that
+your only feeling towards him is insurmountable aversion
+and contempt. In his feeble, suffering child he
+beholds a constant reproach; nor is that all he is called<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+upon to endure; jealousy also assails him with her nameless
+tortures."</p>
+
+<p>"And how can I help that, my lord? By giving him
+no occasion for jealousy, you reply. And certainly you
+are right. But, think you, because no other person
+would possess my love, it would any the more be his?
+He knows full well it would not. Since the fearful scene
+I related to you, we have lived entirely apart, while in
+the eyes of the world I have kept up every necessary
+appearance of married happiness. With the exception
+of yourself, my lord, I have never breathed a syllable of
+this fatal secret to mortal ears: thus, therefore, I venture
+to ask advice of you I could not solicit from any
+human being."</p>
+
+<p>"And I, madame, can with truth assure you that, if
+the trifling service I have rendered you be deemed worthy
+of notice, I hold myself a thousand times overpaid by
+the confidence you have reposed in me. But, since
+you deign to ask my advice, and permit me to speak
+candidly&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, my lord, I beseech you to use the frankness
+and sincerity you would show to a sister!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then allow me to tell you that, for want of employing
+one of your most precious qualities, you lose vast
+enjoyments, which would not only fill up that void in
+your heart, but would distract you from your domestic
+sorrows and supply that need of stirring emotions, excitement,
+and," added the prince, smiling, "I dare almost to
+venture to add,&mdash;pray forgive me for having so bad an
+opinion of your sex,&mdash;that natural love for mystery and
+intrigue which exercises so powerful an empire over
+many, if not all, females."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean that, if you would play at the game of doing
+good, nothing would please or interest you more."</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville surveyed Rodolph with astonishment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And understand," resumed he, "I speak not of sending
+large sums carelessly, almost disdainfully, to unfortunate
+creatures, of whom you know nothing, and who
+are frequently undeserving of your favour. But if you
+would amuse yourself, as I do, at playing, from time to
+time, at the game of Providence, you would acknowledge
+that occasionally our good deeds put on all the piquancy
+and charms of a romance."</p>
+
+<p>"I must confess, my lord," said Clémence, with a
+smile, "it never occurred to me to class charity under
+the head of amusements."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a discovery I owe to my horror of all tediums,
+all wearisome, long-protracted affairs,&mdash;a sort of horror
+which has been principally inspired by long political conferences
+and ministerial discussions. But to return to
+our game of amusing beneficence: I cannot, alas, aspire
+to possess that disinterested virtue which makes some
+people content to entrust others with the office of either
+ill or well distributing their bounty, and, if it merely
+required me to send one of my chamberlains to carry a
+few hundred louis to each of the divisions in and around
+Paris, I confess, to my shame, that the scheme would
+not interest me nearly as much as it does at present,
+while doing good, after my notions on the subject, is
+one of the most entertaining and exciting amusements
+you can imagine. I prefer the word 'amusing,' because
+to me it conveys the idea of all that pleases, charms, and
+allures us. And, really, madame, if you would only become
+my accomplice in a few dark intrigues of this sort,
+you would see that, apart from the praiseworthiness of
+the action, nothing is really more curious, inviting, attractive,
+or diverting, than these charitable adventures.
+And then, what mystery is requisite to conceal the benefits
+we render! what precautions to prevent ourselves
+from being discovered! what varied, yet powerful, emotions
+are excited at the aspect of poor but worthy people
+shedding tears of joy and calling down Heaven's blessing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+on your head! Depend upon it, such a group is, after
+all, more gratifying than the pale, angry countenance of
+either a jealous or an unfaithful lover, and there are very
+few who do not class either under one head or the other.
+The emotions I describe are closely allied to those you
+experienced this morning while going to the Rue du
+Temple. Simply dressed, that you may escape observation,
+you go forth with a palpitating heart; you also
+ascend with a throbbing breast some modest <i>fiacre</i>, carefully
+drawing down the blinds to prevent yourself from
+being seen; then, looking cautiously from side to side
+that you are not observed, you quickly enter a mean-looking
+dwelling, just like this morning, you see, the
+only difference being that, whereas to-day you said, 'If
+I am discovered I am lost!' then you would only smile
+as you mentally uttered, 'If I am discovered, they will
+overwhelm me with praises and blessings!' Now,
+since you possess your many adorable qualities in all
+their pure modesty, you would employ the most artful
+schemes, the most complicated man&oelig;uvres, to prevent
+yourself from being known, and, consequently, wept over
+and blessed as an angel of goodness."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my lord," cried Madame d'Harville, deeply
+moved, "you are indeed my preserver! I cannot
+express the new ideas, the consoling hopes, awakened
+within me by your words. You are quite right; to endeavour
+to gain the blessing and gratitude of such as are
+poor and in misery is almost equal to being loved even
+as I would wish to be; nay, it is even superior in its
+purity and absence of self. When I compare the existence
+I now venture to anticipate with the shameful and
+degraded lot I was preparing for myself, my own reproaches
+become more bitter and severe."</p>
+
+<p>"I should, indeed, be grieved," said Rodolph, smiling,
+"were that to be the case, since all my desire is to make
+you forget the past, and to prove to you that there are
+various modes of recreating and distracting our minds;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>
+the means of good and evil are very frequently nearly
+the same: it is the end, only, which differs. In a word,
+if good is as attractive, as amusing, as evil, why should
+we prefer the latter? I am going to use a very commonplace
+and hackneyed simile. Why do many women
+take as lovers men not nearly as worthy of that distinction
+as their own husbands? Because the greatest charm
+of love consists in the difficulties which surround it; for
+once deprived of the hopes, the fears, the anxieties, difficulties,
+mysteries, and dangers, and little or nothing
+would remain, merely the lover, stripped of all the prestige
+derivable from these causes, and a very every-day
+object he would appear; very much after the fashion
+of the individual who, when asked by a friend why he
+did not marry his mistress, replied, 'Why, I was thinking
+of it; but, if I did, where should I go to pass my
+evenings?'"</p>
+
+<p>"Your picture is coloured after nature, my lord," said
+Madame d'Harville, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, if I can find the means of enabling you
+to experience the fears, the anxieties, the excitement,
+which seem to have such charms for you, if I can render
+useful your natural love for mystery and romance, your
+inclination for dissimulation and artifice,&mdash;you see my
+bad opinion of your sex will peep out in spite of me,"
+added Rodolph, gaily,&mdash;"shall I not change into fine
+and generous qualities instincts which otherwise are
+mere ungovernable and unmanageable impulses, excellent,
+if well employed, most fatal, if directed badly?
+Now, then, what do you say? Shall we get up all
+manner of benevolent plots and charitable dissipations?
+We will have our rendezvous, our correspondence, our
+secrets, and, above all, we will carefully conceal all our
+doings from the marquis, for your visit of to-day to the
+Morels has, in all probability, excited his suspicions.
+There, you see, it only requires your consent to commence
+a regular intrigue."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I accept with joy and gratitude the mysterious associations
+you propose, my lord," said Clémence; "and, by
+way of beginning our romance, I will return to-morrow
+to visit those poor creatures to whom, unfortunately, this
+morning I could only utter a few words of consolation;
+for, taking advantage of my terror and alarm, the purse
+you so thoughtfully supplied me with was stolen from
+me by a lame boy as I ascended the stairs. Ah, my
+lord," added Clémence (and her countenance lost the
+expression of gentle gaiety by which a few minutes
+before it was animated), "if you only knew what misery,
+what a picture of wretchedness&mdash;no! oh, no! I
+never could have believed so horrid a scene, or that such
+want existed; and yet I bewail my condition and complain
+of my severe destiny."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph, wishing to conceal from Madame d'Harville
+how deeply he was touched at this application of the
+woes of others, as teaching patience and resignation, yet
+fully recognising in the meek and subdued spirit the fine
+and noble qualities of her mind, said, gaily:</p>
+
+<p>"With your permission, I shall except the Morels
+from your jurisdiction; you shall resign them to my
+care, and, above all things, promise me not again to
+enter that miserable place, for, to tell you the truth,
+I live there."</p>
+
+<p>"You, my lord? What an idea!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, but you really must believe me when I say
+I live there, for it is actually true. I confess mine is
+somewhat a humble lodging, a mere matter of eight
+pounds a year, in addition to which I pay the large
+and liberal sum of six francs a month to the porteress,
+Madame Pipelet, that ugly old woman you saw; but, to
+make up for all this, I have as my next neighbour, Mlle.
+Rigolette, the prettiest grisette in the Quartier du Temple.
+And you must allow that, for a merchant's clerk,
+with a salary of only seventy-two pounds a year (I pass
+as a clerk), such a domicile is well suited to my means."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Your unhoped-for presence in that fatal house proves
+to me that you are speaking seriously, my lord; some
+generous action leads you there, no doubt! But what
+good action do you reserve for me? What part do you
+propose for me to sustain?"</p>
+
+<p>"That of an angel of consolation, and&mdash;pray excuse
+and allow me the word&mdash;a very demon of cunning and
+man&oelig;uvres! For there are some wounds so painful, as
+well as delicate, that the hand of a woman only can
+watch over and heal them. There are, also, unfortunate
+beings so proud, so reserved, and so hidden from
+observation, that it requires uncommon penetration to
+discover them, and an irresistible charm to win their
+confidence."</p>
+
+<p>"And when shall I have an opportunity of displaying
+the penetration and skill for which you give me credit?"
+asked Madame d'Harville, impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"Soon, I hope, you will have to make a conquest
+worthy of you; but, to succeed, you must employ all
+your most ingenious resources."</p>
+
+<p>"And when, my lord, will you confide this great secret
+to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see! You perceive, we have already got
+as far as arranging our rendezvous. Could you do
+me the favour to grant me an audience in four days'
+time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me! so long first?" said Clémence, innocently.</p>
+
+<p>"But what would become of the mystery of the affair,
+and all the strict forms and appearances necessary to be
+kept up, if we were to meet sooner? Just imagine! If
+our partnership were suspected, people would be on their
+guard, and we should seldom achieve our purpose. I may
+very probably have to write to you. Who was that aged
+female who brought me your note?"</p>
+
+<p>"An old servant of my mother's, the very personification
+of prudence and discretion."</p>
+
+<p>"I will then address my letters under cover to her,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>
+and she will deliver them into your hands. If you are
+kind enough to return any answer, address 'To M.
+Rodolph, Rue Plumet,' and let your maid put your
+letters in the post."</p>
+
+<p>"I will do that myself, my lord, when taking my
+usual morning's walk."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you often walk out alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"In fine weather nearly every day."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! It is a custom all young women
+should observe from the very earliest period of their
+marriage,&mdash;either from a good or an improper provision
+against future evil. The habit once established,
+it becomes what the lawyers style a precedent; and, in
+subsequent days, these habitual promenades excite no
+dangerous interpretations. If I had been a woman,&mdash;and,
+between ourselves, I fear I should have been very charitable,
+but equally flighty,&mdash;the very day after my marriage
+I should, in all possible innocence, have taken
+the most mysterious steps, and, with perfect simplicity,
+have involved myself in all manner of suspicious and
+compromising proceedings, for the purpose of establishing
+the precedent I spoke of, in order to be at liberty
+either to visit my poor pensioners or to meet my
+lover."</p>
+
+<p>"But that would be downright perfidy to one's husband,
+would it not, my lord?" said Madame d'Harville,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Fortunately for you, madame, you have never been
+driven to the necessity of admitting the utility of such
+provisionary measures."</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville's smile left her lips. She cast
+down her eyes, and, blushing deeply, said, in a low and
+sad voice, "This is not generous, my lord!"</p>
+
+<p>At first Rodolph regarded the marquise with astonishment,
+then added, "I understand you, madame. But,
+once for all, let us weigh well your position as regards
+M. Charles Robert. I will just imagine that one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+your acquaintances may one day have pointed out to
+you one of those pitiable-looking mendicants who roll
+their eyes most sentimentally, and play on the clarionet
+with desperate energy, to awaken the sympathy of the
+passers-by. 'That is really and truly a genuine case of
+distress,' observes your friend. 'That interesting musician
+has at least seven children, and a wife deaf, dumb,
+blind,' etc. 'Ah, poor fellow!' you reply, charitably
+aiding him with your purse. And so, each time you
+meet this case of genuine distress, the clarionet-player,
+the moment he discerns you from afar, fixes his imploring
+eyes upon you, while the most touching strains of his
+instrument are directed to touch your charitable sympathies,
+and that, too, so successfully, that again your purse
+opens at this fresh appeal. One day, more than usually
+disposed to pity this very unfortunate object by the importunities
+of the friend who first pointed him out to
+you, and who is most wickedly abusing your generous
+heart, you resolve to visit this case of genuine distress,
+as your false friend terms it, and to behold the poor
+object of your solicitude in the midst of his misery.
+Well, you go. But, lo! the grief-stricken musician has
+vanished; and in his place you find a lively, rollicking
+fellow, enjoying himself over some of the good things of
+this world, and mirthfully carolling forth the last new
+alehouse catch. Then disgust succeeds to pity; for you
+have bestowed your sympathy and charity alike upon an
+impostor, neither more nor less. Is it not so?"</p>
+
+<p>Madame d'Harville could not restrain a smile at this
+singular apologue. She, however, soon checked it, as
+she added:</p>
+
+<p>"However grateful I may feel for this mode of justifying
+my great imprudence, my lord, I can but confess I
+dare not avail myself of so favourable a pretext as that
+of mistaken charity."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet, after all, yours was an error based upon motives
+of noble and generous pity for the wounded feelings of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+one you believed a genuine object for commiseration.
+Fortunately, there are so many ways left you of atoning
+for one indiscretion, that your regret need be but small.
+Shall I not have the pleasure of seeing M. d'Harville
+this evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, my lord. The scene of this morning has so
+much affected him that he is&mdash;ill," said the marquise,
+in a low, tremulous tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," replied Rodolph, sadly, "I understand! Come,
+courage! you were saying that you required an aim, a
+motive, a means of directing your thoughts. Permit me
+to hope that all this will be accomplished by following
+out the plan I have proposed. Your heart will be then
+so filled with the delightful recollection of all the happiness
+you have caused, and all the good you have effected,
+that, in all probability, you will find no room for resentment
+against your husband. In place of angry feelings,
+you will regard him with the same sorrowing pity you
+look on your dear child. And as for the interesting
+little creature herself, now you have confided to me the
+cause of her delicate health, I almost think myself warranted
+in bidding you yet to entertain hopes of overcoming
+the fearful complaint which has hitherto affected
+her tender frame."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed Clémence, clasping her
+hands with eagerness, "can it be possible? How? In
+what manner can my child be saved?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have, as physician to myself and household, a man
+almost unknown, though possessed of a first-rate science.
+Great part of his life was passed in America; and I remember
+his speaking to me of some marvellous cures
+performed by him on slaves attacked by this distressing
+complaint."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you really think, my lord&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, you must not allow yourself to dwell too confidently
+upon success; the disappointment would be so
+very severe. Only, do not let us wholly despair."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Clémence d'Harville cast a hasty glance of unutterable
+gratitude over the noble features of Rodolph, the
+firm, unflinching friend, who reconciled her to herself
+with so much good sense, intelligence, and delicacy of
+feeling. Then she asked herself how, for one instant, she
+could ever have been interested in the fate of such a being
+as M. Charles Robert,&mdash;the very idea was hateful to her.</p>
+
+<p>"What do I not owe you, my lord?" cried she, in a
+voice of thrilling emotion; "you console me for the past;
+you open to me a glimpse of hope for my child; and you
+place before me a plan of future occupation which shall
+afford me both consolation and the delight of doing my
+duty. Ah, was I not right when I said that, if you would
+come here to-night, you would finish the day as you had
+begun it,&mdash;by performing a good action?"</p>
+
+<p>"And pray, madame, do not omit to add,&mdash;an action
+after my own heart, where all is pleasure and unmixed
+enjoyment in its performance. And now, adieu!" said
+Rodolph, rising as the clock struck half-past eleven.</p>
+
+<p>"Adieu, my lord, and pray do not forget to send me
+news ere long of those poor people in the Rue du Temple."</p>
+
+<p>"I will see them to-morrow, for, unfortunately, I knew
+not of that little limping rascal having stolen your purse;
+and I fear that the unhappy creatures are in the most
+deplorable want. Have the kindness to bear in mind
+that, in the course of four days, I shall come to explain
+to you the nature of the part you will be required to
+undertake. One thing I must prepare you for; and that
+is, the probability of its being requisite for you to assume
+a disguise on the occasion."</p>
+
+<p>"A disguise? Oh, how charming! What sort of
+one, my lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot tell you at present. I will leave the choice
+to you."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p>"All that is requisite," said the prince, on his return
+home, "to save this excellent woman from the perils of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+another attachment, is to fill her mind with generous
+thoughts; and, since an invincible repugnance separates
+her from her husband, to employ her love for the
+romantic in such charitable actions as shall require
+being enshrouded in mystery."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<h5>MISERY.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The reader has probably not forgotten that the garret
+in the Rue du Temple was occupied by an unfortunate
+family, the father of whom was a working lapidary,
+named Morel. We shall now endeavour to describe the
+wretched abode of Morel and his children.</p>
+
+<p>It was six o'clock in the morning; a deep silence
+dwelt around. The streets were still deserted, for the
+snow fell fast, and the cold, biting wind froze as it blew.
+A miserable candle, stuck upon a small block of wood,
+and supported by two slips of the same material,
+scarcely penetrated with its yellow, flickering light the
+misty darkness of the garret,&mdash;a narrow, low-built
+place, two-thirds of which was formed by the sloping
+roof, which communicated by a sharp angle with the
+wretched flooring, and freely exposed the moss-covered
+tiles of the outer roof. Walls covered with plaster,
+blackened by time, and split into countless crevices, displayed
+the rotten, worm-eaten laths, which formed the
+frail division from other chambers, while in one corner
+of this deplorable habitation a door off the hinges opened
+upon a narrow staircase. The ground, of a nameless
+colour, but foul, fetid, and slippery, was partly strewed
+with bits of dirty straw, old rags, and bones, the residue
+of that unwholesome and vitiated food sold by the
+dealers in condemned meat, and frequently bought by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+starving wretches, for the purpose of gnawing the few
+cartilages that may adhere.<a name="FNanchor_1_4" id="FNanchor_1_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_4" id="Footnote_1_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> It is no uncommon thing to meet, in densely crowded parts of Paris,
+with persons who openly sell the flesh of animals born dead, as well as of
+others who have died of disease, etc.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>So wretched a condition either arises from improvidence
+and vice, or from unavoidable misery,&mdash;misery so
+great, so overwhelming and paralysing, as to enfeeble
+every energy, and to render the unhappy object of it too
+hopeless, too despairing, even to attempt to extricate
+himself from the squalor of his utter destitution, and he
+crouches in his dirt and desolation like an animal in its
+den.</p>
+
+<p>During the day, Morel's garret was lighted by a
+species of long, narrow skylight formed in the descending
+roof, framed and glazed, and made to open and shut
+by means of a pulley and string; but, at the hour which
+we are describing, a heavy fall of snow encumbered the
+window, and effectually prevented its affording any light.
+The candle placed on Morel's working-table, which stood
+in the centre of the chamber, diffused a kind of halo of
+pale, sickly beams, which, gradually diminishing, was at
+last lost in the dim shadow which overspread the place,
+in whose murky duskiness might be seen the faint outline
+of several white-looking masses. On the work-table,
+which was merely a heavy and roughly cut wooden
+block of unpolished oak, covered with grease and soot,
+lay, loosely scattered about, a handful of rubies and
+diamonds, of more than ordinary size and brilliancy,
+while, as the mean rays of the small candle were
+reflected on them, they glittered and sparkled like so
+many coruscating fires.</p>
+
+<p>Morel was a worker of real stones, and not false ones,
+as he had given out, and as was universally believed, in
+the Rue du Temple. Thanks to this innocent deception,
+the costly jewels entrusted to him were merely supposed
+to be so many pieces of glass, too valueless to tempt the
+cupidity of any one. Such riches, confided to the care<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+of one as poor and miserably destitute as Morel, will
+render any reference to the honesty of his character
+quite unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>Seated on a high stool, and wholly overcome by
+fatigue, cold, and weariness, after a long winter's night,
+passed in unceasing labour, the poor lapidary had fallen
+asleep on his block, with his head upon his half-frozen
+arms, and his forehead resting against a small grindstone,
+placed horizontally on the table, and generally put
+in motion by a little hand-wheel, while a fine steel saw,
+and various other tools belonging to his trade, were
+lying beside him. The man himself, of whom nothing
+but the skull, surrounded by a fringe of gray hairs, was
+visible, was dressed in a shabby fustian jacket, without
+any species of linen or garment beneath it, and an old
+pair of cloth trousers, while his worn-out slippers scarcely
+concealed the blue, cold feet they partially covered, from
+resting solely on the damp, shiny floor; and so bitter,
+so freezing, was the sharp winter wind which freely
+entered into this scarcely human dwelling, that, spite of
+the weariness and exhaustion of the overworked artisan,
+his frame shuddered and shivered with involuntary frequency.
+The length of the wick of the unsnuffed candle
+bespoke the length of time even this uneasy slumber
+must have lasted, and no sound save his troubled and
+irregular breathing broke the deathlike silence that
+prevailed; for, alas! the other occupants of this mean
+abode were not so fortunate as to be able to forget their
+sufferings in sleep. Yet this narrow, pent-up, unwholesome
+spot contained no less than seven other persons,&mdash;five
+children, the youngest of whom was four years
+of age, the eldest twelve, a sick and declining wife, with
+an aged grandmother, the parent of Morel's wife, now in
+her eightieth year, and an idiot!</p>
+
+<p>The cold must have been intense, indeed, when the
+natural warmth of so many persons, so closely packed
+together in so small a place, could not in any way affect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+the freezing atmosphere; it was evident, therefore, to
+speak scientifically, that but little caloric was given out
+by the poor, weak, emaciated, shivering creatures, all
+suffering and almost expiring with cold and hunger,
+from the puny infant to the idiotic old grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>With the exception of the father of the family, who
+had temporarily yielded to the aching of his heavy eyelids,
+no other creature slept,&mdash;no other; because cold,
+starvation, and sickness will not allow so sweet an
+enjoyment as the closing the eyes in peaceful rest.
+Little does the world believe how rarely comes that
+sound, healthful, and refreshing slumber to the poor
+man's pillow, which at once invigorates the mind and
+body, and sends the willing labourer back to his toil
+refreshed and recruited by the blessing of a beneficent
+Creator. To taste of nature's sweet, refreshing, balmy
+sleep, sickness, sorrow, poverty, and mental disquietude
+must not share the humble pallet.</p>
+
+<p>In contrasting the deep misery of the poor artisan, with
+whose woes we are now occupying the reader, with the
+immense value of the jewelry confided to him, we are
+struck by one of those comparisons which afflict while
+they elevate the mind. With the distracting spectacle
+of his family's want and wretchedness, embracing a wide
+field from cold and hunger to drivelling idiocy, constantly
+before his eyes, this man, in the pursuance of his
+daily labour, is compelled to touch and handle and gaze
+upon bright and sparkling gems, the smallest of which
+would be a mine of wealth to him, and save those dearest
+to him from sufferings and privations which wring
+his very heart; would snatch them from the slow and
+lingering death which is consuming them before his
+eyes. Yet, amid all these trials and temptations, the
+artisan remains firmly, truly, and unflinchingly honest,
+and would no more appropriate one of the glittering
+stones entrusted to him than he would satisfy his hunger
+at the expense of his starving babes. Doubtless the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+but performed his duty to his employer,&mdash;his simple
+duty; but because it is enjoined to all to be honest and
+faithful in that which is committed to them, does that
+render the action itself less noble, magnanimous, or
+praiseworthy? Is not this unfortunate artisan, so courageously,
+so bravely upright and honest while entrusted
+with the property of another, the type and model of an
+immense class of working people, who, doomed to a life
+of continual poverty and privation, see, with calm, patient
+looks, thousands of their brethren rolling in splendour
+and abounding in riches, yet they toil on, resigned and
+unenvying, but still industriously striving for bread their
+hardest efforts cannot always procure? And is there
+not something consolatory, as well as gratifying to our
+feelings, to consider that it is neither force nor terror,
+but good natural sense and a right mind which alone restrain
+this formidable ocean, this heaving mass, whose
+bounds once broken, a moral inundation would ensue, in
+which society itself would be swallowed up? Shall we,
+then, refuse to cooperate with all the powers of our mind
+and body with those generous and enlightened spirits,
+who ask but a little sunshine for so much misfortune,
+courage, and resignation?</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 15%;" />
+
+<p>Let us now return to the, alas! too true specimen of
+distressing want we shall endeavour to describe in all its
+fearful and startling reality.</p>
+
+<p>The lapidary possessed only a thin mattress and a portion
+of a blanket appropriated to the old grandmother,
+who, in her stupid and ferocious selfishness, would not
+allow any person to share them with her. In the beginning
+of the winter she had become quite violent, and
+had even attempted to strangle the youngest child, who
+had been put to sleep with her. This poor infant was a
+sickly little creature, of about four years old, now far
+gone in consumption, and who found it too cold inside
+the mattress, where she slept with her brothers and sisters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+Hereafter we shall explain this mode of sleeping
+so frequently employed by the very poor, in comparison
+with whom the very animals are treated luxuriously, for
+their litter is changed. Such was the picture presented
+in the humble garret of the poor lapidary, when the eye
+was enabled to pierce the gloomy penumbra caused by the
+flickering rays of the candle. By the side of the partition
+wall, not less damp and cracked than the others,
+was placed on the floor the mattress on which the idiot
+grandmother reposed; as she could not bear anything on
+her head, her white hair was cut very short, and revealed
+the shape of her head and flat forehead; while her shaggy,
+gray eyebrows shaded the deep orbits, from which glared
+a wild, savage, yet crafty look; her pale, hollow, wrinkled
+cheeks hung upon the bones of the face and the sharp
+angles of her jaws. Lying upon her side, and almost
+doubled up, her chin nearly touching her knees, she lay,
+shivering with cold, beneath the gray rug, too small to
+cover her all over, and which, as she drew it over her
+shoulders, exposed her thin, emaciated legs, as well as
+the wretched old petticoat in which she was clad. An
+odour most fetid and repulsive issued from this bed.</p>
+
+<p>At a little distance from the mattress of the grandmother,
+and still extending along the side of the wall,
+was placed the <i>paillasse</i> which served as a sleeping-place
+for the five children, who were accommodated after the
+following manner:</p>
+
+<p>An opening was made at each side of the cloth which
+covered the straw, and the children were inserted into
+this bed, or, rather, foul and noisome dunghill, the outer
+case serving both for sheet and counterpane. Two little
+girls, one of whom was extremely ill, shivered on one
+side, and three young boys on the other, all going to bed
+without undressing, if, indeed, the miserable rags they
+wore could be termed clothes. Masses of thick, dry,
+light hair, tangled, ragged, and uncombed, left uncut because
+their poor mother fancied it helped to keep them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+warm, half covered their pale, thin, pinched features.
+One of the boys drew, with his cold, benumbed fingers,
+the covering over their straw bed up to his chin, in order
+to defend himself from the cold; while another, fearful
+of exposing his hands to the influence of the frost, tried
+to grasp the bed-covering with his teeth, which rattled
+and shook in his head; while a third strove to huddle
+up to his brothers in the hopes of gaining a little warmth.
+The youngest of the two girls, fatally attacked by consumption,
+leaned her poor little face, which already bore
+the hue of death, languidly against the chilly bosom of
+her sister, a girl just one year older, who vainly sought,
+by pressing her in her arms, to impart comfort and ease
+to the little sufferer, over whom she watched with the
+anxious solicitude of a parent.</p>
+
+<p>On another <i>paillasse</i>, also placed on the ground, at the
+foot of that of the children, the wife of the artisan
+was extended, groaning in helpless exhaustion from
+the effects of a slow fever and an internal complaint,
+which had not permitted her to quit her bed for several
+months. Madeleine Morel was in her thirty-sixth year;
+a blue cotton handkerchief, tied round her low forehead,
+made the bilious pallor of her countenance and sharp,
+emaciated features still more conspicuous. A dark halo
+encircled her hollow, sunken eyes, while her lips were
+split and bleeding from the effects of the fever which
+consumed her; her dejected, grief-worn physiognomy,
+and small, insignificant features, indicated one of those
+gentle but weak natures, without resource or energy,
+which unable to struggle with misfortunes, yield at once,
+and know no remedy but vain and ceaseless lamentations
+and regrets. Weak, spiritless, and of limited capacity,
+she had remained honest because her husband was so;
+had she been left to herself, it is probable that ignorance
+and misfortune might have depraved her mind and driven
+her to any lengths. She loved her husband and her children,
+but she had neither the courage nor resolution to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+restrain giving vent to loud and open complaints respecting
+their mutual misery; and frequently was the lapidary,
+whose unflinching labour alone maintained the family,
+obliged to quit his work to console and pacify the poor
+valetudinarian. Over and above an old ragged sheet of
+coarse brown cloth, which partially covered his wife,
+Morel had, in order to impart a little warmth, laid a few
+old clothes, so worn out, and patched and pieced, that the
+pawnbroker had refused to have anything to do with them.</p>
+
+<p>A stove, a saucepan, a damaged earthen stewpan, two
+or three cracked cups, scattered about on the floor, a
+bucket, a board to wash on, and a large stone pitcher,
+placed beneath the angle of the roof near the broken
+door, which the wind kept continually blowing to and
+fro, completed the whole of the family possessions.</p>
+
+<p>This picture of squalid misery and desolation was
+lighted up by the candle, whose flame, agitated by the
+cold northeasterly wind which found its way through
+the tiles on the roof, sometimes imparted a pale, unearthly
+light on the wretched scene, and then, playing on
+the heaps of diamonds and rubies lying beside the sleeping
+artisan, caused a thousand scintillating sparks to
+spring forth and dazzle the eye with their prismatic rays
+of brightness.</p>
+
+<p>Although the profoundest silence reigned around,
+seven out of the eight unfortunate dwellers in this attic
+were awake; and each, from the grandmother to the
+youngest child, watched the sleeping lapidary with intense
+emotion, as their only hope, their only resource,
+and, in their childlike selfishness, they murmured at seeing
+him thus inactive and relinquishing that labour which
+they well knew was all they had to depend on; but with
+different feelings of regret and uneasiness did the lookers-on
+observe the slumber of the toil-worn man. The
+mother trembled for her children's meal; the children
+thought but of themselves; while the idiot neither thought
+of nor cared for any one. All at once she sat upright<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+in her wretched bed, crossed her long, bony arms, yellow
+and dry as box-wood, on her shrivelled bosom, and kept
+watching the candle with twinkling eyes; then, rising
+slowly and stealthily, she crept along, trailing after her
+her old ragged coverlet, which clung around her as
+though it had been her winding-sheet. She was above
+the middle height, and her hair being so closely shaven
+made her head appear disproportionately small; a sort
+of spasmodic movement kept up a constant trembling in
+her thick, pendulous under-lip, while her whole countenance
+offered the hideous model of ferocious stupidity.
+Slowly and cautiously the idiot approached the lapidary's
+work-table, like a child about to commit some forbidden
+act. When she reached the candle, she held her two
+trembling hands over the flame; and such was their
+skeleton-like condition, that the flickering light shone
+through them, imparting a pale, livid hue to her features.
+From her pallet Madeleine Morel watched every movement
+of the old woman, who, still warming herself over
+the candle, stooped her head, and with a silly kind of
+delight watched the sparkling of the diamonds and
+rubies, which lay glittering on the table. Wholly absorbed
+in the wondrous contemplation of such bright and
+beautiful things, the idiot allowed her hands to fall into
+the flame of the candle, nor did she seem to recollect
+where they were till the sense of burning recalled her
+attention, when she manifested her pain and anger by a
+harsh, screaming cry.</p>
+
+<p>At this sound Morel started, and quickly raised his
+head. He was about forty years of age, with an open,
+intelligent, and mild expression of countenance, but yet
+wearing the sad, dejected look of one who had been the
+sport of misery and misfortune till they had planted
+furrows in his cheeks and crushed and broken his spirit.
+A gray beard of many weeks' growth covered the lower
+part of his face, which was deeply marked by the smallpox;
+premature wrinkles furrowed his already bald<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+forehead; while his red and inflamed eyelids showed the
+overtaxed and sleepless days and nights of toil he so
+courageously endured. A circumstance, but too common
+with such of the working class as are doomed by their
+occupation to remain nearly all day in one position, had
+warped his figure, and, acting upon a naturally feeble
+constitution, had produced a contraction of his whole
+frame. Continually obliged to stoop over his work-table
+and to lean to the left, in order to keep his grindstone
+going, the lapidary, in a manner petrified, ossified in the
+attitude he was frequently obliged to preserve from
+twelve to fifteen hours a day, had acquired an habitual
+stoop of the shoulders, and was completely drawn on one
+side. So his left arm, incessantly exercised by the difficult
+management of the grindstone, had acquired a considerable
+muscular development; whilst the right arm,
+always inert and leaning on the table, the better to present
+the faces of the diamonds to the action of the grindstone,
+had wasted to the most extreme attenuation; his
+wasted limbs, almost paralysed by complete want of exercise,
+could scarcely support the weary, worn-out body, as
+though all strength, substance, and vitality had concentrated
+themselves in the only part called into play when
+toiling for the subsistence of, with himself, eight human
+creatures.</p>
+
+<p>And often would poor Morel touchingly observe: "It
+is not for myself that I care to eat, but to give strength
+to the arm which turns the mill."</p>
+
+<p>Awaking with a sudden start, the lapidary found himself
+directly opposite to the poor idiot.</p>
+
+<p>"What ails you? what is the matter, mother?" said
+Morel; and then added, in a lower tone, for fear of
+awaking the family, whom he hoped and believed were
+asleep, "Go back to bed, mother; Madeleine and the
+children are asleep!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, father," cried the eldest of the little girls, "I
+am awake; I am trying to warm poor little Adèle."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And I am too hungry to go to sleep," added one of
+the boys; "it was not my turn to-night to have supper
+with Mlle. Rigolette."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor things!" said Morel, sorrowfully; "I thought
+you were asleep&mdash;at least&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I was afraid of awaking you, Morel," said the wife,
+"or I should have begged of you to give me a drink of
+water; I am devoured with thirst! My feverish fit has
+come on again!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will directly," said the lapidary; "only let me first
+get mother back to bed. Come! come! what are you
+meddling with those stones for? Let them alone, I say!"
+cried he to the old woman, whose whole attention seemed
+riveted upon a splendid ruby, the bright scintillations of
+which had so charmed the poor idiot that she was trying
+by every possible means to gain possession of it.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a pretty thing! there, there!" replied the
+woman, pointing with vehement gestures to the prize she
+so ardently coveted.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be angry in a few minutes," exclaimed Morel,
+speaking in a loud voice to terrify his mother-in-law into
+submission, and gently pushing back the hand she
+advanced to seize her desired treasure.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Morel! Morel!" murmured Madeleine, "I am
+parching, dying with thirst. How can you be so cruel
+as to refuse me a little water?"</p>
+
+<p>"But how can I at present? I must not allow mother
+to meddle with these stones,&mdash;perhaps to lose me a
+diamond, as she did a year ago; and God alone knows
+the wretchedness and misery it cost us,&mdash;ay, may still
+occasion us. Ah, that unfortunate loss of the diamond,
+what have we not suffered by it!"</p>
+
+<p>As the poor lapidary uttered these words, he passed
+his hand over his aching brow with a desponding air,
+and said to one of the children:</p>
+
+<p>"Felix, give your mother something to drink. You
+are awake, and can attend to her."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, no," exclaimed Madeleine; "he will take cold.
+I will wait."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mother," said the boy, rising, "never mind me.
+I shall be quite as warm up as I am in this <i>paillasse</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, will you let the things alone?" cried Morel,
+in a threatening tone, to the idiot woman, who kept
+bending over the precious stones and trying to seize
+them, spite of all his efforts to move her from the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," called out Felix, "what shall I do? The
+water in the pitcher is frozen quite hard."</p>
+
+<p>"Then break the ice," murmured Madeleine.</p>
+
+<p>"It is so thick, I can't," answered the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Morel!" exclaimed Madeleine, in a querulous and
+impatient tone, "since there is nothing but water for me
+to drink, let me at least have a draught of that! You
+are letting me die with thirst!"</p>
+
+<p>"God of heaven grant me patience!" cried the unfortunate
+man. "How can I leave your mother to lose
+and destroy these stones? Pray let me manage her
+first."</p>
+
+<p>But the lapidary found it no easy matter to get rid
+of the idiot, who, beginning to feel irritated at the constant
+opposition she met with, gave utterance to her
+displeasure in a sort of hideous growl.</p>
+
+<p>"Call her, wife!" said Morel. "She will attend to
+you sometimes."</p>
+
+<p>"Mother! mother!" called Madeleine, "go to bed,
+and be good, and then you shall have some of that nice
+coffee you are so fond of!"</p>
+
+<p>"I want that! and that! There! there!" replied the
+idiot, making a desperate effort this time to possess herself
+of a heap of rubies she particularly coveted. Morel
+firmly, but gently, repulsed her,&mdash;all in vain; with
+pertinacious obstinacy the old woman kept struggling to
+break from his grasp, and snatch the bright gems, on
+which she kept her eyes fixed with eager fondness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You will never manage her," said Madeleine, "unless
+you frighten her with the whip; there is no other means
+of making her quiet."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid not," returned Morel; "but, though she
+has no sense, it yet goes to my heart to be obliged to
+threaten an old woman, like her, with the whip."</p>
+
+<p>Then, addressing the old woman, who was trying to
+bite him, and whom he was holding back with one
+hand, he said, in a loud and terrible voice: "Take care;
+you'll have the whip on your shoulders if you don't
+make haste to bed this very instant!"</p>
+
+<p>These menaces were equally vain with his former
+efforts to subdue her. Morel then took a whip which
+lay beside his work-table, and, cracking it violently, said:
+"Get to bed with you directly! Get to bed!"</p>
+
+<p>As the loud noise of the whip saluted the ear of the
+idiot, she hurried away from the lapidary's work-table,
+then, suddenly turning around, she uttered low, grumbling
+sounds between her clenched teeth; while she surveyed
+her son-in-law with looks of the deepest hatred.</p>
+
+<p>"To bed! to bed, I say!" continued he, still advancing,
+and feigning to raise his whip with the intention
+of striking; while the idiot, holding her fist towards
+her son-in-law, retreated backwards to her wretched
+couch.</p>
+
+<p>The lapidary, anxious to terminate this painful scene,
+that he might be at liberty to attend to his sick wife, kept
+still advancing towards the idiot woman, brandishing and
+cracking his whip, though without allowing it to touch
+the unhappy creature, repeatedly exclaiming, "To bed!
+to bed,&mdash;directly! Do you hear?"</p>
+
+<p>The old woman, now thoroughly conquered, and fully
+believing in the reality of the threats held out, began to
+howl most hideously; and crawling into her bed, like a
+dog to his kennel, she kept up a continued series of
+cries, screams, and yells, while the frightened children,
+believing their poor old grandmother had actually been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+beaten, began crying piteously, exclaiming, "Don't beat
+poor granny, father! Pray don't flog granny!"</p>
+
+<p>It is wholly impossible to describe the fearful effect
+of these nocturnal horrors, in which were mingled, in
+one turmoil of sounds, the supplicating cries of the children,
+the furious yellings of the idiot, and the wailing
+complaints of the lapidary's sick wife.</p>
+
+<p>To poor Morel such scenes as this were but too
+frequent. Still, upon the present occasion, his patience
+and courage seemed utterly to forsake him; and, throwing
+down the whip upon his work-table, he exclaimed,
+in bitter despair, "Oh, what a life! what a life!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it my fault if my mother is an idiot?" asked
+Madeleine, weeping.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it mine, then?" replied Morel. "All I ask for is
+peace and quiet enough to allow me to work myself to
+death for you all. God knows I labour alike night and
+day! Yet I complain not. And, as long as my strength
+holds out, I will exert myself to the utmost; but it is
+quite impossible for me to attend to my business, and be
+at once a keeper to a mad woman and a nurse to sick
+people and young children. And Heaven is unjust to
+put it upon me,&mdash;yes, I say unjust! It is too much
+misery to heap on one man," added Morel, in a tone
+bordering on distraction. So saying, the heart-broken
+lapidary threw himself on his stool, and covered his face
+with his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I help the people at the hospital having refused
+to receive my mother, because she was not raving mad?"
+asked Madeleine, in a low, peevish, and complaining
+voice. "What can I do to alter it? What is the use
+of your grumbling to me about my mother? and, if you
+fret ever so much about what neither you nor I can
+alter, what good will that do?"</p>
+
+<p>"None at all," rejoined the artisan, hastily brushing
+the large bitter drops despair had driven to his eyes;
+"none whatever,&mdash;you are right; but when everything<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+goes against you, it is difficult to know what to do
+or say."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious Father!" cried Madeleine; "what an agony
+of thirst I am enduring! My lips are parched with the
+fever which is consuming me, and yet I shiver as though
+death were on me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Wait one instant, and I will give you some drink!"
+So saying, Morel took the pitcher which stood beneath
+the roof, and, after having with difficulty broken the ice
+which covered the water, he filled a cup with the frozen
+liquid, and brought it to the bedside of his wife, who
+stretched forth her impatient hands to receive it; but,
+after a moment's reflection, he said, "No, no, I must
+not let you have it cold as this; in your present state of
+fever it would be dangerous."</p>
+
+<p>"So much the better if it be dangerous! Quick,
+quick&mdash;give it me!" cried Madeleine, with bitterness;
+"it will the sooner end my misery, and free you from
+such an incumbrance as I am; then you will only have
+to look after mad folks and young children,&mdash;there will
+be no sick-nurse to take up your time."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you say such hard words to me, Madeleine?"
+asked Morel, mournfully; "you know I do not
+deserve them. Pray do not add to my vexations, for I
+have scarcely strength or reason enough left to go on
+with my work; my head feels as though something were
+amiss with it, and I fear much my brain will give way,&mdash;and
+then what would become of you all? 'Tis for you I
+speak; were there only myself, I should trouble very
+little about to-morrow,&mdash;thank Heaven, the river flows
+for every one!"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Morel!" said Madeleine, deeply affected. "I
+was very wrong to speak so angrily to you, and to say
+I knew you would be glad to get rid of me. Pray forgive
+me, for indeed I did not mean any harm; for, after
+all, what use am I either to you or the children? For
+the last sixteen months I have kept my bed! Gracious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>
+God! what I do suffer with thirst! For pity's sake,
+husband, give me something to moisten my burning lips!"</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have it directly; I was trying to warm
+the cup between my hands."</p>
+
+<p>"How good you are! and yet I could say such wicked
+things to you!"</p>
+
+<p>"My poor wife, you are ill and in pain, and that
+makes you impatient; say anything you like to me, but
+pray never tell me again I wish to get rid of you!"</p>
+
+<p>"But what good am I to any one? what good are our
+children? None whatever; on the contrary, they heap
+more toil upon you than you can bear."</p>
+
+<p>"True; yet you see that my love for them and you
+has endued me with strength and resolution to work
+frequently twenty hours out of the twenty-four, till my
+body is bent and deformed by such incessant labour.
+Do you believe for one instant that I would thus toil
+and struggle on my own account? Oh, no! life has no
+such charms for me; and if I were the only sufferer, I
+would quickly put an end to it."</p>
+
+<p>"And so would I," said Madeleine. "God knows,
+but for the children I should have said to you, long ago,
+'Morel, we have had more than enough to weary us of
+our lives; there is nothing left but to finish our misery
+by the help of a pan of charcoal!' But then I recollected
+the poor, dear, helpless children, and my heart
+would not let me leave them, alone and unprotected, to
+starve by themselves."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, you see, wife, that the children are,
+after all, of real good to us, since they prevent us giving
+way to despair, and serve as a motive for exerting
+ourselves," replied Morel, with ready ingenuity, yet perfect
+simplicity of tone and manner. "Now, then, take your
+drink, but only swallow a little at a time, for it is very
+cold still."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, thank you, Morel!" cried Madeleine, snatching
+the cup, and drinking it eagerly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Enough! enough! no more! you shall not have any
+more just now, Madeleine."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious Heaven!" exclaimed Madeleine, giving back
+the cup, "how cold it seems now I have swallowed it,&mdash;it
+has brought back those dreadful shiverings!"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas!" ejaculated Morel, "I told you so,&mdash;ah, now
+you are quite ill again!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not strength even to tremble,&mdash;I seem as
+though I were covered over with ice."</p>
+
+<p>Morel took off his jacket, and laid it over his wife's
+feet, remaining quite naked down to his waist,&mdash;the
+unhappy man did not possess a shirt.</p>
+
+<p>"But you will be frozen to death, Morel!"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind me; if I find it cold by and by, I will
+put my jacket on for a few minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor fellow!" sighed Madeleine. "Ah, as you
+say, Heaven is not just! What have we done to be so
+wretched, while so many others&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Every one has their troubles,&mdash;some more, some
+less,&mdash;the great as well as the small."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but great people know nothing of the gnawings
+of hunger, or the bitter pinching of the cold. Why,
+when I look on those diamonds, and remember that the
+smallest amongst them would place us and the poor
+children in ease and comfort, my heart sickens, and I
+ask myself why it is some should have so much, and
+others nothing? And what good are these diamonds,
+after all, to their owners?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, if we were to go to the question of what half
+the luxuries of life are really good for, we might go
+a great way; for instance, what is the good of that
+grand gentleman Madame Pipelet calls the commandant
+having engaged and furnished the first floor of this
+house, when he seldom enters it? What use is it his
+having there good beds, and warm covering to them,
+since he never sleeps in them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very true; there is more furniture lying idle there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
+than would supply two or three poor families like ours.
+And then Madame Pipelet lights a fire every day, to preserve
+the things from the damp. Only think of so much
+comfortable warmth being lost, while we and the children
+are almost frozen to death! But then, you will
+say, we are not articles of value; no, indeed, we are
+not. Oh, these rich folks, what hard hearts they have!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not harder than other people's, Madeleine; but then,
+you see, they do not know what misery or want are.
+They are born rich and happy, they live and die so.
+How, then, do you expect they can ever think such poor
+distressed beings exist in a world which to them is all
+happiness? No! I tell you, they have no idea of such
+things as fellow creatures toiling beyond their strength
+for food, and perishing at last with hunger! How is it
+possible for them to imagine privations like ours? The
+greater their hunger, the greater enjoyment of their
+abundant meal. Is the weather severe, or the cold
+intense, they call it a fine frost, a healthful, bracing season.
+If they walk out, they return to a glowing, cheerful
+fire, which the cold only makes them relish the
+more; so that they can scarcely be expected to sympathise
+with such as are said to suffer from cold and hunger,
+when those two things rather add to than diminish
+their pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, poor folks are better than rich, since they can
+feel for each other, and are always ready and willing to
+assist each other as much as lies in their power. Look
+at that kind, good Mlle. Rigolette, who has so often sat
+up all night, either with me or the children, during our
+illness. Why, last night she took Jérome and Pierre
+into her room, to share her supper, and it was not
+much, either, she had for herself,&mdash;only a cup of milk
+and some bread; at her age, all young people have good
+appetites, and she must have deprived herself to give to
+the children."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor girl! she is indeed most kind,&mdash;and why is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+she so? Because she knows what poverty is. As I
+said to you just now, if the rich only knew&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And then that nice-looking lady who came, seeming
+so frightened all the while, to ask us if we wanted
+anything. Well, now she knows that we do want
+everything, will she ever come again, think you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say she will; for, spite of her uneasy and
+terrified looks, she seemed very good and kind."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; if a person be but rich, they are always
+right in your opinion. One might almost suppose that
+rich folks are made of different materials to poor
+creatures like us."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop, wife!" said Morel, gently; "you are getting
+on too fast. I did not say that; on the contrary, I
+agree that rich people have as many faults as poor ones;
+all I mean is, that, unfortunately, they are not aware of
+the wretchedness of one-half of the world. Agents in
+plenty are employed to hunt out poor wretches who
+have committed any crime, but there are no paid agents
+to find out half-starving families and honest artisans,
+worn-out with toil and privations, who, driven to the
+last extremity of distress, are, for want of a little timely
+succour, led into sore temptation. It is quite right to
+punish evil-doers; it would, perhaps, be better still to
+prevent ill deeds. A man may have striven hard
+to remain honest for fifty years; but want, misery,
+and utter destitution put bad thoughts in his head,
+and one rascal more is let loose on the world; whilst
+there are many who, if they had but known of his distressed
+condition&mdash;However, it is no use talking of
+that,&mdash;the world is as it is: I am poor and wretched,
+and therefore I speak as I do; were I rich, my talk
+would be of fêtes, and happy days, and worldly engagements&mdash;And
+how do you find yourself now,
+wife?"</p>
+
+<p>"Much the same; I seem to have lost all feeling in
+my limbs. But how you shiver! Here, take your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+jacket, and pray put it on. Blow out that candle,
+which is burning uselessly,&mdash;see, it is nearly day!"</p>
+
+<p>And, true enough, a faint, glimmering light began to
+struggle through the snow with which the skylight was
+encumbered, and cast a dismal ray on the interior of
+this deplorable human abode, rendering its squalidness
+still more apparent; the shade of night had at least
+concealed a part of its horrors.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall wait now for the daylight before I go back
+to work," said the lapidary, seating himself beside his
+wife's <i>paillasse</i>, and leaning his forehead upon his two
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>After a short interval of silence, Madeleine said:</p>
+
+<p>"When is Madame Mathieu to come for the stones
+you are at work upon?"</p>
+
+<p>"This morning. I have only the side of one false
+diamond to polish."</p>
+
+<p>"A false diamond! How is that?&mdash;you who only
+make up real stones, whatever the people in the house
+may believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know? But I forgot, you were asleep the
+other day when Madame Mathieu came about them.
+Well, then, she brought me ten false diamonds&mdash;Rhine
+crystals&mdash;to cut exactly to the same size and form as
+the like number of real diamonds she also brought.
+There, those are them mixed with the rubies on my
+table. I think I never saw more splendid stones, or of
+purer water, than those ten diamonds, which must, at
+least, be worth 60,000 francs."</p>
+
+<p>"And why did she wish them imitated?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because a great lady to whom they belonged&mdash;a
+duchess, I think she said&mdash;had given directions to M.
+Baudoin, the jeweller, to dispose of her set of diamonds,
+and to make her one of false stones to replace it.
+Madame Mathieu, who matches stones for M. Baudoin,
+explained this to me, when she gave me the real diamonds,
+in order that I might be quite sure to cut the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
+false ones to precisely the same size and form. Madame
+Mathieu gave a similar job to four other lapidaries, for
+there are from forty to fifty stones to cut; and I could
+not do them all, as they were required by this morning,
+because M. Baudoin must have time to set the false
+gems. Madame Mathieu says that grand ladies, very
+frequently unknown to anybody but the jeweller, sell
+their valuable diamonds, and replace them with Rhenish
+crystals."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, don't you see, the mock stones look every bit
+as well as the real stones? Yet great ladies, who only
+use such things as ornaments, would never think of
+sacrificing one of their diamonds to relieve the distress
+of such unfortunate beings as we are."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, wife! Be more reasonable than this;
+sorrow makes you unjust. Who do you think knows
+that such people as Morel and his family are in existence,
+still less that they are in want?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a man you are, Morel! I really believe, if
+any one were to cut you in pieces, that, while they were
+doing it, you would try to say, 'Thank you!'"</p>
+
+<p>Morel compassionately shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"And how much will Madame Mathieu owe you this
+morning?" asked Madeleine.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing; because you know I have already had an
+advance of 120 francs."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing! Why, our last sou went the day before
+yesterday. We have not a single farthing belonging
+to us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, no!" cried Morel, with a dejected air.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, what are we to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know not."</p>
+
+<p>"The baker refuses to let us have anything more on
+credit,&mdash;will he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; and I was obliged yesterday to beg Madame
+Pipelet to lend me part of a loaf."</p>
+
+<p>"Can we borrow anything more of Mother Burette?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She has already every article belonging to us in
+pledge. What have we to offer her to lend more
+money on,&mdash;our children?" asked Morel, with a smile
+of bitterness.</p>
+
+<p>"But yourself, my mother, and all the children had
+but part of a loaf among you all yesterday. You cannot
+go on in this way; you will be starved to death. It is
+all your fault that we are not on the books of the charitable
+institution this year."</p>
+
+<p>"They will not admit any persons without they possess
+furniture, or some such property; and you know
+we have nothing in the world. We are looked upon as
+though we lived in furnished apartments, and, consequently,
+ineligible. Just the same if we tried to get
+into any asylum, the children are required to have at
+least a blouse, while our poor things have only rags.
+Then, as to the charitable societies, one must go backwards
+and forwards twenty times before we should
+obtain relief; and then what would it be? Why, a loaf
+once a month, and half a pound of meat once a fortnight.<a name="FNanchor_2_5" id="FNanchor_2_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>
+I should lose more time than it would be
+worth."</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_5" id="Footnote_2_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Such is the ordinary allowance made at charitable societies, in consequence
+of the vast number of applicants for relief.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"But, still, what are we to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps the lady who came yesterday will not forget
+us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not. But don't you think Madame Mathieu
+would lend us four or five francs, just to keep us from
+starving? You have worked for her upwards of ten
+years; and surely she will not see an honest workman
+like you, burthened with a large and sickly family, perish
+for want of a little assistance like that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think it is in her power to aid us. She did
+all in her power when she advanced me little by little
+120 francs. That is a large sum for her. Because she
+buys diamonds, and has sometimes 50,000 francs in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+reticule, she is not the more rich for that. If she gains
+100 francs a month, she is well content, for she has
+heavy expenses,&mdash;two nieces to bring up; and five
+francs is as much to her as it would be to me. There
+are times when one does not possess that sum, you know;
+and being already so deeply in her debt, I could not ask
+her to take bread from her own mouth and that of her
+family to give it to me."</p>
+
+<p>"This comes of working for mere agents in jewelry,
+instead of procuring employment from first-hand master
+jewellers. They are sometimes less particular. But you
+are such a poor, easy creature, you would almost let any
+one take the eyes out of your head. It is all your fault
+that&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"My fault!" exclaimed the unhappy man, exasperated
+by this absurd reproach. "Was it or was it not your
+mother who occasioned all our misfortunes, by compelling
+me to make good the price of the diamond she lost?
+But for that we should be beforehand with the world;
+we should receive the amount of my daily earnings; we
+should have the 1,100 francs in our possession we were
+obliged to draw out of the savings-bank to put to the
+1,300 francs lent us by M. Jacques Ferrand. May every
+curse light on him!"</p>
+
+<p>"And you still persist in not asking him to help you?
+Certainly he is so stingy that I daresay he would do
+nothing for you; but then it is right to try. You cannot
+know without you do try."</p>
+
+<p>"Ask him to help me!" cried Morel. "Ask him! I
+had rather be burnt before a slow fire. Hark ye, Madeleine!
+Unless you wish to drive me mad, mention that
+man's name no more to me."</p>
+
+<p>As he uttered these words, the usually mild, resigned
+expression of the lapidary's countenance was exchanged
+for a look of gloomy energy, while a slight suffusion coloured
+the ordinarily pale features of the agitated man, as,
+rising abruptly from the pallet beside which he had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+sitting, he began to pace the miserable apartment with
+hurried steps; and, spite of the deformed and attenuated
+appearance of poor Morel, his attitude and action bespoke
+the noblest, purest indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not ill-disposed towards any man," cried he, at
+length, pausing of a sudden; "and never, to my knowledge,
+harmed a human being. But, I tell you, when I
+think of this notary, I wish him&mdash;ah! I wish him&mdash;as
+much wretchedness as he has caused me." Then pressing
+both hands to his forehead, he murmured, in a mournful
+tone: "Just God! what crime have I committed that
+a hard fate should deliver me and mine, tied hand and
+foot, into the power of such a hypocrite? Have his
+riches been given him only to worry, harass, and destroy
+those his bad passions lead him to persecute, injure, and
+corrupt?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! that's right!" said Madeleine; "go on
+abusing him. You will have done yourself a great deal
+of good, shall you not, when he puts you in prison, as he
+can do any day, for that promissory note of 1,300 francs
+on which he obtained judgment against you? He holds
+you fast as a bird at the end of a string. I hate this
+notary as badly as you do; but since we are so completely
+in his power, why you should&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Let him ruin and dishonour my child, I suppose?"
+burst from the pale lips of the lapidary, with violent and
+impatient energy.</p>
+
+<p>"For heaven's sake, Morel, don't speak so loud; the
+children are awake, and will hear you."</p>
+
+<p>"Pooh, pooh!" returned Morel, with bitter irony; "it
+will serve as a fine example for our two little girls. It
+will instruct them to expect that, one of these days, some
+villain or other like the notary may take a fancy to them,&mdash;perhaps
+the same man; and then, I suppose, you would
+tell me, as now, to be careful how I offended him, since
+he had me in his power. You say, if I displease him, he
+can put me in prison. Now, tell the truth: you advise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+me, then, to leave my daughter at his mercy, do you
+not?"</p>
+
+<p>And then, passing from the extreme of rage at the
+idea of all the wickedness practised by the notary to
+tender recollections of his child, the unhappy man burst
+into a sort of convulsive weeping, mingled with deep and
+heavy sobs, for his kindly nature could not long sustain
+the tone of sarcastic indignation he had assumed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my children!" cried he, with bitter grief; "my
+poor children! My good, my beautiful, too&mdash;too beautiful
+Louise! 'Tis from those rich gifts of nature all
+our troubles proceeded. Had you been less lovely, that
+man would never have pressed his money upon me. I
+am honest and hard-working; and if the jeweller had
+given me time, I should never have been under the obligation
+to the old monster, of which he avails himself to
+seek to dishonour my child. I should not then have left
+her a single hour within his power; but I dare not remove
+her,&mdash;I dare not! For am I not at his mercy?
+Oh, want! oh, misery! What insults do they not make
+us endure!"</p>
+
+<p>"But what can you do?" asked Madeleine. "You
+know he threatens Louise that if she quits him he will
+put you in prison directly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! He dares address her as though she were
+the very vilest of creatures."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you must not mind that; for should she leave
+the notary, there is no doubt he would instantly throw
+you into prison, and then what would become of me,
+with these five helpless creatures and my mother?
+Suppose Louise did earn twenty francs a month in
+another place, do you think seven persons can live on
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"And so that we may live, Louise is to be disgraced
+and left to ruin?"</p>
+
+<p>"You always make things out worse than they are.
+It is true the notary makes offers of love to Louise; she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+has told us so repeatedly. But then you know what a
+good girl she is; she would never listen to him."</p>
+
+<p>"She is good, indeed; and so right-minded, active, and
+industrious! When, seeing how badly we were off in consequence
+of your long illness, she insisted upon going to
+service that she might not be a burthen to us, did I not
+say what it cost me to part with her? To think of my
+sweet Louise being subjected to all the harshness and
+humiliation of a servant's life,&mdash;she who was naturally so
+proud that we used jokingly&mdash;ah, we could joke then!&mdash;to
+call her the Princess, because she always said that, by
+dint of care and cleanliness, she would make our little
+home like a palace! Dear Louise! It would have been
+my greatest happiness to have kept her with me, though
+I had worked all day and all night too. And when I
+saw her blooming face, with her bright eyes glancing at
+me as she sat beside my work-table, my labour always
+seemed lightened; and when she sung like a bird those
+little songs she knew I liked to hear, I used to fancy
+myself the happiest father alive. Poor dear Louise!
+so hard-working, yet always so gay and lively! Why, she
+could even manage your mother, and make her do whatever
+she wished. But I defy any one to resist her sweet
+words or winning smile. And how she watched over
+and waited upon you! What pains she would take to
+try and divert you from thinking of what you suffered!
+And how tenderly she looked after her little brothers
+and sisters, finding time for everything! Ah, with our
+Louise all our joy and happiness&mdash;all&mdash;all&mdash;left us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't go on so, Morel. Don't remind me of all
+these things, or you will break my heart," cried
+Madeleine, weeping bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"And, then, when I think that perhaps that old monster&mdash;Do
+you know, when that idea flashes across my
+brain, my senses seem disturbed, and I have but one
+thought, that of first killing him and then killing myself?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What would become of all of us if you were to do so?
+Besides, I tell you again, you make things worse than
+they really are. I dare say the notary was only joking
+with Louise. He is such a pious man, and goes so regularly
+to mass every Sunday, and only keeps company
+with priests folks say. Why, many people think that
+he is safer to place money with than the bank itself."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and what does all that prove? Merely that
+he is a rich hypocrite, instead of a poor one. I know
+well enough what a good girl Louise is; but then she
+loves us so tenderly that it breaks her heart to see the
+want and wretchedness we are in. She knows well
+enough that if anything were to happen to me you
+would all perish with hunger; and by threatening to
+put me into prison he might work on the dear child's
+mind,&mdash;like a villain as he is,&mdash;and persuade her, on
+our account! O, God, my brain burns! I feel as
+though I were going mad."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Morel, if ever that were the case, the notary
+would be sure to make her a great number of fine presents
+or money, and, I am sure, she would not have kept
+them all to herself. She would certainly have brought
+part to us."</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, woman! Let me hear no more such words
+escape your lips. Louise touch the wages of infamy!
+My good, my virtuous girl, accept such foul gifts! Oh,
+wife!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not for herself, certainly. But to bring to us perhaps
+she would&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Madeleine," exclaimed Morel, excited almost to
+frenzy, "again, I say, let me not hear such language
+from your lips; you make me shudder. Heaven only
+knows what you and the children also would become
+were I taken away, if such are your principles."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what harm did I say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, none."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what makes you uneasy about Louise?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The lapidary impatiently interrupted his wife by
+saying:</p>
+
+<p>"Because I have noticed for the last three months
+that, whenever Louise comes to see us, she seems embarrassed,
+and even confused. When I take her in my
+arms and embrace her, as I have been used to do from
+her birth, she blushes."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that is with delight at seeing you, or from
+shame."</p>
+
+<p>"She seems sadder and more dejected, too, each visit
+she pays us."</p>
+
+<p>"Because she finds our misery constantly increasing.
+Besides, when I spoke to her concerning the notary, she
+told me he had quite ceased his threats of putting you in
+prison."</p>
+
+<p>"But did she tell you the price she has paid to induce
+him to lay aside his threats? She did not tell you that,
+I dare say, did she? Ah, a father's eye is not to be
+deceived; and her blushes and embarrassments, when
+giving me her usual kiss, make me dread I know not
+what. Why, would it not be an atrocious thing to say
+to a poor girl, whose bread depended on her employer's
+word, 'Either sacrifice your virtuous principles, and become
+what I would have you, or quit my house? And
+if any one should inquire of me respecting the character
+you have with me, I shall speak of you in such terms
+that no one will take you into their service.' Well,
+then, how much worse is it to frighten a fond and affectionate
+child into surrendering her innocence, by threatening
+to put her father into prison if she refused, when
+the brute knows that upon the labour of that father a
+whole family depends? Surely the earth contains
+nothing more infamous, more fiendlike, than such conduct."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," replied Madeleine, "and then only to think that
+with the value of one, only one of those diamonds now
+lying on your table, we might pay the notary all we owe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+him, and so take Louise out of his power and keep her
+at home with us. Don't you see, husband?"</p>
+
+<p>"What is the use of your repeating the same thing
+over and over again? You might just as well tell me
+that if I were rich I should not be poor," answered
+Morel, with sorrowful impatience. For such was the
+innate and almost constitutional honesty of this man,
+that it never once occurred to him that his weak-minded
+partner, bowed down and irritated by long suffering and
+want, could ever have conceived the idea of tempting him
+to a dishonourable appropriation of that which belonged
+to another.</p>
+
+<p>With a heavy sigh, the unfortunate man resigned himself
+to his hard fate. "Thrice happy those parents who
+can retain their innocent children beneath the paternal
+roof, and defend them from the thousand snares laid to
+entrap their unsuspecting youth. But who is there to
+watch over the safety of the poor girl condemned at an
+early age to seek employment from home? Alas, no one!
+Directly she is capable of adding her mite to the family
+earnings, she leaves her dwelling at an early hour, and
+repairs to the manufactory where she may happen to be
+engaged. Meanwhile, both father and mother are too
+busily employed to have leisure to attend to their daughter's
+comings or goings. 'Our time is our stock in
+trade,' cry they, 'and bread is too dear to enable us to
+lay aside our work while we look after our children.'
+And then there is an outcry raised as to the quantity of
+depraved females constantly to be met with, and of the
+impropriety of conduct among those of the lower orders,
+wholly forgetting that the parents have neither the means
+of keeping them at home, nor of watching over their
+morals when away from them."</p>
+
+<p>Thus mentally moralised Morel. Then, speaking
+aloud, he added:</p>
+
+<p>"After all, our greatest privation is when forced to
+quit our parents, wives, or children. It is to the poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+that family affection is most comforting and beneficial.
+Yet, directly our children grow up, and are capable of
+becoming our dearest companions, we are forced to part
+with them."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment some one knocked loudly at the door.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<h5>JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION.</h5>
+
+
+<p>The lapidary, much astonished, rose and opened
+the door. Two men entered the garret. One, tall,
+lanky, with an ill-favoured and pimply face, shaded by
+thick grizzly whiskers, held in his hand a thick cane,
+loaded at the head; he wore a battered hat, and a long-tailed
+and bespattered green coat, buttoned up close to
+his throat. Above the threadbare velvet collar was displayed
+his long neck, red and bald like that of a vulture.
+This man's name was Malicorne. The other was a
+shorter man, with a look as low-lived, and red, fat,
+puffed features, dressed with a great effort at ridiculous
+splendour. Shiny buttons were in the folds of the front
+of his shirt, whose cleanliness was most suspicious, and
+a long chain of mosaic gold serpentined down a faded
+plaid waistcoat, which was seen beneath his seedy Chesterfield,
+of a yellowish gray colour. This gentleman's
+name was Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"How poverty-stricken this hole smells," said Malicorne,
+pausing on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it does not scent of lavender-water. Confound
+it, but we have a lowish customer to deal with," responded
+Bourdin, with a gesture of disgust and contempt,
+and then advanced towards the artisan, who was
+looking at him with as much surprise as indignation.</p>
+
+<p>Through the door, left a little ajar, might be seen the
+villainous, watchful, and cunning face of the young scamp
+Tortillard, who, having followed these strangers unknown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
+to them, was sneaking after, spying, and listening to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want?" inquired the lapidary, abruptly,
+disgusted at the coarseness of these fellows.</p>
+
+<p>"Jérome Morel?" said Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"I am he!"</p>
+
+<p>"Working lapidary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite sure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite sure. But you are troublesome, so tell me at
+once your business, or leave the room."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, your politeness is remarkable! Much obliged!
+I say, Malicorne," said the man, turning to his comrade,
+"there's not so much fat to cut at here as there was at
+that 'ere Viscount de Saint-Rémy's."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you; but when there is fat, why the door's
+kept shut in your face, as we found in the Rue de
+Chaillot. The bird had hopped the twig, and precious
+quick, too, whilst such vermin as these hold on to their
+cribs like a snail to his shell."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you; well, the stone jug just suits such
+individuals."</p>
+
+<p>"The sufferer (creditor) must be a good fellow, for it
+will cost him more than it's worth; but that's his
+lookout."</p>
+
+<p>"If," said Morel, angrily, "you were not drunk, as
+you seem to be, I should be angry with you. Leave this
+apartment instantly!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! He's a fine fellow with his elegant curve,"
+said Bourdin, making an insulting allusion to the contorted
+figure of the poor lapidary. "I say, Malicorne,
+he has cheek enough to call this an apartment,&mdash;a hole
+in which I would not put my dog."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed Madeleine, who
+had been so frightened that she could not say a word
+before. "Call for assistance; perhaps they are rogues.
+Take care of your diamonds!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And, seeing these two ill-looking strangers come closer
+to his working-bench, on which his precious stones were
+still lying, Morel, fearful of some evil intentions, ran
+towards the table, and covered the jewels with his two
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>Tortillard, still on the watch, caught at Madeleine's
+words, observed the movement of the artisan, and said
+to himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha! ha! So they said he was a lapidary of
+sham stones; if they were mock he would not be afraid
+of being robbed; this is a good thing to know. So
+Mother Mathieu, who comes here so often, is a matcher
+of <i>real</i> stones, after all, and has real diamonds in her
+basket; this is a good thing to know, and I'll tell the
+Chouette," added Bras Rouge's brat.</p>
+
+<p>"If you do not leave this room, I will call in the
+guard," said Morel.</p>
+
+<p>The children, alarmed at this scene, began to cry, and
+the idiotic mother sat up in her bed.</p>
+
+<p>"If any one has a right to call for the guard, it is we,
+you Mister Twistabout," said Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"And the guard would lend us a hand to carry you
+off to gaol if you resist," added Malicorne. "We have
+not the magistrate with us, it is true; but if you have
+any wish for his company, we'll find you one, just
+out of bed, hot and heavy; Bourdin will go and fetch
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"To prison! me?" exclaimed Morel, struck with
+dismay.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, to Clichy."</p>
+
+<p>"To Clichy?" repeated the artisan, with an air of
+despair.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems a hardish pill," said Malicorne.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, to the debtors' jail, if you like that
+better," said Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"You&mdash;what&mdash;indeed&mdash;why&mdash;the notary&mdash;ah,
+<i>mon Dieu!</i>"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And the workman, pale as death, fell on his stool,
+unable to add another word.</p>
+
+<p>"We are bound bailiffs, come to lay hold of you;
+now are you fly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Morel, it is the note of Louise's master! We are
+undone!" exclaimed Madeleine, in a tone of agony.</p>
+
+<p>"Hear the judgment," said Malicorne, taking from
+his dirty and crammed pocketbook a stamped writ.</p>
+
+<p>After having skimmed over, according to custom, a
+part of this document in an unintelligible tone, he distinctly
+articulated the last words, which were, unfortunately,
+but too important to the artisan:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>"Judgment finally given. The Tribunal condemns Jérome
+Morel to pay to Pierre Petit-Jean, merchant,<a name="FNanchor_1_6" id="FNanchor_1_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> by every available
+means, even to the arrest of body, the sum of 1,300 francs, with
+interest from the day of protest, and to pay all other and extra
+costs. Given and judged at Paris, 13 September, etc., etc."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_6" id="Footnote_1_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The cunning notary, unable to prosecute in his own name, had made the
+unfortunate Morel give a blank acceptance, and had filled up the note of
+hand with the name of a third party.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"And Louise! Louise!" cried Morel, almost distracted
+in his brain, and apparently unheeding the long preamble
+which had just been read. "Where is Louise, then,
+for, doubtless, she has quitted the notary, since he sends
+me to prison? My child! My Louise! What has become
+of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who the devil is Louise?" asked Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"Let him alone!" replied Malicorne, brutally; "don't
+you see the respectable old twaddler is not right in his
+nonsense-box?" Then, approaching Morel, he added:
+"I say, my fine fellow, right about file! March on!
+Let us get out of here, will you, and have a little fresh
+air. You stink enough to poison a cat in this here
+hole!"</p>
+
+<p>"Morel!" shrieked Madeleine, wildly, "don't go!
+Kill those wretches! Oh, you coward, not to knock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
+them down! What! are you going to let them take
+you away? Are you going to abandon us all?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pray don't put yourself out of the way, ma'am,"
+said Bourdin, with an ironical grin. "I've only just
+got to remark that if your good man lays his little
+finger on me, why I'll make him remember it," continued
+he, swinging his loaded stick round and round.</p>
+
+<p>Entirely occupied with thoughts of Louise, Morel
+scarcely heard a word of what was passing. All at
+once an expression of bitter satisfaction passed over
+his countenance, as he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Louise has doubtless left the notary's house; now
+I shall go to prison willingly." Then, casting a troubled
+look around him, he exclaimed: "But my wife! Her
+mother! The children! Who will provide for them?
+No one will trust me with stones to work at in prison,
+for it will be supposed my bad conduct has sent me
+there. Does this hard-hearted notary wish the destruction
+of myself and all my family also?"</p>
+
+<p>"Once, twice, old chap," said Bourdin, "will you
+stop your gammon? You are enough to bore a man
+to death. Come, put on your things, and let us be off."</p>
+
+<p>"Good gentlemen, kind gentlemen," cried Madeleine,
+from her sick-bed, "pray forgive what I said just now!
+Surely you will not be so cruel as to take my husband
+away; what will become of me and my five poor children,
+and my old mother, who is an idiot? There she
+lies; you see her, poor old creature, huddled up on her
+mattress; she is quite out of her senses, my good
+gentlemen; she is, indeed, quite mad!"</p>
+
+<p>"La! what, that old bald-headed thing a woman?
+Well, hang me if that ain't enough to astonish a man!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be hanged if it isn't, then!" cried the other
+bailiff, bursting into a horse-laugh; "why, I took it for
+something tied up in an old sack. Look! her old head
+is shaved quite close; it seems as though she had got a
+white skull-cap on."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Go, children, and kneel down, and beg of these
+good gentlemen not to take away your poor father, our
+only support," said Madeleine, anxious by a last effort
+to touch the hearts of the bailiffs. But, spite of their
+mother's orders, the terrified children remained weeping
+on their miserable mattress.</p>
+
+<p>At the unusual noise which prevailed, added to the
+aspect of two strange men in the room, the poor idiot
+turned herself towards the wall, as though striving to
+hide from them, uttering all the time the most discordant
+cries and moans. Morel, meanwhile, appeared unconscious
+of all that was going on; this last stroke of
+fate had been so frightful and unexpected, and the consequences
+of his arrest were so dreadful, that his mind
+seemed almost unequal to understanding its reality.
+Worn out by all manner of privations, and exhausted
+by over-toil, his strength utterly forsook him, and he
+remained seated on his stool, pale and haggard, and as
+though incapable of speech or motion, his head drooping
+on his breast, and his arms hanging listlessly by his
+side.</p>
+
+<p>"Deuce take me," cried Malicorne, "if that old patterer
+is not going fast asleep! Why, I say, my chap,
+you seem to think nothing of keeping gen'l'men like us
+waiting; just remember, will you, our time is precious!
+You know this is not exactly a party of pleasure, so
+march, or I shall be obliged to make you."</p>
+
+<p>Suiting the action to the word, the man grasped the
+artisan by the shoulder, and shook him roughly; which
+so alarmed the children, that, unable to restrain their
+terror, the three little boys emerged from their <i>paillasse</i>,
+and, half naked as they were, came in an agony of tears
+to throw themselves at the feet of the bailiffs, holding
+up their clasped hands, and crying, in tones of touching
+earnestness:</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, pray don't hurt our dear father!"</p>
+
+<p>At the sight of these poor, shivering, half-clad infants,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+weeping with affright, and trembling with cold, Bourdin,
+spite of his natural callousness and long acquaintance
+with scenes of this sort, could not avoid a feeling almost
+resembling compassion from stealing over him, while his
+pitiless companion, brutally disengaging himself from
+the grasp of the small, weak creatures who were clinging
+to him, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Hands off, you young ragamuffins! A devilish fine
+trade ours would be, if we were to allow ourselves to be
+mauled about by a set of beggars' brats like you!"</p>
+
+<p>As though the scene were not sufficiently distressing,
+a fearful addition was made to its horrors. The eldest
+of the little girls, who had remained in the <i>paillasse</i> with
+her sick sister, suddenly exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Mother! mother! I don't know what's the matter
+with Adèle! She is so cold, and her eyes are fixed on
+my face, and yet she does not breathe."</p>
+
+<p>The poor little child, whose consumptive appearance
+we have before noticed, had expired gently, and without
+a sigh, her looks fixed earnestly on the sister she so
+tenderly loved.</p>
+
+<p>No language can describe the cry which burst from
+the lips of the lapidary's wife at these words, which at
+once revealed the dreadful truth; it was one of those
+wild, despairing, convulsive shrieks, which seem to sever
+the very heart-strings of a mother.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor little sister looks as though she were dead!"
+continued the child; "she frightens me, with her eyes
+fixed on me, and her face so cold!"</p>
+
+<p>Saying which, in an agony of terror, she leaped from
+beside the corpse of the infant, and ran to shelter herself
+in her mother's arms, while the distracted parent, forgetting
+that her almost paralysed limbs were incapable
+of supporting her, made a violent effort to rise and go to
+the assistance of her child, whom she could not believe
+was actually past recovery; but her strength failed her,
+and with a deep sigh of despair she sunk upon the floor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+That cry found an echo in the heart of Morel, and
+roused him from his stupor. He sprang with one bound
+to the <i>paillasse</i>, and withdrew from it the stiffened form
+of an infant four years old, dead and cold. Want and
+misery had accelerated its end, although its complaint,
+which had originated in the positive want of common
+necessaries, was beyond the reach of any human aid to
+remove. Its poor little limbs were already rigid with
+death. Morel, whose very hair seemed to stand on end
+with despair and terror, stood holding his dead child in
+his arms, motionlessly contemplating its thin features
+with a fixed bloodshot gaze, though no tear moistened
+his dry, burning eyeballs.</p>
+
+<p>"Morel! Morel, give Adèle to me!" cried the unhappy
+mother, extending her arms towards him; "she is not
+dead,&mdash;it is not possible! Let me have her, and I shall
+be able to warm her in my arms."</p>
+
+<p>The curiosity of the idiot was excited by observing
+the pertinacity with which the bailiffs kept close to the
+lapidary, who would not part with the body of his child.
+She ceased her yells and cries, and, rising from her
+mattress, approached gently, protruded her hideous,
+senseless countenance over Morel's shoulder, staring in
+vacant wonder at the pale corpse of her grandchild, the
+features of the idiot retaining their usual expression of
+stupid sullenness. At the end of a few minutes, she
+uttered a sort of horrible yawning noise, almost resembling
+the roar of a famished animal; then, hurrying back
+to her mattress, she threw herself upon it, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>"Hungry! hungry! hungry!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, gentlemen," said the poor, half-crazed artisan,
+with haggard looks, "you see all that is left me of my
+poor child, my Adèle,&mdash;we called her Adèle, she was
+so pretty she deserved a pretty name; and she was just
+four years old last night. Ay, and this morning even I
+kissed her, and she put her little arms about my neck
+and embraced me,&mdash;oh, so fondly! And now, you see,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>
+gentlemen, perhaps you will tell me there is one mouth
+less to feed, and that I am lucky to get rid of one,&mdash;you
+think so, don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>The unfortunate man's reason was fast giving way
+under the many shocks he had received.</p>
+
+<p>"Morel," cried Madeleine, "give me my child! I will
+have her!"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure," replied the lapidary; "that is only fair.
+Everybody ought to secure their own happiness!" So
+saying, he laid the child in its mother's arms, and uttering
+a groan, such as comes only from a breaking heart,
+he covered his face with his hands; while Madeleine,
+almost as frenzied as her husband, placed the body of
+her child amid the straw of her wretched bed, watching
+it with frantic jealousy, while the other children, kneeling
+around her, filled the air with their wailings.</p>
+
+<p>The bailiffs, who had experienced a temporary feeling
+of compassion at the death of the child, soon fell back
+into their accustomed brutality.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, friend," said Malicorne to the lapidary, "your
+child is dead, and there's an end of it! I dare say you
+think it a misfortune; but then, you see, we are all
+mortal, and neither we nor you can bring it back to life.
+So come along with us; for, to tell you the truth, we're
+upon the scent of a spicy one we must nab to-day. So
+don't delay us, that's a trump!"</p>
+
+<p>But Morel heard not a word he said. Entirely preoccupied
+with his own sad thoughts, the bewildered man
+kept up a kind of wandering delivery of his own afflicting
+ideas.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor Adèle!" murmured he; "we must now see
+about laying you in the grave, and watching by her little
+corpse till the people come to carry it to its last home,&mdash;to
+lay it in the ground. But how are we to do that
+without a coffin,&mdash;and where shall we get one? Who
+will give me credit for one? Oh, a very small coffin will
+do,&mdash;only for a little creature of four years of age! And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
+we shall want no bearers! Oh, no, I can carry it under
+my arm. Ha! ha! ha!" added he, with a burst of
+frightful mirth; "what a good thing it is she did not live
+to be as old as Louise! I never could have persuaded
+anybody to trust me for a coffin large enough for a girl
+of eighteen years of age."</p>
+
+<p>"I say, just look at that chap!" said Bourdin to
+Malicorne. "I'll be dashed if I don't think as he's
+a-going mad, like the old woman there! Only see how
+he rolls his eyes about,&mdash;enough to frighten one! Come,
+I say, let's make haste and be off. Only hark, how that
+idiot creature is a-roaring for something to eat! Well,
+they are rum customers, from beginning to end!"</p>
+
+<p>"We must get done with them as soon as we can.
+Although the law only allows us seventy-six francs,
+seventy-five centièmes, for arresting this beggar, yet, in
+justice to ourselves, we must swell the costs to two hundred
+and forty or two hundred and fifty francs. You
+know the sufferer (the creditor) pays us!"</p>
+
+<p>"You mean, advances the cash. Old Gaffer there
+will have to pay the piper, since he must dance to the
+music."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, by the time he has paid his creditor 2,500
+francs for debt, interest, and expenses, etc., he'll find it
+pretty warm work."</p>
+
+<p>"A devilish sight more than we do our job up here!
+I'm a'most frost-bitten!" cried the bailiff, blowing the
+ends of his fingers. "Come, old fellow, make haste, will
+you! Just look sharp! You can snivel, you know, as
+we go along. Why, how the devil can we help it, if
+your brat has kicked the bucket?"</p>
+
+<p>"These beggars always have such a lot of children, if
+they have nothing else!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, so they have," responded Malicorne. Then,
+slapping Morel on the shoulder, he called out in a loud
+voice, "I tell you what it is, my friend, we're not going
+to be kept dawdling here all day,&mdash;our time is precious.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>
+So either out with the stumpy, or march off to prison,
+without any more bother!"</p>
+
+<p>"Prison!" exclaimed a clear, youthful voice; "take
+M. Morel to prison!" and a bright, beaming face
+appeared at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette," cried the weeping children,
+as they recognised the happy, healthful countenance of
+their young protectress and friend, "these wicked men
+are going to take our poor father away, and put him in
+prison! And sister Adèle is just dead!"</p>
+
+<p>"Dead!" cried the kind-hearted girl, her dark eyes
+filling with compassionating tears; "poor little thing!
+But it cannot be true that your father is in danger of
+a prison;" and, almost stupefied with surprise, she
+gazed alternately from the children to Morel, and from
+him to the bailiffs.</p>
+
+<p>"I say, my girl," said Bourdin, approaching Rigolette,
+"as you do seem to have the use of your senses, just
+make this good man hear reason, will you? His child
+has just died. Well, that can't be helped now; but, you
+see, he is a-keeping of us, because we're a-waiting to take
+him to the debtors' prison, being sheriffs' officers, duly
+sworn in and appointed. Tell him so!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is true!" exclaimed the feeling girl.</p>
+
+<p>"True? I should say it was and no mistake! Now,
+don't you see, while the mother is busy with the dead
+babby&mdash;and, bless you! she's got it there, hugging it up
+in bed, and won't part with it!&mdash;she won't notice us?
+So I want the father to be off while she isn't thinking
+nothing about it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good God! Good God!" replied Rigolette, in deep
+distress; "what is to be done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Done? Why, pay the money, or go to prison! There
+is nothing between them two ways. If you happen to
+have two or three thousand francs by you you can oblige
+him with, why, shell out, and we'll be off, and glad
+enough to be gone!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"How can you," cried Rigolette, "be so barbarous as
+to make a jest of such distress as this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then," rejoined the other man, "all joking
+apart, if you really do wish to be useful, try to prevent
+the woman from seeing us take her husband away. You
+will spare them both a very disagreeable ten minutes!"</p>
+
+<p>Coarse as was this counsel, it was not destitute of
+good sense; and Rigolette, feeling she could do nothing
+else, approached the bedside of Madeleine, who, distracted
+by her grief, appeared unconscious of the
+presence of Rigolette, as, gathering the children together,
+she knelt with them beside their afflicted mother.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Morel, upon recovering from his temporary
+wildness, had sunk into a state of deep and bitter reflections
+upon his present position, which, now that his
+mind saw things through a calmer medium, only increased
+the poignancy of his sufferings. Since the
+notary had proceeded to such extremities, any hope
+from his mercy was vain. He felt there was nothing
+left but to submit to his fate, and let the law take its
+course.</p>
+
+<p>"Are we ever to get off?" inquired Bourdin. "I tell
+you what, my man, if you are not for marching, we must
+make you, that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot leave these diamonds about in this manner,&mdash;my
+wife is half distracted," cried Morel, pointing to
+the stones lying on his work-table. "The person for
+whom I am polishing them will come to fetch them
+away either this morning or during the day. They are
+of considerable value."</p>
+
+<p>"Capital!" whispered Tortillard, who was still peeping
+in at the half closed door; "capital, capital! What
+will Mother Chouette say when I tell her this bit of
+luck?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only give me till to-morrow," said Morel, beseechingly;
+"only till I can return these diamonds to my
+employer."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I tell you, the thing can't be done. So let's have no
+more to say about it."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is impossible for me to leave diamonds of
+such value as these exposed, to be lost or even stolen in
+my absence."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, take them along with you. We have got
+a coach waiting below, for which you will have to pay
+when you settle the costs. We will go all together to your
+employer's house, and, if you don't meet with him, why,
+then, you can deposit these jewels at the office of the
+prison, where they will be as safe as in the bank;
+only look sharp, and let's be off before your wife and
+children perceive us."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me but till to-morrow,&mdash;only to bury my
+child!" implored Morel, in a supplicating voice, half
+stifled by the heavy sobs he strove in vain to repress.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, I tell you; why, we have lost an hour
+here already!"</p>
+
+<p>"Besides, it's dull work going to berrins," chimed in
+Malicorne. "It would be too much for your feelings,
+p'raps."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Morel, bitterly; "it is dull work to see
+what we would have given our lives to save laid in the
+cold earth. But, as you are men, grant me that satisfaction."
+Then, looking up, and observing the nonchalant
+air with which his prayer was received, he
+added, "But no, persons of so much feeling as you
+are would fear to indulge me, lest I should find it a
+gloomy sight. Well, then, at least grant me one word!"</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce take your last words! Why, old chap,
+there seems no end to them. Come, put the steam on;
+make haste," said Malicorne, with brutal impatience, "or
+we shall lose t'other gent we're after."</p>
+
+<p>"When did you receive orders to arrest me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, why, judgment was signed four months ago! But
+it was only yesterday our officer got instructions to put
+it in execution."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Only yesterday! And why has it been delayed so
+long?"</p>
+
+<p>"How the devil should I know? Come, look about
+you, and put up your things."</p>
+
+<p>"Only yesterday? And during the whole day we saw
+nothing of Louise! Where can she be? Or what has
+become of her?" inquired the lapidary mentally, as he
+took from his table a small box filled with cotton, in
+which he placed his stones. "But never mind all that
+now. I shall have plenty of time to think about it when
+I am in prison."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, look sharp there a bit. Tie up your things to
+take with you, and put your clothes on, there's a fine
+fellow!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no clothes to tie up, and have nothing whatever
+to take with me except these jewels, that I may
+deposit them at the office of the prison."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, dress yourself as quick as you can."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no other dress than that you now see me in."</p>
+
+<p>"I say, mate," cried Bourdin, "does he really mean to
+be seen in our company with such rags as those on?"</p>
+
+<p>"I fear, indeed, I shall shame such gentlemen as you
+are!" said Morel, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"It don't much signify," replied Malicorne, "as
+nobody will see us in the coach."</p>
+
+<p>"Father!" cried one of the children, "mother is
+calling for you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me!" said Morel, addressing one of the
+men with hurried tones; "if one spark of human pity
+dwells within you, grant me one favour! I have not the
+courage to bid my wife and children farewell; it would
+break my heart! And if they see you take me away,
+they will try to follow me. I wish to spare all this.
+Therefore, I beseech you to say, in a loud voice, that you
+will come again in three or four days, and pretend to go
+away. You can wait for me at the next landing-place,
+and I will come to you in less than five minutes; that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>
+will spare all the misery of taking leave. I am quite
+sure it would be too much for me, and that I should
+become mad! I was not far off it a little while ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Not to be caught!" answered Malicorne; "you want
+to do me! But I'm up to you! You mean to give us
+the slip, you old chouse!"</p>
+
+<p>"God of heaven!" cried Morel, with a mixture of
+grief and indignation, "has it come to this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he means what you say," whispered
+Bourdin to his companion; "let us do what he asks; we
+shall never get away unless we do. I'll stand outside
+the door; there is no other way of escaping from this
+garret; he cannot get away from us."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. But what a dog-hole! What a place
+for a man to care about leaving! Why, a prison will be
+a palace to it!" Then, addressing Morel, he said, "Now,
+then, be quick, and we will wait for you on the next
+landing; so make up some pretence for our going."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Bourdin in a loud voice, and bestowing
+a significant look on the unhappy artisan, "since
+things are as you say, and as you think you shall be able
+to pay us in a short time, why, we shall leave you for
+the present, and return in about four or five days; but
+you must not disappoint us then, remember!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, gentlemen. I have no doubt I shall be
+able to pay you then."</p>
+
+<p>The bailiffs then withdrew, while Tortillard, hearing
+the men talk of quitting the room, had hastened down-stairs
+for fear of being detected listening.</p>
+
+<p>"There, Madame Morel!" said Rigolette, endeavouring
+to draw the wife of the lapidary from the state of
+gloomy abstraction into which she had fallen, "do you
+hear that? The men have gone, and left your husband
+undisturbed."</p>
+
+<p>"Mother! mother!" exclaimed the children, joyfully,
+"they have not taken father away!"</p>
+
+<p>"Morel, Morel!" murmured Madeleine, her brain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
+quite turned, "take one of those diamonds&mdash;take the
+largest&mdash;and sell it; no one will know it, and then we
+shall be delivered from our misery; poor little Adèle
+will get warm then, and come back to us."</p>
+
+<p>Taking advantage of the instant when no one was observing
+him, the lapidary profited by it to steal from the
+room. One of the men was waiting for him on the little
+landing-place, which was also covered only by the roof;
+on this small spot opened the door of a garret, which adjoined
+the apartment occupied by the Morels, and in which
+M. Pipelet kept his dépôt of leather; and, further, this
+little angular recess, in which a person could not stand
+upright, was dignified by the melancholy porter with the
+name of his Melodramatic Cabinet, because, by means of
+a hole between the lath and plaster, he frequently indulged
+in the luxury of woe by witnessing the many
+touching scenes occasioned by the distress of the wretched
+family who dwelt in the garret beyond it. This door had
+not escaped the lynx eye of the bailiff, who had, for a
+time, suspected his prisoner of intending either to escape
+or conceal himself by means of it.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, let us make a start of it!" cried he, beginning
+to descend the stairs as Morel emerged from the
+garret. "Rather a ragged recruit to march with,"
+added he, beckoning to the lapidary to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>"Only an instant, one single instant, for the love of
+God!" exclaimed Morel, as, kneeling down, he cast a
+last look on his wife and children through a chink in the
+door. Then clasping his hands, he said, in a low, heart-broken
+voice, while bitter tears flowed down his haggard
+cheeks:</p>
+
+<p>"Adieu, my poor children! my wife! May Heaven
+preserve you all! Farewell, farewell!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, don't get preaching!" said Bourdin, coarsely,
+"or your sermons may keep us here till night, which is
+what I can't stand, for I am almost froze to death as it
+is. Ugh! what a kennel! what a hole!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Morel rose from his knees and was about to follow the
+bailiff, when the words, "Father! father!" sounded up
+the staircase.</p>
+
+<p>"Louise!" exclaimed the lapidary, raising his hands
+towards heaven in a transport of gratitude; "thank God
+I shall be able to embrace you before I go!"</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven be praised, I am here in time!" cried the
+voice, as it rapidly approached, and quick, light steps
+were distinguishable, swiftly ascending the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be uneasy, my dear," said a second voice, evidently
+proceeding from some individual considerably
+behind the first speaker, but whose thick puffing and
+laborious breathing announced the coming of one who
+did not find mounting to the top of the house so easy
+an affair as it seemed to her light-footed companion.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may, perhaps, have already guessed that
+the last comer was no other than Madame Pipelet, who,
+less agile than Louise, was compelled to advance at a
+much slower pace.</p>
+
+<p>"Louise! Is it, indeed, you, my own, my good Louise?"
+said Morel, still weeping. "But how pale you look!
+For mercy's sake, my child, what is the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, father, nothing, I assure you!" said Louise,
+in much agitation; "but I have run so fast! See, I
+have brought the money!"</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are free!"</p>
+
+<p>"You knew, then, that&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! Here, sir, you will find it quite right,"
+said the poor girl, placing the rouleau of gold in the
+hands of Malicorne.</p>
+
+<p>"But this money, Louise,&mdash;how did you become possessed
+of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you all about it by and by; pray do not
+be uneasy; let us go and comfort my mother. Come,
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"No, not just this minute!" cried Morel, remembering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>
+that, as yet, Louise was entirely ignorant of the death of
+her little sister; "wait an instant. I have something to
+say to you first. But about this money?"</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said Malicorne, as, having finished counting
+the gold, he put it in his pocket; "precisely one thousand
+three hundred francs. And is that all you have got
+for me, my pretty dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought, father," said Louise, struck with alarm
+and surprise at the man's question, "that you only owed
+one thousand three hundred francs."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor do I," replied Morel.</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely so!" answered the bailiff; "the original
+debt is one thousand three hundred francs; well, that is
+all right now, and we may put 'settled' against that:
+but then, you see, there are the costs, caption, etc.,
+amounting to eleven hundred and forty francs, still to be
+paid."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious heavens!" cried Louise, "I thought one
+thousand three hundred francs would pay everything!
+But, sir, we will make up the money, and bring it to you
+very soon; take this for the present, it is a good sum;
+take it as paid on account; it will go towards the debt,
+at least, won't it, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; then all you have to do is to bring the
+required sum to the prison, and then, and not till then,
+your father&mdash;if he is your father&mdash;will be set at liberty.
+Come, master, we must start, or we never shall
+get there."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really mean to take him away?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I? Don't I? Just look here; I am ready to give
+you a memorandum of having received so much on account;
+and, whenever you bring the rest, you shall
+have a receipt in full, and your father along with it.
+There, now, that's a handsome offer, ain't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mercy! mercy!" supplicated Louise.</p>
+
+<p>"Whew!" cried the man, "here's a scene over
+again! My stars, I hope this one isn't a-going mad,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>
+too, for the whole family seems uncommon queer about
+the head! Well, I declare I never see anything like it!
+It is enough to set a man 'prespiring' in the midst of winter!"
+and here the bailiff burst into a loud, coarse laugh
+at his own brutal wit.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my poor, dear father!" exclaimed Louise, almost
+distractedly; "when I had hoped to have saved you!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" cried the lapidary, in a tone of utter
+despair, and stamping his foot in wild desperation,
+"hope nothing for me; God has forgotten me, and
+Heaven has ceased to be just to a wretch like me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Calm yourself, my worthy friend," said a rich,
+manly voice; "there is always a kind Providence that
+watches over and preserves good and honest men like
+you."</p>
+
+<p>At the same instant Rodolph appeared at the door of
+the small recess we have spoken of, from whence he had
+been an invisible spectator of much that we have related;
+he was pale, and extremely agitated. At this
+sudden apparition the bailiff drew back, with surprise;
+while Morel and his daughter gazed on the stranger
+with bewildered wonder. Taking from his waistcoat
+pocket a quantity of folded bank-notes, Rodolph selected
+three, and, presenting them to Malicorne, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Here are two thousand five hundred francs; give
+this young woman back the money you have just received
+from her."</p>
+
+<p>Still more and more astonished at this singular interference,
+the man half hesitated to take the notes, and,
+when he had received them, he eyed them with the
+utmost suspicion, turning and twisting them about in
+every direction; at length, satisfied both as to their
+reality and genuineness, he finally deposited them in his
+pocketbook: but, as his surprise and alarm began to
+subside, so did his natural coarseness of idea return,
+and, eyeing Rodolph from head to foot with an impertinent
+stare, he exclaimed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The notes are right enough; but pray who and what
+are you that go about with such sums? I should just
+wish to know whose it is, and how you came by it?"</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph was very plainly dressed, and his appearance
+by no means improved by the dust and dirt his clothes
+had gathered during his stay in M. Pipelet's Cabinet of
+Melodrama.</p>
+
+<p>"I desired you to give back the gold you received just
+now from this young person," replied Rodolph, in a
+severe and authoritative tone.</p>
+
+<p>"You desired me! And who the devil are you, to give
+your orders?" answered the man, approaching Rodolph
+in a threatening manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Give back the gold! Give it back, I say!" said
+the prince, grasping the wrist of Malicorne so tightly
+that the unhappy bailiff winced beneath his iron clutch.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," bawled he, "hands off, will you? Curse
+me if I don't think you're old Nick himself! I am sure
+your fingers are cased with iron."</p>
+
+<p>"Then return the money! Why, you despicable
+wretch! do you want to be paid twice over? Now
+return the gold and begone, or, if you utter one insolent
+word, I'll fling you over the banisters!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, don't kick up such a row! There's the girl's
+money," said Malicorne, giving back to Louise the
+rouleau he had received. "But mind what you are
+about, my sparky, and don't think to ill-use me because
+you happen to be the strongest!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's right!" said Bourdin, ensconcing himself behind
+his taller associate. "And who are you, I should
+like to know, who give yourself such airs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he? Why, my lodger, my king of lodgers, you
+ill-looking, half-starved, hungry hounds! you ill-taught,
+dirty fellows!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, who, puffing
+and panting for breath, had at last reached the landing
+where they stood; her head, as usual, adorned with her
+Brutus wig, which, during the heat and bustle she had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
+experienced in ascending the stairs, had got pushed
+somewhat awry, while in her hand she bore an earthen
+stewpan, filled with smoking-hot broth, which she was
+charitably conveying to the Morels.</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil does this old hedgehog want?" cried
+Bourdin.</p>
+
+<p>"If you dare make any of your saucy speeches about
+me," returned Madame Pipelet, "I'll make you feel my
+nails,&mdash;ay, and my teeth, too, if you provoke me! And,
+if you don't mend your manners, my lodger, my king of
+lodgers will pitch you over the banisters, and I will
+sweep you out into the street, as I would a heap of
+rubbish."</p>
+
+<p>"This old beldam will bring the whole house about
+our ears," said Bourdin to Malicorne; "we've touched
+the blunt, our expenses and all, so I say 'Off' is a good
+word."</p>
+
+<p>"Here, take your property," said the latter, flinging a
+bundle of law-papers at the feet of Morel.</p>
+
+<p>"Pick them up, and deliver them decently; you have
+been paid as a respectable officer would have been, act
+like one!" cried Rodolph, seizing the bailiff vigorously
+with one hand, while with the other he pointed to the
+papers.</p>
+
+<p>Fully convinced by this second powerful grip how useless
+any attempt at resistance would prove, the bailiff
+stooped down, and, mechanically picking up the papers,
+gave them to Morel, who, scarcely venturing to credit his
+senses, believed himself under the influence of a delightful
+dream.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, young chap," grumbled out Malicorne, "although
+you have got a fist as strong as a drayman's,
+mind you, if ever you fall into my clutches, I'll make
+you smart for this!" So saying, he doubled his fist at
+Rodolph, and then scrambled down the stairs, taking
+four or five at a time, followed by his companion, who
+kept looking behind him with indescribable terror;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>
+while Madame Pipelet, burning to avenge the insults
+offered to her king of lodgers, looked at her steaming
+stewpan with an air of inspiration, and heroically exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"The debts of the Morels are paid! Henceforward
+they will have plenty of food, and can do without my
+messes! Look out there below!"</p>
+
+<p>So saying, she stooped over the banisters, and poured
+the contents of her stewpan down the backs and shoulders
+of the two bailiffs, who had just reached the first
+floor landing.</p>
+
+<p>"There goes!" screamed out the delighted porteress.
+"Capital! Ha, ha, ha! there they are! two regular sops,
+in the pan! Well, I do enjoy this!"</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil is this?" exclaimed Malicorne,
+thoroughly soaked with the hot, greasy liquid. "I
+say, I wish you would mind what you are about up
+there, you old figure of fun!"</p>
+
+<p>"Alfred!" bawled Madame Pipelet, in a tone sharp
+and shrill enough to have split the tympanum of a deaf
+man; "Alfred, my old darling, have at 'em! They
+wanted to behave ill to your 'Stasie (Anastasie)! The
+nasty fellows have been taking liberties,&mdash;quite violent!
+Knock them down with your broom! And call the
+oyster-woman, and the man at the wine-vaults, to help
+you! Get out, you! Get&mdash;get&mdash;get out! Cht, cht,
+cht! Thieves! thieves! robbers! Cht&mdash;b-r-r-r-r-r-r&mdash;hou,
+hou, hou! Knock them&mdash;knock them down!
+That's right, old dear! Pay them off! Break their
+bones! Serve them out! Boum, boum, boum!"</p>
+
+<p>And, by way of conclusion to this concatenation of
+discordant noises, accompanied by a constant succession
+of stamping and kicking of feet, Madame Pipelet, carried
+away by the excitement of the moment, flung her earthen
+stewpan to the bottom of the staircase, which, breaking
+into a thousand pieces at the very instant that the two
+bailiffs, terrified by the yells and noises from overhead,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>
+were precipitately descending the stairs with hasty strides,
+added not a little to their terror.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, ah, ah!" cried Anastasie, bursting into loud
+fits of laughter. "Now be off with you,&mdash;I think you
+have had enough!" Then, crossing her arms, she stood,
+like a triumphant Amazon, rejoicing in the victory she
+had achieved.</p>
+
+<p>While Madame Pipelet was thus venting her rage
+upon the bailiffs, Morel had thrown himself, in heartfelt
+gratitude, at the feet of Rodolph.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, sir," exclaimed he, when at last words came to
+his assistance, "you have saved a whole family! To
+whom do we owe this unhoped-for assistance?"</p>
+
+<p>"'To the God who watches over and protects all
+honest men,' as your immortal Béranger says."</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot note">
+<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>&mdash;The following are some curious particulars relative
+to bodily restraint, as cited in the "Pauvre Jacques," a journal
+published under the patronage of the "Society for the Furtherance
+and Protection of Christianity:"</p>
+
+<p>
+(Prison Committee.) (<i>Comité des Prisons.</i>)<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"A protest and intimation of bodily restraint are generally
+carried about by sheriffs' officers, and charged by law, the first,
+4<i>f.</i> 35<i>c.</i>, the second, 4<i>f.</i> 70<i>c.</i>; for these, however, the officers
+usually demand, for the former, 10<i>f.</i> 40<i>c.</i>, for the second, 16<i>f.</i>
+40<i>c.</i>; thus illegally claiming from the unfortunate victims of
+law 26<i>f.</i> 80<i>c.</i>, for that which is fixed by that very law at 9<i>f.</i> 50<i>c.</i></p>
+
+<p>"For an arrest, the legal charge is, including stamp and registering,
+3<i>f.</i> 50<i>c.</i>; coach-hire, 5<i>f.</i>; for arrest and entry in the prison
+books, 60<i>f.</i> 25<i>c.</i>; office dues, 8<i>f.</i> Total, 76<i>f.</i> 75<i>c.</i> A bill of the
+usual scale ordinarily charged by sheriffs' officers, now lying
+before us, shows that these allowances by law are magnified by
+the extortion of the officers into a sum of about 240<i>f.</i>, instead of
+the 76<i>f.</i> they are alone entitled to claim."</p>
+
+<p>The same journal says: "Sheriffs' officer &mdash;&mdash; has been to our
+office, requesting us to correct an article which appeared in one
+of our numbers, headed, 'A woman hung.' 'I did not hang the
+woman!' observed he, angrily. We did not assert that he did,
+but, to prevent any further misapprehension, content ourselves with
+reprinting the paragraph in question: 'A few days ago, a sheriffs'
+officer, named &mdash;&mdash;, went to the Rue de la Lune, to arrest a carpenter,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>
+who dwelt there. The man, perceiving him from the
+street, rushed hastily into his house, exclaiming, "I am a ruined
+man! The officers are here to arrest me!" His wife, at these
+words, hastened to secure the door; while the carpenter ran to
+a room on the top of the house, to conceal himself. The officer,
+finding admittance refused, went and fetched a magistrate and a
+blacksmith; the door was forced, and, on proceeding up-stairs,
+the woman was found hanging in her own bedchamber. The
+officer did not allow himself to be diverted from the pursuit by
+the sight of the corpse; he continued his search, and at length
+discovered the husband in his hiding-place. "I arrest you!"
+cried the bailiff. "I have no money!" replied the man. "Then
+you must go to prison." "Let me at least bid my wife adieu!"
+"It is not worth while waiting for that,&mdash;your wife is dead! She
+has hung herself!"' Now, M. &mdash;&mdash; (adds the journal we have
+quoted), what have you to say to that? You see we have merely
+copied your own statement upon oath, in which you have detailed
+all these frightful circumstances with horrible minuteness!"</p>
+
+<p>The same journal also cites two or three hundred similar facts,
+of which the following may serve as a specimen: "The expenses
+upon a note of hand for 300<i>f.</i> have been run up by the sheriffs'
+officers to 964<i>f.</i>; the debtor, therefore, who is a mere artisan,
+with a family of five children, has been detained in prison for
+the last seven months!"</p>
+
+<p>The author of this work had a double reason for borrowing
+thus largely from the pages of the "Pauvre Jacques." In the
+first place, to show that the horrors of the last chapter are far
+below reality in their painful details. And secondly, to prove
+that, if only viewed in a philanthropic light, the allowing such
+a state of things to go on (namely, the exorbitant and illegal
+fees both demanded and exacted by certain public functionaries),
+frequently acts as a preventive to the exercise of benevolence,
+and paralyses the hand of charity. Thus, were a small capital
+of 1000<i>f.</i> collected among kind-hearted individuals, three or four
+honest, though unfortunate, artisans might be released from
+a prison and restored to their families, by employing the above-named
+sum in paying the debts of such as were incarcerated for
+amounts varying from 250 to 300<i>f.!</i> But when the original
+debt is increased threefold by the excessive and illegal expenses,
+even the most charitable recede from the good work of delivering
+a fellow creature, from the impression that two-thirds of their
+well-intentioned bounty would only go into the pockets of pampered
+sheriffs' officers and their satellites. And yet no class of
+unfortunate beings stand more in need of aid and charitable assistance
+than the unfortunate class we have just been speaking of.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<h5>RIGOLETTE.</h5>
+
+
+<p>Louise, the daughter of the lapidary, was possessed of
+more than ordinary loveliness of countenance, a fine,
+tall, graceful person, uniting, by the strict regularity of
+her faultless features and elegance of her figure, the
+classic beauty of Juno with the lightness and elegance
+assigned to the statue of the hunting Diana. Spite of
+the injury her complexion had received from exposure
+to weather, and the redness of her well-shaped hands
+and arms, occasioned by household labour,&mdash;despite
+even the humble dress she wore, the whole appearance
+of Louise Morel was stamped with that indescribable
+air of grace and superiority Nature sometimes is pleased
+to bestow upon the lowly-born, in preference to the
+descendant of high lineage.</p>
+
+<p>We shall not attempt to paint the joy, the heartfelt
+gratitude of this family, so wondrously preserved from
+so severe a calamity; even the recent death of the little
+girl was forgotten during the first burst of happiness.
+Rodolph alone found leisure to remark the extreme paleness
+and utter abstraction of Louise, whose first ecstasy
+at finding her father free passed away, apparently plunged
+in a deep and painful reverie. Anxious to relieve the
+mind of Morel of any apprehensions for the future, and
+also to explain a liberality which might have raised suspicions
+as to the character he chose to assume, Rodolph
+drew the lapidary to the further end of the staircase,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+leaving to Rigolette the task of acquainting Louise with
+the death of her little sister, and said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Did not a young lady come to visit you and your
+family on the morning of the day before yesterday?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and appeared much grieved to see the distress
+we were in."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you must thank her,&mdash;not me."</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be possible, sir? That young lady&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Is your benefactress. I frequently wait upon her
+from our warehouse; when I hired an apartment here, I
+learned from the porteress all the particulars of your
+case, and the painful situation you were placed in;
+relying on this lady's well-known kindness and benevolence,
+I hastened to acquaint her with all I had heard
+respecting you; and, the day before yesterday, she came
+herself, in order to be fully aware of the extent of your
+misery. The distress she witnessed deeply affected her;
+but as it might have been brought about by misconduct,
+she desired me to take upon myself the task of inquiring
+into every circumstance relative to your past and present
+condition with as little delay as possible, being desirous
+of regulating her benevolent aid by the good or bad
+accounts she might receive of your honesty and good
+conduct."</p>
+
+<p>"Kind, excellent lady! Well might I say&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"As you observed just now to Madeleine, 'If the rich
+did but know!'&mdash;was not that it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it possible that you are acquainted with the name
+of my wife? Who could have told you that?"</p>
+
+<p>"My worthy friend," said Rodolph, interrupting
+Morel, "I have been concealed in the little garret
+adjoining your attic since six o'clock this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you, indeed, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my honest fellow, I have, and from my
+hiding-place heard all that passed among you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir! but why did you do so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could not have employed more satisfactory means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
+of getting at your real character and sentiments; and I
+was desirous of seeing and hearing all you did or said
+without your being aware of my presence. The porter
+had made me acquainted with this small retreat, which
+he offered to me for a wood-closet. This morning, I
+asked his permission to visit it, and remained there
+more than an hour, during which time I had ample
+proof that a more upright, noble mind did not exist, and
+that the courageous resignation with which you bore
+your heavy trials was above all praise."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, indeed, sir, I do not merit such words as these.
+I was born honest, I hope, and it comes natural to me
+to act as I have done."</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite sure of that; therefore I do not laud
+your conduct, I appreciate it. Just as I was about to
+quit my hiding-place, to relieve you of the presence of
+the bailiffs, I heard the voice of your daughter, and I
+meant to have allowed her the happiness of saving you.
+Unhappily, the rapacity of the men deprived poor Louise
+of the full completion of her pious task. I then made
+my appearance. Fortunately, I yesterday received several
+sums that were due to me, so that I was enabled to
+advance the money for your benefactress, and to pay off
+your unfortunate debt. But your distress has been so
+great, so unmerited, and so nobly sustained, that the
+well-deserved interest you have excited shall not stop
+here; and I take upon myself, in the name of your
+preserving angel, to promise you henceforward calmness,
+peace, and happiness, for yourself and family."</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be possible? But, at least, sir, let me
+beseech you to tell me the name of this angel of
+goodness,&mdash;this heavenly preserver,&mdash;that it may dwell
+in our hearts and on our lips! By what name shall we
+bless her in our prayers?"</p>
+
+<p>"Think of her and speak of her as the angel she is.
+Ah, you were right in saying just now that both rich
+and poor had their sorrows!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And is this dear lady, then, unhappy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is free from care and suffering in this world of
+trial? But I see no cause for concealing from you the
+name of your protectress. The lady, then, is named&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Remembering that Madame Pipelet was aware of
+Madame d'Harville's having, at her first coming to
+the house, inquired for the commandant, and fearing
+her indiscreet mention of the circumstance, Rodolph
+resumed, after a short pause:</p>
+
+<p>"I will venture to tell you this lady's name, upon one
+condition&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Pray go on, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"That you never mention it again to any one,&mdash;mind,
+I say to any person whatever."</p>
+
+<p>"I solemnly promise you never to let it pass my lips;
+but may I not hope to be permitted to thank this friend
+of the unfortunate?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will let Madame d'Harville know your wish; but
+I scarcely think she will consent to it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then this generous lady is called&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The Marquise d'Harville."</p>
+
+<p>"Never will that name be forgotten by me! Henceforward
+it will be to me as that of my patron saint,&mdash;the
+object of my grateful worship! Oh, when I remember
+that, thanks to her, my wife, children,&mdash;all, are
+saved!&mdash;saved&mdash;no, no, not all,&mdash;my little Adèle has
+gone from us! We shall see her sweet face no more;
+but still, I know we must have parted with her sooner
+or later; the dear child's doom was long since decreed!"</p>
+
+<p>Here the poor lapidary wiped away the tears which
+filled his eyes at the recollection of his lost darling.</p>
+
+<p>"As for the last duties that have now to be performed
+for your poor child," said Rodolph, "if you
+will be guided by me, this is how we will arrange it.
+I have not yet begun to occupy my chamber; it is
+large, airy, and convenient. There is already one bed
+in it; and I will give orders to add all that may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+requisite for the accommodation of yourself and family,
+until Madame d'Harville is enabled to find an eligible
+abode for you. The remains of your little daughter can
+then be left in your attic, where, until the period of
+interment, they can be properly watched and guarded
+by a priest with all requisite attention. I will request
+M. Pipelet to take upon himself every necessary arrangement
+for the mournful office of laying the poor babe in
+its peaceful grave."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, sir,&mdash;but, indeed, I cannot allow you to be
+turned out of your apartment! Now that we are so
+happily freed from our misery, and that I have no longer
+the dread of being dragged to prison, our poor garret
+will seem to me like a palace,&mdash;more especially if my
+Louise remains to watch over the family as she used
+to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Your daughter shall never again quit you. You
+said, awhile ago, that the first desire of your heart
+was to have Louise always with you. Well then, as
+a reward for your past sufferings, I promise you she
+shall never leave you more."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, this is too much; it cannot be reality! It
+seems as though I were dreaming some happy dream.
+I fear I have never been as religious as I ought. I have,
+in fact, known no other religion than that of honour.
+But such a reverse, such a change from wretchedness to
+joy, would make even an atheist believe, if not in priests,
+at least in a gracious, interposing, and preserving Providence."</p>
+
+<p>"And if," said Rodolph, sadly, "a father's sorrow for
+the loss of his child can be assuaged by promises of
+rewards or recompense, I would say that the heavenly
+hand which takes one child from you gives you back the
+other."</p>
+
+<p>"True,&mdash;most true! And henceforward our dear
+Louise will be with us to help us to forget our poor
+Adèle."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then you will accept the offer of my chamber, will
+you not? Or else how shall we be able to arrange for
+the mournful duties to the poor infant? Think of your
+wife, whose head is already in so weak a state. It will
+never do to allow her to remain with so afflicting a spectacle
+constantly before her eyes."</p>
+
+<p>"What goodness," exclaimed the lapidary, "thus to
+remember all,&mdash;to think of all! Oh, you are indeed a
+friend! May Heaven bless and recompense you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, you must reserve your thanks for the excellent
+lady you term your protecting angel. 'Tis her
+goodness inspires me with a desire to imitate her benevolence
+and charity. I feel assured I am but speaking
+as she would speak, were she here, and that all I do she
+will fully approve. So now, then, it is arranged you will
+occupy my room. But, just tell me, this Jacques
+Ferrand&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The forehead of Morel became clouded over at the
+mention of this name.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose," continued Rodolph, "there is no doubt
+as to his being the same Jacques Ferrand who practises
+as a notary in the Rue du Sentier?"</p>
+
+<p>"None whatever, sir," answered Morel; "but do you
+know him?" Then, assailed afresh by his fears for
+Louise, the lapidary continued: "Since you overheard
+all our conversation, tell me, sir,&mdash;tell me, do you not
+think I have just cause to hate this man, as I do? For
+who knows but my daughter&mdash;my Louise&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The unhappy artisan could not proceed; he groaned
+with anguish, and concealed his face with his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph easily divined the nature of his apprehensions.</p>
+
+<p>"The very step taken by the notary ought to reassure
+your mind," said he, "as, there can be no doubt, he was
+instigated by revenge for your daughter's rejection of
+his improper advances to proceed to the hostile measures
+adopted. However, I have every reason to believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>
+he is a very bad and dangerous man; and if my suspicions
+respecting him are realised," said Rodolph, after
+a few moments' silence, "then rely on Providence to
+punish him. If the just vengeance of the Almighty
+seems occasionally to slumber, it awakens, sooner or
+later."</p>
+
+<p>"He is both rich and hypocritical!" cried the lapidary.</p>
+
+<p>"At the moment of your deepest despair, a guardian
+angel appeared to save you from ruin; so, at the moment
+when least expected, will an inexorable Avenger
+call upon the notary to atone for his past crimes, if he
+be guilty."</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Rigolette came out of the miserable
+garret belonging to Morel; the kind-hearted girl had
+evidently been shedding tears, and was trying to dry her
+eyes before she descended the stairs. Directly Rodolph
+perceived her, he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, my good neighbour, will it not be much better
+for M. Morel and his family to occupy my chamber
+while they are waiting till his benefactress, whose agent
+I am, shall have found a comfortable residence for
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette surveyed Rodolph with an air of unfeigned
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Really," cried she, at length, "are you in earnest in
+making so kind and considerate an offer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Quite so, on one condition, which depends on yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, all that is in my power!"</p>
+
+<p>"You see, I had some rather difficult accounts to arrange
+for my employer, which are wanted as early as
+possible,&mdash;indeed, I expect they will be sent for almost
+directly; my papers are in my room. Now would you
+be neighbourly enough to let me bring my work into
+your apartment, and just spare a little corner of your
+table? I should not disturb your work the least in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>
+world, and then the whole of the Morel family, by the
+assistance of Madame Pipelet and her husband, may be
+at once established in my apartment."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I will, and with great pleasure; neighbours
+should always be ready to help and oblige each
+other. I am sure, after all you have done for poor
+M. Morel, you have set a good example; so I shall be
+very glad to give you all the assistance in my power,
+monsieur."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no,&mdash;don't call me monsieur! say 'my dear
+friend,' or 'neighbour,' whichever you prefer; unless you
+lay aside all ceremony, I shall not have courage to intrude
+myself and papers into your room," said Rodolph,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, pray don't let that be any hindrance; then, if
+you like, I'll call you 'neighbour,' because, you know,
+you are so."</p>
+
+<p>"Father! father!" said one of Morel's little boys,
+coming out of the garret, "mother is calling for you!
+Make haste, father,&mdash;pray do!"</p>
+
+<p>The lapidary hastily followed the child back to his
+chamber.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, neighbour," said Rodolph to Rigolette,
+"you must do me one more service."</p>
+
+<p>"With all my heart, if it lies in my power to do
+so."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel quite sure you are a clever manager and housekeeper;
+now we must go to work at once to provide the
+Morels with comfortable clothing, and such matters as
+may be essential for their accommodation in my apartment,
+which at present merely contains my slender stock
+of bachelor's furniture, sent in yesterday. Beds, bedding,
+and a great quantity of requisites will be needed for so
+many persons; and I want you to assist me in procuring
+them all the comforts I wish them to have with as little
+delay as possible."</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette reflected a moment, and then replied:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You shall have all this before two hours have passed:
+good clothes, nicely made, warm and comfortable, good
+white linen for all the family, two small beds for the
+children, one for the grandmother, and, in fact, all that
+is required; but, I can tell you, all this will cost a great,
+great deal of money."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Diable!</i> and how much?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, at least&mdash;the very least, five or six hundred
+francs."</p>
+
+<p>"For everything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; you see it is a great sum of money," said
+Rigolette, opening her eyes very wide and shaking her
+head.</p>
+
+<p>"But we could procure all this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Within two hours."</p>
+
+<p>"My little neighbour, you must be a fairy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no! it is easy enough. The Temple is but two
+steps from here, and you will get there everything you
+require."</p>
+
+<p>"The Temple?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the Temple."</p>
+
+<p>"What place is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"What, neighbour, don't you know the Temple?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, neighbour."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it is the place where such persons as you and
+I fit themselves out in furniture and clothes, when they
+are economical. It is much cheaper than any other
+place, and the things are also good."</p>
+
+<p>"Really!"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so. Well, now, I suppose&mdash;how much did
+you pay for your greatcoat?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say precisely."</p>
+
+<p>"What, neighbour! not know how much you gave for
+your greatcoat?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you, in confidence, neighbour," said Rodolph,
+smiling, "that I owe for it; so, you see, I cannot
+exactly say."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, neighbour, neighbour, you do not appear to me
+to be very orderly in your habits!"</p>
+
+<p>"Alas, neighbour, I fear not!"</p>
+
+<p>"I must cure you of that, if you desire that we should
+continue friends; and I see already that we shall be, for
+you seem so kind! You will not be sorry to have me
+for a neighbour, I can see. You will assist me and I
+shall assist you,&mdash;we are neighbours, and that's why.
+I shall look after your linen; you will give me your help
+in cleaning my room. I am up very early in the morning,
+and will call you, that you may not be late in going
+to your work; I will knock against the wainscot until
+you say to me, 'Good morning, neighbour!'"</p>
+
+<p>"That's agreed; you shall awaken me, you shall take
+charge of my linen, and I will clean out your room."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. And, when you have anything to buy,
+you must go to the Temple; for see now, for example,
+your greatcoat must have cost you eighty francs, I have
+no doubt; well, you might have bought one just as good
+at the Temple for thirty francs."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, that is marvellous! And so you think that
+for four or five hundred francs these poor Morels&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Will be completely set up, and very comfortable for
+a long while."</p>
+
+<p>"Neighbour, an idea comes across me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what is this idea?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you understand all about household affairs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I should think so," said Rigolette, with a slight
+affectation of manner.</p>
+
+<p>"Take my arm, then, and let us go to the Temple and
+buy all these things for the Morels; won't that be a good
+way?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how capital! Poor souls! But, then, the
+money?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have it."</p>
+
+<p>"What, five hundred francs?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The benefactor of the Morels has given me <i>carte
+blanche</i>; and she will spare nothing to see these poor
+people restored to comfort. Is there any place where
+we can buy better supplies than at the Temple?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not; you will not find better things anywhere;
+and then there is everything, and all ready,
+there; little frocks for children, and gowns for the
+mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, neighbour, let us go at once to the
+Temple:"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, <i>mon Dieu!</i> but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing; only, you see, my time is everything to
+me, and I am already a little behindhand, through coming
+here to watch over poor Madame Morel; and you
+must know that an hour in one way, and an hour in
+another, that by little and little makes whole days; well,
+a day is thirty sous, and, whether we gain something or
+nothing, we must live; but bah! never mind. I will
+make up for that at night, and then, d'ye see, parties of
+pleasure are very rare, and I call this one. It will seem
+to me that I am rich, rich, rich, and that it is with my
+own money that I shall buy all these things for the
+Morels. So come along, neighbour, I will throw on my
+shawl and cap, and then I am ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose, whilst you are doing this, I bring my papers
+to your apartment?"</p>
+
+<p>"Willingly; and then you will see my room," said
+Rigolette, with pride, "for it is all tidy, which will convince
+you how early I am in the morning; and that, if
+you are idle and a sluggard, so much the worse for you,
+for I shall be a troublesome neighbour."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, light as a bird, Rigolette descended the
+staircase, followed by Rodolph, who went into his own
+room to brush off the dust which had settled on him in
+M. Pipelet's garret. We will hereafter disclose how it
+was that Rodolph was not informed of the carrying off
+of Fleur-de-Marie from the farm at Bouqueval, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>
+why he had not visited the Morels the day after his
+conversation with Madame d'Harville.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph, furnished, by way of saving appearances,
+with a thick roll of papers, entered Rigolette's chamber.</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette was nearly the same age as Goualeuse, her
+old prison acquaintance. There was between these two
+young girls the same difference that there is between
+laughter and tears; between joyous light-heartedness and
+melancholy dejection; between the wildest thoughtlessness
+and a dark and constant reflection on the future;
+between a delicate, refined, elevated, poetic nature, exquisitely
+sensitive, and incurably wounded by remorse, and
+a gay, lively, happy, good, and compassionate nature.
+Rigolette had no sorrows but those derived from the
+woes of others, and with these she sympathised with all
+her might, devoting herself, body and soul, to any suffering
+fellow creature; but, her back turned on them, to
+use a common expression, she thought no more about
+them. She often checked her bursts of laughter by a
+flood of tears, and then checked her tears by renewing
+her laughter. Like a real Parisian, Rigolette preferred
+excitement to calm, and motion to repose; the loud and
+echoing harmony of the orchestra at the fête of the
+Chartreuse or the Colysée to the soft murmurs of the
+breeze, waters, and leaves; the bustling disturbance of
+the thoroughfares of Paris to the silent solitude of the
+fields; the brilliancy of fireworks, the flaring of the grand
+finale, the uproar of the maroons and Roman candles, to
+the serenity of a lovely night,&mdash;starlight, clear, and still.
+Alas, yes! the dear, good little girl actually preferred the
+pavement of the streets of the capital to the fresh
+moss of the shaded paths, perfumed with violets; the
+dust of the Boulevards to the waving of the ears of corn,
+mingled with the scarlet of the wild poppies and the azure
+of the bluebells.</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette only left her chamber on Sundays, and each
+morning to provide her prescribed allowance of chickweed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>
+bread, milk, and millet, for herself and her two
+birds, as Madame Pipelet observed; but she lived in
+Paris for Paris, and would have been wretched to have
+resided anywhere but in the capital.</p>
+
+<p>A few words as to the personal appearance of the
+grisette, and we will then introduce Rodolph into the
+chamber of his neighbour.</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette was scarcely eighteen years of age, of middle
+height, rather small than large, but so gracefully formed,
+so admirably proportioned, so delightfully filled out, so
+entirely in accordance with her step, which was light
+and easy, that she seemed perfect of her kind. The
+movement of her finely formed feet, always encased in
+well-made boots of black cloth, with a rather thick sole,
+reminded you of the quick, pretty, and cautious tread of
+the quail or wagtail. She did not seem to walk, but to
+pass over the pavement as if she were gliding over the
+surface. This step, so peculiar to grisettes, at once
+nimble, attractive, and as if somewhat alarmed, may
+doubtless be attributed to three causes: their desire to
+be thought pretty, their fear of being mistaken for what
+they are not, and to the desire they always have not to
+lose a minute in their peregrinations.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph had not seen Rigolette but by the dim light
+of Morel's garret, or on the landing-place, equally obscure,
+and he was therefore really struck by the bright
+and fresh countenance of the young girl when he softly
+entered her apartment, which was lighted up by two
+large windows. He remained motionless for a moment,
+in admiration of the striking picture before his eyes.
+Standing in front of a glass placed over her mantelpiece,
+Rigolette was tying under her chin the ribands of a small
+cap of bordered tulle, ornamented with a light trimming
+of cherry-coloured riband. The cap, which fitted tightly,
+was placed at the back of her head, and thus revealed
+two large and thick bandeaux of glossy hair, shining like
+jet, and falling very low in front. Her eyebrows, fine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+and well defined, seemed as if traced in ink, and curved
+above two large black, piercing, and intelligent eyes; her
+firm and velvety cheeks were suffused with the rosy hue
+of health, fresh to the eye, fresh to the touch, like a ripe
+peach covered with the dew of dawn; her small, upturned,
+attractive, and saucy nose, would have been a
+fortune to any Lisette or Marton; her mouth, which was
+rather large, had rosy and moist lips, small, white, close,
+and pearly teeth, and was laughter-loving and sportive;
+three charming dimples, which gave a characteristic grace
+to her features, were placed, two in her cheeks, and the
+other in her chin, close to a beauty-spot, a small ebony
+speck, which was most killingly situated at the corner of
+her mouth. Between a worked collar, which fell very
+low, and the border of the little cap, gathered in by a
+cherry-coloured riband, was seen a forest of beautiful
+hair, so accurately twisted and turned up that their
+roots were seen as clearly and as black as if they had
+been painted on the ivory of that lovely neck. A plum-coloured
+merino gown, with a plain back and close sleeves,
+made skilfully by Rigolette, covered a figure so small
+and slender that the young girl never wore a corset,&mdash;for
+economy's sake. An ease and unusual freedom in
+the smallest action of the shoulders and body, which resembled
+the facile undulations of a cat's motions, evinced
+this fact. Imagine a gown fitting tightly to a form
+rounded and polished as marble, and we must agree that
+Rigolette could easily dispense with this accessory to the
+toilet of which we have spoken. The tie of a small
+apron of dark green levantine formed a girdle around a
+waist which might have been spanned by the ten fingers.</p>
+
+<p>Believing herself to be alone (for Rodolph still remained
+at the door, motionless and unperceived), the
+grisette, having smoothed down her bandeaux with her
+small hand, white and delicately clean, put her small
+foot on a chair and stooped to tie the lace of her boot.
+This attitude developed to Rodolph a portion of a cotton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>
+stocking, white as snow, and a well-formed ankle and
+leg.</p>
+
+<p>After the detail we have given of this toilet, we may
+guess that Rigolette had selected her prettiest cap and
+best apron to do honour to her neighbour on their excursion
+to the Temple. She found the pretended tradesman's
+clerk very much to her taste; his face, at once
+kind, bold, and animated, pleased her greatly; and then
+he had been so kind to the Morels, by giving up his room
+to them; so that, thanks to this proof of goodness, and,
+perhaps, also to his good looks, Rodolph had unwittingly
+advanced into the confidence of the grisette with giant
+strides. She, according to her ideas, founded on the
+compelled intimacy and reciprocal obligation which
+neighbourhood invites, thought herself very fortunate in
+having such a neighbour as Rodolph to succeed to the
+travelling clerk, Cabrion, and François Germain; for she
+was beginning to find that the next room had remained
+very long empty, and was afraid that she should never
+again see it occupied in an agreeable manner.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph took advantage of his invisibility to cast a
+curious eye around him, and he found the apartment
+even beyond the praises which Madame Pipelet had bestowed
+on the extreme cleanliness of the humble home
+of Rigolette. Nothing could be more lively or better
+arranged than this apartment. A gray paper, with green
+garlands, covered the walls; the floor, painted of a red
+colour, shone like a looking-glass; a small earthenware
+stone was placed in the chimney, where was piled up,
+very symmetrically, a small store of wood, cut so short,
+so thin, that, without exaggeration, each piece might
+have been compared to a very large match. On the
+stone mantelpiece, painted gray marble, there were, for
+ornaments, two pots of common flowers, covered in with
+green moss; a small case of boxwood contained a silver
+watch instead of a pendule. On one side was a brass
+candlestick, shining like gold, and having in it a small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>
+piece of wax-light; and, on the other side, no less resplendently,
+one of those lamps formed by a cylinder and
+a brass reflector, supported by a bar of steel, and having
+a base of lead. A tolerably large square glass, in a
+black wood frame, was over the mantelpiece. Curtains
+of gray and green Persian cloth, with a woollen-fringed
+border, cut and worked by Rigolette, and hung in light
+rings of black iron, decorated the windows; and the bed
+was covered with a counterpane of the same make and
+material. Two closets, with glass doors, and painted
+white, were in each side of the recess, enclosing, no
+doubt, household utensils,&mdash;the portable stove, the fountain,
+brooms, etc.; for none of these things spoiled the
+neat appearance of the chamber. A chest of drawers of
+well veined and shining walnut-tree; four chairs of the
+same wood; a large table for ironing and working, covered
+with one of those green woollen coverings which we
+sometimes see in a peasant's cottage; a straw armchair,
+with a stool to match, the constant seat of the workwoman,&mdash;such
+was the unpretending furniture. There
+was, too, in one of the window-seats, a cage with two
+canary birds, the faithful companions of Rigolette. By
+one of those notable ideas which occur to the poor, this
+cage was placed in the middle of a large wooden chest,
+about a foot deep, placed on a table. This chest, which
+Rigolette called her bird's garden, was filled with mould,
+covered with moss during the winter, and in spring the
+young girl sowed grass seeds, and planted flowers there.
+Rodolph examined the place with interest, and entered
+fully into the cheerful disposition of the grisette. He
+pictured to himself this solitude, enlivened by the song
+of the birds and of Rigolette herself. In summer, no
+doubt, she worked at the open window, half veiled by a
+verdant curtain of sweet peas, roses, nasturtiums, and
+blue and white convolvulus. In winter she warmed
+herself near her small stove, by the soft light of her
+lamp.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Rodolph was thus reflecting, when, looking mechanically
+at the door, he saw there a large bolt,&mdash;a bolt
+which would not have been out of place on the door of a
+prison. This bolt made him reflect. It might have two
+meanings, two very distinct uses: to close the door on
+the lover within; to close the door on the lover without.
+Rodolph was aroused from his reflections by Rigolette,
+who, turning her head, saw him, and, without changing
+her attitude, said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"What, neighbour, are you there?" Then the well-formed
+ankle instantly disappeared beneath the ample
+skirt of the plum-coloured gown, and Rigolette added,
+"Ah, Mr. Cunning!"</p>
+
+<p>"I was here admiring in silence."</p>
+
+<p>"Admiring what, neighbour?"</p>
+
+<p>"This pretty little room; for, neighbour, you are
+lodged like a queen."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you must know that is my enjoyment. I never
+go out, and so I can do no less than make my home comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"But really I never saw anything half so nice. What
+pretty curtains! and the drawers as handsome as mahogany!
+You must have spent a great deal of money here."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't mention it! I had, of my own, four hundred
+and twenty-five francs when I left the prison, and
+almost all has been spent."</p>
+
+<p>"When you left the prison!&mdash;you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but it is a very long story. Of course, you do
+not suppose that I was in prison for anything wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not; but how was it?"</p>
+
+<p>"After the cholera, I was quite alone in the world.
+I was then, I think, ten years of age."</p>
+
+<p>"But who had taken care of you till then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, some excellent people! But they died of the
+cholera;" here Rigolette's large eyes became moistened.
+"They had sold the little they possessed to pay their small
+debts, and I remained without having any one who would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+take care of me. Not knowing what to do, I went to the
+guard-house, opposite to our house, and said to the sentinel:
+'Sir, my relations are dead, and I do not know
+where to go to; what must I do?' Then the officer
+came, and he took me to the commissary, who put me in
+prison as a vagabond, and I did not go out until I was
+sixteen years old."</p>
+
+<p>"But your relations?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know who my father was, and I was six
+years old when I lost my mother, who had recovered me
+from the Enfants Trouvés (Foundling Hospital), where
+she had been compelled at first to place me. The kind
+people of whom I spoke to you lived in our house; they
+had no children, and, seeing me an orphan, they took
+care of me."</p>
+
+<p>"And what were they? What was their business or
+pursuit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Papa Crétu, so I always called him, was a house-painter,
+and his wife worked at her needle."</p>
+
+<p>"Then they were pretty well off?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, like other people in their station, though they
+were not married; but they called each other husband
+and wife. They had their ups and downs; to-day plenty,
+if there was work to be had; to-morrow short commons,
+if there was none; but that did not prevent the couple
+from being content and always cheerful;" at this remembrance
+Rigolette's face brightened up. "There was not
+such a household in the quarter,&mdash;always merry, always
+singing, and, with it all, as good as they could be. What
+they had any one was welcome to share. Mamma Crétu
+was a plump body, about thirty years old, as neat as a
+penny, as active as an eel, as merry as a lark. Her husband
+was a regular good-tempered fellow, with a large
+nose, a wide mouth, and always a paper cap on his head,
+and such a funny face,&mdash;oh, so funny,&mdash;you could not
+look at him without laughing. When he came home
+after work, he did nothing but sing, and make faces, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>
+gambol like a child. He used to dance me on his knees,
+and play with me like a child of my own age; and his
+wife spoiled me, as if I had been a blessing to her. They
+both required only one thing from me, and that was to
+be in a good humour; and in that I never thwarted
+them, thank Heaven. So they called me Rigolette,<a name="FNanchor_1_7" id="FNanchor_1_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and
+the name has stuck to me. As to mirth, they set me the
+example, for I never saw them sorrowful. If ever there
+was a word, it was the wife who said to her husband,
+'Crétu, you silly fellow, do be quiet, you make me laugh
+too much.' Then he said to her, 'Hold your foolish
+tongue, Ramonette,'&mdash;I don't know why he called her
+Ramonette,&mdash;'do be still, you really make my sides ache,
+you are so funny.' And then I laughed to see them
+laugh, and in this way I was brought up, and in this
+way they formed my disposition; and I hope I have
+profited by it."</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_7" id="Footnote_1_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The French verb <i>rigoler</i> is "to be merry."&mdash;E. T.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>"Most assuredly you have, neighbour. So there never
+were any disputes between them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never, oh, never! Sunday, Monday, and sometimes
+on Tuesday, they made holiday, or kept wedding-day, as
+they called it, and always took me with them. Papa
+Crétu was an excellent workman, and, when he chose to
+work, he could earn what he pleased, and so could his
+wife, too. If they had got enough to do for Sunday and
+Monday, and live on pretty comfortably, they were perfectly
+satisfied. If, after this, they were on short allowance
+for a time, they didn't mind it. I remember, when
+we had only bread and water, Papa Crétu took from his
+library&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"He had a library, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he used to call a little box so, in which he put
+his collection of new songs; for he bought all the new
+ones, and knew them every one. When, then, there was
+nothing but bread in the house, he used to take an old
+cookery book from his library, and say to us, 'Well, now,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>
+let us see, what shall we eat to-day? This, or that?'
+And then he used to read out a long list of good things.
+Each of us chose a dish, and then Papa Crétu took an
+empty saucepan, and, with the funniest airs and gestures
+in the world, pretended to put into the saucepan all the
+ingredients requisite for making a capital stew; and then
+he used to pretend to pour it all out into a dish&mdash;also
+empty&mdash;which he placed on the table, with still the same
+drolleries, which almost split our sides. Then he took
+up his book again, and, whilst he was reading to us, for
+instance, the recipe of a good fricassée of chicken, which
+we had chosen, and which made our mouths water, we
+ate our bread, all laughing like so many mad people."</p>
+
+<p>"And, in this happy household, were there any debts
+to trouble them?"</p>
+
+<p>"None whatever. So long as the money lasted, they
+ate, drank, and made merry, and, when it was all gone,
+they lived upon 'make believe,' as before."</p>
+
+<p>"And did they never think of the future?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they thought of it, of course; but what is
+the future to such as we? Present and future are like
+Sunday and Monday; the one we spend gaily and happily
+outside the barriers, the other is got over in the faubourgs."</p>
+
+<p>"And why, since this couple seemed so well assorted,
+did they never marry?"</p>
+
+<p>"A friend of theirs once put that very question in my
+presence."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and what did they say?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh,' said they, 'if ever we have any children, it may
+be all very well to marry, but as far as we are concerned,
+we do very well as we are. And why should we make
+an obligation of that which we now perform willingly? Besides,
+getting married costs money, and we have none to
+spare in unnecessary expenses.' But, my goodness,"
+added Rigolette, "how I am running on. But, really,
+when once I begin to talk of these kind people, who were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>
+so good to me, I never know when to leave off. Here,
+neighbour, will you give me my shawl off the bed, and
+put it nicely over my shoulders, then pin it underneath
+the collar of my habit-shirt with this large pin, and then
+we will set off, for it will take us some time to select the
+different things you wish to buy for the poor Morels."</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph readily obeyed the directions of Rigolette.
+First he took from the bed a large plaid shawl, which
+he placed with all imaginable care on the well-formed
+shoulders of Rigolette.</p>
+
+<p>"That will do, neighbour. Now, lift up my collar,
+and press the shawl and dress together; then stick in
+the pin; but pray try not to prick me with it."</p>
+
+<p>The prince executed the orders given with zealous
+accuracy; then observed, smilingly, to the grisette:</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette, I should not like to be your
+<i>femme de chambre</i>; there is danger in it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know," answered Rigolette gaily; "there is
+great danger for me of having a pin run in by your
+awkwardness. But now," added she, after they had left
+the room, and carefully locked the door after them,
+"take my key; it is so large, I always expect it will
+burst my pocket; it is as large as a pistol," and
+here the light-hearted girl laughed merrily at her own
+conceit.</p>
+
+<p>Rodolph accordingly "took charge" (that is the prescribed
+form of speech) of an enormous key, which
+might well have figured in one of those allegorical
+devices in which the vanquished are represented as
+humbly offering the keys of their lost cities to the
+conquerors. Although Rodolph believed himself too
+much changed by years to run any risk of being
+recognised by Polidori, he still deemed it prudent to
+draw up the collar of his paletot as he passed by
+the door of the apartments belonging to the quack,
+Bradamanti.</p>
+
+<p>"Neighbour," said Rigolette, "don't forget to tell M.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+Pipelet that you are about to send in some things which
+are to be carried at once up to your chamber."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, my good friend; let us step into the
+porter's lodge for an instant."</p>
+
+<p>M. Pipelet, with his everlasting bell-shaped hat on his
+head, dressed, as usual, in the accustomed green coat,
+and seated before a table covered with scraps of leather
+and fragments of boots and shoes, was occupied in
+fixing a new sole on a boot, his whole look and
+manner impressed with the same deeply meditative air
+which characterised his usual proceedings. Anastasie
+was just then absent from the lodge.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, M. Pipelet," said Rigolette, "I hope you will
+be pleased to hear the good news. Thanks to my good
+neighbour here, the poor Morels have got out of trouble.
+La! when one thinks of that poor man being taken off
+to prison&mdash;oh, those bailiffs have no hearts!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor manners either, mademoiselle," rejoined M.
+Pipelet, in an angry tone, wrathfully brandishing the
+boot then in progress of repair, and into which he had
+inserted his left hand and arm. "No! I have no hesitation
+in declaring, in the face of all mankind, that they
+are a set of mannerless scoundrels. Why, taking advantage
+of the darkness of our stairs, they actually carried
+their indecent violence so far as to lay their audacious
+fingers upon the waist of my wife. When I first heard
+the cries of her insulted modesty, I could not restrain
+myself, and, spite of all efforts to restrain myself, I
+yielded to the natural impetuosity of my disposition.
+Yes, I will frankly confess, my first impulse was to
+remain perfectly motionless."</p>
+
+<p>"But, I suppose, afterwards," said Rigolette, who had
+much ado to preserve a serious air, "afterwards, M.
+Pipelet, you pursued them, and bestowed the punishment
+they so well deserved?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you, mademoiselle," answered Pipelet, deliberately;
+"when these shameless ruffians passed before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+my lodge, my blood boiled, and I could not prevent
+myself from hastily covering my face, that I might
+not be shocked by the sight of these luxurious malefactors;
+but, afterwards, I ceased to be astonished; for
+well I knew I might expect some sight or sound to shock
+my senses; full well I was prepared for some direful
+misfortune ere the day had passed, for I dreamed last
+night of Cabrion."</p>
+
+<p>Rigolette smiled, while the heavy groans which broke
+from the oppressed mind of the porter were mingled
+with blows of his hammer, as he vigorously applied it to
+the sole of the boot he was mending.</p>
+
+<p>"You wisely chose the wisest part, my dear M.
+Pipelet, that of despising offences, and holding it
+beneath you to revenge them; but try to forget these
+ill-conducted bailiffs, and oblige me by doing me a
+great favour."</p>
+
+<p>"Man is born to help his fellow man," drawled out
+Pipelet, in a melancholy and sententious tone; "and he
+is still further called upon so to do when a good and
+worthy gentleman, moreover, a lodger in one's house, is
+concerned."</p>
+
+<p>"What I have to request of you is to carry up to
+my apartments for me several things I am about to send
+in, and which are for the Morels."</p>
+
+<p>"Make yourself easy upon that point, monsieur,"
+replied Pipelet. "I will faithfully perform your
+wishes."</p>
+
+<p>"And afterwards," said Rodolph, mournfully, "you
+must obtain a priest to watch by a little girl the Morels
+have lost in the night. Go and give the requisite notification
+of the death, and bespeak a suitable funeral."</p>
+
+<p>"Make your mind easy, monsieur," replied Pipelet,
+more gravely even than before; "directly my wife
+returns, I will go to the mayor, the church, and the
+<i>traiteur's</i>: to the church, for the soul of the dead; to
+the <i>traiteur's</i>, for the body of the living," added M.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>
+Pipelet, philosophically and poetically. "Consider it
+done in both cases; my good sir, consider it done."</p>
+
+<p>At the entrance to the alley, Rodolph and Rigolette
+encountered Anastasie returning from market with a
+huge basket of provisions.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! That's right!" cried the porteress,
+looking at the pair with a knowing and significant air;
+"there you go, arm in arm already. To be sure, look
+and love, love and look. Young people will be young
+people, no doubt on't. Me and Alfred was just the
+same. Whoever heard of a pretty girl without a
+beau? So, go along, my dears, and make yourselves
+happy while you can." Then, after gazing after them
+some minutes, the old woman disappeared in the depths
+of the alley, crying out, "Alfred, my old darling! Don't
+worry yourself; 'Stasie's coming to bring you something
+nice,&mdash;oh, so nice!"</p>
+
+
+<p class="ending">END OF VOLUME II.</p>
+
+<div class="tr">
+<h4>Transcriber's Notes:</h4>
+
+<p>This e-text was prepared from numbered edition 505 of the 1000 printed.</p>
+
+<p>In the original text the title "The Mysteries of Paris" is printed in Bold Gothic Font.</p>
+
+<p>Minor punctuation and capitalization corrections have been made
+without comment.</p>
+
+<p>Minor typographical errors of single words, otherwise spelled
+correctly throughout the text have been made without comment.</p>
+
+<p>Word Variations appearing in the original text which have been
+retained:</p>
+
+<div class="tns">
+<p>"box-wood" and "boxwood"<br />
+"court-yard" and "courtyard"<br />
+"dairy-maid" and "dairymaid"<br />
+"incumber" and "encumber"<br />
+"milk-woman" and "milkwoman"<br />
+"out-building" and "outbuilding"<br />
+"Saint-Remy" (16) and "Saint-Rémy" (6)<br />
+"stew-pan" and "stewpan"</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Throughout the text, illustrations and their captions were placed on
+facing pages. For the purpose of this e-text these pages have been
+combined into one entry.</p>
+
+<p>Footnotes, originally at the bottom of a printed page, have been
+placed directly below the paragraph in which their anchor symbol appears.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, by 
+Eugène Sue
+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, 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 Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6
+
+Author: Eugene Sue
+
+Illustrators: G. Mercier
+              Bicknell
+              Leon Poiteau
+              Adrian Marcel
+
+Release Date: September 22, 2010 [EBook #33801]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, V.2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+(Stanford University, SUL Books in the Public Domain)
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+2. Passages in Gothic Bold are surrounded by +plus+ signs.
+
+3. Other transcription notes appear at the end of this e-text.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "_He Took from the Bed a Large Plaid Shawl_"
+Etching by Adrian Marcel, after the drawing by Frank T. Merrill]
+
+
+
+
++The Mysteries of Paris.+
+
+  _ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS
+  BY MERCIER, BICKNELL, POITEAU,
+  AND ADRIAN MARCEL._
+
+                 _BY EUGENE SUE_
+
+
+      _IN SIX VOLUMES
+          VOLUME II._
+
+
+        _PRINTED FOR
+   FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS & CO.
+           BOSTON_
+
+
+      _EDITION DE LUXE._
+
+_Limited to One Thousand Copies._
+
+          No.______
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+   CHAPTER                                                     PAGE
+         I. THE BALL                                             11
+        II. THE RENDEZVOUS                                       36
+       III. AN IDYL                                              61
+        IV. THE AMBUSCADE                                        74
+         V. THE RECTORY-HOUSE                                    88
+        VI. THE RENCOUNTER                                       99
+       VII. AN EVENING AT THE FARM                              105
+      VIII. THE DREAM                                           150
+        IX. THE LETTER                                          159
+         X. THE HOLLOW WAY                                      195
+        XI. CLEMENCE D'HARVILLE                                 201
+       XII. MISERY                                              256
+      XIII. JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION                              286
+       XIV. RIGOLETTE                                           310
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                                               PAGE
+      "HE TOOK FROM THE BED A LARGE PLAID SHAWL"      _Frontispiece_
+      "AT LENGTH ALIGHTED ON HER SHOULDER"                       66
+      "'SO I HAVE BROUGHT TURK WITH ME'"                         97
+      "'YOU MUST GIVE ME LEAVE'"                                208
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+Belonging to one of the first families in France, still young, and with
+a face that would have been agreeable had it not been for the almost
+ridiculous and disproportionate length of his nose, M. de Lucenay joined
+to a restless love of constant motion the habit of talking and laughing
+fearfully loud upon subjects quite at variance with good taste or
+polished manners, and throwing himself into attitudes so abrupt and
+awkward that it was only by recalling who he was, that his being found
+in the midst of the most distinguished societies in Paris could be
+accounted for, or a reason assigned for tolerating his gestures and
+language; for both of which he had now, by dint of long practice and
+adherence, acquired a sort of free license or impunity. He was shunned
+like the plague, although not deficient in a certain description of wit,
+which told here and there amid the indescribable confusion of remarkable
+phraseology which he allowed himself the use of; in fact, he was one of
+those unintentional instruments of vengeance one would always like to
+employ in the wholesale chastisement of persons who have rendered
+themselves either ridiculous or abhorrent.
+
+The Duchess de Lucenay, one of the most agreeable, and, at the same
+time, most fashionable women in Paris (spite of her having numbered
+thirty summers), had more than once furnished matter of conversation
+among the scandal-dealers of Paris; but her errors, whatever they were
+supposed to be, were pardoned, in consideration of the heavy drawback of
+such a partner as M. de Lucenay.
+
+Another feature in the character of this latter-named individual was a
+singular affectation of the most absurd and unknown expressions,
+relative to imaginary complaints and ridiculous infirmities he amused
+himself in supposing you suffered from, and concerning which he would
+make earnest inquiries, in a loud voice, and in the immediate presence
+of a hundred persons. But possessed of first-rate courage, and always
+ready to take the consequences of his disagreeable jokes, M. de Lucenay
+had been concerned in various affairs of honour arising out of them,
+with varied success; coming off sometimes victor, sometimes vanquished,
+without being in any way cured of his unpleasant and annoying tricks.
+
+All this premised, we will ask the reader to imagine the loud, harsh
+voice of the personage we have been describing, shouting from the
+distance at which he first recognised Madame d'Harville and Sarah:
+
+"Holla! holla! who is that out there? Come, who is it? Let's see. What!
+the prettiest woman at the ball sitting out here, away from everybody! I
+can't have this; it is high time I returned from the other end of the
+world to put a stop to such doings as this. I tell you what, marquise,
+if you persist in thus concealing yourself from general view, and
+cheating people from looking at you, I will set up a cry of fire! fire!
+that shall bring every one out of the ballroom, around you."
+
+And then, by way of terminating his discourse, M. de Lucenay threw
+himself almost on his back beside the two ladies, crossed his left leg
+over his right thigh, and held his foot in his hand.
+
+"You have soon returned from Constantinople, my lord," observed Madame
+d'Harville, fancying it was necessary to say something, and, at the same
+time, drawing away from her unpleasant neighbour with ill-concealed
+impatience.
+
+"Ah, that is just what my wife said! 'Already back, my lord?' exclaimed
+she, when she saw me alight from my travelling-carriage; 'Why, bless me,
+I did not expect you so soon!' And, do you know, instead of flying to my
+arms, as if the surprise had delighted her, she turned quite sulky, and
+refused to appear with me at this, my first ball since my return! And,
+upon my soul, I declare her staying away has caused a far greater
+sensation than my presence,--droll, isn't it? 'Pon my life, I declare I
+can't make it out. When she is with me, nobody pays the least attention
+to me; but when I entered the room alone to-night, such a crowd came
+humming and buzzing around me, all calling out at once, 'Where is Madame
+de Lucenay? Is not she coming this evening? Oh, dear, what a
+disappointment! How vexatious! How disagreeable!' etc., etc. And then,
+marquise, when I come where you are, and expect, after returning all the
+way from Constantinople, you will be overjoyed to see me, you look upon
+me as if I were a dog running amidst an interesting game of ninepins;
+and yet, for all I see, I am just as agreeable as other people."
+
+"And it would have been so easy for you to have continued agreeable--in
+the East," added Madame d'Harville, slightly smiling.
+
+"Stop abroad, you mean, I suppose; yes, I dare say. I tell you I could
+not, and I would not; and it is not quite what I like, to hear you say
+so!" exclaimed M. de Lucenay, uncrossing his legs, and beating the crown
+of his hat after the fashion of a tambourine.
+
+"Well, for heaven's sake, my lord, be still, and do not call out so very
+loudly," said Madame d'Harville, angrily, "or really you will compel me
+to change my place."
+
+"Change your place! Ah, to be sure! You want to take my arm, and walk
+about the gallery a little; come along then, I'm ready."
+
+"Walk with you! Certainly not! And pray let me beg of you not to meddle
+with that bouquet--and have the goodness not to touch the fan either;
+you will only break it, as you always do."
+
+"Oh, bless you! talking of breaking fans, I am unlucky. Did my wife ever
+show you a magnificent Chinese fan, given to her by Madame de Vaudemont?
+Well, I broke that!" And, having delivered himself of these comforting
+words, M. de Lucenay again threw himself back on the divan he had been
+lounging on, but, with his accustomed gaucherie, contrived to pitch
+himself over the back of it, on to the ground, grasping in his hand a
+quantity of the floating wreaths of climbing plants which depended from
+the boughs of the trees under which the party was sitting, and which he
+had been, for some time, amusing himself with essaying to catch, as,
+moved by the light breeze admitted into the place, they undulated
+gracefully over his head. The suddenness of his fall brought down, not
+only those he held, but the parent stems belonging to them; and poor De
+Lucenay was so covered by the mass of foliage thus unexpectedly
+obtained, that, ere he could thoroughly disengage himself from their
+circling tendrils, he presented the appearance of some monarch of
+May-day crowned with his leafy diadem. So whimsical an appearance as he
+presented drew down roars of deafening, stunning laughter; much to the
+annoyance of Madame d'Harville, who would quickly have got out of the
+vicinity of so awkward and unpleasant a person had she not perceived M.
+Charles Robert (the commandant of Madame Pipelet's accounts) advancing
+from the other end of the gallery; and, unwilling to appear as though
+going to meet him, she once more resumed her seat beside M. de Lucenay.
+
+"I say, Lady Macgregor," vociferated the incorrigible De Lucenay,
+"didn't I look preciously like a wild man of the woods, or the god Pan,
+or a sylvan, or a naiad, or some of those savage creatures, with that
+green wreath round my head? Oh, but talking of savages," added he,
+abruptly approaching Sarah, "Lady Macgregor, I must tell you a most
+outrageously indecent story. Just imagine that at Otaheite--"
+
+"My lord duke--" interrupted Sarah, in a tone of freezing rebuke.
+
+"Just as you like,--you are not obliged to hear my story if you don't
+like it; you are the loser, that's all. Ah! I see Madame de Fonbonne out
+there; I shall keep it for her; she is a dear, kind creature, and will
+be delighted to hear it; so I'll save it for her."
+
+Madame de Fonbonne was a fat little woman, of about fifty years of age,
+very pretending, and very ridiculous. Her fat double chin rested on her
+equally fat throat; and she was continually talking, with upturned eyes,
+of her tender, her sensitive soul; the languor of her soul; the craving
+of her soul; the aspirations of her soul. To these disadvantages, she
+added the additional one of being particularly ill-dressed, upon the
+present occasion, in a horrible-looking copper-coloured turban, with a
+sprinkling of green flowers over it.
+
+"Yes," again asserted De Lucenay, in his loudest voice, "that charming
+anecdote shall be told to Madame de Fonbonne."
+
+"May I be permitted, my lord duke, to inquire the subject of your
+conversation?" said the lady thus apostrophised, who, hearing her name
+mentioned, immediately commenced her usual mincing, bridling attempts to
+draw up her chubby self, but, failing in the effort, fell back upon the
+easier manoeuvre of "rolling up the whites of her eyes," as it is
+commonly called.
+
+"It refers, madame, to a most horribly indecent, revolting, and strange
+story."
+
+"Heaven bless me! and who dares--oh, dear me, who would venture--"
+
+"I would, madame. I can answer for the truth of the anecdote, and that
+it would make a stick or a stone blush to hear it; but, as I am aware
+how dearly you love such stories, I will relate it to you. You must
+know, then, that in Otaheite--"
+
+"My lord," exclaimed the indignant lady, turning up her eyes with
+indignant horror, "it really is surprising you can allow yourself to--"
+
+"Now for those unkind looks you shall not hear my pretty story either,
+though I had been reserving it for you. And, now I look at you, I can
+but wonder that you, so celebrated for the taste and good style of your
+dress, should have put that wretched thing on your head for a turban,
+but which looks more like an old copper baking-dish spotted all over
+with verdigris." So saying, the duke, as if charmed with his own wit,
+burst into a loud and long peal of laughter.
+
+"If, my lord," exclaimed the enraged lady, "you merely returned from the
+East to resume your offensive jokes, which are tolerated because you are
+supposed to be only half in your senses, all who know you are bound to
+hope you intend to return as quickly as you came;" saying which she
+arose, and majestically waddled away.
+
+"I tell you what, Lady Macgregor, if I don't take devilish good care, I
+shall let fly at that stupid old prude and pull her old stew-pan off her
+head," said M. de Lucenay, thrusting his hands deep down into his
+pockets as if to prevent their committing the retaliating mischief he
+contemplated. "But no," said he, after a pause, "I won't hurt the
+'sensitive soul,' poor innocent thing! Ha! ha! ha! Besides, think of her
+being an orphan at her tender age!" And renewed peals of laughter
+announced that the imagination of the duke had again found a fresh fund
+of amusement in some reminiscence of Madame de Fonbonne; which, however,
+soon gave place to an expression of surprise, as the figure of the
+commandant, sauntering towards them, caught his eye.
+
+"Holla!" cried he, "there's M. Charles Robert. I met him last summer at
+the German baths; he is a deuced fine fellow,--sings like a swan. Now,
+marquise, I'll show you some fun,--just see how I'll bother him. Would
+you like me to introduce him to you?"
+
+"Be quiet, if you can," said Sarah, turning her back most
+unceremoniously upon M. de Lucenay, "and let us alone, I beg."
+
+As M. Charles Robert, while affecting to be solely occupied in admiring
+the rare plants on either side of him, continued to advance, M. de
+Lucenay had cleverly contrived to get possession of Sarah's _flacon
+d'esprit_, and was deeply and silently engaged in the interesting
+employment of demolishing the stopper of the trinket.
+
+Still M. Charles Robert kept on his gradual approach to the party he
+was, in reality, making the object of his visit. His figure was tall and
+finely proportioned; his features boasted the most faultless regularity;
+his dress was in the first style of modern elegance; yet his
+countenance, his whole person, were destitute of grace, or that
+_distingue_ air which is more to be coveted than mere beauty, whether of
+face or figure; his movements were stiff and constrained, and his hands
+and feet large and coarse. As he approached Madame d'Harville his
+insipid and insignificant countenance assumed, all at once, an
+expression of the deepest melancholy, too sudden to be genuine;
+nevertheless he acted the part as closely to nature as might be. M.
+Robert had the air of a man so thoroughly wretched, so oppressed by a
+multitude of sorrows, that as he came up to Madame d'Harville she could
+not help recalling to mind the fearful mention made by Sarah touching
+the violence to which grief such as his might drive him.
+
+"How are you? How are you, my dear sir?" exclaimed the Duke de Lucenay,
+interrupting the further approach of the commandant. "I have not had the
+pleasure of seeing you since we met at the spas of ----. But what the
+devil ails you,--are you ill?"
+
+Hereupon M. Charles Robert assumed a languid and sentimental air, and,
+casting a melancholy look towards Madame d'Harville, replied, in a tone
+of deep depression:
+
+"Indeed, my lord, I am very far from being well."
+
+"God bless me! Why, what is the matter with you? Ah! I suppose that
+confounded plaguy cough still sticks to you," said M. de Lucenay, with
+an appearance of the most serious interest in the inquiry.
+
+At this ridiculous question, M. Charles Robert stood for a moment as
+though struck dumb with astonishment, but, quickly recovering himself,
+said, while his face crimsoned, and his voice trembled with rage, in a
+short, firm voice, to M. de Lucenay:
+
+"Since you express so much uneasiness respecting my health, my lord, I
+trust you will not fail calling to-morrow to know how I am."
+
+"Upon my life and soul, my dear sir, I--but most certainly I will send,"
+said the duke, with a haughty bow to M. Charles Robert, who, coolly
+returning it, walked away.
+
+"The best of the joke is," said M. de Lucenay, throwing himself again by
+the side of Sarah, "that our tall friend there had no more of a spitting
+complaint than the great Turk himself,--unless, indeed, I stumbled upon
+the truth without knowing it. Well, he might have that complaint for
+anything I know or care. What do you think, Lady Macgregor,--did that
+great, tall fellow look, to you, as though he were suffering from _la
+pituite_?"[1]
+
+  [1] A sort of viscous, phlegmy complaint.
+
+Sarah's only reply was an indignant rising from her seat, and hasty
+removal from the vicinage of the annoying Duke de Lucenay.
+
+All this had passed with the rapidity of thought. Sarah had experienced
+considerable difficulty in restraining her inclination to indulge in a
+hearty fit of laughter at the absurd question put by the Duke de Lucenay
+to the commandant; but Madame d'Harville had painfully sympathised with
+the feelings of a man so ridiculously interrogated in the presence of
+the woman he loved. Then, horror-struck as the probable consequences of
+the duke's jest rose to her mind, led away by her dread of the duel
+which might arise out of it, and still further instigated by a feeling
+of deep pity for one who seemed to her misled imagination as marked out
+for every venomed shaft of envy, malice, and revenge, Clemence rose
+abruptly from her seat, took the arm of Sarah, overtook M. Charles
+Robert, who was boiling over with rage, and whispered to him, as she
+passed:
+
+"To-morrow, at one o'clock, I will be there."
+
+Then, regaining the gallery with the countess, she immediately quitted
+the ball.
+
+Rodolph, in appearing at this fete, besides fulfilling a duty imposed on
+him by his exalted rank and place in society, was further influenced by
+the earnest desire to ascertain how far his suspicions, as regarded
+Madame d'Harville, were well founded, and if she were, indeed, the
+heroine of Madame Pipelet's account. After quitting the winter garden
+with the Countess de ----, he had, in vain, traversed the various salons
+in the hopes of meeting Madame d'Harville alone. He was returning to the
+hothouse when, being momentarily delayed at the top of the stairs, he
+was witness to the rapid scene between Madame d'Harville and M. Charles
+Robert after the joke played off by the Duke de Lucenay. The significant
+glances exchanged between Clemence and the commandant struck Rodolph
+powerfully, and impressed him with the firm conviction that this tall
+and prepossessing individual was the mysterious lodger of the Rue du
+Temple. Wishing for still further confirmation of the idea, he returned
+to the gallery. A waltz was about to commence, and in the course of a
+few minutes he saw M. Charles Robert standing in the doorway, evidently
+revelling in the satisfaction of his own ideas; enjoying, in the first
+place, the recollection of his own retort to M. de Lucenay (for M.
+Charles Robert, spite of his egregious folly and vanity, was by no means
+destitute of bravery), and, secondly, revelling in the triumph of thus
+obtaining a voluntary assignation with Madame d'Harville for the morrow;
+and something assured him that this time she would be punctual. Rodolph
+sought for Murphy.
+
+"Do you see that fair young man," said he, "standing in the midst of
+that group out there?"
+
+"You mean the tall individual who seems so much amused with his own
+thoughts, do you not? Yes, yes, I see him."
+
+"Endeavour to get sufficiently near to him to be enabled to whisper, so
+that he alone can catch the words, while you carefully avoid allowing
+him to see the person who utters them, this sentence, 'You are late, my
+angel!'"
+
+The squire gazed at Rodolph with a perplexed air.
+
+"My lord, do you seriously wish me to do this?"
+
+"Seriously, my dear Murphy, I do; and should he hastily turn around when
+you have spoken, assume that incomparable air of perfect nonchalance for
+which you are so justly celebrated, so as to prevent his being able to
+fix upon you as the person who has spoken."
+
+"Depend upon my perfect obedience, my lord, although I am far from
+having the slightest idea of your intention in assigning to me such a
+task."
+
+Before the conclusion of the waltz, the worthy Murphy had contrived to
+place himself immediately behind M. Charles Robert, while Rodolph,
+posted in a situation most advantageous for watching the effect of this
+experiment, carefully observed Murphy's movements. In a minute, M.
+Charles Robert turned suddenly around, as though struck with
+astonishment and wonder. The immovable squire stirred not a feature; and
+certainly Murphy's tall, portly figure, bald head, and grave, composed
+countenance, appeared the least likely of any in the room to be those of
+a man taking part in such a trick; and, indeed, it was evident, from the
+continued gaze of the commandant in every other part of the space they
+stood in, that M. Charles Robert was far from suspecting his
+respectable, middle-aged neighbour of giving utterance to a phrase so
+disagreeably recalling the _quid pro quo_ of which Madame Pipelet had
+been alike the cause and the heroine. The waltz concluded, Murphy
+rejoined Rodolph.
+
+"Well, my lord," said he, "that smart young gentleman jumped as though
+he had trodden on a hornet's nest. The words I uttered appeared to have
+the effect of magic on him."
+
+"They were so far magical, my dear Murphy, as they assisted me to
+discover a circumstance I was most anxious to find out."
+
+Conviction thus painfully obtained, Rodolph could only deplore the
+dangerous position in which Madame d'Harville had placed herself, and
+which seemed to him fraught with fresh evils, from a vague presentiment
+of Sarah's being either a sharer or a confidant in the transaction, and
+with this discovery came the fresh pain of believing that he had now
+found out the source of M. d'Harville's secret sorrow; the man he so
+highly esteemed, and for whom he felt a brother's regard, was pining in
+silence over the misconduct of a wife he so tenderly loved, yet who, in
+spite of her many charming qualities, could sacrifice her own and her
+husband's happiness for the sake of an object so every way unworthy.
+Master of so important a secret, yet incapable of betraying it, unable
+to devise any plan to open the eyes of Madame d'Harville, who seemed
+rather to yield to than resist her unlicensed passion for her lover,
+Rodolph found himself obliged to remain a passive witness to the utter
+ruin of a woman he had so passionately adored with as much silence as
+devotion; nay, whom, spite of his best efforts, he still loved. He was
+roused from these reflections by M. de Grauen.
+
+"If your royal highness," said the baron, bowing, "will deign to grant
+me a brief interview in one of the lower rooms, which is now quite
+devoid of company, I shall have the honour to lay before you the
+particulars you desired me to collect."
+
+Rodolph signed to M. de Grauen to conduct him to the place named, when
+the baron proceeded with his recital, as follows:
+
+"The only duchess to whose name the initials 'N.' and 'L.' can possibly
+belong is Madame de Lucenay, whose maiden name was Normant. Her grace is
+not here this evening. I have just seen M. de Lucenay, her husband, who,
+it seems, left Paris five months ago, with the expressed intention of
+travelling in the East during the next year or two, but has unexpectedly
+returned within the last day or two."
+
+It may be recollected that, during Rodolph's visit to the Rue du Temple,
+he picked up, on the landing-place adjoining the door of the charlatan
+dentist's apartments, a cambric handkerchief, richly embroidered and
+trimmed with costly lace, and bearing in the corner a ducal coronet with
+the initials "N. L." It will also be borne in mind that this elegant
+indication of high rank was wetted with the bitter tears of its noble
+owner. In pursuance of his instructions, but in total ignorance of the
+circumstances suggesting them, M. de Grauen had inquired the name of
+every duchess then in Paris, and gleaned the information now repeated to
+Rodolph, and which the latter perfectly comprehended. He had no reason
+for interesting himself in the fate of Madame de Lucenay; but he could
+not reflect without a shudder that, if it were really she who visited
+the pretended doctor (but who, he felt assured, was no other than the
+infamous Polidori), this wretch, having possessed himself of her real
+name and address through the agency of Tortillard, might make a fearful
+use of a secret which placed the duchess so completely in his power.
+
+"Chance is a strange thing, my lord, is it not?" resumed M. de Grauen.
+
+"It is; but how does it apply to the present case?"
+
+"Why, at the very instant that M. de Grangeneuve was giving me these
+facts concerning M. and Madame de Lucenay, and was adding, rather
+ill-naturedly, that the unlooked-for return of the duke must have proved
+particularly disagreeable, not only to the duchess but to the Viscount
+de Saint-Remy, one of the most elegant and fashionable men in Paris, his
+excellency the ambassador came up and inquired whether your royal
+highness would permit him to present the viscount to you, as, having
+just been appointed on the legation to Gerolstein, he would be happy to
+avail himself of the present opportunity of paying his court to your
+highness."
+
+An expression of impatience escaped Rodolph, who exclaimed:
+
+"Nothing could have been less agreeable to me. However, it is impossible
+to refuse. Let the count know, therefore, that I am ready to receive M.
+de Saint-Remy."
+
+Rodolph knew too well how to support his princely dignity to allow his
+feelings to interfere with the courtesy and affability required on the
+present occasion; added to which, the world gave M. de Saint-Remy as a
+favoured lover to the Duchess de Lucenay, and this circumstance greatly
+excited the curiosity of Rodolph.
+
+The Viscount de Saint-Remy, conducted by the Count de ----, now
+approached. He was an exceedingly handsome young man, of about
+twenty-five years of age, tall and slender, with the most _distingue_
+air and prepossessing physiognomy; his olive complexion had that rich,
+soft glow of amber cast over its transparent surface, so remarkable in
+the paintings of Murillo; his glossy black hair, parted over his left
+temple, was worn smooth over his forehead, and fell in light and easy
+curls down the sides of his face, almost concealing the pale,
+well-shaped ear. The deep, dark eyelash contrasted well with the clear
+eye it shaded, the crystal of which was tinged with that blue cast which
+bestows so much and such charming expression to the Indian eye. By a
+singular caprice of nature, the thick, silky moustache which graced his
+lip was the only ornament of a similar description visible on his
+countenance, the chin and cheeks being smooth as those of a young
+maiden. Perhaps it might be vanity which dictated the narrow black satin
+cravat placed so low as to reveal the perfect contour of a throat which,
+for whiteness and symmetrical roundness, might have furnished a model
+for the artist's studio. The long ends of his cravat were confined by a
+single pearl, inestimable for its size, the beauty of its shape, and the
+splendour of its colour,--so vivid, that an opal could scarcely have
+rivalled its continued prismatic changes. The perfect taste, and
+exquisite style of M. de Saint-Remy harmonised well with the magnificent
+simplicity of this jewel.
+
+Once seen, the face and figure of M. de Saint-Remy was never forgotten,
+so entirely did it differ from the usual style of _elegants_. He spared
+no expense in procuring the most faultless turnout, and his carriages
+and horses were everywhere cited as models of taste and correct
+judgment. He played high, but skilfully; while the annual amount of his
+betting-book was never less than from two to three thousand louis. The
+costly elegance of his mansion, in the Rue de Chaillot, was everywhere
+spoken of and admired. There he gave the most exquisite dinner-parties.
+The highest play followed, and the hospitable host would lose large and
+heavy sums with the most perfect indifference, though it was known that
+his fortune had been dissipated long ago. All the viscount's property
+had been derived from his mother; while his father lived in utter
+seclusion in the wilds of Anjou, upon an income of the most slender
+description.
+
+By way of accounting for the unbounded expenditure of M. de Saint-Remy,
+many among the envious or ill-natured referred, as Sarah had done, to
+the large fortune of the Duchess de Lucenay; but they forgot that,
+setting aside the infamy of the idea, M. de Lucenay would naturally
+direct the disposal of his wife's property, and that M. de Saint-Remy's
+annual expenses were at least two hundred thousand francs. Suspicions
+were entertained of his being deeply indebted to imprudent
+money-lenders; for Saint-Remy had no further inheritance to look forward
+to. Others, again, spoke of his great successes on the turf, and hinted,
+in an undertone, dark stories of training-grounds, and jockeys bribed by
+him to make the horses against which he had betted largely lose; but by
+far the greater number of the crowd by which Saint-Remy was surrounded
+was content to eat his dinners, and occasionally to win his rouleaux,
+without troubling themselves with conjectures as to how the one was
+provided, and where the other came from.
+
+By birth and education he was fully entitled to the rank he occupied in
+the fashionable world; he was lively, witty, brave, a most amusing
+companion, obliging and complaisant to the wishes of others; he gave
+first-rate bachelor dinners, and afterwards took every bet that was
+offered him. What more was required to secure his popularity? He was an
+universal favourite with the fair sex, and could boast the most unvaried
+success in all his love affairs; he was young, handsome, gallant, and
+unsparingly munificent upon all occasions where opportunities occurred
+of marking his devotion towards the high-bred females with whom he
+associated in the _grande monde_; in a word, thanks to the general
+infatuation he excited, the air of mystery thrown over the source of the
+Pactolus from which he derived his golden supplies rather embellished
+him with a certain mysterious charm, which seemed but to add to his
+attractions. Sometimes it would be said, with a careless smile, "What a
+fellow that Saint-Remy is: he must have discovered the philosopher's
+stone to be able to go the pace he does." And when it was known that he
+had caused himself to be attached to the legation of France to the court
+of Gerolstein, there were not wanting voices to assert that it was a
+"devilish good way of making an honourable retreat." Such was M. de
+Saint-Remy.
+
+"Allow me," said the Count de ----, presenting M. de Saint-Remy, "to
+introduce to your royal highness the Viscount de Saint-Remy, attached to
+the embassy of Gerolstein."
+
+The viscount bowed profoundly, saying:
+
+"May I trust your royal highness will deign to pardon my impatience in
+requesting the honour of this introduction during the present evening? I
+am, perhaps, unduly hasty in my wishes to secure a gratification I have
+so long aspired to."
+
+"It will give me much pleasure, my lord, to welcome you to Gerolstein.
+Do you propose going thither immediately?"
+
+"Your royal highness being in Paris diminishes very materially my desire
+to do so."
+
+"I fear the peaceful contrast of our German courts will scarcely assort
+with a life of Parisian fashion, such as you have always been accustomed
+to."
+
+"Permit me to assure your royal highness that the gracious kindness you
+have now shown me, and which it shall be my study to merit a continuance
+of in Gerolstein, would of itself far outweigh any attractions Paris
+may have had for me."
+
+"It will not be my fault, my lord, should you see cause to alter your
+sentiments when at Gerolstein."
+
+A slight inclination of Rodolph's head announced that the presentation
+was concluded, upon which the viscount bowed and retired. The prince, a
+practised physiognomist, was subject to involuntary likes and dislikes
+upon the first interview with an individual, and these impulses were in
+his case almost invariably borne out by after-circumstances. His first
+sensation after the exchange of the very few words we have related
+between himself and Saint-Remy was an unaccountable feeling of
+repugnance and aversion for the gay and fascinating young man; to his
+eye, the handsome features wore a sinister look, and danger seemed to
+lurk even in his honeyed words and smooth, polished manner.
+
+We shall hereafter meet M. de Saint-Remy under circumstances differing
+widely and fearfully from the splendour of the position he occupied at
+his first interview with Rodolph. It will then be seen how far these
+presentiments were ill or well founded.
+
+The presentation over, Rodolph, in deep meditation upon the singular
+rencontres effected by the hand of chance, bent his steps towards the
+winter garden. It was now the hour of supper, and the rooms were nearly
+deserted. The most retired spot in the hothouse was at the end of a
+clump of trees placed against the corner of a wall, and an enormous
+banana, covered with climbing plants, effectually concealed a small side
+door, masked by the trellis, and conducting to the banquetting-hall by a
+long corridor. This door, which was scarcely a yard distant from the
+tree above mentioned, had been left temporarily ajar. Sheltered by this
+verdant screen, Rodolph seated himself, and was soon lost in a profound
+reverie, when the sound of a well-known voice, pronouncing his name,
+made Rodolph start. It was Sarah, who, seated with her brother Tom on
+the other side of the clump of trees which effectually hid Rodolph from
+their view, was conversing with him in the English language. The prince
+listened attentively, and the following dialogue ensued:
+
+"The marquise has just gone to show herself for a few minutes at Baron
+de Nerval's ball," said Sarah; "she has luckily quitted this place
+without once having an opportunity of exchanging a word with Rodolph,
+who has been looking everywhere for her. I still dread the influence he
+possesses over her, even unknown to herself,--an influence it has cost
+me so much labour and difficulty to combat, and partly to destroy.
+However, to-morrow will rid me of any further fears of a rival who, if
+not effectually destroyed, might so powerfully derange and overthrow my
+plans. Listen to me, brother, for it is of serious matters I would speak
+to you. To-morrow witnesses the eternal ruin of my hated rival."
+
+"You are mistaken, Sarah," answered Tom's well-remembered voice;
+"Rodolph never loved the marquise; of that I am certain; your jealous
+fears mislead you."
+
+"It is time," returned Sarah, "that I enlightened you on this subject.
+Many things occurred during your last journey, and as it is necessary to
+take decisive steps even earlier than I had expected,--nay, this very
+night,--so soon as we quit this place, it becomes indispensably
+necessary we should take serious counsel together. Happily we are now
+quite alone, for the gay butterflies of the night have found fresh
+attraction around the supper-tables. Now, then, brother, give your close
+and undivided attention to what I am about to say."
+
+"Proceed, I am all impatience."
+
+"Well, before Clemence d'Harville met Rodolph, I feel assured the
+passion of love was wholly unknown to her, for what reason I have never
+been able to discover. She entertains the most invincible repugnance and
+aversion towards her husband, who perfectly adores her. There is some
+deep mystery in this part of the business I have never succeeded in
+fathoming. A thousand new and delightful emotions sprang up in the
+breast of Clemence after she became acquainted with Rodolph; but I
+stifled her growing love by the most frightful disclosures, or rather
+ingeniously invented calumnies, concerning the prince. Still, the void
+in her heart required an object to fill it, and chance having thrown M.
+Charles Robert in her way during a morning call she was making at my
+house, she appeared struck with his appearance, much after the manner in
+which we are attracted by a fine picture. Unfortunately, however, this
+man is as silly as he is handsome, though he certainly has a very
+prepossessing _tout ensemble_. I praised him enthusiastically to Madame
+d'Harville, exalted the nobleness of his sentiments, the elevation of
+his mind, and, as I knew her weak side, I worked upon her sympathy and
+pity, by representing him as loaded with every trouble and affliction
+unrelenting fate could heap upon a devoted but most innocent head. I
+directed M. Robert to assume a melancholy and sentimental air; to utter
+only deep sighs, and to preserve a gloomy and unbroken silence in the
+presence of Madame d'Harville. He carefully pursued the path marked out
+by me, and, thanks to his vocal skill, his fine person and the constant
+expression of silent suffering, so far engaged the interest of Madame
+d'Harville, that, ere long, she transferred to my handsome friend the
+warm and sympathising regard Rodolph had first awakened. Do you
+comprehend me thus far?"
+
+"Perfectly; proceed."
+
+"Madame d'Harville and Robert met only upon terms of intimacy at my
+house; to draw them more effectually together I projected devoting three
+mornings in the week to music, and my mournful ally sighed softly as the
+breath of evening while turning over the leaves of the music, ventured
+to utter a few impassioned words, and even to slip two or three billets
+among the pieces he copied out for the marquise to practise at home. I
+own I was more fearful of his epistolary efforts than even his powers of
+speech; but a woman always looks indulgently upon the first declaration
+of love she receives; so far, therefore, the written nonsense of my
+silly pupil did no harm, for, in obedience to my advice, his _billets
+doux_ were very laconic. The great point was to obtain a rendezvous, and
+this was no easy matter, for Clemence's principles were stronger than
+her love; or, rather, her passion was not sufficiently deep to induce
+her to sacrifice those principles. Unknown, even to herself, the image
+of Rodolph still filled her heart, and seemed in a manner to preserve
+her from yielding to her weak fancy for M. Charles Robert,--a fancy, as
+I well knew, far more imaginary than real; but, led on by my continual
+and exaggerated praises of this brainless Apollo, whom I persisted in
+describing as suffering under the daily increase of every imaginary evil
+I could invent, Clemence, vanquished by the deep despair of her dejected
+adorer, consented one day, more from pity than love, to grant him the
+rendezvous so long desired."
+
+"Did she, then, make you her confidant?"
+
+"She confessed to me her regard for M. Charles Robert,--nothing more;
+neither did I seek to learn more; it would have annoyed and vexed her.
+But, as for him, boiling over with love, or, rather, intoxicated with
+pride, he came voluntarily to impart his good fortune, without, however,
+entrusting me either with the time or place of the intended meeting."
+
+"How, then, did you know it?"
+
+"Why, Karl, by my order, hovered about the door of M. Robert during the
+following day from an early hour; nothing, however, transpired till the
+next day, when our love-stricken youth proceeded in a _fiacre_ to an
+obscure part of the town, and finally alighted before a mean-looking
+house in the Rue du Temple; there he remained for an hour and a half,
+when he came out and walked away. Karl waited a long while to see
+whether any person followed M. Charles Robert out of the house; but no
+one came. The marquise had evidently failed in her appointment. This was
+confirmed to me on the morrow, when the lover came to pour out all his
+rage and disappointment. I advised him to assume even an increase of
+wretchedness and despair. The plan succeeded; the pity of Clemence was
+again excited; a fresh assignation was wrung from her, but which she
+failed to keep equally with the former; the third and last rendezvous,
+however, produced more decided effects, Madame d'Harville positively
+going as far as the door of the house I have specified as the appointed
+place; then, repenting so rash a step, returned home without having even
+quitted the humble _fiacre_ in which she rode. You may judge by all
+these capricious changes of purpose how this woman struggles to be free.
+And wherefore? Why, because (and hence arises my bitter, deadly hatred
+to Clemence d'Harville) because the recollection of Rodolph still
+lingers in her heart, and, with pertinacious love she shrinks from aught
+that she fancies breathes of preference for another; thus shielding
+herself from harm or danger beneath his worshipped image. Now this very
+night the marquise has made a fresh assignation with M. Charles Robert
+for to-morrow, and this time I doubt not her punctuality; the Duke de
+Lucenay has so grossly ridiculed this young man that, carried away by
+pity for the humiliation of her admirer, the marquise has granted that
+to compassion he would not else have obtained. But this time, I feel
+persuaded she will keep her word, and be punctual to the appointed time
+and hour."
+
+"And how do you propose to act?"
+
+"M. Charles Robert is so perfectly unable to comprehend the delicacy of
+feeling which this evening dictated the marquise's resolution of meeting
+him, that he is safe to rush with vulgar eagerness to the rendezvous,
+and this will effectually ruin his plans, for pity alone has instigated
+Clemence to take this compromising step. No love,--no infatuation has
+hurried her into a measure so fatal to her future resolution. I know
+every turn of her mind; and I am confident she will keep her appointment
+solely from a courageous idea of generous devotion, but with a firm
+resolve not for one instant to forget her duties as a wife and mother.
+Now the coarse, vulgar mind of M. Charles Robert is sure to take the
+fullest advantage of the marquise's concession in his favour. Clemence
+will detest him from that instant; and the illusion once destroyed which
+has bound herself and Charles Robert in bonds of imaginary sympathy, she
+will fall again beneath the influence of her love for Rodolph, which I
+am certain still nestles in her heart."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well! I would have her for ever lost to Rodolph, whose high sense of
+honour and deep friendship for M. d'Harville I feel perfectly sure would
+not have proved equal to preventing his returning the love of Clemence;
+but I will so manage things that he shall henceforward look upon her
+with loathing and disgust, as the guilty partner in a crime committed
+without his participation. No, no! I know my man. He might pardon the
+offence, but never the being excluded from his share in it."
+
+"Then do you propose apprising the husband of all that is going on, so
+that the prince should learn the disgraceful circumstances from the
+publicity the affair would obtain?"
+
+"I do. And the thing is so much the easier to accomplish as, from what
+fell from Clemence to-night, I can learn that the marquis has vague and
+undefined suspicions, without knowing on whom to fix them. It is now
+midnight; we shall almost directly leave the ball, I will set you down
+at the first cafe we meet with, whence you shall write M. d'Harville a
+minute account of his wife's love affair, with the projected assignation
+of to-morrow, with the time and place where it is arranged to take
+place. Oh! but I forgot, I didn't state that the place of meeting is No.
+17 Rue du Temple. And the time, to-morrow at one o'clock. The marquis is
+already jealous of Clemence; well, he will by this information surprise
+her under most suspicious circumstances; the rest follows as a matter of
+course."
+
+"But this is a most abominable mode of action," said Seyton, coldly.
+
+"What! my trusty and well-behaved brother and colleague growing
+scrupulous?" said Sarah, sarcastically. "This will never do; suppose my
+modes of action are odious,--so be it. I trample on all and every thing
+that interferes with my designs,--agreed. I do--I shall, till I have
+secured my purpose. But let me ask you, Who thought of scruples when my
+destruction was aimed at? Who thought of me or my feelings, let me ask
+you? How have I been treated?"
+
+"Say no more, sister,--say no more,--here is my hand, and you may safely
+reckon upon my firm participation in all that concerns you, even to
+writing the letter to M. d'Harville. But still I say, and repeat, such
+conduct is horrible!"
+
+"Never mind sermonising, but say, do you consent fully and entirely to
+what I wish you, or do you not? Ay, or nay?"
+
+"Since it must be so, M. d'Harville shall this night be fully instructed
+as to all his wife's proceedings,--but--what is that? I fancied I heard
+some one on the other side of this thicket,--there was a rustling of
+leaves and branches," said Seyton, interrupting himself, and speaking to
+Sarah in a low and suppressed voice.
+
+"For heaven's sake," cried Sarah, uneasily, "don't stop to talk about
+it, but quick! and examine the other side of this place!"
+
+Seyton rose,--made the tour of the clump of trees,--but saw no one.
+
+Rodolph had just disappeared by the side door, of which we have before
+spoken.
+
+"I must have made a mistake," said Seyton, returning; "there is no
+appearance of any persons but ourselves being in this place."
+
+"I thought there could not possibly be."
+
+"Now, then, Sarah, hear what I have got to say on the subject of Madame
+d'Harville, who, I feel quite satisfied, you make an object of
+unnecessary apprehension, as far as it would be possible for her to
+interfere with your schemes. The prince, moreover, has certain
+principles nothing would induce him to infringe. I am infinitely more
+alarmed, and with greater justice, too, as to what can have been his
+intentions in conducting that young girl to his farm at Bouqueval, five
+or six weeks ago. He is constant in his superintendence of her health
+and comfort; is having her well educated, and, moreover, has been
+several times to see her. Now we are altogether ignorant who she is or
+where she came from; she seems, however, to belong only to the humbler
+ranks of society; still, the exquisite style of her beauty, the fact of
+the prince having worn the disguise he did when escorting her to the
+farm, the increasing interest he seems to take in her welfare, all go to
+prove that his regard for her is of no common description. I have,
+therefore, in this affair anticipated your wishes; but to remove this
+greater, and, as I believe, more serious obstacle to our plans, the
+utmost circumspection was requisite to obtain information respecting the
+lives and habits of these mysterious occupants of the farm, and
+particularly concerning the girl herself. I have been fortunate enough
+to learn nearly sufficient to point out what is to be done the moment
+for action has arrived. A most singular chance threw that horrid old
+woman in my way, to whom, as you remember, I once gave my address,
+which she it seems has carefully preserved. Her connection with such
+persons as the robber who attacked us during our late visit to the Cite
+will powerfully assist us. All is provided for and preconsidered,--there
+can be no proof against us,--and, besides, if, as seems evident, this
+young creature belongs to the humblest class of society it is not very
+probable she will hesitate between our offers and the splendid prospect
+she may, perchance, picture to herself, for the prince, I have
+ascertained, has preserved a strict incognito towards her. But to-morrow
+shall decide the question otherwise,--we shall see,--we shall see."
+
+"And these two obstacles overcome, then, Tom, for our grand project."
+
+"There are many, and serious obstacles in the way; still, they may be
+overcome."
+
+"And would it not be a lucky chance if we should bring it to pass at the
+very moment when Rodolph would be writhing under the double misery
+occasioned by the disclosure of Madame d'Harville's conduct, and the
+disappearance of the creature for whom he chooses to evince so deep an
+interest? Would not that be an auspicious moment to persuade him that
+the daughter, whose loss he daily more and more deplores, still lives?
+And then--"
+
+"Silence, sister," interrupted Seyton, "I hear the steps of the guests
+from the supper-table, returning to resume the ball. Since you deem it
+expedient to apprise the Marquis d'Harville of the morrow's rendezvous,
+let us depart; it is past midnight."
+
+"The lateness of the hour in which the anonymous information will reach
+M. d'Harville, will but tend still more to impress him with an idea of
+its importance."
+
+And with these words Tom and Sarah quitted the splendid ball of the
+ambassadress of the court of ----.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE RENDEZVOUS.
+
+
+Determined at all risks to warn Madame d'Harville of the danger she was
+incurring, Rodolph had quitted the winter garden without waiting to hear
+the remainder of the conversation between Sarah and her brother, thus
+remaining ignorant of their designs against Fleur-de-Marie, and of the
+extreme peril which threatened the poor girl. But, spite of his earnest
+desire to apprise the marquise of the plot laid against her peace and
+honour, he was unable to carry his design into execution, for Madame
+d'Harville, unable to bear up longer after the trying events of the
+evening, had abandoned her original intention of visiting the
+entertainment given by Madame de Nerval and gone direct home.
+
+This contretemps ruined his hopes. Nearly the whole of the company
+present at the ambassadress's ball had been invited to that of Madame de
+Nerval's, and Rodolph drove rapidly thither, taking with him M. de
+Grauen, to whom he gave instructions to look for Madame d'Harville among
+the guests, and to acquaint her that the prince, having something of the
+utmost consequence to communicate to her without the least delay, would
+walk onwards to the Hotel d'Harville, and await her return home, when he
+would say a few words at the carriage-door while her servants were
+attending to the opening of the entrance-gates.
+
+After much time spent in fruitless endeavours to find Madame d'Harville,
+De Grauen was compelled to return with the account of his ill success.
+This failure made Rodolph despair of being able, now, to save the
+marquise from impending ruin; his first thought had been to warn her of
+the treachery intended, and so prevent the statement of Sarah, which he
+had no means of keeping from the hands of M. d'Harville, from obtaining
+the slightest credence. Alas! it was now too late. The infamous epistle
+dictated by the Countess Macgregor had reached the Marquis d'Harville
+shortly after midnight on the night in question.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was morning; and M. d'Harville continued slowly to pace his
+sleeping-apartment, the bed of which gave no indication of having been
+used during the night, though the silken counterpane hung in fragments,
+evidently proving that some powerful and devastating storm had possessed
+the mind of its owner.
+
+The chamber in question was furnished with elegant simplicity, its only
+ornaments consisting of a stand of modern arms and a range of shelves
+furnished with a well-chosen collection of books. Yet a sudden frenzy,
+or the hand of ungovernable rage, had reduced the quiet elegance which
+ordinarily reigned to a scene of frantic disorder. Chairs, tables,
+broken and overset; the carpet strewed with fragments of the crystal
+lamp kept burning through the night; the wax-lights and gilded
+chandelier which had contained them, lying around, gave manifest
+evidence of a fearful scene.
+
+M. d'Harville was about thirty years of age, with a fine, manly
+countenance, whose usual expression was mild and prepossessing, but now
+contracted, haggard, and livid. He had not changed his dress since the
+preceding evening; his throat was bare, his waistcoat thrown open, and
+on the torn and rumpled cambric of his shirt-front were drops of blood.
+His rich, dark hair, which generally fell in curls around his face, now
+hung in tangled wildness over his pale countenance. Wholly buried in
+the misery of his own thoughts, with folded arms, drooping head, and
+fixed, bloodshot eyes, M. d'Harville continued to pace his chamber;
+then, stopping opposite his fireplace, in which, spite of the almost
+unendurable severity of the frost of the past night, the fire had been
+allowed to expire, he took from the marble mantelpiece the following
+brief note, which he continued to read over and over with the most eager
+attention by the wan, pale light of the cold glimmer of an early winter
+morning:
+
+      "To-morrow, at one o'clock, your wife has appointed to meet
+    her favoured lover. Go to the Rue du Temple, No. 17, and you
+    will obtain every requisite confirmation of this intelligence.
+
+                                     "FROM ONE WHO PITIES YOU."
+
+Whilst reading these words, perused, with such deep anguish and sickness
+of heart, so many times through the long midnight hours, the blue, cold
+lips of M. d'Harville appeared convulsively to spell each syllable of
+this fatal _billet_.
+
+At this moment the chamber door opened and a servant entered; the man
+who now made his appearance was old, even gray-headed, but the
+expression of his countenance was frank and honest. The noise of the man
+entering disturbed not the marquis from his bitter contemplations; he
+merely turned his head without altering his position, but still grasped
+the letter in his clenched hands.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired he, sternly, of the servant.
+
+The man, instead of answering, continued to gaze with an air of painful
+surprise at the disordered state of the room; then, regarding his master
+more attentively, exclaimed:
+
+"Blood on your clothes! My lord, my lord! How is this? You have hurt
+yourself,--and all alone, too; why, my lord, did you not summon me, as
+of old, when these attacks came on?"
+
+"Begone!"
+
+"I entreat your lordship's pardon, but your fire is out,--the cold is
+intense,--indeed, I must remind your lordship that after your
+late--your--"
+
+"Will you be silent? Leave me I say!"
+
+"Pray do not be angry, my lord," replied the trembling valet; "but, if
+your lordship pleases to recollect, you appointed M. Doublet to be here
+to-day at half past ten, and he is now waiting with the notary."
+
+"Quite proper," said the marquis, with a bitter smile; "when a man is
+rich he ought, he should look carefully to his affairs. Fortune is a
+fine thing,--a very fine thing; or would be if it could but purchase
+happiness." Then, resuming a cold and collected manner, he added:
+
+"Show M. Doublet into my study."
+
+"I have done so, my lord marquis."
+
+"Then give me my clothes,--quick, I am in haste; I shall be going out
+shortly. I--"
+
+"But if your lordship would only--"
+
+"Do as I desire you, Joseph," said M. d'Harville, in a more gentle tone;
+then added, "Is your lady stirring yet?"
+
+"I have not yet heard her ladyship's bell, my lord marquis."
+
+"Let me know when she rings."
+
+"I will, my lord."
+
+"Heaven and earth, man, how slow you are!" exclaimed M. d'Harville,
+whose raging thoughts almost chafed him into madness; "summon Philip to
+assist you; you will keep me all day."
+
+"My lord, please to allow me to set matters a little straight first,"
+replied Joseph, sorrowfully; "I would much rather no one but myself
+witnessed the state of your chamber, or they would wonder, and talk
+about it, because they could not understand what had taken place during
+the night, my lord."
+
+"And if they were to find out, it would be a most shocking
+affair,--would it not?" asked M. d'Harville, in a tone of gloomy irony.
+
+"Thank God, my lord, not a soul in the house has the least suspicion of
+it!"
+
+"No one suspects it," repeated M. d'Harville, despondingly; "no
+one,--that's well, for her at least; well, let us hope to keep the
+secret."
+
+And, while Joseph was occupying himself in repairing the havoc in his
+master's apartment, D'Harville walked up to the stage of arms we before
+mentioned, examined them with an expression of deep interest, then,
+turning towards Joseph, with a sinister smile, said:
+
+"I hope you have not omitted to clean the guns which are placed at the
+top of the stand,--I mean those in my hunting-case."
+
+"I had not your lordship's orders to do so," replied the astonished
+servant.
+
+"You had, sir, and have neglected them!"
+
+"I humbly assure you, my lord--"
+
+"They must be in a fine state!"
+
+"Your lordship will please to bear in mind that it is scarcely a month
+since they were regularly repaired and put in order for use by the
+gunsmith."
+
+"Never mind! As soon as I am dressed reach down my shooting-case; I will
+examine the guns myself. I may very possibly go out shooting either
+to-morrow or next day."
+
+"I will reach them down directly, my lord."
+
+The chamber being by this time replaced in its ordinary state, a second
+_valet de chambre_ was summoned to assist Joseph.
+
+His toilet concluded, M. d'Harville repaired to his study, where the
+steward (M. Doublet) and his lawyer's clerk were awaiting him.
+
+"We have brought the agreement that my lord marquis may hear it read
+over," said the bowing clerk; "my lord will then only have to sign it,
+and the affair is concluded."
+
+"Have you perused it, M. Doublet?"
+
+"I have, my lord, attentively."
+
+"In that case I will affix my signature at once."
+
+The necessary forms completed, the clerk withdrew, when M. Doublet,
+rubbing his hands, and looking triumphantly, exclaimed:
+
+"Now, then, by this last addition to your lordship's estates, your
+manorial property cannot be less than a hundred and twenty-six thousand
+francs per annum, in round numbers. And permit me to say, my lord
+marquis, that a rent-roll of a hundred and twenty-six thousand francs
+per annum is of no common occurrence nowadays."
+
+"I am a happy man, am I not, M. Doublet? A hundred and twenty-six
+thousand livres per annum! Surely the man owning such an income must be
+blessed indeed,--sorrow or care cannot reach him through so golden a
+shield!"
+
+"And that is wholly independent of my lord's funded property, amounting
+at least to two millions more; or reckoning--"
+
+"Exactly; I know what you would say; without reckoning my other
+blessings and comforts."
+
+"Why, heaven be praised, your lordship is as rich in all earthly
+blessings as in revenue. Not a precious gift but it has been largely
+bestowed upon you; ay, and such as even money will not buy: youth,
+uninterrupted health, the power of enjoying every happiness, amongst
+which, or, rather, at the head of which," said M. Doublet, gracefully
+smiling, and gallantly bowing, "place that of being the husband of so
+sweet a lady as Madame la Marquise, and the parent of a lovely little
+girl, who might be mistaken for a cherubim."
+
+M. d'Harville cast a look of gloomy mistrust on the poor steward; who,
+revelling in his own ecstasy at seeing the princely rent-roll committed
+to his charge, exceeding all others in magnificent amount, was far from
+perceiving the scowling brow of his master, thus congratulated on being
+the happiest man alive, when, to his own view, a verier wretch, or more
+complete bankrupt in happiness existed not. Striking M. Doublet
+familiarly on the shoulder, and breaking into a wild, ironical laugh, M.
+d'Harville rejoined:
+
+"Then you think that with an income of two hundred and sixty thousand
+livres, a wife like mine, and a daughter resembling a cherubim, a man
+has nothing more to wish for?"
+
+"Nay, my lord," replied the steward, with honest zeal, "you have still
+to wish for the blessing of lengthened days, that you may be spared to
+see mademoiselle married as happily as yourself. Ah, my lord, I may not
+hope to see it, but I should be thankful to witness you and my honoured
+lady surrounded by your grandchildren,--ay, and great-grandchildren
+too,--why not?"
+
+"Excellent, M. Doublet! A regular Baucis and Philemon idea. You have
+always a capital illustration to your ideas."
+
+"You are too good to me, my lord. Has your lordship any further orders
+for me?"
+
+"None. Stay, though; what cash have you in hand?"
+
+"Twenty-nine thousand three hundred and odd francs for current expenses,
+my lord marquis; but there is a heavy sum at the bank belonging to this
+quarter's income."
+
+"Well, bring me twenty thousand francs in gold, and, should I have gone
+out, give them to Joseph for me."
+
+"Does your lordship wish for them this morning?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Within an hour the gold shall be here. You have nothing else to say to
+me, my lord?"
+
+"No, M. Doublet."
+
+"A hundred and twenty-six thousand francs per annum, wholly
+unincumbered," repeated the steward, as he was about to quit the room;
+"this is a glorious day for me to see; I almost feared at one time that
+we should not secure this desirable property. Your lordship's most
+humble servant, I take my leave."
+
+"Good morning, M. Doublet."
+
+As the door closed upon the steward, M. d'Harville, overcome with the
+mental agony he had repressed thus far, threw himself into an armchair,
+leaned his elbows on the desk before which he sat, and covering his face
+with his hands, for the first time since receiving the fatal _billet_,
+gave vent to a flood of hot, burning tears.
+
+"Cruel mockery of fate!" cried he, at length, "to have made me rich, but
+to have given me only shame and dishonour to place within the gilded
+frame: the perjury of Clemence, the disgrace which will descend upon my
+innocent child. Can I suffer this? Or shall I for the sake of her
+unoffending offspring spare the guilty mother from the opprobrium of an
+exposure?" Then rising suddenly from his seat, with sparkling eyes and
+clenched teeth he cried, in a deep, determined voice, "No, no! Blood,
+blood! The fearful protection from laughter and derision. Ah, full well
+I can now comprehend her coldness, her antipathy, wretched, wretched
+woman!" Then, stopping all at once, as though melted by some tender
+recollection, he resumed, in a hoarse tone, "Aversion! Alas! too well I
+know its cause. I inspire her with loathing, with disgust!" Then, after
+a lengthened silence, he cried, in a voice broken by sighs, "Yet, was it
+my fault or my misfortune? Should she have wronged me thus for a
+calamity beyond my power to avert? Surely I am a more fitting object for
+her pity than scorn and hatred." Again rekindling into his excited
+feelings, he reiterated, "Nothing but blood--the blood of both--can wash
+out this guilty stain! Doubtless he, the favoured lover, has been
+informed why she flies her husband's arms."
+
+This latter thought redoubled the fury of the marquis. He elevated his
+tightly compressed hands towards heaven, as though invoking its
+vengeance; then, passing his burning fingers over his eyes as he
+recollected the necessity that existed for concealing his emotion from
+the servants of his establishment, he returned to his sleeping-apartment
+with an appearance of perfect tranquillity. There he found Joseph.
+
+"Well, in what state are the guns?"
+
+"In perfect order. Please to examine them, my lord."
+
+"I came for the purpose of so doing. Has your lady yet rung?"
+
+"I do not know, my lord."
+
+"Then inquire."
+
+Directly the servant had quitted the room, M. d'Harville hastily took
+from the gun-case a small powder-flask, some balls and caps; then,
+locking the case, put the key in his pocket. Then going to the stand of
+arms, he took from it a pair of moderate-sized Manton's pistols, loaded
+them, and placed them without difficulty in the pockets of his morning
+wrapper. Joseph returned with the intimation that Madame d'Harville was
+in her dressing-room.
+
+"Has your lady ordered her carriage?"
+
+"My lord, I heard Mlle. Juliette say to the head-coachman, when he came
+to inquire her ladyship's orders for the day, that, 'as it was cold, dry
+walking, if her ladyship went out at all, she would prefer going on
+foot.'"
+
+"Very well. Stay,--I forgot. I shall not go out hunting before
+to-morrow, or probably, next day. Desire Williams to look the small
+travelling-britcska carefully over. Do you understand?"
+
+"Perfectly, my lord; it shall be attended to. Will not your lordship
+require a stick?"
+
+"No. Pray tell me, is there not a hackney coach-stand near here?"
+
+"Quite close, my lord,--in the Rue de Lille."
+
+After a moment's hesitation, the marquis continued: "Go and inquire of
+Mlle. Juliette whether Madame d'Harville can see me for a few minutes."
+Joseph obeyed.
+
+"Yes," murmured the marquis, "I will see the cause of all my misery,--my
+disgrace. I will contemplate the guilty mask beneath which the impure
+heart conceals its adulterous designs. I will listen to the false lips
+that speak the words of innocence, while deep dishonour lurks in the
+candid smile,--a smile that seemed to me as that of an angel. Yet 'tis
+an appalling spectacle to watch the words, the looks, of one who,
+breathing only the sentiments of a chaste wife and mother, is about to
+sully your name with one of those deep, deadly stains which can only be
+washed out in blood. Fool that I am to give her the chance of again
+bewildering my senses! She will look at me with her accustomed sweetness
+and candour; greet me (all guilty as she is) with the same pure smile
+she bestows upon her child, as, kneeling at her lap, it lisps its early
+prayer. That look,--those eyes, mirrors of the soul,--the more modest
+and pure the glance" (D'Harville shuddered with contempt) "the greater
+must be the innate corruption and falsehood! Alas! she has proved
+herself a consummate dissembler; and I--I--have been the veriest dupe!
+Only let me consider with what sentiments must that woman look upon me,
+if just previous to her meeting with her favoured lover I pay her my
+accustomed visit, and express my usual devotion and love for her,--the
+young, the virtuous wife, the tender, sensible, and devoted mother, as
+until this wretched moment I would have died to prove her. Can I, dare
+I, trust myself in her presence, with the knowledge of her being but too
+impatient for the arrival of that blessed hour which conveys her to her
+guilty rendezvous and infamous paramour? Oh, Clemence, Clemence, you in
+whom all my hopes and fondest affections were placed, is this a just
+return? No! no! no!" again repeated M. d'Harville, with rapidly
+returning excitement. "False, treacherous woman! I will not see you! I
+will not trust my ears to your feigned words! Nor you, my child. At the
+sight of your innocent countenance I should unman myself, and compromise
+my just revenge."
+
+Quitting his apartment, M. d'Harville, instead of repairing to those of
+the marquise, contented himself with leaving a message for her through
+Mlle. Juliette, to the effect that he wished a short conversation with
+Madame d'Harville, but that being obliged to go out just then, he should
+be glad, if it assorted with Madame la Marquise's perfect convenience,
+to breakfast with her at twelve o'clock.
+
+"And so," said the unhappy M. d'Harville, "fancying that after twelve
+o'clock I shall be safe at home, she will consider herself more at
+liberty to follow out her own plans."
+
+He then repaired to the coach-stand contiguous to his mansion, and
+summoned a vehicle from the ranks.
+
+"Now, coachee," said he, affecting to disguise his rank, "what's
+o'clock?"
+
+"All right, master," said the man, drawing up to the side of the
+footway, "where am I to drive to? Let's have a right understanding, and
+a look at the clock. Why, it's as close on half-after eleven as may be."
+
+"Now, then, drive to the corner of the Rue St. Dominique, and wait at
+the end of the garden wall which runs along there; do you understand?"
+
+"Yes, yes,--I know."
+
+M. d'Harville then drew down the blinds of the _fiacre_; the coachman
+drove on, and soon arrived opposite the Hotel d'Harville, from which
+point of observation it was impossible for any person to enter or quit
+the house without the marquis having a full view of them. One o'clock
+was the hour fixed in the note; and with his eyes riveted on the
+entrance-gates of the mansion, the marquis waited in painful suspense,
+absorbed in a whirl of fearful thoughts and maddening conjectures. Time
+stole on imperceptibly; twelve o'clock reverberated from the dome of St.
+Thomas Aquinas, when the door opened slowly at the Hotel d'Harville, and
+Madame d'Harville herself came timidly forth.
+
+"Already?" exclaimed the unhappy husband; "how punctual she is! She
+fears to keep him waiting," cried the marquis, with a mixture of irony
+and savage rage.
+
+The cold was excessive; the pavement hard and dry. Clemence was dressed
+in a black velvet bonnet, covered with a veil of the same colour, and a
+thickly wadded pelisse of dark ruby satin, a large shawl of dark blue
+cashmere fell to the very hem of her pelisse, which she lightly and
+gracefully held up while crossing the street. Thanks to this movement,
+the taper foot and graceful ankle of Madame d'Harville, cased in an
+exquisitely fitting boot of black satin, were exposed to view.
+
+It was strange, that amid the painful and bewildering ideas that crowded
+the brain of D'Harville, he should have found one thought to waste upon
+the beauty of his wife's foot; but so it was; and at the moment that was
+about to separate them for ever, to his eager gaze that fairy foot and
+well-turned ankle had never looked so charming; and then, as by a rapid
+train of thought he recalled the matchless loveliness of his wife, and,
+as he had ever believed till now, her purity, her mental graces, he
+groaned aloud as he remembered that another was preferred to him, and
+that the light figure that glided on before his fixed gaze, was but the
+hollow spectre of fallen goodness, a lost, degraded creature, hastening
+to steep her husband and infant in irremediable disgrace, for the
+indulging of a base and guilty passion. Even in that wretched moment he
+felt how dearly, how exclusively he had loved her; and for the first
+time during the blow which had fallen on him, he knew that he mourned
+the lovely woman almost equally with the virtuous mother and chaste
+wife. A cry of rage and mingled fury escaped him, as he pictured the
+rapture of her meeting with the lover of her choice; and a sharp,
+darting pain quivered through his heart as he remembered that Clemence,
+with all her youth and beauty, her countless charms, both of body and
+mind, was lost to him for ever.
+
+Hitherto his passionate grief had been unmixed by any alloy of self. He
+had bewailed the sanctity of the marriage-vow trampled under foot, the
+abandonment of all sworn and sacred duties; but his sufferings of rage,
+jealousy, and regret almost overpowered him, and with much difficulty
+was he able to command his voice sufficiently to say to the coachman,
+while partially drawing up the blind:
+
+"Do you see that lady in the blue shawl and black bonnet walking along
+by the wall?"
+
+"Yes, yes! I see her safe enough."
+
+"Well, then, go slowly along, and keep up with her. Should she go to the
+coach-stand I had you from, pull up; and when she has got into a
+_fiacre_, follow it wherever it goes."
+
+"All right,--I understand! Now this is what I call a good joke!"
+
+M. d'Harville had conjectured rightly. Madame d'Harville repaired
+directly to the coach-stand, and beckoning a _fiacre_ off the stand,
+instantly got in, and drove off, closely followed by the vehicle
+containing her husband.
+
+They had proceeded but a very short distance, when the coachman took the
+road to the church of St. Thomas Aquinas, and, to the surprise of M.
+d'Harville, pulled up directly in front.
+
+"What is this for? What are you about?"
+
+"Why, master, the lady you told me to follow has just alighted here, and
+a smart, tidy leg and foot of her own she has got. Her dress somehow
+caught; so, you see, I couldn't help having a peep, nohow. This is
+downright good fun though, this is!"
+
+A thousand varied thoughts agitated M. d'Harville. One minute he fancied
+that his wife, fearing pursuit, had taken this step to escape detection;
+then hope whispered that the letter which had given him so much
+uneasiness, might after all be only an infamous calumny; for if guilty,
+what could be gained by this false assumption of piety? Would it not be
+a species of sacrilegious mockery? At this suggestion a bright ray of
+hope shot across the troubled mind of M. d'Harville, arising from the
+striking contrast between Clemence's present occupation and the crime
+alleged as her motive for quitting her home. Alas! this consolatory
+illusion was speedily destroyed. Leaning in at the open window the
+coachman observed:
+
+"I say, master, that nice little woman you are after has got back into
+her coach."
+
+"Then follow quickly."
+
+"I'm off! Now this is what I call downright good fun. Capital; hang me
+if it ain't!"
+
+The vehicle reached the Quais, the Hotel de Ville, the Rue St. Avoye,
+and, at last, Rue du Temple.
+
+"I say," said the coachman, turning round to speak to M. d'Harville from
+his seat, "master, just look. My mate, there, has stopped at No. 17; we
+are about at 13. Shall I stop here or go on to 17?"
+
+"Stop here."
+
+"I say,--look'ee,--you'll lose your pretty lady. She has gone into the
+alley leading to No. 17."
+
+"Open the door."
+
+"I'm coming, sir."
+
+And quickly following the steps of his wife, M. d'Harville entered the
+obscure passage up which she had disappeared. Madame d'Harville,
+however, had so far the start as to have entered the house previously.
+
+Attracted by the most devouring curiosity, Madame Pipelet, with her
+melancholy Alfred and her friend the oyster-woman, were huddled close
+together on the sill at the lodge door. The staircase was so dark that a
+person just emerging from the daylight into the gloom of the passage
+could not discern a single step of it; and Madame d'Harville, agitated
+and almost sinking with apprehension, found herself constrained to apply
+to Madame Pipelet for further advice how to proceed, saying, in a low,
+tremulous voice:
+
+"Which way must I turn, madame, to find the staircase of the house?"
+
+"Stop, if you please. Pray, whom do you want?"
+
+"I wish to go to the apartments of M. Charles, madame."
+
+"Monsieur who?" repeated the old woman, feigning not to have heard her,
+but in reality to afford sufficient leisure to her husband and her
+friend thoroughly to scrutinise the unhappy woman's countenance, even
+through the folds of her thick veil.
+
+"M. Charles, madame," repeated Clemence, in a low, trembling tone, and
+bending down her head, so as to escape the rude and insolent examination
+to which her features were subjected.
+
+"Ah! M. Charles; very well; you should have spoken so that one could
+hear you. Well, my pretty dear, if you want M. Charles,--and a
+good-looking fellow he is as ever won a woman's heart,--go straight on,
+and the door will stare you in the face. Eh! eh! eh!" laughed out the
+old woman, shaking her fat sides with spiteful glee, "it seems he has
+not waited for nothing this time. Success to love and love-makings, and
+a merry end to it!"
+
+The marquise, ready to sink with confusion, began slowly to grope her
+way up the dingy staircase.
+
+"I say," bawled out the old shell-fish woman, "our commandant knows what
+he is about, don't he? Leave him alone to choose a pretty girl. His marm
+is a regular swell, ain't she?"
+
+Had it not been requisite for her to run the gauntlet of the trio who
+occupied the entrance-door, Madame d'Harville, ready to sink with shame
+and terror, would gladly have retraced her steps. She made another
+effort, and at last reached the landing-place, where, to her unutterable
+consternation and surprise, she saw Rodolph waiting, impatiently, her
+arrival. Instantly flying to meet her, he hastily placed a purse in her
+hand, saying, in a hurried manner:
+
+"Your husband knows all, and is now following your very steps."
+
+At this instant, the sharp tones of Madame Pipelet were heard crying
+out, "Where are you going to, sir?"
+
+"'Tis he!" exclaimed Rodolph, and then, almost forcing Madame d'Harville
+up the second staircase, he added, in a rapid manner, "make all haste to
+the very top of the house; on the fifth floor you will find a wretched
+family, named Morel. Remember your sole business in coming hither was to
+relieve their distress."
+
+"I tell you, sir," screamed Madame Pipelet, "that unless you tell me
+your name, you shall trample over me, as they walked over our brave men
+at Waterloo, before I let you pass."
+
+Having, from the entrance to the alley, observed Madame d'Harville stop
+to speak to the porteress, the marquis had likewise prepared himself to
+pass through some sort of questioning.
+
+"I belong to the lady who just now entered," said the marquis.
+
+"Bless me!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, looking the picture of wonderment,
+"why, that, of course, is a satisfactory answer. You can pass on, if you
+please."
+
+Hearing an unusual stir, M. Charles Robert had set the door of his
+apartments ajar, and Rodolph, unwilling to be recognised by M.
+d'Harville, whose quick, searching eye might have detected him, spite of
+the murkiness of the staircase, hearing him rapidly ascending the
+stairs, just as he reached the landing-place, dashed into the chamber of
+the astonished commandant, locking the door after him. M. Charles
+Robert, magnificently attired in his _robe de chambre_ of scarlet damask
+with orange-coloured stripes, and Greek cap of embroidered velvet, was
+struck with astonishment at the unexpected appearance of Rodolph, whom
+he had not seen the preceding evening at the embassy, and who was upon
+the present occasion very plainly dressed.
+
+"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" asked he at length, assuming a
+tone of killing haughtiness.
+
+"Be silent!" replied Rodolph; and there was that in his voice and manner
+that Charles Robert obeyed, even in spite of his own determination to
+strike terror into the bold invader of his private moments.
+
+A violent and continued noise, as of some heavy substance falling from
+one stair to the other, resounded through the dull silence of the gloomy
+staircase.
+
+"Unhappy man! He has murdered her!" exclaimed Rodolph.
+
+"Murdered!" ejaculated M. Charles Robert, turning very pale; "for the
+love of Heaven, what is all this about?"
+
+But, without heeding his inquiry, Rodolph partially opened the door, and
+discovered little Tortillard half rolling, half limping, down the
+stairs, holding in his hand the red silk purse Rodolph had just given to
+Madame d'Harville. Tortillard, with another scrambling shuffle,
+disappeared at the bottom of the last flight of stairs. The light step
+of Madame d'Harville, and the heavier tread of her husband, as he
+continued his pursuit of her from one story to another, could be
+distinctly heard. Somewhat relieved of his worst fears, yet unable to
+make out by what chance the purse so recently committed to Madame
+d'Harville's hands should have been transferred to those of Tortillard,
+Rodolph said, authoritatively, to M. Robert:
+
+"Do not think of quitting your apartments for the next hour, I request!"
+
+"Upon my life and soul, that is a pretty thing to say to a gentleman in
+his own house," replied M. Robert in an impatient and wrathful tone. "I
+ask you, again, what is the meaning of all this? Who the devil are you,
+sir? And how dare you dictate to me, a gentleman?"
+
+"M. d'Harville is informed of everything,--has followed his wife to your
+very door,--and is now pursuing her to the upper part of the house."
+
+"God bless me! Here's a situation!" exclaimed Charles Robert, with an
+appearance of utter consternation. "But what is to be done? What is the
+use of her going up-stairs? And how will she manage to get down again
+unobserved?"
+
+"Remain where you are, neither speak nor move until the porteress comes
+to you," rejoined Rodolph, who hastened to give his final instructions
+to Madame Pipelet, leaving the commandant a prey to the most alarming
+apprehensions.
+
+"Well! well!" cried Madame Pipelet, her face radiant with chuckling
+exultation; "there's rare sport going on! The lady who came to visit my
+fine gentleman on the first floor has been followed by another
+gentleman, who seems rather in a passion,--the husband of that silly
+young creature, I make no doubt. Directly the truth flashed across me, I
+tells him to go straight up; for, thinks I, he'll be sure to murder our
+commandant. That'll make a deal of talk in the neighbourhood; and folks
+will come crowding to see the house, just as they did at No. 36 after
+the man was killed there. Lord! I wonder the fighting has not begun
+yet. I have been listening to hear them set to; but I can't catch the
+least sound."
+
+"My dear Madame Pipelet, will you do me a great favour?" said Rodolph,
+putting five louis into her hand. "When this lady comes down-stairs, ask
+her how she found the poor Morels. Tell her she has performed an act of
+real charity in coming to see them, according to her promise, the last
+time she called to inquire respecting them."
+
+Madame Pipelet looked first at the money and then at Rodolph, with an
+air of petrified astonishment.
+
+"What am I to do with this money?" inquired she, at length; "do you give
+it to me? Ah, I see! This handsome lady, then, does not come altogether
+for the commandant?"
+
+"The gentleman who followed her was her husband, as you justly supposed;
+but, being warned in time, the poor lady went straight on to the Morels,
+as though her only business here was to afford them succour. Now do you
+understand!"
+
+"I should think I did,--clear as noonday. 'A nod is as good as a wink,'
+as the old woman said. I know! You want me to help you cheat the
+husband? Lord bless you! I'm up to all those things,--quick as
+lightning, silent as the grave! Go along with you! I'm a regular good
+hand at keeping husbands in the dark; you might fancy I'd been used to
+it all my life. But tell me--"
+
+The huge hat of M. Pipelet was here observed sending its dark shadow
+across the floor of the lodge.
+
+"Anastasie," said Alfred, gravely, "you are like M. Cesar Bradamanti;
+you have no respect for anything or anybody. And let me tell you that
+there are subjects that should never be made the subject of a jest, even
+amongst the most familiar acquaintances."
+
+"Nonsense, my old darling. Don't stand there rolling up your eyes, and
+looking about as wise as a pig in a pound. You know well enough I was
+only joking; you know well enough that no living soul beneath the canopy
+of heaven can ever say I gave him a liberty. But that'll do; so let's
+talk of this good gentleman's business. Suppose I do go out of my usual
+way to save this young lady, I'm sure I do it solely to oblige our new
+lodger, who, for his generosity, may well deserve to be called the king
+of lodgers." Then, turning towards Rodolph, she added, "You shall see
+how cleverly I will go to work. Just hide yourself there in that corner
+behind the curtain. Quick,--quick! I hear them coming."
+
+Rodolph had scarcely time to conceal himself ere M. and Madame
+d'Harville descended the stairs. The features of the marquis shone with
+happiness, mingled with a confused and astonished expression, while the
+countenance of his wife, as she hung on his arm, looked calm but pale.
+
+"Well, my good lady," cried Madame Pipelet, going out of her lodge to
+address her, as she descended the last stair, "how did you find the poor
+creatures,--I mean the Morels? Ah, I doubt not, such a sight made your
+heart ache? God knows your charity was well bestowed! I told you the
+other day, when you called to inquire about them, what a state of
+starvation and misery they were in. Be assured, kind lady, these poor
+things are fit objects of your bounty; you will never have to regret
+coming to this out-of-the-way place to examine into their case. They
+really are deserving all your kindness,--don't you think so, Alfred?"
+
+Alfred, the strictness of whose ideas touching a due regard for all
+conjugal duties made him revolt at the thoughts of helping to deceive a
+husband, replied only by a sort of grumbling sound, as vague as
+discordant.
+
+"Please to excuse my husband, madame," resumed Madame Pipelet; "he has
+got the cramp in his stomach, and cannot speak loud enough to be
+understood, or he would tell you as well as myself that the poor people
+you have so fortunately relieved will pray of the Almighty, night and
+day, to bless and reward you, my worthy lady."
+
+M. d'Harville gazed on his wife with feelings approaching to adoration,
+as he exclaimed, "Angel of goodness, how has base slander dared to
+disturb your heavenly work!"
+
+"An angel!" repeated Madame Pipelet; "that she is, and one of the very
+best heaven could send. There is not a better."
+
+"Let us return home, I entreat!" said Madame d'Harville, who was
+suffering acutely under the restraint she had put upon herself since
+entering the house, and, now that the necessity for exertion was over,
+found her strength rapidly forsaking her.
+
+"Instantly," replied the marquis.
+
+At the instant of their emerging into the open air from the obscurity of
+the alley, M. d'Harville, observing the pale looks of his wife, said,
+tenderly:
+
+"Ah, Clemence, I have deep cause to solicit your pity and forgiveness."
+
+"Alas! my lord," said the marquise, sighing deeply, "which of us has not
+need of pardon?"
+
+Rodolph quitted his hiding-place, deeply ruminating upon so terrible a
+scene, thus intermingled with absurdity and coarseness, and pondering
+over the curious termination to a drama, the commencement of which had
+called forth such different passions.
+
+"Well, now," exclaimed Madame Pipelet, "you must say I played my part
+well. Didn't I send that donkey of a husband home with longer ears than
+he came out with? Lord bless you! he'll put his wife under a glass case,
+and worship her from this day forward. Poor, dear gentleman! I really
+could not help feeling sorry for him. Oh! but about your furniture, M.
+Rodolph; it has not come yet."
+
+"I am now going to see about it. By the by, you had better go and inform
+the commandant that he may venture out."
+
+"True; I'll go and let the caged bird out. But what stuff and nonsense
+for him to hire apartments of no more use to him than they are to the
+King of Prussia! He is a fine fellow, he is, with his paltry twelve
+francs a month. This is the fourth time he has been made a fool of."
+
+Rodolph quitted the house, and Madame Pipelet, turning to her husband,
+said, with a chuckling laugh, "Now, Alfred, the commandant's turn has
+come; now for it! I mean to have a jolly good laugh at my gentleman,--up
+and dressed for nothing."
+
+Arrived at the apartments of M. Charles Robert, the porteress rang the
+bell; the door was opened by the commandant himself.
+
+"Commandant," said Anastasie, giving him a military salute, by placing
+the back of her little fat hand against the front of her wig, "I have
+come to set you free. Your friends have gone away arm in arm, happy as
+doves, under your very nose. Well, you are out of a nice mess, thanks to
+M. Rodolph. You ought to stand something very handsome to him for all he
+has done upon the present occasion."
+
+"Then this slim individual with the moustachios is called M. Rodolph, is
+he?"
+
+"Exactly so; neither more nor less."
+
+"And who and what is the fellow?"
+
+"Fellow, indeed!" cried Madame Pipelet, in a wrathful voice; "he is as
+good as other men,--better than some I could mention. Why, he is a
+travelling clerk, but the very king of lodgers; for, though he has only
+one room, he does not haggle and beat folks down,--not he. Why, he gave
+me six francs for doing for him,--six francs, mind, I say, without a
+word. Think of that!--without ever offering me a sou less. Oh, he is a
+lodger! I wish other people were at all like him!"
+
+"There, there, that's enough; take the key."
+
+"Shall I light the fire to-morrow, commandant?"
+
+"No!"
+
+"Next day?"
+
+"No, no! Don't bother me."
+
+"I say, commandant, if you recollect, I warned you that you would have
+your trouble for your pains."
+
+M. Charles Robert threw a glance at his grinning tormentor that spoke of
+annihilation at least, and, dashing furiously by her, quitted the house,
+wondering much how a mere clerk should have become acquainted with his
+assignation with the Marquise d'Harville.
+
+As the commandant left the alley, Tortillard came hobbling along.
+
+"Well, what do you want?" said Madame Pipelet.
+
+"Has the Borgnesse been to call upon me?" asked the young scamp, without
+attending to the porteress's question.
+
+"The Chouette? No, you ugly monster! What should she come for?"
+
+"Why, to take me with her into the country, to be sure," said
+Tortillard, swinging on the lodge gate.
+
+"And what does your master say to it?"
+
+"Oh, father managed all that. He sent this morning to M. Bradamanti, to
+ask him to give me leave to go in the country,--the country,--the
+country," sang or rather screamed the amiable scion of M. Bras Rouge,
+beating time most melodiously on the window-panes.
+
+"Will you leave off, you young rascal, or are you going to break my
+window? Oh, here comes a coach!"
+
+"Oh! oh! oh!" shrieked the urchin; "it is my dear Chouette! Oh, how nice
+the ride in a coach!"
+
+And, looking through the window, they saw reflected upon the red blind
+of the opposite glass the hideous profile of the Borgnesse. She beckoned
+to Tortillard, who ran out to her. The coachman descended from his box,
+and opened the door; Tortillard sprang into the vehicle, which instantly
+drove off.
+
+Another person beside the Chouette was in the carriage. In the farther
+corner, and wrapped in an old cloak with a furred collar, his features
+shrouded by a black silk cap pulled down over his brows, sat the
+Schoolmaster. His inflamed lids formed a horrible contrast with the
+white globeless space beneath; and this fearful spectacle was rendered
+still more hideous by the action of the severe cold upon his seamed and
+frightful countenance.
+
+"Now, small boy, squat yourself down on the pins of my man; you'll serve
+to keep him warm," said the Borgnesse to Tortillard, who crouched like a
+dog close to the feet of the Schoolmaster and the Chouette.
+
+"Now, then, my coves," said the driver, "on we go to the 'ken' at
+Bouqueval, don't we, La Chouette? You shall see whether I can 'tool a
+drag' or not."
+
+"And keep your pads on the move, my fine fellow; for we must get hold of
+the girl to-night."
+
+"All right, my blind un; we'll go the pace."
+
+"Shall I give you a hint?" said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"What about?"
+
+"Why, cut it fine as you pass by the 'nabs' at the barrier; the meeting
+might lead to disagreeable recollections. It is not every old
+acquaintance it is worth while to renew our friendship with. You have
+been wanted at the barriers for some time."
+
+"I'll keep my weather-eye open," replied the driver, getting on his box.
+
+It needs scarcely be told, after this specimen of slang, that the
+coachman was a robber, one of the Schoolmaster's worthy associates. The
+vehicle then quitted the Rue du Temple.
+
+Two hours afterwards, towards the closing of a winter's day, the vehicle
+containing the Chouette, the Schoolmaster, and Tortillard, stopped
+before a wooden cross, marking out the sunken and lonely road which
+conducted to the farm at Bouqueval, where the Goualeuse remained under
+the kind protection of Madame Georges.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AN IDYL.
+
+
+The hour of five had just struck from the church clock of the little
+village of Bouqueval; the cold was intense, the sky clear, the sun,
+sinking slowly behind the vast leafless woods which crowned the heights
+of Ecouen, cast a purple hue over the horizon, and sent its faint,
+sloping rays across the extensive plains, white and hard with winter's
+frost.
+
+In the country each season has its own distinctive features, its own
+peculiar charm; at times the dazzling snow changes the whole scene into
+immense landscapes of purest alabaster, exhibiting their spotless
+beauties to the reddish gray of the sky. Then may be seen in the glimmer
+of twilight, either ascending or descending the hill, a benighted farmer
+returning to his habitation; his horse, cloak, and hat, are covered with
+the falling snow. Bitter is the cold, biting the north wind, dark and
+gloomy the approaching night; but what cares he? There, amid those
+leafless trees, he sees the bright taper burning in the window of his
+cheerful home; while from the tall chimney a column of dark smoke rolls
+upwards through the flaky shower that descends, and speaks to the
+toil-worn farmer of a blazing hearth and humble meal prepared by kind
+affection to welcome him after the fatigues of his journey. Then the
+rustic gossip by the fireside, on which the fagot burns and crackles,
+and a peaceful, comfortable night's rest, amid the whistling of the
+winds, and the barking of the various dogs at the different farms
+scattered around, with the answering cry from the distant watch-dog.
+
+Daylight opens upon a scene of fairy-land. Surely the tiny elves have
+been celebrating some grand fete, and have left some of their adornments
+behind them, for on each branch hang long spiracles of crystal,
+glittering in the rays of a winter's sun with all the prismatic
+brilliancy of the diamond. The damp, rich soil of the arable land is
+laid down in furrows, where hides the timid hare in her form, or the
+speckled partridge runs merrily. Here and there is heard the melancholy
+tinkling of the sheep-bell hanging from the neck of some important
+leader of the numerous flocks scattered over the verdant heights and
+turfy valleys of the neighbourhood; while, carefully wrapped in his dark
+gray cloak, the shepherd, seated under shelter of those knotted trunks
+and interlaced branches, chants his cheerful lay, while his fingers are
+busily employed weaving a basket of rushes.
+
+Occasionally a more animated scene presents itself; distant echo gives
+out the faint sound of the hunting-horn, and the cry of hounds; suddenly
+a frightened deer bursts from the neighbouring forest, stands for a few
+seconds in terrified alarm upon the frozen plain, then darts onward, and
+is quickly lost amid the thickets on the opposite side. The trampling of
+horses, the barking of dogs, are rapidly brought nearer by the breeze;
+and now, in their turn, a pack of dogs with brown and tawny-spotted
+skins issue from the brushwood from which the frightened deer but just
+now came; they run eagerly over the sterile ground, the fallow fields,
+with noses closely pointed to the ground they pursue with loud cries the
+traces left by the flying deer. At their heels come the hunters in their
+scarlet coats, bending over the necks of their swift steeds; they
+encourage their dogs by their voices mingled with the notes of the horn.
+Swift as lightning the brilliant cortege passes on; the noise
+decreases; by degrees all is still; dogs, horses, and huntsmen are lost
+in the tangled mazes of the forest, where the frightened stag had sought
+and found a hiding-place. Then peace and calm resumed their reign; and
+the profound stillness of these vast plains was interrupted only by the
+monotonous song of the shepherd.
+
+These sights,--these rustic views abounded in the environs of the
+village of Bouqueval, which, spite of its proximity to Paris, was
+situated in a sort of desert, to which there was no approach except by
+cross-roads. Concealed during the summer among the trees, like a nest
+amid the sheltering foliage, the farm which had become the home of the
+poor Goualeuse was now utterly bereft of its leafy screen, and entirely
+exposed to view. The course of the little river, now quite frozen over,
+resembled a long silver riband stretched along the ever verdant meadows,
+through which a number of fine cows were leisurely wending their way to
+their stable. Brought home by the approach of night, flocks of pigeons
+were successively arriving, and perching on the peaked roof of the
+dove-house; while the immense walnut-tree, that during the summer
+afforded an umbrageous screen both to the farmhouse and its numerous
+out-buildings, stripped of its rich foliage, exhibited only bare
+branches, through which could plainly be discerned the tiled roof of the
+one, and the thatched tops of the others, overgrown with patches of moss
+of mingled green and dingy brown.
+
+A heavy cart, drawn by three strong, sturdy horses, with long, thick
+manes and shining coats, with blue collars ornamented with bells and
+tassels of red worsted, was bringing in a load of wheat from a
+neighbouring rick. This ponderous machine entered the courtyard by the
+large gate, while immense flocks of sheep were pressing eagerly round
+the side entrances; both men and beasts appeared impatient to escape
+from the severity of the cold, and to enjoy the comfort of repose. The
+horses neighed joyously at the sight of their stable, the sheep bleated
+their satisfaction at returning to their warm folds, while the hungry
+labourers cast a longing look towards the kitchen windows, from which
+streamed forth pleasant promise of a warm and savoury meal.
+
+The whole of the exterior arrangements of the farm were indicative of
+the most scrupulous order, neatness, and exactitude. Instead of being
+covered with dirt and dust, scattered about, and exposed to the
+inclemency of the season, the carts, rollers, harrows, etc., with every
+agricultural implement (and some were of the last and best invention),
+were placed, well cleaned and painted, under a vast shed, where the
+carters were accustomed to arrange their cart-harness with the most
+symmetrical attention to order and method. Large, clean, and well laid
+out, the court-yard had none of those huge dung-heaps, those stagnant
+pools of filthy water, which deface the finest establishments of La
+Beauce or La Brie.
+
+The poultry-yard, surrounded by a green trellising, received and shut in
+all the feathered tribe, who after wandering in the fields all day,
+returned home by a small door left open till all were collected, when it
+was carefully closed and secured. Without dwelling too minutely upon
+every detail, we shall merely observe, that in all respects this farm
+passed most justly in the environs for a model farm, as much for the
+excellency of the method by which it was conducted, and the abundant
+crops it produced, as for the respectability and correct mode of life
+which distinguished the various labourers employed there, who were soon
+ranked among the most creditable and efficient workmen of the place.
+
+The cause of all this prosperity shall be spoken of hereafter. Meanwhile
+we will conduct the reader to the trellised gate of the poultry-yard,
+which, for the rustic elegance of its perches and poultry-houses, was
+noways inferior to the farm itself; while through the centre flowed a
+small stream of clear, limpid water, the bed of which was laid down
+with smooth pebbles, carefully cleansed from any obstructing substance.
+
+A sudden stir arose among the winged inhabitants of this charming spot;
+the fowls flew fluttering and cackling from their perches, the turkeys
+gabbled, the guinea-fowls screamed, and the pigeons, forsaking their
+elevated position on the summit of the dove-house, descended to the
+sandy surface of the yard, and stood cooing and caressing each other
+with every manifestation of joy. The arrival of Fleur-de-Marie had
+occasioned all these ecstatic delights.
+
+A more charming model than the Goualeuse could not have been desired by
+Greuze or Watteau, had her cheeks possessed a little more _rondeur_ or
+been visited by a brighter tinge; but, spite of their delicate paleness,
+the expression of her features, the _tout ensemble_ of her figure, and
+the gracefulness of her attitude would have rendered her worthy of
+exercising the crayons of even the celebrated artists we have alluded
+to.
+
+The small round cap of Fleur-de-Marie displayed her fair forehead and
+light, braided hair, in common with all the young girls in the environs
+of Paris; above this cap, but still exposing the crown and ears, she
+wore a large red cotton handkerchief, folded smoothly, and pinned behind
+her head; while the long ends waving gracefully over her shoulders
+formed a costume which, for graceful effect, might be envied by the
+tasteful _coiffeurs_ of Italy or Switzerland. A handkerchief of
+snow-white linen, crossed over her bosom, was half concealed by the high
+and spreading front of her coarse cloth apron. A jacket of blue woollen
+cloth with tight sleeves displayed her slender figure, and descended
+half way down her thick skirt of dark-striped fustian; white cotton
+stockings and tied shoes, partly covered by sabots, furnished with a
+leather strap for the instep, completed this costume of rustic
+simplicity, to which the natural grace of Fleur-de-Marie lent an
+inexpressible charm.
+
+Holding in one hand the two corners of her apron, with the other she
+distributed handfuls of grain among the winged crowd by which she was
+surrounded. One beautiful pigeon of a silvery whiteness, with beak and
+feet of a rich purple colour, more presuming or more indulged than the
+rest, after having flown several times around Fleur-de-Marie, at length
+alighted on her shoulder; the young girl, as though well used to these
+familiarities, continued, wholly undisturbed, to throw out continued
+supplies of grain; but, half turning her head till its perfect outline
+alone was visible, she gently raised her head, and smilingly offered her
+small rosy lips to meet those of her fond, caressing friend. The last
+rays of the setting sun shed a pale golden light over this innocent
+picture.
+
+While the Goualeuse was thus occupied with her rural cares, Madame
+Georges and the Abbe Laporte, cure of Bouqueval, sitting by the fireside
+in the neat little parlour of the farm, were conversing on the one
+constant theme,--Fleur-de-Marie. The old cure, with a pensive,
+thoughtful air, his head bent downwards, and his elbows leaning on his
+knees, mechanically stretched his two trembling hands before the fire.
+Madame Georges, laying aside the needlework on which she had been
+occupied, kept an anxious eye on the abbe, as though eagerly waiting for
+some observation from him. After a moment's silence:
+
+"Yes," said he, "you are right, Madame Georges; it will be better for M.
+Rodolph to question Marie, for she is so filled with deep gratitude and
+devotion to him, that she will probably reveal to him what she persists
+in concealing from us."
+
+"Then, since you agree with me, M. le Cure, I will write, this very
+evening, to the address he left with me,--the Allee des Veuves."
+
+"Poor child," sighed the kind old man, "she ought to have been so happy
+here! What secret grief can thus be preying on her mind?"
+
+[Illustration: "_At Length Alighted on Her Shoulder_"
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau]
+
+"Her unhappiness is too deeply fixed to be removed even by her earnest
+and passionate application to study."
+
+"And yet she has made a most rapid and extraordinary progress since she
+has been under our care, has she not?"
+
+"She has, indeed; already she can read and write with the utmost
+fluency, and is already sufficiently advanced in arithmetic to assist me
+in keeping my farm accounts; and then the dear child is so active and
+industrious, and really affords me so much assistance as both surprises
+me and moves me to tears. You know that, spite of my repeated
+remonstrances, she persisted in working so hard, that I became quite
+alarmed lest such toil should seriously affect her health."
+
+"I am thankful to hear from you," resumed the worthy cure, "that your
+negro doctor has fully quieted your apprehensions respecting the cough
+your young friend suffered from; he says it is merely temporary, and
+gives no reason for uneasiness."
+
+"Oh, that kind, excellent M. David! He really appeared to feel the same
+interest in the poor girl that we did who know her sad story. She is
+universally beloved and respected by all on the farm; though that is not
+surprising, as, thanks to the generous and elevated views of M. Rodolph,
+all the persons employed on it are selected for their good sense and
+excellent conduct, from all parts of the kingdom; but were it not
+so,--were they of the common herd of vulgar-minded labourers, they could
+not help feeling the influence of Marie's angelic sweetness, and timid,
+graceful manner, as though she were always deprecating anger, or
+beseeching pardon for some involuntary fault. Unfortunate being! as
+though she alone were to blame."
+
+After remaining for several minutes buried in reflection, the abbe
+resumed:
+
+"Did you not tell me that this deep dejection of Marie's might be dated
+from the time when Madame Dubreuil, who rents under the Duke de
+Lucenay, paid her a visit during the feast of the Holy Ghost?"
+
+"Yes, M. le Cure, I did. And yet Madame Dubreuil and her daughter Clara
+(a perfect model of candour and goodness) were as much taken with our
+dear child as every one else who approaches her; and both of them
+lavished on her every mark of the most affectionate regard. You know
+that we pass the Sunday alternately at each other's house; but it
+invariably happens that, when we return from our Sunday excursion to
+Arnouville, where Madame Dubreuil and her daughter reside, the
+melancholy of my dear Marie seems augmented, and her spirits more
+depressed than ever. I cannot comprehend why this should be, when Madame
+Dubreuil treats her like a second daughter, and the sweet Clara loves
+her with the tender affection of a sister."
+
+"In truth, Madame Georges, it is a fearful mystery; what can occasion
+all this hidden sorrow, when here she need not have a single care? The
+difference between her present and past life must be as great as that
+which exists between heaven and the abode of the damned. Surely, hers is
+not an ungrateful disposition?"
+
+"She ungrateful! Oh, no, M. le Cure! her sensitive and affectionate
+nature magnifies the slightest service rendered her, and she appears as
+though her gratitude could never be sufficiently evinced. There is, too,
+in her every thought an instinctive delicacy and fineness of feeling
+wholly incompatible with ingratitude, which could never be harboured in
+so noble a nature as that of my charge. Dear Marie, how anxious does she
+seem to earn the bread she eats, and how eagerly she strives to
+compensate the hospitality shown her, by every exertion she can make, or
+service she can render! And, then, except on Sunday, when I make it a
+point she should dress herself with more regard to appearance to
+accompany me to church, she will only wear the coarse, humble garments
+worn by our young peasant girls; and yet there is in her such an air of
+native superiority, so natural a grace, that one would not desire to see
+her otherwise attired, would they, M. le Cure?"
+
+"Ah, mother's pride! Beware!" said the old priest, smiling.
+
+At these words, tears filled the eyes of Madame Georges; she thought of
+her long-lost child, and of his possible destiny.
+
+"Come, come, dear friend, cheer up! Look upon our dear Marie as sent by
+a gracious Providence to occupy your maternal affections until the
+blessed moment when he shall restore you your son; and, besides, you
+have a sacred duty to perform towards this child of your adoption. Are
+you not her baptismal godmother? And, believe me, when that office is
+worthily discharged, it almost equals that of a mother. As for M.
+Rodolph, he has discharged his obligation of godfather by anticipation,
+for, in snatching her from the abyss of crime into which her misfortunes
+and her helplessness had cast her, he may be said to have caused her
+immortal existence to begin."
+
+"Doubtless the poor thing has never received the sacrament of our holy
+church. Do you think, M. le Cure, she is now sufficiently acquainted
+with its sanctified purposes to be admitted to a participation of it?"
+
+"I will take an opportunity of learning her sentiments on the subject as
+we walk back to the rectory. I shall then apprise her that the holy
+ceremony will take place probably in about a fortnight from hence."
+
+"How gratefully she will receive such an information; her religious
+feelings are the strongest I have ever met with."
+
+"Alas, poor thing! she has deep and heavy expiation to make for the
+errors of her past life."
+
+"Nay, M. l'Abbe, consider. Abandoned so young, without resource, without
+friends, almost without a knowledge of good or evil, plunged
+involuntarily into the very vortex of crime, what was there to prevent
+her from falling the bitter sacrifice she has been?"
+
+"The clear, moral sense of right and wrong implanted by the Creator in
+every breast should have withheld her; and, besides, we have no evidence
+of her having even sought to escape from the horrible fate into which
+she had fallen. Is there no friendly hand to be found in Paris to listen
+to the cries of suffering virtue? Is charity so rare, so hard to obtain
+in that large city?"
+
+"Let us hope not, M. l'Abbe; but how to discover it is the difficulty.
+Ere arriving at the knowledge of one kind, commiserating Christian,
+think of the refusals, the rebukes, the denials to be endured. And,
+then, in such a case as our poor Marie's, it was no passing temporary
+aid that could avail her, but the steady, continued patronage and
+support, the being placed in the way to earn an honest livelihood. Many
+tender and pitying mothers would have succoured her had they known her
+sad case, I doubt not, but it was first requisite to secure the
+happiness of knowing where to meet with them. Trust me, I, too, have
+known want and misery. But for one of those providential chances which,
+alas! too late, threw poor Marie in the way of M. Rodolph,--but for one
+of those casualties, the wretched and destitute, most commonly repulsed
+with rude denial on their first applications, believe pity irretrievably
+lost, and, pressed by hunger, fierce, clamorous hunger, often seek in
+vice that relief they despair to obtain from commiseration."
+
+At this moment the Goualeuse entered the parlour.
+
+"Where have you been, my dear child?" inquired Madame Georges,
+anxiously.
+
+"Visiting the fruit-house, madame, after having shut up the hen-houses
+and gates of the poultry-yard. All the fruit has kept excellently,--all
+but those I ran away with and ate."
+
+"Now, Marie, why take all this fatigue upon yourself? You should have
+left all this tiring work to Claudine; I fear you have quite tired
+yourself."
+
+"No, no! dear Madame Georges; I wouldn't let Claudine help me for the
+world. I take so much delight in my fruit-house,--the smell of the
+beautiful ripe fruit is so delicious."
+
+"M. le Cure," said Madame Georges, "you must go some day and see Marie's
+fruit-house. You can scarcely imagine the taste with which she has
+arranged it; each different variety of fruit is separated by rows of
+grapes, and the grapes are again divided off by strips of moss."
+
+"Oh, yes, M. le Cure; pray do come and see it," said the Goualeuse,
+innocently; "I am sure you would be pleased with it. You would be
+surprised what a pretty contrast the moss makes to the bright rosy
+apples or the rich golden pears. There are some such lovely waxen
+apples, quite a pure red and white; and really, as they lie surrounded
+by the soft green moss, I cannot help thinking of the heads of little
+cherubim just peeping out from the glorious clouds of heaven," added the
+delighted Goualeuse, speaking with all the enthusiasm of an artist of
+the work of her creation.
+
+The cure looked at Madame Georges, then smilingly replied to
+Fleur-de-Marie:
+
+"I have already admired the dairy over which you preside, my child, and
+can venture to declare it perfect in its way; the most particular
+dairy-woman might envy you the perfection to which you have brought it.
+Ere long, I promise myself the pleasure of visiting your fruit-house,
+and passing a similar compliment on your skill in arrangement. You shall
+then introduce me to those charming rosy apples and delicious golden
+pears, as well as to the little cherubim pippins so prettily peeping
+from their mossy beds. But see! the sun has already set; you will
+scarcely have sufficient time to conduct me back to the rectory-house
+and return before dark. Come, my child, fetch your cloak, and let us be
+gone; or, now I think of it, do you remain at home this cold bitter
+night, and let one of the farm servants go home with me."
+
+"Oh, M. le Cure," replied the kind Madame Georges, "Marie will be quite
+wretched if she is not allowed to accompany you; she so much enjoys the
+happiness of escorting you home every evening."
+
+"Indeed, Monsieur le Cure," added the Goualeuse, timidly raising her
+large blue eyes to the priest's countenance, "I shall fear you are
+displeased with me if you do not permit me to accompany you as usual."
+
+"Well, then, my dear child, wrap yourself up very warm, and let us go."
+
+Fleur-de-Marie hastily threw over her shoulders a sort of cloak of
+coarse white cloth, edged with black velvet, and with a large hood, to
+be drawn at pleasure over the head. Thus equipped, she eagerly offered
+her arm to her venerable friend.
+
+"Happily," said he, in taking it, "the distance is but trifling, and the
+road both good and safe to pass at all hours."
+
+"As it is somewhat later to-night than usual," said Madame Georges,
+"will you have one of the farm-people to return with you, Marie?"
+
+"Do you take me for a coward?" said Marie, playfully. "I am very much
+obliged to you for your good opinion, madame. No, pray do not let any
+one be called away on my account. It is not a quarter of an hour's walk
+from here to the rectory. I shall be back long before dark."
+
+"Well, as you like. I merely thought it would be company for you; for as
+to fearing, thank heaven, there is no cause. Loose vagabond people,
+likely to interrupt your progress, are wholly unknown here."
+
+"And, were I not equally sure of the absence of all danger, I would not
+accept this dear child's arm," added the cure, "useful as, I confess, I
+find it."
+
+And, leaning on Fleur-de-Marie, who regulated her light step to suit the
+slow and laboured pace of the old man, the two friends quitted the farm.
+
+A few minutes' walk brought the Goualeuse and the priest close to the
+hollow road in which the Schoolmaster, the Chouette, and Tortillard,
+were lying in ambush.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE AMBUSCADE.
+
+
+The church and parsonage of Bouqueval were placed on the side of a hill
+covered with chestnut-trees, and commanded an entire view of the
+village. Fleur-de-Marie and the abbe reached a winding path which led to
+the clergyman's home, crossing the sunken road by which the hill was
+intersected diagonally. The Chouette, the Schoolmaster, and Tortillard,
+concealed in one of the hollows of the road, saw the priest and
+Fleur-de-Marie descend into the ravine, and leave it again by a steep
+declivity. The features of the young girl being hidden under the hood of
+her cloak, the Chouette did not recognise her old victim.
+
+"Silence, my old boy," said the old harridan to the Schoolmaster; "the
+young 'mot' and the 'black slug' are just crossing the path. I know her
+by the description which the tall man in black gave us; a country
+appearance, neither tall nor short; a petticoat shot with brown, and a
+woollen mantle with a black border. She walks every day with a
+'devil-dodger' to his 'crib,' and returns alone. When she come back,
+which she will do presently by the end of the road, we must spring upon
+her and carry her off to the coach."
+
+"If she cries for help," replied the Schoolmaster, "they will hear her
+at the farm, if, as you say, the out-buildings are visible from here;
+for you--you can see," he added, in a sullen tone.
+
+"Oh, yes, we can see the buildings from here quite plainly," said
+Tortillard. "It is only a minute ago that I climbed to the top of the
+bank, and, lying down on my belly, I could hear a carter who was talking
+to his horses in the yard there."
+
+"I'll tell you, then, what we must do," said the Schoolmaster, after a
+moment's silence. "Let Tortillard have the watch at the entrance to the
+path. When he sees the young girl returning, let him go and meet her,
+saying that he is the son of a poor old woman who has hurt herself by
+falling down the hollow road, and beg the girl to come to her
+assistance."
+
+"I'm up to you, _fourline_; the poor old woman is your darling Chouette.
+You're 'wide-awake!' My man, you are always the king of the 'downy ones'
+(_tetards_). What must I do afterwards?"
+
+"Conceal yourself in the hollow way on the side where Barbillon is
+waiting with the coach. I will be at hand. When Tortillard has brought
+the wench to you in the middle of the ravine, leave off whimpering and
+spring upon her, put one 'mauley' round her 'squeeze,' and the other
+into her 'patter-box,' and 'grab' her 'red rag' to prevent her from
+squeaking."
+
+"I know, I know, _fourline_; as we did with the woman at the canal of
+St. Martin, when we gave her cold water for supper (drowned her), after
+having 'prigged' her 'negress' (the parcel wrapped in black oil-skin)
+which she had under her arm,--the same 'dodge,' isn't it?"
+
+"Yes, precisely. But mind, grab the girl tight whilst Tortillard comes
+and fetches me. We three will then bundle her up in my cloak, carry her
+to Barbillon's coach, from thence to the plain of St. Denis, where the
+man in black will await us."
+
+"That's the way to do business, my _fourline_; you are without an equal!
+If I could, I would let off a firework on your head, and illuminate you
+with the colours of Saint Charlot, the patron of 'scragsmen.' Do you
+see, you urchin? If you would be an 'out-and-outer,' make my husband
+your model," said the Chouette, boastingly to Tortillard. Then,
+addressing the Schoolmaster, "By the way, do you know that Barbillon is
+in an awful 'funk' (fright)? He thinks that he shall be had up before
+the 'beaks' on a swinging matter."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"The other day, returning from Mother Martial's, the widow of the man
+who was scragged, and who keeps the boozing-ken in the Ile du Ravageur,
+Barbillon, the Gros-Boiteux, and the Skeleton had a row with the husband
+of the milkwoman who comes every morning from the country in a little
+cart drawn by a donkey, to sell her milk in the Cite, at the corner of
+the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie, close to the ogress's of the 'White
+Rabbit,' and they 'walked into him with their slashers' (killed him with
+their knives)."
+
+The son of Bras Rouge, who did not understand slang, listened to the
+Chouette with a sort of disappointed curiosity.
+
+"You would like to know, little man, what we are saying, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Yes. You were talking of Mother Martial, who is at the Ile du Ravageur,
+near Asnieres. I know her very well, and her daughter Calebasse and
+Francois and Amandine, who are about as old as I am, and who are made to
+bear everybody's snubs and thumps in the house. But when you talked of
+'walking into (_buter_) any one,' that's slang, I know."
+
+"It is; and, if you're a very good chap, I'll teach you to 'patter
+flash.' You're just the age when it may be very useful to you. Would you
+like to learn, my precious lambkin?"
+
+"I rather think I should, too, and no mistake; and I would rather live
+with you than with my old cheat of a mountebank, pounding his drugs. If
+I knew where he hides his 'rat-poison for men,' I'd put some in his
+soup, and then that would settle the quarrel between us."
+
+The Chouette laughed heartily, and said to Tortillard, drawing him
+towards her:
+
+"Come, chick, and kiss his mammy. What a droll boy it is--a darling!
+But, my manikin, how didst know that he had 'rat-poison for men'?"
+
+"Why, 'cause I heard him say so one day when I was hid in the cupboard
+in the room where he keeps his bottles, his brass machines, and where he
+mixes his stuffs together."
+
+"What did you hear him say?" asked the Chouette.
+
+"I heard him say to a gentleman that he gave a powder to, in a paper,
+'When you are tired of life, take this in three doses, and you will
+sleep without sickness or sorrow.'"
+
+"Who was the gentleman?" asked the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, a very handsome gentleman with black moustachios, and a face as
+pretty as a girl's. He came another time; and then, when he left, I
+followed him, by M. Bradamanti's order, to find out where he perched.
+The fine gentleman went into the Rue de Chaillot, and entered a very
+grand house. My master said to me, 'No matter where this gentleman goes,
+follow and wait for him at the door. If he comes out again, still keep
+your eye on him, until he does not come out of the place where he
+enters, and that will prove that he lives there. Then Tortillard, my
+boy, twist (_tortille_) yourself about to find out his name, or I will
+twist your ears in a way that will astonish you.'"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, I did twist myself about, and found out his name."
+
+"How did you manage it?" inquired the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Why, so. I'm not a fool; so I went to the porter at the house in the
+Rue de Chaillot, where this gentleman had gone in and not come out
+again. The porter had his hair finely powdered, with a fine brown coat
+with a yellow collar trimmed with silver. So I says to him, 'Good
+gentleman, I have come to ask for a hundred sous which the gentleman of
+the house has promised me for having found his dog and brought it back
+to him--a little black dog called Trumpet; and the gentleman with dark
+features, with black moustachios, a white riding-coat, and light blue
+pantaloons, told me he lived at No. 11 Rue de Chaillot, and that his
+name was Dupont.' 'The gentleman you're talking of is my master, and his
+name is the Viscount de St. Remy, and we have no dog here but yourself,
+you young scamp; so "cut your stick," or I'll make you remember coming
+here, and trying to do me out of a hundred sous,' says the porter to me;
+and he gave me a kick as he said it. But I didn't mind that," added
+Tortillard most philosophically, "for I found out the name of the
+handsome young gentleman with black moustachios, who came to my master's
+to buy the 'rat-poison for men' who are tired of living. He is called
+the Viscount de St. Remy,--my--my--St. Remy," added the son of Bras
+Rouge, humming the last words, as was his usual habit.
+
+"Clever little darling--I could eat him up alive!" said the Chouette,
+embracing Tortillard. "Never was such a knowing fellow. He deserves that
+I should be his mother, the dear rascal does."
+
+And the hag embraced Tortillard with an absurd affectation. The son of
+Bras Rouge, touched by this proof of affection, and desirous of showing
+his gratitude, eagerly answered:
+
+"Only you tell me what to do, and you shall see how I'll do it."
+
+"Will you, though? Well, then, you sha'n't repent doing so."
+
+"Oh, I should like always to stay with you!"
+
+"If you behave well, we may see about that. You sha'n't leave us if you
+are a good boy."
+
+"Yes," said the Schoolmaster, "you shall lead me about like a poor blind
+man, and say you are my son. We will get into houses in this way, and
+then--ten thousand slaughters!" added the assassin with enthusiasm; "the
+Chouette will assist us in making lucky hits. I will then teach that
+devil of a Rodolph, who blinded me, that I am not yet quite done for. He
+took away my eyesight, but he could not, did not remove my bent for
+mischief. I would be the head, Tortillard the eyes, and you the
+hand,--eh, Chouette? You will help me in this, won't you?"
+
+"Am I not with you to gallows and rope, _fourline_? Didn't I, when I
+left the hospital, and learnt that you had sent the 'yokel' from St.
+Mande to ask for me at the ogress's--didn't I run to you at the village
+directly, telling those chawbacons of labourers that I was your _rib_?"
+
+These words of the "one-eyed's" reminded the Schoolmaster of an
+unpleasant affair, and, altering his tone and language with the
+Chouette, he said, in a surly tone:
+
+"Yes, I was getting tired of being all by myself with these honest
+people. After a month I could not stand it any longer; I was frightened.
+So then I thought of trying to find you out; and a nice thing I did for
+myself," he added, in a tone of increasing anger; "for the day after you
+arrived I was robbed of the rest of the money which that devil in the
+Allee des Veuves had given me. Yes, some one stole my belt full of gold
+whilst I was asleep. It was only you who could have done it; and so now
+I am at your mercy. Whenever I think of it, I can hardly restrain myself
+from killing you on the spot--you cursed old robber, you!" and he
+stepped towards the old woman.
+
+"Look out for yourself, if you try to do any harm to the Chouette!"
+cried Tortillard.
+
+"I will smash you both--you and she--base vipers as you are!" cried the
+ruffian, enraged; and, hearing the boy mumbling near him, he aimed at
+him so violent a blow with his fist, as must have killed him if it had
+struck him. Tortillard, as much to revenge himself as the Chouette,
+picked up a stone, took aim, and struck the Schoolmaster on the
+forehead. The blow was not dangerous, but very painful. The brigand grew
+furious with passion, raging like a wounded bull, and, rushing forward
+swiftly and at random, stumbled.
+
+"What, break your own back?" shouted the Chouette, laughing till she
+cried.
+
+Despite the bloody ties which bound her to this monster, she saw how
+entirely, and with a sort of savage delight, this man, formerly so
+dreaded, and so proud of his giant strength, was reduced to impotence.
+The old wretch, by these feelings, justified that cold-blooded idea of
+La Rochefoucauld's, that "there is something in the misfortunes of our
+best friends which does not displease us." The disgusting brat, with his
+tawny cheeks and weasel face, enjoyed and participated in the mirth of
+the one-eyed hag. The Schoolmaster tripped again, and the urchin
+exclaimed:
+
+"Open your peepers, old fellow; look about you. You are going the wrong
+way. What capers you are cutting! Can't you see your way? Why don't you
+wipe your eye-glasses?"
+
+Unable to seize on the boy, the athletic murderer stopped, struck his
+foot violently on the ground, put his enormous and hairy fists to his
+eyes, and then uttered a sound which resembled the hoarse scream of a
+muzzled tiger.
+
+"Got a bad cough, I'm afraid, old chap!" said Bras Rouge's brat. "You're
+hoarse, I'm afraid? I have some capital liquorice which a _gen-d'arme_
+gave me. P'raps you'd like to try it?" and, taking up a handful of sand,
+he threw it in the face of the ruffian.
+
+Struck full in his countenance by this shower of gravel, the
+Schoolmaster suffered still more severely by this last attack than by
+the blow from the stone. Become pale, in spite of his livid and
+cicatrised features, he extended his two arms suddenly in the form of a
+cross, in a moment of inexpressible agony and despair, and, raising his
+frightful face to heaven, he cried, in a voice of deep suffering:
+
+"_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_"
+
+This involuntary appeal to divine mercy by a man stained by every crime,
+a bandit in whose presence but very recently the most resolute of his
+fellows trembled, appeared like an interposition of Providence.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" said the Chouette, in a mocking tone; "look at the thief
+making the crucifix! You mistake your road, my man. It is the 'old one'
+you should call to your help."
+
+"A knife! Oh, for a knife to kill myself! A knife! since all the world
+abandons me!" shrieked the wretch, gnawing his fists for very agony and
+rage.
+
+"A knife!--there's one in your pocket, cut-throat, and with an edge,
+too. The little old man in the Rue du Roule, you know, one moonlight
+night, and the cattle-dealer in the Poissy road, could tell the 'moles'
+all about it. But if you want it, it's here."
+
+The Schoolmaster, when thus instructed, changed the conversation, and
+replied, in a surly and threatening tone:
+
+"The Chourineur was true; he did not rob, but had pity on me."
+
+"Why did you say that I had 'prigged your blunt'?" inquired the
+Chouette, hardly able to restrain her laughter.
+
+"It was only you who came into my room," said the miscreant. "I was
+robbed on the night of your arrival, and who else could I suspect? Those
+country people could not have done such a thing."
+
+"Why should not country people steal as well as other folks? Is it
+because they drink milk and gather grass for their rabbits?"
+
+"I don't know. I only know I'm robbed."
+
+"And is that the fault of your own Chouette? What! suspect me? Do you
+think if I had got your belt that I should stay any longer with you.
+What a fool you are! Why, if I had chosen to 'pouch your blunt,' I
+could, of course; but, as true as I'm Chouette, you would have seen me
+again when the 'pewter' was spent, for I like you as well now with your
+eyes white, as I did--you rogue, you! Come, be decent, and leave off
+grinding your 'snags' in that way, or you'll break 'em."
+
+"It's just as if he was a-cracking nuts," said Tortillard.
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! what a droll baby it is! But quiet, now, quiet, my man of
+men; let him laugh, it is but an infant. You must own you have been
+unfair; for when the tall man in mourning, who looks like a mute at a
+funeral, said to me, 'A thousand francs are yours if you carry off this
+young girl from the farm at Bouqueval, and bring her to the spot in the
+Plain of St. Denis that I shall tell you,' say, cut-throat, didn't I
+directly tell you of the affair and agree to share with you, instead of
+choosing some 'pal' with his eyesight clear? Why, it's like making you a
+handsome present for doing nothing; for unless to bundle up the girl and
+carry her, with Tortillard's assistance, you would be of no more use to
+me than the fifth wheel to an omnibus. But never mind; for, although I
+could have robbed you if I would, I like, on the contrary, to do you
+service. I should wish you to owe everything to your darling
+Chouette--that's my way, that is. We must give two hundred 'bob' to
+Barbillon for driving the coach, and coming once before with the servant
+of the tall man in mourning, to look about the place and determine where
+we should hide ourselves whilst we waited for the young miss; and then
+we shall have eight hundred 'bob' between us. What do you say to that
+old boy? What! still angry with your old woman?"
+
+"How do I know that you will give me a 'mag' when once the thing's done?
+Why!--I"--said the ruffian, in a tone of gloomy distrust.
+
+"Why, if I like, I need not give you a dump, that's true enough; for you
+are on my gridiron, my lad, as I once had the Goualeuse; and so I will
+broil you to my own taste, till the 'old one' gets the cooking of my
+darling--ha! ha! ha! What, still sulky with your Chouette?" added the
+horrible woman, patting the shoulder of the ruffian, who stood mute and
+motionless.
+
+"You are right," said he, with a sigh of concentrated rage; "it is my
+fate--mine--mine! At the mercy of a woman and child whom but lately I
+could have killed with a blow. Oh, if I were not afraid of dying!" said
+he, falling back against the bank.
+
+"What! a coward!--you--you a coward!" said the Chouette, contemptuously.
+"Why, you'll be talking next of your conscience! What a precious farce!
+Well, if you haven't more pluck than that, I'll 'cut' and leave you."
+
+"And that I cannot have my revenge of the man who in thus making a
+martyr of me has reduced me to the wretched situation in which I am!"
+screamed the Schoolmaster, in a renewal of fury. "I am afraid of
+death--yes, I own it, I am afraid. But if I were told, 'This man Rodolph
+is between your arms--your two arms--and now you shall both be flung
+into a pit,' I would say, 'Throw us, then, at once.' Yes, for then I
+should be safe not to relax my clutch, till we both reached the bottom
+together. I would fix my teeth in his face--his throat--his heart. I
+would tear him to pieces with my teeth--yes, my teeth; for I should be
+jealous of a knife!"
+
+"Bravo, _fourline_! now you are my own dear love again. Calm yourself.
+We will find him again, that wretch of a Rodolph, and the Chourineur
+too. Come, pluck up, old man; we will yet work our will on them both. I
+say it, on both!"
+
+"Well, then, you will not forsake me?" cried the brigand to the Chouette
+in a subdued tone, mingled, however, with distrust. "If you do leave me,
+what will become of me?"
+
+"That's true. I say, _fourline_, what a joke if Tortillard and I were to
+'mizzle' with the 'drag,' and leave you where you are--in the middle of
+the fields; and the night air begins to nip very sharp. I say, it would
+be a joke, old cutpurse, wouldn't it?"
+
+At this threat the Schoolmaster shuddered, and, coming towards the
+Chouette, said tremulously, "No, no, you wouldn't do that, Chouette; nor
+you, Tortillard. It would be too bad, wouldn't it?"
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! 'Too bad,' says he, the gentle dear! And the little old man
+in the Rue du Roule; and the cattle-dealer and the woman in Saint
+Martin's Canal; and the gentleman in the Allee des Veuves; they found
+you nice and amiable, I don't think--didn't they--with your
+'larding-pin?' Why, then, in your turn, shouldn't you be left to such
+tender mercy as you have showed?"
+
+"I'm in your power, don't abuse it," said the Schoolmaster. "Come, come,
+I confess I was wrong to suspect you. I was wrong to try and thump
+Tortillard; and, you see, I beg pardon; and of you too, Tortillard. Yes,
+I ask pardon of both."
+
+"I will have you ask pardon on your knees for having tried to beat the
+Chouette," said Tortillard.
+
+"You rum little beggar, how funny you are!" said the Chouette, laughing
+loudly; "but I should like to see what a 'guy' you will make of
+yourself. So on your knees, as if you were 'pattering' love to your old
+darling. Come, do it directly, or we will leave you; and I tell you that
+in half an hour it will be quite dark, though you don't look as if you
+thought so, old 'No-Eyes.'"
+
+"Night or day, what's that to him?" said Tortillard, saucily. "The
+gentleman always has his shutters closed."
+
+"Then here, on my knees, I humbly ask your pardon, Chouette; and yours
+also, Tortillard! Will not that content you?" said the robber, kneeling
+in the middle of the highway. "And now will you leave me?"
+
+This strange group, enclosed by the embankment of the ravine, and
+lighted by the red glimmer of the twilight, was hideous to behold. In
+the middle of the road the Schoolmaster, on his knees, extended his
+large and coarse hands towards the one-eyed hag; his thick and matted
+hair, which his fright had dishevelled, left exposed his motionless,
+rigid, glassy, dead eyeballs--the very glance of a corpse. Stooping
+deprecatingly his broad-spread shoulders, this Hercules kneels abjectly,
+and trembles at the feet of an old woman and a child!
+
+The old hag herself, wrapped in a red-checked shawl, her head covered
+with an old cap of black lace, which allowed some locks of her grizzled
+hair to escape, looked down with an air of haughty contempt and
+domineering pride on the Schoolmaster. The bony, scorched, shrivelled,
+and livid countenance of the parrot-nosed old harridan expressed a
+savage and insulting joy; her small but fierce eye glistened like a
+burning coal; a sinister expression curled her lips, shaded with long
+straight hairs, and revealed three or four large, yellow, and decayed
+fangs.
+
+Tortillard, clothed in a blouse with a leathern belt, standing on one
+leg, leaned on the Chouette's arm to keep himself upright. The bad
+expression and cunning look of this deformed imp, with a complexion as
+sallow as his hair, betokened at this moment his disposition--half
+fiend, half monkey. The shadow cast from the declivity of the ravine
+increased the horrid _tout ensemble_ of the scene, which the increasing
+darkness half hid.
+
+"Promise me,--oh, promise me--at least, not to forsake me!" repeated
+the Schoolmaster, frightened by the silence of the Chouette and
+Tortillard, who were enjoying his dismay. "Are you not here?" added the
+murderer, leaning forward to listen, and advancing his arms
+mechanically.
+
+"Yes, my man, we are here; don't be frightened. Forsake you! leave my
+love! the man of my heart! No, I'd sooner be 'scragged'! Once for all, I
+will tell you why I will not forsake you. Listen, and profit. I have
+always liked to have some one in my grip--beast or Christian. Before I
+had Pegriotte (oh! that the 'old one' would return her to my clutch! for
+I have still my idea of scaling off her beauty with my bottle of
+vitriol)--before Pegriotte's turn, I had a brat who froze to death under
+my care. For that little job, I got six years in the 'Stone Jug.' Then I
+used to have little birds, which I used to tame, and then pluck 'em
+alive. Ha! ha! but that was troublesome work, for they did not last
+long. When I left the 'Jug,' the Goualeuse came to hand; but the little
+brat ran away before I had had half my fun out of her carcass. Well,
+then I had a dog, who had his little troubles as well as she had; and I
+cut off one of his hind feet and one of his four feet; and you never saw
+such a rum beggar as I made of him; I almost burst my sides with
+laughing at him!"
+
+"I must serve a dog I know of, who bit me one day, in the same way,"
+said the promising Master Tortillard.
+
+"When I fell in again with you, my darling," continued the Chouette, "I
+was trying what I could do that was miserable with a cat. Well, now, at
+this moment, you, old boy, shall be my cat, my dog, my bird, my
+Pegriotte; you shall be anything to worry (_bete de souffrance_). Do you
+understand, my love? Instead of having a bird or a child to make
+miserable, I shall have, as it were, a wolf or a tiger. I think that's
+rather a bright idea; isn't it?"
+
+"Hag! devil!" cried the Schoolmaster, rising in a desperate rage.
+
+"What, my pet angry with his darling old deary? Well, if it must be so,
+it must. Have your own way; you have a right to it. Good night, blind
+sheep!"
+
+"The field-gate is wide open, so walk alone, Mister No-eyes; and, if you
+toddle straight, you'll reach the right road somehow," said Tortillard,
+laughing heartily.
+
+"Oh, that I could die! die! die!" said the Schoolmaster, writhing and
+twisting his arms about in agony.
+
+At this moment, Tortillard, stooping to the ground, exclaimed, in a low
+voice:
+
+"I hear footsteps in the path; let us hide; it is not the young miss,
+for they come the same way as she did."
+
+On the instant, a stout peasant girl in the prime of youth, followed by
+a large shepherd's dog, carrying on her head an open basket, appeared,
+and followed the same path which the priest and the Goualeuse had taken.
+We will rejoin the two latter, leaving the three accomplices concealed
+in the hollow of the path.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE RECTORY-HOUSE.
+
+
+The last rays of the sun were gradually disappearing behind the vast
+pile of the Chateau d'Ecouen and the woods which surrounded it. On all
+sides, until the sight lost them in the distance, were vast tracts of
+land lying in brown furrows hardened by the frost--an extensive desert,
+of which the hamlet of Bouqueval appeared to be the oasis. The sky,
+which was serenely glorious, was tinted by the sunset, and glowed with
+long lines of empurpled light, the certain token of wind and cold. These
+tints, which were at first of a deep red, became violet; then a bluish
+black, as the twilight grew more and more dark on the atmosphere. The
+crescent of the moon was as delicately and clearly defined as a silver
+ring, and began to shine beautifully in the midst of the blue and dimmed
+sky, where many stars already had appeared. The silence was profound;
+the hour most solemn. The curate stopped for a moment on the summit of
+the acclivity to enjoy the calm of this delicious evening. After some
+minutes' reflection, he extended his trembling hand towards the depths
+of the horizon, half veiled by the shadows of the evening, and said to
+Fleur-de-Marie, who was walking pensively beside him:
+
+"Look, my child, at the vastness and extent to which we have no visible
+limit; we hear not the slightest sound. Say, does not this silence give
+us an idea of infinity and of eternity? I say this to you, Marie,
+because you are peculiarly sensitive of the beauties of creation. I
+have often been struck at the admiration, alike poetical and religious,
+with which they inspire you,--you, a poor prisoner so long deprived of
+them. Are you not, as I am, struck with the solemn tranquillity of the
+hour?"
+
+The Goualeuse made no reply. The cure, regarding her with astonishment,
+found she was weeping.
+
+"What ails you, my child?"
+
+"My father, I am unhappy!"
+
+"Unhappy!--you?--still unhappy!"
+
+"I know it is ingratitude to complain of my lot after all that has been
+and is done for me; and yet--"
+
+"And yet?"
+
+"Father, I pray of you forgive my sorrows; their expression may offend
+my benefactors."
+
+"Listen, Marie. We have often asked you the cause of these sorrows with
+which you are depressed, and which excite in your second mother the most
+serious uneasiness. You have avoided all reply, and we have respected
+your secret whilst we have been afflicted at not being able to solace
+your sorrows."
+
+"Alas; good father, I dare not tell you what is passing in my mind. I
+have been moved, as you have been, at the sight of this calm and
+saddening evening. My heart is sorely afflicted, and I have wept."
+
+"But what ails you, Marie? You know how we love you! Come, tell me all.
+You should; for I must tell you that the time is very close at hand when
+Madame Georges and M. Rodolph will present you at the baptismal font,
+and take upon themselves the engagement before God to protect you all
+the days of your life."
+
+"M. Rodolph--he who has saved me?" cried Fleur-de-Marie, clasping her
+hands; "he will deign to give me this new proof of affection! Oh,
+indeed, my father, I can no longer conceal from you anything, lest I
+should, indeed, deserve to be called and thought an ingrate."
+
+"An ingrate! How?"
+
+"That you may understand me, I must begin and tell you of my first day
+at the farm."
+
+"Then let us talk as we walk on."
+
+"You will be indulgent to me, my father? What I shall say may perhaps be
+wrong."
+
+"The Lord has shown his mercy unto you. Be of good heart."
+
+"When," said Fleur-de-Marie, after a moment's reflection, "I knew that,
+on arriving here, I should not again leave the farm and Madame Georges,
+I believed it was all a dream. At first I felt giddy with my happiness,
+and thought every moment of M. Rodolph. Very often when I was alone, and
+in spite of myself, I raised my eyes to heaven, as if to seek him there
+and thank him. Afterwards--and I was wrong, father--I thought more of
+him than God, attributing to him what God alone could do. I was
+happy--as happy as a creature who had suddenly and entirely escaped from
+a great danger. You and Madame Georges were so kind to me, that I
+thought I deserved pity rather than blame."
+
+The cure looked at the Goualeuse with an air of surprise. She continued:
+
+"Gradually I became used to my sweet course of life. I no longer felt
+fear when I awoke, of finding myself at the ogress's. I seemed to sleep
+in full security, and all my delight was to assist Madame Georges in her
+work, and to apply myself to the lesson you gave me, my father, as well
+as to profit by your advice and exhortation. Except some moments of
+shame, when I reflected on the past, I thought myself equal to all the
+world, because all the world was so kind to me. When, one day--"
+
+Here sobs cut short poor Fleur-de-Marie's narration.
+
+"Come, come, my poor child, calm yourself. Courage, courage!"
+
+The Goualeuse wiped her eyes, and resumed:
+
+"You recollect, father, during the fetes of the Toussaints, that Madame
+Dubreuil, who superintends the Duke de Lucenay's farm at Arnouville,
+came, with her daughter, to pass some time with us?"
+
+"I do; and I was delighted to see you form an acquaintance with Clara
+Dubreuil, who is a very excellent girl."
+
+"She is an angel--an angel, father. When I knew that she was coming to
+stay for some days at the farm, my delight was so great that I could
+think of nothing else but the moment when she should arrive. At length
+she came. I was in my room, which she was to share with me; and, whilst
+I was putting it into nice order I was sent for. I went into the saloon,
+my heart beating excessively, when Madame Georges, presenting me to the
+pretty young lady, whose looks were so kind and good, said, 'Marie, here
+is a friend for you.' 'I hope,' added Madame Dubreuil, 'that you and my
+daughter will soon be like two sisters;' and hardly had her mother
+uttered these words, than Mademoiselle Clara came and embraced me. Then,
+father," continued Fleur-de-Marie, weeping, "I do not know what came
+over me; but, when I felt the fresh and fair face of Clara pressed
+against my cheek of shame, that cheek became scorching with
+guilt--remorse. I remembered who and what I was;--I--I--to receive the
+caresses of a good and virtuous girl!"
+
+"Why, my child?"
+
+"Ah, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, interrupting the cure with
+painful emotion, "when M. Rodolph took me away from the Cite, I began
+vaguely to be conscious of the depth of my degradation. But do you think
+that education, advice, the examples I receive from Madame Georges and
+yourself, have not, whilst they have enlightened my mind, made me, alas!
+to comprehend but too clearly that I have been more culpable than
+unfortunate? Before Clara's arrival, when these thoughts grew upon me,
+I drove them away by seeking to please Madame Georges and you, father.
+If I blushed for the past it was only in my own presence. But the sight
+of this young lady of my own age, so charming, so virtuous, has conjured
+up the recollection of the distance that exists between us; and, for the
+first time, I have felt that there are wrongs which nothing can efface.
+From that time the thought has haunted me perpetually, and, in spite of
+myself, I recur to it. From that day I have not had one moment's
+repose." The Goualeuse again wiped her eyes, that swam in tears.
+
+After having looked at her for some moments with a gaze of the tenderest
+pity, the cure replied:
+
+"Reflect, my child, that if Madame Georges desired to see you the friend
+of Mademoiselle Dubreuil, it was that she felt you were worthy of such a
+confidence from your good conduct. Your reproaches, addressed to
+yourself, seem almost to impugn your second mother."
+
+"I feel that, father, and was wrong, no doubt; but I could not subdue my
+shame and fear. When Clara was once settled at the farm, I was as sad as
+I had before thought I should be happy, when I reflected on the pleasure
+of having a companion of my own age. She, on the contrary, was all joy
+and lightness. She had a bed in my apartment; and the first evening
+before she went to bed she kissed me, saying that she loved me already,
+and felt every kind sentiment towards me. She made me to call her Clara,
+and she would call me Marie. Then she said her prayers, telling me that
+she would join my name with hers in her prayers, if I would also unite
+her name with mine. I did not dare to refuse; and, after talking for
+some time, she went to sleep. I had not got into my bed, and,
+approaching her bedside, I contemplated her angel face with tears in my
+eyes; and then, reflecting that she was sleeping in the same chamber
+with me--with one who had been at the ogress's, mixed up with robbers
+and murderers, I trembled as if I had committed some crime, and a
+thousand nameless fears beset me. I thought that God would one day
+punish me. I went to sleep and had horrid dreams. I saw again those
+frightful objects I had nearly forgotten--the Chourineur, the
+Schoolmaster, the Chouette--that horrible, one-eyed woman who had
+tortured my earliest infancy. Oh, what a night! _Mon Dieu!_--what a
+night! What dreams!" said the Goualeuse, shuddering at their very
+recollection.
+
+"Poor Marie!" said the cure with emotion. "Why did you not earlier tell
+me all this? I should have found comfort for you. But go on."
+
+"I slept so late, that Mademoiselle Clara awoke me by kissing me. To
+overcome what she called my coldness, and show her regard, she told me a
+secret--that she was going to be married when she was eighteen to the
+son of a farmer at Goussainville, whom she loved very dearly, and the
+union had long been agreed upon by the two families. Then she added a
+few words of her past life, so simple, calm, and happy! She had never
+quitted her mother, and never intended to do so, for her husband was to
+take part in the management of the farm with M. Dubreuil. 'Now, Marie,'
+she said, 'you know me as well as if you were my sister. So tell me all
+about your early days.'
+
+"I thought when I heard the words that I should have died of them; I
+blushed and stammered; I did not know what Madame Georges had said of
+me, and I was fearful of telling a falsehood; I answered vaguely, that I
+had been an orphan, educated by a very rigid person; and that I had not
+been happy in my infancy; and that my happiness was dated from the
+moment when I had come to live with Madame Georges; then Clara, as much
+by interest as curiosity, asked me where I had been educated, in the
+city or the country, my father's name, and, above all, if I remembered
+anything of my mother. All these questions embarrassed as much as they
+pained me, for I was obliged to reply with falsehood, and you have
+taught me, father, how wicked it is to lie; but Clara did not think that
+I was deceiving her; she attributed the hesitation of my answers to the
+pain which my early sorrows renewed; she believed me and pitied me with
+a sincerity that cut me to the soul. Oh, father, you never can know what
+I suffered in this conversation, and how much it cost me only to reply
+in language of falsehood and hypocrisy!"
+
+"Unfortunate girl! The anger of heaven will weigh heavily on those who,
+by casting you into the vile road of perdition, have compelled you to
+undergo all your life the sad consequences of a first fault."
+
+"Oh, yes, they were indeed cruel, father," replied Fleur-de-Marie,
+bitterly, "for my shame is ineffaceable. As Clara talked to me of the
+happiness that awaited her,--her marriage, her peaceful joys of home, I
+could not help comparing my lot with hers; for, in spite of the kindness
+showered upon me, my fate must always be miserable. You and Madame
+Georges, in teaching me what virtue is, have taught me the depth of that
+abasement into which I had fallen; nothing can take from me the brand of
+having been the refuse of all that is vilest in the world. Alas! if the
+knowledge of good and evil was to be so sad to me, why not have
+abandoned me to my unhappy fate?"
+
+"Oh, Marie, Marie!"
+
+"Father, I speak ill, do I not? Alas! I dare not confess it; but I am at
+times so ungrateful as to repine at the benefits heaped upon me, and to
+say to myself, 'If I had not been snatched from infamy, why,
+wretchedness, misery, blows, would soon have ended my life; and, at
+least, I should have remained in ignorance of that purity which I must
+for ever regret.'"
+
+"Alas! Marie, that is indeed fatal! A nature ever so nobly endowed by
+the Creator, though plunged but for one day in the foul mire from which
+you have been extricated, will preserve for ever the ineffaceable
+stigma."
+
+"Yes, yes, my father," cried Fleur-de-Marie, full of grief, "I must
+despair until I die!"
+
+"You must despair of ever tearing out this frightful page from the book
+of your existence," said the priest, in a sad and serious voice; "but
+you must have faith in the infinite mercy of the Almighty. Here, on
+earth, my poor child, there are for you tears, remorse, expiation; but,
+one day, there,--up there," and he raised his hand to the sky, now
+filling with stars, "there is pardon and everlasting happiness."
+
+"Pity, pity, _mon Dieu_! I am so young, and my life may still endure so
+long," said the Goualeuse, in a voice rent by agony, and falling at the
+cure's knees almost involuntarily.
+
+The priest was standing at the top of the hill, not far from where his
+"modest mansion rose;" his black cassock, his venerable countenance,
+shaded by long white locks, lighted by the last ray of twilight, stood
+out from the horizon, which was of a deep transparency,--a perfect
+clearness: pale gold in the west, sapphire over his head. The priest
+again elevated towards heaven one of his tremulous hands, and gave the
+other to Fleur-de-Marie, who bedewed it with her tears. The hood of her
+gray cloak fell at this moment from her shoulders, displaying the
+perfect outline of her lovely profile,--her charming features full of
+suffering, and suffused with tears.
+
+This simple and sublime scene offered a strange contrast,--a singular
+coincidence with the horrid one which, almost at the same moment, was
+passing in the ravine between the Schoolmaster and the Chouette.
+Concealed in the darkness of the sombre cleft, assailed by base fears, a
+fearful murderer, carrying on his person the punishment of his crimes,
+was also on his knees, but in the presence of an accessory, a sneering,
+revengeful Fury, who tormented him mercilessly, and urged him on to
+fresh crimes,--that accomplice, the first cause of Fleur-de-Marie's
+misery.
+
+Of Fleur-de-Marie, whose days and nights were embittered by never-dying
+remorse; whose anguish, hardly endurable, was not conceivable;
+surrounded from her earliest days by degraded, cruel, infamous outcasts
+of society; leaving the walls of a prison for the den of the
+ogress,--even a more horrid prison; never leaving the precincts of her
+gaol, or the squalid streets of the Cite; this unhappy young creature
+had hitherto lived in utter ignorance of the beautiful and the good, as
+strange to noble and religious sentiments as to the magnificent
+splendour of nature. Then all that was admirable in the creature and in
+the Creator was revealed in a moment to her astonished soul. At this
+striking spectacle her mind expanded, her intelligence unfolded itself,
+her noble instincts were awakened; and because her mind expanded,
+because her intelligence was unfolded, because her noble instincts were
+awakened, yet the very consciousness of her early degradation brings
+with it the feeling of horror for her past life, alike torturing and
+enduring,--she feels, as she had described, that, alas! there are stains
+which nothing can remove.
+
+"Ah, unhappiness for me!" said the Goualeuse, in despair; "my whole life
+has long to run, it may be; were it as long, as pure as your own,
+father, it must henceforth be blighted by the knowledge and
+consciousness of the past; unhappiness for me for ever!"
+
+"On the contrary, Marie, it is happiness for you,--yes, happiness for
+you. Your remorse, so full of bitterness, but so purifying, testifies
+the religious susceptibility of your mind. How many there are who, less
+nobly sensitive than you, would, in your place, have soon forgotten the
+fact, and only revelled in the delight of the present. Believe me, every
+pang that you now endure will tell in your favour when on high. God has
+left you for a moment in an unrighteous path, to reserve for you the
+glory of repentance and the everlasting reward reserved for expiation.
+Has he not said himself, 'Those who fight the good fight and come to me
+with a smile on their lips, they are my chosen; but they who, wounded in
+the struggle, come to me fainting and dying, they are the chosen amongst
+my chosen!' Courage, then, my child! Support, help, counsel,--nothing
+will fail you. I am very aged, but Madame Georges and M. Rodolph have
+still many years before them; particularly M. Rodolph, who has taken so
+deep an interest in you, who watches your progress with so much
+anxiety."
+
+[Illustration: "'_So I Have Brought Turk with Me_'"
+Original Etching by Adrian Marcel]
+
+The Goualeuse was about to reply, when she was interrupted by the
+peasant girl whom we have already mentioned, who, having followed in the
+steps of the cure and Marie, now came up to them. She was one of the
+peasants of the farm.
+
+"Beg your pardon, M. le Cure," she said to the priest, "but Madame
+Georges told me to bring this basket of fruit to the rectory, and then I
+could accompany Mlle. Marie back again, for it is getting late. So I
+have brought Turk with me," added the dairy-maid, patting an enormous
+dog of the Pyrenees, which would have mastered a bear in a struggle.
+"Although we never have any bad people about us here in the country, it
+is as well to be careful."
+
+"You are quite right, Claudine. Here we are now at the rectory. Pray
+thank Madame Georges for me."
+
+Then addressing the Goualeuse in a low tone, the cure said to her, in a
+grave voice:
+
+"I must go to-morrow to the conference of the diocese, but I shall
+return at five o'clock. If you like, my child, I will wait for you at
+the rectory. I see your state of mind, and that you require a lengthened
+conversation with me."
+
+"I thank you, father," replied Fleur-de-Marie. "To-morrow I will come,
+since you are so good as to allow me to do so."
+
+"Here we are at the garden gate," said the priest. "Leave your basket
+there, Claudine; my housekeeper will take it. Return quickly to the farm
+with Marie, for it is almost night, and the cold is increasing.
+To-morrow, Marie, at five o'clock."
+
+"To-morrow, father."
+
+The abbe went into his garden. The Goualeuse and Claudine, followed by
+Turk, took the road to the farm.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE RENCOUNTER.
+
+
+The night set in clear and cold. Following the advice of the
+Schoolmaster, the Chouette had gone to that part of the hollow way which
+was the most remote from the path, and nearest to the cross-road where
+Barbillon was waiting with the hackney-coach. Tortillard, who was posted
+as an advanced guard, watched for the return of Fleur-de-Marie, whom he
+was desirous of drawing into the trap by begging her to come to the
+assistance of a poor old woman. The son of Bras Rouge had advanced a few
+steps out of the ravine to try and discern Marie, when he heard the
+Goualeuse some way off speaking to the peasant girl who accompanied her.
+The plan had failed; and Tortillard quickly went down into the ravine to
+run and inform the Chouette.
+
+"There is somebody with the young girl," said he, in a low and
+breathless tone.
+
+"May the hangman squeeze her weasand, the little beggar," exclaimed the
+Chouette in a rage.
+
+"Who's with her?" asked the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, no doubt, the country wench who passed along the road just now,
+followed by a large dog. I heard a woman's voice," said Tortillard.
+"Hark!--do you hear? There's the noise of their sabots," and, in the
+silence of the night, the wooden soles sounded clearly on the ground
+hardened by the frost.
+
+"There are two of 'em. I can manage the young 'un in the gray mantle,
+but what can we do with t'other? _Fourline_ can't see, and Tortillard
+is too weak to do for the companion--devil choke her! What can be done?"
+asked the Chouette.
+
+"I'm not strong, but, if you like, I'll cling to the legs of the
+country-woman with the dog. I'll hold on by hands and teeth, and not let
+her go, I can tell you. You can take away the little one in the
+meantime, you know, Chouette."
+
+"If they cry or resist, they will hear them at the farm," replied the
+Chouette, "and come to their assistance before we can reach Barbillon's
+coach. It is no easy thing to carry off a woman who resists."
+
+"And they have a large dog with them," said Tortillard.
+
+"Bah! bah! If it was only that, I could break the brute's skull with a
+blow of my shoe-heel," said the Chouette.
+
+"Here they are," replied Tortillard, who was listening still to the echo
+of their footsteps. "They are coming down the hollow now."
+
+"Why don't you speak, _fourline_?" said the Chouette to the
+Schoolmaster. "What is best to be done, long-headed as you are, eh? Are
+you grown dumb?"
+
+"There's nothing to be done to-day," replied the miscreant.
+
+"And the thousand 'bob' of the man in mourning," said the Chouette;
+"they are gone, then? I'd sooner--Your knife--your knife, _fourline_! I
+will stick the companion, that she may be no trouble to us; and, as to
+the young miss, Tortillard and I can make off with her."
+
+"But the man in mourning does not desire that we should kill any one."
+
+"Well, then, we must put the cold meat down as an extra in his bill. He
+must pay, for he will be an accomplice with us."
+
+"Here they come--down the hill," said Tortillard, softly.
+
+"Your knife, lad!" said the Chouette, in a similar tone.
+
+"Ah, Chouette," cried Tortillard, in alarm, and extending his hands to
+the hag, "that is too bad--to kill. No!--oh, no!"
+
+"Your knife, I tell you!" repeated the Chouette, in an undertone,
+without paying the least attention to Tortillard's supplication, and
+putting her shoes off hastily. "I have taken off my shoes," she added,
+"that I may steal on them quietly from behind. It is almost dark; but I
+can easily make out the little one by her cloak, and I will do for the
+other."
+
+"No," said the felon; "to-day it is useless. There will be plenty of
+time to-morrow."
+
+"What! you're afraid, old patterer, are you?" said the Chouette, with
+fierce contempt.
+
+"Not at all," replied the Schoolmaster. "But you may fail in your blow
+and spoil all."
+
+The dog which accompanied the country-woman, scenting the persons hidden
+in the hollow road, stopped short, and barked furiously, refusing to
+come to Fleur-de-Marie, who called him frequently.
+
+"Do you hear their dog? Here they are! Your knife!--or, if not--" cried
+the Chouette, with a threatening air.
+
+"Come and take it from me, then--by force," said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"It's all over--it's too late," added the Chouette, after listening for
+a moment attentively; "they have gone by. You shall pay for that,
+gallows-bird," added she, furiously, shaking her fist at her accomplice.
+"A thousand francs lost by your stupidity!"
+
+"A thousand--two thousand--perhaps three thousand gained," replied the
+Schoolmaster, in a tone of authority. "Listen, Chouette! Do you go back
+to Barbillon, and let him drive you to the place where you were to meet
+the man in mourning. Tell him that it was impossible to do anything
+to-day, but that to-morrow she shall be carried off. The young girl goes
+every evening to walk home with the priest, and it was only a chance
+which to-day led her to meet with any one. To-morrow we shall have a
+more secure opportunity. So to-morrow do you return and be with
+Barbillon at the cross-road in his coach at the same hour."
+
+"But thou--thou?"
+
+"Tortillard shall lead me to the farm where the young girl lives. I will
+cook up some tale--say we have lost our road, and ask leave to pass the
+night at the farm in a corner of the stable. No one could refuse us
+that. Tortillard will examine all the doors, windows, and ins and outs
+of the house. There is always money to be looked for amongst these
+farming people. You say the farm is situated in a lone spot; and, when
+once we know all the ways and outlets, we need only return with some
+safe friends, and the thing is done as easy--"
+
+"Always 'downy!' What a head-piece!" said the Chouette, softening. "Go
+on, _fourline_."
+
+"To-morrow morning, instead of leaving the farm, I will complain of a
+pain which prevents me from walking. If they will not believe me, I'll
+show them the wound which I have always had since I smashed the 'loop of
+my darbies,' and which is always painful to me. I'll say it is a burn I
+had from a red-hot bar when I was a workman, and they'll believe me.
+I'll remain at the farm part of the day, whilst Tortillard looks about
+him. When the evening comes on, and the little wench goes out as usual
+with the priest, I'll say I'm better, and fit to go away. Tortillard and
+I will follow the young wench at a distance, and await your coming to us
+here. As she will know us already, she will have no mistrust when she
+sees us. We will speak to her, Tortillard and I; and, when once within
+reach of my arms, I will answer for the rest. She's caught safe enough,
+and the thousand francs are ours. That is not all. In two or three days
+we can 'give the office' of the farm to Barbillon and some others, and
+share with them if they get any 'swag,' as it will be me who put them on
+the 'lay.'"
+
+"Well done, No-Eyes! No one can come up to you," said the Chouette,
+embracing the Schoolmaster. "Your plan is capital! Tell you what,
+_fourline_, when you are done up and old, you must turn consulting
+'prig'; you will earn as much money as a 'big-wig.' Come, kiss your old
+woman, and be off as quick as you may, for these joskins go to sleep
+with their poultry. I shall go to Barbillon; and to-morrow, at four
+o'clock, we will be at the cross-road with the 'trap,' unless he is
+nabbed for having assisted Gros-Boiteux and the Skeleton to 'do for' the
+milk-woman's husband in the Rue de la Vieille-Draperie. But if he can't
+come, another can, for the pretended hackney-coach belongs to the man in
+mourning who has used it before. A quarter of an hour after we get to
+the cross-road, I will be here and wait for you."
+
+"All right! Good-by till to-morrow, Chouette."
+
+"I had nearly forgot to give the wax to Tortillard, if there is any lock
+to get the print of at the farm. Here, chickabiddy, do you know how to
+use it?" said the one-eyed wretch to Tortillard, as she gave him a piece
+of wax.
+
+"Yes, yes, my father showed me how to use it. I took for him the print
+of the lock of the little iron chest which my master, the quack doctor,
+keeps in his small closet."
+
+"Ah, that's all right; and, that the wax may not stick, do not forget to
+moisten the wax after you have warmed it well in your hand."
+
+"I know all about it," replied Tortillard.
+
+"To-morrow, them, _fourline_," said the Chouette.
+
+"To-morrow," replied the Schoolmaster.
+
+The Chouette went towards the coach. The Schoolmaster and Tortillard
+quitted the hollow way, and bent their steps towards the farm, the
+lights which shone from the windows serving to guide them on their way.
+
+Strange fatality, which again brought Anselm Duresnel under the same
+roof with his wife, who had not seen him since his condemnation to hard
+labour for life!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AN EVENING AT THE FARM.
+
+
+Perhaps a more gratifying sight does not exist than the interior of a
+large farm-kitchen prepared for the evening meal, especially during the
+winter season. Its bright wood fire, the long table covered with the
+savoury, smoking dishes, the huge tankards of foaming beer or cider,
+with the happy countenances scattered round, speak of peaceful labour
+and healthful industry. The farm-kitchen of Bouqueval was a fine
+exemplification of this remark. Its immense open chimney, about six feet
+high and eight feet wide, resembled the yawning mouth of some huge oven.
+On the hearth blazed and sparkled enormous logs of beech or oak; and
+from this prodigious brazier there issued forth such a body of light, as
+well as heat, that the large lamp suspended from the centre beam sunk
+into insignificance, and was rendered nearly useless. Every variety of
+culinary utensils, sparkling in all the brightness of the most elaborate
+cleanliness, and composed invariably of copper, brass, and tin, glowed
+in the bright radiance of the winter fire, as they stood ranged with the
+utmost nicety and effect on their appropriate shelves. An old-fashioned
+cistern of elaborately polished copper showed its bright face, polished
+as a mirror; and close beside stood a highly polished bread-trough and
+cover, composed of walnut-tree wood, rubbed by the hand of housewifery
+till you could see your face in it and from which issued a most tempting
+smell of hot bread. A long and substantial table occupied the centre of
+the kitchen; a tablecloth, which, though coarse in texture, vied with
+the falling snow for whiteness, covered its entire length; while for
+each expected guest was placed an earthenware plate, brown without, but
+white within, and by its side a knife, fork, and spoon, lustrous as
+silver itself. In the midst of the table, an immense tureen of vegetable
+soup smoked like the crater of a volcano, and diffused its savoury
+vapours over a dish of ham and greens, flanked by a most formidable
+array of mutton, most relishly stewed with onions and potatoes. Below
+was placed a large joint of roast veal, followed by two great plates of
+winter salad, supported by a couple of baskets of apples; and a similar
+number of cheeses completed the arrangements of the table. Three or four
+stone pitchers filled with sparkling cider, and a like quantity of
+loaves of brown bread, equal in size to the stones of a windmill, were
+placed at the discretionary use of the supping party.
+
+An old, shaggy, black shepherd dog, almost toothless, the superannuated
+patriarch of all the canine tribe employed on the farm, was, by reason
+of his great age and long services, indulged with permission to enjoy
+the cheering warmth of the chimney-corner; but, using his privilege with
+the utmost modesty and discretion, this venerable servitor, who answered
+to the pastoral name of Lysander, lay quietly stretched out in a secure
+side-nook, his nose resting on his paws, watching with the deepest
+attention the various culinary preparations which preceded the supper.
+
+The bill of fare thus presented to the reader, as the ordinary mode of
+living at the farm of Bouqueval, may strike some of our readers as
+unnecessarily sumptuous; but Madame Georges, faithfully following out
+the wishes of Rodolph, endeavoured by all possible means to improve the
+comforts of the labourers on the farm, who were always selected as being
+the most worthy and industrious individuals of their district. They
+were well paid, liberally treated, and so kindly used that to be
+engaged on the Bouqueval farm was the highest ambition of all the best
+labourers in that part of the country--an ambition which most
+essentially promoted the welfare and advantage of the masters they then
+served; for no applicant for employment at Bouqueval could obtain a
+favourable hearing, unless he came provided with most satisfactory
+testimonials from his last employer.
+
+Thus, though on a very small scale, had Rodolph created a species of
+model farm, which had for its aim not only the improvement of animals
+and agricultural operations, but, above all, improving the nature of man
+himself; and this he effected by making it worth their while to be
+active, honest, and intelligent.
+
+After having completed all the preparations for supper, and placed on
+the table a jug of wine to accompany the dessert, the farm-cook sounded
+the welcome tocsin, which told all that the cheering meal was prepared,
+and, their evening toil concluded, they might freely enjoy the delights
+of wholesome and temperate refreshment. Ere the sound had ceased to
+vibrate on the ear, a merry, joyous throng, composed of men and maidens
+to the number of twelve or fifteen, crowded around the table; the men
+had open, manly countenances, the women looked healthy and
+good-humoured, while the young girls belonging to the party wore the
+brightest glow of youth and innocence. Every face was lighted up with
+frank gaiety, content, and the satisfaction arising from the
+consciousness of having well fulfilled one's duty. Thus happily prepared
+in mind and body to do justice to the excellent fare set before them,
+the happy party took their appointed places at table.
+
+The upper end was occupied by an old, white-haired labourer, whose fine,
+bold, yet sensible expression of face, bespoke him a descendant of the
+ancient Gaulish mothers of the soil.
+
+Father Chatelain (for so was this Nestor called) had worked on the farm
+from his early childhood. When Rodolph purchased the farm, the old
+servant had been strongly recommended to him, and he was forthwith
+raised to the rank of overlooker, and, under the orders of Madame
+Georges, general superintendent of all outdoor work; and unbounded,
+indeed, was the influence possessed by Father Chatelain by virtue of his
+age, his knowledge, and experience.
+
+Every one having taken their seat, Father Chatelain, having fervently
+invoked a blessing, then, in pursuance of an ancient and pious custom,
+marked one of the loaves with the figure of a cross, and cut off a large
+slice as the share of the Virgin or the poor, then, pouring out a glass
+of wine with a similar consecration to charitable purposes, he
+reverently placed both bread and wine on a plate placed in the centre of
+the table purposely to receive them. At this moment the yard dogs barked
+furiously; old Lysander replied by a low growl, and, curling back his
+upper lip, displayed two or three still formidable fangs.
+
+"Some person is passing near the wall of the courtyard," observed Father
+Chatelain.
+
+Scarcely had the words been uttered, than the bell of the great gate
+sounded.
+
+"Who can this possibly be at so late an hour?" said the old labourer;
+"every one belonging to the place is in. Go and see who it is, Jean
+Rene."
+
+The individual thus addressed was a stout, able-bodied young labourer on
+the farm, who was then busily employed blowing his scalding hot soup,
+with a force of lungs that AEolus himself might have envied; but, used to
+prompt obedience, in a moment the half-raised spoon was deposited in its
+place, and, half stifling a sigh of regret, he departed on his errand.
+
+"This is the first time our good Madame Georges and Mlle. Marie have
+failed paying a visit to the warm chimney-corner, and looking on whilst
+we took our supper, for this long time," said Father Chatelain. "I am
+hungry as a hunter, but I shall not relish my supper half so well."
+
+"Madame Georges is in the chamber of Mlle. Marie, who found herself
+somewhat indisposed on her return from escorting M. le Cure to the
+rectory," replied Claudine, the girl who had conducted La Goualeuse back
+from the rectory, and thus unconsciously frustrated the evil designs of
+the Chouette.
+
+"I trust Mlle. Marie is only indisposed, not seriously ill, is she,
+Claudine?" inquired the old man, with almost paternal anxiety.
+
+"Oh, dear, no, Father Chatelain! God forbid! I hope and believe our dear
+mademoiselle is only just a little struck with the cold of the night,
+and her walk perhaps fatigued her. I trust she will be quite well by
+to-morrow; indeed Madame Georges told me as much, and said that, if she
+had had any fears, she should have sent to Paris for M. David, the negro
+doctor, who took such care of mademoiselle when she was so ill. Well, I
+cannot make out how any one can endure a black doctor! For my part I
+should not have the slightest confidence in anything he said or did. No,
+no! if one must have a doctor, let it be a Christian man with a white
+skin; but a downright blackamoor! O saints above! why, the very sight of
+him by my bedside would kill me!"
+
+"But did not this Monsieur David cure Mlle. Marie from the long illness
+with which she suffered when she first came here?" inquired the old man.
+
+"Yes, Father Chatelain, he certainly did."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Ah! but for all that, Father Chatelain, a doctor with a black face is
+enough to terrify any one--I should scream myself into fits if he were
+to come rolling up the great whites of his eyes at me."
+
+"But is not this M. David the same person who cured Dame Anica of that
+dreadful wound in her leg, which had confined her to her bed for upwards
+of three years?"
+
+"Yes, exactly so, Father Chatelain; he certainly did set old Dame Anica
+up again."
+
+"Well, then, my child?"
+
+"Nay, but only think!--a black man! and when one is ill, too! when one
+can so ill bear up against such horrid things. If he were only a little
+dark, or even deep brown, but quite, quite a black--all black--oh,
+Father Chatelain, I really cannot bring myself to think of it!"
+
+"Tell me, my child, what colour is your favourite heifer Musette?"
+
+"Oh, white--white as a swan, Father Chatelain; and such a milcher! I can
+say that for the poor thing without the least falsehood, a better cow we
+have not got on the farm."
+
+"And your other favourite, Rosette?"
+
+"Rosette? Oh, she is as black as a raven, not one white hair about her I
+should say; and, indeed, to do her justice, she is a first-rate milcher
+also. I hardly know which is the best, she or my pretty Musette."
+
+"And what coloured milk does she give?"
+
+"Why, white, of course, Father Chatelain; I really thought you knew
+that."
+
+"Is her milk as white and as good as the milk of your snowy pet,
+Musette?"
+
+"Every bit as good in colour and quality."
+
+"Although Rosette is a black cow?"
+
+"To be sure! why, Father Chatelain, what difference can it possibly make
+to the milk whether the cow that gives it is black, white, red, or
+brown?"
+
+"How, then, my good girl, can it in any way signify whether a doctor has
+a black or white skin, or what his complexion may be?"
+
+"Well," answered Claudine, fairly hunted into a corner from which no
+argument could rescue her,--"well, as regards what makes a black doctor
+not so good as a white one, it is--it is, because a black skin is so
+very ugly to look at, and a white one is so much more agreeable to one's
+eyes; I'm sure I can't think of any other reason, Father Chatelain, if I
+try for ever; but with cows the colour of the skin makes not the very
+least difference, of that you may be assured; but, then, you know
+there's a deal of difference between a cow and a man."
+
+These not very clear physiognomical reflections of Claudine, touching
+the effect of light or dark skins in the human and animal race, were
+interrupted by the return of Jean Rene, blowing his fingers with
+animation as he had before blown his soup.
+
+"Oh, how cold! how cold it is this night!" exclaimed he, on entering;
+"it is enough to freeze one to death; it is a pretty deal more snug and
+comfortable in-doors than out this bitter night. Oh, how cold it is!"
+
+"Why,--
+
+      'The frost that cometh from North and East
+       Biteth the most and ceaseth the least.'
+
+Don't you know that, my lad?" said the old superintendent Chatelain.
+"But who was it that rang so late?"
+
+"A poor blind man and a boy who leads him about, Father Chatelain."
+
+"And what does this poor blind man want?" inquired Chatelain.
+
+"The poor man and his son were going by the cross-road to Louvres, and
+have lost themselves in the snow; and as the cold is enough to turn a
+man into an icicle, and the night is pitch dark, the poor blind father
+has come to entreat permission for himself and lad to pass the night on
+the farm; he says he shall be for ever thankful for leave to lie on a
+little straw under a hovel, or in any out-building."
+
+"Oh, as for that, I am quite sure that Madame Georges, who never refuses
+charity to any unfortunate being, will willingly permit them to do so;
+but we must first acquaint her with it; go, Claudine, and tell her the
+whole story." Claudine disappeared.
+
+"And where is this poor man waiting?" asked Father Chatelain.
+
+"In the little barn just by."
+
+"But why in the barn? why put him there?"
+
+"Bless you, if I had left him in the yard, the dogs would have eaten him
+up alive! Why, Father Chatelain, it was no use for me to call out
+'Quiet, Medor! come here, Turk! down, Sultan!' I never saw dogs in such
+a fury. And, besides, we don't use our dogs on the farm to fly at poor
+folks, as they are trained to do at other places."
+
+"Well, my lads, it seems that the 'share for the poor' has not been laid
+aside in vain to-night. But try and sit a little closer; there, that'll
+do; now put two more plates and knives and forks for this blind
+traveller and his boy, for I feel quite certain what Madame Georges's
+answer will be, and that she will desire them to be housed here for the
+night."
+
+"It is really a thing I can't make out," said Jean Rene, "about the dogs
+being so very violent, especially Turk, who went with Claudine this
+evening to the rectory. Why, when I stroked him, to try and pacify him,
+I felt his coat standing up on end like so many bristles of a porcupine.
+Now, what do you say to that, eh, Father Chatelain--you who know almost
+everything?"
+
+"Why, my lad, I, 'who know everything,' say just this, that the beasts
+know far more than I do, and can see farther. I remember, in the autumn,
+when the heavy rains had so swollen the little river, I was returning
+with my team-horses one dark night--I was riding upon Cuckoo, the old
+roan horse, and deuce take me if I could make out any spot it would be
+safe to wade through, for the night was as dark as the mouth of a pit.
+Well, I threw the bridle on old Cuckoo's back, and he soon found what,
+I'll answer for it, none of us could have discovered. Now, who taught
+the dumb brute to know the safe from the unsafe parts of the stream, let
+me ask you?"
+
+"Ay, Father Chatelain, that's what I was waiting to ask you. Who taught
+the old roan to discover danger and escape from it so cleverly?"
+
+"The same Almighty wisdom which instructs the swallow to build in our
+chimneys, and guides the marten to make his nest among the reeds of our
+banks, my lad. Well, Claudine," said the ancient oracle of the kitchen
+to the blooming dairymaid, who just then entered, bearing on her arms
+two pairs of snowy white sheets, from which an odoriferous smell of sage
+and thyme was wafted along,--"well, I make no doubt but Madame Georges
+has sent permission for these poor creatures, the blind man and his
+child, to sleep here, has she not?"
+
+"These sheets are to prepare beds for them, in the little room at the
+end of the passage," said Claudine.
+
+"Go and bid them come in, then, Jean Rene; and you, Claudine, my good
+girl, put a couple of chairs near the fire--they will be glad of a good
+warm before sitting down to table."
+
+The furious barking of the dogs was now renewed, mingled with the voice
+of Jean Rene, who was endeavoring to pacify them; the door of the
+kitchen was abruptly opened, and the Schoolmaster and Tortillard entered
+with as much precipitation as though they feared a pursuit from some
+dangerous foe.
+
+"For the love of heaven, keep off your dogs!" cried the Schoolmaster, in
+the utmost terror; "they have been trying to bite us!"
+
+"They have torn a great bit out of my blouse," whined Tortillard,
+shivering with cold and pale with fear.
+
+"Don't be frightened, good man," said Jean Rene, shutting the door
+securely; "but I never before saw our dogs in such a perfect fury--it
+must be the cold makes them so spiteful; perhaps, being half frozen,
+they fancied biting you would serve to warm them--there is no knowing
+what mere animals may mean by what they do."
+
+"Why, are you going to begin, too?" exclaimed the old farmer, as
+Lysander, who had hitherto lain perfectly happy in the radiance of the
+glowing fire, started up, and, growling fiercely, was about to fly at
+the strangers. "This old dog is quiet enough, but, having heard the
+other dogs make such a furious noise, he thinks he must do the same.
+Will you lie down and be quiet, you old brute? Do you hear, sir? lie
+down!"
+
+At these words from Father Chatelain, accompanied by a significant
+motion of the foot, Lysander, with a low, deep growl of dissatisfaction,
+slowly returned to his favourite corner by the hearth, while the
+Schoolmaster and Tortillard remained trembling by the kitchen-door, as
+though fearful of approaching farther. The features of the ruffian were
+so hideous, from the frightful effects produced by the cold, that some
+of the servants in the kitchen shuddered with alarm, while others
+recoiled in disgust; this impression was not lost on Tortillard, who
+felt reassured by the terrors of the villagers, and even felt proud of
+the repulsiveness of his companion. This first confusion over, Father
+Chatelain, thinking only of worthily discharging the duties of
+hospitality, said to the Schoolmaster:
+
+"Come, my good friend--come near the fire and warm yourself thoroughly,
+and then you shall have some supper with us; for you happened to come
+very fortunately, just as we were sitting down to table. Here, sit down,
+just where I have placed your chair. But what am I thinking about?"
+added the worthy old labourer. "I ought to have spoken to your son, not
+you, seeing that it has pleased God to take away your eyesight--a heavy
+loss, a heavy loss; but let us hope all for your good, my friend, though
+you may not now think so. Here, my boy, lead your father to that snug
+place in the chimney-corner."
+
+"Yes, kind sir," drawled out Tortillard, with a nasal twang and canting,
+hypocritical tone; "may God bless you for your charity to the poor
+blind! Here, father, take my arm; lean on my shoulder, father; take
+care, take care, gently;" and, with affected zeal and tenderness, the
+urchin guided the steps of the brigand till they reached the indicated
+spot. As the pair approached Lysander, he uttered a low, growling noise;
+but as the Schoolmaster brushed past him, and the sagacious animal had
+full scent of his garments, he broke out into one of those deep howls
+with which, it is asserted by the superstitious, dogs frequently
+announce an approaching death.
+
+"What, in the devil's name, do all these cursed animals mean by their
+confounded noise?" said the Schoolmaster to himself. "Can they smell the
+blood on my clothes, I wonder? for I now recollect I wore the trousers I
+have on at present the night the cattle-dealer was murdered."
+
+"Did you notice that?" inquired Jean Rene of Father Chatelain. "Why, I
+vow that, as often as old Lysander had caught scent of the wandering
+stranger, he actually set up a regular death-howl."
+
+And this remark was followed up by a most singular confirmation of the
+fact; the cries of Lysander were so loud and mournful that the other
+dogs caught the sound (for the farmyard was only separated from the
+kitchen by a glazed window in the latter), and, according to the custom
+of the canine race, they each strove who should outdo the other in
+repeating and prolonging the funereal wail, which, according to vulgar
+belief, always foretells death. Though but little given to superstitious
+dread, the farm-people looked from one to another with a feeling of
+wonder not unmixed with awe. Even the Schoolmaster himself, diabolically
+hardened as he was, felt a cold shudder steal over him at the thought
+that all these fatal sounds burst forth upon the approach of him--the
+self-convicted murderer! while Tortillard, too audacious and hardened to
+enter into such alarms, with all the infidelity in which he had been
+trained, even from his mother's arms, looked on with delighted mockery
+at the universal panic, and was, perhaps, the only person present devoid
+of an uneasy feeling; but, once freed from his apprehensions of
+suffering from the violence of the animals, he listened even with
+pleasure to the horrible discord of their long-drawn-out wailings, and
+felt almost tempted to pardon them the fright they had originally
+occasioned him, in consideration of the perfect terror they had struck
+into the inhabitants of the farm, and for the gratification he derived
+from the convulsive horror of the Schoolmaster. But after the momentary
+stupor had passed away Jean Rene again quitted the kitchen, and the loud
+cracking of his whip soon put an end to the prophetic howlings of Medor,
+Turk, and Sultan, and quickly dispersed them to their separate kennels,
+and as the noise ceased, the gloomy cloud passed away from the kitchen,
+and the peasants looked up with the same honest cheerfulness they had
+worn upon the entrance of the two travellers. Ere long they had left off
+wondering at the repulsive ugliness of the Schoolmaster, and only
+thought with pity of his great affliction, in being blind; they
+commiserated the lameness of the poor boy, admired the interesting
+sharpness of his countenance, the deep, cute glance of his ever-moving
+eye, and, above all, loaded him with praises for the extreme care and
+watchfulness with which he attended to his afflicted parent. The
+appetite of the labourers, which had been momentarily forgotten, now
+returned with redoubled violence, and for a time nothing could be heard
+but the clattering of plates and rattling of knives and forks. Still,
+however busily employed with their suppers, the servants assembled round
+the table, both male and female, could not but remark, with infinite
+pleasure, the tender assiduity of the lad towards the blind creature who
+sat beside him. Nothing could exceed the devoted affection and filial
+care with which Tortillard prepared his meat for him, cutting both that
+and his bread with most accurate nicety, pouring out his drink, and
+never attempting even to taste a morsel himself, till his father
+expressed himself as having completed his supper. But, for all this
+dutiful attention, the young ruffian took ample and bitter revenge.
+Instigated as much by an innate spirit of cruelty as the desire of
+imitation natural to his age, Tortillard found an equal enjoyment with
+the Chouette in having something to torment (_a bete de souffrance_);
+and it was a matter of inexpressible exultation to his wretched mind
+that he, a poor, distorted, crippled, abject creature, should have it in
+his power to tyrannise over so powerful and ferocious a creature as the
+Schoolmaster,--it was like torturing a muzzled tiger. He even refined
+his gratification, by compelling his victim to endure all the agonies he
+inflicted, without wincing or exhibiting the slightest external sign of
+his suffering. Thus he accompanied each outward mark of devoted
+tenderness towards his supposed parent, by aiming a severe kick against
+the Schoolmaster's legs, on one of which there was (in common with many
+who had long worked in the galleys) a deep and severe wound, the effect
+of the heavy iron chain worn during the term of punishment around the
+right leg; and, by way of compelling the miserable sufferer to exercise
+a greater degree of stoical courage, the urchin always seized the moment
+when the object of his malice was either drinking or speaking.
+
+"Here, dear father! here is a nice peeled nut," said Tortillard, placing
+on the plate of his supposed parent a nut carefully prepared.
+
+"Good boy," said old Chatelain, smiling kindly at him. Then, addressing
+the bandit, he added: "However great may be your affliction, my friend,
+so good a son is almost sufficient to make up even for the loss of
+sight; but Providence is so gracious, he never takes away one blessing
+without sending another."
+
+"You are quite right, kind sir! My lot is a very hard one, and, but for
+the noble conduct of my excellent child, I--"
+
+A sharp cry of irrepressible anguish here broke from the quivering lips
+of the tortured man; the son of Bras Rouge had this time aimed his blow
+so effectually, that the point of his heavy-nailed shoe had reached the
+very centre of the wound, and produced unendurable agony.
+
+"Father! dear father! what is the matter?" exclaimed Tortillard, in a
+whimpering voice; then, suddenly rising, he threw both his arms round
+the Schoolmaster's neck, whose first impulse of rage and pain was to
+stifle the limping varlet in his Herculean grasp; and so powerfully did
+he compress the boy's chest against his own, that his impeded
+respiration vented itself in a low moaning sound. A few minutes, and
+Tortillard's last prank would have been played; but, reflecting that the
+lad was for the present indispensable to the furtherance of the schemes
+he had on hand, the Schoolmaster, by a violent effort, controlled his
+desire to annihilate his tormentor, and contented himself with pushing
+him off his shoulders back into his own chair. The sympathising group
+around the table were far from seeing through all this, and merely
+considered these close embraces as an interchange of paternal and filial
+tenderness, while the half suffocation and deadly pallor of Tortillard
+they attributed to emotion caused by the sudden illness of his beloved
+father.
+
+"What ailed you just now, my good man?" inquired Father Chatelain; "only
+see, you have quite frightened your poor boy. Why, he looks pale as
+death, and can scarcely breathe. Come, my little man; you must not take
+on so--your father is all right again."
+
+"I beg your pardon, gentlemen all," replied the Schoolmaster,
+controlling himself with much difficulty, for the pain he was still
+enduring was most excruciating. "I am better now. I'll tell you, with
+your kind leaves, all about it. You see I am by trade a working
+locksmith, and, one day that I was employed in beating out a huge bar of
+red hot iron, it fell over on my two legs, and burnt them so dreadfully
+that it has never healed; unfortunately, just now, I happened to strike
+the leg that is worst against the table, and the sudden agony it
+occasioned me drew forth the sudden cry which so much disturbed all this
+good company, and for which I humbly beg pardon."
+
+"Poor dear father!" whined out Tortillard, casting a look of fiendish
+malice at the shivering Schoolmaster, and wholly recovered from his late
+attack of excessive emotion. "Poor father! you have indeed got a bad leg
+nobody can cure. Ah, kind gentlemen, I hope you will never have such a
+shocking wound, and be obliged to hear all the doctors say it never will
+get well. No! never--never. Oh, my dear, dear father! how I wish I could
+but suffer the pain instead of you!"
+
+At this tender, moving speech, the females present expressed the utmost
+admiration for the dutiful speaker, and began feeling in their vast
+pockets for some more substantial mark of their regard.
+
+"It is unlucky, my honest friend," said old Chatelain, addressing the
+Schoolmaster, "you had not happened to come to this farm about three
+weeks ago, instead of to-night."
+
+"And why so, if you please?"
+
+"Because we had staying for a few days in the house a celebrated Paris
+doctor, who has an infallible remedy for all diseases of the legs. A
+worthy old woman, belonging to our village, had been confined to her
+bed upwards of three years with some affection of the legs. Well, this
+doctor, being here, as I said, heard of the case, applied an unguent to
+the wounds, and now, bless you, she is as surefooted, ay, and as swift,
+too, as any of our young girls; and the first holiday she makes she
+intends walking to the house of her benefactor, in the Allee des Veuves,
+at Paris, to return her grateful thanks. To be sure it is a good step
+from hence, but then, as Mother Anica says--Why, what has come over you
+again, my friend? Is your leg still so painful?"
+
+The mention of the Allee des Veuves had recalled such frightful
+recollections to the Schoolmaster, that, involuntarily, a cold shudder
+shook his frame, while a fearful spasm, by contracting his ghastly
+countenance, made it appear still more hideous.
+
+"Yes," replied he, trying to conceal his emotion, "a sudden darting pain
+seized me, and--Pray excuse my interrupting your kind and sensible
+discourse, and be pleased to proceed."
+
+"It really is a great pity," resumed the old labourer, "that this
+excellent doctor should not be with us at present; but I tell you what,
+he is as good as he is skilful, and I am quite sure if you let your
+little lad conduct you to his house when you return to Paris, that he
+will cure you. His address is not difficult to recollect, it is 17 Allee
+des Veuves. Even should you forget the number, it will not matter, for
+there are but very few doctors in the neighbourhood, and no other negro
+surgeon,--for, only imagine, this clever, kind, and charitable man is a
+black, but his heart is white and good. His name is David,--Doctor
+David,--you will be able to remember that name, I dare say."
+
+The features of the Schoolmaster were so seamed and scarred that it was
+difficult to perceive when his colour varied. He did, however, on the
+present occasion, turn ghastly pale as he first heard the exact number
+mentioned of Rodolph's house, and afterwards the description of the
+black doctor,--of David, the negro surgeon, who, by Rodolph's orders,
+had inflicted on him the fearful punishment, the terrible results of
+which were each hour more painfully developed. Father Chatelain,
+however, was too much interested in his subject to notice the deadly
+paleness of the Schoolmaster, and proceeded with his discourse:
+
+"When you leave us, my poor fellow, we will be sure to write his address
+on a slip of paper and give it to your son, for I know that, besides
+putting you in a certain way to be cured of your painful wound, it would
+be gratifying to M. David to be able to relieve your sufferings. Oh, he
+is so good,--never so happy as when he has rendered any person a
+service. I wish he had not always that mournful and dejected look. I
+fear he has some heavy care near his heart; and he is so good, so full
+of pity for all who suffer. Well, well, Providence will bless him in
+another world; but come, friend, let us drink to the health and
+happiness of your future benefactor,--here take this mug."
+
+"No, thank you!" returned the Schoolmaster, with a gloomy air; "none for
+me. I--I am not thirsty, and I never drink unless I am."
+
+"Nay, friend, but this is good old wine I have poured out for you; not
+cider," said the labourer. "Many tradespeople do not drink as good.
+Bless your heart, this farm is not conducted as other farms are,--what
+do you think of our style of living, by the by? have you relished your
+supper?"
+
+"All very good," responded the Schoolmaster mechanically, more and more
+absorbed in the painfulness of his ideas.
+
+"Well, then, as we live one day, so we do another. We work well, we live
+well, we have a good conscience, and an equally good bed to rest upon
+after the labours of the day. Our lives roll on in peace and
+contentment. There are seven labourers constantly employed on the farm,
+who are paid almost double wages to what others get; but then I can
+venture to assert, that if we are paid double, we do as much work among
+us as fourteen ordinary labourers would do. The mere husbandry servants
+have one hundred and fifty crowns a year, the dairy-women and other
+females engaged about the place sixty crowns, and a tenth share of the
+produce of the farm is divided among us all. You may suppose we do not
+idle away much time, or fail to make hay while the sun shines, for
+Nature is a bountiful mother, and ever returns a hundredfold to those
+who assiduously seek her favour; the more we give her, the more she
+returns."
+
+"Your master cannot get very rich if he treats you and pays you thus
+liberally," said the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Oh, our master is different to all others, and has a mode of repaying
+himself peculiarly his own."
+
+"From what you say," answered the blind man, hoping by engaging in
+conversation to escape from the gloominess of his own thoughts, "your
+master must be a very extraordinary person."
+
+"Indeed he is, my good man, a most uncommon master to meet with. Now, as
+chance has brought you among us, and a strange though a lucky chance for
+you it has proved, lying out of the highroad as this village does, it is
+so very seldom any stranger ever finds it out. Well, I was going to say,
+here you are, and no fault to find with your quarters, is there? Now, in
+all human probability, when you turn your back upon the place you will
+never return to it, but you shall not depart without hearing from me a
+description of our master and all he has done for the farm, upon
+condition that you promise to repeat it again wherever you go, and to
+whomsoever you may meet with. You will see, I mean, I beg pardon, you
+will then be able to understand."
+
+"I listen to you," answered the Schoolmaster; "proceed."
+
+"And I can promise you you will not be throwing away your time by
+listening," replied the venerable Chatelain. "Now, one day our master
+thought all at once: 'Here am I, rich enough to eat two dinners a day if
+I liked, but I don't. Now, suppose I were to provide a meal for those
+who have none at all, and enable such as can hardly procure half a
+dinner to enjoy as much good food as they desired, would not that be
+better than over-indulging myself? So it shall be,' says he, and away he
+goes to work, and, first thing, he buys this farm, which was not much of
+a concern then, and scarcely kept a couple of ploughs at work; and,
+being born and bred on the place, I ought to know something about it.
+Next, master made considerable additions to the farm. I'll tell you all
+about that by and by. At the head of the farm he placed a most worthy
+and respectable female, who had known a great deal of trouble in her
+past life--master always chose out people for their goodness and their
+misfortunes--and, when he brought the person I am telling you of here,
+he said to her in my hearing, 'I wish this place to be like the Temple
+of our great Maker, open to the deserving and the afflicted, but closed
+against the wicked and hardened reprobate.' So idle beggars are always
+turned from the gate; but those who are able and willing to work have
+always the opportunity set before them: the charity of labour, our
+master says, is no humiliation to him who receives it, but a favour and
+service conferred on the person whose labour is thus done; and the rich
+man who does not act upon this principle but ill employs his wealth. So
+said our master. But he did more than talk--he acted. There was formerly
+a road from here to Ecouen, which cut off a good mile of distance, but,
+Lord love you! it was one great rutty bog, impossible to get up or down
+it; it was the death of every horse, and certain destruction to every
+vehicle that attempted to pass through it. A little labour, and a
+trifling amount of money from each farmer in the adjoining country
+would soon have repaired the road; but they never could be brought to
+any unanimity on the subject, and, in proportion as one farmer would be
+anxious to contribute towards putting the road in order, the others
+would invariably decline sending either men or money to assist. So our
+master, perceiving all this, said, 'The road shall be repaired; but as
+those who can afford to contribute will not, and as it is more for
+convenience and accommodation to the rich than necessity for the poor,
+it shall first become useful to those who would work if they could get
+it to do, who have heart, and hands, and courage, but no employ. Well,
+this road shall be reserved as a constant occupation for persons of this
+description. Horsemen and carriages belonging to the rich and affluent,
+who care not how roads are repaired, so that they can travel at their
+ease, may go round by the farther side.' So, for example, whenever a
+strong, sturdy fellow presented himself at the farm, pleading hunger and
+want of work, I'd say to him, 'Here, my lad; here is a basin of warm
+nourishing soup--take it and welcome; then, if you wish for work, here
+is a pickaxe and spade; one of our people will show you the Ecouen road;
+make every day twelve feet of it good, by spreading and breaking the
+flints; and every evening, after your work is examined, you shall
+receive at the rate of forty sous for the quantity named; twenty sous
+for half as much; ten sous for a quarter; for less than that, nothing at
+all.' Then, towards evening, upon my return from labour, I used to go on
+the road, measure their work, and examine whether it was well done."
+
+"And only to think," interposed Jean Rene, in a fit of virtuous
+indignation, "only think, now, of there coming two heartless vagabonds,
+who drank their soup and walked off with the pickaxe and shovel. It is
+enough to sicken one of doing good or trying to benefit one's fellow
+creatures."
+
+"Quite right, Master Rene," exclaimed the other labourers; "so it is."
+
+"Come, come, lads," resumed Father Chatelain, "don't be too warm. Just
+see here. We might as well say it is useless to plant trees, or sow
+grain, because there are caterpillars, weevils, and other injurious
+insects that gnaw the leaves or devour the seeds put in the ground. No,
+no! we destroy the vermin. But God Almighty, who is no niggard, causes
+fresh buds to burst forth and new ears of corn to sprout; the damage is
+abundantly repaired, and no trace remains of the mischievous insects
+which have passed over our work. Am I not right, my friend?" said the
+old labourer, addressing the Schoolmaster.
+
+"No doubt--no doubt," replied the latter, who had appeared for some time
+past lost in a train of serious meditation.
+
+"Then, as for women and children, there is plenty of occupation for them
+also, according to their age and strength," added Father Chatelain.
+
+"Yet, spite of all this," observed Claudine, joining in the
+conversation, "the road gets on but very slowly."
+
+"Which only goes to prove, my good girl, that in this part of the
+country there is happily no scarcity of employment for the honest and
+industrious labourer."
+
+"But now, as in the case of a poor, helpless, afflicted creature such as
+I am," said the Schoolmaster, hastily, "would not the worthy owner of
+the farm grant me a humble corner in it for charity's sake--a shelter
+and a morsel of bread for the little while I have to remain a burden to
+any one in this troublesome world? Oh, my worthy sir, could I but obtain
+such a boon I would pass the remainder of my days in praying for a
+blessing on my benefactor."
+
+And these words were really pronounced in entire sincerity of meaning;
+not that compunction for his many crimes touched the brigand's stony
+heart, but he contrasted the happy peacefulness of the lives of these
+labourers to his own wretched, stormy existence; and still further did
+he envy them when he reflected upon all that the Chouette might have in
+store for him; he shuddered as he reflected upon the future she would
+provide for him, and more than ever regretted, by having recalled his
+old accomplice, having for ever lost the means of dwelling with good and
+honest persons, such as those with whom the Chourineur had placed him.
+Father Chatelain surveyed the Schoolmaster with an air of surprise.
+
+"My good man," said he, "I did not know you were so utterly destitute."
+
+"Alas! yes, it is even so. I lost my sight by an accident while working
+at my trade. I am going to Louvres to endeavour to find a distant
+relation there, who, I hope, may be willing to assist me. But, you are
+aware, people are not always so open-hearted as they should be; they do
+not like distressed objects, such as myself, coming to claim kindred,
+and are frequently harsh and unkind," answered the Schoolmaster, sighing
+deeply.
+
+"But the most selfish heart would grieve at your distress," replied the
+old labourer. "The most hard-hearted relative would pity a man like
+you--a good and honest workman overtaken by a sudden calamity, and left
+without hope or help. Then the moving spectacle of this young and tender
+child, your only friend and guide, would wring pity from the very
+stones. But how is it that the master for whom you worked previously to
+your accident has done nothing for you?"
+
+"He is now dead," said the Schoolmaster, after a short hesitation; "and
+he was my only friend on earth."
+
+"But then there is the hospital for the blind."
+
+"I am not the right age to qualify me for admission."
+
+"Poor man! yours is, indeed, a hard case."
+
+"Do you think it likely that, in the event of my relation at Louvres
+refusing to assist me, your master, whom I already respect without
+knowing, would take pity on me?"
+
+"Unfortunately, you see, the farm is not a hospital. Our general rule is
+to grant all infirm or afflicted travellers a temporary shelter of a
+night or a day in the house. Then some assistance is furnished, and they
+are put on their road with a prayer to kind Providence to take them
+under its charge."
+
+"Then you think there is no hope of interesting your master in my
+unhappy fate?" asked the brigand, with a sigh of regret.
+
+"I tell you what is the general custom here, my good man; but so
+compassionate a person as our master might go any lengths to serve you."
+
+"Do you really think so?" said the Schoolmaster. "Oh, if he would but
+permit me to remain here, I could live in any retired corner, and be
+happy and grateful for such a mere trifle of subsistence!"
+
+"As I said before, our master is capable of the most generous actions.
+But, were he to consent to your remaining at the farm, there would be no
+occasion for you to hide yourself; you would fare in every respect as
+you have seen us treated to-day. Some occupation would be found for your
+son suitable to his age and strength. He would not want for good
+instruction or wise counsels; our venerable minister would teach him
+with the other children of the village, and, in the words of Scripture,
+he would grow in goodness and in stature beneath the pious care of our
+excellent cure. But the best way for you to manage this will be to lay
+every particular of your case and petition before our 'Lady of Ready
+Help,' when she comes into the kitchen, as she is sure to do before you
+start on your journey to-morrow morning."
+
+"What name did you call your lady by?"
+
+"Nay, I meant our mistress, who always goes by that appellation amongst
+us. If she interests herself for you, your suit will be granted; for, in
+matters of charity, our master never opposes her smallest wish."
+
+"Oh, then," exclaimed the Schoolmaster, in a joyous tone, already
+exulting in his hoped-for deliverance from the power of the Chouette, "I
+will thankfully follow your advice, and speak to her whenever I have the
+blessed opportunity!"
+
+This hope found no echo in the mind of Tortillard, who felt not the
+slightest disposition to avail himself of the offers of the old
+labourer, and grow up in goodness under the auspices of the venerable
+cure. The inclinations of Bras Rouge's son were anything but rural,
+neither did his turn of mind incline to the pastoral. Faithful to the
+code of morality professed by the Chouette, and promulgated by her, he
+would have been severely distressed to see the Schoolmaster emancipate
+himself from their united tyranny; and he now thought it high time to
+recall the brigand from the illusory visions of flowery meads and all
+the _et coeteras_ of a country life, in which his fancy seemed
+revelling, to the realities of his present position.
+
+"Yes, oh, yes," repeated the Schoolmaster; "I will assuredly address my
+prayers to your 'Lady of Ready Help.' She will pity me and kindly--"
+
+Tortillard here interrupted him by a vigorous and artfully managed kick,
+so well directed, that, as before, it took the direst effect on the most
+sensitive spot. The intense agony for a time quite bereft the brigand of
+speech or breath; but remembering the fatal consequences of giving way
+to the feelings which boiled within him, he struggled for self-command,
+and, after a pause of a few minutes, added, in a faint and suffering
+voice, "Yes, I venture to hope your good mistress would pity and
+befriend me."
+
+"Dear father," said Tortillard, in a hypocritical tone, "you forget my
+poor dear aunt, Madame la Chouette, who is so fond of you. Poor Aunty
+Chouette, she would never part with you so easily, I know. Directly she
+heard of your staying here, she would come along with M. Barbillon and
+fetch you away--that she would, I know."
+
+"Madame la Chouette and M. Barbillon. Why this honest man seems to have
+relations among all the 'birds of the air and fishes of the sea,'"
+uttered Jean Rene in a voice of mirthful irony, giving his neighbour
+rather a vigorous poke with his elbow. "Funny, isn't it, Claudine?"
+
+"Oh, you great unfeeling calf! How can you make a joke on these poor
+creatures?" replied the tender-hearted dairy-maid, returning Jean Rene's
+thrust with sufficient interest to compromise the safety of his ribs.
+
+"Is Madame la Chouette a relation of yours?" inquired the old labourer
+of the Schoolmaster.
+
+"Yes, a distant one," answered the other, with a dull, dejected manner.
+
+"And is she the person you were going to Louvres to try and find?" asked
+Father Chatelain.
+
+"She is," replied the blind man; "but I think my son overrates her zeal
+on my account. However, under any circumstances, I shall speak to your
+excellent lady to-morrow, and entreat her aid to further my request with
+the kind, charitable owner of this farm, but," added he, purposely to
+divert the conversation into another channel, and so put an end to the
+imprudent remarks of Tortillard, "talking of farms, you promised to
+explain to me the difference that exists in the management of this farm
+and farms in general."
+
+"I did so," replied Father Chatelain, "and I will keep my word. Now,
+after having planned all I told you about the charity of labour, our
+master said to himself, 'There are many institutions where plans are
+devised, and rewards assigned, for improvements in the breed of horses,
+cattle, sheep, and other animals for the best constructed ploughs, and
+other agricultural implements. And I cannot help thinking that all this
+time we are not going to the fountain-head, and beginning, as we ought
+to begin, by improving the condition of the labouring classes
+themselves, before we give all this heed to the beast which perisheth.
+Good beasts are capital things, but good men are better, and more
+difficult to meet with. Give your horses and cattle plenty of good food,
+clear running water; place them either out-of-doors in a fine, healthy
+atmosphere, or give them a clean, well-managed stable, with good and
+regular attendance, and they will thrive to your heart's content, and be
+capable of reaching any degree of excellence. But with men, look you, it
+is quite another thing. You cannot elevate a man's mind as you can
+fatten an ox. The animal fattens on his pasture because its taste
+gratifies his palate; he eats because he likes what he feeds on, and his
+body profits and thrives in proportion to the pleasure with which he has
+devoured his food. Well, then, my opinion is, that to make good advice
+really profitable to men, they should be enabled clearly to perceive
+their own personal advantage in following it.'"
+
+"Just as the ox is profited by eating the fine grass that grows around
+him, Father Chatelain?" said several voices.
+
+"Precisely the same."
+
+"But, Father Chatelain," exclaimed another voice. "I have heard talk of
+a sort of farm where young thieves, who might in other respects have
+conducted themselves very well, are taken in, taught all sorts of
+farming knowledge, and fed and treated like princes."
+
+"You have heard quite right, my good fellow, there is such an
+institution, and, as far as it goes, is founded on pure and just
+motives, and is calculated to do much good. We should never despair for
+the wicked, but we should also hope all things for the good. Suppose now
+a strong, healthy, and industrious young man, of excellent character,
+ready and willing to work, but desirous of receiving good instruction in
+his way of life, were to present himself at the place you are speaking
+of--this farm of reclaimed thieves--well, the first question would be,
+'Well, my chap, are you a rogue and a vagabond?' 'No!' 'Oh, then we
+can't receive you here--we've no room for honest lads.'"
+
+"What you say, father, is right, every word of it," rejoined Jean Rene.
+"Rascals are provided for, while honest men want; and beasts are
+considered, and their condition continually improved, while men are
+passed over and left in ignorance and neglect."
+
+"It was purposely to remedy what you complain of, my brave lad, that our
+master took this farm (as I was mentioning to our blind visitor). 'I
+know very well,' said he, 'that honest men will be rewarded on high, but
+then, you see, it is far and long to look forward to, and there are many
+(and much to be pitied are they) who can neither look to such a
+distance, nor wait with patience the indefinite period which bids them
+live on hope alone. Then how are these poor, depressed, and toil-worn
+creatures to find leisure thus to seek religious comfort? Rising at the
+first dawn of day, they toil and labour with weary limbs, till night
+releases them and sends them to their wretched hovels. Sunday is spent
+by them at the public-house, drinking to drive away the recollections
+both of their past and future wretchedness. Neither can these poor
+beings turn their very hardships to a good account by extracting a
+useful moral from them. After a hard day's work does their bread seem
+less coarse and black, their pallet less hard, their infants less sickly
+and meagre, their wives less worn down by giving nourishment to the
+feeble babes of their breast? No, no, far from it. Alas, the thin,
+half-starved mother is but ill calculated to nourish another, when she
+is obliged to yield her slender share of the family meal to still the
+clamours of her famishing children. Yet all this might be endured, aye,
+even cheerfully, for use has familiarised them with hardships and
+privations; their bread is food, though coarse and homely, their straw
+bed rests their weary limbs, and their children, though stunted and
+sickly, live on. All these, I say, could be borne, did no comparison
+arise between their own poverty and the condition of others; but, when
+they visit the town or city on market-days, they see an abundance of
+good white loaves crowding the windows of the bakers' shops; warm, soft
+mattresses and blankets are displayed for sale to such as have the means
+of purchasing; children fresh and blooming as the flowers of May are
+playing joyously about, and even from the superabundance of their meals
+casting a portion to the dogs and other pet animals. Ah! human courage
+gives way at this reverse in the picture of human condition; and when
+the tired, care-worn men return to their mud hovels, their black bread
+and straw pallet, and are surrounded by a number of squalid,
+half-starved, wailing infants, to whom they would gladly have brought
+the share of cakes and buns thrown by the pampered children of great
+towns in the streets, or cast to the animals, then bitter discontent and
+repining take possession of their mind, and, utterly forgetting that on
+high is One who careth for all, they say, "Why is this difference
+allowed? and, if there must be both rich and poor in the world, why were
+not we born to riches? why should not every man have his turn in worldly
+prosperity? We are not justly used or fairly treated in being always
+poor and hard worked." Of course, all this is both sinful and
+unreasonable; neither does it in any manner serve to lighten their load;
+and yet they must go on, bending, staggering under the burden too heavy
+for them to bear, till they sink, utterly exhausted and worn out. They
+must toil, toil on, without hope, without relaxing their daily efforts,
+or without once daring to entertain the idea that, by a long continuance
+in honest, virtuous, industrious conduct, the day might come when, like
+the great Creator of all, they might rest from their labours, and behold
+peaceful ease succeeding the hard-griping hand of poverty. Think of a
+whole life passed thus, in one continued struggle for the bare means of
+life, without a glimmer of hope to cheer the thorny path. What must such
+a life be like? Why, it would resemble one long rainy day, without a
+single ray of brightness from the blessed sun to help us through it.
+Then labour is resumed with an unwilling and dissatisfied spirit. "What
+does it signify to us," cry the worn-out labourers, "whether the harvest
+yields ill or well? Whether the ears of corn be heavy or light makes no
+difference to us. Why should we overwork ourselves, or trouble our heads
+with matters that only concern our master? It is sufficient for us to
+act with strict honesty. We will not commit any crime, because there are
+laws ready to punish such as do; but neither will we try to perform acts
+of goodness, because for those the laws provide no recompense." Such a
+mode of arguing, my boys, is as unwise as it is wrong and sinful, but,
+depend upon it, it is true to nature. From this indifference comes
+idleness, and from idleness to crime the distance is very short. Now,
+unfortunately, among the class I have been describing, the far greater
+proportion consists of those whose conduct may be considered as neither
+good nor bad, that is to say, without any particular leaning either way,
+and, consequently, a mere trifle might firmly enlist them in the service
+of virtue or vice. These are the very individuals,' continued our
+master, 'we ought to try and improve, just as we should have done had
+they been born to the honour of figuring as animals with hoofs, horns,
+or woolly coats. Let us continue to point out to them how completely it
+is to their interest to be active, industrious, steady, and well
+qualified to discharge their several duties; let us effectually convince
+them that, by becoming better men, they will also be much happier; let
+them see how closely their good behaviour and prosperity are
+interwoven, and, that good advice may sink the deeper into their hearts,
+give them, as it were, such a taste of earthly comfort as shall, in a
+slight degree, communicate to them the hope and notion of expecting the
+unspeakable reward prepared by the Great Giver of all, whose dwelling is
+on high.'
+
+"Having well arranged his plans, our master caused it to be made known
+in the environs that he wished to engage twelve farm servants, six men
+and six females; but that his choice would be entirely regulated by the
+most satisfactory certificates of good conduct obtained from the civil
+and religious authorities in their native place. They were to be paid
+like princes, fed upon the best food to their hearts' content; and
+further, a tenth part of the produce of the harvest was to be shared
+among the labourers. The engagement at the farm was to last but two
+years, at the end of which time they were to give place to other
+labourers, chosen upon the same terms; but, at the expiration of five
+years, the original labourers were taken on again, in the event of there
+being any vacancies; so that, since the establishment of this farm, it
+is usual for the labourers and working classes in the neighbourhood to
+say, 'Let us be active, honest, and industrious, so as to obtain a high
+character for such good qualities, and, perhaps, one day we may be
+fortunate to get engaged at Bouqueval Farm. There, for a couple of
+years, we shall lead a life of perfect happiness. We shall learn our
+business thoroughly; we shall save a little money, so that, when our
+time is up, every one will be glad to engage us, because they know that
+we must have had first-rate characters to have been admitted on the
+establishment at all.'"
+
+"I am already bespoke by M. Dubreuil for his farm at Arnouville," said
+Jean Rene.
+
+"And I am engaged to a first-rate service at Gonesse," chimed in another
+labourer.
+
+"You see, my good friend, by this plan everybody is a gainer, the
+neighbouring farmers particularly. There are but twelve places for
+servants on the farm, but there are, perhaps, fifty candidates who have
+all earned their right to solicit an engagement by certificates and
+testimonials of excellent conduct. Well, though thirty-eight out of the
+fifty must be disappointed, yet the good which is in them will still
+remain; and there are so many good and deserving characters in the
+environs we can safely reckon upon; for, though they have failed in this
+application, they still live in hopes of succeeding another time. Why,
+for every prize animal to which the medal is assigned, whether for
+swiftness, strength, or beauty, there must be a hundred or more trained
+to stand forward and dispute the choice; and those animals rejected do
+not lose any of those qualifications because they were not accepted; far
+from it; their value is acknowledged, and they quickly find persons
+desirous of possessing them. Now, friend," said Father Chatelain, having
+fairly talked himself out of breath, "do you not confess that I was
+right when I said ours was no common farm, any more than our employer
+was no ordinary master?"
+
+"Indeed," said the Schoolmaster, "your account is most interesting, and
+fully bears out all you asserted. But, the more I hear of the exalted
+views and noble generosity of your master, the more earnestly do I pray
+he may be induced to look with pity on my wretched condition. To such a
+man, so filled with a desire to improve the condition of God's
+creatures, a charitable action more or less would make but little
+difference. Oh, tell me beforehand his name, and that of your kind Lady
+of the Ready Help, that I may already bless and thank them; for full
+certain am I, minds so bent upon good deeds will never turn a deaf ear
+to my petition."
+
+"Now I dare say you expect to be told the high-sounding titles of some
+great, grand personages. But, bless you! no such thing; no more parade
+about their names than those of the saints themselves. 'Our Lady of
+Help' is called Madame Georges, and our good master plain M. Rodolph."
+
+"Merciful powers! My wife! my judge! my executioner!" faintly exclaimed
+the robber, struck almost speechless at this unexpected revelation.
+"Rodolph!--Madame Georges!"
+
+It was wholly impossible for the Schoolmaster to entertain a doubt
+respecting the identity of the persons to whom those names belonged.
+Previously to adjudging him his fearful punishment, Rodolph had spoken
+of the lively interest he took in all that concerned Madame Georges. The
+recent visit of the negro David to this farm was another conclusive
+proof of there being no mistake in the matter. It seemed as though the
+very hand of Providence had brought about this singular rencontre,
+overthrowing as it so completely did his recently cherished hopes of
+emancipation from his present misery, through the intervention of the
+generosity of the proprietor of this farm. To fly was his first impulse.
+The very name of Rodolph inspired him with the most intense terror.
+Possibly he was even now in the house. Scarcely recovered from his first
+alarm, the brigand rose from the table, and, grasping the hand of
+Tortillard, exclaimed, in a wild and terrified manner:
+
+"Let us be gone!--quick!--lead me hence. Let us go, I say."
+
+The whole of the servants looked on with astonishment.
+
+"Go!" said Father Chatelain, with much surprise. "Why? Wherefore should
+you go? What are you thinking about, my friend? Come, what fresh whim is
+this? Are you quite in your right senses?"
+
+Tortillard cleverly availed himself of this last suggestion, and,
+uttering a deep sigh, touched his forehead significantly with his
+forefinger, so as to convey to the minds of the wondering labourers the
+impression that his pretended parent was not quite right in his head.
+The signal elicited a corresponding gesture of pity and due
+comprehension.
+
+"Come, I say, come!" persisted the Schoolmaster, endeavouring to draw
+the boy along with him; but, fully determined not to quit such
+comfortable quarters to wander about in the fields all night during the
+frost and snow, Tortillard began in a whimpering voice to say:
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear! poor father has got one of his old fits come on
+again. There, there, father, sit down and keep yourself quiet. Pray do,
+and don't think of wandering out in the cold--it would kill you, maybe.
+No, not if you are ever so angry with me, will I be so wicked as to lead
+you out in such weather." Then, addressing himself to the labourers, he
+said, "Will none of you good gentlemen help me to keep my poor dear
+father from risking his life by going out to-night?"
+
+"Yes, yes, my boy," answered Father Chatelain; "make yourself perfectly
+easy. We will not allow your father to quit the place. He shall stay
+here to-night, in spite of himself."
+
+"Surely you will not keep me here against my will?" inquired the
+wretched Schoolmaster, in hurried accents; "and perhaps, too, I should
+offend your master by my presence--that Monsieur Rodolph. You told me
+the farm was not an hospital; once more, therefore, I ask you to let me
+go forth in peace on my way."
+
+"Offend our master!--that you would not, I am quite sure. But make
+yourself easy on that score. I am sorry to say that he does not live
+here, neither do we see him half as frequently as we could wish. But, if
+even he had been here, your presence would have made no sort of
+difference to him."
+
+"No, no," persisted the blind man with continued alarm; "I have changed
+my mind about applying to him. My son is right. No doubt my relation at
+Louvres will take care of me. I will go there at once."
+
+"All I have got to say," replied Father Chatelain, kindly conceiving
+that he was speaking to a man whose brain was unhappily affected, "is
+just this--that to attempt to proceed on your journey with this poor
+child to-night is wholly out of the question. Come, let me put matters
+to rights for you, and say no more about it."
+
+Although now being reassured of Rodolph's not being at Bouqueval, the
+terrors of the Schoolmaster were by no means dissipated; and, spite of
+his frightfully disfigured countenance, he was in momentary dread of
+being recognized by his wife, who might at any moment enter the kitchen,
+when he was perfectly persuaded she would instantly denounce and give
+him into custody; his firm impression having been, from the hour of
+receiving his horrible punishment from the hands of Rodolph, that it was
+done to satisfy the hatred and vengeance of Madame Georges. But, unable
+to quit the farm, the ruffian found himself wholly at the mercy of
+Tortillard. Resigning himself, therefore, to what was unavoidable, yet
+anxious to escape from the eyes of his wife, he said to the venerable
+labourer:
+
+"Since you kindly assure me my being here will in no way displease
+either your master or mistress, I will gladly accept your hospitality;
+but, as I am much fatigued, and must set out again at break of day, I
+would humbly ask permission to go at once to my bed."
+
+"Oh, yes, to-morrow morning by all means, and as soon as you like; we
+are very early people here. And, for fear even that you should again
+wander from the right road, some one shall conduct you part of the way."
+
+"If you have no objection," said Jean Rene, addressing Father Chatelain,
+"I will see the poor man a good step on the road; because Madame Georges
+said yesterday I was to take the chaise and go to the lawyer's at
+Villiers le Bel to fetch a large sum of money she requires of him."
+
+"Go with the poor blind traveller by all means," replied Father
+Chatelain; "but you must walk, mind. Madame has changed her mind about
+sending to Villiers del Bel, and, wisely reflecting that it was not
+worth while to have so large a sum of money lying useless at the farm,
+has determined to let it remain with the lawyer till Monday next, which
+will be the day she requires it."
+
+"Of course, Father Chatelain; mistress knows best. But please to tell me
+why she should consider it unsafe to have money at the farm. What is she
+afraid of?"
+
+"Of nothing, my lad. Thank God, there is no occasion for fear. But, for
+all that, I would much rather have five hundred sacks of corn on the
+premises than ten bags of crowns. Come," said old Chatelain, addressing
+himself to the brigand and Tortillard, "come, follow me, friend; and you
+too, my lad." Then, taking up a small lamp, he conducted his two guests
+to a chamber on the ground floor, first traversing a large passage into
+which several doors opened. Placing the light on a table, the old
+labourer said to the Schoolmaster, "Here is your lodging, and may God
+grant you a good and peaceful night's repose, my good friend. As for
+you, my little man, you are sure to sleep sound and well; it belongs to
+your happy age to do so."
+
+The Schoolmaster, pensive and meditative, sat down by the side of the
+bed to which Tortillard conducted him. At the instant when Father
+Chatelain was quitting the room, Tortillard made him a sign indicative
+of his desire to speak with him alone, and hastily rejoined him in the
+passage.
+
+"What is it, my boy, you have to say to me?" inquired the old man,
+kindly.
+
+"Ah, my kind sir, I only wanted to say that my father is frequently
+seized during the night with most violent convulsion-fits, which require
+a much stronger person than I am to hold him; should I be obliged to
+call for help, is there any person near who could hear me?"
+
+"Poor child!" said the labourer, sympathisingly; "make yourself easy.
+There,--do you see that door beside the staircase?"
+
+"Oh, yes, good, kind gentleman; I see it."
+
+"Well, one of the farm labourers sleeps in that room. You will only just
+have to run to him. He never locks his door; and he will come to your
+father in an instant."
+
+"Thank you, sir; God bless you! I will remember all your kindness when I
+say my prayers. But suppose, sir, the man and myself were not strong
+enough together to manage my poor father when these violent convulsions
+come on, could you, who look so good, and speak so kind--could you be
+kind enough to come and tell us what to do?"
+
+"Me, my boy? Oh, I sleep, as well as all the other men servants, out of
+the house, in a large outbuilding in the courtyard. But make yourself
+quite comfortable. Jean Rene could manage a mad bull, he is so powerful.
+Besides, if you really wished any further help he would go and call up
+our old cook; she sleeps on the first floor, even with our mistress and
+young mademoiselle, and I can promise you that our old woman is a most
+excellent sick-nurse should your father require any one to attend to him
+when the fit is over."
+
+"Thank you, kind gentleman, a thousand times. Good-night, sir. I will go
+now and pray of God to bless you for your kindness and pity to the poor
+blind."
+
+"Good night, my lad! Let us hope both you and your father will enjoy a
+sound night's rest, and have no occasion to require any person's help.
+You had better return to your room now; your poor father may be wanting
+you."
+
+"I will, sir. Good night, and thank you!"
+
+"God preserve you both, my child!" And the old man returned to the
+kitchen.
+
+Scarcely had he turned his back than the limping rascal made one of
+those supremely insulting and derisive gestures familiar to all the
+blackguards of Paris, consisting in slapping the nape of the neck
+repeatedly with the left hand, darting the right hand quite open
+continually out in a straight line. With the most consummate audacity,
+this dangerous child had just gleaned, under the mask of guileless
+tenderness and apprehension for his father, information most important
+for the furtherance of the schemes of the Chouette and Schoolmaster. He
+had ascertained during the last few minutes that the part of the
+building where he slept was only occupied by Madame Georges,
+Fleur-de-Marie, an old female servant, and one of the farm-labourers.
+Upon his return to the room he was to share with the blind man,
+Tortillard carefully avoided approaching him. The former, however, heard
+his step, and growled out:
+
+"Where have you been, you vagabond?"
+
+"What! you want to know, do you, old blind 'un?"
+
+"Oh, I'll make you pay for all you have made me suffer this evening, you
+wretched urchin!" exclaimed the Schoolmaster, rising furiously, and
+groping about in every direction after Tortillard, feeling by the walls
+as a guide. "I'll strangle you when I catch you, you young fiend--you
+infernal viper!"
+
+"Poor, dear father! How prettily he plays at blind-man's buff with his
+own little boy," said Tortillard, grinning, and enjoying the ease with
+which he escaped from the impotent attempts of the Schoolmaster to seize
+him, who, though impelled to the exertion by his overboiling rage, was
+soon compelled to cease, and, as had been the case before, to give up
+all hopes of inflicting the revenge he yearned to bestow on the impish
+son of Bras Rouge.
+
+Thus compelled to submit to the impudent persecution of his juvenile
+tormentor, and await the propitious hour when all his injuries could
+safely be avenged, the brigand determined to reserve his powerless wrath
+for a fitting opportunity of paying off old scores, and, worn out in
+body by his futile violence, threw himself, swearing and cursing, on the
+bed.
+
+"Dear father!--sweet father!--have you got the toothache that you swear
+so? Ah, if Monsieur le Cure heard you, what would he say to you? He
+would give you such penance! Oh, my!"
+
+"That's right!--go on!" replied the ruffian, in a hollow and suppressed
+voice, after long enduring this entertaining vivacity on the part of the
+young gentleman. "Laugh at me!--mock me!--make sport of my calamity,
+cowardly scoundrel that you are! That is a fine, noble action, is it
+not? Just worthy of such a mean, ignoble, contemptible soul as dwells
+within that wretched, crooked body!"
+
+"Oh, how fine we talk! How nice we preach about being generous, and all
+that, don't we?" cried Tortillard, bursting into peals of laughter. "I
+beg your pardon, dear father, but I can't possibly help thinking it so
+funny to hear you, whose fingers were regular fish-hooks, picking and
+stealing whatever came in their way; and, as for generosity, I beg you
+don't mention it, because, till you got your eyes poked out I don't
+suppose you ever thought of such a word!"
+
+"But, at least, I never did you any harm. Why, then, torment me thus?"
+
+"Because, in the first place, you said what I did not like to the
+Chouette; then you had a fancy for stopping and playing the fool among
+the clodhoppers here. Perhaps you mean to commence a course of asses'
+milk?"
+
+"You impudent young beggar! If I had only had the opportunity of
+remaining at this farm--which I now wish sunk in the bottomless pit, or
+blasted with eternal lightning--you should not have played your tricks
+of devilish cruelty with me any longer!"
+
+"You to remain here! that would be a farce! Who, then, would Madame la
+Chouette have for her _bete de souffrance_? Me, perhaps, thank
+ye!--don't you wish you may get it?"
+
+"Miserable abortion!"
+
+"Abortion! ah, yes, another reason why I say, as well as Aunt Chouette,
+there is nothing so funny as to see you in one of your unaccountable
+passions--you, who could kill me with one blow of your fist; it's more
+funny than if you were a poor, weak creature. How very funny you were at
+supper to-night! _Dieu de Dieu!_ what a lark I had all to myself! Why,
+it was better than a play at the Gaite. At every kick I gave you on the
+sly, your passion made all the blood fly in your face, and your white
+eyes became red all round; they only wanted a bit of blue in the middle
+to have been real tri-coloured. They would have made two fine cockades
+for the town-sergeant, wouldn't they?"
+
+"Come, come, you like to laugh--you are merry: bah! it's natural at your
+age--it's natural--I'm not angry with you," said the Schoolmaster, in an
+air of affected carelessness, hoping to propitiate Tortillard; "but,
+instead of standing there, saying saucy things, it would be much better
+for you to remember what the Chouette told you; you say you are very
+fond of her. You should examine all over the place, and get the print of
+the locks. Didn't you hear them say they expected to have a large sum of
+money here on Monday? We will be amongst them then, and have our share.
+I should have been foolish to have stayed here; I should have had enough
+of these asses of country people at the end of a week, shouldn't I,
+boy?" asked the ruffian, to flatter Tortillard.
+
+"If you had stayed here I should have been very much annoyed, 'pon my
+word and honour," replied Bras Rouge's son, in a mocking tone.
+
+"Yes, yes, there's a good business to be done in this house; and, if
+there should be nothing to steal, yet I will return here with the
+Chouette, if only to have my revenge," said the miscreant, in a tone
+full of fury and malice, "for now I am sure it is my wife who excited
+that infernal Rodolph against me; he who, in blinding me, has put me at
+the mercy of all the world, of the Chouette, and a young blackguard like
+yourself. Well, if I cannot avenge myself on him, I will have vengeance
+against my wife,--yes, she shall pay me for all, even if I set fire to
+this accursed house and bury myself in its smouldering ruins. Yes, I
+will--I will have--"
+
+"You will, you want to get hold of your wife, eh, old gentleman? She is
+within ten paces of you! that's vexing, ain't it? If I liked, I could
+lead you to the door of her room, that's what I could, for I know the
+room. I know it--I know it--I know it," added Tortillard, singing
+according to his custom.
+
+"You know her room?" said the Schoolmaster, in an agony of fervent joy;
+"you know it?"
+
+"I see you coming," said Tortillard; "come, play the pretty, and get on
+your hind legs like a dog when they throw him a dainty bone. Now, old
+Cupid!"
+
+"You know my wife's chamber?" said the miscreant, turning to the side
+whence the sound of Tortillard's voice proceeded.
+
+"Yes, I know it; and, what's still better, only one of the farm servants
+sleeps on the side of the house where we are. I know his door--the key
+is in it--click, one turn, and he's all safe and fast. Come, get up, old
+blind Cupid!"
+
+"Who told you all this?" asked the blind scoundrel, rising
+involuntarily.
+
+"Capital, Cupid! By the side of your wife's room sleeps an old cook--one
+more turn of the key, and click! we are masters of the house--masters of
+your wife, and the young girl with the gray mantle that you must catch
+hold of and carry off. Now, then, your paw, old Cupid; do the pretty to
+your master directly."
+
+"You lie! you lie! how could you know all this?"
+
+"Why, I'm lame in my leg, but not in my head. Before we left the kitchen
+I said to the old guzzling labourer that sometimes in the night you had
+convulsions, and I asked him where I could get assistance if you were
+attacked. He said if you were attacked I might call up the man servant
+and the cook; and he showed me where they slept; one down, the other up
+stairs in the first floor, close to your wife--your wife--your wife!"
+
+And Tortillard repeated his monotonous song. After a lengthened silence
+the Schoolmaster said to him, in a calm voice, but with an air of
+desperate determination:
+
+"Listen, boy. I have stayed long enough. Lately--yes, yes, I confess
+it--I had a hope which now makes my lot appear still more frightful; the
+prison, the _bagne_, the guillotine, are nothing--nothing to what I have
+endured since this morning; and I shall have the same to endure always.
+Lead me to my wife's room; I have my knife here; I will kill her. I
+shall be killed afterwards; but what of that? My hatred swells till it
+chokes me; I shall have revenge, and that will console me. What I now
+suffer is too much--too much! for me, too, before whom everybody
+trembled. Now, lad, if you knew what I endure, even you would pity me.
+Even now my brain appears ready to burst; my pulse beats as if my veins
+would burst; my head whirls--"
+
+"A cold in your 'knowledge-box,' old chap--that's it; sneeze--that'll
+cure you," said Tortillard, with a loud grin; "what say you to a pinch
+of snuff, old brick?"
+
+And striking loudly on the back of his left hand, which was clenched, as
+if he were tapping on the lid of a snuff-box, he sang:
+
+      "J'ai du bon tabac dans ma tabatiere;
+       J'ai du bon tabac, tu n'en auras pas."
+
+"_Oh, mon Dieu! mon Dieu!_ they will drive me mad!" cried the brigand,
+becoming really almost demented by a sort of nervous excitement arising
+from bloodthirsty revenge and implacable hatred, which in vain sought to
+satiate itself. The exuberant strength of this monster could only be
+equalled by the impossibility of satisfying his deadly desires. Let us
+imagine a hungry, furious, maddened wolf, teased during a whole day by a
+child through the bars of his den, and scenting within two paces of him
+a victim who would at once satisfy his hunger and his rage. At the last
+taunt of Tortillard the brigand almost lost his senses; unable to reach
+his victim, he desired in his frenzy to shed his own blood, for his
+blood was stifling him. One moment he resolved to kill himself, and, had
+he had a loaded pistol in his hand, he would not have hesitated; he
+fumbled in his pocket, and drew out a clasp-knife, opened it, and raised
+it to strike; but, quick as were his movements, reflection, fear, and
+vital instinct were still more rapid,--the murderer lacked courage,--his
+arm fell on his knees. Tortillard had watched all his actions with an
+attentive eye, and, when he saw the finale of this pseudo-tragedy, he
+continued, mockingly,--
+
+"How, boys, a duel? Ah, pluck the chickens!"
+
+The Schoolmaster, fearing that he should lose his senses if he gave way
+to an ineffectual burst of fury, turned a deaf ear to this fresh insult
+of Tortillard, who so impertinently commented on the cowardice of an
+assassin who recoiled from suicide. Despairing of escape from what he
+termed, by a sort of avenging fatality, the cruelty of his cursed child,
+the ruffian sought to try what could be done by assailing the avarice of
+the son of Bras Rouge.
+
+"Ah," said he to him, in a tone almost supplicatory, "lead me to the
+door of my wife's room, and take anything you like that's in her room
+and run away with it! leave me to myself. You may cry out 'murder' if
+you like; they will apprehend me--kill me on the spot--I care not, I
+shall die avenged, if I have not the courage to end my existence myself.
+Oh, lead me there--lead me there; depend on it she has gold, jewels,
+anything, and you may take all, all for yourself, for your own, do you
+mind?--your own; only lead me to the door where she is."
+
+"Yes, I mind well enough; you want me to lead you to her door, then to
+her bed, and then to tell you when to strike, then to guide your
+hand--eh! that's it, ain't it? You want to make me a handle to your
+knife, old monster!" replied Tortillard, with an expression of contempt,
+anger, and horror, which, for the first time in his life gave an
+appearance of seriousness to his weasel face, usually all impertinence
+and insolence; "I'll be killed first, I tell you, sooner than I'll lead
+you to where your wife is!"
+
+"You refuse?"
+
+The son of Bras Rouge made no reply. He approached with bare feet and
+without being heard by the Schoolmaster, who, seated on the bed, still
+held his large knife in his hand, and then, in a moment, with marvellous
+quickness and dexterity, Tortillard snatched from him his weapon, and
+with one jump skipped to the further end of the chamber.
+
+"My knife! my knife!" cried the brigand, extending his arms.
+
+"No; for then you might to-morrow morning ask to speak with your wife
+and try to kill her, since, as you say, you have had enough of life, and
+are such a coward that you don't dare kill yourself."
+
+"How he defends my wife against me!" said the bandit, whose intellect
+became obscure. "This little wretch is a devil! Where am I? Why does he
+try to save her?"
+
+"Because I like it," said Tortillard, whose face resumed its usual
+appearance of sly impudence.
+
+"Ah, is that it?" murmured the Schoolmaster, whose mind was wandering;
+"well, then, I'll fire the house! we'll all burn--all! I prefer that
+furnace to the other. The candle! the candle!"
+
+"Ah! ah! ah!" exclaimed Tortillard, bursting out again into loud
+laughter. "If your own candle--your 'peepers'--had not been snuffed out,
+and for ever, you would have known that ours had been extinguished an
+hour ago." And Tortillard sang:
+
+      "Ma chandelle est morte,
+        Je n'ai plus de feu."
+
+The Schoolmaster gave a deep groan, stretched out his arms, and fell
+heavily on the floor, his face on the ground, and, struck by a rush of
+blood, remained motionless.
+
+"Not to be caught, old boy," said Tortillard; "that's only a trick to
+make me come to you that you may serve me out! When you have been long
+enough on the floor you'll get up."
+
+Bras Rouge's boy resolved not to go to sleep for fear of being surprised
+by the Schoolmaster, so seated himself in a chair, with his eyes fixed
+on the ruffian, persuaded that it was a trap laid for him, and not
+believing the Schoolmaster in any danger. That he might employ himself
+agreeably Tortillard drew silently and carefully from his pocket a
+little red silk purse, and counted slowly, and with looks of joy and
+avarice, the seventeen pieces of gold which it contained. Tortillard had
+acquired his ill-gotten riches thus: It may be remembered that Madame
+d'Harville was nearly surprised by her husband at the rendezvous which
+she had granted to the commandant. Rodolph, when he had given the purse
+to the young lady had told her to go up to the fifth story to the
+Morels, under the pretence of bringing them assistance. Madame
+d'Harville ran quickly up the staircase holding the purse in her hands.
+When Tortillard, who was coming from the quack's, caught a glimpse of
+the purse, and, pretending to stumble as he passed the marquise, pushed
+against her, and, in the shock, slily stole the purse. Madame
+d'Harville, bewildered, and hearing her husband's footsteps, hurried on
+to the fifth story without thinking or complaining of the impudent
+robbery of the little cripple. After having counted and recounted his
+gold Tortillard cast his eyes towards the Schoolmaster who was extended
+still on the ground. Disquieted for a moment, he listened, and hearing
+the robber breathe freely he thought that he was still meditating some
+trick against him.
+
+Chance saved the Schoolmaster from a congestion of the brain which else
+must have proved mortal. His fall had caused a salutary and abundant
+bleeding at the nose. He then fell into kind of a feverish torpor--half
+sleep, half delirium, and then had this wild, this fearful dream!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE DREAM.
+
+
+This was the Schoolmaster's dream:
+
+He was again in Rodolph's house in the Allee des Veuves. The saloon in
+which the miscreant had received his appalling punishment had not
+undergone any alteration. Rodolph himself was sitting at the table on
+which were the Schoolmaster's papers and the little _Saint-Esprit_ of
+_lapis_ which he had given to the Chouette. Rodolph's countenance was
+grave and sad. On his right the negro David was standing motionless and
+silent; on his left was the Chourineur, who looked on with a bewildered
+mien. In his dream the Schoolmaster was no longer blind, but saw through
+a medium of clear blood, which filled the cavities of his eyeballs. All
+and everything seemed to him tinted with red. As birds of prey hover on
+motionless wing above the head of the victim which they fascinate before
+they devour, so a monstrous screech-owl (_chouette_), having for its
+head the hideous visage of the one-eyed hag, soared over the
+Schoolmaster, keeping fixed on him her round, glaring, and green eye.
+This fixed stare was upon his breast like a heavy weight. The
+Schoolmaster discerned a vast lake of blood separating him from the
+table at which Rodolph was seated. Then this inflexible judge, as well
+as the Chourineur and the negro, grew and grew, expanding into colossal
+proportions, until they touched the ceiling; and then it also became
+higher in proportion. The lake of blood was calm, and as unruffled as a
+red mirror; the Schoolmaster saw his hideous countenance reflected
+therein. Then that was suddenly effaced by the tumult of the swelling
+waves. From their troubled surface there arose a vapour resembling the
+foul exhalation of a marsh, a livid-coloured mist of that violet hue
+peculiar to the lips of the dead. In proportion as this miasma
+rises--rises, the faces of Rodolph, the Chourineur, and the negro
+continue to expand and expand in an extraordinary manner, and always
+remain above this fearful cloud. In the midst of the awful vapour, the
+Schoolmaster sees the pale ghosts, and those murderous scenes in which
+he had been the actor. In this fantastic mirage he first sees a little
+bald-headed old man, clad in a long brown coat, and wearing an eye-shade
+of green silk. He is employing himself in a dilapidated chamber in
+counting and arranging pieces of gold into piles by the light of a lamp.
+Through the window, lighted by the dim moonlight reflected on the tops
+of some high trees waving in the wind, the Schoolmaster recognises his
+own figure. Pressing his distorted features against the glass, following
+every motion of the old man with glaring eyes, then breaking a pane, he
+opens the window itself, leaps with a bound upon his victim, and stabs
+him between the shoulders with his long and keen knife. The movement is
+so rapid, the blow so quick and sure, that the dead body of the old man
+remains seated in the chair.
+
+The murderer tries to withdraw his weapon from the dead body,--he
+cannot! He redoubles his efforts,--in vain! He then seeks to quit the
+deadly steel,--impossible!
+
+The hand of the assassin clings to the handle of the poignard, as the
+blade of the poignard clings to the frame of the wounded man. The
+murderer then hears the sound of clinking spurs and clashing swords in
+the adjoining room. He must escape at all risks, and attempts to carry
+with him the body of the feeble old man, from which he cannot withdraw
+either his weapon or his hand.
+
+He cannot do even this. The light and feeble carcass weighs him down
+like a mass of lead. Despite his herculean shoulders, his desperate
+efforts, the Schoolmaster cannot even stir this overwhelming weight.
+
+The sound of echoing steps and jingling sabres comes nearer and nearer.
+The key turns in the lock,--the door opens. The vision disappears.
+
+And then the screech-owl flaps her wing, and shrieks out:
+
+"It is the old miser of the Rue de la Roule. Your maiden murder! murder!
+murder!"
+
+A moment's darkness,--then the miasma which covers the lake of blood
+resumes its transparency, and another spectre is revealed.
+
+The day begins to dawn,--the fog is thick and heavy. A man, clothed like
+a cattle-dealer, lies stretched, dead on the bank of the highroad. The
+trampled earth, the torn turf, proved that the victim had made a
+desperate resistance. The man has five bleeding wounds in his breast. He
+is lifeless; yet still he seems to whistle on his dogs, calling to them,
+"Help! help!"
+
+But his whistling, his cries, proceed from five large and gaping
+wounds,--
+
+      "Each one a death in nature,"--
+
+which move like so many complaining lips. The five calls, the five
+whistlings, all made and heard at once, come from the dead man by the
+mouths of his gushing wounds; and fearful are they to hear!
+
+At this instant the Chouette waves her wings, and mocks the deathly
+groans of the victim with five bursts of laughter,--a laughter as
+unearthly and as horrible as the madman's mirth; and then again she
+shrieks:
+
+"The cattle-dealer of Poissy. Murder! murder! murder!"
+
+Protracted and underground echoes first repeat aloud the malevolent
+laughter of the screech-owl. Then they seem to die away in the very
+bowels of the earth.
+
+At this sound two large dogs, as black as midnight, with eyes glaring
+like burning coals, begin to run rapidly around--around--around the
+Schoolmaster, baying furiously. They almost touch him, and yet their
+bark appears as distant as if carried on the wind of the morning.
+
+Gradually these spectres fade away as the previous one did, and are lost
+in the pale vapour which is continually ascending.
+
+A new exhalation now arises from the lake of blood, and spreads itself
+on its surface. It is a sort of greenish, transparent mist; it resembles
+the vertical section of a canal filled with water. At first he sees the
+bed of the canal covered in by a thick vase formed of numberless
+reptiles usually imperceptible to the unassisted eye, but which,
+enlarged, as if viewed through a microscope, assume monstrous forms,
+vast proportions relatively to their actual size. It is no longer mud,
+but a compact, living, crawling mass,--an inextricable conglomeration
+which wriggles and curls; so close, so dense, that a sullen and low
+undulation hardly stirs the level of this vase, or rather bed of foulest
+animalculae. Above trickles gently--gently, a turbid stream, thick and
+stagnating, which, in its dilatory flow, disturbs the filth incessantly
+vomited by the sewers of a great city,--fragments of all sorts,
+carcasses of animals, etc., etc. Suddenly the Schoolmaster hears the
+plash of a body, which falls heavily on the water; in its recoil the
+water sprinkles his very face. In the midst of the air-bubbles which
+rise thick and fast to the surface of the canal he sees the body of a
+woman, which sinks rapidly as she struggles--struggles.
+
+Then he sees himself and the Chouette running hastily along the banks of
+St. Martin's Canal, carrying with them a box covered with black cloth;
+and yet he is still present during all the variations of agony suffered
+by the victim whom he and the Chouette have thrown into the canal. After
+the first immersion the victim rises to the surface and moves her arms
+in violent agitation like some one who, not knowing how to swim, tries
+in vain to save herself. Then she utters a piercing cry,--a cry of one
+in the last extremity,--despairing--which ends in the sullen, stifled
+sound of involuntary choking; and the woman the second time sinks
+beneath the troubled waters.
+
+The screech-owl, which hovers continually motionless, imitates the
+convulsive rattle of the drowning wretch, as she mocked the dying groans
+of the cattle-dealer. In the midst of bursts of deathlike laughter the
+screech-owl utters, "Glou! glou! glou!"
+
+The subterranean echoes repeated the sound.
+
+A second time submerged the woman is fast suffocating, and makes one
+more desperate effort for breath; but, instead of air, it is water which
+she inspires. Then her head falls back, her convulsed features are
+swollen and become livid, her neck becomes blue and tumefied, her arms
+stiffen, and, in a last spasmodic effort, the drowning woman in her
+agony moves her feet, which are resting on the vase. Then she is
+surrounded by a mass of black soil, which ascends with her to the
+surface of the water. Scarcely has the choked wretch breathed her last
+sigh than she is covered with myriads of the microscopic reptiles,--the
+greedy and horrible vermin of the mud. The carcass floats for a moment,
+balances for a moment, and then sinks slowly, horizontally, the feet
+lower than the head, and between the double waters begins to follow the
+current of the land. Sometimes the dead corpse turns, and its pale face
+is before the Schoolmaster. Then the spectre fixes on him glaringly its
+two blue, glassy, and opaque eyes; the livid mouth opens. The
+Schoolmaster is far away from the drowning woman, and yet her lips
+murmur in his ears, "Glou! glou! glou!" accompanying these appalling
+syllables with that singular noise which a bottle thrust into the water
+makes when filling itself.
+
+The screech-owl repeats, "Glou! glou! glou!" flapping her wings, and
+shrieking:
+
+"The woman of the Canal St. Martin! Murder! murder! murder!"
+
+The vision of the drowned woman disappears. The lake of blood, through
+which the Schoolmaster still constantly beholds Rodolph, becomes of a
+bronzed, black colour, then red again, and then changes instantaneously
+into a liquid, furnace-like, molten metal. Then that lake of fire
+rises--rises--rises towards the sky like an immense whirlpool. There is
+now a fiery horizon like iron at a white heat. This immense, boundless
+horizon dazzles and scorches the very eyes of the Schoolmaster, who,
+fascinated, fastened to the spot, cannot turn away his gaze. Then, at
+the bottom of this burning lava, whose reflection seems to consume him,
+he sees pass and repass, one by one, the black and giant spectres of his
+victims.
+
+"The magic-lanthorn of remorse! remorse! remorse!" shrieks the
+night-bird, flapping her hideous wings, and laughing mockingly.
+
+Notwithstanding the intolerable anguish which his impatient gaze
+creates, the Schoolmaster has his eyes fixed on the grisly phantoms
+which move in the blazing sheet. Then an indefinable horror steals over
+him. Passing through every step of indescribable torture, by dint of
+contemplating this blazing sight, he feels his eyeballs--which have
+replaced the blood with which his orbits were filled at the commencement
+of his dream--he feels his eyeballs grow hot, burning, and melt in this
+furnace--to smoke and bubble--and at last to become calcined in their
+cavities like two crucibles filled with red fire. By a fearful power,
+after having seen as well as felt the successive transformations of his
+eyeballs into ashes, he falls into the darkness of his actual blindness.
+
+But now, suddenly, his intolerable agonies are assuaged as though by
+enchantment. An odorous air of delicious freshness passes over his
+burning eyeballs. This air is a lovely admixture of the scents of
+springtime, which exhale from flowers bathed in evening dew. The
+Schoolmaster hears all about him a gentle murmur, like that of the
+breeze which just stirs the leaves--like that of a brook of running
+waters, which rushes and murmurs on its bed of stone and moss "in the
+leafy month of June." Thousands of birds warble the most enchanting
+melodies. They are stilled, and the voices of children, of angelic tone,
+sing strange, unknown words--words that are "winged" (if we may use the
+expression), and which the Schoolmaster hears mount to heaven with
+gentle motion. A feeling of moral health, of tranquillity, of undefined
+languor, creeps over him by degrees. It is an expansion of the heart, an
+elevation of the mind, an effort of the soul, of which no physical
+feeling, how delicious soever it may be, can impart the least idea. He
+feels himself softly soaring in a heavenly sphere; he seems to rise to
+an immeasurable height.
+
+       .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .
+
+After having for some moments revelled in this unspeakable felicity he
+again finds himself in the dark abyss of his habitual thoughts. His
+dream continues; but he is again but the muzzled miscreant who
+blasphemes and curses in the paroxysm of his impotent rage. A voice is
+heard--sonorous--solemn. It is Rodolph's. The Schoolmaster starts "like
+a guilty thing upon a fearful summons." He has the vague consciousness
+of a dream; but the alarm with which Rodolph inspires him is so great
+that he tries, but vainly, to escape from this fresh vision. The voice
+speaks--he listens. The tone of Rodolph is not severe; it is "rather in
+sorrow than in anger."
+
+"Unhappy man," he says to the Schoolmaster, "the hour of your repentance
+has not yet sounded. God only knows when it will strike. The punishment
+of your crimes is still incomplete; you have suffered, but not expiated.
+Destiny follows out its work of full justice. Your accomplices have
+become your tormentors. A woman, a child, tame, subdue, conquer you.
+When I sentenced you to a terrible punishment for your crimes I said--do
+you remember my words?--'You have wickedly abused the great bodily
+strength bestowed upon you; I will paralyse that strength. The strongest
+have trembled before you; I will make you henceforward shrink in the
+presence of the weakest of beings.' You have left the obscure retreat in
+which you might have dwelt for repentance and expiation. You were afraid
+of silence and solitude. You sought to drown remembrance by new crimes.
+Just now, in a fearful and bloodthirsty access of passion, you have
+wished to kill your wife. She is here under the same roof as yourself.
+She sleeps without defence. You have a knife. Her apartment is close at
+hand. There was nothing to prevent you from reaching her. Nothing could
+have protected her from your rage--nothing but your impotence. The dream
+you have had, and in which you are still bound, may teach you much, may
+save you. The mysterious phantoms of this dream bear with them a most
+pregnant meaning. The lake of blood, in which your victims have
+appeared, is the blood you have shed. The molten lava which replaced it
+is the gnawing, eating remorse, which must consume you before one day,
+that the Almighty, having mercy on your protracted tortures, shall call
+you to himself, and let you taste the ineffable sweetness of his
+gracious forgiveness. But this will not be. No, no! these warnings will
+be useless. Far from repenting, you regret every day, with horrid
+blasphemies, the time when you could commit such atrocities. Alas! from
+this continual struggle between your bloodthirsty desires and the
+impossibility of satisfying them,--between your habits of fierce
+oppression and the compulsion of submitting to beings as weak as they
+are depraved,--there will result to you a fate so fearful, so appalling.
+Ah, unhappy wretch!"
+
+Rodolph's voice faltered, and for a moment he was silent, as if emotion
+and horror had hindered him from proceeding. The Schoolmaster's hair
+bristled on his brow. What could be--would be--that fate, which even his
+executioner pitied?
+
+"The fate that awaits you is so horrible," resumed Rodolph, "that, if
+the Almighty, in his inexorable and all-powerful vengeance, would make
+you in your person expiate all the crimes of all mankind, he could not
+devise a more fearful punishment! Ah, woe for you! woe for you!"
+
+At this moment the Schoolmaster uttered a piercing shriek, and awoke
+with a bound at this horrid, frightful dream.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE LETTER.
+
+
+The hour of nine had struck on the Bouqueval clock, when Madame Georges
+softly entered the chamber of Fleur-de-Marie. The light slumber of the
+young girl was quickly broken, and she awoke to find her kind friend
+standing by her bedside. A brilliant winter's sun darted its rays
+through the blinds and chintz window-curtains, the pink linings of which
+cast a bright glow on the pale countenance of La Goualeuse, giving it
+the look of health it so greatly needed.
+
+"Well, my child," said Madame Georges, sitting down and gently kissing
+her forehead, "how are you this morning?"
+
+"Much better, madame, I thank you."
+
+"I hope you were not awoke very early this morning?"
+
+"No, indeed, madame."
+
+"I am glad of it; the blind man and his son, who were permitted to sleep
+here last night, insisted upon quitting the farm immediately it was
+light, and I was fearful that the noise made in opening the gates might
+have woke you."
+
+"Poor things! why did they go so very early?"
+
+"I know not. After you became more calm and comfortable last night, I
+went down into the kitchen for the purpose of seeing them, but they had
+pleaded extreme weariness, and begged permission to retire. Father
+Chatelain tells me the blind man does not seem very right in his head;
+and the whole body of servants were unanimous in praising the tenderness
+and care with which the boy attended upon his blind parent. But now, my
+dear Marie, listen to me; you must not expose yourself to the risk of
+taking fresh cold after the attack of fever you suffered from last
+night, and, therefore, I recommend your keeping quite quiet all day, and
+not leaving the parlour at all."
+
+"Nay, madame, I have promised M. le Cure to be at the rectory at five
+o'clock; pray allow me to go, as I am expected."
+
+"Indeed I cannot, it would be very imprudent; I can perceive you have
+passed a very bad night, your eyes are quite heavy."
+
+"I have not been able to rest through the most frightful dreams which
+pursued me whenever I tried to sleep. I fancied myself in the power of a
+wicked woman who used to torment me most cruelly when I was a child; and
+I kept starting up in dread and alarm. I am ashamed of such silly
+weakness as to allow dreams to frighten me, but, indeed, I suffered so
+much during the night that when I awoke my pillow was wetted with my
+tears."
+
+"I am truly sorry for this weakness, as you justly style it, my dear
+child," said Madame Georges, with affectionate concern, seeing the eyes
+of Fleur-de-Marie again filling fast, "because I perceive the pain it
+occasions you."
+
+The poor girl, overpowered by her feelings, threw her arms around the
+neck of her adopted mother and buried her sobs in her bosom.
+
+"Marie, Marie! my child, you terrify me; why, why is this?"
+
+"Pardon me, dear madame, I beseech you! Indeed, I know not myself what
+has come over me, but for the last two days my heart has seemed full
+almost to bursting. I cannot restrain my tears, though I know not
+wherefore I weep. A fearful dread of some great evil about to befall me
+weighs down my spirits and resists every attempt to shake it off."
+
+"Come! come! I shall scold you in earnest if you thus give way to
+imaginary terrors."
+
+At this moment Claudine, whose previous tap at the door had been
+unheard, entered the room.
+
+"What is it, Claudine?"
+
+"Madame, Pierre has just arrived from Arnouville, in Madame Dubreuil's
+chaise; he brings a letter for you which he says is of great
+importance."
+
+Madame Georges took the paper from Claudine's hand, opened it and read
+as follows:
+
+    "MY DEAR MADAME GEORGES:
+
+      "You could do me a considerable favour, and assist me under very
+    perplexing circumstances, by hastening to the farm here without
+    delay. Pierre has orders to wait till you are ready, and will
+    drive you back after dinner. I really am in such confusion that I
+    hardly know what I am about. M. Dubreuil has gone to the
+    wool-fair at Pontoise; I have, therefore, no one to turn to for
+    advice and assistance but you and Marie. Clara sends her best
+    love to her very dear adopted sister, and anxiously expects her
+    arrival. Try to be with us by eleven o'clock, to luncheon.
+
+                          "Ever yours most sincerely,
+                                                "F. DUBREUIL."
+
+"What can possibly be the matter?" asked Madame Georges of
+Fleur-de-Marie; "fortunately the tone of Madame Dubreuil's letter is not
+calculated to cause alarm."
+
+"Do you wish me to accompany you, madame?" asked the Goualeuse.
+
+"Why, that would scarcely be prudent, so cold as it is. But, upon second
+thoughts," continued Madame Georges, "I think you may venture if you
+wrap yourself up very warm; it will serve to raise your spirits, and
+possibly the short ride may do you good."
+
+The Goualeuse did not immediately reply, but, after a few minutes'
+consideration, she ventured to say:
+
+"But, madame, M. le Cure expects me this evening, at five o'clock, at
+the rectory."
+
+"But I promise you to be back in good time for you to keep your
+engagement; now will you go?"
+
+"Oh, thank you, madame! Indeed, I shall be so delighted to see Mlle.
+Clara."
+
+"What! again?" uttered Madame Georges, in a tone of gentle reproach.
+"Mlle. Clara? She does not speak so distantly to you when she addresses
+you."
+
+"Oh, no, madame!" replied the poor girl, casting down her eyes, while a
+bright flush rose even to her temples; "but there is so great a
+difference between us that--"
+
+"Dear Marie! you are cruel and unkind thus needlessly to torment
+yourself. Have you so soon forgotten how I chided you but just now for
+the very same fault? There, drive away all such foolish thoughts! dress
+yourself as quickly as you can, and pray wrap up very carefully. If we
+are quick, we may reach Arnouville before eleven o'clock."
+
+Then, leaving Fleur-de-Marie to perform the duties of her simple toilet,
+Madame Georges retired to her own chamber, first dismissing Claudine
+with an intimation to Pierre that herself and niece would be ready to
+start almost immediately.
+
+Half an hour afterwards, Madame Georges and Marie were on their way to
+Arnouville, in one of those large, roomy cabriolets, in use among the
+rich farmers in the environs of Paris; and briskly did their comfortable
+vehicle, drawn by a stout Norman horse, roll over the grassy road which
+led from Bouqueval to Arnouville. The extensive buildings and numerous
+appendages to the farm, tenanted by M. Dubreuil in the latter village,
+bore testimony to the wealth and importance of the property bestowed as
+a marriage-portion on Mlle. Cesarine de Noirmont upon her union with the
+Duke de Lucenay.
+
+The loud crack of Pierre's whip apprised Madame Dubreuil of the arrival
+of her friend, Madame Georges, with Fleur-de-Marie, who were most
+affectionately greeted by Clara and her mother. Madame Dubreuil was a
+good-looking woman of middle age, with a countenance expressive of
+extreme gentleness and kindness; while her daughter Clara was a handsome
+brunette, with rich hazel eyes, and a happy, innocent expression for
+ever resting on her full, rosy lips, which seemed never to open but to
+utter words of sweetness and amiability. As Clara eagerly threw her arms
+around her friend's neck as she descended the vehicle, the Goualeuse saw
+with extreme surprise that the kind-hearted girl had laid aside her more
+fashionable attire, and was habited as a simple country maiden.
+
+"Why, Clara!" said Madame Georges, affectionately returning her embrace,
+"what is the meaning of this strange costume?"
+
+"It is done in imitation and admiration of her sister Marie," answered
+Madame Dubreuil; "I assure you she let me have no peace till I had
+procured her a woollen bodice, and a fustian skirt exactly resembling
+your Marie's. But, now we are talking of whims and caprices, just come
+this way with me," added Madame Dubreuil, drawing a deep sigh, "while I
+explain to you my present difficulty, as well as the cause of my so
+abruptly summoning you hither; but you are so kind, I feel assured you
+will not only forgive it, but also render me all the assistance I
+require."
+
+Following Madame Georges and her mother to their sitting-room, Clara
+lovingly conducted the Goualeuse also thither, placing her in the
+warmest corner of the fireside, and tenderly chafing her hands to
+prevent the cold from affecting her; then fondly caressing her, and
+styling her again and again her very dear sister Marie, she playfully
+reproached her for allowing so long an interval to pass away without
+paying her a visit. After the recent conversation which passed between
+the poor Goualeuse and the cure (no doubt fresh in the reader's
+memory), it will easily be believed that these tender marks of affection
+inspired the unfortunate girl with feelings of deep humility, combined
+with a timid joy.
+
+"Now, then, dear Madame Dubreuil," said Madame Georges, when they were
+comfortably seated, "do pray tell me what has happened, and in what
+manner I can be serviceable to you."
+
+"Oh, in several ways! I will tell you exactly how. In the first place, I
+believe you are not aware that this farm is the private property of the
+Duchesse de Lucenay, and that we are accountable to her alone, having
+nothing whatever to do with the duke or his steward."
+
+"No, indeed, I never heard that before."
+
+"Neither should I have troubled you with so unimportant a matter now,
+but that it forms a necessary part of the explanation I am about to give
+you of my present pressing need of your kind services. You must know,
+then, that we consider ourselves as the tenants of Madame de Lucenay,
+and always pay our rent either to herself or to Madame Simon, her head
+_femme de chambre_; and, really, spite of some little impetuosity of
+temper, Madame la Duchesse is so amiable that it is delightful to have
+business with her. Dubreuil and I would go through fire and water to
+serve her: but, la! that is only natural, considering we have known her
+from her very cradle, and were accustomed to see her playing about as a
+child during the visits she used annually to pay to the estate during
+the lifetime of her late father, the Prince de Noirmont. Latterly she
+has asked for her rent in advance. Forty thousand francs is not 'picked
+up by the roadside,' as the old proverb says; but happily we had laid
+that sum by as Clara's dowry, and the very next morning after the
+request reached us we carried madame her money in bright, shining,
+golden louis. These great ladies spend so much, you see, in luxuries
+such as you and I have no idea of. Yet it is only within the last
+twelvemonth Madame de Lucenay has wished to be paid beforehand, she used
+always to seem as though she had plenty of money; but things are very
+different now."
+
+"Still, my dear Madame Dubreuil, I do not yet perceive in what way I can
+possibly assist you."
+
+"Don't be in a hurry! I am just coming to that part of my story; but I
+was obliged to tell you all this that you might be able to understand
+the entire confidence Madame la Duchesse places in us. To be sure, she
+showed her great regard for us by becoming, when only thirteen years of
+age, Clara's godmother, her noble father standing as the other sponsor;
+and, ever since, Madame de Lucenay has loaded her godchild with presents
+and kind attentions. But I must not keep you--I see you are impatient;
+so I will at once proceed with the business part of my tale. You must
+know, then, that last night I received by express the following letter
+from Madame de Lucenay:
+
+    "MY DEAR MADAME DUBREUIL:
+
+      "'You must prepare the small pavilion in the orchard for
+    occupation by to-morrow evening. Send there all the requisite
+    furniture, such as carpets, curtains, etc., etc. Let nothing be
+    wanted to render it, in every respect, as _comfortable_ as
+    possible.'
+
+"Do you mark the word 'comfortable,' Madame Georges?" inquired Madame
+Dubreuil, pausing in the midst of her reading; "it is even underlined."
+Then looking up at her friend with a thoughtful, puzzled expression of
+countenance, and receiving no answer, she continued the perusal of her
+letter:
+
+      "'It is so long since the pavilion has been used that it will
+    require large and constant fires both night and day to remove the
+    dampness from the walls. I wish you to behave in every respect to
+    the person who will occupy the apartments as you would do to
+    myself. And you will receive by the hands of the new visitant a
+    letter from me explanatory of all I expect from your well-known
+    zeal and attachment. I depend entirely on you and feel every
+    assurance that I may safely reckon on your fidelity and desire to
+    serve me. Adieu, my dear Madame Dubreuil; remember me most kindly
+    to my pretty goddaughter; and believe me ever,
+
+                        "'Yours, sincerely and truly,
+                                        "'NOIRMONT DE LUCENAY.
+
+      "'P.S. The person whom I so strongly recommend to your best care
+    and attention will arrive the day after to-morrow, about dusk.
+    Pray do your very utmost to render the pavilion as _comfortable_
+    as you possibly can.'
+
+"Comfortable again, you see, and underlined as before," said Madame
+Dubreuil, returning the letter of Madame de Lucenay to her pocket.
+
+"Well," replied Madame Georges, "all this is simple enough!"
+
+"How do you mean, simple enough? you cannot have heard me read the
+letter. Madame la Duchesse wishes particularly 'that the pavilion should
+be rendered as comfortable as possible.' Now that is the very reason of
+my asking you to come to me to-day; Clara and I have been knocking our
+heads together in vain to discover what 'comfortable' can possibly mean,
+but without being able to find it out. Yet it seems odd, too, that Clara
+should not know its meaning, for she was several years at school at
+Villiers le Bel, and gained a quantity of prizes for history and
+geography; however, she knows as little as I do about that outlandish
+word. I dare say it is only known at court, or in the fashionable world.
+However, be that as it may, Madame la Duchesse has thrown me into a
+pretty fuss by making use of it; she says, and you see twice repeats the
+words, and even underlines it, 'that she requests I will furnish the
+pavilion as comfortably as possible.' Now what are we to do when we have
+not the slightest notion of the meaning of that word?"
+
+"Well, heaven be praised, then, that I can relieve your perplexity by
+solving this grand mystery!" said Madame Georges, smiling. "Upon the
+present occasion the word comfortable merely means an assemblage of
+neat, well-chosen, well-arranged, and convenient furniture, so placed,
+in apartments well warmed and protected from cold or damp, that the
+occupant shall find every thing that is necessary combined with articles
+that to some might seem superfluities."
+
+"Thank you. I perfectly understand what comfortable means as regards
+furnishing apartments; but your explanation only increases my
+difficulties."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Madame la Duchesse speaks of carpets, furniture, and many _et
+coeteras_; now we have no carpets here, and our furniture is of the
+most homely description. Neither can I make out by the letter whether
+the person I am to expect is a male or female; and yet every thing must
+be prepared by to-morrow evening. What shall I do? What can I do? I can
+get nothing here. Really, Madame Georges, it is enough to drive one wild
+to be placed in such an awkward situation."
+
+"But, mother," said Clara, "suppose you take the furniture out of my
+room, and whilst you are refurnishing it I will go and pass a few days
+with dear Marie at Bouqueval."
+
+"My dear child, what nonsense you talk! as if the humble fittings-up of
+your chamber could equal what Madame la Duchesse means by the word
+'comfortable,'" returned Madame Dubreuil, with a disconsolate shrug of
+the shoulders. "Lord! Lord! why will fine ladies puzzle poor folks like
+me by going out of their way to find such expressions as comfortable?"
+
+"Then I presume the pavilion in question is ordinarily uninhabited?"
+said Madame Georges.
+
+"Oh, yes! There, you see that small white building at the end of the
+orchard--that is it. The late Prince de Noirmont, father of Madame la
+Duchesse, caused it to be built for his daughter when, in her youthful
+days, she was accustomed to visit the farm, and she then occupied it.
+There are three pretty chambers in it, and a beautiful little Swiss
+dairy at the end of the garden, where, in her childish days, Madame la
+Duchesse used to divert herself with feigning to manage. Since her
+marriage, she has only been twice at the farm, but each time she passed
+several hours in the pavilion. The first time was about six years ago,
+and then she came on horseback with--" Then, as though the presence of
+Clara and Fleur-de-Marie prevented her from saying more, Madame Dubreuil
+interrupted herself by saying, "But I am talking instead of doing; and
+that is not the way to get out of my present difficulty. Come, dear,
+good Madame Georges, and help a poor bewildered creature like myself!"
+
+"In the first place," answered Madame Georges, "tell me how is this
+pavilion furnished at the present moment."
+
+"Oh, scarcely at all! In the principal apartment there is a straw
+matting on the centre of the floor; a sofa, and a few arm-chairs
+composed of rushes, a table, and some chairs, comprise all the
+inventory, which, I think you will allow, falls far short of the word
+comfortable."
+
+"Well, I tell you what I should do in your place. Let me see; it is
+eleven o'clock. I should send a person on whom you can depend to Paris."
+
+"Our overseer![2] There cannot be a more active, intelligent person."
+
+  [2] A species of overseer employed in most of the large farming
+  establishments in the environs of Paris.
+
+"Exactly! just the right sort of messenger. Well, in two hours at the
+utmost, he may be in Paris. Let him go to some upholsterer in the
+Chaussee d'Antin--never mind which--and give him the list I will draw
+out, after I have seen what is wanting for the pavilion; and let him be
+directed to say that, let the expense be what it may--"
+
+"I don't care about expense, if I can but satisfy the duchess."
+
+"The upholsterer, then, must be told that, at any cost, he must see that
+every article named in the list be sent here either this evening or
+before daybreak to-morrow, with three or four of his most clever and
+active workmen to arrange them as quickly as possible."
+
+"They might come by the Gonesse diligence, which leaves Paris at eight
+o'clock every evening."
+
+"And as they would only have to place the furniture, lay down carpets,
+and put up curtains, all that could easily be done by to-morrow
+evening."
+
+"Oh, my dear Madame Georges, what a load you have taken off my mind! I
+should never have thought of this simple yet proper manner of
+proceeding. You are the saving of me! Now, may I ask you to be so kind
+as to draw me out the list of articles necessary to render the
+pavilion--what is that hard word? I never can recollect it."
+
+"Comfortable! Yes, I will at once set about it, and with pleasure."
+
+"Dear me! here is another difficulty. Don't you see we are not told
+whether to expect a lady or a gentleman? Madame de Lucenay, in her
+letter, only says 'a person.' It is very perplexing, isn't it?"
+
+"Then make your preparations as if for a lady, my dear Madame Dubreuil;
+and, should it turn out a gentleman, why he will only have better reason
+to be pleased with his accommodations."
+
+"Quite right; right again, as you always are."
+
+A servant here announced that breakfast was ready.
+
+"Let breakfast wait a little," said Madame Georges. "And, while I draw
+out the necessary list, send some person you can depend upon to take the
+exact height and width of the three rooms, that the curtains and carpets
+may more easily be prepared."
+
+"Thank you. I will set our overseer to work out this commission."
+
+"Madame," continued the servant, speaking to her mistress, "the new
+dairy-woman from Stains is here with her few goods in a small cart drawn
+by a donkey. The beast has not a heavy load to complain of, for the poor
+body's luggage seems but very trifling."
+
+"Poor woman!" said Madame Dubreuil, kindly.
+
+"What woman is it?" inquired Madame Georges.
+
+"A poor creature from Stains, who once had four cows of her own, and
+used to go every morning to Paris to sell her milk. Her husband was a
+blacksmith, and one day accompanied her to Paris to purchase some iron
+he required for his work, agreeing to rejoin her at the corner of the
+street where she was accustomed to sell her milk. Unhappily, as it
+afterwards turned out, the poor woman had selected a very bad part of
+Paris; for, when her husband returned, he found her in the midst of a
+set of wicked, drunken fellows, who had, for mere mischief's sake, upset
+all her milk into the gutter. The poor blacksmith tried to reason with
+them upon the score of their unfair conduct, but that only made matters
+worse; they all fell on the husband, who sought in vain to defend
+himself from their violence. The end of the story is, that, in the
+scuffle which ensued, the man received a stab with a knife, which
+stretched him a corpse before the eyes of his distracted wife."
+
+"Dreadful, indeed!" ejaculated Madame Georges. "But, at least, the
+murderer was apprehended?"
+
+"Alas, no! He managed to make his escape during the confusion which
+ensued, though the unfortunate widow asserts she should recognise him at
+any minute she might meet him, having repeatedly seen him in company
+with his associates, inhabitants of that neighbourhood. However, up to
+the present hour all attempts to discover him have been useless. But, to
+end my tale, I must tell you that, in consequence of the death of her
+husband, the poor widow was compelled, in order to pay various debts he
+had contracted, to sell not only her cows but some little land he
+possessed. The bailiff of the chateau at Stains recommended the poor
+creature to me as a most excellent and honest woman, as deserving as she
+was unfortunate, having three children to provide for, the eldest not
+yet twelve years of age. I happened, just then, to be in want of a
+first-rate dairy-woman, therefore offered her the place, which she
+gladly accepted, and she has now come to take up her abode on the farm."
+
+"This act of real kindness on your part, my dear Madame Dubreuil, does
+not surprise me, knowing you as well as I do."
+
+"Here, Clara," said Madame Dubreuil, as though seeking to escape from
+the praises of her friend, "will you go and show this good woman the way
+to the lodge she is to occupy, while I hasten to explain to our overseer
+the necessity for his immediate departure for Paris?"
+
+"Willingly, dear mother! Marie can come with me, can she not?"
+
+"Of course," answered Madame Dubreuil, "if she pleases." Then added,
+smilingly, "I wonder whether you two girls could do one without the
+other!"
+
+"And now," said Madame Georges, seating herself before a table, "I will
+at once begin my part of the business, that no time may be lost; for we
+must positively return to Bouqueval at four o'clock."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Madame Dubreuil; "how early! Why, what makes you in
+such a hurry?"
+
+"Marie is obliged to be at the rectory by five o'clock."
+
+"Oh, if her return relates to that good Abbe Laporte, I am sure it is a
+sacred duty with which I would not interfere for the world. Well, then,
+I will go and give the necessary orders for everything being punctual
+to that hour. Those two girls have so much to say to each other that we
+must give them as much time as we can."
+
+"Then we shall leave you at three o'clock, my dear Madame Dubreuil?"
+
+"Yes; I promise not to detain you since you so positively wish it. But
+pray let me thank you again and again for coming. What a good thing it
+was I thought of sending to ask your kind assistance," rejoined Madame
+Dubreuil. "Now then, Clara and Marie, off with you!"
+
+As Madame Georges settled herself to her writing, Madame Dubreuil
+quitted the room by a door on one side, while the young friends, in
+company with the servant who had announced the arrival of the milkwoman
+from Stains, went out by the opposite side.
+
+"Where is the poor woman?" inquired Clara.
+
+"There she is, mademoiselle, in the courtyard, near the barns, with her
+children and her little donkey-cart."
+
+"You shall see her, dear Marie," said Clara, taking the arm of la
+Goualeuse. "Poor woman! she looks so pale and sad in her deep widow's
+mourning. The last time she came here to arrange with my mother about
+the place she made my heart ache. She wept bitterly as she spoke of her
+husband; then suddenly burst into a fit of rage as she mentioned his
+murderer. Really, she quite frightened me, she looked so desperate and
+full of fury. But, after all, her resentment was natural. Poor thing! I
+am sure I pity her; some people are very unfortunate, are they not,
+Marie?"
+
+"Alas, yes, they are, indeed!" replied the Goualeuse, sighing deeply.
+"There are some persons who appear born only to trouble and sorrow, as
+you justly observe, Miss Clara."
+
+"This is really very unkind of you, Marie," said Clara, colouring with
+impatience and displeasure. "This is the second time to-day you have
+called me 'Miss Clara.' What can I have possibly done to offend you?
+For I am sure you must be angry with me, or you would not do what you
+know vexes me so very much."
+
+"How is it possible that you could ever offend me?"
+
+"Then why do you say 'miss?' You know very well that both Madame Georges
+and my mother have scolded you for doing it. And I give you due warning,
+if ever you repeat this great offence, I will have you well scolded
+again. Now then, will you be good or not? Speak!"
+
+"Dear Clara, pray pardon me! Indeed, I was not thinking when I spoke."
+
+"Not thinking!" repeated Clara, sorrowfully. "What, after eight long
+days' absence you cannot give me your attention even for five minutes?
+Not thinking! That would be bad enough; but that is not it, Marie. And I
+tell you what, it is my belief you are too proud to own so humble a
+friend as myself."
+
+Fleur-de-Marie made no answer, but her whole countenance assumed the
+pallor of death.
+
+A woman, dressed as a widow, and in deep mourning, had just caught sight
+of her, and uttered a cry of rage and horror which seemed to freeze the
+poor girl's blood. This woman was the person who supplied the Goualeuse
+with her daily milk, during the time the latter dwelt with the ogress at
+the _tapis-franc_.
+
+The scene which ensued took place in one of the yards belonging to the
+farm, in the presence of all the labourers, both male and female, who
+chanced just then to be returning to the house to take their mid-day
+meal. Beneath a shed stood a small cart, drawn by a donkey, and
+containing the few household possessions of the widow; a boy of about
+twelve years of age, aided by two younger children, was beginning to
+unload the vehicle. The milk-woman herself was a woman of about forty
+years of age, her countenance coarse, masculine, and expressive of
+great resolution. She was, as we before stated, attired in the deepest
+mourning, and her eyelids looked red and inflamed with recent weeping.
+Her first impulse at the sight of the Goualeuse had been terror; but
+quickly did that feeling change into grief and rage, while the most
+violent anger contracted her features. Rapidly darting towards the
+unhappy girl, she seized her by the arm, and, presenting her to the gaze
+of the farm servants, she exclaimed:
+
+"Here is a creature who is acquainted with the assassin of my poor
+husband! I have seen her more than twenty times speaking to the ruffian
+when I was selling my milk at the corner of the Rue de la
+Vieille-Draperie; she used to come to buy a ha'porth every morning. She
+knows well enough who it was struck the blow that made me a widow, and
+my poor children fatherless. 'Birds of a feather flock together,' and
+such loose characters as she is are sure to be linked in with thieves
+and murderers. Oh, you shall not escape me, you abandoned wretch!" cried
+the milk-woman, who had now lashed herself into a perfect fury, and who,
+seeing poor Fleur-de-Marie confused and terror-stricken at this sudden
+attack, endeavouring to escape from it by flight, grasped her fiercely
+by the other arm also. Clara, almost speechless with surprise and alarm
+at this outrageous conduct, had been quite incapable of interfering; but
+this increased violence on the part of the widow seemed to restore her
+to herself, and angrily addressing the woman she said:
+
+"What is the meaning of this improper behaviour? Are you out of your
+senses? Has grief turned your brain? Good woman, I pity you! But let us
+pass on; you are mistaken."
+
+"Mistaken!" repeated the woman, with a bitter smile. "Me mistaken! No,
+no, there is no mistake! Just look at her pale, guilty looks! Hark how
+her very teeth rattle in her head! Ah, she knows well enough there is
+no mistake! Ah, you may hold your wicked tongue if you like, but
+justice will find a way to make you speak. You shall go with me before
+the mayor; do you hear? Oh, it is not worth while resisting! I have good
+strong wrists; I can hold you. And sooner than you should escape I would
+carry you every step of the way."
+
+"You good-for-nothing, insolent woman! How dare you presume to speak in
+this way to my dear friend and sister?"
+
+"Your sister, Mlle. Clara! Believe me, it is you who are deceived--it is
+you who have lost your senses," bawled the enraged milk-woman, in a
+loud, coarse voice. "Your sister! A likely story a girl out of the
+streets, who was the companion of the very lowest wretches in the worst
+part of the Cite, should be a sister of yours!"
+
+At these words the assembled labourers, who naturally enough took that
+part in the affair which concerned a person of their own class, and who
+really sympathised with the bereaved milk-woman, gave utterance to deep,
+threatening words, in which the name of Fleur-de-Marie was angrily
+mingled. The three children, hearing their mother speaking in a loud
+tone, and fearing they knew not what, ran to her, and, clinging to her
+dress, burst out into a loud fit of weeping. The sight of these poor
+little fatherless things, dressed also in deep mourning, increased the
+pity of the spectators for the unfortunate widow, while it redoubled
+their indignation against Fleur-de-Marie; while Clara, completely
+frightened by these demonstrations of approaching violence, exclaimed,
+in an agitated tone, to a group of farm labourers:
+
+"Take this woman off the premises directly! Do you not perceive grief
+has driven her out of her senses? Marie! dear Marie! never mind what she
+says. She is mad, poor creature, and knows not what she does!"
+
+The poor Goualeuse, pale, exhausted, and almost fainting, made no effort
+to escape from the powerful grasp of the incensed milk-woman; she hung
+her head, as though unable or unwilling to meet the gaze of friend or
+foe. Clara, attributing her condition to the terror excited by so
+alarming a scene, renewed her commands to the labourers, "Did you not
+hear me desire that this mad woman might be instantly taken away from
+the farm? However, unless she immediately ceases her rude and insolent
+language, I can promise her, by way of punishment, she shall neither
+have the situation my mother promised her nor ever be suffered to put
+her foot on the premises again."
+
+Not a person stirred to obey Clara's orders; on the contrary, one of the
+boldest among the party exclaimed:
+
+"Well, but, Miss Clara, if your friend there is only a common girl out
+of the streets, and, as such, acquainted with the murderer of this poor
+woman's husband, surely she ought to go before the mayor to give an
+account of herself and her bad companions!"
+
+"I tell you," repeated Clara, with indignant warmth, and addressing the
+milk-woman, "you shall never enter this farm again unless you this very
+instant, and before all these people, humbly beg pardon of Mlle. Marie
+for all the wicked things you have been saying about her!"
+
+"You turn me off the premises then, mademoiselle, do you?" retorted the
+widow with bitterness. "Well, so be it. Come, my poor children, let us
+put the things back in the cart, and go and seek our bread elsewhere.
+God will take care of us. But, at least, when we go, we will take this
+abandoned young woman with us. She shall be made to tell the mayor, if
+she won't us, who it was that took away your dear father's life; for she
+knows well enough--she who was the daily companion of the worst set of
+ruffians who infest Paris. And you, miss," added she, looking spitefully
+and insolently at Clara, "you should not, because you choose to make
+friends with low girls out of the streets, and because you happen to be
+rich, be quite so hard-hearted and unfeeling to poor creatures like
+me!"
+
+"No more she ought," exclaimed one of the labourers; "the poor woman is
+right!"
+
+"Of course she is,--she is only standing up for her own!"
+
+"Poor thing, she has no one now to do so for her! Why, they have
+murdered her husband among them! I should think that might content them,
+without trampling the poor woman under foot."
+
+"One comfort is, nobody can stop her from doing all in her power to
+bring the murderers of her husband to justice."
+
+"It is a shame to send her away in this manner, like a dog!"
+
+"Can she help it, poor creature, if Miss Clara thinks proper to take up
+with common girls and thieves, and make them her companions?"
+
+"Infamous to turn an honest woman, a poor widow with helpless children,
+into the streets for such a base girl as that!"
+
+These different speeches, uttered nearly simultaneously by the
+surrounding crowd, were rapidly assuming a most hostile and threatening
+tone, when Clara joyfully exclaimed:
+
+"Thank God, here comes my mother!"
+
+It was, indeed, Madame Dubreuil, who was crossing the courtyard on her
+return from the pavilion.
+
+"Now, then, my children," said Madame Dubreuil, gaily approaching the
+assembled group, "will you come in to breakfast? I declare it is quite
+late! I dare say you are both hungry? Come, Marie!--Clara!"
+
+"Mother," cried Clara, pointing to the widow, "you are fortunately just
+in time to save my dear sister Marie from the insults and violence of
+that woman. Oh, pray order her away instantly! If you only knew what she
+had the audacity to say to Marie!"
+
+"Impossible, Clara!"
+
+"Nay, but, dear mother, only look at my poor dear sister! See how she
+trembles! She can scarcely support herself. Oh, it is a shame and
+disgrace such conduct should ever have been offered to a guest of ours!
+My dear, dear friend--Marie, dear!--look up, and say you are not angry
+with us. Pray tell me you will try and forget it!"
+
+"What is the meaning of all this?" inquired Madame Dubreuil, looking
+around her with a disturbed and uneasy look, after having observed the
+despairing agony of the Goualeuse.
+
+"Ah, now we shall have justice done the poor widow woman!" murmured the
+labourers. "Madame will see her righted, no doubt about it!"
+
+"Now, then," exclaimed the milk-woman, exultingly, "here is Madame
+Dubreuil. Now, my fine miss," continued she, addressing Fleur-de-Marie,
+"you will have your turn of being turned out-of-doors!"
+
+"Is it true, then," cried Madame Dubreuil, addressing the widow, who
+still kept firm hold of Fleur-de-Marie's arm, "that you have dared to
+insult my daughter's friend, as she asserts? Is this the way you show
+your gratitude for all I have done to serve you? Will you leave that
+young lady alone?"
+
+"Yes, madame," replied the woman, relinquishing her grasp of
+Fleur-de-Marie, "at your bidding I will; for I respect you too much to
+disobey you. And, besides, I owe you much gratitude for all your
+kindness to a poor, friendless creature like myself. But, before you
+blame me, and drive me off the premises with my poor children, just
+question that wretched creature that has caused all this confusion what
+she knows of me. I know a pretty deal more of her than is to her
+credit!"
+
+"For Heaven's sake, Marie," exclaimed Madame Dubreuil, almost petrified
+with astonishment, "What does this woman allude to? Do you hear what she
+says?"
+
+"Are you, or are you not known by the name of the Goualeuse?" said the
+milk-woman to Marie.
+
+"Yes," said the wretched girl, in a low, trembling voice, and without
+venturing to lift up her eyes towards Madame Dubreuil,--"yes, I am
+called so."
+
+"There you see!" vociferated the enraged labourers. "She owns it! she
+owns it!"
+
+"What does she own?" inquired Madame Dubreuil, half frightened at the
+assent given by Fleur-de-Marie.
+
+"Leave her to me, madame," resumed the widow, "and you shall hear her
+confess that she was living in a house of the most infamous description
+in the Rue-aux-Feves in the Cite, and that she every morning purchased a
+half-pennyworth of milk of me. She cannot deny either having repeatedly
+spoken in my presence to the murderer of my poor husband. Oh, she knows
+him well enough, I am quite certain; a pale young man, who smoked a good
+deal, and always wore a cap and a blouse, and wore his hair very long;
+she could tell his name if she chose. Is this true, or is it a lie?"
+vociferously demanded the milk-woman.
+
+"I may have spoken to the man who killed your husband," answered
+Fleur-de-Marie, in a faint voice; "for, unhappily, there are more than
+one in the Cite capable of such a crime. But, indeed, I know not of whom
+you are speaking!"
+
+"What does she say?" asked Madame Dubreuil, horror-struck at her words.
+"She admits having possibly conversed with murderers?"
+
+"Oh, such lost wretches as she is," replied the widow, "have no better
+companions!"
+
+At first, utterly stupefied by so singular a discovery, confirmed,
+indeed, by Fleur-de-Marie's own admission, Madame Dubreuil seemed almost
+incapable of comprehending the scene before her; but quickly the whole
+truth presented itself to her mental vision, and shrinking from the
+unfortunate girl with horror and disgust, she hastily seized her
+daughter by the dress, as she was about to sustain the sinking form of
+the poor Goualeuse, and, drawing her towards her with sudden violence,
+she exclaimed:
+
+"Clara! For Heaven's sake approach not that vile, that abandoned young
+woman! Oh, dreadful, indeed, ever to have admitted her here! But how
+came Madame Georges to have her under her roof? And how could she so far
+insult me as to bring her here, and allow my daughter to--This is,
+indeed, disgraceful! I hardly know whether to trust the evidence of my
+own senses. But Madame Georges must have been as much imposed on as
+myself, or she never would have permitted such an indignity! No, no! She
+is incapable of such dishonourable conduct. It would, indeed, be a
+disgrace for one female so to have deceived another."
+
+Poor Clara, terrified and almost heart-broken at this distressing scene,
+could scarcely believe herself awake. It seemed as though she were under
+the influence of a fearful dream. Her innocent and pure mind
+comprehended not the frightful charges brought against her friend; but
+she understood enough to fill her with the most poignant grief at the
+unfortunate position of La Goualeuse, who stood mute, passive and
+downcast, like a criminal in the presence of the judge.
+
+"Come, come, my child," repeated Madame Dubreuil, "let us quit this
+disgraceful scene." Then, turning towards Fleur-de-Marie, she said:
+
+"As for you, worthless girl, the Almighty will punish you as you deserve
+for your deceit! That my child, good and virtuous as she is, should ever
+have been allowed to call you sister or friend. Her sister! You--the
+very vilest of the vile! the outcast of the most depraved and lost
+wretches! What hardihood, what effrontery you must have possessed, to
+dare to show your face among good and honest people, when your proper
+place would have been along with your bad companions in a prison!"
+
+"Ay, ay!" cried all the labourers at once; "let her be sent off to
+prison at once. She knows the murderer! Let her be made to declare who
+and what he is."
+
+"She is most likely his accomplice!"
+
+"You see," exclaimed the widow, doubling her fist in the face of the
+Goualeuse, "that my words have come true. Justice will overtake you
+before you can commit other crimes."
+
+"As for you, my good woman," said Madame Dubreuil to the milk-woman,
+"far from sending you away I shall reward you for the service you have
+done me in unmasking this infamous girl's real character."
+
+"There, I told you," murmured the voices of the labourers, "our mistress
+always does justice to every one!"
+
+"Come, Clara," resumed Madame Dubreuil, "let us retire and seek Madame
+Georges, that she may clear up her share of this disgraceful business,
+or she and I never meet again; for either she has herself been most
+dreadfully deceived, or her conduct towards us is of the very worst
+description."
+
+"But, mother, only look at poor Marie!"
+
+"Oh, never mind her! Let her die of shame, if she likes,--there will be
+one wicked, hardened girl less in the world. Treat her with the contempt
+she deserves. I will not suffer you to remain another instant where she
+is. It is impossible for a young person like you to notice her in any
+way without disgracing herself."
+
+"My dear mother," answered Clara, resisting her mother's attempts to
+draw her away, "I do not understand what you mean. Marie must be wrong
+in some way, since you say so! But look, only look at her--she is
+fainting! Pity her! Oh, mother, let her be ever so guilty, pray take
+pity on her present distress!"
+
+"Oh, Mlle. Clara, you are good--very, very good--to pardon me and care
+for me," uttered poor Fleur-de-Marie, in a faint voice, casting a look
+of unutterable gratitude on her young protectress. "Believe me, it was
+sorely against my will ever to deceive you; and daily, hourly, have I
+reproached myself for so doing."
+
+"Mother," exclaimed Clara, in the most piteous tones, "are you then so
+merciless? Can you not pity her?"
+
+"Pity!" returned Madame Dubreuil, scornfully. "No, I waste no pity on
+such as she is. Come, I say! Were it not that I consider it the office
+of Madame Georges to clear the place of so vile a creature, I would have
+her spurned from the doors, as though she carried the plague about with
+her." So saying, the angry mother seized her daughter's hand, and, spite
+of all her struggles, led her away, Clara continually turning back her
+head, and saying:
+
+"Marie, my sister, I know not what they accuse you of, but I am quite
+convinced of your innocence. Be assured of my constant love, whatever
+they may say or do."
+
+"Silence! silence! I command!" cried Madame Dubreuil, placing her hand
+over her daughter's mouth. "Speak not another word, I insist!
+Fortunately, we have plenty of witnesses to testify that, after the
+odious discovery we have just made, you were not suffered to remain a
+single instant with this lost and unfortunate young woman. You can all
+answer for that, can you not, my good people?" continued she, speaking
+to the assembled labourers.
+
+"Yes, yes, madame," replied one of them, "we all know well enough that
+Mlle. Clara was not allowed to stop with this bad girl a single instant
+after you found out her wickedness. No doubt she is a thief or she would
+not be so intimate with murderers."
+
+Madame Dubreuil led Clara to the house, while the Goualeuse remained in
+the midst of the hostile circle which had now formed around her. Spite
+of the reproaches of Madame Dubreuil, her presence, and that of Clara,
+had, in some degree, served to allay the fears of Fleur-de-Marie as to
+the probable termination of the scene. But, after the departure of both
+mother and daughter, when she found herself so entirely at the mercy of
+the enraged crowd, her strength seemed to forsake her, and she was
+obliged to keep herself from falling by leaning on the parapet of the
+deep watering-place where the farm cattle were accustomed to drink.
+
+Nothing could be conceived more touching than the attitude of the
+unfortunate girl, nor could a more threatening appearance have been
+displayed than was exhibited in the words and looks of the countrymen
+and women who surrounded her. Seated, or rather supporting herself on
+the narrow margin of the wall which enclosed the drinking-place, her
+head hanging down, and concealed by both hands, her neck and bosom hid
+by the ends of the little red cotton handkerchief which was twisted
+around her cap, the poor Goualeuse, mute and motionless, presented a
+most touching picture of grief and resignation.
+
+At some little distance from Fleur-de-Marie stood the widow of the
+murdered man. Triumphant in her vindictive rage, and still further
+excited by the indignation expressed by Madame Dubreuil, she pointed out
+the wretched object of her wrath to the labourers and her children, with
+gestures of contempt and detestation. The farm servants, who had now
+formed into a close circle, sought not to conceal their disgust and
+thirst for vengeance; their rude countenances expressed at once rage,
+desire for revenge, and a sort of insulting raillery. The women were
+even still more bitter, and bent upon mischief. Neither did the striking
+beauty of the Goualeuse tend to allay their wrath. But neither men nor
+women could pardon Fleur-de-Marie the heinous offence of having, up to
+that hour, been treated by their superiors as an equal; and some of the
+men now present, having been unsuccessful candidates for the vacant
+situations at Bouqueval, and attributing their failure to Madame
+Georges, when, in reality, their disappointment arose entirely from
+their recommendations not being sufficiently satisfactory, determined to
+avail themselves of the opportunity now before them to wreak their
+vexation and ill-will on the head of one she was known to protect and
+love. The impulses of ignorant minds always lead to extremes either of
+good or bad. But they speedily put on a most dangerous form, when the
+fury of an enraged multitude is directed against those who may already
+have awakened their personal anger or aversion.
+
+Although the greater number of the labourers now collected together
+might not have been so strictly virtuous and free from moral blame as to
+be justified in throwing the first stone at the trembling, fainting
+girl, who was the object of all their concentrated wrath, yet, on the
+present occasion, they unanimously spoke and acted as though her very
+presence was capable of contaminating them; and their delicacy and
+modesty alike revolted at the bare recollection of the depraved class to
+which she had belonged, and they shuddered to be so near one who
+confessed to having frequently conversed with assassins. Nothing, then,
+was wanting to urge on a blind and prejudiced crowd, still further
+instigated by the example of Madame Dubreuil.
+
+"Take her before the mayor!" cried one.
+
+"Ay, ay! and, if she won't walk, we'll drag her."
+
+"And for her to have the impudence to dress herself like one of us
+honest girls!" said an awkward, ill-looking farm-wench.
+
+"I'm sure," rejoined another female, with her mock-modest air, "one
+might have thought she would go to heaven, spite of priest or
+confession!"
+
+"Why, she had the assurance even to attend mass!"
+
+"No! Did she? Why did she not join in the communion afterwards then, I
+should like to know?"
+
+"And then she must play the young lady, and hold up her head as high as
+our betters!"
+
+"As though we were not good company enough for her!"
+
+"However, every dog has his day!"
+
+"Oh, I'll make you find your tongue, and tell who it was took my
+husband's life!" vociferated the enraged widow, breaking out into a
+fresh storm, now she felt her party so strong. "You all belong to one
+gang; and I'm not sure but I saw you among them at the very time and
+place when the bloody deed was done! Come, come; don't stand there
+shedding your crocodile tears; you are found out, and may as well leave
+off shamming any more. Show your face, I say! You are a beauty, ain't
+you?" And the infuriated woman, suiting the action to the word,
+violently snatched the two hands of poor Fleur-de-Marie from the pale
+and grief-worn countenance they concealed, and down which tears were
+fast streaming.
+
+The Goualeuse, sinking under a sense of shame, and terrified at finding
+herself thus at the mercy of her persecutors, joined her hands, and,
+turning towards the milk-woman her supplicating and timid looks, she
+said, in a gentle voice:
+
+"Indeed, indeed, madam, I have been at the farm of Bouqueval these last
+two months. How could I, then, have been witness to the dreadful
+misfortune you speak of? And--"
+
+The faint tones of Fleur-de-Marie's voice were drowned in the loud
+uproarious cries of the surrounding multitude.
+
+"Let us take her before the mayor! She can speak; and she shall, too, to
+some purpose. March, march, my fine madam! On with you!"
+
+So saying, the menacing crowd pressed upon the poor girl, who,
+mechanically crossing her hands on her bosom, looked eagerly around, as
+though in search of help.
+
+"Oh," cried the milk-woman, "you need not stare about in that wild way.
+Mlle. Clara is not here now to take your part. You don't slip through
+my fingers, I promise you!"
+
+"Alas! madam," uttered Fleur-de-Marie, trembling violently, "I seek not
+to escape from you. Be assured, I am both ready and willing to answer
+all the questions put to me, if I can be of any service to you by so
+doing. But what harm have I done to these people, who surround and
+threaten me in this manner?"
+
+"What have you done?" repeated a number of voices, "why, you have dared
+to stick yourself up with our betters, when we, who were worth thousands
+more than such as you, were made to keep our distance,--that's what you
+have done!"
+
+"And what right had you to cause this poor woman to be turned away with
+her fatherless children?" cried another.
+
+"Indeed, it was no fault of mine. It was Mlle. Clara, who wished--"
+
+"That is not true!" interrupted the speaker. "You never even opened your
+mouth in her favour. No, not you? You were too well pleased to see her
+bread taken from her."
+
+"No, no! no more she did," chimed in a burst of voices, male and female.
+
+"She is a regular bad one!"
+
+"A poor widow-woman, with three helpless children!"
+
+"If I did not plead for her with Mlle. Clara, it was because I had not
+power to utter a word."
+
+"You could find strength enough to talk to a set of thieves and
+murderers!"
+
+And, as is frequently the case in public commotions, the country people,
+more ignorant than vicious, actually talked themselves into a fury,
+until their own words and violence excited them to fresh acts of rage
+and vengeance against their unhappy victim.
+
+The menacing throng, gesticulating, and loudly threatening, advanced
+closer and closer towards Fleur-de-Marie, while the widow appeared to
+have lost all command over herself. Separated from the deep pond only by
+the parapet on which she was leaning, the Goualeuse shuddered at the
+idea of their throwing her into the water; and, extending towards them
+her supplicating hands, she exclaimed:
+
+"Good, kind people! what do you want with me? For pity's sake do not
+harm me!"
+
+And as the milk-woman, with fierce and angry gestures, kept coming
+nearer and nearer, holding her clenched fist almost in the face of
+Fleur-de-Marie, the poor girl, drawing herself back in terror, said, in
+beseeching tones:
+
+"Pray, pray, do not press so closely on me, or you will cause me to fall
+into the water."
+
+These words suggested a cruel idea to the rough spectators. Intending
+merely one of those practical jokes which, however diverting to the
+projectors, are fraught with serious harm and suffering to the
+unfortunate object of them, one of the most violent of the number called
+out, "Let's give her a plunge in! Duck her! duck her!"
+
+"Yes, yes!" chimed several voices, accompanied with brutal laughter, and
+noisy clapping of hands, with other tokens of unanimous approval. "Throw
+her in!--in with her!"
+
+"A good dip will do her good! Water won't kill her!"
+
+"That will teach her not to show her face among honest people again!"
+
+"To be sure. Toss her in!--fling her over!"
+
+"Fortunately, the ice was broken this morning!"
+
+"And when she has had her bath she may go and tell her street companions
+how the folks at Arnouville farm serve such vile girls as she is!"
+
+As these unfeeling speeches reached her ear, as she heard their
+barbarous jokes, and observed the exasperated looks of the brutally
+excited individuals who approached her to carry their threat into
+execution, Fleur-de-Marie gave herself over for lost. But to her first
+horror of a violent death succeeded a sort of gloomy satisfaction. The
+future wore so threatening and hopeless an aspect for her that she
+thanked heaven for shortening her trial. Not another complaining word
+escaped her; but gently falling on her knees, and piously folding her
+hands upon her breast, she closed her eyes, and meekly resigned herself
+to her fate.
+
+The labourers, surprised at the attitude and mute resignation of the
+Goualeuse, hesitated a moment in the accomplishment of their savage
+design; but, rallied on their folly and irresolution by the female part
+of the assemblage, they recommenced their uproarious cries, as though to
+inspire themselves with the necessary courage to complete their wicked
+purpose.
+
+Just as two of the most furious of the party were about to seize on
+Fleur-de-Marie a loud, thrilling voice was heard, exclaiming:
+
+"Stop! I command you!"
+
+And at the very instant Madame Georges, who had forced a passage through
+the crowd, reached the still kneeling Goualeuse, took her in her arms,
+and, raising her, cried:
+
+"Rise up, my child! Stand up, my beloved daughter! the knee should be
+bent to God alone!"
+
+The expression and attitude of Madame Georges were so full of courageous
+firmness that the actors in this cruel scene shrunk back speechless and
+confounded. Indignation coloured her usually pale features, and casting
+on the labourers a stern look she said to them, in a loud and
+threatening voice:
+
+"Wretches! Are you not ashamed of such brutal conduct to a helpless girl
+like this?"
+
+"She is--"
+
+"My daughter!" exclaimed Madame Georges, with severity, and abruptly
+interrupting the man who was about to speak, "and, as such, both
+cherished and protected by our worthy cure, M. l'Abbe Laporte, whom
+every one venerates and loves; and those whom he loves and esteems ought
+to be respected by every one!"
+
+These simple words effectually imposed silence on the crowd. The cure of
+Bouqueval was looked upon throughout his district almost as a saint, and
+many there present were well aware of the interest he took in the
+Goualeuse. Still a confused murmur went on, and Madame Georges, fully
+comprehending its import, added:
+
+"Suppose this poor girl were the very worst of creatures--the most
+abandoned of her sex--your conduct is not the less disgraceful! What
+offence has she committed? And what right have you to punish her?--you,
+who call yourselves men, to exert your strength and power against one
+poor, feeble, unresisting female! Surely it was a cowardly action all to
+unite against a defenceless girl! Come, Marie! come, child of my heart!
+let us return home; there, at least, you are known, and justly
+appreciated."
+
+Madame Georges took the arm of Fleur-de-Marie, while the labourers,
+ashamed of their conduct, the impropriety of which they now perceived,
+respectfully dispersed. The widow alone remained; and, advancing boldly
+to Madame Georges, she said, in a resolute tone:
+
+"I don't care for a word you say; and, as for this girl, she does not
+quit this place until after she has deposed before the mayor as to all
+she knows of my poor husband's murder."
+
+"My good woman!" said Madame Georges, restraining herself by a violent
+effort, "my daughter has no deposition to make here, but, at any future
+period that justice may require her testimony let her be summoned, and
+she shall attend with myself; until then no person has a right to
+question her."
+
+"But, madame, I say--"
+
+Madame Georges prevented the milk-woman from proceeding by replying, in
+a severe tone:
+
+"The severe affliction you have experienced can scarcely excuse your
+conduct, and you will one day regret the violence you have so improperly
+excited. Mlle. Marie lives with me at the Bouqueval farm; inform the
+judge who received your deposition of that circumstance, and say that we
+await his further orders."
+
+The widow, unable to argue against words so temperately and wisely
+spoken, seated herself on the parapet of the drinking-place, and,
+embracing her children, began to weep bitterly. Almost immediately after
+this scene Pierre brought the chaise, into which Madame Georges and
+Fleur-de-Marie mounted, to return to Bouqueval.
+
+As they passed before the farmhouse of Arnouville, the Goualeuse
+perceived Clara, who had hid herself behind a partly closed shutter,
+weeping bitterly. She was evidently watching for a last glimpse of her
+friend, to whom she waved her handkerchief in token of farewell.
+
+"Ah, madame! what shame to me, and vexation to you, has arisen this
+morning from our visit to Arnouville!" said Fleur-de-Marie to her
+adopted parent, when they found themselves in the sitting-room at
+Bouqueval; "you have probably quarrelled for ever with Madame Dubreuil,
+and all on my account! Oh, I foresaw something terrible was about to
+happen! God has justly punished me for deceiving that good lady and her
+daughter! I am the unfortunate cause of perpetual disunion between
+yourself and your friend."
+
+"My dear child, my friend is a warm-hearted, excellent woman, but rather
+weak; still I know her too well not to feel certain that by to-morrow
+she will regret her foolish violence of to-day."
+
+"Alas! madame, think not that I wish to take her part in preference to
+yours. No, God forbid! but pardon me if I say that I fear your great
+kindness towards me has induced you to shut your eyes to--Put yourself
+in the place of Madame Dubreuil--to be told that the companion of your
+darling daughter was--what I was--Ah, could any one blame such natural
+indignation?"
+
+Unfortunately Madame Georges could not find any satisfactory reply to
+this question of Fleur-de-Marie's, who continued with much excitement:
+
+"Soon will the degrading scene of yesterday be in everybody's mouth! I
+fear not for myself, but who can tell how far it may affect the
+reputation of Mlle. Clara? Who can answer for it that I may not have
+tarnished her fair fame for ever? for did she not, in the face of the
+assembled crowd, persist in calling me her friend--her sister? I ought
+to have obeyed my first impulse, and resisted the affection which
+attracted me towards Mlle. Dubreuil, and, at the risk of incurring her
+dislike, have refused the friendship she offered me. But I forgot the
+distance which separated me from her, and now, as you perceive, I am
+suffering the just penalty; I am punished--oh, how cruelly punished! for
+I have perhaps done an irreparable injury to one so virtuous and so
+good."
+
+"My child," said Madame Georges, after a brief silence, "you are wrong
+to accuse yourself so cruelly. 'Tis true your past life has been
+guilty--very highly so; but are we to reckon as nothing your having, by
+the sincerity of your repentance, obtained the protection and favour of
+our excellent cure? and was it not under his auspices and mine you were
+introduced to Madame Dubreuil? and did not your own amiable qualities
+inspire her with the attachment she so voluntarily professed for you?
+was it not she herself who requested you to call Clara your sister? and,
+finally, as I told her just now, for I neither wished nor ought to
+conceal the whole truth from her, how could I, certain as I felt of your
+sincere repentance--how could I, by divulging the past, render your
+attempts to reinstate yourself more painful and difficult, perhaps
+impossible, by throwing you, in despair of being again received by the
+good and virtuous, back upon the scorn and derision of those who,
+equally guilty, equally unfortunate as you have been, would not perhaps
+like you have preserved the secret instinct of honour and virtue? The
+disclosure made by the woman to-day is alike to be lamented and feared;
+but could I, in anticipation of an almost impossible casualty, sacrifice
+your present comfort and future repose?"
+
+"Ah, madame, a convincing proof of the false and miserable position I
+must ever hold may be found in the fact of your being obliged to conceal
+the past; and that the mother of Clara despises me for that past; views
+me in the same contemptuous light all will henceforward behold me, for
+the scene at the farm of Arnouville will be quickly spread
+abroad,--every one will hear of it! Oh, I shall die with shame! never
+again can I meet the looks of any human being!"
+
+"Not even mine, my child?" said Madame Georges, bursting into tears, and
+opening her arms to Fleur-de-Marie, "you will never find in my heart any
+other feeling than the devoted tenderness of a mother. Courage, then,
+dear Marie! console yourself with the knowledge of your hearty and
+sincere repentance; you are here surrounded with true and affectionate
+friends, let this home be your world. We will anticipate the exposure
+you dread so much; our worthy abbe shall assemble the people about the
+farm, who all regard you with love and respect, and he shall tell them
+the sad history of your past life; and, trust me, my child, told as the
+tale would be by him, whose word is law here, such a disclosure will but
+serve to increase the interest all take in your welfare."
+
+"I would fain think so, dear madame, and I submit myself. Yesterday,
+when we were conversing together, M. le Cure predicted to me that I
+should be called upon painfully to expiate my past offences; I ought
+not, therefore, to be astonished at their commencement. He told me also
+that my earthly trials would be accepted as some atonement for the great
+wrong I have done; I would fain hope so. Supported through these painful
+ordeals by you and my venerable pastor, I will not--I ought not to
+complain."
+
+"You will go to his presence ere long, and never will his counsels have
+been more valuable to you. It is already half-past four; prepare
+yourself for your visit to the rectory, my child. I shall employ myself
+in writing to M. Rodolph an account of what occurred at the farm at
+Arnouville, and send my letter off by express; I will then join you at
+our venerable abbe's, for it is most important we should talk over
+matters together."
+
+Shortly after the Goualeuse quitted the farm in order to repair to the
+rectory by the hollow road, where the old woman, the Schoolmaster, and
+Tortillard had agreed to meet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As may have been perceived in her conversations with Madame Georges and
+the cure of Bouqueval, Fleur-de-Marie had so nobly profited by the
+example of her benefactors, so assimilated herself with their
+principles, that, remembering her past degradation, she daily became
+more hopeless of recovering the place she had lost in society. As her
+mind expanded so did her fine and noble instincts arrive at mature
+growth, and bring forth worthy fruits in the midst of the atmosphere of
+honour and purity in which she lived. Had she possessed a less exalted
+mind, a less exquisite sensibility, or an imagination of weaker quality,
+Fleur-de-Marie might easily have been comforted and consoled; but,
+unfortunately, not a single day passed in which she did not recall, and
+almost live over again, with an agony of horror and disgust, the
+disgraceful miseries of her past life. Let the reader figure to himself
+a young creature of sixteen, candid and pure, and rejoicing in that very
+candour and purity, thrown, by frightful circumstances, into the
+infamous den of the ogress, and irrecoverably subjected to the dominion
+of such a fiend,--such was the reaction of the past on the present on
+Fleur-de-Marie's mind. Let us still further display the resentful
+retrospect, or, rather, the moral agony with which the Goualeuse
+suffered so excruciatingly, by saying that she regretted, more
+frequently than she had courage to own to the cure, the not having
+perished in the midst of the slough of wickedness by which she was
+encompassed.
+
+However little a person may reflect, or however limited his knowledge of
+life may be, he will not refuse to assent to our remarks touching the
+commiseration which such a case as Fleur-de-Marie's fully called for.
+She was deserving of both interest and pity, not only because she had
+never known what it was to have her affections fairly roused, but
+because all her senses were torpid, and as yet unawakened by noble
+impulses--untaught, unaided, unadvised. Is it not wonderful that this
+unfortunate girl, thrown at the tender age of sixteen years in the midst
+of the herd of savage and demoralised beings who infest the Cite, should
+have viewed her degrading position with horror and disgust, and have
+escaped from the sink of iniquity morally pure and free from sin?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE HOLLOW WAY.
+
+
+The sun was descending, and the fields were silent and deserted.
+Fleur-de-Marie had reached the entrance to the hollow way, which it was
+necessary to cross in her walk to the rectory, when she saw a little
+lame lad, dressed in a gray blouse and blue cap, come out of the ravine.
+He appeared in tears, and directly he saw the Goualeuse he ran towards
+her.
+
+"Oh, good lady, have pity on me, I pray!" he exclaimed, clasping his
+hands with a supplicating look.
+
+"What do you want? What is the matter with you, my poor boy?" said the
+Goualeuse, with an air of interest.
+
+"Alas, good lady! my poor grandmother, who is very, very old, has fallen
+down in trying to climb up the ravine, and hurt herself very much. I am
+afraid she has broken her leg, and I am too weak to lift her up myself.
+_Mon Dieu!_ what shall I do if you will not come and help me? Perhaps my
+poor grandmother will die!"
+
+The Goualeuse, touched with the grief of the little cripple, replied:
+
+"I am not very strong myself, my child; but perhaps I can help you to
+assist your poor grandmother. Let us go to her as quickly as we can! I
+live at the farm close by here; and, if the poor old woman cannot walk
+there with us, I will send somebody to help her!"
+
+"Oh, good lady, _le bon Dieu_ will bless you for your kindness! It is
+close by here--not two steps down this hollow way, as I told you. It was
+in going down the slope that she fell."
+
+"You do not belong to this part of the country?" said the Goualeuse,
+inquiringly following Tortillard, whom our readers have, no doubt,
+recognised.
+
+"No, good lady, we came from Ecouen."
+
+"And where are you going?"
+
+"To a good clergyman's, who lives on the hill out there," said Bras
+Rouge's son, to increase Fleur-de-Marie's confidence.
+
+"To the Abbe Laport's, perhaps?"
+
+"Yes, good lady; to the Abbe Laport's. My poor grandmother knows him
+very, very well."
+
+"And I was going there also. How strange that we should meet," said
+Fleur-de-Marie, advancing still farther into the hollow way.
+
+"Grandmamma, I'm coming, I'm coming! Take courage, and I will bring you
+help!" cried Tortillard, to forewarn the Schoolmaster and the Chouette
+to prepare themselves to lay hands on their victim.
+
+"Your grandmother, then, did not fall down far off from here?" inquired
+the Goualeuse.
+
+"No, good lady; behind that large tree there, where the road turns,
+about twenty paces from here."
+
+Suddenly Tortillard stopped.
+
+The noise of a horse galloping was heard in the silence of the place.
+
+"All is lost again!" said Tortillard to himself.
+
+The road made a very sudden bend a few yards from the spot where Bras
+Rouge's son was with the Goualeuse. A horseman appeared at the angle,
+and when he came nigh to the young girl he stopped. And then was heard
+the trot of another horse; and some moments after there followed a groom
+in a brown coat with silver buttons, white leather breeches, and
+top-boots. A leathern belt secured around his waist his master's
+macintosh. His master was dressed simply in a stout brown frock-coat,
+and a pair of light gray trousers, which fitted closely. He was mounted
+on a thoroughbred and splendid bay horse, which he sat admirably, and
+which, in spite of the fast gallop, had not a bead of sweat on his skin,
+which was as bright and brilliant as a star. The groom's gray horse,
+which stood motionless a few paces behind his master, was also well-bred
+and perfect of his kind. In the handsome dark face of the gentleman
+Tortillard recognised the Vicomte de Saint-Remy, who was supposed to be
+the lover of the Duchesse de Lucenay.
+
+"My pretty lass," said the viscount to the Goualeuse, whose lovely
+countenance struck him, "would you be so obliging as to tell me the way
+to the village of Arnouville?"
+
+Fleur-de-Marie's eyes sunk before the bold and admiring look of the
+young man, as she replied:
+
+"On leaving the sunken road, sir, you must take the first turning to the
+right, and that path will lead you to an avenue of cherry-trees, which
+is the straight road to Arnouville."
+
+"A thousand thanks, my pretty lass! You tell me better than an old
+woman, whom I found a few yards further on stretched under a tree, for I
+could only get groans and moans out of her."
+
+"My poor grandmother!" said Tortillard, in a whining tone.
+
+"One word more," said M. de Saint-Remy, addressing La Goualeuse. "Can
+you tell me if I shall easily find M. Dubreuil's farm at Arnouville?"
+
+Goualeuse could not prevent a shudder at these words, which recalled to
+her the painful scene of the morning. She replied:
+
+"The farm-buildings border the avenue which you must enter to reach
+Arnouville, sir."
+
+"Once more, many thanks, my pretty dear," said M. de Saint-Remy; and he
+galloped off with his groom.
+
+The handsome features of the viscount were in full animation whilst he
+was talking to Fleur-de-Marie, but when he was again alone they became
+darkened and contracted by painful uneasiness. Fleur-de-Marie,
+remembering the unknown person for whom they were so hastily preparing a
+pavilion at the farm of Arnouville by Madame de Lucenay's orders, felt
+convinced it was for this young and good-looking cavalier.
+
+The sound of the horses' feet as they galloped on was heard for some
+time on the hard and frozen ground, and by degrees grew fainter, then
+were no longer heard, and all was once more hushed in silence.
+Tortillard breathed again. Desirous of encouraging and warning his
+accomplices, one of whom, the Schoolmaster, was concealed from the
+horsemen, Bras Rouge's son called out:
+
+"Granny! granny! here I am! with the good lady who is coming to help
+you!"
+
+"Quick, quick, my boy! The gentleman on horseback has made us lose some
+time," said the Goualeuse, walking at a quicker pace, that she might
+reach the turning into the hollow way.
+
+She had scarcely entered it when the Chouette, who was hidden there,
+exclaimed:
+
+"Now then, _fourline_!"
+
+Then springing upon the Goualeuse, the one-eyed hag seized her by the
+neck with one hand, whilst with the other she pressed her mouth; and
+Tortillard, throwing himself at the young girl's feet, clung round her
+legs, that she might not be able to stir.
+
+This took place so rapidly that the Chouette had no time to examine the
+Goualeuse's features; but during the few instants it required for the
+Schoolmaster to quit the hole in which he was ensconced, to grope his
+way along with his cloak, the beldame recognised her old victim.
+
+"La Pegriotte!" she exclaimed, in great surprise. Then adding with
+savage delight, "What, is it you? Ah, the baker (the devil) sends you!
+It is your fate, then, to fall into my clutches! I have my vitriol in
+the _fiacre_ now, and your white skin shall have a touch, miss; for it
+makes me sick to see your fine lady countenance. Come, my man, mind she
+don't bite; and hold her tight whilst we bundle her up."
+
+The Schoolmaster seized the Goualeuse in his two powerful hands, and
+before she could utter a cry the Chouette threw the cloak over her head,
+and wrapped her up in it, tightly and securely. In a moment,
+Fleur-de-Marie, tied and enveloped, was without any power to move or
+call for assistance.
+
+"Now take up your parcel, _fourline_," said the Chouette. "He, he, he!
+This is not such a load as the 'black peter' of the woman who was
+drowned in the Canal of St. Martin---is it, my man?" And as the brigand
+shuddered at these words, which reminded him of his fearful vision, the
+one-eyed hag resumed, "Well, well, what ails you, _fourline_? Why, you
+seem frozen! Ever since the morning your teeth chatter as if you had the
+ague; and you look in the air as if you were looking for something
+there!"
+
+"Vile impostor! He is looking to see the flies," said Tortillard.
+
+"Come, quick! Haste forward, my man! Up with Pegriotte! That's it!" said
+the Chouette, as she saw the ruffian lift Fleur-de-Marie in his arms as
+he would carry a sleeping infant. "Quick to the coach! quick,--quick!"
+
+"But who will lead me?" inquired the Schoolmaster, in a hoarse voice,
+and securing his light and flexible burden in his herculean arms.
+
+"Old wise head!--he thinks of every thing!" said the Chouette.
+
+Then, lifting aside her shawl, she unfastened a red pocket-handkerchief
+which covered her skinny neck, and, twisting it into its length, said
+to the Schoolmaster:
+
+"Open your ivories, and take the end of this 'wipe' between them. Hold
+tight! Tortillard will take the other end in his hand, and you have
+nothing to do but to follow him. The good blind man requires a good dog!
+Here, brat!"
+
+The cripple cut a caper, and made a sort of low and odd barking. Then,
+taking the other end of the handkerchief in his hand, he led the
+Schoolmaster in this way, whilst the Chouette hastened forward to
+apprise Barbillon. We have not attempted to paint Fleur-de-Marie's
+terror when she found herself in the power of the Chouette and the
+Schoolmaster. She felt all her strength leave her, and could not offer
+the slightest resistance.
+
+Some minutes afterwards the Goualeuse was lifted into the _fiacre_ which
+Barbillon drove, and although it was night they closed the window-blinds
+carefully; and the three accomplices went, with their almost expiring
+victim, towards the plain of St. Denis, where Thomas Seyton awaited
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CLEMENCE D'HARVILLE.
+
+
+The reader will kindly excuse our having left one of our heroines in a
+most critical situation, the _denouement_ of which we shall state
+hereafter.
+
+It will be remembered that Rodolph had preserved Madame d'Harville from
+an imminent danger, occasioned by the jealousy of Sarah, who had
+acquainted M. d'Harville with the assignation Clemence had so
+imprudently granted to M. Charles Robert. Deeply affected with the scene
+he had witnessed, the prince returned directly home after quitting the
+Rue du Temple, putting off till the next day the visit he purposed
+paying to Mlle. Rigolette and the distressed family of the unfortunate
+artisan, of whom we have spoken, believing them out of the reach of
+present want, thanks to the money he had given Madame d'Harville to
+convey to them, in order that her pretended charitable visit to the
+house might assume a more convincing appearance in the eyes of her
+husband.
+
+Unfortunately, Rodolph was ignorant of Tortillard's having possessed
+himself of the purse, although the reader has already been told how the
+artful young thief contrived to effect the barefaced cheat.
+
+About four o'clock the prince received the following letter, which was
+brought by an old woman, who went away the instant she had delivered it
+without awaiting any answer.
+
+   "MY LORD:
+
+     "I owe you more than life; and I would fain express my heartfelt
+   gratitude for the invaluable service you have rendered me to-day.
+   To-morrow shame would, perhaps, close my lips. If your royal
+   highness will honour me with a call this evening, you will finish
+   the day as you began it--by a generous action.
+
+                                          "D'ORBIGNY D'HARVILLE.
+
+     "P.S. Do not, my lord, take the trouble to write an answer. I
+   shall be at home all the evening."
+
+However rejoiced Rodolph felt at having been the happy instrument of
+good to Madame d'Harville, he yet could not help regretting the sort of
+a forced intimacy which this circumstance all at once established
+between himself and the marquise. Deeply struck with the graceful
+vivacity and extreme beauty of Clemence, yet wholly incapable of
+infringing upon the friendship which existed between himself and the
+marquis, Rodolph, directly he became aware of the passion which was
+springing up in his heart for the wife of his friend, almost denied
+himself (after having previously devoted a whole month to the most
+assiduous attentions) the pleasure of beholding her. And now, too, he
+recollected with much emotion the conversation he had overheard at the
+embassy between Tom and Sarah, when the latter, by way of accounting for
+her hatred and jealousy, had affirmed, and not without truth, that
+Madame d'Harville still felt, even unknown to herself, a serious
+affection for Rodolph.
+
+Sarah was too acute, too penetrating, too well versed in the knowledge
+of the human heart, not to be well aware that Clemence, believing
+herself scorned by a man who had made so deep an impression on her
+heart, and yielding, from the effects of her irritated feelings, to the
+importunities of a perfidious friend, might be induced to interest
+herself in the imaginary woes of M. Charles Robert, without,
+consequently, forgetting Rodolph. Other women, faithful to the memory of
+a man they had once distinguished, would have remained indifferent to
+the melancholy looks of the commandant. Clemence d'Harville was
+therefore doubly blamable, although she had only yielded to the
+seduction of unhappiness, and, fortunately for her, had been preserved
+alike by a keen sense of duty and the remembrance of the prince (which
+still lurked in her heart, and kept faithful watch over it) from the
+commission of an irreparable fault.
+
+A thousand contradictory emotions disturbed the mind of Rodolph, as he
+thought of his interview with Madame d'Harville. Firmly resolved to
+resist the predilection which attracted him to her society, sometimes he
+congratulated himself on being able to cast off his love for her by the
+recollection of her having entangled herself with such a being as
+Charles Robert; and the next instant he bitterly deplored seeing the
+flattering veil with which he had invested his idol fall to the ground.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Clemence d'Harville, on her part, awaited the approaching interview with
+much anxiety; but the two prevailing sentiments which pervaded her
+breast were painful confusion, when she remembered the interference of
+Rodolph, and a fixed aversion when she thought of M. Charles Robert, and
+many reasons were concerned in this feeling of dislike almost
+approaching hatred itself. A woman will risk her honour or her life for
+a man, but she will never pardon him for having placed her in a
+mortifying or a ridiculous situation.
+
+Madame d'Harville felt her cheeks flush, and her pulse beat rapidly as
+she indignantly recalled the insulting looks and impertinent remarks of
+Madame Pipelet. Nor was this all. After receiving from Rodolph an
+intimation of the danger she was incurring, Clemence had proceeded
+rapidly towards the fifth floor, as directed, but the position of the
+staircase was such that, as she hurried on, she perceived M. Charles
+Robert in his dazzling _robe de chambre_, at the very instant when,
+recognising the light step of the woman he expected, he, with a
+self-satisfied, confident, and triumphant look, set the door of his
+apartment half open. The air of insolent familiarity, expressed by the
+_negligee_ toilet he had assumed, quickly enabled the marquise to
+perceive how entirely she had been mistaken in his character. Led away
+by the kindness and goodness of her heart, and the generosity of her
+disposition, to take a step which might for ever destroy her reputation,
+she had accorded this meeting, not from love, but solely from
+commiseration, in order to console him for the ridiculous part the bad
+taste of the Duke de Lucenay had made him play before her at the
+embassy. Words can ill describe the disgust and vexation with which
+Madame d'Harville beheld the slipshod _deshabille_ of the commandant,
+implying as it did his opinion how completely her ill-judged
+condescension had broken down the barriers of etiquette, and led him to
+consider no further respect towards her necessary.
+
+The timepiece in the small salon which Madame d'Harville ordinarily
+occupied struck nine o'clock. Dressmakers and tavern-keepers have so
+much abused the style of Louis XV. and the Renaissance, that the
+marquise, a woman of infinite taste, had excluded from her apartments
+this description of ornament, now become so vulgarised, and confined it
+to that part of the hotel devoted to the reception of visitors and grand
+entertainments. Nothing could be more elegant or more _distingue_ than
+the fitting-up of the salon in which the marquise awaited Rodolph. The
+colour of the walls as well as the curtains (which, without either
+valances or draperies, were of Indian texture) was bright straw colour,
+on which were embroidered, in a darker shade, in unwrought silk,
+arabesques of the most beautiful designs and whimsical devices. Double
+curtains of point d'Alencon entirely concealed the windows. The
+rosewood doors were set off with gold mouldings, most beautifully
+carved, surrounding in each panel an oval medallion of Sevres china,
+nearly a foot in diameter, representing a numberless variety of birds
+and flowers of surpassing brilliancy and beauty. The frames of the
+looking-glasses and the cornices of the curtains were also of rosewood,
+ornamented with similar raised work of silver gilt. The white marble
+mantelpiece, with its supporting caryatides of antique beauty and
+exquisite grace, was from the chisel of the proud and imperious
+Marochetti, that great artist having consented to sculpture this
+delicious _chef-d'oeuvre_ in imitation of Benvenuto Cellini, who
+disdained not to model ewers and armour. Two candelabras, and two
+candlesticks of vermeil, forming groups of small figures beautifully
+executed, stood on either side of the timepiece, which was formed of a
+square block of lapis lazuli raised on a pedestal of Oriental jasper,
+and surmounted with a large and magnificently enamelled golden cup,
+richly studded with rubies and pearls, once the property of the
+Florentine Republic. Several excellent pictures of the Venetian school,
+of middle size, completed this assemblage of elegance and refined taste.
+
+Thanks to a most charming invention but recently introduced, this
+splendid yet simple apartment was lighted only by the soft rays of a
+lamp, the unground surface of whose crystal globe was half hid among a
+mass of real flowers, contained in an immensely large and deep blue and
+gold Japan cup, suspended from the ceiling like a lustre by three chains
+of vermeil, around which were entwined the green stalks of several
+climbing plants; while some of the flexible branches, thickly laden with
+flowers, overhanging the edge of the cup and hanging gracefully down,
+formed a waving fringe of fresh verdure, beautifully contrasting with
+the blue and gold enamel of the purple porcelain.
+
+We have been thus precise in these details, trifling as they may seem,
+in order to give some idea of the exquisite taste possessed by Madame
+d'Harville (the almost invariable companion of an elevated mind), and
+also because misfortunes always strike us as more poignantly cruel when
+they insinuate themselves into abodes like this, the favoured possessors
+of which seem gifted by Providence with everything to make life happy
+and enviable.
+
+Buried in the downy softness of a large armchair, totally covered by the
+same straw-coloured Indian silk as formed the rest of the hangings,
+Clemence d'Harville sat, awaiting the arrival of Rodolph. Her hair was
+arranged in the most simple manner. She wore a high dress of black
+velvet, which well displayed the beauty and admirable workmanship of her
+large collar and cuffs of English lace, which prevented the extreme
+black of the velvet from contrasting too harshly with the dazzling
+whiteness of her throat and hands.
+
+In proportion as the hour approached for her interview with Rodolph, the
+emotion of the marquise increased; but by degrees her embarrassment
+ceased, and firmer resolves took possession of her mind. After a long
+and mature reflection she came to the determination of confiding to
+Rodolph a great, a cruel secret, hoping by her frankness to win back
+that esteem she now so highly prized. Awakened by gratitude, her
+pristine admiration of Rodolph returned with fresh force; one of those
+secret whispers, which rarely deceives the heart that loves, told her
+that chance alone had not brought the prince so opportunely to her
+succour, and that his studied avoidance of her society during the last
+few months had originated in anything but indifference. A vague
+suspicion also arose in her mind as to the reality and sincerity of the
+affection Sarah professed for her.
+
+While deeply meditating on all these things, a _valet de chambre_,
+having first gently tapped at the door, entered, saying:
+
+"Will it please you, my lady, to see Madame Ashton and my young lady?"
+
+Madame d'Harville made an affirmative gesture of assent, and a little
+girl slowly entered the room.
+
+The child was about four years old, and her countenance would have been
+a very charming one but for its sickly pallor and extreme meagreness.
+Madame Ashton, the governess, held her by the hand, but, directly Claire
+(that was the name of the little girl) saw her mother, she opened her
+arms, and, spite of her feebleness, ran towards her. Her light brown
+hair was plaited, and tied at each side of her forehead with bows of
+cherry-coloured riband. Her health was so delicate that she wore a
+wrapping-dress of dark brown silk instead of one of those pretty little
+white muslin frocks trimmed with ribands of a similar colour as those in
+the hair, and well cut over the bosom to show the plump, pinky arms, and
+smooth, fair shoulders, so lovely in healthy children. So sunken were
+the cheeks of poor Claire that her large dark eyes looked quite
+enormous. But, spite of every appearance of weakness, a sweet and gentle
+smile lit up her small features when she was placed on the lap of her
+mother, whom she kissed and embraced with intense yet mournful
+affection.
+
+"How has she been of late, Madame Ashton?" inquired Madame d'Harville of
+the governess.
+
+"Tolerably well, madame; although at one time I feared."
+
+"Again!" cried Clemence, pressing her daughter to her heart with a
+movement of involuntary horror.
+
+"Fortunately, madame, I was mistaken," said the governess, "and the
+whole passed away without any further alarm; Mademoiselle Claire became
+composed, and merely suffered from a momentary feeling of weakness. She
+has not slept much this afternoon, but I could not coax her to bed
+without allowing her the pleasure of paying a visit to you."
+
+"Dear little angel!" cried Madame d'Harville, covering her daughter with
+kisses.
+
+The interesting child repaid her mother's caresses with infantine
+delight, when the groom of the chambers entered and announced:
+
+"His royal highness the Grand Duke of Gerolstein."
+
+Claire, standing on her mother's lap, had thrown her arms about her
+neck, and was clasping her with all the force of which her tiny arms
+were capable. At the sight of Rodolph, Clemence blushed deeply, set her
+child gently down on the carpet, and signed to Madame Ashton to take her
+away; she then rose to receive her guest.
+
+"You must give me leave," said Rodolph, smilingly, after having
+respectfully bowed to the marquise, "to renew my acquaintance with my
+little friend here, who I fear has almost forgotten me."
+
+And, stooping down a little, he extended his hand to Claire, who, first
+gazing at him with her large eyes, curiously scrutinised his features,
+then, recognising him, she made a gentle inclination of the head, and
+blew him a kiss from the tips of her small, thin fingers.
+
+"You remember my lord, then, my child?" asked Clemence of little Claire,
+who gave an assenting nod, and kissed her hand to Rodolph a second time.
+
+"Her health appears to me much improved since I last saw her," said he,
+addressing himself with unfeigned interest to Clemence.
+
+"Thank heaven, my lord, she is better, though still sadly delicate and
+suffering."
+
+The marquise and the prince, mutually embarrassed at the thoughts of the
+approaching interview, would have been equally glad to defer its
+commencement, through the medium of Claire's presence; but, the discreet
+Madame Ashton having taken her away, Rodolph and Clemence were left
+quite alone.
+
+[Illustration: "_You Must Give Me Leave_"
+Original Etching by L. Poiteau]
+
+The armchair in which Madame d'Harville was reclining stood on the right
+hand of the chimney, and Rodolph remained without attempting to seat
+himself, gracefully leaning his elbow on the mantelpiece. Never had
+Clemence been so strongly impressed with admiration at the noble and
+prepossessing appearance of the prince; never had his voice sounded more
+gentle or sweet upon her ear. Fully understanding how painful it must be
+to the marquise to open the conversation, Rodolph at once proceeded to
+the main point by observing:
+
+"You have been, madame, the victim of a base and treacherous action. A
+cowardly and dishonourable disclosure on the part of the Countess
+Macgregor has well-nigh effected irremediable mischief."
+
+"Is it, indeed, so?" exclaimed Clemence, painfully surprised; "then my
+presentiments were not ill-founded! And by what means did your royal
+highness discover this?"
+
+"Last night, at the ball given by the Countess C----, I discovered this
+infamous secret. I was sitting in a lone part of the 'Winter Garden,'
+when Countess Sarah and her brother, unconscious that a mass of verdure
+alone concealed me from them, while it enabled me to hear each word they
+spoke, began conversing freely upon their own projects, and the snare
+they had spread for you. Anxious to warn you of the danger with which
+you were threatened, I hastened to Madame de Nerval's ball, hoping to
+meet you there, but you did not appear. To write and direct my letter
+here was to incur the risk of its falling into the hands of the marquis,
+whose suspicions were already aroused by your treacherous friend; and I
+therefore preferred awaiting your arrival in the Rue du Temple, that I
+might unfold to you the perfidy of Countess Macgregor. Let me hope you
+will pardon my thus long dwelling on a subject which must be so painful
+to you. And, but for the few lines you were kind enough to write, never
+would my lips have in any way reverted to it."
+
+After a momentary silence, Madame d'Harville said to Rodolph:
+
+"There is but one way, my lord, in which I can prove to you my gratitude
+for your late generous conduct. It is to confess to you that which I
+have never revealed to a human being. What I have to say will not
+exculpate me in your estimation, but it will, perhaps, enable you to
+make some allowances for my imprudence."
+
+"Candidly speaking, madame," said Rodolph, smiling, "my position as
+regards you is a very embarrassing one."
+
+Clemence, astonished at the almost jesting tone in which he spoke,
+looked at Rodolph with extreme surprise, while she said, "How so, my
+lord?"
+
+"Thanks to a circumstance you are doubtless acquainted with, I am
+obliged to assume the grave airs of a mentor touching an incident which,
+since you have so happily escaped the vile snare laid for you by
+Countess Sarah, scarcely merits being treated with so much importance.
+But," continued Rodolph with a slight shade of gentle and affectionate
+earnestness, "your husband and myself are almost as brothers; and,
+before our time, our fathers had vowed the sincerest friendship for each
+other. I have, therefore, a double motive in most warmly congratulating
+you on having secured the peace and happiness of your husband!"
+
+"And it is from my knowledge of the high regard and esteem with which
+you honour M. d'Harville, that I have determined upon revealing the
+whole truth, as well as to explain myself relative to an interest which
+must appear to you as ill-chosen and unworthy as it now seems to me. I
+wish also to clear up that part of my conduct which bears an injurious
+appearance against the tranquillity and honour of him your highness
+styles 'almost a brother.'"
+
+"Believe me, madame, I shall at all times be most proud and happy to
+receive the smallest proof of your confidence. Yet permit me to say, as
+regards the interest you speak of, that I am perfectly aware it
+originated as much in sincere pity as from the constant importunities of
+Countess Sarah Macgregor, who had her own reasons for seeking to injure
+you. And I also know equally well that you long hesitated ere you could
+make up your mind to take the step you now so much regret."
+
+Clemence looked at the prince with surprise.
+
+"You seem astonished. Well, that you may not fancy I dabble in
+witchcraft, some of these days I will tell you all about it," said
+Rodolph, smiling. "But your husband is perfectly tranquillised, is he
+not?"
+
+"Yes, my lord," said Clemence, looking down in much confusion; "and it
+is most painful to me to hear him asking my pardon for having ever
+suspected me, and then eulogising my modest silence respecting my good
+deeds."
+
+"Nay, do not chide an illusion which renders him so happy. On the
+contrary, endeavour to maintain the innocent deception. Were it not
+forbidden to treat your late adventure lightly, and had not you, madame,
+been so much involved in it, I would say that a woman never appears more
+charming in the eyes of her husband than when she has some fault to
+conceal. It is inconceivable how many little cajoleries, and what
+winning smiles, are employed to ease a troubled conscience. When I was
+young," added Rodolph, smiling, "I always, in spite of myself,
+mistrusted any unusual marks of tenderness. And, by the same rule, I can
+say of myself, that I never felt more disposed to appear in an amiable
+light than when I was conscious of requiring forgiveness. So, directly I
+perceived a more than ordinary anxiety to please and gratify me, I was
+very sure (judging by my own conduct) to ascribe it to some little
+peccadillo that needed overlooking and pardoning."
+
+The light tone with which Rodolph continued to discuss an affair which
+might have been attended with circumstances so fearful, at first excited
+Madame d'Harville's wonder; but she quickly perceived that the prince,
+beneath his outward appearance of trifling, sought to conceal, or at
+least lessen, the importance of the service he had rendered her. And,
+profoundly touched with his delicacy, she said:
+
+"I comprehend your generous meaning, my lord; and you are fully at
+liberty to jest and forget as much as you like the peril from which you
+have preserved me. But that which I have to relate to you is of so
+grave, so serious, and mournful a nature, is so closely connected with
+the events of this morning, and your advice may so greatly benefit me,
+that I beseech you to remember that to you I owe both my honour and my
+life: yes, my lord, my life! My husband was armed; and he has owned, in
+the excess of his repentance, that it was his intention to have killed
+me, had his suspicions proved correct."
+
+"Great God!" exclaimed Rodolph with emotion.
+
+"And he would have been justified in so doing," rejoined Madame
+d'Harville, bitterly.
+
+"I beseech you, madame," said Rodolph,--and this time he spoke with deep
+seriousness,--"I beseech you to be assured I am incapable of being
+careless or indifferent to any matter in which you are concerned. If I
+seemed but now to jest, it was but to make you think less of a
+circumstance which has already occasioned you so much pain. But now,
+madame, you may command my most solemn attention. Since you honour me by
+saying my advice may be useful, I listen most anxiously and eagerly."
+
+"You can, indeed, counsel me most beneficially, my lord. But, before I
+explain to you my reasons for seeking your aid, I must say a few words
+concerning a period of which you are ignorant,--I mean the years which
+preceded my marriage with M. d'Harville."
+
+Rodolph bowed, and Clemence continued:
+
+"At sixteen years of age I lost my mother (and here a tear stole down
+the fair cheek of Madame d'Harville). I cannot attempt to describe how
+much I adored that beloved parent. Imagine, my lord, the very
+personification of all earthly goodness. Her fondness for me was
+excessive, and appeared her only consolation amid the many bitter
+sorrows she had to endure. Caring but little for what is styled the
+world, with delicate health, and a natural predilection for sedentary
+occupation, her great delight had been in attending solely to my
+education, and her ample store of solid and varied knowledge well fitted
+her for the task. Conceive, my lord, her astonishment and mine when, in
+my sixteenth year, my dear preceptress considered my education nearly
+completed, my father--making the feeble health of my mother a
+pretext--announced to us that a young and accomplished widow, whose
+misfortunes rendered her justly interesting, would henceforth be charged
+with finishing what my dear parent had begun. My mother at first
+resolutely refused obedience to my father's command, while I in vain
+besought him not to interpose a stranger's authority between myself and
+my beloved mother. He was inexorable alike to our tears and prayers, and
+Madame Roland, who stated herself to be the widow of a colonel who had
+died in India, came to take up her abode with us, in the character of
+governess to myself."
+
+"What! the same Madame Roland your father married almost immediately
+after the death of your mother?"
+
+"The same, my lord."
+
+"Was she, then, very beautiful?"
+
+"Tolerably so,--nothing more."
+
+"Clever,--witty, perhaps?"
+
+"She was a clever dissembler,--a skilful manoeuvrer; her talent went
+no higher. She might be about five and twenty years of age, with
+extremely light hair and nearly white eyelashes; her eyes were large,
+round, and a clear blue; the expression of her countenance was humble
+and gentle; and while her outward manner was attentive, even to
+servility, her real disposition was as perfidious as it was unfeeling."
+
+"And what were her acquirements?"
+
+"Positively none at all, my lord; and I cannot conceive how my father,
+who until then had been so completely a slave to the dictates of worldly
+propriety, did not reflect that the utter incapacity of this woman must
+shamefully proclaim the real cause of her being in the house. My mother
+earnestly pointed out to him the extreme ignorance of Madame Roland; he,
+however, merely replied, in a tone which admitted of no further
+argument, that, competent or otherwise, the young and interesting widow
+should retain the situation in his establishment in which he had placed
+her. This I heard subsequently. From that instant my poor mother
+comprehended the whole affair, over which she deeply grieved; regretting
+less, I fancy, her husband's infidelity than the domestic unhappiness
+which would result from so indecorous a _liaison_, the account of which
+she feared might reach my ears."
+
+"But, even so far as his foolish passion was concerned, it seems to me
+that your father acted very unwisely in introducing this woman into his
+house."
+
+"And you would be still more at a loss to understand his conduct if you
+had but known the extreme formality and circumspection of his character.
+Nothing could ever have induced him thus to trample under foot all the
+established rules of society but the unbounded influence of Madame
+Roland,--an influence she exercised with so much the more certainty as
+she veiled her designs under the mask of the most passionate love for
+him."
+
+"But what was your father's age then?"
+
+"About sixty."
+
+"And he really credited the professions of love made by so much younger
+a woman?"
+
+"My father had been in his time one of the most fashionable and admired
+men of the day. And Madame Roland, either following the suggestions of
+her own artful mind or urged on by the counsels of others, who could
+countenance much more--"
+
+"Counsel such a person!"
+
+"I will tell you, my lord. Imagining that a man whose reputation for
+gallantry had always stood high in the world would, as he advanced in
+years, be more easily delighted than another by being flattered upon his
+personal advantages, and more credulously receive such compliments as
+served to recall those days most soothing to his vanity to remember,
+well, my lord, incredible as it may appear, this woman began to flatter
+my poor misguided father upon the graceful _tournure_ of his features
+and the inimitable elegance of his shape. And he in his sixtieth year!
+Strange as you may consider it, spite of the excellent sense with which
+my father was endowed, he fell blindly into the snare, coarse and vulgar
+as it was. Such was--such still is, I doubt not--the secret of the
+unbounded influence this woman obtained over him. And really, my lord,
+spite of my present disinclination for mirth, I can scarcely restrain a
+smile at the recollection of having frequently, before my marriage,
+heard Madame Roland assert and maintain that what she styled real
+maturity was the finest portion of a person's existence, and that this
+maturity never began until about the fifty-fifth or sixtieth year of
+one's age."
+
+"I suppose that happened to be your father's age?"
+
+"Precisely so, my lord! Then, and then only, according to Madame Roland,
+had the understanding, combined with experience, attained their full
+development; then only could a man, occupying a distinguished position
+in the world, enjoy the consideration to which he was entitled; at that
+period only were the _tout ensemble_ of his countenance, and the
+exquisite grace of his manners, in their highest perfection; the
+physiognomy offering at this delightful epoch of a man's life a heavenly
+mixture of winning serenity and gentle gravity. Then the slight tinge of
+melancholy, caused by the many recollections of the past deceit
+experience is fain to look back upon, completes the irresistible charm
+of real maturity; unappreciable (Madame Roland hastily added) except by
+women with head and heart sufficiently good to despise the youthful
+frivolity of a poor, inexperienced forty years, when the character and
+countenance can scarcely be called formed, and when good taste turns
+away from the boyish folly of such an immature season of life, and seeks
+the fine, majestic features impressed with the sublime and poetic
+expression resulting from a sixty years' study of the vast book of human
+existence."
+
+Rodolph could not restrain smiling at the powerful irony with which
+Madame d'Harville sketched the portrait of her mother-in-law.
+
+"There is one thing," said he to the marquise, "for which I cannot
+forgive ridiculous people."
+
+"What is that, my lord?"
+
+"The being also wicked; which prevents our being able to laugh at them
+as much as they deserve."
+
+"They probably calculate upon that available advantage," replied
+Clemence.
+
+"Indeed, it is very probable, though equally lamentable, for, if it were
+not for the recollection of all the pain Madame Roland has occasioned
+you, I could be highly diverted with her system of real maturity as
+opposed to the insipidity of mere boys of only forty years of age, who,
+according to her assertion, would be scarcely out of their
+leading-strings, as our grandfathers and grandmothers would say."
+
+"What principally excited my aversion for her was the shamefulness of
+her conduct towards my dear mother, and the unfortunately over-zealous
+part she took in my marriage," said the marquise, after a moment's
+pause.
+
+Rodolph looked at her with much surprise.
+
+"Nay, my lord," said Clemence, in a firm, though gentle tone, "I well
+remember that M. d'Harville is your friend and my husband. I know
+perfectly the grave importance of the words I have just uttered:
+hereafter you yourself shall admit the justice of them. But to return to
+Madame Roland, who was now, spite of her acknowledged incapacity,
+established as my instructress: my mother had a long and most painful
+altercation with my father on the subject, which drew down on us his
+extreme displeasure, and from that period my mother and myself remained
+secluded in our apartments, while Madame Roland, in quality of my
+governess, directed the whole household, and almost publicly did the
+honours of the mansion."
+
+"What must your mother have suffered!"
+
+"She did, indeed, my lord; but her sorrow was less for herself than me,
+whose future destiny might be so deeply affected by the introduction of
+this woman. Her health, always delicate, became daily weaker, and she
+fell seriously ill. It chanced, most unfortunately, that our family
+doctor, M. Sorbier, in whom she had the highest confidence, died about
+this period, to my mother's extreme regret. Madame Roland immediately
+urged my father to place my mother's case in the hands of an Italian
+doctor, a particular friend of her own, and whom she described as
+possessing a more than ordinary skill in the treatment of diseases.
+Thanks to her importunities, my father, who had himself consulted him in
+trifling maladies, and found no cause to be dissatisfied, proposed him
+to my mother, who, alas, raised no objection. And this man it was who
+attended upon her during her last illness."
+
+Tears filled the eyes of Madame d'Harville as she uttered these words.
+
+"I am ashamed to confess my weakness, my lord," added she; "but, for the
+simple reason of this doctor having been appointed at the suggestion of
+Madame Roland, he inspired me (and at that time without any cause) with
+the most involuntary repugnance, and it was with the most painful
+misgivings I saw him established in my mother's confidence. Still, as
+regarded his knowledge of his profession, Doctor Polidori--"
+
+"What do I hear?" exclaimed Rodolph.
+
+"Are you indisposed, my lord?" inquired Clemence, struck with the sudden
+expression the prince's countenance had assumed.
+
+"No, no!" said Rodolph, as though unconscious of the presence of Madame
+d'Harville, "no, I must be mistaken. Five or six years must have elapsed
+since all this occurred, while I am informed that it is not more than
+two years since Polidori came to Paris, and then under a feigned name.
+He it was I saw yesterday,--I am sure of it,--the quack dentist
+Bradamanti and Polidori are one and the same. Still, 'tis singular; two
+doctors of the same name,[3]--what a strange rencontre!"
+
+  [3] We must remind the reader that Polidori was a doctor of some
+  eminence when he undertook the education of Rodolph.
+
+"Madame," said Rodolph, turning to Madame d'Harville, whose astonishment
+at his preoccupation still increased, "we will, if you please, compare
+notes as to this Italian. What age was he?"
+
+"About fifty."
+
+"And his appearance,--his countenance?"
+
+"Most sinister. Never shall I forget his clear, piercing, green eye, and
+his nose curved like the bill of an eagle."
+
+"'Tis he,--'tis he himself!" exclaimed Rodolph. "And do you think,
+madame, that the Doctor Polidori you were describing is still in Paris?"
+
+"That I cannot tell you, my lord. He quitted Paris about a year after my
+father's marriage. A lady of my acquaintance, who at this period also
+employed the Italian as her medical adviser--this lady, Madame de
+Lucenay--"
+
+"The Duchess de Lucenay?" interrupted Rodolph.
+
+"Yes, my lord. But why this surprise?"
+
+"Permit me to be silent on that subject. But, at the time of which you
+speak, what did Madame de Lucenay tell you of this man?"
+
+"She said that he travelled much after quitting Paris, and that she
+often received from him very clever and amusing letters, descriptive of
+the various places he visited. Now I recollect that, about a month ago,
+happening to ask Madame de Lucenay whether she had heard lately from M.
+Polidori, she replied, with an embarrassed manner, 'that nothing had
+been heard of or concerning him for some time; that no one knew what had
+become of him; and that by many he was supposed to be dead.'"
+
+"Strange, indeed," said Rodolph, recalling the recent visit of Madame de
+Lucenay to the charlatan Bradamanti.
+
+"You know this man, then, my lord?"
+
+"Unfortunately for myself, I do; but let me beseech you to continue your
+recital; hereafter I will give you an insight into the history of this
+Polidori."
+
+"Do you mean the doctor?"
+
+"Say, rather, the wretch stained with the most atrocious crimes."
+
+"Crimes!" cried Madame d'Harville, in alarm; "can it be possible, the
+man whom Madame Roland so highly extolled, and into whose hands my poor
+mother was delivered, was guilty of crimes? Alas, my dear parent
+lingered but a very short time after she passed into his care! Ah, my
+lord, my presentiments have not deceived me!"
+
+"Your presentiments?"
+
+"Oh, yes! I was telling you just now of the invincible antipathy I felt
+for this man from the circumstance of his having been introduced among
+us by Madame Roland; but I did not tell you all, my lord."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I was fearful lest the bitterness of my own griefs should make me
+guilty of injustice towards an innocent person; but now, my lord, you
+shall know everything. My mother had lain dangerously ill about five
+days; I had always watched beside her, night as well as day. One
+evening, that I felt much oppressed with confinement and fatigue, I went
+to breathe the fresh air on the terrace of the garden: after remaining
+about a quarter of an hour, I was returning by a long and obscure
+gallery; by a faint light which streamed from the apartment of Madame
+Roland I saw M. Polidori quit the room, accompanied by the mistress of
+the chamber. Being in the shadow, they did not perceive me; Madame
+Roland spoke some words to the doctor, but in so low a tone I could not
+catch them; the doctor's answer was given in a louder key, and consisted
+only of these words: 'The day after to-morrow;' and, when Madame Roland
+seemed to urge him, still in so low a voice as to prevent the words
+reaching me, he replied, with singular emphasis, 'The day after
+to-morrow, I tell you,--the day after to-morrow.'"
+
+"What could those words mean?"
+
+"What did they mean? Alas, alas, my lord, it was on the Wednesday
+evening I heard M. Polidori say 'The day after to-morrow;' on the Friday
+my mother was a corpse!"
+
+"Horrible, indeed!"
+
+"After this mournful event I was consigned to the care of a relation,
+who, forgetful of the afflicted state of my mind, as well as tender age,
+told me, without reserve or consideration of the consequences, what
+powerful reasons there were for my hating Madame Roland, and fully
+enlightened me as to the ambitious projects entertained by this woman:
+full well I could then imagine all my poor mother must have endured. I
+thought my heart would break the first time I again saw my father, which
+was upon the occasion of his coming to fetch me from the house of my
+relation to take me into Normandy, where we were to pass the first
+months of our mourning. During the journey he informed me, without the
+least embarrassment, and as though it had been the most natural thing in
+the world, that, out of regard for himself and me, madame had kindly
+consented to take the command of the establishment, and to act as my
+guide and friend. On arriving at Aubiers (so was my father's estate
+called), the first object we beheld was Madame Roland, who had
+established herself here on the very day of my mother's death. Spite of
+her modest, gentle manner, her countenance betrayed an ill-disguised
+triumph; never shall I forget the look, at once ironical and spiteful,
+she cast on me as I descended from the carriage; it seemed to say, 'I am
+mistress here,--'tis you who are the intruder.' A fresh grief awaited
+me; whether from an inexcusable want of proper judgment or unpardonable
+assurance, this woman occupied the apartment which had been my mother's:
+in my just indignation I loudly complained to my father of this
+unpleasant forgetfulness of my rights as well as wishes. He reprimanded
+me severely for making any remonstrance on the subject, adding that it
+was needless for me either to feel or express surprise on the subject,
+as it was his desire I should habituate myself to consider Madame Roland
+in every respect as a second mother, and show her a corresponding
+deference. I replied that it would be a profanation to that sacred name
+to act as he commanded; and, to his extreme wrath, I never allowed any
+opportunity to escape by which I could evince my deeply rooted aversion
+to Madame Roland. At times my father's rage knew no bounds, and bitterly
+would he reproach me in the presence of that woman for the coldness and
+ingratitude of my conduct towards an angel, as he styled her, sent by
+heaven for our consolation and happiness. 'Let me entreat of you to
+speak for yourself alone,' said I, one day, quite wearied with the
+hypocritical conduct of Madame Roland and my father's blind infatuation.
+The harshness and unreasonableness of his conduct became at last quite
+unendurable; while Madame Roland, with the honeyed words of feigned
+affection, would artfully intercede for me, because she well knew by so
+doing she should only increase the storm she had raised. 'You must make
+some allowances for Clemence,' she would say; 'the sorrow she
+experiences for the excellent parent we all deplore is so natural, and
+even praiseworthy, that you should respect her just grief, and pity her
+for her unfounded suspicions.' 'You hear her! you hear her!' would my
+father exclaim, pointing with mingled triumph and admiration to the
+accomplished hypocrite; 'what angelic goodness! what enchanting
+nobleness and generosity! Instantly entreat her pardon for the
+unworthiness of your conduct.' 'Never!' I used to reply; 'the spirit of
+my angel mother, who now beholds me, would be pained to witness such a
+degradation in her child;' and, bursting with grief and mortification, I
+would fly to my own chamber, leaving my father to dry the tears, and
+calm the ruffled feelings of the woman I despised and hated. You will, I
+hope, excuse me, my lord, for dwelling so long and so minutely on all my
+early troubles, but it is only by so doing I can accurately describe to
+you the sort of life I led at that period."
+
+"I can enter fully into the painful subject; yet how often have the same
+scenes been enacted in other families, and still, it is much to be
+feared, will they be repeated till the end of time. But in what capacity
+did your father introduce Madame Roland to the neighbourhood?"
+
+"As my instructress and his friend, and she was estimated accordingly."
+
+"I need scarcely inquire whether he shared in the solitude to which her
+questionable character condemned the lady?"
+
+"With the exception of some few and unavoidable visits, she saw no one.
+My father, guided by his passion, or influenced by Madame Roland, threw
+off his mourning for my mother ere he had worn it three months, under
+the plea that the sable garb continually reminded him of his loss, and
+prevented him from regaining his lost tranquillity. His manners to me
+daily became colder and more estranged, while his perfect indifference
+concerning me allowed a degree of liberty almost incredible in a person
+of my age. I met him only at breakfast, after which he returned to his
+study with Madame Roland, who acted as his secretary, read and answered
+all his letters, etc.; that completed, they either walked or drove out
+together, returning only an hour before dinner, against which, Madame
+Roland would array herself in an elegant and well-chosen evening dress;
+while my father would make a most studiously elaborate toilet, as
+uncalled for as ill-adapted to his time of life. Occasionally, after
+dinner, he received a few persons he could not avoid asking to his
+house, when he would play at tric-trac with Madame Roland until ten
+o'clock, at which hour he would offer his arm to conduct her to my
+mother's apartment, and return to his guests. As for myself, I had
+unrestrained permission to go where I pleased throughout the whole day.
+Attended by a servant, I used to take long rides in the extensive woods
+surrounding the chateau, and when, as occasionally happened, I felt my
+spirits unequal to appearing at the dinner-table, not the slightest
+inquiry was ever made after me, or my absence noticed."
+
+"What singular neglect and forgetfulness!"
+
+"Having accidentally encountered one of our neighbours during several
+successive days of my excursions in the woods, I gave up riding there,
+and confined myself entirely to the park."
+
+"And how did this infamous woman conduct herself towards you when
+alone?"
+
+"She shunned all occasions of being with me as sedulously as I avoided
+her; but once that we were unexpectedly _tete-a-tete_ with each other,
+and that she was reproaching me for some severe words I had spoken the
+preceding evening, she said, coldly, 'Have a care: you cannot contend
+against my power; any such attempt will bring down certain ruin on your
+head.' 'As it did upon that of my mother,' answered I. 'It is a pity,
+madame, you have not M. Polidori by your side, to announce to you that
+your vengeance can be satisfied--the day after to-morrow."
+
+"And what reply did she make when you thus recalled those fearful
+words?"
+
+"She changed colour rapidly, her features were almost convulsed; then,
+by a strong effort conquering her emotion, she angrily demanded what I
+meant by the expression. 'Ask your own heart, madame,' answered I; 'in
+the solitude of your chamber inquire of yourself to what I allude: your
+conscience will find a ready explanation.' Shortly after that, a scene
+occurred which for ever sealed my destiny.
+
+"Among a great number of family portraits, which graced the walls of the
+salon in which we usually spent the evening, was that of my mother. One
+day I observed it had been removed from its accustomed place. Two
+neighbours had dined with us. One of them, a M. Dorval, a country
+lawyer, had always expressed the utmost veneration and respect for my
+mother. When we reached the salon after dinner, I inquired of my father
+what had become of my dear mother's picture. 'Cease!' cried my father,
+significantly pointing to our guests, as though intimating his desire
+that they should not hear any discussion on the subject; 'the reason of
+the picture being taken away is that the sight of it continually
+reminded me of the heavy loss I have sustained, and so prevented my
+regaining my usual calmness and peace of mind.' 'And where is the
+portrait at present?' inquired I. Turning towards Madame Roland, with an
+impatient and uneasy air, he said, 'Where has the picture been put?' 'In
+the lumber-room,' replied she, casting on me a glance of defiance,
+evidently under the impression that the presence of witnesses would
+prevent me from proceeding further in the matter. 'I can easily believe,
+madame,' cried I, indignantly, 'that the recollection of my mother must
+have been painful to you; but that was not a sufficient reason for
+banishing from the walls the likeness of her who, when you were in want
+and misery, kindly and charitably afforded you the shelter of her
+roof.'"
+
+"Excellent!" exclaimed Rodolph; "yours was, indeed, a stinging and a
+just reproach."
+
+"'Mademoiselle,' cried my father, 'you forget that this lady has
+watched, and still continues to preside, with maternal solicitude over
+your education; you also seem to banish from your recollection the very
+high esteem and respect you are aware I entertain for her; and, since
+you allow yourself thus to attack her before strangers, you will permit
+me to tell you that, in my opinion, the charge of ingratitude lies at
+the door of her who, overlooking the tender cares she has received,
+presumes to reproach a person, deserving of the utmost interest and
+respect, with misfortunes and calamities she so nobly sustained.' 'I
+cannot venture to discuss the subject with you, my dear father,' said I,
+submissively. 'Perhaps, then, mademoiselle, you will favour me with your
+polite arguments in favour of rudeness and unmerited abuse,' cried
+Madame Roland, carried away by rage into a neglect of her usual caution
+and prudence; 'perhaps you will permit me to assert that, so far from
+owing the slightest obligation to your mother, I have nothing to
+remember but the constant coldness and dislike she invariably manifested
+towards me, fully expressive of the disgust and displeasure with which
+my residence in the house inspired her.' 'Forbear, madame!' exclaimed I,
+interrupting her. 'Out of respect for my father, if not to spare your
+own blushes, cease such shameful confessions as the one you have just
+made, or you will make even me regret having exposed you to so
+humiliating a disclosure.'"
+
+"Better and better!" cried Rodolph; "this was, indeed, cutting with a
+two-edged sword. Pray go on. And what said this woman?"
+
+"By a very hackneyed, though convenient expedient, Madame Roland
+contrived to end a scene in which she felt she was likely to have the
+worst. With a sudden cry she threw herself into a chair, and very
+naturally imitated a fainting-fit. Thanks to this incident, the two
+visitors quitted the room in search of restoratives; while I retired to
+my own apartment, leaving my father hanging in deep anxiety over the
+wicked cause of all this confusion."
+
+"Doubtless your next interview with your father must have been a stormy
+one."
+
+"He came to me next morning, and, without further preamble, addressed me
+as follows: 'In order to prevent a recurrence of the disgraceful scene
+of yesterday, I think proper to inform you, that, immediately that
+decency permits both you and myself to throw off our mourning, it is my
+intention to celebrate my marriage with Madame Roland, which will
+compel you to treat her with the respect and deference due to my wife.
+For certain reasons, it is expedient you should marry before me. You
+will have as a dowry your mother's fortune, amounting to more than a
+million francs. From this very day, I shall take the necessary steps to
+form a suitable match for you, and, for that purpose, I shall accept one
+of the many offers I have received for your hand.' After this
+conversation, I lived more alone than ever, never meeting my father
+except at mealtimes, which generally passed off in the utmost silence.
+So really dull and lonely was my present existence, that I only waited
+for my father to propose any suitor he might approve of, to accept him
+with perfect willingness. Madame Roland, having relinquished all further
+ill-natured remarks upon the memory of my deceased parent, indemnified
+herself by inflicting on me the continual pain of seeing her appropriate
+to herself the various trifles my dear mother had exclusively made use
+of. Her easy chair, embroidery-frame, the books which composed her
+private library, even a screen I myself had embroidered for her, and in
+the centre of which were our united ciphers: this woman laid her
+sacrilegious hands on all the elegant articles with which my mother's
+taste and my affection had ornamented her apartments."
+
+"I can well imagine all the horror these profanations must have caused
+you."
+
+"Still, great as were my sufferings, the state of loneliness, in which I
+found myself, rendered them even greater."
+
+"And you had no one, no person in whom you could confide?"
+
+"No one; but at this time I received a touching proof of the interest my
+fate excited, and which might have opened my eyes to the dangers
+preparing for me. One of the two persons present, during the scene with
+Madame Roland I so lately described, was a M. Dorval, a worthy old
+notary, to whom my mother had rendered some signal service. By my
+father's orders, I never since then entered the salon when strangers
+were there; I had never, therefore, seen M. Dorval after the eventful
+day when I spoke so undisguisedly to Madame Roland; great, therefore,
+was my surprise to see him coming towards me one day, in the park, while
+I was taking my accustomed walk. 'Mademoiselle,' said he to me, with a
+mysterious air, 'I am fearful of being observed by your father; here is
+a letter,--read it, and destroy it immediately,--its contents are most
+important to you.' So saying, he disappeared as quickly as he came. In
+the letter he informed me that it was in agitation to marry me to the
+Marquis d'Harville, and that the match appeared in every respect
+eligible, inasmuch as every one concurred in bearing testimony to the
+many excellent qualities of M. d'Harville, who was young, rich,
+good-looking, and highly distinguished for his talents and mental
+attainments; yet that the families of two young ladies, with whom he had
+been on the point of marriage, had abruptly broken off the matches. The
+notary added that, although entirely ignorant of the cause of these
+ruptures, he still considered it his duty to apprise me of them, without
+in the slightest degree insinuating that they originated in any
+circumstance prejudicial to the high opinion entertained of M.
+d'Harville. The two young ladies alluded to were, one, the daughter of
+M. Beauregard, a peer of France; the other, of Lord Dudley. M. Dorval
+concluded by saying that his motive in making the communication was
+because my father, in his extreme desire to conclude the marriage, did
+not appear to attach sufficient importance to the facts now detailed."
+
+"Now you recall it to my recollection," said Rodolph, after some minutes
+spent in deep meditation on what he had just heard, "I remember that
+your husband, at intervals of nearly twelve months, told me of two
+marriages which had been broken off just as they were on the point of
+taking place, and ascribing their abrupt termination to a difficulty in
+arranging matters of a mere pecuniary nature."
+
+Madame d'Harville smiled bitterly as she replied:
+
+"You shall know what those motives really were, my lord, very shortly.
+After reading the letter, so kindly intentioned on the part of the
+worthy notary, I felt both my uneasiness and curiosity rapidly increase.
+Who was D'Harville? My father had never mentioned him to me. In vain I
+ransacked my memory; I could not recollect ever to have heard the name.
+Soon, however, the current of my thoughts was directed into another
+channel by the abrupt departure of Madame Roland for Paris. Although the
+period of her absence was limited to eight days at the utmost, yet my
+father expressed the deepest grief at even this trifling separation from
+her. His temper became altogether soured, and his coldness towards me
+hourly increased; he even went so far as to reply, when one day I
+inquired after his health, 'I am ill,--and all through you.' 'Through
+me?' exclaimed I. 'Assuredly, through you; you know full well how
+indispensable to my happiness is the company of Madame Roland, yet this
+incomparable woman, who has been so grossly insulted by you, has left me
+to undertake her present journey solely on your account.' This mark of
+interest on the part of Madame Roland filled me with the most lively
+apprehensions of evil, and a vague presentiment floated across my mind
+that my marriage was in some way or other mixed up with it. I must leave
+it to your imagination, my lord, to picture the delight of my father
+upon the return of my future mother-in-law. The next day he sent to
+desire my company; I found him alone with her. 'I have, for some time,'
+said he, 'been thinking of establishing you in the world; in another
+month your mourning will have expired. To-morrow I expect M.
+d'Harville, a young man possessed of every requisite, both as to fortune
+and figure, to secure any woman's approbation; he is well looked upon in
+society, and is capable of securing the happiness of any lady he may
+seek in marriage. Now, having seen you, though accidentally, his choice
+has fallen on you. In fact, he is most anxious to obtain your hand.
+Every pecuniary arrangement is concluded. It therefore remains solely
+with yourself to be married ere the next six weeks have elapsed. If, on
+the contrary, from any capricious whim impossible for me to foresee, you
+think fit to refuse the unlooked-for good offer now before you, it will
+in no respect alter my own plans, as my marriage will take place,
+according to my original intention, directly my mourning expires. And,
+in this latter case, I am bound to inform you that your presence in my
+house will not be agreeable to me, unless I have your promise to treat
+my wife with the respect and tenderness to which she is entitled.' 'I
+understand you,' replied I; 'whether I accept M. d'Harville or no, you
+will marry; and my only resource will then be to retire to the Convent
+of the Holy Heart?' 'It will,' answered he, coldly."
+
+"His conduct now ceases to be classed under the term weakness," said
+Rodolph; "it assumes the form of positive cruelty."
+
+"Shall I tell you, my lord, what has always prevented me from feeling
+the least resentment at my father's conduct? It is because I have always
+had a strong presentiment that he would one day pay dearly--too dearly,
+alas!--for his blind passion for Madame Roland. Thank Heaven, that evil
+day has not yet arrived!"
+
+"And did you not mention to your father what the old notary had informed
+you of,--the abrupt breaking off of the two marriages M. d'Harville had
+been on the point of contracting?"
+
+"Indeed, I did, my lord. I signified to my father, upon the occasion of
+the conversation I was relating to you, a wish to speak with him alone,
+upon which Madame Roland abruptly rose and quitted the apartment. 'I
+have no objection to the union you propose with M. d'Harville,' said I;
+'only, as I understand, he has twice been upon the point of marriage,
+and--' 'Enough--enough!' interrupted he, hastily. 'I know all about
+those two affairs, which were so abruptly broken off merely because
+matters of a pecuniary nature were not satisfactorily arranged;
+although, I am bound to assure you, that not the slightest shadow of
+blame was attributable to M. d'Harville. If that be your only objection,
+you may consider the match as concluded on, and yourself as
+married,--ay, and happily, too,--for, spite of your conduct, my first
+wish is for your happiness.'"
+
+"No doubt Madame Roland was delighted with your marriage?"
+
+"Delighted? Yes, my lord," said Clemence, with bitterness. "She was, and
+well might be, delighted with this union, which was, in fact, of her
+effecting. She it was who had first suggested it to my father; she knew
+full well the real occasion of breaking off the marriages so nearly
+completed by M. d'Harville, and hence arose her exceeding anxiety for
+him to become my husband."
+
+"What motive could she possibly have had?"
+
+"She sought to avenge herself on me by condemning me to a life of
+wretchedness."
+
+"But your father--"
+
+"Deceived by Madame Roland, he fully and implicitly believed that
+interested motives alone had set aside the two former marriages of M.
+d'Harville."
+
+"What a horrible scheme! But what was this mysterious reason?"
+
+"You shall know shortly. Well, M. d'Harville arrived at Aubiers, and, I
+confess, I was much pleased with his appearance, manners, and cultivated
+mind. He seemed very amiable and kind, though somewhat melancholy. I
+remarked in him a contradiction which charmed and astonished me at the
+same time. His personal and mental advantages were considerable, his
+fortune princely, and his birth illustrious; yet, at times, the
+expression of his countenance would change, from a firm and manly energy
+and decision of purpose, to an almost timid, shrinking look, as though
+he feared even his own self; then an utter dejection of spirits and
+exhaustion would ensue. There was, at these strangely contrasted
+periods, such a look of deprecating humility, such an appearance of
+conscious wrong, as touched me deeply, and won my pity to a great
+extent. I admired greatly the kindness of manner he ever evinced to an
+old servant,--a _valet de chambre_ who had been about him from his
+birth, and who alone was suffered to attend upon his master now he had
+reached man's estate. Shortly after M. d'Harville's arrival he remained
+for two days secluded in his apartment. My father wished to visit him;
+but the old servant alluded to objected, stating that his master had so
+violent a headache, he could receive no one. When M. d'Harville emerged
+from his chamber, he was excessively pale, and looked extremely ill. He
+afterwards appeared to experience a sort of impatience and uneasiness
+when any reference was made to his temporary indisposition. In
+proportion as I became better acquainted with M. d'Harville, I
+discovered that, on many points, a singular similarity of taste existed
+between us. He had so much to be proud of, and so many reasons for being
+happy, that his excessive and shrinking modesty struck me as something
+more than admirable. The day for our marriage being fixed, he seemed to
+delight in anticipating every wish I could form for the future, and,
+when sometimes I alluded to the deep melancholy which at times
+possessed him, and begged to know the cause, he would speak of his
+deceased parents, and of the delight it would have afforded them to see
+him married, to their hearts' dearest wish, to one so justly approved
+both by his own judgment and affections, I could not well find fault
+with reasons so complimentary to myself. M. d'Harville easily guessed
+the terms on which I must have been living with my father and Madame
+Roland, although the former, delighted at my marriage, which would serve
+as a plea for accelerating his own, had latterly treated me with
+excessive tenderness. In some of our conversations, M. d'Harville, with
+infinite tact and good feeling, explained to me that his regard was
+considerably heightened by the knowledge of all I had suffered since my
+dear mother's death. I thought it my duty to hint to him, at such a
+time, that, as my father was about to marry again, it might very
+possibly affect the property I might be expected to inherit. He would
+not even permit me to proceed, but most effectually convinced me of his
+own utterly disinterested motives in seeking my hand. I could not but
+think that the families, who had so abruptly broken off his former
+projected alliances, must have been very unreasonable or avaricious
+people if they made pecuniary matters a stumbling-block with one so
+generous, easy, and liberal as M. d'Harville."
+
+"And such as you describe him, so have I always found him," cried
+Rodolph; "all heart, disinterestedness, and delicacy! But did you never
+speak to him of the marriages so hastily broken off?"
+
+"I will confess to you, my lord, that the question was several times on
+my lips; but, when I recollected the sensitiveness of his nature, I
+feared to pain him by questions which might, at any rate, have wounded
+his self-love, or taxed his honour to reply to truly. The nearer the day
+fixed for our marriage approached, the more delighted did M. d'Harville
+appear. Yet I several times detected him absorbed in the most perfect
+dejection, the deepest melancholy. One day, in particular, I caught his
+eyes fixed on me with a settled gaze, as though resolving to confide to
+me some important secret he yet could not bring himself to reveal. I
+perceived a large tear trickle slowly down his cheek, as though wrung
+from his very heart. The recollection of his two former prospects of
+marriage, so suddenly destroyed, rose to my mind; and, I confess, I
+almost felt afraid to proceed. A vague presentiment whispered within me
+that the happiness of my whole life was at stake,--perhaps perilled for
+ever. But then, on the other hand, such was my eager desire to quit my
+father's house, that I turned a deaf ear to every suggestion of evil
+arising from my union with M. d'Harville."
+
+"And did M. d'Harville make you no voluntary confession?"
+
+"Not any. When I inquired the cause of his continual fits of melancholy,
+he would answer, 'Pray, do not heed it! But I am always most sad when
+most happy.' These words, pronounced in the kindest and most touching
+manner, reassured me a little. And how, indeed, was it possible, when
+his voice would quiver with emotion, and his eyes fill with tears, to
+manifest any further suspicion, by repeating my questions as to the
+past, when it was with the future only I had any business? The persons
+appointed to witness the contract on the part of M. d'Harville, M. de
+Lucenay and M. de Saint-Remy, arrived at Aubiers some days previous to
+the marriage; my nearest relations alone were invited. Immediately after
+the conclusion of the ceremony, we were to depart for Paris; and it is
+true I felt for M. d'Harville none of that love with which a young wife
+ought to regard the man she vows her future life to, but I admired and
+respected his character and disposition, and, but for the disastrous
+events which followed this fatal union, a more tender feeling could
+doubtless soon have attached me to him. Well, we were married."
+
+At these words, Madame d'Harville turned rather pale, and her resolution
+appeared to forsake her. After a pause, she resumed:
+
+"Immediately after the ceremony, my father embraced me tenderly, as did
+Madame Roland also. Before so many persons I could not avoid the display
+of this fresh exhibition of hypocrisy. With her dry and white hand she
+squeezed mine so hard as to pain me, and said, in a whisper, and in a
+tone as gentle as it was perfidious, these words, which I never can
+forget: 'Think of me sometimes in the midst of your bliss, for it was I
+who arranged your marriage.' Alas, I was far from comprehending at that
+moment the full force of those words! Our marriage took place at eleven
+o'clock, and we immediately entered our carriage, followed by my
+waiting-woman and the old _valet de chambre_ of M. d'Harville's, and we
+travelled so rapidly that we reached Paris before ten o'clock in the
+evening. I should have been surprised at the silence and melancholy of
+M. d'Harville had I not known that he had what he termed his happy
+sadness. I was myself painfully disturbed; I was returning to Paris for
+the first time since my mother's death; I arrived there alone with my
+husband, whom I had hardly known more than six weeks, and who, up to the
+evening before, had not addressed a word to me but what was marked by
+respectful formality. Men, however well bred, do not think sufficiently
+of the fear which the sudden change in their tone and manners occasions
+to a young female as soon as she belongs to them; they do not reflect
+that a youthful maiden cannot in a few hours forget all her timidity and
+virgin scruples."
+
+"Nothing is to me more barbarous than this system of carrying off a
+young female as soon as the wedding ceremony is over,--a ceremony which
+ought to consecrate the right and duty to employ still more every
+tenderness of love and effort to render mutual affection still stronger
+and more endearing."
+
+"You will imagine, monseigneur, the indefinable alarm with which I found
+myself in Paris,--in the city in which my mother had died hardly a year
+before. We reached the Hotel d'Harville--"
+
+The emotion of the young lady redoubled, her cheeks were flushed with
+scarlet, and she added, in a voice scarcely intelligible:
+
+"You must know all; if not, I shall appear too contemptible in your
+eyes. Well, then," she resumed, with desperate resolution, "I was led to
+my apartment and left there alone; after an hour M. d'Harville joined me
+there. I was weeping bitterly. My husband came towards me, and was about
+to take my arm, when he fell at my feet in agony. He could not hear my
+voice, his countenance was spasmodic with fearful convulsions, his eyes
+rolled in their orbits with a rapidity that appalled me, his contorted
+mouth was filled with blood and foam, and his hand grasped me with
+inconceivable force. I made a desperate effort, and his stiffened
+fingers at length unclasped from my wrist, and I fainted at the moment
+when M. d'Harville was struggling in the paroxysm of this horrible
+attack. This was my wedding night, my lord,--this was the vengeance of
+Madame Roland!"
+
+"Unhappy woman!" said Rodolph, overwhelmed. "I understand,--an
+epileptic. Ah, 'tis horrible!"
+
+"And that is not all," added Clemence, in a voice almost choked by
+emotion; "my child, my angel girl, she has inherited this frightful
+malady."
+
+"Your daughter! She! What? Her paleness--her weakness--"
+
+"Is, I dread to believe, hereditary; and the physicians think,
+therefore, that it is incurable."
+
+Madame d'Harville hid her face in her hands; overcome by this painful
+disclosure, she had not courage to add another word. Rodolph also
+remained silent. His mind recoiled affrighted from the terrible
+mysteries of this night. He pictured to himself the young maiden,
+already sad, in consequence of her return to the city in which her
+mother had died, arriving at a strange house, alone with a man for whom
+she felt an interest and esteem, but not love, nor any of those
+sentiments which enchant the mind, none of the engrossing feeling which
+removes the chaste alarms of a woman in the participation of a lawful
+and reciprocal affection. No, no; on the contrary, Clemence arrived
+agitated and distressed, with depressed spirits and tearful eyes. She
+was, however, resolved on resignation and the fulfilment of duty, when,
+instead of listening to language full of devotion, love, and tenderness,
+which would compensate for the sorrowful feelings which were uppermost
+in her mind, she sees convulsed at her feet a stricken man, who twists,
+and foams, and shrieks, in the hideous convulsions of one of the most
+fearful infirmities with which a man can be incurably smitten! This is
+not all: his child, poor little innocent angel! is also withered from
+her birth. These sad and painful avowals excited bitter reflections in
+Rodolph's mind. "Such," said he, "is the law of the land. A young,
+handsome, and pure girl, the confiding and gentle victim of a shameful
+dissimulation, unites her destiny to that of a man tainted with an
+incurable malady,--a fatal inheritance which he will assuredly transmit
+to his children. The unhappy wife discovers this horrid mystery. What
+can she do? Nothing,--nothing but suffer and weep; nothing but endeavour
+to overcome her disgust and fright; nothing but pass her days in
+anguish, in indefinable and endless terror; nothing but seek, perhaps,
+culpable consolation without the desolate existence which has been
+created around her. Again," said Rodolph, "these strange laws sometimes
+produce horrible unions: fearful for humanity. In these laws, animals
+always appear superior to man in the care bestowed upon them; in the
+improvements that are studied for them; in the protection which
+encircles, the guarantees which attend them. Buy an animal, and, if an
+infirmity decried by the law is detected after the purchase, the sale is
+null and void. Indeed, what a shame, what a case of public injury would
+it be to compel a man to keep an animal which has a cough, is lame, or
+has lost an eye! Why, it would be scandalous, criminal, unheard-of
+infamy! Only imagine being compelled to keep, and keep for ever, a mule
+with a cough, a horse that was blind, or an ass that was lame! What
+frightful consequences might not such injustice entail on the community!
+Therefore, no such bargains hold good, no words bind, no contract is
+valid: the omnipotent law unlooses all that was thus bound. But if it
+relates to a creature made after God's own image, if it respects a young
+girl who, in the full and innocent reliance on the good faith of a man,
+unites her lot with his, and wakes up in the company of an epileptic, an
+unhappy wretch stricken with a fearful malady, whose moral and physical
+consequences are immeasurably distressing, a malady which may throw
+disorder and aversion into a family, perpetuate a horrible disease,
+vitiate whole generations, yes, this law, so inexorable when lame,
+blind, or coughing animals are the consideration--this law, so
+singularly clear-sighted, which will not allow an unsound horse to
+increase the species--this law will not loosen the victim of a union
+such as we have described. These bonds are sacred, indissoluble: it is
+to offend God and man to break them. In truth," continued Rodolph, "men
+sometimes display a humility most shameful and an egotistical pride
+which is only execrable. He values himself at less than the beast which
+he protects by warranties which he refuses for himself; and he imposes
+on himself, makes sacred, and perpetuates his most distressing
+infirmities by putting them under the protection of the immutability of
+laws, human and divine." Rodolph greatly blamed M. d'Harville, but he
+promised to himself to excuse him in the eyes of Clemence, although
+fully persuaded, after her sad disclosure, that the marquis was for ever
+alienated from her heart. One thought led to another, and Rodolph said
+to himself, "I have kept aloof from a woman I love, and who, perhaps,
+already feels a secret inclination for me. Either from an attachment of
+heart or friendship, she has bestowed her honour--her life--for the sake
+of a fool whom she thought unhappy. If, instead of leaving her, I had
+paid her all sorts of attentions, love, and consideration, my name would
+have been such that her reputation would not have received the slightest
+stain, the suspicions of her husband would never have been excited:
+whilst, now, she is all but at the mercy of such an ass as M. Charles
+Robert, who, I fear, will become the more indiscreet in proportion as he
+has the less right to be so. And then, too, who knows if, in spite of
+the dangers she has risked, the heart of Madame d'Harville will always
+remain free? Any return to her husband is henceforward impossible.
+Young, handsome, courted, with a disposition sympathising with all who
+suffer, what dangers, what shoals and quicksands, lie before her! For M.
+d'Harville, what anguish and what deep chagrin! At the same time jealous
+of and in love with his wife, who cannot subdue the disgust and fright
+which he excited in her on their nuptials,--what a lot is his!"
+
+Clemence, with her forehead hidden by her hands, her eyes brimful of
+tears, and her cheek reddened by embarrassment, avoided Rodolph's look,
+such pain had the disclosure cost her.
+
+"Ah, now," said Rodolph, after a long silence, "I can understand the
+cause of M. d'Harville's sadness, which I could not before account for.
+I can imagine his regrets--"
+
+"His regrets!" exclaimed Clemence; "say his remorse, monseigneur, if he
+have any, for never was such a crime more coolly meditated."
+
+"A crime, madame?"
+
+"What else is it, my lord, to bind to yourself in indissoluble bonds a
+young girl, who confides in your honour, when you are fatally stricken
+with a malady which inspires fear and horror? What else is it, to devote
+with certainty an unhappy child to similar misery? What forced M.
+d'Harville to make two victims? A blind, insensate passion? No; he found
+my birth, my fortune, and my person, to his taste. He wished to make a
+convenient marriage, because, doubtless, a bachelor's life wearied him."
+
+"Madame, at least pity him."
+
+"Pity him? If you wish pity, pray let it be bestowed on my child. Poor
+victim of this odious union, what nights and days have I passed near
+her! What tears have not her misfortunes wrung from me!"
+
+"But her father suffers from the same unmerited afflictions."
+
+"Yet it is that father who has condemned her to a sickly infancy, a
+withering youth, and, if she should survive, to a life of isolation and
+misery, for she will never marry. Ah, no! I love her too well to expose
+her to the chance of one day's weeping over her own offspring, similarly
+smitten, as I weep over her. I have suffered too much from treachery, to
+render myself guilty of, or an accomplice in, such wickedness!"
+
+"You are right; the vengeance of your mother-in-law was really
+atrocious. But patience, and perhaps in your turn you will be avenged,"
+said Rodolph, after a moment's reflection.
+
+"What do you mean, my lord?" inquired Clemence, astonished at the change
+in his voice.
+
+"I have generally had the satisfaction of seeing those whom I have known
+to be wicked most severely punished," he replied, in a voice that made
+Clemence shudder. "But the day after this unhappy event what did your
+husband say?"
+
+"He confessed, with singular candour, that his two former marriages had
+been broken off in consequence of the families becoming acquainted with
+the secret of his fearful malady. Thus, then, after having been twice
+rejected, he had the shameful, the unmanly courage, to drag a third poor
+victim into the abyss of misery the kind intervention of friends had
+preserved the others from. And this is what the world calls a gentleman
+and a man of honour!"
+
+"For one so good, so full of pity to others, yours are harsh words."
+
+"Because I feel I have been unworthily treated. M. d'Harville easily
+penetrated the girlish openness of my character; why, then, did he not
+trust to my sympathy and generosity of feeling, and tell me the whole
+truth?"
+
+"Because you would have refused him."
+
+"This very expression proves how guilty he was, and how treacherous was
+his conduct, if he really entertained the idea of my rejecting his hand
+if informed of the truth!"
+
+"He loved you too well to incur the risk of losing you."
+
+"No, no, my lord; had he really loved me, he would never have sacrificed
+me to his selfish passion. Nay, so wretched was my position at that
+time, and such was my desire to quit my father's roof, that, had he been
+candid and explicit with me, it is more than probable he would have
+moved me to pity the species of misery he was condemned to endure, and
+to sympathise with one so cut off from the tender ties which sweeten
+life. I really believe, at this moment, that, touched by his open, manly
+confession, as well as interested for one labouring under so severe an
+infliction of the Almighty's hand, I should scarcely have had the
+courage to refuse him my hand; and, once aware of all I had undertaken,
+nothing should have deterred me from the full and conscientious
+discharge of every solemn duty towards him. But to compel this pity and
+interest, merely because he had me in his power, and to exact my
+consideration and sympathy, because, unhappily, I was his wife, and had
+sworn to obligations, the full force of which had been concealed from
+me, was at once the act of a coward and a wrong-judging mind. How could
+I hold myself bound to endure the heavy penalties of my unfortunate
+marriage, when my husband had trampled on every tie which binds an
+honourable mind? And now, my lord, you may form some little idea of my
+wedded life; you are now aware how shamefully I was deceived, and that,
+too, by the person in whose hands I unsuspectingly placed the future
+happiness of my whole existence. I had implicitly trusted in M.
+d'Harville, and he had most dishonourably and treacherously repaid my
+trustfulness with bitter and irremediable wrongs. The gentle, timid
+melancholy which had so greatly interested me in his favour, and which
+he attributed to pious recollections, was, in truth, only the workings
+of a conscience ill at ease, and the knowledge of his own incurable
+infirmity."
+
+"Still, were he a stranger or an enemy, a heart so noble and generous as
+yours would pity such sufferings as he endures?"
+
+"But can I calm those sufferings? If he could distinguish my voice, or
+if only a look of recognition answered my sorrowing glance! But no. Oh,
+my lord, it is impossible for such as have never seen them to form an
+idea of those frightful paroxysms, in which every sense is suspended,
+and the unfortunate sufferer merely recovers from his frenzy to fall
+into a sort of sullen dejection! When my dear child experiences one of
+these attacks, it almost breaks my heart to see her tender frame
+twisted, stiffened, and distorted, by the dreadful convulsions which
+accompany it. Still, she is my own, my beloved infant, and, when I see
+her bitter agonies, my hatred and aversion to her father are increased
+an hundredfold. But, when my poor child becomes calmer, so does my
+irritation against my husband subside also; and then--ah, then--the
+natural tenderness of my heart makes my angry feelings give place to a
+species of sorrow and pity for him. Yet surely I did not marry at only
+seventeen years of age merely to experience the alternations of hatred
+and painful commiseration, and to weep over a frail and sickly infant,
+whom, after all, I may not be permitted to rear. And, as regards this
+beloved object of my incessant prayers, permit me, my lord, to
+anticipate a reproach I doubtless deserve, and which you would be
+unwilling to make. My daughter, young as she is, is capable of
+interesting my affections and fully occupying my heart; but the love she
+inspires is so cruelly mixed with present anguish and future
+apprehensions, that my tenderness for my child invariably ends in tears
+and bitter grief. When I am with her, my heart is torn with agony, a
+heavy, crushing weight presses on my heart at the thoughts of her
+hopeless, suffering state. Not all the fondest devices of a mother's
+love can overcome a malady pronounced by all our faculty as incurable.
+Thus, then, by way of relief and refuge from the atmosphere of
+wretchedness which surrounded me, I had pictured to myself the
+possibility of finding calm and repose for my troubled spirit in an
+attachment, so vain, so empty, that--But I have been deceived a second
+time, most unworthily deceived; and there is now nothing left for me but
+to resign myself to the gloom and misery of the life my husband's want
+of candour has entailed upon me. But tell me, my lord, is it such an
+existence as I was justified in expecting when I bestowed my hand on M.
+d'Harville? And am I alone to blame for those injuries, to avenge which
+my husband had this day determined to take my life? My fault was great,
+very great; and the more so, because the object I had selected was every
+way so unworthy, and leaves me the additional shame of having to blush
+for my choice. Happily for me, my lord, the conversation you overheard
+between the Countess Sarah and her brother on the subject of M. Charles
+Robert spares me much of the humiliation I should otherwise have
+experienced in making this confession. I only venture to hope that,
+since listening to my relation, you may be induced to consider me as
+much an object of pity as I admit I am of blame."
+
+"I cannot express to you, madame, how deeply your narrative has touched
+me. What gnawing grief, what hidden sorrows have you not been called
+upon to endure, from the death of your mother to the birth of your
+child! Who would ever believe such ills could reach one so envied, so
+admired, and so calculated to enjoy and impart happiness to others?"
+
+"Oh, my lord, there are some sorrows so deep, so unapproachable, that
+for worlds we would not even have them suspected; and the severest
+increase of suffering would arise from the very doubt of our being the
+enviable creatures we are believed to be."
+
+"You are right; nothing would be more painful than the question, openly
+expressed, 'Is she or he as happy as they seem to be?' Still, if there
+is any happiness in the knowledge, be assured you are not the only one
+who has to struggle with the fearful contrast between reality and that
+which the world believes."
+
+"How so, my lord?"
+
+"Because, in the eyes of all who know you, your husband is esteemed even
+happier than yourself, since he possesses one so rich in every good
+gift; and yet is not he also much to be pitied? Can there be a more
+miserable existence than the one he leads? He has acted unfairly and
+selfishly towards you, but has he not been bitterly punished? He loves
+you with a passion, deep and sincere, worthy of you to have inspired,
+yet he knows that your only feeling towards him is insurmountable
+aversion and contempt. In his feeble, suffering child he beholds a
+constant reproach; nor is that all he is called upon to endure;
+jealousy also assails him with her nameless tortures."
+
+"And how can I help that, my lord? By giving him no occasion for
+jealousy, you reply. And certainly you are right. But, think you,
+because no other person would possess my love, it would any the more be
+his? He knows full well it would not. Since the fearful scene I related
+to you, we have lived entirely apart, while in the eyes of the world I
+have kept up every necessary appearance of married happiness. With the
+exception of yourself, my lord, I have never breathed a syllable of this
+fatal secret to mortal ears: thus, therefore, I venture to ask advice of
+you I could not solicit from any human being."
+
+"And I, madame, can with truth assure you that, if the trifling service
+I have rendered you be deemed worthy of notice, I hold myself a thousand
+times overpaid by the confidence you have reposed in me. But, since you
+deign to ask my advice, and permit me to speak candidly--"
+
+"Oh, yes, my lord, I beseech you to use the frankness and sincerity you
+would show to a sister!"
+
+"Then allow me to tell you that, for want of employing one of your most
+precious qualities, you lose vast enjoyments, which would not only fill
+up that void in your heart, but would distract you from your domestic
+sorrows and supply that need of stirring emotions, excitement, and,"
+added the prince, smiling, "I dare almost to venture to add,--pray
+forgive me for having so bad an opinion of your sex,--that natural love
+for mystery and intrigue which exercises so powerful an empire over
+many, if not all, females."
+
+"What do you mean, my lord?"
+
+"I mean that, if you would play at the game of doing good, nothing would
+please or interest you more."
+
+Madame d'Harville surveyed Rodolph with astonishment.
+
+"And understand," resumed he, "I speak not of sending large sums
+carelessly, almost disdainfully, to unfortunate creatures, of whom you
+know nothing, and who are frequently undeserving of your favour. But if
+you would amuse yourself, as I do, at playing, from time to time, at the
+game of Providence, you would acknowledge that occasionally our good
+deeds put on all the piquancy and charms of a romance."
+
+"I must confess, my lord," said Clemence, with a smile, "it never
+occurred to me to class charity under the head of amusements."
+
+"It is a discovery I owe to my horror of all tediums, all wearisome,
+long-protracted affairs,--a sort of horror which has been principally
+inspired by long political conferences and ministerial discussions. But
+to return to our game of amusing beneficence: I cannot, alas, aspire to
+possess that disinterested virtue which makes some people content to
+entrust others with the office of either ill or well distributing their
+bounty, and, if it merely required me to send one of my chamberlains to
+carry a few hundred louis to each of the divisions in and around Paris,
+I confess, to my shame, that the scheme would not interest me nearly as
+much as it does at present, while doing good, after my notions on the
+subject, is one of the most entertaining and exciting amusements you can
+imagine. I prefer the word 'amusing,' because to me it conveys the idea
+of all that pleases, charms, and allures us. And, really, madame, if you
+would only become my accomplice in a few dark intrigues of this sort,
+you would see that, apart from the praiseworthiness of the action,
+nothing is really more curious, inviting, attractive, or diverting, than
+these charitable adventures. And then, what mystery is requisite to
+conceal the benefits we render! what precautions to prevent ourselves
+from being discovered! what varied, yet powerful, emotions are excited
+at the aspect of poor but worthy people shedding tears of joy and
+calling down Heaven's blessing on your head! Depend upon it, such a
+group is, after all, more gratifying than the pale, angry countenance of
+either a jealous or an unfaithful lover, and there are very few who do
+not class either under one head or the other. The emotions I describe
+are closely allied to those you experienced this morning while going to
+the Rue du Temple. Simply dressed, that you may escape observation, you
+go forth with a palpitating heart; you also ascend with a throbbing
+breast some modest _fiacre_, carefully drawing down the blinds to
+prevent yourself from being seen; then, looking cautiously from side to
+side that you are not observed, you quickly enter a mean-looking
+dwelling, just like this morning, you see, the only difference being
+that, whereas to-day you said, 'If I am discovered I am lost!' then you
+would only smile as you mentally uttered, 'If I am discovered, they will
+overwhelm me with praises and blessings!' Now, since you possess your
+many adorable qualities in all their pure modesty, you would employ the
+most artful schemes, the most complicated manoeuvres, to prevent
+yourself from being known, and, consequently, wept over and blessed as
+an angel of goodness."
+
+"Ah, my lord," cried Madame d'Harville, deeply moved, "you are indeed my
+preserver! I cannot express the new ideas, the consoling hopes, awakened
+within me by your words. You are quite right; to endeavour to gain the
+blessing and gratitude of such as are poor and in misery is almost equal
+to being loved even as I would wish to be; nay, it is even superior in
+its purity and absence of self. When I compare the existence I now
+venture to anticipate with the shameful and degraded lot I was preparing
+for myself, my own reproaches become more bitter and severe."
+
+"I should, indeed, be grieved," said Rodolph, smiling, "were that to be
+the case, since all my desire is to make you forget the past, and to
+prove to you that there are various modes of recreating and distracting
+our minds; the means of good and evil are very frequently nearly the
+same: it is the end, only, which differs. In a word, if good is as
+attractive, as amusing, as evil, why should we prefer the latter? I am
+going to use a very commonplace and hackneyed simile. Why do many women
+take as lovers men not nearly as worthy of that distinction as their own
+husbands? Because the greatest charm of love consists in the
+difficulties which surround it; for once deprived of the hopes, the
+fears, the anxieties, difficulties, mysteries, and dangers, and little
+or nothing would remain, merely the lover, stripped of all the prestige
+derivable from these causes, and a very every-day object he would
+appear; very much after the fashion of the individual who, when asked by
+a friend why he did not marry his mistress, replied, 'Why, I was
+thinking of it; but, if I did, where should I go to pass my evenings?'"
+
+"Your picture is coloured after nature, my lord," said Madame
+d'Harville, smiling.
+
+"Well, then, if I can find the means of enabling you to experience the
+fears, the anxieties, the excitement, which seem to have such charms for
+you, if I can render useful your natural love for mystery and romance,
+your inclination for dissimulation and artifice,--you see my bad opinion
+of your sex will peep out in spite of me," added Rodolph, gaily,--"shall
+I not change into fine and generous qualities instincts which otherwise
+are mere ungovernable and unmanageable impulses, excellent, if well
+employed, most fatal, if directed badly? Now, then, what do you say?
+Shall we get up all manner of benevolent plots and charitable
+dissipations? We will have our rendezvous, our correspondence, our
+secrets, and, above all, we will carefully conceal all our doings from
+the marquis, for your visit of to-day to the Morels has, in all
+probability, excited his suspicions. There, you see, it only requires
+your consent to commence a regular intrigue."
+
+"I accept with joy and gratitude the mysterious associations you
+propose, my lord," said Clemence; "and, by way of beginning our romance,
+I will return to-morrow to visit those poor creatures to whom,
+unfortunately, this morning I could only utter a few words of
+consolation; for, taking advantage of my terror and alarm, the purse you
+so thoughtfully supplied me with was stolen from me by a lame boy as I
+ascended the stairs. Ah, my lord," added Clemence (and her countenance
+lost the expression of gentle gaiety by which a few minutes before it
+was animated), "if you only knew what misery, what a picture of
+wretchedness--no! oh, no! I never could have believed so horrid a scene,
+or that such want existed; and yet I bewail my condition and complain of
+my severe destiny."
+
+Rodolph, wishing to conceal from Madame d'Harville how deeply he was
+touched at this application of the woes of others, as teaching patience
+and resignation, yet fully recognising in the meek and subdued spirit
+the fine and noble qualities of her mind, said, gaily:
+
+"With your permission, I shall except the Morels from your jurisdiction;
+you shall resign them to my care, and, above all things, promise me not
+again to enter that miserable place, for, to tell you the truth, I live
+there."
+
+"You, my lord? What an idea!"
+
+"Nay, but you really must believe me when I say I live there, for it is
+actually true. I confess mine is somewhat a humble lodging, a mere
+matter of eight pounds a year, in addition to which I pay the large and
+liberal sum of six francs a month to the porteress, Madame Pipelet, that
+ugly old woman you saw; but, to make up for all this, I have as my next
+neighbour, Mlle. Rigolette, the prettiest grisette in the Quartier du
+Temple. And you must allow that, for a merchant's clerk, with a salary
+of only seventy-two pounds a year (I pass as a clerk), such a domicile
+is well suited to my means."
+
+"Your unhoped-for presence in that fatal house proves to me that you are
+speaking seriously, my lord; some generous action leads you there, no
+doubt! But what good action do you reserve for me? What part do you
+propose for me to sustain?"
+
+"That of an angel of consolation, and--pray excuse and allow me the
+word--a very demon of cunning and manoeuvres! For there are some
+wounds so painful, as well as delicate, that the hand of a woman only
+can watch over and heal them. There are, also, unfortunate beings so
+proud, so reserved, and so hidden from observation, that it requires
+uncommon penetration to discover them, and an irresistible charm to win
+their confidence."
+
+"And when shall I have an opportunity of displaying the penetration and
+skill for which you give me credit?" asked Madame d'Harville,
+impatiently.
+
+"Soon, I hope, you will have to make a conquest worthy of you; but, to
+succeed, you must employ all your most ingenious resources."
+
+"And when, my lord, will you confide this great secret to me?"
+
+"Let me see! You perceive, we have already got as far as arranging our
+rendezvous. Could you do me the favour to grant me an audience in four
+days' time?"
+
+"Dear me! so long first?" said Clemence, innocently.
+
+"But what would become of the mystery of the affair, and all the strict
+forms and appearances necessary to be kept up, if we were to meet
+sooner? Just imagine! If our partnership were suspected, people would be
+on their guard, and we should seldom achieve our purpose. I may very
+probably have to write to you. Who was that aged female who brought me
+your note?"
+
+"An old servant of my mother's, the very personification of prudence and
+discretion."
+
+"I will then address my letters under cover to her, and she will
+deliver them into your hands. If you are kind enough to return any
+answer, address 'To M. Rodolph, Rue Plumet,' and let your maid put your
+letters in the post."
+
+"I will do that myself, my lord, when taking my usual morning's walk."
+
+"Do you often walk out alone?"
+
+"In fine weather nearly every day."
+
+"That's right! It is a custom all young women should observe from the
+very earliest period of their marriage,--either from a good or an
+improper provision against future evil. The habit once established, it
+becomes what the lawyers style a precedent; and, in subsequent days,
+these habitual promenades excite no dangerous interpretations. If I had
+been a woman,--and, between ourselves, I fear I should have been very
+charitable, but equally flighty,--the very day after my marriage I
+should, in all possible innocence, have taken the most mysterious steps,
+and, with perfect simplicity, have involved myself in all manner of
+suspicious and compromising proceedings, for the purpose of establishing
+the precedent I spoke of, in order to be at liberty either to visit my
+poor pensioners or to meet my lover."
+
+"But that would be downright perfidy to one's husband, would it not, my
+lord?" said Madame d'Harville, smiling.
+
+"Fortunately for you, madame, you have never been driven to the
+necessity of admitting the utility of such provisionary measures."
+
+Madame d'Harville's smile left her lips. She cast down her eyes, and,
+blushing deeply, said, in a low and sad voice, "This is not generous, my
+lord!"
+
+At first Rodolph regarded the marquise with astonishment, then added, "I
+understand you, madame. But, once for all, let us weigh well your
+position as regards M. Charles Robert. I will just imagine that one of
+your acquaintances may one day have pointed out to you one of those
+pitiable-looking mendicants who roll their eyes most sentimentally, and
+play on the clarionet with desperate energy, to awaken the sympathy of
+the passers-by. 'That is really and truly a genuine case of distress,'
+observes your friend. 'That interesting musician has at least seven
+children, and a wife deaf, dumb, blind,' etc. 'Ah, poor fellow!' you
+reply, charitably aiding him with your purse. And so, each time you meet
+this case of genuine distress, the clarionet-player, the moment he
+discerns you from afar, fixes his imploring eyes upon you, while the
+most touching strains of his instrument are directed to touch your
+charitable sympathies, and that, too, so successfully, that again your
+purse opens at this fresh appeal. One day, more than usually disposed to
+pity this very unfortunate object by the importunities of the friend who
+first pointed him out to you, and who is most wickedly abusing your
+generous heart, you resolve to visit this case of genuine distress, as
+your false friend terms it, and to behold the poor object of your
+solicitude in the midst of his misery. Well, you go. But, lo! the
+grief-stricken musician has vanished; and in his place you find a
+lively, rollicking fellow, enjoying himself over some of the good things
+of this world, and mirthfully carolling forth the last new alehouse
+catch. Then disgust succeeds to pity; for you have bestowed your
+sympathy and charity alike upon an impostor, neither more nor less. Is
+it not so?"
+
+Madame d'Harville could not restrain a smile at this singular apologue.
+She, however, soon checked it, as she added:
+
+"However grateful I may feel for this mode of justifying my great
+imprudence, my lord, I can but confess I dare not avail myself of so
+favourable a pretext as that of mistaken charity."
+
+"Yet, after all, yours was an error based upon motives of noble and
+generous pity for the wounded feelings of one you believed a genuine
+object for commiseration. Fortunately, there are so many ways left you
+of atoning for one indiscretion, that your regret need be but small.
+Shall I not have the pleasure of seeing M. d'Harville this evening?"
+
+"No, my lord. The scene of this morning has so much affected him that he
+is--ill," said the marquise, in a low, tremulous tone.
+
+"Ah," replied Rodolph, sadly, "I understand! Come, courage! you were
+saying that you required an aim, a motive, a means of directing your
+thoughts. Permit me to hope that all this will be accomplished by
+following out the plan I have proposed. Your heart will be then so
+filled with the delightful recollection of all the happiness you have
+caused, and all the good you have effected, that, in all probability,
+you will find no room for resentment against your husband. In place of
+angry feelings, you will regard him with the same sorrowing pity you
+look on your dear child. And as for the interesting little creature
+herself, now you have confided to me the cause of her delicate health, I
+almost think myself warranted in bidding you yet to entertain hopes of
+overcoming the fearful complaint which has hitherto affected her tender
+frame."
+
+"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed Clemence, clasping her hands with eagerness,
+"can it be possible? How? In what manner can my child be saved?"
+
+"I have, as physician to myself and household, a man almost unknown,
+though possessed of a first-rate science. Great part of his life was
+passed in America; and I remember his speaking to me of some marvellous
+cures performed by him on slaves attacked by this distressing
+complaint."
+
+"And do you really think, my lord--"
+
+"Nay, you must not allow yourself to dwell too confidently upon success;
+the disappointment would be so very severe. Only, do not let us wholly
+despair."
+
+Clemence d'Harville cast a hasty glance of unutterable gratitude over
+the noble features of Rodolph, the firm, unflinching friend, who
+reconciled her to herself with so much good sense, intelligence, and
+delicacy of feeling. Then she asked herself how, for one instant, she
+could ever have been interested in the fate of such a being as M.
+Charles Robert,--the very idea was hateful to her.
+
+"What do I not owe you, my lord?" cried she, in a voice of thrilling
+emotion; "you console me for the past; you open to me a glimpse of hope
+for my child; and you place before me a plan of future occupation which
+shall afford me both consolation and the delight of doing my duty. Ah,
+was I not right when I said that, if you would come here to-night, you
+would finish the day as you had begun it,--by performing a good action?"
+
+"And pray, madame, do not omit to add,--an action after my own heart,
+where all is pleasure and unmixed enjoyment in its performance. And now,
+adieu!" said Rodolph, rising as the clock struck half-past eleven.
+
+"Adieu, my lord, and pray do not forget to send me news ere long of
+those poor people in the Rue du Temple."
+
+"I will see them to-morrow, for, unfortunately, I knew not of that
+little limping rascal having stolen your purse; and I fear that the
+unhappy creatures are in the most deplorable want. Have the kindness to
+bear in mind that, in the course of four days, I shall come to explain
+to you the nature of the part you will be required to undertake. One
+thing I must prepare you for; and that is, the probability of its being
+requisite for you to assume a disguise on the occasion."
+
+"A disguise? Oh, how charming! What sort of one, my lord?"
+
+"I cannot tell you at present. I will leave the choice to you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"All that is requisite," said the prince, on his return home, "to save
+this excellent woman from the perils of another attachment, is to fill
+her mind with generous thoughts; and, since an invincible repugnance
+separates her from her husband, to employ her love for the romantic in
+such charitable actions as shall require being enshrouded in mystery."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MISERY.
+
+
+The reader has probably not forgotten that the garret in the Rue du
+Temple was occupied by an unfortunate family, the father of whom was a
+working lapidary, named Morel. We shall now endeavour to describe the
+wretched abode of Morel and his children.
+
+It was six o'clock in the morning; a deep silence dwelt around. The
+streets were still deserted, for the snow fell fast, and the cold,
+biting wind froze as it blew. A miserable candle, stuck upon a small
+block of wood, and supported by two slips of the same material, scarcely
+penetrated with its yellow, flickering light the misty darkness of the
+garret,--a narrow, low-built place, two-thirds of which was formed by
+the sloping roof, which communicated by a sharp angle with the wretched
+flooring, and freely exposed the moss-covered tiles of the outer roof.
+Walls covered with plaster, blackened by time, and split into countless
+crevices, displayed the rotten, worm-eaten laths, which formed the frail
+division from other chambers, while in one corner of this deplorable
+habitation a door off the hinges opened upon a narrow staircase. The
+ground, of a nameless colour, but foul, fetid, and slippery, was partly
+strewed with bits of dirty straw, old rags, and bones, the residue of
+that unwholesome and vitiated food sold by the dealers in condemned
+meat, and frequently bought by starving wretches, for the purpose of
+gnawing the few cartilages that may adhere.[4]
+
+  [4] It is no uncommon thing to meet, in densely crowded parts
+  of Paris, with persons who openly sell the flesh of animals born
+  dead, as well as of others who have died of disease, etc.
+
+So wretched a condition either arises from improvidence and vice, or
+from unavoidable misery,--misery so great, so overwhelming and
+paralysing, as to enfeeble every energy, and to render the unhappy
+object of it too hopeless, too despairing, even to attempt to extricate
+himself from the squalor of his utter destitution, and he crouches in
+his dirt and desolation like an animal in its den.
+
+During the day, Morel's garret was lighted by a species of long, narrow
+skylight formed in the descending roof, framed and glazed, and made to
+open and shut by means of a pulley and string; but, at the hour which we
+are describing, a heavy fall of snow encumbered the window, and
+effectually prevented its affording any light. The candle placed on
+Morel's working-table, which stood in the centre of the chamber,
+diffused a kind of halo of pale, sickly beams, which, gradually
+diminishing, was at last lost in the dim shadow which overspread the
+place, in whose murky duskiness might be seen the faint outline of
+several white-looking masses. On the work-table, which was merely a
+heavy and roughly cut wooden block of unpolished oak, covered with
+grease and soot, lay, loosely scattered about, a handful of rubies and
+diamonds, of more than ordinary size and brilliancy, while, as the mean
+rays of the small candle were reflected on them, they glittered and
+sparkled like so many coruscating fires.
+
+Morel was a worker of real stones, and not false ones, as he had given
+out, and as was universally believed, in the Rue du Temple. Thanks to
+this innocent deception, the costly jewels entrusted to him were merely
+supposed to be so many pieces of glass, too valueless to tempt the
+cupidity of any one. Such riches, confided to the care of one as poor
+and miserably destitute as Morel, will render any reference to the
+honesty of his character quite unnecessary.
+
+Seated on a high stool, and wholly overcome by fatigue, cold, and
+weariness, after a long winter's night, passed in unceasing labour, the
+poor lapidary had fallen asleep on his block, with his head upon his
+half-frozen arms, and his forehead resting against a small grindstone,
+placed horizontally on the table, and generally put in motion by a
+little hand-wheel, while a fine steel saw, and various other tools
+belonging to his trade, were lying beside him. The man himself, of whom
+nothing but the skull, surrounded by a fringe of gray hairs, was
+visible, was dressed in a shabby fustian jacket, without any species of
+linen or garment beneath it, and an old pair of cloth trousers, while
+his worn-out slippers scarcely concealed the blue, cold feet they
+partially covered, from resting solely on the damp, shiny floor; and so
+bitter, so freezing, was the sharp winter wind which freely entered into
+this scarcely human dwelling, that, spite of the weariness and
+exhaustion of the overworked artisan, his frame shuddered and shivered
+with involuntary frequency. The length of the wick of the unsnuffed
+candle bespoke the length of time even this uneasy slumber must have
+lasted, and no sound save his troubled and irregular breathing broke the
+deathlike silence that prevailed; for, alas! the other occupants of this
+mean abode were not so fortunate as to be able to forget their
+sufferings in sleep. Yet this narrow, pent-up, unwholesome spot
+contained no less than seven other persons,--five children, the youngest
+of whom was four years of age, the eldest twelve, a sick and declining
+wife, with an aged grandmother, the parent of Morel's wife, now in her
+eightieth year, and an idiot!
+
+The cold must have been intense, indeed, when the natural warmth of so
+many persons, so closely packed together in so small a place, could not
+in any way affect the freezing atmosphere; it was evident, therefore,
+to speak scientifically, that but little caloric was given out by the
+poor, weak, emaciated, shivering creatures, all suffering and almost
+expiring with cold and hunger, from the puny infant to the idiotic old
+grandmother.
+
+With the exception of the father of the family, who had temporarily
+yielded to the aching of his heavy eyelids, no other creature slept,--no
+other; because cold, starvation, and sickness will not allow so sweet an
+enjoyment as the closing the eyes in peaceful rest. Little does the
+world believe how rarely comes that sound, healthful, and refreshing
+slumber to the poor man's pillow, which at once invigorates the mind and
+body, and sends the willing labourer back to his toil refreshed and
+recruited by the blessing of a beneficent Creator. To taste of nature's
+sweet, refreshing, balmy sleep, sickness, sorrow, poverty, and mental
+disquietude must not share the humble pallet.
+
+In contrasting the deep misery of the poor artisan, with whose woes we
+are now occupying the reader, with the immense value of the jewelry
+confided to him, we are struck by one of those comparisons which afflict
+while they elevate the mind. With the distracting spectacle of his
+family's want and wretchedness, embracing a wide field from cold and
+hunger to drivelling idiocy, constantly before his eyes, this man, in
+the pursuance of his daily labour, is compelled to touch and handle and
+gaze upon bright and sparkling gems, the smallest of which would be a
+mine of wealth to him, and save those dearest to him from sufferings and
+privations which wring his very heart; would snatch them from the slow
+and lingering death which is consuming them before his eyes. Yet, amid
+all these trials and temptations, the artisan remains firmly, truly, and
+unflinchingly honest, and would no more appropriate one of the
+glittering stones entrusted to him than he would satisfy his hunger at
+the expense of his starving babes. Doubtless the man but performed his
+duty to his employer,--his simple duty; but because it is enjoined to
+all to be honest and faithful in that which is committed to them, does
+that render the action itself less noble, magnanimous, or praiseworthy?
+Is not this unfortunate artisan, so courageously, so bravely upright and
+honest while entrusted with the property of another, the type and model
+of an immense class of working people, who, doomed to a life of
+continual poverty and privation, see, with calm, patient looks,
+thousands of their brethren rolling in splendour and abounding in
+riches, yet they toil on, resigned and unenvying, but still
+industriously striving for bread their hardest efforts cannot always
+procure? And is there not something consolatory, as well as gratifying
+to our feelings, to consider that it is neither force nor terror, but
+good natural sense and a right mind which alone restrain this formidable
+ocean, this heaving mass, whose bounds once broken, a moral inundation
+would ensue, in which society itself would be swallowed up? Shall we,
+then, refuse to cooperate with all the powers of our mind and body with
+those generous and enlightened spirits, who ask but a little sunshine
+for so much misfortune, courage, and resignation?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Let us now return to the, alas! too true specimen of distressing want we
+shall endeavour to describe in all its fearful and startling reality.
+
+The lapidary possessed only a thin mattress and a portion of a blanket
+appropriated to the old grandmother, who, in her stupid and ferocious
+selfishness, would not allow any person to share them with her. In the
+beginning of the winter she had become quite violent, and had even
+attempted to strangle the youngest child, who had been put to sleep with
+her. This poor infant was a sickly little creature, of about four years
+old, now far gone in consumption, and who found it too cold inside the
+mattress, where she slept with her brothers and sisters. Hereafter we
+shall explain this mode of sleeping so frequently employed by the very
+poor, in comparison with whom the very animals are treated luxuriously,
+for their litter is changed. Such was the picture presented in the
+humble garret of the poor lapidary, when the eye was enabled to pierce
+the gloomy penumbra caused by the flickering rays of the candle. By the
+side of the partition wall, not less damp and cracked than the others,
+was placed on the floor the mattress on which the idiot grandmother
+reposed; as she could not bear anything on her head, her white hair was
+cut very short, and revealed the shape of her head and flat forehead;
+while her shaggy, gray eyebrows shaded the deep orbits, from which
+glared a wild, savage, yet crafty look; her pale, hollow, wrinkled
+cheeks hung upon the bones of the face and the sharp angles of her jaws.
+Lying upon her side, and almost doubled up, her chin nearly touching her
+knees, she lay, shivering with cold, beneath the gray rug, too small to
+cover her all over, and which, as she drew it over her shoulders,
+exposed her thin, emaciated legs, as well as the wretched old petticoat
+in which she was clad. An odour most fetid and repulsive issued from
+this bed.
+
+At a little distance from the mattress of the grandmother, and still
+extending along the side of the wall, was placed the _paillasse_ which
+served as a sleeping-place for the five children, who were accommodated
+after the following manner:
+
+An opening was made at each side of the cloth which covered the straw,
+and the children were inserted into this bed, or, rather, foul and
+noisome dunghill, the outer case serving both for sheet and counterpane.
+Two little girls, one of whom was extremely ill, shivered on one side,
+and three young boys on the other, all going to bed without undressing,
+if, indeed, the miserable rags they wore could be termed clothes. Masses
+of thick, dry, light hair, tangled, ragged, and uncombed, left uncut
+because their poor mother fancied it helped to keep them warm, half
+covered their pale, thin, pinched features. One of the boys drew, with
+his cold, benumbed fingers, the covering over their straw bed up to his
+chin, in order to defend himself from the cold; while another, fearful
+of exposing his hands to the influence of the frost, tried to grasp the
+bed-covering with his teeth, which rattled and shook in his head; while
+a third strove to huddle up to his brothers in the hopes of gaining a
+little warmth. The youngest of the two girls, fatally attacked by
+consumption, leaned her poor little face, which already bore the hue of
+death, languidly against the chilly bosom of her sister, a girl just one
+year older, who vainly sought, by pressing her in her arms, to impart
+comfort and ease to the little sufferer, over whom she watched with the
+anxious solicitude of a parent.
+
+On another _paillasse_, also placed on the ground, at the foot of that
+of the children, the wife of the artisan was extended, groaning in
+helpless exhaustion from the effects of a slow fever and an internal
+complaint, which had not permitted her to quit her bed for several
+months. Madeleine Morel was in her thirty-sixth year; a blue cotton
+handkerchief, tied round her low forehead, made the bilious pallor of
+her countenance and sharp, emaciated features still more conspicuous. A
+dark halo encircled her hollow, sunken eyes, while her lips were split
+and bleeding from the effects of the fever which consumed her; her
+dejected, grief-worn physiognomy, and small, insignificant features,
+indicated one of those gentle but weak natures, without resource or
+energy, which unable to struggle with misfortunes, yield at once, and
+know no remedy but vain and ceaseless lamentations and regrets. Weak,
+spiritless, and of limited capacity, she had remained honest because her
+husband was so; had she been left to herself, it is probable that
+ignorance and misfortune might have depraved her mind and driven her to
+any lengths. She loved her husband and her children, but she had neither
+the courage nor resolution to restrain giving vent to loud and open
+complaints respecting their mutual misery; and frequently was the
+lapidary, whose unflinching labour alone maintained the family, obliged
+to quit his work to console and pacify the poor valetudinarian. Over and
+above an old ragged sheet of coarse brown cloth, which partially covered
+his wife, Morel had, in order to impart a little warmth, laid a few old
+clothes, so worn out, and patched and pieced, that the pawnbroker had
+refused to have anything to do with them.
+
+A stove, a saucepan, a damaged earthen stewpan, two or three cracked
+cups, scattered about on the floor, a bucket, a board to wash on, and a
+large stone pitcher, placed beneath the angle of the roof near the
+broken door, which the wind kept continually blowing to and fro,
+completed the whole of the family possessions.
+
+This picture of squalid misery and desolation was lighted up by the
+candle, whose flame, agitated by the cold northeasterly wind which found
+its way through the tiles on the roof, sometimes imparted a pale,
+unearthly light on the wretched scene, and then, playing on the heaps of
+diamonds and rubies lying beside the sleeping artisan, caused a thousand
+scintillating sparks to spring forth and dazzle the eye with their
+prismatic rays of brightness.
+
+Although the profoundest silence reigned around, seven out of the eight
+unfortunate dwellers in this attic were awake; and each, from the
+grandmother to the youngest child, watched the sleeping lapidary with
+intense emotion, as their only hope, their only resource, and, in their
+childlike selfishness, they murmured at seeing him thus inactive and
+relinquishing that labour which they well knew was all they had to
+depend on; but with different feelings of regret and uneasiness did the
+lookers-on observe the slumber of the toil-worn man. The mother trembled
+for her children's meal; the children thought but of themselves; while
+the idiot neither thought of nor cared for any one. All at once she sat
+upright in her wretched bed, crossed her long, bony arms, yellow and
+dry as box-wood, on her shrivelled bosom, and kept watching the candle
+with twinkling eyes; then, rising slowly and stealthily, she crept
+along, trailing after her her old ragged coverlet, which clung around
+her as though it had been her winding-sheet. She was above the middle
+height, and her hair being so closely shaven made her head appear
+disproportionately small; a sort of spasmodic movement kept up a
+constant trembling in her thick, pendulous under-lip, while her whole
+countenance offered the hideous model of ferocious stupidity. Slowly and
+cautiously the idiot approached the lapidary's work-table, like a child
+about to commit some forbidden act. When she reached the candle, she
+held her two trembling hands over the flame; and such was their
+skeleton-like condition, that the flickering light shone through them,
+imparting a pale, livid hue to her features. From her pallet Madeleine
+Morel watched every movement of the old woman, who, still warming
+herself over the candle, stooped her head, and with a silly kind of
+delight watched the sparkling of the diamonds and rubies, which lay
+glittering on the table. Wholly absorbed in the wondrous contemplation
+of such bright and beautiful things, the idiot allowed her hands to fall
+into the flame of the candle, nor did she seem to recollect where they
+were till the sense of burning recalled her attention, when she
+manifested her pain and anger by a harsh, screaming cry.
+
+At this sound Morel started, and quickly raised his head. He was about
+forty years of age, with an open, intelligent, and mild expression of
+countenance, but yet wearing the sad, dejected look of one who had been
+the sport of misery and misfortune till they had planted furrows in his
+cheeks and crushed and broken his spirit. A gray beard of many weeks'
+growth covered the lower part of his face, which was deeply marked by
+the smallpox; premature wrinkles furrowed his already bald forehead;
+while his red and inflamed eyelids showed the overtaxed and sleepless
+days and nights of toil he so courageously endured. A circumstance, but
+too common with such of the working class as are doomed by their
+occupation to remain nearly all day in one position, had warped his
+figure, and, acting upon a naturally feeble constitution, had produced a
+contraction of his whole frame. Continually obliged to stoop over his
+work-table and to lean to the left, in order to keep his grindstone
+going, the lapidary, in a manner petrified, ossified in the attitude he
+was frequently obliged to preserve from twelve to fifteen hours a day,
+had acquired an habitual stoop of the shoulders, and was completely
+drawn on one side. So his left arm, incessantly exercised by the
+difficult management of the grindstone, had acquired a considerable
+muscular development; whilst the right arm, always inert and leaning on
+the table, the better to present the faces of the diamonds to the action
+of the grindstone, had wasted to the most extreme attenuation; his
+wasted limbs, almost paralysed by complete want of exercise, could
+scarcely support the weary, worn-out body, as though all strength,
+substance, and vitality had concentrated themselves in the only part
+called into play when toiling for the subsistence of, with himself,
+eight human creatures.
+
+And often would poor Morel touchingly observe: "It is not for myself
+that I care to eat, but to give strength to the arm which turns the
+mill."
+
+Awaking with a sudden start, the lapidary found himself directly
+opposite to the poor idiot.
+
+"What ails you? what is the matter, mother?" said Morel; and then added,
+in a lower tone, for fear of awaking the family, whom he hoped and
+believed were asleep, "Go back to bed, mother; Madeleine and the
+children are asleep!"
+
+"No, father," cried the eldest of the little girls, "I am awake; I am
+trying to warm poor little Adele."
+
+"And I am too hungry to go to sleep," added one of the boys; "it was not
+my turn to-night to have supper with Mlle. Rigolette."
+
+"Poor things!" said Morel, sorrowfully; "I thought you were asleep--at
+least--"
+
+"I was afraid of awaking you, Morel," said the wife, "or I should have
+begged of you to give me a drink of water; I am devoured with thirst! My
+feverish fit has come on again!"
+
+"I will directly," said the lapidary; "only let me first get mother back
+to bed. Come! come! what are you meddling with those stones for? Let
+them alone, I say!" cried he to the old woman, whose whole attention
+seemed riveted upon a splendid ruby, the bright scintillations of which
+had so charmed the poor idiot that she was trying by every possible
+means to gain possession of it.
+
+"There's a pretty thing! there, there!" replied the woman, pointing with
+vehement gestures to the prize she so ardently coveted.
+
+"I shall be angry in a few minutes," exclaimed Morel, speaking in a loud
+voice to terrify his mother-in-law into submission, and gently pushing
+back the hand she advanced to seize her desired treasure.
+
+"Oh, Morel! Morel!" murmured Madeleine, "I am parching, dying with
+thirst. How can you be so cruel as to refuse me a little water?"
+
+"But how can I at present? I must not allow mother to meddle with these
+stones,--perhaps to lose me a diamond, as she did a year ago; and God
+alone knows the wretchedness and misery it cost us,--ay, may still
+occasion us. Ah, that unfortunate loss of the diamond, what have we not
+suffered by it!"
+
+As the poor lapidary uttered these words, he passed his hand over his
+aching brow with a desponding air, and said to one of the children:
+
+"Felix, give your mother something to drink. You are awake, and can
+attend to her."
+
+"No, no," exclaimed Madeleine; "he will take cold. I will wait."
+
+"Oh, mother," said the boy, rising, "never mind me. I shall be quite as
+warm up as I am in this _paillasse_."
+
+"Come, will you let the things alone?" cried Morel, in a threatening
+tone, to the idiot woman, who kept bending over the precious stones and
+trying to seize them, spite of all his efforts to move her from the
+table.
+
+"Mother," called out Felix, "what shall I do? The water in the pitcher
+is frozen quite hard."
+
+"Then break the ice," murmured Madeleine.
+
+"It is so thick, I can't," answered the boy.
+
+"Morel!" exclaimed Madeleine, in a querulous and impatient tone, "since
+there is nothing but water for me to drink, let me at least have a
+draught of that! You are letting me die with thirst!"
+
+"God of heaven grant me patience!" cried the unfortunate man. "How can I
+leave your mother to lose and destroy these stones? Pray let me manage
+her first."
+
+But the lapidary found it no easy matter to get rid of the idiot, who,
+beginning to feel irritated at the constant opposition she met with,
+gave utterance to her displeasure in a sort of hideous growl.
+
+"Call her, wife!" said Morel. "She will attend to you sometimes."
+
+"Mother! mother!" called Madeleine, "go to bed, and be good, and then
+you shall have some of that nice coffee you are so fond of!"
+
+"I want that! and that! There! there!" replied the idiot, making a
+desperate effort this time to possess herself of a heap of rubies she
+particularly coveted. Morel firmly, but gently, repulsed her,--all in
+vain; with pertinacious obstinacy the old woman kept struggling to break
+from his grasp, and snatch the bright gems, on which she kept her eyes
+fixed with eager fondness.
+
+"You will never manage her," said Madeleine, "unless you frighten her
+with the whip; there is no other means of making her quiet."
+
+"I am afraid not," returned Morel; "but, though she has no sense, it yet
+goes to my heart to be obliged to threaten an old woman, like her, with
+the whip."
+
+Then, addressing the old woman, who was trying to bite him, and whom he
+was holding back with one hand, he said, in a loud and terrible voice:
+"Take care; you'll have the whip on your shoulders if you don't make
+haste to bed this very instant!"
+
+These menaces were equally vain with his former efforts to subdue her.
+Morel then took a whip which lay beside his work-table, and, cracking it
+violently, said: "Get to bed with you directly! Get to bed!"
+
+As the loud noise of the whip saluted the ear of the idiot, she hurried
+away from the lapidary's work-table, then, suddenly turning around, she
+uttered low, grumbling sounds between her clenched teeth; while she
+surveyed her son-in-law with looks of the deepest hatred.
+
+"To bed! to bed, I say!" continued he, still advancing, and feigning to
+raise his whip with the intention of striking; while the idiot, holding
+her fist towards her son-in-law, retreated backwards to her wretched
+couch.
+
+The lapidary, anxious to terminate this painful scene, that he might be
+at liberty to attend to his sick wife, kept still advancing towards the
+idiot woman, brandishing and cracking his whip, though without allowing
+it to touch the unhappy creature, repeatedly exclaiming, "To bed! to
+bed,--directly! Do you hear?"
+
+The old woman, now thoroughly conquered, and fully believing in the
+reality of the threats held out, began to howl most hideously; and
+crawling into her bed, like a dog to his kennel, she kept up a continued
+series of cries, screams, and yells, while the frightened children,
+believing their poor old grandmother had actually been beaten, began
+crying piteously, exclaiming, "Don't beat poor granny, father! Pray
+don't flog granny!"
+
+It is wholly impossible to describe the fearful effect of these
+nocturnal horrors, in which were mingled, in one turmoil of sounds, the
+supplicating cries of the children, the furious yellings of the idiot,
+and the wailing complaints of the lapidary's sick wife.
+
+To poor Morel such scenes as this were but too frequent. Still, upon the
+present occasion, his patience and courage seemed utterly to forsake
+him; and, throwing down the whip upon his work-table, he exclaimed, in
+bitter despair, "Oh, what a life! what a life!"
+
+"Is it my fault if my mother is an idiot?" asked Madeleine, weeping.
+
+"Is it mine, then?" replied Morel. "All I ask for is peace and quiet
+enough to allow me to work myself to death for you all. God knows I
+labour alike night and day! Yet I complain not. And, as long as my
+strength holds out, I will exert myself to the utmost; but it is quite
+impossible for me to attend to my business, and be at once a keeper to a
+mad woman and a nurse to sick people and young children. And Heaven is
+unjust to put it upon me,--yes, I say unjust! It is too much misery to
+heap on one man," added Morel, in a tone bordering on distraction. So
+saying, the heart-broken lapidary threw himself on his stool, and
+covered his face with his hands.
+
+"Can I help the people at the hospital having refused to receive my
+mother, because she was not raving mad?" asked Madeleine, in a low,
+peevish, and complaining voice. "What can I do to alter it? What is the
+use of your grumbling to me about my mother? and, if you fret ever so
+much about what neither you nor I can alter, what good will that do?"
+
+"None at all," rejoined the artisan, hastily brushing the large bitter
+drops despair had driven to his eyes; "none whatever,--you are right;
+but when everything goes against you, it is difficult to know what to
+do or say."
+
+"Gracious Father!" cried Madeleine; "what an agony of thirst I am
+enduring! My lips are parched with the fever which is consuming me, and
+yet I shiver as though death were on me!"
+
+"Wait one instant, and I will give you some drink!" So saying, Morel
+took the pitcher which stood beneath the roof, and, after having with
+difficulty broken the ice which covered the water, he filled a cup with
+the frozen liquid, and brought it to the bedside of his wife, who
+stretched forth her impatient hands to receive it; but, after a moment's
+reflection, he said, "No, no, I must not let you have it cold as this;
+in your present state of fever it would be dangerous."
+
+"So much the better if it be dangerous! Quick, quick--give it me!" cried
+Madeleine, with bitterness; "it will the sooner end my misery, and free
+you from such an incumbrance as I am; then you will only have to look
+after mad folks and young children,--there will be no sick-nurse to take
+up your time."
+
+"Why do you say such hard words to me, Madeleine?" asked Morel,
+mournfully; "you know I do not deserve them. Pray do not add to my
+vexations, for I have scarcely strength or reason enough left to go on
+with my work; my head feels as though something were amiss with it, and
+I fear much my brain will give way,--and then what would become of you
+all? 'Tis for you I speak; were there only myself, I should trouble very
+little about to-morrow,--thank Heaven, the river flows for every one!"
+
+"Poor Morel!" said Madeleine, deeply affected. "I was very wrong to
+speak so angrily to you, and to say I knew you would be glad to get rid
+of me. Pray forgive me, for indeed I did not mean any harm; for, after
+all, what use am I either to you or the children? For the last sixteen
+months I have kept my bed! Gracious God! what I do suffer with thirst!
+For pity's sake, husband, give me something to moisten my burning lips!"
+
+"You shall have it directly; I was trying to warm the cup between my
+hands."
+
+"How good you are! and yet I could say such wicked things to you!"
+
+"My poor wife, you are ill and in pain, and that makes you impatient;
+say anything you like to me, but pray never tell me again I wish to get
+rid of you!"
+
+"But what good am I to any one? what good are our children? None
+whatever; on the contrary, they heap more toil upon you than you can
+bear."
+
+"True; yet you see that my love for them and you has endued me with
+strength and resolution to work frequently twenty hours out of the
+twenty-four, till my body is bent and deformed by such incessant labour.
+Do you believe for one instant that I would thus toil and struggle on my
+own account? Oh, no! life has no such charms for me; and if I were the
+only sufferer, I would quickly put an end to it."
+
+"And so would I," said Madeleine. "God knows, but for the children I
+should have said to you, long ago, 'Morel, we have had more than enough
+to weary us of our lives; there is nothing left but to finish our misery
+by the help of a pan of charcoal!' But then I recollected the poor,
+dear, helpless children, and my heart would not let me leave them, alone
+and unprotected, to starve by themselves."
+
+"Well, then, you see, wife, that the children are, after all, of real
+good to us, since they prevent us giving way to despair, and serve as a
+motive for exerting ourselves," replied Morel, with ready ingenuity, yet
+perfect simplicity of tone and manner. "Now, then, take your drink, but
+only swallow a little at a time, for it is very cold still."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Morel!" cried Madeleine, snatching the cup, and drinking
+it eagerly.
+
+"Enough! enough! no more! you shall not have any more just now,
+Madeleine."
+
+"Gracious Heaven!" exclaimed Madeleine, giving back the cup, "how cold
+it seems now I have swallowed it,--it has brought back those dreadful
+shiverings!"
+
+"Alas!" ejaculated Morel, "I told you so,--ah, now you are quite ill
+again!"
+
+"I have not strength even to tremble,--I seem as though I were covered
+over with ice."
+
+Morel took off his jacket, and laid it over his wife's feet, remaining
+quite naked down to his waist,--the unhappy man did not possess a shirt.
+
+"But you will be frozen to death, Morel!"
+
+"Never mind me; if I find it cold by and by, I will put my jacket on for
+a few minutes."
+
+"Poor fellow!" sighed Madeleine. "Ah, as you say, Heaven is not just!
+What have we done to be so wretched, while so many others--"
+
+"Every one has their troubles,--some more, some less,--the great as well
+as the small."
+
+"Yes; but great people know nothing of the gnawings of hunger, or the
+bitter pinching of the cold. Why, when I look on those diamonds, and
+remember that the smallest amongst them would place us and the poor
+children in ease and comfort, my heart sickens, and I ask myself why it
+is some should have so much, and others nothing? And what good are these
+diamonds, after all, to their owners?"
+
+"Why, if we were to go to the question of what half the luxuries of life
+are really good for, we might go a great way; for instance, what is the
+good of that grand gentleman Madame Pipelet calls the commandant having
+engaged and furnished the first floor of this house, when he seldom
+enters it? What use is it his having there good beds, and warm covering
+to them, since he never sleeps in them?"
+
+"Very true; there is more furniture lying idle there than would supply
+two or three poor families like ours. And then Madame Pipelet lights a
+fire every day, to preserve the things from the damp. Only think of so
+much comfortable warmth being lost, while we and the children are almost
+frozen to death! But then, you will say, we are not articles of value;
+no, indeed, we are not. Oh, these rich folks, what hard hearts they
+have!"
+
+"Not harder than other people's, Madeleine; but then, you see, they do
+not know what misery or want are. They are born rich and happy, they
+live and die so. How, then, do you expect they can ever think such poor
+distressed beings exist in a world which to them is all happiness? No! I
+tell you, they have no idea of such things as fellow creatures toiling
+beyond their strength for food, and perishing at last with hunger! How
+is it possible for them to imagine privations like ours? The greater
+their hunger, the greater enjoyment of their abundant meal. Is the
+weather severe, or the cold intense, they call it a fine frost, a
+healthful, bracing season. If they walk out, they return to a glowing,
+cheerful fire, which the cold only makes them relish the more; so that
+they can scarcely be expected to sympathise with such as are said to
+suffer from cold and hunger, when those two things rather add to than
+diminish their pleasure."
+
+"Ah, poor folks are better than rich, since they can feel for each
+other, and are always ready and willing to assist each other as much as
+lies in their power. Look at that kind, good Mlle. Rigolette, who has so
+often sat up all night, either with me or the children, during our
+illness. Why, last night she took Jerome and Pierre into her room, to
+share her supper, and it was not much, either, she had for
+herself,--only a cup of milk and some bread; at her age, all young
+people have good appetites, and she must have deprived herself to give
+to the children."
+
+"Poor girl! she is indeed most kind,--and why is she so? Because she
+knows what poverty is. As I said to you just now, if the rich only
+knew--"
+
+"And then that nice-looking lady who came, seeming so frightened all the
+while, to ask us if we wanted anything. Well, now she knows that we do
+want everything, will she ever come again, think you?"
+
+"I dare say she will; for, spite of her uneasy and terrified looks, she
+seemed very good and kind."
+
+"Oh, yes; if a person be but rich, they are always right in your
+opinion. One might almost suppose that rich folks are made of different
+materials to poor creatures like us."
+
+"Stop, wife!" said Morel, gently; "you are getting on too fast. I did
+not say that; on the contrary, I agree that rich people have as many
+faults as poor ones; all I mean is, that, unfortunately, they are not
+aware of the wretchedness of one-half of the world. Agents in plenty are
+employed to hunt out poor wretches who have committed any crime, but
+there are no paid agents to find out half-starving families and honest
+artisans, worn-out with toil and privations, who, driven to the last
+extremity of distress, are, for want of a little timely succour, led
+into sore temptation. It is quite right to punish evil-doers; it would,
+perhaps, be better still to prevent ill deeds. A man may have striven
+hard to remain honest for fifty years; but want, misery, and utter
+destitution put bad thoughts in his head, and one rascal more is let
+loose on the world; whilst there are many who, if they had but known of
+his distressed condition--However, it is no use talking of that,--the
+world is as it is: I am poor and wretched, and therefore I speak as I
+do; were I rich, my talk would be of fetes, and happy days, and worldly
+engagements--And how do you find yourself now, wife?"
+
+"Much the same; I seem to have lost all feeling in my limbs. But how you
+shiver! Here, take your jacket, and pray put it on. Blow out that
+candle, which is burning uselessly,--see, it is nearly day!"
+
+And, true enough, a faint, glimmering light began to struggle through
+the snow with which the skylight was encumbered, and cast a dismal ray
+on the interior of this deplorable human abode, rendering its
+squalidness still more apparent; the shade of night had at least
+concealed a part of its horrors.
+
+"I shall wait now for the daylight before I go back to work," said the
+lapidary, seating himself beside his wife's _paillasse_, and leaning his
+forehead upon his two hands.
+
+After a short interval of silence, Madeleine said:
+
+"When is Madame Mathieu to come for the stones you are at work upon?"
+
+"This morning. I have only the side of one false diamond to polish."
+
+"A false diamond! How is that?--you who only make up real stones,
+whatever the people in the house may believe."
+
+"Don't you know? But I forgot, you were asleep the other day when Madame
+Mathieu came about them. Well, then, she brought me ten false
+diamonds--Rhine crystals--to cut exactly to the same size and form as
+the like number of real diamonds she also brought. There, those are them
+mixed with the rubies on my table. I think I never saw more splendid
+stones, or of purer water, than those ten diamonds, which must, at
+least, be worth 60,000 francs."
+
+"And why did she wish them imitated?"
+
+"Because a great lady to whom they belonged--a duchess, I think she
+said--had given directions to M. Baudoin, the jeweller, to dispose of
+her set of diamonds, and to make her one of false stones to replace it.
+Madame Mathieu, who matches stones for M. Baudoin, explained this to me,
+when she gave me the real diamonds, in order that I might be quite sure
+to cut the false ones to precisely the same size and form. Madame
+Mathieu gave a similar job to four other lapidaries, for there are from
+forty to fifty stones to cut; and I could not do them all, as they were
+required by this morning, because M. Baudoin must have time to set the
+false gems. Madame Mathieu says that grand ladies, very frequently
+unknown to anybody but the jeweller, sell their valuable diamonds, and
+replace them with Rhenish crystals."
+
+"Why, don't you see, the mock stones look every bit as well as the real
+stones? Yet great ladies, who only use such things as ornaments, would
+never think of sacrificing one of their diamonds to relieve the distress
+of such unfortunate beings as we are."
+
+"Come, come, wife! Be more reasonable than this; sorrow makes you
+unjust. Who do you think knows that such people as Morel and his family
+are in existence, still less that they are in want?"
+
+"Oh, what a man you are, Morel! I really believe, if any one were to cut
+you in pieces, that, while they were doing it, you would try to say,
+'Thank you!'"
+
+Morel compassionately shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"And how much will Madame Mathieu owe you this morning?" asked
+Madeleine.
+
+"Nothing; because you know I have already had an advance of 120 francs."
+
+"Nothing! Why, our last sou went the day before yesterday. We have not a
+single farthing belonging to us!"
+
+"Alas, no!" cried Morel, with a dejected air.
+
+"Well, then, what are we to do?"
+
+"I know not."
+
+"The baker refuses to let us have anything more on credit,--will he?"
+
+"No; and I was obliged yesterday to beg Madame Pipelet to lend me part
+of a loaf."
+
+"Can we borrow anything more of Mother Burette?"
+
+"She has already every article belonging to us in pledge. What have we
+to offer her to lend more money on,--our children?" asked Morel, with a
+smile of bitterness.
+
+"But yourself, my mother, and all the children had but part of a loaf
+among you all yesterday. You cannot go on in this way; you will be
+starved to death. It is all your fault that we are not on the books of
+the charitable institution this year."
+
+"They will not admit any persons without they possess furniture, or some
+such property; and you know we have nothing in the world. We are looked
+upon as though we lived in furnished apartments, and, consequently,
+ineligible. Just the same if we tried to get into any asylum, the
+children are required to have at least a blouse, while our poor things
+have only rags. Then, as to the charitable societies, one must go
+backwards and forwards twenty times before we should obtain relief; and
+then what would it be? Why, a loaf once a month, and half a pound of
+meat once a fortnight.[5] I should lose more time than it would be
+worth."
+
+  [5] Such is the ordinary allowance made at charitable
+  societies, in consequence of the vast number of applicants for
+  relief.
+
+"But, still, what are we to do?"
+
+"Perhaps the lady who came yesterday will not forget us!"
+
+"Perhaps not. But don't you think Madame Mathieu would lend us four or
+five francs, just to keep us from starving? You have worked for her
+upwards of ten years; and surely she will not see an honest workman like
+you, burthened with a large and sickly family, perish for want of a
+little assistance like that?"
+
+"I do not think it is in her power to aid us. She did all in her power
+when she advanced me little by little 120 francs. That is a large sum
+for her. Because she buys diamonds, and has sometimes 50,000 francs in
+her reticule, she is not the more rich for that. If she gains 100
+francs a month, she is well content, for she has heavy expenses,--two
+nieces to bring up; and five francs is as much to her as it would be to
+me. There are times when one does not possess that sum, you know; and
+being already so deeply in her debt, I could not ask her to take bread
+from her own mouth and that of her family to give it to me."
+
+"This comes of working for mere agents in jewelry, instead of procuring
+employment from first-hand master jewellers. They are sometimes less
+particular. But you are such a poor, easy creature, you would almost let
+any one take the eyes out of your head. It is all your fault that--"
+
+"My fault!" exclaimed the unhappy man, exasperated by this absurd
+reproach. "Was it or was it not your mother who occasioned all our
+misfortunes, by compelling me to make good the price of the diamond she
+lost? But for that we should be beforehand with the world; we should
+receive the amount of my daily earnings; we should have the 1,100 francs
+in our possession we were obliged to draw out of the savings-bank to put
+to the 1,300 francs lent us by M. Jacques Ferrand. May every curse light
+on him!"
+
+"And you still persist in not asking him to help you? Certainly he is so
+stingy that I daresay he would do nothing for you; but then it is right
+to try. You cannot know without you do try."
+
+"Ask him to help me!" cried Morel. "Ask him! I had rather be burnt
+before a slow fire. Hark ye, Madeleine! Unless you wish to drive me mad,
+mention that man's name no more to me."
+
+As he uttered these words, the usually mild, resigned expression of the
+lapidary's countenance was exchanged for a look of gloomy energy, while
+a slight suffusion coloured the ordinarily pale features of the agitated
+man, as, rising abruptly from the pallet beside which he had been
+sitting, he began to pace the miserable apartment with hurried steps;
+and, spite of the deformed and attenuated appearance of poor Morel, his
+attitude and action bespoke the noblest, purest indignation.
+
+"I am not ill-disposed towards any man," cried he, at length, pausing of
+a sudden; "and never, to my knowledge, harmed a human being. But, I tell
+you, when I think of this notary, I wish him--ah! I wish him--as much
+wretchedness as he has caused me." Then pressing both hands to his
+forehead, he murmured, in a mournful tone: "Just God! what crime have I
+committed that a hard fate should deliver me and mine, tied hand and
+foot, into the power of such a hypocrite? Have his riches been given him
+only to worry, harass, and destroy those his bad passions lead him to
+persecute, injure, and corrupt?"
+
+"That's right! that's right!" said Madeleine; "go on abusing him. You
+will have done yourself a great deal of good, shall you not, when he
+puts you in prison, as he can do any day, for that promissory note of
+1,300 francs on which he obtained judgment against you? He holds you
+fast as a bird at the end of a string. I hate this notary as badly as
+you do; but since we are so completely in his power, why you should--"
+
+"Let him ruin and dishonour my child, I suppose?" burst from the pale
+lips of the lapidary, with violent and impatient energy.
+
+"For heaven's sake, Morel, don't speak so loud; the children are awake,
+and will hear you."
+
+"Pooh, pooh!" returned Morel, with bitter irony; "it will serve as a
+fine example for our two little girls. It will instruct them to expect
+that, one of these days, some villain or other like the notary may take
+a fancy to them,--perhaps the same man; and then, I suppose, you would
+tell me, as now, to be careful how I offended him, since he had me in
+his power. You say, if I displease him, he can put me in prison. Now,
+tell the truth: you advise me, then, to leave my daughter at his mercy,
+do you not?"
+
+And then, passing from the extreme of rage at the idea of all the
+wickedness practised by the notary to tender recollections of his child,
+the unhappy man burst into a sort of convulsive weeping, mingled with
+deep and heavy sobs, for his kindly nature could not long sustain the
+tone of sarcastic indignation he had assumed.
+
+"Oh, my children!" cried he, with bitter grief; "my poor children! My
+good, my beautiful, too--too beautiful Louise! 'Tis from those rich
+gifts of nature all our troubles proceeded. Had you been less lovely,
+that man would never have pressed his money upon me. I am honest and
+hard-working; and if the jeweller had given me time, I should never have
+been under the obligation to the old monster, of which he avails himself
+to seek to dishonour my child. I should not then have left her a single
+hour within his power; but I dare not remove her,--I dare not! For am I
+not at his mercy? Oh, want! oh, misery! What insults do they not make us
+endure!"
+
+"But what can you do?" asked Madeleine. "You know he threatens Louise
+that if she quits him he will put you in prison directly."
+
+"Oh, yes! He dares address her as though she were the very vilest of
+creatures."
+
+"Well, you must not mind that; for should she leave the notary, there is
+no doubt he would instantly throw you into prison, and then what would
+become of me, with these five helpless creatures and my mother? Suppose
+Louise did earn twenty francs a month in another place, do you think
+seven persons can live on that?"
+
+"And so that we may live, Louise is to be disgraced and left to ruin?"
+
+"You always make things out worse than they are. It is true the notary
+makes offers of love to Louise; she has told us so repeatedly. But then
+you know what a good girl she is; she would never listen to him."
+
+"She is good, indeed; and so right-minded, active, and industrious!
+When, seeing how badly we were off in consequence of your long illness,
+she insisted upon going to service that she might not be a burthen to
+us, did I not say what it cost me to part with her? To think of my sweet
+Louise being subjected to all the harshness and humiliation of a
+servant's life,--she who was naturally so proud that we used
+jokingly--ah, we could joke then!--to call her the Princess, because she
+always said that, by dint of care and cleanliness, she would make our
+little home like a palace! Dear Louise! It would have been my greatest
+happiness to have kept her with me, though I had worked all day and all
+night too. And when I saw her blooming face, with her bright eyes
+glancing at me as she sat beside my work-table, my labour always seemed
+lightened; and when she sung like a bird those little songs she knew I
+liked to hear, I used to fancy myself the happiest father alive. Poor
+dear Louise! so hard-working, yet always so gay and lively! Why, she
+could even manage your mother, and make her do whatever she wished. But
+I defy any one to resist her sweet words or winning smile. And how she
+watched over and waited upon you! What pains she would take to try and
+divert you from thinking of what you suffered! And how tenderly she
+looked after her little brothers and sisters, finding time for
+everything! Ah, with our Louise all our joy and happiness--all--all--left
+us!"
+
+"Don't go on so, Morel. Don't remind me of all these things, or you will
+break my heart," cried Madeleine, weeping bitterly.
+
+"And, then, when I think that perhaps that old monster--Do you know,
+when that idea flashes across my brain, my senses seem disturbed, and I
+have but one thought, that of first killing him and then killing
+myself?"
+
+"What would become of all of us if you were to do so? Besides, I tell
+you again, you make things worse than they really are. I dare say the
+notary was only joking with Louise. He is such a pious man, and goes so
+regularly to mass every Sunday, and only keeps company with priests
+folks say. Why, many people think that he is safer to place money with
+than the bank itself."
+
+"Well, and what does all that prove? Merely that he is a rich hypocrite,
+instead of a poor one. I know well enough what a good girl Louise is;
+but then she loves us so tenderly that it breaks her heart to see the
+want and wretchedness we are in. She knows well enough that if anything
+were to happen to me you would all perish with hunger; and by
+threatening to put me into prison he might work on the dear child's
+mind,--like a villain as he is,--and persuade her, on our account! O,
+God, my brain burns! I feel as though I were going mad."
+
+"But, Morel, if ever that were the case, the notary would be sure to
+make her a great number of fine presents or money, and, I am sure, she
+would not have kept them all to herself. She would certainly have
+brought part to us."
+
+"Silence, woman! Let me hear no more such words escape your lips. Louise
+touch the wages of infamy! My good, my virtuous girl, accept such foul
+gifts! Oh, wife!"
+
+"Not for herself, certainly. But to bring to us perhaps she would--"
+
+"Madeleine," exclaimed Morel, excited almost to frenzy, "again, I say,
+let me not hear such language from your lips; you make me shudder.
+Heaven only knows what you and the children also would become were I
+taken away, if such are your principles."
+
+"Why, what harm did I say?"
+
+"Oh, none."
+
+"Then what makes you uneasy about Louise?"
+
+The lapidary impatiently interrupted his wife by saying:
+
+"Because I have noticed for the last three months that, whenever Louise
+comes to see us, she seems embarrassed, and even confused. When I take
+her in my arms and embrace her, as I have been used to do from her
+birth, she blushes."
+
+"Ah, that is with delight at seeing you, or from shame."
+
+"She seems sadder and more dejected, too, each visit she pays us."
+
+"Because she finds our misery constantly increasing. Besides, when I
+spoke to her concerning the notary, she told me he had quite ceased his
+threats of putting you in prison."
+
+"But did she tell you the price she has paid to induce him to lay aside
+his threats? She did not tell you that, I dare say, did she? Ah, a
+father's eye is not to be deceived; and her blushes and embarrassments,
+when giving me her usual kiss, make me dread I know not what. Why, would
+it not be an atrocious thing to say to a poor girl, whose bread depended
+on her employer's word, 'Either sacrifice your virtuous principles, and
+become what I would have you, or quit my house? And if any one should
+inquire of me respecting the character you have with me, I shall speak
+of you in such terms that no one will take you into their service.'
+Well, then, how much worse is it to frighten a fond and affectionate
+child into surrendering her innocence, by threatening to put her father
+into prison if she refused, when the brute knows that upon the labour of
+that father a whole family depends? Surely the earth contains nothing
+more infamous, more fiendlike, than such conduct."
+
+"Ah," replied Madeleine, "and then only to think that with the value of
+one, only one of those diamonds now lying on your table, we might pay
+the notary all we owe him, and so take Louise out of his power and keep
+her at home with us. Don't you see, husband?"
+
+"What is the use of your repeating the same thing over and over again?
+You might just as well tell me that if I were rich I should not be
+poor," answered Morel, with sorrowful impatience. For such was the
+innate and almost constitutional honesty of this man, that it never once
+occurred to him that his weak-minded partner, bowed down and irritated
+by long suffering and want, could ever have conceived the idea of
+tempting him to a dishonourable appropriation of that which belonged to
+another.
+
+With a heavy sigh, the unfortunate man resigned himself to his hard
+fate. "Thrice happy those parents who can retain their innocent children
+beneath the paternal roof, and defend them from the thousand snares laid
+to entrap their unsuspecting youth. But who is there to watch over the
+safety of the poor girl condemned at an early age to seek employment
+from home? Alas, no one! Directly she is capable of adding her mite to
+the family earnings, she leaves her dwelling at an early hour, and
+repairs to the manufactory where she may happen to be engaged.
+Meanwhile, both father and mother are too busily employed to have
+leisure to attend to their daughter's comings or goings. 'Our time is
+our stock in trade,' cry they, 'and bread is too dear to enable us to
+lay aside our work while we look after our children.' And then there is
+an outcry raised as to the quantity of depraved females constantly to be
+met with, and of the impropriety of conduct among those of the lower
+orders, wholly forgetting that the parents have neither the means of
+keeping them at home, nor of watching over their morals when away from
+them."
+
+Thus mentally moralised Morel. Then, speaking aloud, he added:
+
+"After all, our greatest privation is when forced to quit our parents,
+wives, or children. It is to the poor that family affection is most
+comforting and beneficial. Yet, directly our children grow up, and are
+capable of becoming our dearest companions, we are forced to part with
+them."
+
+At this moment some one knocked loudly at the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+JUDGMENT AND EXECUTION.
+
+
+The lapidary, much astonished, rose and opened the door. Two men entered
+the garret. One, tall, lanky, with an ill-favoured and pimply face,
+shaded by thick grizzly whiskers, held in his hand a thick cane, loaded
+at the head; he wore a battered hat, and a long-tailed and bespattered
+green coat, buttoned up close to his throat. Above the threadbare velvet
+collar was displayed his long neck, red and bald like that of a vulture.
+This man's name was Malicorne. The other was a shorter man, with a look
+as low-lived, and red, fat, puffed features, dressed with a great effort
+at ridiculous splendour. Shiny buttons were in the folds of the front of
+his shirt, whose cleanliness was most suspicious, and a long chain of
+mosaic gold serpentined down a faded plaid waistcoat, which was seen
+beneath his seedy Chesterfield, of a yellowish gray colour. This
+gentleman's name was Bourdin.
+
+"How poverty-stricken this hole smells," said Malicorne, pausing on the
+threshold.
+
+"Why, it does not scent of lavender-water. Confound it, but we have a
+lowish customer to deal with," responded Bourdin, with a gesture of
+disgust and contempt, and then advanced towards the artisan, who was
+looking at him with as much surprise as indignation.
+
+Through the door, left a little ajar, might be seen the villainous,
+watchful, and cunning face of the young scamp Tortillard, who, having
+followed these strangers unknown to them, was sneaking after, spying,
+and listening to them.
+
+"What do you want?" inquired the lapidary, abruptly, disgusted at the
+coarseness of these fellows.
+
+"Jerome Morel?" said Bourdin.
+
+"I am he!"
+
+"Working lapidary?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are quite sure?"
+
+"Quite sure. But you are troublesome, so tell me at once your business,
+or leave the room."
+
+"Really, your politeness is remarkable! Much obliged! I say, Malicorne,"
+said the man, turning to his comrade, "there's not so much fat to cut at
+here as there was at that 'ere Viscount de Saint-Remy's."
+
+"I believe you; but when there is fat, why the door's kept shut in your
+face, as we found in the Rue de Chaillot. The bird had hopped the twig,
+and precious quick, too, whilst such vermin as these hold on to their
+cribs like a snail to his shell."
+
+"I believe you; well, the stone jug just suits such individuals."
+
+"The sufferer (creditor) must be a good fellow, for it will cost him
+more than it's worth; but that's his lookout."
+
+"If," said Morel, angrily, "you were not drunk, as you seem to be, I
+should be angry with you. Leave this apartment instantly!"
+
+"Ha! ha! He's a fine fellow with his elegant curve," said Bourdin,
+making an insulting allusion to the contorted figure of the poor
+lapidary. "I say, Malicorne, he has cheek enough to call this an
+apartment,--a hole in which I would not put my dog."
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed Madeleine, who had been so frightened
+that she could not say a word before. "Call for assistance; perhaps they
+are rogues. Take care of your diamonds!"
+
+And, seeing these two ill-looking strangers come closer to his
+working-bench, on which his precious stones were still lying, Morel,
+fearful of some evil intentions, ran towards the table, and covered the
+jewels with his two hands.
+
+Tortillard, still on the watch, caught at Madeleine's words, observed
+the movement of the artisan, and said to himself:
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! So they said he was a lapidary of sham stones; if they were
+mock he would not be afraid of being robbed; this is a good thing to
+know. So Mother Mathieu, who comes here so often, is a matcher of _real_
+stones, after all, and has real diamonds in her basket; this is a good
+thing to know, and I'll tell the Chouette," added Bras Rouge's brat.
+
+"If you do not leave this room, I will call in the guard," said Morel.
+
+The children, alarmed at this scene, began to cry, and the idiotic
+mother sat up in her bed.
+
+"If any one has a right to call for the guard, it is we, you Mister
+Twistabout," said Bourdin.
+
+"And the guard would lend us a hand to carry you off to gaol if you
+resist," added Malicorne. "We have not the magistrate with us, it is
+true; but if you have any wish for his company, we'll find you one, just
+out of bed, hot and heavy; Bourdin will go and fetch him."
+
+"To prison! me?" exclaimed Morel, struck with dismay.
+
+"Yes, to Clichy."
+
+"To Clichy?" repeated the artisan, with an air of despair.
+
+"It seems a hardish pill," said Malicorne.
+
+"Well, then, to the debtors' jail, if you like that better," said
+Bourdin.
+
+"You--what--indeed--why--the notary--ah, _mon Dieu_!"
+
+And the workman, pale as death, fell on his stool, unable to add another
+word.
+
+"We are bound bailiffs, come to lay hold of you; now are you fly?"
+
+"Morel, it is the note of Louise's master! We are undone!" exclaimed
+Madeleine, in a tone of agony.
+
+"Hear the judgment," said Malicorne, taking from his dirty and crammed
+pocketbook a stamped writ.
+
+After having skimmed over, according to custom, a part of this document
+in an unintelligible tone, he distinctly articulated the last words,
+which were, unfortunately, but too important to the artisan:
+
+    "Judgment finally given. The Tribunal condemns Jerome Morel to
+    pay to Pierre Petit-Jean, merchant,[6] by every available means,
+    even to the arrest of body, the sum of 1,300 francs, with
+    interest from the day of protest, and to pay all other and extra
+    costs. Given and judged at Paris, 13 September, etc., etc."
+
+  [6] The cunning notary, unable to prosecute in his own name,
+  had made the unfortunate Morel give a blank acceptance, and
+  had filled up the note of hand with the name of a third party.
+
+"And Louise! Louise!" cried Morel, almost distracted in his brain, and
+apparently unheeding the long preamble which had just been read. "Where
+is Louise, then, for, doubtless, she has quitted the notary, since he
+sends me to prison? My child! My Louise! What has become of you?"
+
+"Who the devil is Louise?" asked Bourdin.
+
+"Let him alone!" replied Malicorne, brutally; "don't you see the
+respectable old twaddler is not right in his nonsense-box?" Then,
+approaching Morel, he added: "I say, my fine fellow, right about file!
+March on! Let us get out of here, will you, and have a little fresh air.
+You stink enough to poison a cat in this here hole!"
+
+"Morel!" shrieked Madeleine, wildly, "don't go! Kill those wretches! Oh,
+you coward, not to knock them down! What! are you going to let them
+take you away? Are you going to abandon us all?"
+
+"Pray don't put yourself out of the way, ma'am," said Bourdin, with an
+ironical grin. "I've only just got to remark that if your good man lays
+his little finger on me, why I'll make him remember it," continued he,
+swinging his loaded stick round and round.
+
+Entirely occupied with thoughts of Louise, Morel scarcely heard a word
+of what was passing. All at once an expression of bitter satisfaction
+passed over his countenance, as he said:
+
+"Louise has doubtless left the notary's house; now I shall go to prison
+willingly." Then, casting a troubled look around him, he exclaimed: "But
+my wife! Her mother! The children! Who will provide for them? No one
+will trust me with stones to work at in prison, for it will be supposed
+my bad conduct has sent me there. Does this hard-hearted notary wish the
+destruction of myself and all my family also?"
+
+"Once, twice, old chap," said Bourdin, "will you stop your gammon? You
+are enough to bore a man to death. Come, put on your things, and let us
+be off."
+
+"Good gentlemen, kind gentlemen," cried Madeleine, from her sick-bed,
+"pray forgive what I said just now! Surely you will not be so cruel as
+to take my husband away; what will become of me and my five poor
+children, and my old mother, who is an idiot? There she lies; you see
+her, poor old creature, huddled up on her mattress; she is quite out of
+her senses, my good gentlemen; she is, indeed, quite mad!"
+
+"La! what, that old bald-headed thing a woman? Well, hang me if that
+ain't enough to astonish a man!"
+
+"I'll be hanged if it isn't, then!" cried the other bailiff, bursting
+into a horse-laugh; "why, I took it for something tied up in an old
+sack. Look! her old head is shaved quite close; it seems as though she
+had got a white skull-cap on."
+
+"Go, children, and kneel down, and beg of these good gentlemen not to
+take away your poor father, our only support," said Madeleine, anxious
+by a last effort to touch the hearts of the bailiffs. But, spite of
+their mother's orders, the terrified children remained weeping on their
+miserable mattress.
+
+At the unusual noise which prevailed, added to the aspect of two strange
+men in the room, the poor idiot turned herself towards the wall, as
+though striving to hide from them, uttering all the time the most
+discordant cries and moans. Morel, meanwhile, appeared unconscious of
+all that was going on; this last stroke of fate had been so frightful
+and unexpected, and the consequences of his arrest were so dreadful,
+that his mind seemed almost unequal to understanding its reality. Worn
+out by all manner of privations, and exhausted by over-toil, his
+strength utterly forsook him, and he remained seated on his stool, pale
+and haggard, and as though incapable of speech or motion, his head
+drooping on his breast, and his arms hanging listlessly by his side.
+
+"Deuce take me," cried Malicorne, "if that old patterer is not going
+fast asleep! Why, I say, my chap, you seem to think nothing of keeping
+gen'l'men like us waiting; just remember, will you, our time is
+precious! You know this is not exactly a party of pleasure, so march, or
+I shall be obliged to make you."
+
+Suiting the action to the word, the man grasped the artisan by the
+shoulder, and shook him roughly; which so alarmed the children, that,
+unable to restrain their terror, the three little boys emerged from
+their _paillasse_, and, half naked as they were, came in an agony of
+tears to throw themselves at the feet of the bailiffs, holding up their
+clasped hands, and crying, in tones of touching earnestness:
+
+"Pray, pray don't hurt our dear father!"
+
+At the sight of these poor, shivering, half-clad infants, weeping with
+affright, and trembling with cold, Bourdin, spite of his natural
+callousness and long acquaintance with scenes of this sort, could not
+avoid a feeling almost resembling compassion from stealing over him,
+while his pitiless companion, brutally disengaging himself from the
+grasp of the small, weak creatures who were clinging to him, exclaimed:
+
+"Hands off, you young ragamuffins! A devilish fine trade ours would be,
+if we were to allow ourselves to be mauled about by a set of beggars'
+brats like you!"
+
+As though the scene were not sufficiently distressing, a fearful
+addition was made to its horrors. The eldest of the little girls, who
+had remained in the _paillasse_ with her sick sister, suddenly
+exclaimed:
+
+"Mother! mother! I don't know what's the matter with Adele! She is so
+cold, and her eyes are fixed on my face, and yet she does not breathe."
+
+The poor little child, whose consumptive appearance we have before
+noticed, had expired gently, and without a sigh, her looks fixed
+earnestly on the sister she so tenderly loved.
+
+No language can describe the cry which burst from the lips of the
+lapidary's wife at these words, which at once revealed the dreadful
+truth; it was one of those wild, despairing, convulsive shrieks, which
+seem to sever the very heart-strings of a mother.
+
+"My poor little sister looks as though she were dead!" continued the
+child; "she frightens me, with her eyes fixed on me, and her face so
+cold!"
+
+Saying which, in an agony of terror, she leaped from beside the corpse
+of the infant, and ran to shelter herself in her mother's arms, while
+the distracted parent, forgetting that her almost paralysed limbs were
+incapable of supporting her, made a violent effort to rise and go to the
+assistance of her child, whom she could not believe was actually past
+recovery; but her strength failed her, and with a deep sigh of despair
+she sunk upon the floor. That cry found an echo in the heart of Morel,
+and roused him from his stupor. He sprang with one bound to the
+_paillasse_, and withdrew from it the stiffened form of an infant four
+years old, dead and cold. Want and misery had accelerated its end,
+although its complaint, which had originated in the positive want of
+common necessaries, was beyond the reach of any human aid to remove. Its
+poor little limbs were already rigid with death. Morel, whose very hair
+seemed to stand on end with despair and terror, stood holding his dead
+child in his arms, motionlessly contemplating its thin features with a
+fixed bloodshot gaze, though no tear moistened his dry, burning
+eyeballs.
+
+"Morel! Morel, give Adele to me!" cried the unhappy mother, extending
+her arms towards him; "she is not dead,--it is not possible! Let me have
+her, and I shall be able to warm her in my arms."
+
+The curiosity of the idiot was excited by observing the pertinacity with
+which the bailiffs kept close to the lapidary, who would not part with
+the body of his child. She ceased her yells and cries, and, rising from
+her mattress, approached gently, protruded her hideous, senseless
+countenance over Morel's shoulder, staring in vacant wonder at the pale
+corpse of her grandchild, the features of the idiot retaining their
+usual expression of stupid sullenness. At the end of a few minutes, she
+uttered a sort of horrible yawning noise, almost resembling the roar of
+a famished animal; then, hurrying back to her mattress, she threw
+herself upon it, exclaiming:
+
+"Hungry! hungry! hungry!"
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the poor, half-crazed artisan, with haggard
+looks, "you see all that is left me of my poor child, my Adele,--we
+called her Adele, she was so pretty she deserved a pretty name; and she
+was just four years old last night. Ay, and this morning even I kissed
+her, and she put her little arms about my neck and embraced me,--oh, so
+fondly! And now, you see, gentlemen, perhaps you will tell me there is
+one mouth less to feed, and that I am lucky to get rid of one,--you
+think so, don't you?"
+
+The unfortunate man's reason was fast giving way under the many shocks
+he had received.
+
+"Morel," cried Madeleine, "give me my child! I will have her!"
+
+"To be sure," replied the lapidary; "that is only fair. Everybody ought
+to secure their own happiness!" So saying, he laid the child in its
+mother's arms, and uttering a groan, such as comes only from a breaking
+heart, he covered his face with his hands; while Madeleine, almost as
+frenzied as her husband, placed the body of her child amid the straw of
+her wretched bed, watching it with frantic jealousy, while the other
+children, kneeling around her, filled the air with their wailings.
+
+The bailiffs, who had experienced a temporary feeling of compassion at
+the death of the child, soon fell back into their accustomed brutality.
+
+"I say, friend," said Malicorne to the lapidary, "your child is dead,
+and there's an end of it! I dare say you think it a misfortune; but
+then, you see, we are all mortal, and neither we nor you can bring it
+back to life. So come along with us; for, to tell you the truth, we're
+upon the scent of a spicy one we must nab to-day. So don't delay us,
+that's a trump!"
+
+But Morel heard not a word he said. Entirely preoccupied with his own
+sad thoughts, the bewildered man kept up a kind of wandering delivery of
+his own afflicting ideas.
+
+"My poor Adele!" murmured he; "we must now see about laying you in the
+grave, and watching by her little corpse till the people come to carry
+it to its last home,--to lay it in the ground. But how are we to do that
+without a coffin,--and where shall we get one? Who will give me credit
+for one? Oh, a very small coffin will do,--only for a little creature of
+four years of age! And we shall want no bearers! Oh, no, I can carry it
+under my arm. Ha! ha! ha!" added he, with a burst of frightful mirth;
+"what a good thing it is she did not live to be as old as Louise! I
+never could have persuaded anybody to trust me for a coffin large enough
+for a girl of eighteen years of age."
+
+"I say, just look at that chap!" said Bourdin to Malicorne. "I'll be
+dashed if I don't think as he's a-going mad, like the old woman there!
+Only see how he rolls his eyes about,--enough to frighten one! Come, I
+say, let's make haste and be off. Only hark, how that idiot creature is
+a-roaring for something to eat! Well, they are rum customers, from
+beginning to end!"
+
+"We must get done with them as soon as we can. Although the law only
+allows us seventy-six francs, seventy-five centiemes, for arresting this
+beggar, yet, in justice to ourselves, we must swell the costs to two
+hundred and forty or two hundred and fifty francs. You know the sufferer
+(the creditor) pays us!"
+
+"You mean, advances the cash. Old Gaffer there will have to pay the
+piper, since he must dance to the music."
+
+"Well, by the time he has paid his creditor 2,500 francs for debt,
+interest, and expenses, etc., he'll find it pretty warm work."
+
+"A devilish sight more than we do our job up here! I'm a'most
+frost-bitten!" cried the bailiff, blowing the ends of his fingers.
+"Come, old fellow, make haste, will you! Just look sharp! You can
+snivel, you know, as we go along. Why, how the devil can we help it, if
+your brat has kicked the bucket?"
+
+"These beggars always have such a lot of children, if they have nothing
+else!"
+
+"Yes, so they have," responded Malicorne. Then, slapping Morel on the
+shoulder, he called out in a loud voice, "I tell you what it is, my
+friend, we're not going to be kept dawdling here all day,--our time is
+precious. So either out with the stumpy, or march off to prison,
+without any more bother!"
+
+"Prison!" exclaimed a clear, youthful voice; "take M. Morel to prison!"
+and a bright, beaming face appeared at the door.
+
+"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette," cried the weeping children, as they recognised
+the happy, healthful countenance of their young protectress and friend,
+"these wicked men are going to take our poor father away, and put him in
+prison! And sister Adele is just dead!"
+
+"Dead!" cried the kind-hearted girl, her dark eyes filling with
+compassionating tears; "poor little thing! But it cannot be true that
+your father is in danger of a prison;" and, almost stupefied with
+surprise, she gazed alternately from the children to Morel, and from him
+to the bailiffs.
+
+"I say, my girl," said Bourdin, approaching Rigolette, "as you do seem
+to have the use of your senses, just make this good man hear reason,
+will you? His child has just died. Well, that can't be helped now; but,
+you see, he is a-keeping of us, because we're a-waiting to take him to
+the debtors' prison, being sheriffs' officers, duly sworn in and
+appointed. Tell him so!"
+
+"Then it is true!" exclaimed the feeling girl.
+
+"True? I should say it was and no mistake! Now, don't you see, while the
+mother is busy with the dead babby--and, bless you! she's got it there,
+hugging it up in bed, and won't part with it!--she won't notice us? So I
+want the father to be off while she isn't thinking nothing about it!"
+
+"Good God! Good God!" replied Rigolette, in deep distress; "what is to
+be done?"
+
+"Done? Why, pay the money, or go to prison! There is nothing between
+them two ways. If you happen to have two or three thousand francs by you
+you can oblige him with, why, shell out, and we'll be off, and glad
+enough to be gone!"
+
+"How can you," cried Rigolette, "be so barbarous as to make a jest of
+such distress as this?"
+
+"Well, then," rejoined the other man, "all joking apart, if you really
+do wish to be useful, try to prevent the woman from seeing us take her
+husband away. You will spare them both a very disagreeable ten minutes!"
+
+Coarse as was this counsel, it was not destitute of good sense; and
+Rigolette, feeling she could do nothing else, approached the bedside of
+Madeleine, who, distracted by her grief, appeared unconscious of the
+presence of Rigolette, as, gathering the children together, she knelt
+with them beside their afflicted mother.
+
+Meanwhile Morel, upon recovering from his temporary wildness, had sunk
+into a state of deep and bitter reflections upon his present position,
+which, now that his mind saw things through a calmer medium, only
+increased the poignancy of his sufferings. Since the notary had
+proceeded to such extremities, any hope from his mercy was vain. He felt
+there was nothing left but to submit to his fate, and let the law take
+its course.
+
+"Are we ever to get off?" inquired Bourdin. "I tell you what, my man, if
+you are not for marching, we must make you, that's all."
+
+"I cannot leave these diamonds about in this manner,--my wife is half
+distracted," cried Morel, pointing to the stones lying on his
+work-table. "The person for whom I am polishing them will come to fetch
+them away either this morning or during the day. They are of
+considerable value."
+
+"Capital!" whispered Tortillard, who was still peeping in at the half
+closed door; "capital, capital! What will Mother Chouette say when I
+tell her this bit of luck?"
+
+"Only give me till to-morrow," said Morel, beseechingly; "only till I
+can return these diamonds to my employer."
+
+"I tell you, the thing can't be done. So let's have no more to say about
+it."
+
+"But it is impossible for me to leave diamonds of such value as these
+exposed, to be lost or even stolen in my absence."
+
+"Well, then, take them along with you. We have got a coach waiting
+below, for which you will have to pay when you settle the costs. We will
+go all together to your employer's house, and, if you don't meet with
+him, why, then, you can deposit these jewels at the office of the
+prison, where they will be as safe as in the bank; only look sharp, and
+let's be off before your wife and children perceive us."
+
+"Give me but till to-morrow,--only to bury my child!" implored Morel, in
+a supplicating voice, half stifled by the heavy sobs he strove in vain
+to repress.
+
+"Nonsense, I tell you; why, we have lost an hour here already!"
+
+"Besides, it's dull work going to berrins," chimed in Malicorne. "It
+would be too much for your feelings, p'raps."
+
+"Yes," said Morel, bitterly; "it is dull work to see what we would have
+given our lives to save laid in the cold earth. But, as you are men,
+grant me that satisfaction." Then, looking up, and observing the
+nonchalant air with which his prayer was received, he added, "But no,
+persons of so much feeling as you are would fear to indulge me, lest I
+should find it a gloomy sight. Well, then, at least grant me one word!"
+
+"The deuce take your last words! Why, old chap, there seems no end to
+them. Come, put the steam on; make haste," said Malicorne, with brutal
+impatience, "or we shall lose t'other gent we're after."
+
+"When did you receive orders to arrest me?"
+
+"Oh, why, judgment was signed four months ago! But it was only yesterday
+our officer got instructions to put it in execution."
+
+"Only yesterday! And why has it been delayed so long?"
+
+"How the devil should I know? Come, look about you, and put up your
+things."
+
+"Only yesterday? And during the whole day we saw nothing of Louise!
+Where can she be? Or what has become of her?" inquired the lapidary
+mentally, as he took from his table a small box filled with cotton, in
+which he placed his stones. "But never mind all that now. I shall have
+plenty of time to think about it when I am in prison."
+
+"Come, look sharp there a bit. Tie up your things to take with you, and
+put your clothes on, there's a fine fellow!"
+
+"I have no clothes to tie up, and have nothing whatever to take with me
+except these jewels, that I may deposit them at the office of the
+prison."
+
+"Well, then, dress yourself as quick as you can."
+
+"I have no other dress than that you now see me in."
+
+"I say, mate," cried Bourdin, "does he really mean to be seen in our
+company with such rags as those on?"
+
+"I fear, indeed, I shall shame such gentlemen as you are!" said Morel,
+bitterly.
+
+"It don't much signify," replied Malicorne, "as nobody will see us in
+the coach."
+
+"Father!" cried one of the children, "mother is calling for you!"
+
+"Listen to me!" said Morel, addressing one of the men with hurried
+tones; "if one spark of human pity dwells within you, grant me one
+favour! I have not the courage to bid my wife and children farewell; it
+would break my heart! And if they see you take me away, they will try to
+follow me. I wish to spare all this. Therefore, I beseech you to say, in
+a loud voice, that you will come again in three or four days, and
+pretend to go away. You can wait for me at the next landing-place, and I
+will come to you in less than five minutes; that will spare all the
+misery of taking leave. I am quite sure it would be too much for me, and
+that I should become mad! I was not far off it a little while ago."
+
+"Not to be caught!" answered Malicorne; "you want to do me! But I'm up
+to you! You mean to give us the slip, you old chouse!"
+
+"God of heaven!" cried Morel, with a mixture of grief and indignation,
+"has it come to this?"
+
+"I don't think he means what you say," whispered Bourdin to his
+companion; "let us do what he asks; we shall never get away unless we
+do. I'll stand outside the door; there is no other way of escaping from
+this garret; he cannot get away from us."
+
+"Very well. But what a dog-hole! What a place for a man to care about
+leaving! Why, a prison will be a palace to it!" Then, addressing Morel,
+he said, "Now, then, be quick, and we will wait for you on the next
+landing; so make up some pretence for our going."
+
+"Well," said Bourdin in a loud voice, and bestowing a significant look
+on the unhappy artisan, "since things are as you say, and as you think
+you shall be able to pay us in a short time, why, we shall leave you for
+the present, and return in about four or five days; but you must not
+disappoint us then, remember!"
+
+"Thank you, gentlemen. I have no doubt I shall be able to pay you then."
+
+The bailiffs then withdrew, while Tortillard, hearing the men talk of
+quitting the room, had hastened down-stairs for fear of being detected
+listening.
+
+"There, Madame Morel!" said Rigolette, endeavouring to draw the wife of
+the lapidary from the state of gloomy abstraction into which she had
+fallen, "do you hear that? The men have gone, and left your husband
+undisturbed."
+
+"Mother! mother!" exclaimed the children, joyfully, "they have not taken
+father away!"
+
+"Morel, Morel!" murmured Madeleine, her brain quite turned, "take one
+of those diamonds--take the largest--and sell it; no one will know it,
+and then we shall be delivered from our misery; poor little Adele will
+get warm then, and come back to us."
+
+Taking advantage of the instant when no one was observing him, the
+lapidary profited by it to steal from the room. One of the men was
+waiting for him on the little landing-place, which was also covered only
+by the roof; on this small spot opened the door of a garret, which
+adjoined the apartment occupied by the Morels, and in which M. Pipelet
+kept his depot of leather; and, further, this little angular recess, in
+which a person could not stand upright, was dignified by the melancholy
+porter with the name of his Melodramatic Cabinet, because, by means of a
+hole between the lath and plaster, he frequently indulged in the luxury
+of woe by witnessing the many touching scenes occasioned by the distress
+of the wretched family who dwelt in the garret beyond it. This door had
+not escaped the lynx eye of the bailiff, who had, for a time, suspected
+his prisoner of intending either to escape or conceal himself by means
+of it.
+
+"Now, then, let us make a start of it!" cried he, beginning to descend
+the stairs as Morel emerged from the garret. "Rather a ragged recruit to
+march with," added he, beckoning to the lapidary to follow him.
+
+"Only an instant, one single instant, for the love of God!" exclaimed
+Morel, as, kneeling down, he cast a last look on his wife and children
+through a chink in the door. Then clasping his hands, he said, in a low,
+heart-broken voice, while bitter tears flowed down his haggard cheeks:
+
+"Adieu, my poor children! my wife! May Heaven preserve you all!
+Farewell, farewell!"
+
+"Come, don't get preaching!" said Bourdin, coarsely, "or your sermons
+may keep us here till night, which is what I can't stand, for I am
+almost froze to death as it is. Ugh! what a kennel! what a hole!"
+
+Morel rose from his knees and was about to follow the bailiff, when the
+words, "Father! father!" sounded up the staircase.
+
+"Louise!" exclaimed the lapidary, raising his hands towards heaven in a
+transport of gratitude; "thank God I shall be able to embrace you before
+I go!"
+
+"Heaven be praised, I am here in time!" cried the voice, as it rapidly
+approached, and quick, light steps were distinguishable, swiftly
+ascending the stairs.
+
+"Don't be uneasy, my dear," said a second voice, evidently proceeding
+from some individual considerably behind the first speaker, but whose
+thick puffing and laborious breathing announced the coming of one who
+did not find mounting to the top of the house so easy an affair as it
+seemed to her light-footed companion.
+
+The reader may, perhaps, have already guessed that the last comer was no
+other than Madame Pipelet, who, less agile than Louise, was compelled to
+advance at a much slower pace.
+
+"Louise! Is it, indeed, you, my own, my good Louise?" said Morel, still
+weeping. "But how pale you look! For mercy's sake, my child, what is the
+matter?"
+
+"Nothing, father, nothing, I assure you!" said Louise, in much
+agitation; "but I have run so fast! See, I have brought the money!"
+
+"What?"
+
+"You are free!"
+
+"You knew, then, that--"
+
+"Oh, yes! Here, sir, you will find it quite right," said the poor girl,
+placing the rouleau of gold in the hands of Malicorne.
+
+"But this money, Louise,--how did you become possessed of it?"
+
+"I will tell you all about it by and by; pray do not be uneasy; let us
+go and comfort my mother. Come, father."
+
+"No, not just this minute!" cried Morel, remembering that, as yet,
+Louise was entirely ignorant of the death of her little sister; "wait an
+instant. I have something to say to you first. But about this money?"
+
+"All right," said Malicorne, as, having finished counting the gold, he
+put it in his pocket; "precisely one thousand three hundred francs. And
+is that all you have got for me, my pretty dear?"
+
+"I thought, father," said Louise, struck with alarm and surprise at the
+man's question, "that you only owed one thousand three hundred francs."
+
+"Nor do I," replied Morel.
+
+"Precisely so!" answered the bailiff; "the original debt is one thousand
+three hundred francs; well, that is all right now, and we may put
+'settled' against that: but then, you see, there are the costs, caption,
+etc., amounting to eleven hundred and forty francs, still to be paid."
+
+"Gracious heavens!" cried Louise, "I thought one thousand three hundred
+francs would pay everything! But, sir, we will make up the money, and
+bring it to you very soon; take this for the present, it is a good sum;
+take it as paid on account; it will go towards the debt, at least, won't
+it, father?"
+
+"Very well; then all you have to do is to bring the required sum to the
+prison, and then, and not till then, your father--if he is your
+father--will be set at liberty. Come, master, we must start, or we never
+shall get there."
+
+"Do you really mean to take him away?"
+
+"Do I? Don't I? Just look here; I am ready to give you a memorandum of
+having received so much on account; and, whenever you bring the rest,
+you shall have a receipt in full, and your father along with it. There,
+now, that's a handsome offer, ain't it?"
+
+"Mercy! mercy!" supplicated Louise.
+
+"Whew!" cried the man, "here's a scene over again! My stars, I hope this
+one isn't a-going mad, too, for the whole family seems uncommon queer
+about the head! Well, I declare I never see anything like it! It is
+enough to set a man 'prespiring' in the midst of winter!" and here the
+bailiff burst into a loud, coarse laugh at his own brutal wit.
+
+"Oh, my poor, dear father!" exclaimed Louise, almost distractedly; "when
+I had hoped to have saved you!"
+
+"No, no!" cried the lapidary, in a tone of utter despair, and stamping
+his foot in wild desperation, "hope nothing for me; God has forgotten
+me, and Heaven has ceased to be just to a wretch like me!"
+
+"Calm yourself, my worthy friend," said a rich, manly voice; "there is
+always a kind Providence that watches over and preserves good and honest
+men like you."
+
+At the same instant Rodolph appeared at the door of the small recess we
+have spoken of, from whence he had been an invisible spectator of much
+that we have related; he was pale, and extremely agitated. At this
+sudden apparition the bailiff drew back, with surprise; while Morel and
+his daughter gazed on the stranger with bewildered wonder. Taking from
+his waistcoat pocket a quantity of folded bank-notes, Rodolph selected
+three, and, presenting them to Malicorne, he said:
+
+"Here are two thousand five hundred francs; give this young woman back
+the money you have just received from her."
+
+Still more and more astonished at this singular interference, the man
+half hesitated to take the notes, and, when he had received them, he
+eyed them with the utmost suspicion, turning and twisting them about in
+every direction; at length, satisfied both as to their reality and
+genuineness, he finally deposited them in his pocketbook: but, as his
+surprise and alarm began to subside, so did his natural coarseness of
+idea return, and, eyeing Rodolph from head to foot with an impertinent
+stare, he exclaimed:
+
+"The notes are right enough; but pray who and what are you that go about
+with such sums? I should just wish to know whose it is, and how you came
+by it?"
+
+Rodolph was very plainly dressed, and his appearance by no means
+improved by the dust and dirt his clothes had gathered during his stay
+in M. Pipelet's Cabinet of Melodrama.
+
+"I desired you to give back the gold you received just now from this
+young person," replied Rodolph, in a severe and authoritative tone.
+
+"You desired me! And who the devil are you, to give your orders?"
+answered the man, approaching Rodolph in a threatening manner.
+
+"Give back the gold! Give it back, I say!" said the prince, grasping the
+wrist of Malicorne so tightly that the unhappy bailiff winced beneath
+his iron clutch.
+
+"I say," bawled he, "hands off, will you? Curse me if I don't think
+you're old Nick himself! I am sure your fingers are cased with iron."
+
+"Then return the money! Why, you despicable wretch! do you want to be
+paid twice over? Now return the gold and begone, or, if you utter one
+insolent word, I'll fling you over the banisters!"
+
+"Well, don't kick up such a row! There's the girl's money," said
+Malicorne, giving back to Louise the rouleau he had received. "But mind
+what you are about, my sparky, and don't think to ill-use me because you
+happen to be the strongest!"
+
+"That's right!" said Bourdin, ensconcing himself behind his taller
+associate. "And who are you, I should like to know, who give yourself
+such airs?"
+
+"Who is he? Why, my lodger, my king of lodgers, you ill-looking,
+half-starved, hungry hounds! you ill-taught, dirty fellows!" exclaimed
+Madame Pipelet, who, puffing and panting for breath, had at last reached
+the landing where they stood; her head, as usual, adorned with her
+Brutus wig, which, during the heat and bustle she had experienced in
+ascending the stairs, had got pushed somewhat awry, while in her hand
+she bore an earthen stewpan, filled with smoking-hot broth, which she
+was charitably conveying to the Morels.
+
+"What the devil does this old hedgehog want?" cried Bourdin.
+
+"If you dare make any of your saucy speeches about me," returned Madame
+Pipelet, "I'll make you feel my nails,--ay, and my teeth, too, if you
+provoke me! And, if you don't mend your manners, my lodger, my king of
+lodgers will pitch you over the banisters, and I will sweep you out into
+the street, as I would a heap of rubbish."
+
+"This old beldam will bring the whole house about our ears," said
+Bourdin to Malicorne; "we've touched the blunt, our expenses and all, so
+I say 'Off' is a good word."
+
+"Here, take your property," said the latter, flinging a bundle of
+law-papers at the feet of Morel.
+
+"Pick them up, and deliver them decently; you have been paid as a
+respectable officer would have been, act like one!" cried Rodolph,
+seizing the bailiff vigorously with one hand, while with the other he
+pointed to the papers.
+
+Fully convinced by this second powerful grip how useless any attempt at
+resistance would prove, the bailiff stooped down, and, mechanically
+picking up the papers, gave them to Morel, who, scarcely venturing to
+credit his senses, believed himself under the influence of a delightful
+dream.
+
+"Well, young chap," grumbled out Malicorne, "although you have got a
+fist as strong as a drayman's, mind you, if ever you fall into my
+clutches, I'll make you smart for this!" So saying, he doubled his fist
+at Rodolph, and then scrambled down the stairs, taking four or five at a
+time, followed by his companion, who kept looking behind him with
+indescribable terror; while Madame Pipelet, burning to avenge the
+insults offered to her king of lodgers, looked at her steaming stewpan
+with an air of inspiration, and heroically exclaimed:
+
+"The debts of the Morels are paid! Henceforward they will have plenty of
+food, and can do without my messes! Look out there below!"
+
+So saying, she stooped over the banisters, and poured the contents of
+her stewpan down the backs and shoulders of the two bailiffs, who had
+just reached the first floor landing.
+
+"There goes!" screamed out the delighted porteress. "Capital! Ha, ha,
+ha! there they are! two regular sops, in the pan! Well, I do enjoy
+this!"
+
+"What the devil is this?" exclaimed Malicorne, thoroughly soaked with
+the hot, greasy liquid. "I say, I wish you would mind what you are about
+up there, you old figure of fun!"
+
+"Alfred!" bawled Madame Pipelet, in a tone sharp and shrill enough to
+have split the tympanum of a deaf man; "Alfred, my old darling, have at
+'em! They wanted to behave ill to your 'Stasie (Anastasie)! The nasty
+fellows have been taking liberties,--quite violent! Knock them down with
+your broom! And call the oyster-woman, and the man at the wine-vaults,
+to help you! Get out, you! Get--get--get out! Cht, cht, cht! Thieves!
+thieves! robbers! Cht--b-r-r-r-r-r-r--hou, hou, hou! Knock them--knock
+them down! That's right, old dear! Pay them off! Break their bones!
+Serve them out! Boum, boum, boum!"
+
+And, by way of conclusion to this concatenation of discordant noises,
+accompanied by a constant succession of stamping and kicking of feet,
+Madame Pipelet, carried away by the excitement of the moment, flung her
+earthen stewpan to the bottom of the staircase, which, breaking into a
+thousand pieces at the very instant that the two bailiffs, terrified by
+the yells and noises from overhead, were precipitately descending the
+stairs with hasty strides, added not a little to their terror.
+
+"Ah, ah, ah!" cried Anastasie, bursting into loud fits of laughter. "Now
+be off with you,--I think you have had enough!" Then, crossing her arms,
+she stood, like a triumphant Amazon, rejoicing in the victory she had
+achieved.
+
+While Madame Pipelet was thus venting her rage upon the bailiffs, Morel
+had thrown himself, in heartfelt gratitude, at the feet of Rodolph.
+
+"Ah, sir," exclaimed he, when at last words came to his assistance, "you
+have saved a whole family! To whom do we owe this unhoped-for
+assistance?"
+
+"'To the God who watches over and protects all honest men,' as your
+immortal Beranger says."
+
+
+   NOTE.--The following are some curious particulars relative to
+   bodily restraint, as cited in the "Pauvre Jacques," a journal
+   published under the patronage of the "Society for the
+   Furtherance and Protection of Christianity:"
+
+           (Prison Committee.)   (_Comite des Prisons._)
+
+   "A protest and intimation of bodily restraint are generally
+   carried about by sheriffs' officers, and charged by law, the
+   first, 4_f._ 35_c._, the second, 4_f._ 70_c._; for these,
+   however, the officers usually demand, for the former, 10_f._
+   40_c._, for the second, 16_f._ 40_c._; thus illegally claiming
+   from the unfortunate victims of law 26_f._ 80_c._, for that
+   which is fixed by that very law at 9_f._ 50_c._
+
+   "For an arrest, the legal charge is, including stamp and
+   registering, 3_f._ 50_c._; coach-hire, 5_f._; for arrest and
+   entry in the prison books, 60_f._ 25_c._; office dues, 8_f._
+   Total, 76_f._ 75_c._ A bill of the usual scale ordinarily
+   charged by sheriffs' officers, now lying before us, shows that
+   these allowances by law are magnified by the extortion of the
+   officers into a sum of about 240_f._, instead of the 76_f._ they
+   are alone entitled to claim."
+
+   The same journal says: "Sheriffs' officer ---- has been to our
+   office, requesting us to correct an article which appeared in
+   one of our numbers, headed, 'A woman hung.' 'I did not hang the
+   woman!' observed he, angrily. We did not assert that he did,
+   but, to prevent any further misapprehension, content ourselves
+   with reprinting the paragraph in question: 'A few days ago, a
+   sheriffs' officer, named ----, went to the Rue de la Lune, to
+   arrest a carpenter, who dwelt there. The man, perceiving him
+   from the street, rushed hastily into his house, exclaiming, "I
+   am a ruined man! The officers are here to arrest me!" His wife,
+   at these words, hastened to secure the door; while the carpenter
+   ran to a room on the top of the house, to conceal himself. The
+   officer, finding admittance refused, went and fetched a
+   magistrate and a blacksmith; the door was forced, and, on
+   proceeding up-stairs, the woman was found hanging in her own
+   bedchamber. The officer did not allow himself to be diverted
+   from the pursuit by the sight of the corpse; he continued his
+   search, and at length discovered the husband in his
+   hiding-place. "I arrest you!" cried the bailiff. "I have no
+   money!" replied the man. "Then you must go to prison." "Let me
+   at least bid my wife adieu!" "It is not worth while waiting for
+   that,--your wife is dead! She has hung herself!"' Now, M. ----
+   (adds the journal we have quoted), what have you to say to that?
+   You see we have merely copied your own statement upon oath, in
+   which you have detailed all these frightful circumstances with
+   horrible minuteness!"
+
+   The same journal also cites two or three hundred similar facts,
+   of which the following may serve as a specimen: "The expenses
+   upon a note of hand for 300_f._ have been run up by the
+   sheriffs' officers to 964_f._; the debtor, therefore, who is a
+   mere artisan, with a family of five children, has been detained
+   in prison for the last seven months!"
+
+   The author of this work had a double reason for borrowing thus
+   largely from the pages of the "Pauvre Jacques." In the first
+   place, to show that the horrors of the last chapter are far
+   below reality in their painful details. And secondly, to prove
+   that, if only viewed in a philanthropic light, the allowing such
+   a state of things to go on (namely, the exorbitant and illegal
+   fees both demanded and exacted by certain public functionaries),
+   frequently acts as a preventive to the exercise of benevolence,
+   and paralyses the hand of charity. Thus, were a small capital of
+   1000_f._ collected among kind-hearted individuals, three or four
+   honest, though unfortunate, artisans might be released from a
+   prison and restored to their families, by employing the
+   above-named sum in paying the debts of such as were incarcerated
+   for amounts varying from 250 to 300_f._! But when the original
+   debt is increased threefold by the excessive and illegal
+   expenses, even the most charitable recede from the good work of
+   delivering a fellow creature, from the impression that
+   two-thirds of their well-intentioned bounty would only go into
+   the pockets of pampered sheriffs' officers and their satellites.
+   And yet no class of unfortunate beings stand more in need of aid
+   and charitable assistance than the unfortunate class we have
+   just been speaking of.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+RIGOLETTE.
+
+
+Louise, the daughter of the lapidary, was possessed of more than
+ordinary loveliness of countenance, a fine, tall, graceful person,
+uniting, by the strict regularity of her faultless features and elegance
+of her figure, the classic beauty of Juno with the lightness and
+elegance assigned to the statue of the hunting Diana. Spite of the
+injury her complexion had received from exposure to weather, and the
+redness of her well-shaped hands and arms, occasioned by household
+labour,--despite even the humble dress she wore, the whole appearance of
+Louise Morel was stamped with that indescribable air of grace and
+superiority Nature sometimes is pleased to bestow upon the lowly-born,
+in preference to the descendant of high lineage.
+
+We shall not attempt to paint the joy, the heartfelt gratitude of this
+family, so wondrously preserved from so severe a calamity; even the
+recent death of the little girl was forgotten during the first burst of
+happiness. Rodolph alone found leisure to remark the extreme paleness
+and utter abstraction of Louise, whose first ecstasy at finding her
+father free passed away, apparently plunged in a deep and painful
+reverie. Anxious to relieve the mind of Morel of any apprehensions for
+the future, and also to explain a liberality which might have raised
+suspicions as to the character he chose to assume, Rodolph drew the
+lapidary to the further end of the staircase, leaving to Rigolette the
+task of acquainting Louise with the death of her little sister, and said
+to him:
+
+"Did not a young lady come to visit you and your family on the morning
+of the day before yesterday?"
+
+"Yes, and appeared much grieved to see the distress we were in."
+
+"Then you must thank her,--not me."
+
+"Can it be possible, sir? That young lady--"
+
+"Is your benefactress. I frequently wait upon her from our warehouse;
+when I hired an apartment here, I learned from the porteress all the
+particulars of your case, and the painful situation you were placed in;
+relying on this lady's well-known kindness and benevolence, I hastened
+to acquaint her with all I had heard respecting you; and, the day before
+yesterday, she came herself, in order to be fully aware of the extent of
+your misery. The distress she witnessed deeply affected her; but as it
+might have been brought about by misconduct, she desired me to take upon
+myself the task of inquiring into every circumstance relative to your
+past and present condition with as little delay as possible, being
+desirous of regulating her benevolent aid by the good or bad accounts
+she might receive of your honesty and good conduct."
+
+"Kind, excellent lady! Well might I say--"
+
+"As you observed just now to Madeleine, 'If the rich did but know!'--was
+not that it?"
+
+"Is it possible that you are acquainted with the name of my wife? Who
+could have told you that?"
+
+"My worthy friend," said Rodolph, interrupting Morel, "I have been
+concealed in the little garret adjoining your attic since six o'clock
+this morning."
+
+"Have you, indeed, sir?"
+
+"Yes, my honest fellow, I have, and from my hiding-place heard all that
+passed among you."
+
+"Oh, sir! but why did you do so?"
+
+"I could not have employed more satisfactory means of getting at your
+real character and sentiments; and I was desirous of seeing and hearing
+all you did or said without your being aware of my presence. The porter
+had made me acquainted with this small retreat, which he offered to me
+for a wood-closet. This morning, I asked his permission to visit it, and
+remained there more than an hour, during which time I had ample proof
+that a more upright, noble mind did not exist, and that the courageous
+resignation with which you bore your heavy trials was above all praise."
+
+"Nay, indeed, sir, I do not merit such words as these. I was born
+honest, I hope, and it comes natural to me to act as I have done."
+
+"I am quite sure of that; therefore I do not laud your conduct, I
+appreciate it. Just as I was about to quit my hiding-place, to relieve
+you of the presence of the bailiffs, I heard the voice of your daughter,
+and I meant to have allowed her the happiness of saving you. Unhappily,
+the rapacity of the men deprived poor Louise of the full completion of
+her pious task. I then made my appearance. Fortunately, I yesterday
+received several sums that were due to me, so that I was enabled to
+advance the money for your benefactress, and to pay off your unfortunate
+debt. But your distress has been so great, so unmerited, and so nobly
+sustained, that the well-deserved interest you have excited shall not
+stop here; and I take upon myself, in the name of your preserving angel,
+to promise you henceforward calmness, peace, and happiness, for yourself
+and family."
+
+"Can it be possible? But, at least, sir, let me beseech you to tell me
+the name of this angel of goodness,--this heavenly preserver,--that it
+may dwell in our hearts and on our lips! By what name shall we bless her
+in our prayers?"
+
+"Think of her and speak of her as the angel she is. Ah, you were right
+in saying just now that both rich and poor had their sorrows!"
+
+"And is this dear lady, then, unhappy?"
+
+"Who is free from care and suffering in this world of trial? But I see
+no cause for concealing from you the name of your protectress. The lady,
+then, is named--"
+
+Remembering that Madame Pipelet was aware of Madame d'Harville's having,
+at her first coming to the house, inquired for the commandant, and
+fearing her indiscreet mention of the circumstance, Rodolph resumed,
+after a short pause:
+
+"I will venture to tell you this lady's name, upon one condition--"
+
+"Pray go on, sir."
+
+"That you never mention it again to any one,--mind, I say to any person
+whatever."
+
+"I solemnly promise you never to let it pass my lips; but may I not hope
+to be permitted to thank this friend of the unfortunate?"
+
+"I will let Madame d'Harville know your wish; but I scarcely think she
+will consent to it."
+
+"Then this generous lady is called--"
+
+"The Marquise d'Harville."
+
+"Never will that name be forgotten by me! Henceforward it will be to me
+as that of my patron saint,--the object of my grateful worship! Oh, when
+I remember that, thanks to her, my wife, children,--all, are
+saved!--saved--no, no, not all,--my little Adele has gone from us! We
+shall see her sweet face no more; but still, I know we must have parted
+with her sooner or later; the dear child's doom was long since decreed!"
+
+Here the poor lapidary wiped away the tears which filled his eyes at the
+recollection of his lost darling.
+
+"As for the last duties that have now to be performed for your poor
+child," said Rodolph, "if you will be guided by me, this is how we will
+arrange it. I have not yet begun to occupy my chamber; it is large,
+airy, and convenient. There is already one bed in it; and I will give
+orders to add all that may be requisite for the accommodation of
+yourself and family, until Madame d'Harville is enabled to find an
+eligible abode for you. The remains of your little daughter can then be
+left in your attic, where, until the period of interment, they can be
+properly watched and guarded by a priest with all requisite attention. I
+will request M. Pipelet to take upon himself every necessary arrangement
+for the mournful office of laying the poor babe in its peaceful grave."
+
+"Nay, sir,--but, indeed, I cannot allow you to be turned out of your
+apartment! Now that we are so happily freed from our misery, and that I
+have no longer the dread of being dragged to prison, our poor garret
+will seem to me like a palace,--more especially if my Louise remains to
+watch over the family as she used to do."
+
+"Your daughter shall never again quit you. You said, awhile ago, that
+the first desire of your heart was to have Louise always with you. Well
+then, as a reward for your past sufferings, I promise you she shall
+never leave you more."
+
+"Oh, sir, this is too much; it cannot be reality! It seems as though I
+were dreaming some happy dream. I fear I have never been as religious as
+I ought. I have, in fact, known no other religion than that of honour.
+But such a reverse, such a change from wretchedness to joy, would make
+even an atheist believe, if not in priests, at least in a gracious,
+interposing, and preserving Providence."
+
+"And if," said Rodolph, sadly, "a father's sorrow for the loss of his
+child can be assuaged by promises of rewards or recompense, I would say
+that the heavenly hand which takes one child from you gives you back the
+other."
+
+"True,--most true! And henceforward our dear Louise will be with us to
+help us to forget our poor Adele."
+
+"Then you will accept the offer of my chamber, will you not? Or else how
+shall we be able to arrange for the mournful duties to the poor infant?
+Think of your wife, whose head is already in so weak a state. It will
+never do to allow her to remain with so afflicting a spectacle
+constantly before her eyes."
+
+"What goodness," exclaimed the lapidary, "thus to remember all,--to
+think of all! Oh, you are indeed a friend! May Heaven bless and
+recompense you!"
+
+"Come, you must reserve your thanks for the excellent lady you term your
+protecting angel. 'Tis her goodness inspires me with a desire to imitate
+her benevolence and charity. I feel assured I am but speaking as she
+would speak, were she here, and that all I do she will fully approve. So
+now, then, it is arranged you will occupy my room. But, just tell me,
+this Jacques Ferrand--"
+
+The forehead of Morel became clouded over at the mention of this name.
+
+"I suppose," continued Rodolph, "there is no doubt as to his being the
+same Jacques Ferrand who practises as a notary in the Rue du Sentier?"
+
+"None whatever, sir," answered Morel; "but do you know him?" Then,
+assailed afresh by his fears for Louise, the lapidary continued: "Since
+you overheard all our conversation, tell me, sir,--tell me, do you not
+think I have just cause to hate this man, as I do? For who knows but my
+daughter--my Louise--"
+
+The unhappy artisan could not proceed; he groaned with anguish, and
+concealed his face with his hands.
+
+Rodolph easily divined the nature of his apprehensions.
+
+"The very step taken by the notary ought to reassure your mind," said
+he, "as, there can be no doubt, he was instigated by revenge for your
+daughter's rejection of his improper advances to proceed to the hostile
+measures adopted. However, I have every reason to believe he is a very
+bad and dangerous man; and if my suspicions respecting him are
+realised," said Rodolph, after a few moments' silence, "then rely on
+Providence to punish him. If the just vengeance of the Almighty seems
+occasionally to slumber, it awakens, sooner or later."
+
+"He is both rich and hypocritical!" cried the lapidary.
+
+"At the moment of your deepest despair, a guardian angel appeared to
+save you from ruin; so, at the moment when least expected, will an
+inexorable Avenger call upon the notary to atone for his past crimes, if
+he be guilty."
+
+At this moment Rigolette came out of the miserable garret belonging to
+Morel; the kind-hearted girl had evidently been shedding tears, and was
+trying to dry her eyes before she descended the stairs. Directly Rodolph
+perceived her, he exclaimed:
+
+"Tell me, my good neighbour, will it not be much better for M. Morel and
+his family to occupy my chamber while they are waiting till his
+benefactress, whose agent I am, shall have found a comfortable residence
+for him?"
+
+Rigolette surveyed Rodolph with an air of unfeigned surprise.
+
+"Really," cried she, at length, "are you in earnest in making so kind
+and considerate an offer?"
+
+"Quite so, on one condition, which depends on yourself."
+
+"Oh, all that is in my power!"
+
+"You see, I had some rather difficult accounts to arrange for my
+employer, which are wanted as early as possible,--indeed, I expect they
+will be sent for almost directly; my papers are in my room. Now would
+you be neighbourly enough to let me bring my work into your apartment,
+and just spare a little corner of your table? I should not disturb your
+work the least in the world, and then the whole of the Morel family, by
+the assistance of Madame Pipelet and her husband, may be at once
+established in my apartment."
+
+"Certainly I will, and with great pleasure; neighbours should always be
+ready to help and oblige each other. I am sure, after all you have done
+for poor M. Morel, you have set a good example; so I shall be very glad
+to give you all the assistance in my power, monsieur."
+
+"No, no,--don't call me monsieur! say 'my dear friend,' or 'neighbour,'
+whichever you prefer; unless you lay aside all ceremony, I shall not
+have courage to intrude myself and papers into your room," said Rodolph,
+smiling.
+
+"Well, pray don't let that be any hindrance; then, if you like, I'll
+call you 'neighbour,' because, you know, you are so."
+
+"Father! father!" said one of Morel's little boys, coming out of the
+garret, "mother is calling for you! Make haste, father,--pray do!"
+
+The lapidary hastily followed the child back to his chamber.
+
+"Now, then, neighbour," said Rodolph to Rigolette, "you must do me one
+more service."
+
+"With all my heart, if it lies in my power to do so."
+
+"I feel quite sure you are a clever manager and housekeeper; now we must
+go to work at once to provide the Morels with comfortable clothing, and
+such matters as may be essential for their accommodation in my
+apartment, which at present merely contains my slender stock of
+bachelor's furniture, sent in yesterday. Beds, bedding, and a great
+quantity of requisites will be needed for so many persons; and I want
+you to assist me in procuring them all the comforts I wish them to have
+with as little delay as possible."
+
+Rigolette reflected a moment, and then replied:
+
+"You shall have all this before two hours have passed: good clothes,
+nicely made, warm and comfortable, good white linen for all the family,
+two small beds for the children, one for the grandmother, and, in fact,
+all that is required; but, I can tell you, all this will cost a great,
+great deal of money."
+
+"_Diable!_ and how much?"
+
+"Oh, at least--the very least, five or six hundred francs."
+
+"For everything?"
+
+"Yes; you see it is a great sum of money," said Rigolette, opening her
+eyes very wide and shaking her head.
+
+"But we could procure all this?"
+
+"Within two hours."
+
+"My little neighbour, you must be a fairy!"
+
+"Oh, no! it is easy enough. The Temple is but two steps from here, and
+you will get there everything you require."
+
+"The Temple?"
+
+"Yes, the Temple."
+
+"What place is that?"
+
+"What, neighbour, don't you know the Temple?"
+
+"No, neighbour."
+
+"Yet it is the place where such persons as you and I fit themselves out
+in furniture and clothes, when they are economical. It is much cheaper
+than any other place, and the things are also good."
+
+"Really!"
+
+"I think so. Well, now, I suppose--how much did you pay for your
+greatcoat?"
+
+"I cannot say precisely."
+
+"What, neighbour! not know how much you gave for your greatcoat?"
+
+"I will tell you, in confidence, neighbour," said Rodolph, smiling,
+"that I owe for it; so, you see, I cannot exactly say."
+
+"Oh, neighbour, neighbour, you do not appear to me to be very orderly in
+your habits!"
+
+"Alas, neighbour, I fear not!"
+
+"I must cure you of that, if you desire that we should continue friends;
+and I see already that we shall be, for you seem so kind! You will not
+be sorry to have me for a neighbour, I can see. You will assist me and I
+shall assist you,--we are neighbours, and that's why. I shall look after
+your linen; you will give me your help in cleaning my room. I am up very
+early in the morning, and will call you, that you may not be late in
+going to your work; I will knock against the wainscot until you say to
+me, 'Good morning, neighbour!'"
+
+"That's agreed; you shall awaken me, you shall take charge of my linen,
+and I will clean out your room."
+
+"Certainly. And, when you have anything to buy, you must go to the
+Temple; for see now, for example, your greatcoat must have cost you
+eighty francs, I have no doubt; well, you might have bought one just as
+good at the Temple for thirty francs."
+
+"Really, that is marvellous! And so you think that for four or five
+hundred francs these poor Morels--"
+
+"Will be completely set up, and very comfortable for a long while."
+
+"Neighbour, an idea comes across me."
+
+"Well, what is this idea?"
+
+"Do you understand all about household affairs?"
+
+"Yes; I should think so," said Rigolette, with a slight affectation of
+manner.
+
+"Take my arm, then, and let us go to the Temple and buy all these things
+for the Morels; won't that be a good way?"
+
+"Oh, how capital! Poor souls! But, then, the money?"
+
+"I have it."
+
+"What, five hundred francs?"
+
+"The benefactor of the Morels has given me _carte blanche_; and she
+will spare nothing to see these poor people restored to comfort. Is
+there any place where we can buy better supplies than at the Temple?"
+
+"Certainly not; you will not find better things anywhere; and then there
+is everything, and all ready, there; little frocks for children, and
+gowns for the mother."
+
+"Well, then, neighbour, let us go at once to the Temple:"
+
+"Ah, _mon Dieu_! but--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Nothing; only, you see, my time is everything to me, and I am already a
+little behindhand, through coming here to watch over poor Madame Morel;
+and you must know that an hour in one way, and an hour in another, that
+by little and little makes whole days; well, a day is thirty sous, and,
+whether we gain something or nothing, we must live; but bah! never mind.
+I will make up for that at night, and then, d'ye see, parties of
+pleasure are very rare, and I call this one. It will seem to me that I
+am rich, rich, rich, and that it is with my own money that I shall buy
+all these things for the Morels. So come along, neighbour, I will throw
+on my shawl and cap, and then I am ready."
+
+"Suppose, whilst you are doing this, I bring my papers to your
+apartment?"
+
+"Willingly; and then you will see my room," said Rigolette, with pride,
+"for it is all tidy, which will convince you how early I am in the
+morning; and that, if you are idle and a sluggard, so much the worse for
+you, for I shall be a troublesome neighbour."
+
+So saying, light as a bird, Rigolette descended the staircase, followed
+by Rodolph, who went into his own room to brush off the dust which had
+settled on him in M. Pipelet's garret. We will hereafter disclose how it
+was that Rodolph was not informed of the carrying off of Fleur-de-Marie
+from the farm at Bouqueval, and why he had not visited the Morels the
+day after his conversation with Madame d'Harville.
+
+Rodolph, furnished, by way of saving appearances, with a thick roll of
+papers, entered Rigolette's chamber.
+
+Rigolette was nearly the same age as Goualeuse, her old prison
+acquaintance. There was between these two young girls the same
+difference that there is between laughter and tears; between joyous
+light-heartedness and melancholy dejection; between the wildest
+thoughtlessness and a dark and constant reflection on the future;
+between a delicate, refined, elevated, poetic nature, exquisitely
+sensitive, and incurably wounded by remorse, and a gay, lively, happy,
+good, and compassionate nature. Rigolette had no sorrows but those
+derived from the woes of others, and with these she sympathised with all
+her might, devoting herself, body and soul, to any suffering fellow
+creature; but, her back turned on them, to use a common expression, she
+thought no more about them. She often checked her bursts of laughter by
+a flood of tears, and then checked her tears by renewing her laughter.
+Like a real Parisian, Rigolette preferred excitement to calm, and motion
+to repose; the loud and echoing harmony of the orchestra at the fete of
+the Chartreuse or the Colysee to the soft murmurs of the breeze, waters,
+and leaves; the bustling disturbance of the thoroughfares of Paris to
+the silent solitude of the fields; the brilliancy of fireworks, the
+flaring of the grand finale, the uproar of the maroons and Roman
+candles, to the serenity of a lovely night,--starlight, clear, and
+still. Alas, yes! the dear, good little girl actually preferred the
+pavement of the streets of the capital to the fresh moss of the shaded
+paths, perfumed with violets; the dust of the Boulevards to the waving
+of the ears of corn, mingled with the scarlet of the wild poppies and
+the azure of the bluebells.
+
+Rigolette only left her chamber on Sundays, and each morning to provide
+her prescribed allowance of chickweed, bread, milk, and millet, for
+herself and her two birds, as Madame Pipelet observed; but she lived in
+Paris for Paris, and would have been wretched to have resided anywhere
+but in the capital.
+
+A few words as to the personal appearance of the grisette, and we will
+then introduce Rodolph into the chamber of his neighbour.
+
+Rigolette was scarcely eighteen years of age, of middle height, rather
+small than large, but so gracefully formed, so admirably proportioned,
+so delightfully filled out, so entirely in accordance with her step,
+which was light and easy, that she seemed perfect of her kind. The
+movement of her finely formed feet, always encased in well-made boots of
+black cloth, with a rather thick sole, reminded you of the quick,
+pretty, and cautious tread of the quail or wagtail. She did not seem to
+walk, but to pass over the pavement as if she were gliding over the
+surface. This step, so peculiar to grisettes, at once nimble,
+attractive, and as if somewhat alarmed, may doubtless be attributed to
+three causes: their desire to be thought pretty, their fear of being
+mistaken for what they are not, and to the desire they always have not
+to lose a minute in their peregrinations.
+
+Rodolph had not seen Rigolette but by the dim light of Morel's garret,
+or on the landing-place, equally obscure, and he was therefore really
+struck by the bright and fresh countenance of the young girl when he
+softly entered her apartment, which was lighted up by two large windows.
+He remained motionless for a moment, in admiration of the striking
+picture before his eyes. Standing in front of a glass placed over her
+mantelpiece, Rigolette was tying under her chin the ribands of a small
+cap of bordered tulle, ornamented with a light trimming of
+cherry-coloured riband. The cap, which fitted tightly, was placed at the
+back of her head, and thus revealed two large and thick bandeaux of
+glossy hair, shining like jet, and falling very low in front. Her
+eyebrows, fine and well defined, seemed as if traced in ink, and curved
+above two large black, piercing, and intelligent eyes; her firm and
+velvety cheeks were suffused with the rosy hue of health, fresh to the
+eye, fresh to the touch, like a ripe peach covered with the dew of dawn;
+her small, upturned, attractive, and saucy nose, would have been a
+fortune to any Lisette or Marton; her mouth, which was rather large, had
+rosy and moist lips, small, white, close, and pearly teeth, and was
+laughter-loving and sportive; three charming dimples, which gave a
+characteristic grace to her features, were placed, two in her cheeks,
+and the other in her chin, close to a beauty-spot, a small ebony speck,
+which was most killingly situated at the corner of her mouth. Between a
+worked collar, which fell very low, and the border of the little cap,
+gathered in by a cherry-coloured riband, was seen a forest of beautiful
+hair, so accurately twisted and turned up that their roots were seen as
+clearly and as black as if they had been painted on the ivory of that
+lovely neck. A plum-coloured merino gown, with a plain back and close
+sleeves, made skilfully by Rigolette, covered a figure so small and
+slender that the young girl never wore a corset,--for economy's sake. An
+ease and unusual freedom in the smallest action of the shoulders and
+body, which resembled the facile undulations of a cat's motions, evinced
+this fact. Imagine a gown fitting tightly to a form rounded and polished
+as marble, and we must agree that Rigolette could easily dispense with
+this accessory to the toilet of which we have spoken. The tie of a small
+apron of dark green levantine formed a girdle around a waist which might
+have been spanned by the ten fingers.
+
+Believing herself to be alone (for Rodolph still remained at the door,
+motionless and unperceived), the grisette, having smoothed down her
+bandeaux with her small hand, white and delicately clean, put her small
+foot on a chair and stooped to tie the lace of her boot. This attitude
+developed to Rodolph a portion of a cotton stocking, white as snow, and
+a well-formed ankle and leg.
+
+After the detail we have given of this toilet, we may guess that
+Rigolette had selected her prettiest cap and best apron to do honour to
+her neighbour on their excursion to the Temple. She found the pretended
+tradesman's clerk very much to her taste; his face, at once kind, bold,
+and animated, pleased her greatly; and then he had been so kind to the
+Morels, by giving up his room to them; so that, thanks to this proof of
+goodness, and, perhaps, also to his good looks, Rodolph had unwittingly
+advanced into the confidence of the grisette with giant strides. She,
+according to her ideas, founded on the compelled intimacy and reciprocal
+obligation which neighbourhood invites, thought herself very fortunate
+in having such a neighbour as Rodolph to succeed to the travelling
+clerk, Cabrion, and Francois Germain; for she was beginning to find that
+the next room had remained very long empty, and was afraid that she
+should never again see it occupied in an agreeable manner.
+
+Rodolph took advantage of his invisibility to cast a curious eye around
+him, and he found the apartment even beyond the praises which Madame
+Pipelet had bestowed on the extreme cleanliness of the humble home of
+Rigolette. Nothing could be more lively or better arranged than this
+apartment. A gray paper, with green garlands, covered the walls; the
+floor, painted of a red colour, shone like a looking-glass; a small
+earthenware stone was placed in the chimney, where was piled up, very
+symmetrically, a small store of wood, cut so short, so thin, that,
+without exaggeration, each piece might have been compared to a very
+large match. On the stone mantelpiece, painted gray marble, there were,
+for ornaments, two pots of common flowers, covered in with green moss; a
+small case of boxwood contained a silver watch instead of a pendule. On
+one side was a brass candlestick, shining like gold, and having in it a
+small piece of wax-light; and, on the other side, no less
+resplendently, one of those lamps formed by a cylinder and a brass
+reflector, supported by a bar of steel, and having a base of lead. A
+tolerably large square glass, in a black wood frame, was over the
+mantelpiece. Curtains of gray and green Persian cloth, with a
+woollen-fringed border, cut and worked by Rigolette, and hung in light
+rings of black iron, decorated the windows; and the bed was covered with
+a counterpane of the same make and material. Two closets, with glass
+doors, and painted white, were in each side of the recess, enclosing, no
+doubt, household utensils,--the portable stove, the fountain, brooms,
+etc.; for none of these things spoiled the neat appearance of the
+chamber. A chest of drawers of well veined and shining walnut-tree; four
+chairs of the same wood; a large table for ironing and working, covered
+with one of those green woollen coverings which we sometimes see in a
+peasant's cottage; a straw armchair, with a stool to match, the constant
+seat of the workwoman,--such was the unpretending furniture. There was,
+too, in one of the window-seats, a cage with two canary birds, the
+faithful companions of Rigolette. By one of those notable ideas which
+occur to the poor, this cage was placed in the middle of a large wooden
+chest, about a foot deep, placed on a table. This chest, which Rigolette
+called her bird's garden, was filled with mould, covered with moss
+during the winter, and in spring the young girl sowed grass seeds, and
+planted flowers there. Rodolph examined the place with interest, and
+entered fully into the cheerful disposition of the grisette. He pictured
+to himself this solitude, enlivened by the song of the birds and of
+Rigolette herself. In summer, no doubt, she worked at the open window,
+half veiled by a verdant curtain of sweet peas, roses, nasturtiums, and
+blue and white convolvulus. In winter she warmed herself near her small
+stove, by the soft light of her lamp.
+
+Rodolph was thus reflecting, when, looking mechanically at the door, he
+saw there a large bolt,--a bolt which would not have been out of place
+on the door of a prison. This bolt made him reflect. It might have two
+meanings, two very distinct uses: to close the door on the lover within;
+to close the door on the lover without. Rodolph was aroused from his
+reflections by Rigolette, who, turning her head, saw him, and, without
+changing her attitude, said to him:
+
+"What, neighbour, are you there?" Then the well-formed ankle instantly
+disappeared beneath the ample skirt of the plum-coloured gown, and
+Rigolette added, "Ah, Mr. Cunning!"
+
+"I was here admiring in silence."
+
+"Admiring what, neighbour?"
+
+"This pretty little room; for, neighbour, you are lodged like a queen."
+
+"Why, you must know that is my enjoyment. I never go out, and so I can
+do no less than make my home comfortable."
+
+"But really I never saw anything half so nice. What pretty curtains! and
+the drawers as handsome as mahogany! You must have spent a great deal of
+money here."
+
+"Oh, don't mention it! I had, of my own, four hundred and twenty-five
+francs when I left the prison, and almost all has been spent."
+
+"When you left the prison!--you?"
+
+"Yes, but it is a very long story. Of course, you do not suppose that I
+was in prison for anything wrong?"
+
+"Of course not; but how was it?"
+
+"After the cholera, I was quite alone in the world. I was then, I think,
+ten years of age."
+
+"But who had taken care of you till then?"
+
+"Ah, some excellent people! But they died of the cholera;" here
+Rigolette's large eyes became moistened. "They had sold the little they
+possessed to pay their small debts, and I remained without having any
+one who would take care of me. Not knowing what to do, I went to the
+guard-house, opposite to our house, and said to the sentinel: 'Sir, my
+relations are dead, and I do not know where to go to; what must I do?'
+Then the officer came, and he took me to the commissary, who put me in
+prison as a vagabond, and I did not go out until I was sixteen years
+old."
+
+"But your relations?"
+
+"I do not know who my father was, and I was six years old when I lost my
+mother, who had recovered me from the Enfants Trouves (Foundling
+Hospital), where she had been compelled at first to place me. The kind
+people of whom I spoke to you lived in our house; they had no children,
+and, seeing me an orphan, they took care of me."
+
+"And what were they? What was their business or pursuit?"
+
+"Papa Cretu, so I always called him, was a house-painter, and his wife
+worked at her needle."
+
+"Then they were pretty well off?"
+
+"Oh, like other people in their station, though they were not married;
+but they called each other husband and wife. They had their ups and
+downs; to-day plenty, if there was work to be had; to-morrow short
+commons, if there was none; but that did not prevent the couple from
+being content and always cheerful;" at this remembrance Rigolette's face
+brightened up. "There was not such a household in the quarter,--always
+merry, always singing, and, with it all, as good as they could be. What
+they had any one was welcome to share. Mamma Cretu was a plump body,
+about thirty years old, as neat as a penny, as active as an eel, as
+merry as a lark. Her husband was a regular good-tempered fellow, with a
+large nose, a wide mouth, and always a paper cap on his head, and such a
+funny face,--oh, so funny,--you could not look at him without laughing.
+When he came home after work, he did nothing but sing, and make faces,
+and gambol like a child. He used to dance me on his knees, and play
+with me like a child of my own age; and his wife spoiled me, as if I had
+been a blessing to her. They both required only one thing from me, and
+that was to be in a good humour; and in that I never thwarted them,
+thank Heaven. So they called me Rigolette,[7] and the name has stuck to
+me. As to mirth, they set me the example, for I never saw them
+sorrowful. If ever there was a word, it was the wife who said to her
+husband, 'Cretu, you silly fellow, do be quiet, you make me laugh too
+much.' Then he said to her, 'Hold your foolish tongue, Ramonette,'--I
+don't know why he called her Ramonette,--'do be still, you really make
+my sides ache, you are so funny.' And then I laughed to see them laugh,
+and in this way I was brought up, and in this way they formed my
+disposition; and I hope I have profited by it."
+
+  [7] The French verb _rigoler_ is "to be merry."--E. T.
+
+"Most assuredly you have, neighbour. So there never were any disputes
+between them?"
+
+"Never, oh, never! Sunday, Monday, and sometimes on Tuesday, they made
+holiday, or kept wedding-day, as they called it, and always took me with
+them. Papa Cretu was an excellent workman, and, when he chose to work,
+he could earn what he pleased, and so could his wife, too. If they had
+got enough to do for Sunday and Monday, and live on pretty comfortably,
+they were perfectly satisfied. If, after this, they were on short
+allowance for a time, they didn't mind it. I remember, when we had only
+bread and water, Papa Cretu took from his library--"
+
+"He had a library, then?"
+
+"Oh, he used to call a little box so, in which he put his collection of
+new songs; for he bought all the new ones, and knew them every one.
+When, then, there was nothing but bread in the house, he used to take an
+old cookery book from his library, and say to us, 'Well, now, let us
+see, what shall we eat to-day? This, or that?' And then he used to read
+out a long list of good things. Each of us chose a dish, and then Papa
+Cretu took an empty saucepan, and, with the funniest airs and gestures
+in the world, pretended to put into the saucepan all the ingredients
+requisite for making a capital stew; and then he used to pretend to pour
+it all out into a dish--also empty--which he placed on the table, with
+still the same drolleries, which almost split our sides. Then he took up
+his book again, and, whilst he was reading to us, for instance, the
+recipe of a good fricassee of chicken, which we had chosen, and which
+made our mouths water, we ate our bread, all laughing like so many mad
+people."
+
+"And, in this happy household, were there any debts to trouble them?"
+
+"None whatever. So long as the money lasted, they ate, drank, and made
+merry, and, when it was all gone, they lived upon 'make believe,' as
+before."
+
+"And did they never think of the future?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they thought of it, of course; but what is the future to such
+as we? Present and future are like Sunday and Monday; the one we spend
+gaily and happily outside the barriers, the other is got over in the
+faubourgs."
+
+"And why, since this couple seemed so well assorted, did they never
+marry?"
+
+"A friend of theirs once put that very question in my presence."
+
+"Well, and what did they say?"
+
+"'Oh,' said they, 'if ever we have any children, it may be all very well
+to marry, but as far as we are concerned, we do very well as we are. And
+why should we make an obligation of that which we now perform willingly?
+Besides, getting married costs money, and we have none to spare in
+unnecessary expenses.' But, my goodness," added Rigolette, "how I am
+running on. But, really, when once I begin to talk of these kind people,
+who were so good to me, I never know when to leave off. Here,
+neighbour, will you give me my shawl off the bed, and put it nicely over
+my shoulders, then pin it underneath the collar of my habit-shirt with
+this large pin, and then we will set off, for it will take us some time
+to select the different things you wish to buy for the poor Morels."
+
+Rodolph readily obeyed the directions of Rigolette. First he took from
+the bed a large plaid shawl, which he placed with all imaginable care on
+the well-formed shoulders of Rigolette.
+
+"That will do, neighbour. Now, lift up my collar, and press the shawl
+and dress together; then stick in the pin; but pray try not to prick me
+with it."
+
+The prince executed the orders given with zealous accuracy; then
+observed, smilingly, to the grisette:
+
+"Ah, Mlle. Rigolette, I should not like to be your _femme de chambre_;
+there is danger in it!"
+
+"Yes, I know," answered Rigolette gaily; "there is great danger for me
+of having a pin run in by your awkwardness. But now," added she, after
+they had left the room, and carefully locked the door after them, "take
+my key; it is so large, I always expect it will burst my pocket; it is
+as large as a pistol," and here the light-hearted girl laughed merrily
+at her own conceit.
+
+Rodolph accordingly "took charge" (that is the prescribed form of
+speech) of an enormous key, which might well have figured in one of
+those allegorical devices in which the vanquished are represented as
+humbly offering the keys of their lost cities to the conquerors.
+Although Rodolph believed himself too much changed by years to run any
+risk of being recognised by Polidori, he still deemed it prudent to draw
+up the collar of his paletot as he passed by the door of the apartments
+belonging to the quack, Bradamanti.
+
+"Neighbour," said Rigolette, "don't forget to tell M. Pipelet that you
+are about to send in some things which are to be carried at once up to
+your chamber."
+
+"You are right, my good friend; let us step into the porter's lodge for
+an instant."
+
+M. Pipelet, with his everlasting bell-shaped hat on his head, dressed,
+as usual, in the accustomed green coat, and seated before a table
+covered with scraps of leather and fragments of boots and shoes, was
+occupied in fixing a new sole on a boot, his whole look and manner
+impressed with the same deeply meditative air which characterised his
+usual proceedings. Anastasie was just then absent from the lodge.
+
+"Well, M. Pipelet," said Rigolette, "I hope you will be pleased to hear
+the good news. Thanks to my good neighbour here, the poor Morels have
+got out of trouble. La! when one thinks of that poor man being taken off
+to prison--oh, those bailiffs have no hearts!"
+
+"Nor manners either, mademoiselle," rejoined M. Pipelet, in an angry
+tone, wrathfully brandishing the boot then in progress of repair, and
+into which he had inserted his left hand and arm. "No! I have no
+hesitation in declaring, in the face of all mankind, that they are a set
+of mannerless scoundrels. Why, taking advantage of the darkness of our
+stairs, they actually carried their indecent violence so far as to lay
+their audacious fingers upon the waist of my wife. When I first heard
+the cries of her insulted modesty, I could not restrain myself, and,
+spite of all efforts to restrain myself, I yielded to the natural
+impetuosity of my disposition. Yes, I will frankly confess, my first
+impulse was to remain perfectly motionless."
+
+"But, I suppose, afterwards," said Rigolette, who had much ado to
+preserve a serious air, "afterwards, M. Pipelet, you pursued them, and
+bestowed the punishment they so well deserved?"
+
+"I'll tell you, mademoiselle," answered Pipelet, deliberately; "when
+these shameless ruffians passed before my lodge, my blood boiled, and I
+could not prevent myself from hastily covering my face, that I might not
+be shocked by the sight of these luxurious malefactors; but, afterwards,
+I ceased to be astonished; for well I knew I might expect some sight or
+sound to shock my senses; full well I was prepared for some direful
+misfortune ere the day had passed, for I dreamed last night of Cabrion."
+
+Rigolette smiled, while the heavy groans which broke from the oppressed
+mind of the porter were mingled with blows of his hammer, as he
+vigorously applied it to the sole of the boot he was mending.
+
+"You wisely chose the wisest part, my dear M. Pipelet, that of despising
+offences, and holding it beneath you to revenge them; but try to forget
+these ill-conducted bailiffs, and oblige me by doing me a great favour."
+
+"Man is born to help his fellow man," drawled out Pipelet, in a
+melancholy and sententious tone; "and he is still further called upon so
+to do when a good and worthy gentleman, moreover, a lodger in one's
+house, is concerned."
+
+"What I have to request of you is to carry up to my apartments for me
+several things I am about to send in, and which are for the Morels."
+
+"Make yourself easy upon that point, monsieur," replied Pipelet. "I will
+faithfully perform your wishes."
+
+"And afterwards," said Rodolph, mournfully, "you must obtain a priest to
+watch by a little girl the Morels have lost in the night. Go and give
+the requisite notification of the death, and bespeak a suitable
+funeral."
+
+"Make your mind easy, monsieur," replied Pipelet, more gravely even than
+before; "directly my wife returns, I will go to the mayor, the church,
+and the _traiteur's_: to the church, for the soul of the dead; to the
+_traiteur's_, for the body of the living," added M. Pipelet,
+philosophically and poetically. "Consider it done in both cases; my good
+sir, consider it done."
+
+At the entrance to the alley, Rodolph and Rigolette encountered
+Anastasie returning from market with a huge basket of provisions.
+
+"That's right! That's right!" cried the porteress, looking at the pair
+with a knowing and significant air; "there you go, arm in arm already.
+To be sure, look and love, love and look. Young people will be young
+people, no doubt on't. Me and Alfred was just the same. Whoever heard of
+a pretty girl without a beau? So, go along, my dears, and make
+yourselves happy while you can." Then, after gazing after them some
+minutes, the old woman disappeared in the depths of the alley, crying
+out, "Alfred, my old darling! Don't worry yourself; 'Stasie's coming to
+bring you something nice,--oh, so nice!"
+
+
+END OF VOLUME II.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+This e-text was prepared from numbered edition 505 of the 1000 printed.
+
+Minor punctuation and capitalization corrections have been made without
+comment.
+
+Minor typographical errors of single words, otherwise spelled correctly
+throughout the text have been made without comment.
+
+Word Variations appearing in the original text which have been retained:
+
+"box-wood" and "boxwood"
+"court-yard" and "courtyard"
+"dairy-maid" and "dairymaid"
+"incumber" and "encumber"
+"milk-woman" and "milkwoman"
+"out-building" and "outbuilding"
+"Saint-Remy" (16) and "Saint-Remy" (6)
+"stew-pan" and "stewpan"
+
+Words using the [oe] ligature, which have been herein represented as
+"oe": manoeuvre, <i>et coeteras</i>, <i>chef-d'oeuvre</i>
+
+Throughout the text, illustrations and their captions were placed on
+facing pages. For the purpose of this e-text these pages have been
+combined into one entry.
+
+Footnotes, originally at the bottom of a printed page, have been placed
+directly below the paragraph in which their anchor symbol appears.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 2 of 6, by
+Eugene Sue
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #33801 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33801)