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+Project Gutenberg's Sentimental Education Vol 1, by Gustave Flaubert
+
+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: Sentimental Education Vol 1
+
+Author: Gustave Flaubert
+
+Release Date: January 2, 2011 [EBook #34828]
+[Last updated: December 24, 2011]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION VOL 1 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
+
+OR, _THE HISTORY OF A YOUNG MAN_
+
+BY GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
+
+    _VOLUME I._
+
+    M. WALTER DUNNE
+    NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+    COPYRIGHT, 1904,
+    BY M. WALTER DUNNE
+    PUBLISHER
+
+
+[Illustration: She wore a wide straw hat with red ribbons, which
+fluttered in the wind behind her.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I. A PROMISING PUPIL
+
+CHAPTER II. DAMON AND PYTHIAS
+
+CHAPTER III. SENTIMENT AND PASSION
+
+CHAPTER IV. THE INEXPRESSIBLE SHE!
+
+CHAPTER V. "LOVE KNOWETH NO LAWS"
+
+CHAPTER VI. BLIGHTED HOPES
+
+CHAPTER VII. CHANGE OF FORTUNE
+
+CHAPTER VIII. FREDERICK ENTERTAINS
+
+CHAPTER IX. THE FRIEND OF THE FAMILY
+
+CHAPTER X. AT THE RACES
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+SHE WORE A WIDE STRAW HAT WITH RED RIBBONS, WHICH FLUTTERED IN THE WIND
+BEHIND HER
+
+"LAUGH, THEN! SHED NO MORE TEARS--BE HAPPY!"
+
+THEN SHE SEIZED HIM BY THE EARS AND KISSED HIM
+
+
+
+
+SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A Promising Pupil.
+
+
+On the 15th of September, 1840, about six o'clock in the morning, the
+_Ville de Montereau_, just on the point of starting, was sending forth
+great whirlwinds of smoke, in front of the Quai St. Bernard.
+
+People came rushing on board in breathless haste. The traffic was
+obstructed by casks, cables, and baskets of linen. The sailors answered
+nobody. People jostled one another. Between the two paddle-boxes was
+piled up a heap of parcels; and the uproar was drowned in the loud
+hissing of the steam, which, making its way through the plates of
+sheet-iron, enveloped everything in a white cloud, while the bell at the
+prow kept ringing continuously.
+
+At last, the vessel set out; and the two banks of the river, stocked
+with warehouses, timber-yards, and manufactories, opened out like two
+huge ribbons being unrolled.
+
+A young man of eighteen, with long hair, holding an album under his arm,
+remained near the helm without moving. Through the haze he surveyed
+steeples, buildings of which he did not know the names; then, with a
+parting glance, he took in the Ile St. Louis, the Cite, Notre Dame; and
+presently, as Paris disappeared from his view, he heaved a deep sigh.
+
+Frederick Moreau, having just taken his Bachelor's degree, was returning
+home to Nogent-sur-Seine, where he would have to lead a languishing
+existence for two months, before going back to begin his legal studies.
+His mother had sent him, with enough to cover his expenses, to Havre to
+see an uncle, from whom she had expectations of his receiving an
+inheritance. He had returned from that place only yesterday; and he
+indemnified himself for not having the opportunity of spending a little
+time in the capital by taking the longest possible route to reach his
+own part of the country.
+
+The hubbub had subsided. The passengers had all taken their places. Some
+of them stood warming themselves around the machinery, and the chimney
+spat forth with a slow, rhythmic rattle its plume of black smoke. Little
+drops of dew trickled over the copper plates; the deck quivered with the
+vibration from within; and the two paddle-wheels, rapidly turning round,
+lashed the water. The edges of the river were covered with sand. The
+vessel swept past rafts of wood which began to oscillate under the
+rippling of the waves, or a boat without sails in which a man sat
+fishing. Then the wandering haze cleared off; the sun appeared; the hill
+which ran along the course of the Seine to the right subsided by
+degrees, and another rose nearer on the opposite bank.
+
+It was crowned with trees, which surrounded low-built houses, covered
+with roofs in the Italian style. They had sloping gardens divided by
+fresh walls, iron railings, grass-plots, hot-houses, and vases of
+geraniums, laid out regularly on the terraces where one could lean
+forward on one's elbow. More than one spectator longed, on beholding
+those attractive residences which looked so peaceful, to be the owner of
+one of them, and to dwell there till the end of his days with a good
+billiard-table, a sailing-boat, and a woman or some other object to
+dream about. The agreeable novelty of a journey by water made such
+outbursts natural. Already the wags on board were beginning their jokes.
+Many began to sing. Gaiety prevailed, and glasses of brandy were poured
+out.
+
+Frederick was thinking about the apartment which he would occupy over
+there, on the plan of a drama, on subjects for pictures, on future
+passions. He found that the happiness merited by the excellence of his
+soul was slow in arriving. He declaimed some melancholy verses. He
+walked with rapid step along the deck. He went on till he reached the
+end at which the bell was; and, in the centre of a group of passengers
+and sailors, he saw a gentleman talking soft nothings to a
+country-woman, while fingering the gold cross which she wore over her
+breast. He was a jovial blade of forty with frizzled hair. His robust
+form was encased in a jacket of black velvet, two emeralds sparkled in
+his cambric shirt, and his wide, white trousers fell over odd-looking
+red boots of Russian leather set off with blue designs.
+
+The presence of Frederick did not discompose him. He turned round and
+glanced several times at the young man with winks of enquiry. He next
+offered cigars to all who were standing around him. But getting tired,
+no doubt, of their society, he moved away from them and took a seat
+further up. Frederick followed him.
+
+The conversation, at first, turned on the various kinds of tobacco, then
+quite naturally it glided into a discussion about women. The gentleman
+in the red boots gave the young man advice; he put forward theories,
+related anecdotes, referred to himself by way of illustration, and he
+gave utterance to all these things in a paternal tone, with the
+ingenuousness of entertaining depravity.
+
+He was republican in his opinions. He had travelled; he was familiar
+with the inner life of theatres, restaurants, and newspapers, and knew
+all the theatrical celebrities, whom he called by their Christian names.
+Frederick told him confidentially about his projects; and the elder man
+took an encouraging view of them.
+
+But he stopped talking to take a look at the funnel, then he went
+mumbling rapidly through a long calculation in order to ascertain "how
+much each stroke of the piston at so many times per minute would come
+to," etc., and having found the number, he spoke about the scenery,
+which he admired immensely. Then he gave expression to his delight at
+having got away from business.
+
+Frederick regarded him with a certain amount of respect, and politely
+manifested a strong desire to know his name. The stranger, without a
+moment's hesitation, replied:
+
+"Jacques Arnoux, proprietor of _L'Art Industriel_, Boulevard
+Montmartre."
+
+A man-servant in a gold-laced cap came up and said:
+
+"Would Monsieur have the kindness to go below? Mademoiselle is crying."
+
+_L'Art Industriel_ was a hybrid establishment, wherein the functions of
+an art-journal and a picture-shop were combined. Frederick had seen this
+title several times in the bookseller's window in his native place on
+big prospectuses, on which the name of Jacques Arnoux displayed itself
+magisterially.
+
+The sun's rays fell perpendicularly, shedding a glittering light on the
+iron hoops around the masts, the plates of the barricades, and the
+surface of the water, which, at the prow, was cut into two furrows that
+spread out as far as the borders of the meadows. At each winding of the
+river, a screen of pale poplars presented itself with the utmost
+uniformity. The surrounding country at this point had an empty look. In
+the sky there were little white clouds which remained motionless, and
+the sense of weariness, which vaguely diffused itself over everything,
+seemed to retard the progress of the steamboat and to add to the
+insignificant appearance of the passengers. Putting aside a few persons
+of good position who were travelling first class, they were artisans or
+shopmen with their wives and children. As it was customary at that time
+to wear old clothes when travelling, they nearly all had their heads
+covered with shabby Greek caps or discoloured hats, thin black coats
+that had become quite threadbare from constant rubbing against
+writing-desks, or frock-coats with the casings of their buttons loose
+from continual service in the shop. Here and there some roll-collar
+waistcoat afforded a glimpse of a calico shirt stained with coffee.
+Pinchbeck pins were stuck into cravats that were all torn. List shoes
+were kept up by stitched straps. Two or three roughs who held in their
+hands bamboo canes with leathern loops, kept looking askance at their
+fellow-passengers; and fathers of families opened their eyes wide while
+making enquiries. People chatted either standing up or squatting over
+their luggage; some went to sleep in various corners of the vessel;
+several occupied themselves with eating. The deck was soiled with walnut
+shells, butt-ends of cigars, peelings of pears, and the droppings of
+pork-butchers' meat, which had been carried wrapped up in paper. Three
+cabinet-makers in blouses took their stand in front of the bottle case;
+a harp-player in rags was resting with his elbows on his instrument. At
+intervals could be heard the sound of falling coals in the furnace, a
+shout, or a laugh; and the captain kept walking on the bridge from one
+paddle-box to the other without stopping for a moment.
+
+Frederick, to get back to his place, pushed forward the grating leading
+into the part of the vessel reserved for first-class passengers, and in
+so doing disturbed two sportsmen with their dogs.
+
+What he then saw was like an apparition. She was seated in the middle of
+a bench all alone, or, at any rate, he could see no one, dazzled as he
+was by her eyes. At the moment when he was passing, she raised her head;
+his shoulders bent involuntarily; and, when he had seated himself, some
+distance away, on the same side, he glanced towards her.
+
+She wore a wide straw hat with red ribbons which fluttered in the wind
+behind her. Her black tresses, twining around the edges of her large
+brows, descended very low, and seemed amorously to press the oval of her
+face. Her robe of light muslin spotted with green spread out in numerous
+folds. She was in the act of embroidering something; and her straight
+nose, her chin, her entire person was cut out on the background of the
+luminous air and the blue sky.
+
+As she remained in the same attitude, he took several turns to the right
+and to the left to hide from her his change of position; then he placed
+himself close to her parasol which lay against the bench, and pretended
+to be looking at a sloop on the river.
+
+Never before had he seen more lustrous dark skin, a more seductive
+figure, or more delicately shaped fingers than those through which the
+sunlight gleamed. He stared with amazement at her work-basket, as if it
+were something extraordinary. What was her name, her place of residence,
+her life, her past? He longed to become familiar with the furniture of
+her apartment, all the dresses that she had worn, the people whom she
+visited; and the desire of physical possession yielded to a deeper
+yearning, a painful curiosity that knew no bounds.
+
+A negress, wearing a silk handkerchief tied round her head, made her
+appearance, holding by the hand a little girl already tall for her age.
+The child, whose eyes were swimming with tears, had just awakened. The
+lady took the little one on her knees. "Mademoiselle was not good,
+though she would soon be seven; her mother would not love her any more.
+She was too often pardoned for being naughty." And Frederick heard those
+things with delight, as if he had made a discovery, an acquisition.
+
+He assumed that she must be of Andalusian descent, perhaps a Creole: had
+she brought this negress across with her from the West Indian Islands?
+
+Meanwhile his attention was directed to a long shawl with violet stripes
+thrown behind her back over the copper support of the bench. She must
+have, many a time, wrapped it around her waist, as the vessel sped
+through the midst of the waves; drawn it over her feet, gone to sleep in
+it!
+
+Frederick suddenly noticed that with the sweep of its fringes it was
+slipping off, and it was on the point of falling into the water when,
+with a bound, he secured it. She said to him:
+
+"Thanks, Monsieur."
+
+Their eyes met.
+
+"Are you ready, my dear?" cried my lord Arnoux, presenting himself at
+the hood of the companion-ladder.
+
+Mademoiselle Marthe ran over to him, and, clinging to his neck, she
+began pulling at his moustache. The strains of a harp were heard--she
+wanted to see the music played; and presently the performer on the
+instrument, led forward by the negress, entered the place reserved for
+saloon passengers. Arnoux recognized in him a man who had formerly been
+a model, and "thou'd" him, to the astonishment of the bystanders. At
+length the harpist, flinging back his long hair over his shoulders,
+stretched out his hands and began playing.
+
+It was an Oriental ballad all about poniards, flowers, and stars. The
+man in rags sang it in a sharp voice; the twanging of the harp strings
+broke the harmony of the tune with false notes. He played more
+vigorously: the chords vibrated, and their metallic sounds seemed to
+send forth sobs, and, as it were, the plaint of a proud and vanquished
+love. On both sides of the river, woods extended as far as the edge of
+the water. A current of fresh air swept past them, and Madame Arnoux
+gazed vaguely into the distance. When the music stopped, she moved her
+eyes several times as if she were starting out of a dream.
+
+The harpist approached them with an air of humility. While Arnoux was
+searching his pockets for money, Frederick stretched out towards the cap
+his closed hand, and then, opening it in a shamefaced manner, he
+deposited in it a louis d'or. It was not vanity that had prompted him to
+bestow this alms in her presence, but the idea of a blessing in which he
+thought she might share--an almost religious impulse of the heart.
+
+Arnoux, pointing out the way, cordially invited him to go below.
+Frederick declared that he had just lunched; on the contrary, he was
+nearly dying of hunger; and he had not a single centime in his purse.
+
+After that, it occurred to him that he had a perfect right, as well as
+anyone else, to remain in the cabin.
+
+Ladies and gentlemen were seated before round tables, lunching, while an
+attendant went about serving out coffee. Monsieur and Madame Arnoux were
+in the far corner to the right. He took a seat on the long bench covered
+with velvet, having picked up a newspaper which he found there.
+
+They would have to take the diligence at Montereau for Chalons. Their
+tour in Switzerland would last a month. Madame Arnoux blamed her husband
+for his weakness in dealing with his child. He whispered in her ear
+something agreeable, no doubt, for she smiled. Then, he got up to draw
+down the window curtain at her back. Under the low, white ceiling, a
+crude light filled the cabin. Frederick, sitting opposite to the place
+where she sat, could distinguish the shade of her eyelashes. She just
+moistened her lips with her glass and broke a little piece of crust
+between her fingers. The lapis-lazuli locket fastened by a little gold
+chain to her wrist made a ringing sound, every now and then, as it
+touched her plate. Those present, however, did not appear to notice it.
+
+At intervals one could see, through the small portholes, the side of a
+boat taking away passengers or putting them on board. Those who sat
+round the tables stooped towards the openings, and called out the names
+of the various places they passed along the river.
+
+Arnoux complained of the cooking. He grumbled particularly at the amount
+of the bill, and got it reduced. Then, he carried off the young man
+towards the forecastle to drink a glass of grog with him. But Frederick
+speedily came back again to gaze at Madame Arnoux, who had returned to
+the awning, beneath which she seated herself. She was reading a thin,
+grey-covered volume. From time to time, the corners of her mouth curled
+and a gleam of pleasure lighted up her forehead. He felt jealous of the
+inventor of those things which appeared to interest her so much. The
+more he contemplated her, the more he felt that there were yawning
+abysses between them. He was reflecting that he should very soon lose
+sight of her irrevocably, without having extracted a few words from her,
+without leaving her even a souvenir!
+
+On the right, a plain stretched out. On the left, a strip of
+pasture-land rose gently to meet a hillock where one could see
+vineyards, groups of walnut-trees, a mill embedded in the grassy slopes,
+and, beyond that, little zigzag paths over the white mass of rocks that
+reached up towards the clouds. What bliss it would have been to ascend
+side by side with her, his arm around her waist, while her gown would
+sweep the yellow leaves, listening to her voice and gazing up into her
+glowing eyes! The steamboat might stop, and all they would have to do
+was to step out of it; and yet this thing, simple as it might be, was
+not less difficult than it would have been to move the sun.
+
+A little further on, a chateau appeared with pointed roof and square
+turrets. A flower garden spread out in the foreground; and avenues ran,
+like dark archways, under the tall linden trees. He pictured her to
+himself passing along by this group of trees. At that moment a young
+lady and a young man showed themselves on the steps in front of the
+house, between the trunks of the orange trees. Then the entire scene
+vanished.
+
+The little girl kept skipping playfully around the place where he had
+stationed himself on the deck. Frederick wished to kiss her. She hid
+herself behind her nurse. Her mother scolded her for not being nice to
+the gentleman who had rescued her own shawl. Was this an indirect
+overture?
+
+"Is she going to speak to me?" he asked himself.
+
+Time was flying. How was he to get an invitation to the Arnoux's house?
+And he could think of nothing better than to draw her attention to the
+autumnal hues, adding:
+
+"We are close to winter--the season of balls and dinner-parties."
+
+But Arnoux was entirely occupied with his luggage. They had arrived at
+the point of the river's bank facing Surville. The two bridges drew
+nearer. They passed a ropewalk, then a range of low-built houses, inside
+which there were pots of tar and splinters of wood; and brats went
+along the sand turning head over heels. Frederick recognised a man with
+a sleeved waistcoat, and called out to him:
+
+"Make haste!"
+
+They were at the landing-place. He looked around anxiously for Arnoux
+amongst the crowd of passengers, and the other came and shook hands with
+him, saying:
+
+"A pleasant time, dear Monsieur!"
+
+When he was on the quay, Frederick turned around. She was standing
+beside the helm. He cast a look towards her into which he tried to put
+his whole soul. She remained motionless, as if he had done nothing.
+Then, without paying the slightest attentions to the obeisances of his
+man-servant:
+
+"Why didn't you bring the trap down here?"
+
+The man made excuses.
+
+"What a clumsy fellow you are! Give me some money."
+
+And after that he went off to get something to eat at an inn.
+
+A quarter of an hour later, he felt an inclination to turn into the
+coachyard, as if by chance. Perhaps he would see her again.
+
+"What's the use of it?" said he to himself.
+
+The vehicle carried him off. The two horses did not belong to his
+mother. She had borrowed one of M. Chambrion, the tax-collector, in
+order to have it yoked alongside of her own. Isidore, having set forth
+the day before, had taken a rest at Bray until evening, and had slept at
+Montereau, so that the animals, with restored vigour, were trotting
+briskly.
+
+Fields on which the crops had been cut stretched out in apparently
+endless succession; and by degrees Villeneuve, St. Georges, Ablon,
+Chatillon, Corbeil, and the other places--his entire journey--came back
+to his recollection with such vividness that he could now recall to mind
+fresh details, more intimate particulars.... Under the lowest flounce of
+her gown, her foot showed itself encased in a dainty silk boot of maroon
+shade. The awning made of ticking formed a wide canopy over her head,
+and the little red tassels of the edging kept perpetually trembling in
+the breeze.
+
+She resembled the women of whom he had read in romances. He would have
+added nothing to the charms of her person, and would have taken nothing
+from them. The universe had suddenly become enlarged. She was the
+luminous point towards which all things converged; and, rocked by the
+movement of the vehicle, with half-dosed eyelids, and his face turned
+towards the clouds, he abandoned himself to a dreamy, infinite joy.
+
+At Bray, he did not wait till the horses had got their oats; he walked
+on along the road ahead by himself. Arnoux had, when he spoke to her,
+addressed her as "Marie." He now loudly repeated the name "Marie!" His
+voice pierced the air and was lost in the distance.
+
+The western sky was one great mass of flaming purple. Huge stacks of
+wheat, rising up in the midst of the stubble fields, projected giant
+shadows. A dog began to bark in a farm-house in the distance. He
+shivered, seized with disquietude for which he could assign no cause.
+
+When Isidore had come up with him, he jumped up into the front seat to
+drive. His fit of weakness was past. He had thoroughly made up his mind
+to effect an introduction into the house of the Arnoux, and to become
+intimate with them. Their house should be amusing; besides, he liked
+Arnoux; then, who could tell? Thereupon a wave of blood rushed up to his
+face; his temples throbbed; he cracked his whip, shook the reins, and
+set the horses going at such a pace that the old coachman repeatedly
+exclaimed:
+
+"Easy! easy now, or they'll get broken-winded!"
+
+Gradually Frederick calmed down, and he listened to what the man was
+saying. Monsieur's return was impatiently awaited. Mademoiselle Louise
+had cried in her anxiety to go in the trap to meet him.
+
+"Who, pray, is Mademoiselle Louise?"
+
+"Monsieur Roque's little girl, you know."
+
+"Ah! I had forgotten," rejoined Frederick, carelessly.
+
+Meanwhile, the two horses could keep up the pace no longer. They were
+both getting lame; and nine o'clock struck at St. Laurent's when he
+arrived at the parade in front of his mother's house.
+
+This house of large dimensions, with a garden looking out on the open
+country, added to the social importance of Madame Moreau, who was the
+most respected lady in the district.
+
+She came of an old family of nobles, of which the male line was now
+extinct. Her husband, a plebeian whom her parents forced her to marry,
+met his death by a sword-thrust, during her pregnancy, leaving her an
+estate much encumbered. She received visitors three times a week, and
+from time to time, gave a fashionable dinner. But the number of wax
+candles was calculated beforehand, and she looked forward with some
+impatience to the payment of her rents. These pecuniary embarrassments,
+concealed as if there were some guilt attached to them, imparted a
+certain gravity to her character. Nevertheless, she displayed no
+prudery, no sourness, in the practice of her peculiar virtue. Her most
+trifling charities seemed munificent alms. She was consulted about the
+selection of servants, the education of young girls, and the art of
+making preserves, and Monseigneur used to stay at her house on the
+occasion of his episcopal visitations.
+
+Madame Moreau cherished a lofty ambition for her son. Through a sort of
+prudence grounded on the expectation of favours, she did not care to
+hear blame cast on the Government. He would need patronage at the start;
+then, with its aid, he might become a councillor of State, an
+ambassador, a minister. His triumphs at the college of Sens warranted
+this proud anticipation; he had carried off there the prize of honour.
+
+When he entered the drawing-room, all present arose with a great racket;
+he was embraced; and the chairs, large and small, were drawn up in a big
+semi-circle around the fireplace. M. Gamblin immediately asked him what
+was his opinion about Madame Lafarge. This case, the rage of the period,
+did not fail to lead to a violent discussion. Madame Moreau stopped it,
+to the regret, however, of M. Gamblin. He deemed it serviceable to the
+young man in his character of a future lawyer, and, nettled at what had
+occurred, he left the drawing-room.
+
+Nothing should have caused surprise on the part of a friend of Pere
+Roque! The reference to Pere Roque led them to talk of M. Dambreuse, who
+had just become the owner of the demesne of La Fortelle. But the
+tax-collector had drawn Frederick aside to know what he thought of M.
+Guizot's latest work. They were all anxious to get some information
+about his private affairs, and Madame Benoit went cleverly to work with
+that end in view by inquiring about his uncle. How was that worthy
+relative? They no longer heard from him. Had he not a distant cousin in
+America?
+
+The cook announced that Monsieur's soup was served. The guests
+discreetly retired. Then, as soon as they were alone in the dining-room,
+his mother said to him in a low tone:
+
+"Well?"
+
+The old man had received him in a very cordial manner, but without
+disclosing his intentions.
+
+Madame Moreau sighed.
+
+"Where is she now?" was his thought.
+
+The diligence was rolling along the road, and, wrapped up in the shawl,
+no doubt, she was leaning against the cloth of the coupe, her beautiful
+head nodding asleep.
+
+He and his mother were just going up to their apartments when a waiter
+from the Swan of the Cross brought him a note.
+
+"What is that, pray?"
+
+"It is Deslauriers, who wants me," said he.
+
+"Ha! your chum!" said Madame Moreau, with a contemptuous sneer.
+"Certainly it is a nice hour to select!"
+
+Frederick hesitated. But friendship was stronger. He got his hat.
+
+"At any rate, don't be long!" said his mother to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+Damon and Pythias.
+
+
+Charles Deslauriers' father, an ex-captain in the line, who had left the
+service in 1818, had come back to Nogent, where he had married, and with
+the amount of the dowry bought up the business of a process-server,[1]
+which brought him barely enough to maintain him. Embittered by a long
+course of unjust treatment, suffering still from the effects of old
+wounds, and always regretting the Emperor, he vented on those around him
+the fits of rage that seemed to choke him. Few children received so many
+whackings as his son. In spite of blows, however, the brat did not
+yield. His mother, when she tried to interpose, was also ill-treated.
+Finally, the captain planted the boy in his office, and all the day long
+kept him bent over his desk copying documents, with the result that his
+right shoulder was noticeably higher than his left.
+
+[Footnote 1: The French word _huissier_ means a sheriff's officer, or a
+person whose business it is to serve writs, processes, and legal
+documents generally. The word "process-server" must not be understood in
+its colloquial English sense, for in France this business is sometimes a
+lucrative one.--Translator.]
+
+In 1833, on the invitation of the president, the captain sold his
+office. His wife died of cancer. He then went to live at Dijon. After
+that he started in business at Troyes, where he was connected with the
+slave trade; and, having obtained a small scholarship for Charles,
+placed him at the college of Sens, where Frederick came across him. But
+one of the pair was twelve years old, while the other was fifteen;
+besides, a thousand differences of character and origin tended to keep
+them apart.
+
+Frederick had in his chest of drawers all sorts of useful things--choice
+articles, such as a dressing-case. He liked to lie late in bed in the
+morning, to look at the swallows, and to read plays; and, regretting the
+comforts of home, he thought college life rough. To the process-server's
+son it seemed a pleasant life. He worked so hard that, at the end of the
+second year, he had got into the third form. However, owing to his
+poverty or to his quarrelsome disposition, he was regarded with intense
+dislike. But when on one occasion, in the courtyard where pupils of the
+middle grade took exercise, an attendant openly called him a beggar's
+child, he sprang at the fellow's throat, and would have killed him if
+three of the ushers had not intervened. Frederick, carried away by
+admiration, pressed him in his arms. From that day forward they became
+fast friends. The affection of a _grandee_ no doubt flattered the vanity
+of the youth of meaner rank, and the other accepted as a piece of good
+fortune this devotion freely offered to him. During the holidays
+Charles's father allowed him to remain in the college. A translation of
+Plato which he opened by chance excited his enthusiasm. Then he became
+smitten with a love of metaphysical studies; and he made rapid progress,
+for he approached the subject with all the energy of youth and the
+self-confidence of an emancipated intellect. Jouffroy, Cousin,
+Laromiguiere, Malebranche, and the Scotch metaphysicians--everything
+that could be found in the library dealing with this branch of knowledge
+passed through his hands. He found it necessary to steal the key in
+order to get the books.
+
+Frederick's intellectual distractions were of a less serious
+description. He made sketches of the genealogy of Christ carved on a
+post in the Rue des Trois Rois, then of the gateway of a cathedral.
+After a course of mediaeval dramas, he took up memoirs--Froissart,
+Comines, Pierre de l'Estoile, and Brantome.
+
+The impressions made on his mind by this kind of reading took such a
+hold of it that he felt a need within him of reproducing those pictures
+of bygone days. His ambition was to be, one day, the Walter Scott of
+France. Deslauriers dreamed of formulating a vast system of philosophy,
+which might have the most far-reaching applications.
+
+They chatted over all these matters at recreation hours, in the
+playground, in front of the moral inscription painted under the clock.
+They kept whispering to each other about them in the chapel, even with
+St. Louis staring down at them. They dreamed about them in the
+dormitory, which looked out on a burial-ground. On walking-days they
+took up a position behind the others, and talked without stopping.
+
+They spoke of what they would do later, when they had left college.
+First of all, they would set out on a long voyage with the money which
+Frederick would take out of his own fortune on reaching his majority.
+Then they would come back to Paris; they would work together, and would
+never part; and, as a relaxation from their labours, they would have
+love-affairs with princesses in boudoirs lined with satin, or dazzling
+orgies with famous courtesans. Their rapturous expectations were
+followed by doubts. After a crisis of verbose gaiety, they would often
+lapse into profound silence.
+
+On summer evenings, when they had been walking for a long time over
+stony paths which bordered on vineyards, or on the high-road in the open
+country, and when they saw the wheat waving in the sunlight, while the
+air was filled with the fragrance of angelica, a sort of suffocating
+sensation took possession of them, and they stretched themselves on
+their backs, dizzy, intoxicated. Meanwhile the other lads, in their
+shirt-sleeves, were playing at base or flying kites. Then, as the usher
+called in the two companions from the playground, they would return,
+taking the path which led along by the gardens watered by brooklets;
+then they would pass through the boulevards overshadowed by the old city
+walls. The deserted streets rang under their tread. The grating flew
+back; they ascended the stairs; and they felt as sad as if they had had
+a great debauch.
+
+The proctor maintained that they mutually cried up each other.
+Nevertheless, if Frederick worked his way up to the higher forms, it was
+through the exhortations of his friend; and, during the vacation in
+1837, he brought Deslauriers to his mother's house.
+
+Madame Moreau disliked the young man. He had a terrible appetite. He was
+fond of making republican speeches. To crown all, she got it into her
+head that he had been the means of leading her son into improper
+places. Their relations towards each other were watched. This only made
+their friendship grow stronger, and they bade one another adieu with
+heartfelt pangs when, in the following year, Deslauriers left the
+college in order to study law in Paris.
+
+Frederick anxiously looked forward to the time when they would meet
+again. For two years they had not laid eyes on each other; and, when
+their embraces were over, they walked over the bridges to talk more at
+their ease.
+
+The captain, who had now set up a billiard-room at Villenauxe, reddened
+with anger when his son called for an account of the expense of
+tutelage, and even cut down the cost of victuals to the lowest figure.
+But, as he intended to become a candidate at a later period for a
+professor's chair at the school, and as he had no money, Deslauriers
+accepted the post of principal clerk in an attorney's office at Troyes.
+By dint of sheer privation he spared four thousand francs; and, by not
+drawing upon the sum which came to him through his mother, he would
+always have enough to enable him to work freely for three years while he
+was waiting for a better position. It was necessary, therefore, to
+abandon their former project of living together in the capital, at least
+for the present.
+
+Frederick hung down his head. This was the first of his dreams which had
+crumbled into dust.
+
+"Be consoled," said the captain's son. "Life is long. We are young.
+We'll meet again. Think no more about it!"
+
+He shook the other's hand warmly, and, to distract his attention,
+questioned him about his journey.
+
+Frederick had nothing to tell. But, at the recollection of Madame
+Arnoux, his vexation disappeared. He did not refer to her, restrained by
+a feeling of bashfulness. He made up for it by expatiating on Arnoux,
+recalling his talk, his agreeable manner, his stories; and Deslauriers
+urged him strongly to cultivate this new acquaintance.
+
+Frederick had of late written nothing. His literary opinions were
+changed. Passion was now above everything else in his estimation. He was
+equally enthusiastic about Werther, Rene, Franck, Lara, Lelia, and other
+ideal creations of less merit. Sometimes it seemed to him that music
+alone was capable of giving expression to his internal agitation. Then,
+he dreamed of symphonies; or else the surface of things seized hold of
+him, and he longed to paint. He had, however, composed verses.
+Deslauriers considered them beautiful, but did not ask him to write
+another poem.
+
+As for himself, he had given up metaphysics. Social economy and the
+French Revolution absorbed all his attention. Just now he was a tall
+fellow of twenty-two, thin, with a wide mouth, and a resolute look. On
+this particular evening, he wore a poor-looking paletot of lasting; and
+his shoes were white with dust, for he had come all the way from
+Villenauxe on foot for the express purpose of seeing Frederick.
+
+Isidore arrived while they were talking. Madame begged of Monsieur to
+return home, and, for fear of his catching cold, she had sent him his
+cloak.
+
+"Wait a bit!" said Deslauriers. And they continued walking from one end
+to the other of the two bridges which rest on the narrow islet formed by
+the canal and the river.
+
+When they were walking on the side towards Nogent, they had, exactly in
+front of them, a block of houses which projected a little. At the right
+might be seen the church, behind the mills in the wood, whose sluices
+had been closed up; and, at the left, the hedges covered with shrubs,
+along the skirts of the wood, formed a boundary for the gardens, which
+could scarcely be distinguished. But on the side towards Paris the high
+road formed a sheer descending line, and the meadows lost themselves in
+the distance under the vapours of the night. Silence reigned along this
+road, whose white track clearly showed itself through the surrounding
+gloom. Odours of damp leaves ascended towards them. The waterfall, where
+the stream had been diverted from its course a hundred paces further
+away, kept rumbling with that deep harmonious sound which waves make in
+the night time.
+
+Deslauriers stopped, and said:
+
+"'Tis funny to have these worthy folks sleeping so quietly! Patience! A
+new '89 is in preparation. People are tired of constitutions, charters,
+subtleties, lies! Ah, if I had a newspaper, or a platform, how I would
+shake off all these things! But, in order to undertake anything
+whatever, money is required. What a curse it is to be a tavern-keeper's
+son, and to waste one's youth in quest of bread!"
+
+He hung down his head, bit his lips, and shivered under his threadbare
+overcoat.
+
+Frederick flung half his cloak over his friend's shoulder. They both
+wrapped themselves up in it; and, with their arms around each other's
+waists, they walked down the road side by side.
+
+"How do you think I can live over there without you?" said Frederick.
+
+The bitter tone of his friend had brought back his own sadness.
+
+"I would have done something with a woman who loved me. What are you
+laughing at? Love is the feeding-ground, and, as it were, the atmosphere
+of genius. Extraordinary emotions produce sublime works. As for seeking
+after her whom I want, I give that up! Besides, if I should ever find
+her, she will repel me. I belong to the race of the disinherited, and I
+shall be extinguished with a treasure that will be of paste or of
+diamond--I know not which."
+
+Somebody's shadow fell across the road, and at the same time they heard
+these words:
+
+"Excuse me, gentlemen!"
+
+The person who had uttered them was a little man attired in an ample
+brown frock-coat, and with a cap on his head which under its peak
+afforded a glimpse of a sharp nose.
+
+"Monsieur Roque?" said Frederick.
+
+"The very man!" returned the voice.
+
+This resident in the locality explained his presence by stating that he
+had come back to inspect the wolf-traps in his garden near the
+water-side.
+
+"And so you are back again in the old spot? Very good! I ascertained the
+fact through my little girl. Your health is good, I hope? You are not
+going away again?"
+
+Then he left them, repelled, probably, by Frederick's chilling
+reception.
+
+Madame Moreau, indeed, was not on visiting terms with him. Pere Roque
+lived in peculiar relations with his servant-girl, and was held in very
+slight esteem, although he was the vice-president at elections, and M.
+Dambreuse's manager.
+
+"The banker who resides in the Rue d'Anjou," observed Deslauriers. "Do
+you know what you ought to do, my fine fellow?"
+
+Isidore once more interrupted. His orders were positive not to go back
+without Frederick. Madame would be getting uneasy at his absence.
+
+"Well, well, he will go back," said Deslauriers. "He's not going to stay
+out all night."
+
+And, as soon as the man-servant had disappeared:
+
+"You ought to ask that old chap to introduce you to the Dambreuses.
+There's nothing so useful as to be a visitor at a rich man's house.
+Since you have a black coat and white gloves, make use of them. You must
+mix in that set. You can introduce me into it later. Just think!--a man
+worth millions! Do all you can to make him like you, and his wife, too.
+Become her lover!"
+
+Frederick uttered an exclamation by way of protest.
+
+"Why, I can quote classical examples for you on that point, I rather
+think! Remember Rastignac in the _Comedie Humaine_. You will succeed, I
+have no doubt."
+
+Frederick had so much confidence in Deslauriers that he felt his
+firmness giving way, and forgetting Madame Arnoux, or including her in
+the prediction made with regard to the other, he could not keep from
+smiling.
+
+The clerk added:
+
+"A last piece of advice: pass your examinations. It is always a good
+thing to have a handle to your name: and, without more ado, give up your
+Catholic and Satanic poets, whose philosophy is as old as the twelfth
+century! Your despair is silly. The very greatest men have had more
+difficult beginnings, as in the case of Mirabeau. Besides, our
+separation will not be so long. I will make that pickpocket of a father
+of mine disgorge. It is time for me to be going back. Farewell! Have you
+got a hundred sous to pay for my dinner?"
+
+Frederick gave him ten francs, what was left of those he had got that
+morning from Isidore.
+
+Meanwhile, some forty yards away from the bridges, a light shone from
+the garret-window of a low-built house.
+
+Deslauriers noticed it. Then he said emphatically, as he took off his
+hat:
+
+"Your pardon, Venus, Queen of Heaven, but Penury is the mother of
+wisdom. We have been slandered enough for that--so have mercy."
+
+This allusion to an adventure in which they had both taken part, put
+them into a jovial mood. They laughed loudly as they passed through the
+streets.
+
+Then, having settled his bill at the inn, Deslauriers walked back with
+Frederick as far as the crossway near the Hotel-Dieu, and after a long
+embrace, the two friends parted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Sentiment and Passion.
+
+
+Two months later, Frederick, having debarked one morning in the Rue
+Coq-Heron, immediately thought of paying his great visit.
+
+Chance came to his aid. Pere Roque had brought him a roll of papers and
+requested him to deliver them up himself to M. Dambreuse; and the worthy
+man accompanied the package with an open letter of introduction in
+behalf of his young fellow-countryman.
+
+Madame Moreau appeared surprised at this proceeding. Frederick concealed
+the delight that it gave him.
+
+M. Dambreuse's real name was the Count d'Ambreuse; but since 1825,
+gradually abandoning his title of nobility and his party, he had turned
+his attention to business; and with his ears open in every office, his
+hand in every enterprise, on the watch for every opportunity, as subtle
+as a Greek and as laborious as a native of Auvergne, he had amassed a
+fortune which might be called considerable. Furthermore, he was an
+officer of the Legion of Honour, a member of the General Council of the
+Aube, a deputy, and one of these days would be a peer of France.
+However, affable as he was in other respects, he wearied the Minister
+by his continual applications for relief, for crosses, and licences for
+tobacconists' shops; and in his complaints against authority he was
+inclined to join the Left Centre.
+
+His wife, the pretty Madame Dambreuse, of whom mention was made in the
+fashion journals, presided at charitable assemblies. By wheedling the
+duchesses, she appeased the rancours of the aristocratic faubourg, and
+led the residents to believe that M. Dambreuse might yet repent and
+render them some services.
+
+The young man was agitated when he called on them.
+
+"I should have done better to take my dress-coat with me. No doubt they
+will give me an invitation to next week's ball. What will they say to
+me?"
+
+His self-confidence returned when he reflected that M. Dambreuse was
+only a person of the middle class, and he sprang out of the cab briskly
+on the pavement of the Rue d'Anjou.
+
+When he had pushed forward one of the two gateways he crossed the
+courtyard, mounted the steps in front of the house, and entered a
+vestibule paved with coloured marble. A straight double staircase, with
+red carpet, fastened with copper rods, rested against the high walls of
+shining stucco. At the end of the stairs there was a banana-tree, whose
+wide leaves fell down over the velvet of the baluster. Two bronze
+candelabra, with porcelain globes, hung from little chains; the
+atmosphere was heavy with the fumes exhaled by the vent-holes of the
+hot-air stoves; and all that could be heard was the ticking of a big
+clock fixed at the other end of the vestibule, under a suit of armour.
+
+A bell rang; a valet made his appearance, and introduced Frederick into
+a little apartment, where one could observe two strong boxes, with
+pigeon-holes filled with pieces of pasteboard. In the centre of it, M.
+Dambreuse was writing at a roll-top desk.
+
+He ran his eye over Pere Roque's letter, tore open the canvas in which
+the papers had been wrapped, and examined them.
+
+At some distance, he presented the appearance of being still young,
+owing to his slight figure. But his thin white hair, his feeble limbs,
+and, above all, the extraordinary pallor of his face, betrayed a
+shattered constitution. There was an expression of pitiless energy in
+his sea-green eyes, colder than eyes of glass. His cheek-bones
+projected, and his finger-joints were knotted.
+
+At length, he arose and addressed to the young man a few questions with
+regard to persons of their acquaintance at Nogent and also with regard
+to his studies, and then dismissed him with a bow. Frederick went out
+through another lobby, and found himself at the lower end of the
+courtyard near the coach-house.
+
+A blue brougham, to which a black horse was yoked, stood in front of the
+steps before the house. The carriage door flew open, a lady sprang in,
+and the vehicle, with a rumbling noise, went rolling along the gravel.
+Frederick had come up to the courtyard gate from the other side at the
+same moment. As there was not room enough to allow him to pass, he was
+compelled to wait. The young lady, with her head thrust forward past the
+carriage blind, talked to the door-keeper in a very low tone. All he
+could see was her back, covered with a violet mantle. However, he took a
+glance into the interior of the carriage, lined with blue rep, with silk
+lace and fringes. The lady's ample robes filled up the space within. He
+stole away from this little padded box with its perfume of iris, and, so
+to speak, its vague odour of feminine elegance. The coachman slackened
+the reins, the horse brushed abruptly past the starting-point, and all
+disappeared.
+
+Frederick returned on foot, following the track of the boulevard.
+
+He regretted not having been able to get a proper view of Madame
+Dambreuse. A little higher than the Rue Montmartre, a regular jumble of
+vehicles made him turn round his head, and on the opposite side, facing
+him, he read on a marble plate:
+
+"JACQUES ARNOUX."
+
+How was it that he had not thought about her sooner? It was Deslauriers'
+fault; and he approached the shop, which, however, he did not enter. He
+was waiting for _her_ to appear.
+
+The high, transparent plate-glass windows presented to one's gaze
+statuettes, drawings, engravings, catalogues and numbers of _L'Art
+Industriel_, arranged in a skilful fashion; and the amounts of the
+subscription were repeated on the door, which was decorated in the
+centre with the publisher's initials. Against the walls could be seen
+large pictures whose varnish had a shiny look, two chests laden with
+porcelain, bronze, alluring curiosities; a little staircase separated
+them, shut off at the top by a Wilton portiere; and a lustre of old
+Saxe, a green carpet on the floor, with a table of marqueterie, gave to
+this interior the appearance rather of a drawing-room than of a shop.
+
+Frederick pretended to be examining the drawings. After hesitating for a
+long time, he went in. A clerk lifted the portiere, and in reply to a
+question, said that Monsieur would not be in the shop before five
+o'clock. But if the message could be conveyed----
+
+"No! I'll come back again," Frederick answered blandly.
+
+The following days were spent in searching for lodgings; and he fixed
+upon an apartment in a second story of a furnished mansion in the Rue
+Hyacinthe.
+
+With a fresh blotting-case under his arm, he set forth to attend the
+opening lecture of the course. Three hundred young men, bare-headed,
+filled an amphitheatre, where an old man in a red gown was delivering a
+discourse in a monotonous voice. Quill pens went scratching over the
+paper. In this hall he found once more the dusty odour of the school, a
+reading-desk of similar shape, the same wearisome monotony! For a
+fortnight he regularly continued his attendance at law lectures. But he
+left off the study of the Civil Code before getting as far as Article 3,
+and he gave up the Institutes at the _Summa Divisio Personarum_.
+
+The pleasures that he had promised himself did not come to him; and when
+he had exhausted a circulating library, gone over the collections in the
+Louvre, and been at the theatre a great many nights in succession, he
+sank into the lowest depths of idleness.
+
+His depression was increased by a thousand fresh annoyances. He found it
+necessary to count his linen and to bear with the door keeper, a bore
+with the figure of a male hospital nurse who came in the morning to make
+up his bed, smelling of alcohol and grunting. He did not like his
+apartment, which was ornamented with an alabaster time-piece. The
+partitions were thin; he could hear the students making punch, laughing
+and singing.
+
+Tired of this solitude, he sought out one of his old schoolfellows named
+Baptiste Martinon; and he discovered this friend of his boyhood in a
+middle-class boarding-house in the Rue Saint-Jacques, cramming up legal
+procedure before a coal fire. A woman in a print dress sat opposite him
+darning his socks.
+
+Martinon was what people call a very fine man--big, chubby, with a
+regular physiognomy, and blue eyes far up in his face. His father, an
+extensive land-owner, had destined him for the magistracy; and wishing
+already to present a grave exterior, he wore his beard cut like a collar
+round his neck.
+
+As there was no rational foundation for Frederick's complaints, and as
+he could not give evidence of any misfortune, Martinon was unable in any
+way to understand his lamentations about existence. As for him, he went
+every morning to the school, after that took a walk in the Luxembourg,
+in the evening swallowed his half-cup of coffee; and with fifteen
+hundred francs a year, and the love of this workwoman, he felt perfectly
+happy.
+
+"What happiness!" was Frederick's internal comment.
+
+At the school he had formed another acquaintance, a youth of
+aristocratic family, who on account of his dainty manners, suggested a
+resemblance to a young lady.
+
+M. de Cisy devoted himself to drawing, and loved the Gothic style. They
+frequently went together to admire the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame.
+But the young patrician's rank and pretensions covered an intellect of
+the feeblest order. Everything took him by surprise. He laughed
+immoderately at the most trifling joke, and displayed such utter
+simplicity that Frederick at first took him for a wag, and finally
+regarded him as a booby.
+
+The young man found it impossible, therefore, to be effusive with
+anyone; and he was constantly looking forward to an invitation from the
+Dambreuses.
+
+On New Year's Day, he sent them visiting-cards, but received none in
+return.
+
+He made his way back to the office of _L'Art Industriel_.
+
+A third time he returned to it, and at last saw Arnoux carrying on an
+argument with five or six persons around him. He scarcely responded to
+the young man's bow; and Frederick was wounded by this reception. None
+the less he cogitated over the best means of finding his way to her
+side.
+
+His first idea was to come frequently to the shop on the pretext of
+getting pictures at low prices. Then he conceived the notion of slipping
+into the letter-box of the journal a few "very strong" articles, which
+might lead to friendly relations. Perhaps it would be better to go
+straight to the mark at once, and declare his love? Acting on this
+impulse, he wrote a letter covering a dozen pages, full of lyric
+movements and apostrophes; but he tore it up, and did nothing, attempted
+nothing--bereft of motive power by his want of success.
+
+Above Arnoux's shop, there were, on the first floor, three windows which
+were lighted up every evening. Shadows might be seen moving about behind
+them, especially one; this was hers; and he went very far out of his way
+in order to gaze at these windows and to contemplate this shadow.
+
+A negress who crossed his path one day in the Tuileries, holding a
+little girl by the hand, recalled to his mind Madame Arnoux's negress.
+She was sure to come there, like the others; every time he passed
+through the Tuileries, his heart began to beat with the anticipation of
+meeting her. On sunny days he continued his walk as far as the end of
+the Champs-Elysees.
+
+Women seated with careless ease in open carriages, and with their veils
+floating in the wind, filed past close to him, their horses advancing at
+a steady walking pace, and with an unconscious see-saw movement that
+made the varnished leather of the harness crackle. The vehicles became
+more numerous, and, slackening their motion after they had passed the
+circular space where the roads met, they took up the entire track. The
+horses' manes and the carriage lamps were close to each other. The steel
+stirrups, the silver curbs and the brass rings, flung, here and there,
+luminous points in the midst of the short breeches, the white gloves,
+and the furs, falling over the blazonry of the carriage doors. He felt
+as if he were lost in some far-off world. His eyes wandered along the
+rows of female heads, and certain vague resemblances brought back Madame
+Arnoux to his recollection. He pictured her to himself, in the midst of
+the others, in one of those little broughams like Madame Dambreuse's
+brougham.
+
+But the sun was setting, and the cold wind raised whirling clouds of
+dust. The coachmen let their chins sink into their neckcloths; the
+wheels began to revolve more quickly; the road-metal grated; and all the
+equipages descended the long sloping avenue at a quick trot, touching,
+sweeping past one another, getting out of one another's way; then, at
+the Place de la Concorde, they went off in different directions. Behind
+the Tuileries, there was a patch of slate-coloured sky. The trees of the
+garden formed two enormous masses violet-hued at their summits. The
+gas-lamps were lighted; and the Seine, green all over, was torn into
+strips of silver moire, near the piers of the bridges.
+
+He went to get a dinner for forty-three sous in a restaurant in the Rue
+de la Harpe. He glanced disdainfully at the old mahogany counter, the
+soiled napkins, the dingy silver-plate, and the hats hanging up on the
+wall.
+
+Those around him were students like himself. They talked about their
+professors, and about their mistresses. Much he cared about professors!
+Had he a mistress? To avoid being a witness of their enjoyment, he came
+as late as possible. The tables were all strewn with remnants of food.
+The two waiters, worn out with attendance on customers, lay asleep, each
+in a corner of his own; and an odour of cooking, of an argand lamp, and
+of tobacco, filled the deserted dining-room. Then he slowly toiled up
+the streets again. The gas lamps vibrated, casting on the mud long
+yellowish shafts of flickering light. Shadowy forms surmounted by
+umbrellas glided along the footpaths. The pavement was slippery; the fog
+grew thicker, and it seemed to him that the moist gloom, wrapping him
+around, descended into the depths of his heart.
+
+He was smitten with a vague remorse. He renewed his attendance at
+lectures. But as he was entirely ignorant of the matters which formed
+the subject of explanation, things of the simplest description puzzled
+him. He set about writing a novel entitled _Sylvio, the Fisherman's
+Son_. The scene of the story was Venice. The hero was himself, and
+Madame Arnoux was the heroine. She was called Antonia; and, to get
+possession of her, he assassinated a number of noblemen, and burned a
+portion of the city; after which achievements he sang a serenade under
+her balcony, where fluttered in the breeze the red damask curtains of
+the Boulevard Montmartre.
+
+The reminiscences, far too numerous, on which he dwelt produced a
+disheartening effect on him; he went no further with the work, and his
+mental vacuity redoubled.
+
+After this, he begged of Deslauriers to come and share his apartment.
+They might make arrangements to live together with the aid of his
+allowance of two thousand francs; anything would be better than this
+intolerable existence. Deslauriers could not yet leave Troyes. He urged
+his friend to find some means of distracting his thoughts, and, with
+that end in view, suggested that he should call on Senecal.
+
+Senecal was a mathematical tutor, a hard-headed man with republican
+convictions, a future Saint-Just, according to the clerk. Frederick
+ascended the five flights, up which he lived, three times in succession,
+without getting a visit from him in return. He did not go back to the
+place.
+
+He now went in for amusing himself. He attended the balls at the Opera
+House. These exhibitions of riotous gaiety froze him the moment he had
+passed the door. Besides, he was restrained by the fear of being
+subjected to insult on the subject of money, his notion being that a
+supper with a domino, entailing considerable expense, was rather a big
+adventure.
+
+It seemed to him, however, that he must needs love her. Sometimes he
+used to wake up with his heart full of hope, dressed himself carefully
+as if he were going to keep an appointment, and started on interminable
+excursions all over Paris. Whenever a woman was walking in front of him,
+or coming in his direction, he would say: "Here she is!" Every time it
+was only a fresh disappointment. The idea of Madame Arnoux strengthened
+these desires. Perhaps he might find her on his way; and he conjured up
+dangerous complications, extraordinary perils from which he would save
+her, in order to get near her.
+
+So the days slipped by with the same tiresome experiences, and
+enslavement to contracted habits. He turned over the pages of pamphlets
+under the arcades of the Odeon, went to read the _Revue des Deux Mondes_
+at the cafe, entered the hall of the College de France, and for an hour
+stopped to listen to a lecture on Chinese or political economy. Every
+week he wrote long letters to Deslauriers, dined from time to time with
+Martinon, and occasionally saw M. de Cisy. He hired a piano and composed
+German waltzes.
+
+One evening at the theatre of the Palais-Royal, he perceived, in one of
+the stage-boxes, Arnoux with a woman by his side. Was it she? The screen
+of green taffeta, pulled over the side of the box, hid her face. At
+length, the curtain rose, and the screen was drawn aside. She was a tall
+woman of about thirty, rather faded, and, when she laughed, her thick
+lips uncovered a row of shining teeth. She chatted familiarly with
+Arnoux, giving him, from time to time, taps, with her fan, on the
+fingers. Then a fair-haired young girl with eyelids a little red, as if
+she had just been weeping, seated herself between them. Arnoux after
+that remained stooped over her shoulder, pouring forth a stream of talk
+to which she listened without replying. Frederick taxed his ingenuity to
+find out the social position of these women, modestly attired in gowns
+of sober hue with flat, turned-up collars.
+
+At the close of the play, he made a dash for the passages. The crowd of
+people going out filled them up. Arnoux, just in front of him, was
+descending the staircase step by step, with a woman on each arm.
+
+Suddenly a gas-burner shed its light on him. He wore a crape hat-band.
+She was dead, perhaps? This idea tormented Frederick's mind so much,
+that he hurried, next day, to the office of _L'Art Industriel_, and
+paying, without a moment's delay, for one of the engravings exposed in
+the window for sale, he asked the shop-assistant how was Monsieur
+Arnoux.
+
+The shop-assistant replied:
+
+"Why, quite well!"
+
+Frederick, growing pale, added:
+
+"And Madame?"
+
+"Madame, also."
+
+Frederick forgot to carry off his engraving.
+
+The winter drew to an end. He was less melancholy in the spring time,
+and began to prepare for his examination. Having passed it
+indifferently, he started immediately afterwards for Nogent.
+
+He refrained from going to Troyes to see his friend, in order to escape
+his mother's comments. Then, on his return to Paris at the end of the
+vacation, he left his lodgings, and took two rooms on the Quai Napoleon
+which he furnished. He had given up all hope of getting an invitation
+from the Dambreuses. His great passion for Madame Arnoux was beginning
+to die out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+The Inexpressible She!
+
+
+One morning, in the month of December, while going to attend a law
+lecture, he thought he could observe more than ordinary animation in the
+Rue Saint-Jacques. The students were rushing precipitately out of the
+cafes, where, through the open windows, they were calling one another
+from one house to the other. The shop keepers in the middle of the
+footpath were looking about them anxiously; the window-shutters were
+fastened; and when he reached the Rue Soufflot, he perceived a large
+assemblage around the Pantheon.
+
+Young men in groups numbering from five to a dozen walked along, arm in
+arm, and accosted the larger groups, which had stationed themselves here
+and there. At the lower end of the square, near the railings, men in
+blouses were holding forth, while policemen, with their three-cornered
+hats drawn over their ears, and their hands behind their backs, were
+strolling up and down beside the walls making the flags ring under the
+tread of their heavy boots. All wore a mysterious, wondering look; they
+were evidently expecting something to happen. Each held back a question
+which was on the edge of his lips.
+
+Frederick found himself close to a fair-haired young man with a
+prepossessing face and a moustache and a tuft of beard on his chin, like
+a dandy of Louis XIII.'s time. He asked the stranger what was the cause
+of the disorder.
+
+"I haven't the least idea," replied the other, "nor have they, for that
+matter! 'Tis their fashion just now! What a good joke!"
+
+And he burst out laughing. The petitions for Reform, which had been
+signed at the quarters of the National Guard, together with the
+property-census of Humann and other events besides, had, for the past
+six months, led to inexplicable gatherings of riotous crowds in Paris,
+and so frequently had they broken out anew, that the newspapers had
+ceased to refer to them.
+
+"This lacks graceful outline and colour," continued Frederick's
+neighbour. "I am convinced, messire, that we have degenerated. In the
+good epoch of Louis XI., and even in that of Benjamin Constant, there
+was more mutinousness amongst the students. I find them as pacific as
+sheep, as stupid as greenhorns, and only fit to be grocers. Gadzooks!
+And these are what we call the youth of the schools!"
+
+He held his arms wide apart after the fashion of Frederick Lemaitre in
+_Robert Macaire_.
+
+"Youth of the schools, I give you my blessing!"
+
+After this, addressing a rag picker, who was moving a heap of
+oyster-shells up against the wall of a wine-merchant's house:
+
+"Do you belong to them--the youth of the schools?"
+
+The old man lifted up a hideous countenance in which one could trace, in
+the midst of a grey beard, a red nose and two dull eyes, bloodshot from
+drink.
+
+"No, you appear to me rather one of those men with patibulary faces whom
+we see, in various groups, liberally scattering gold. Oh, scatter it, my
+patriarch, scatter it! Corrupt me with the treasures of Albion! Are you
+English? I do not reject the presents of Artaxerxes! Let us have a
+little chat about the union of customs!"
+
+Frederick felt a hand laid on his shoulder. It was Martinon, looking
+exceedingly pale.
+
+"Well!" said he with a big sigh, "another riot!"
+
+He was afraid of being compromised, and uttered complaints. Men in
+blouses especially made him feel uneasy, suggesting a connection with
+secret societies.
+
+"You mean to say there are secret societies," said the young man with
+the moustaches. "That is a worn-out dodge of the Government to frighten
+the middle-class folk!"
+
+Martinon urged him to speak in a lower tone, for fear of the police.
+
+"You believe still in the police, do you? As a matter of fact, how do
+you know, Monsieur, that I am not myself a police spy?"
+
+And he looked at him in such a way, that Martinon, much discomposed,
+was, at first, unable to see the joke. The people pushed them on, and
+they were all three compelled to stand on the little staircase which
+led, by one of the passages, to the new amphitheatre.
+
+The crowd soon broke up of its own accord. Many heads could be
+distinguished. They bowed towards the distinguished Professor Samuel
+Rondelot, who, wrapped in his big frock-coat, with his silver spectacles
+held up high in the air, and breathing hard from his asthma, was
+advancing at an easy pace, on his way to deliver his lecture. This man
+was one of the judicial glories of the nineteenth century, the rival of
+the Zachariaes and the Ruhdorffs. His new dignity of peer of France had
+in no way modified his external demeanour. He was known to be poor, and
+was treated with profound respect.
+
+Meanwhile, at the lower end of the square, some persons cried out:
+
+"Down with Guizot!"
+
+"Down with Pritchard!"
+
+"Down with the sold ones!"
+
+"Down with Louis Philippe!"
+
+The crowd swayed to and fro, and, pressing against the gate of the
+courtyard, which was shut, prevented the professor from going further.
+He stopped in front of the staircase. He was speedily observed on the
+lowest of three steps. He spoke; the loud murmurs of the throng drowned
+his voice. Although at another time they might love him, they hated him
+now, for he was the representative of authority. Every time he tried to
+make himself understood, the outcries recommenced. He gesticulated with
+great energy to induce the students to follow him. He was answered by
+vociferations from all sides. He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully,
+and plunged into the passage. Martinon profited by his situation to
+disappear at the same moment.
+
+"What a coward!" said Frederick.
+
+"He was prudent," returned the other.
+
+There was an outburst of applause from the crowd, from whose point of
+view this retreat, on the part of the professor, appeared in the light
+of a victory. From every window, faces, lighted with curiosity, looked
+out. Some of those in the crowd struck up the "Marseillaise;" others
+proposed to go to Beranger's house.
+
+"To Laffitte's house!"
+
+"To Chateaubriand's house!"
+
+"To Voltaire's house!" yelled the young man with the fair moustaches.
+
+The policemen tried to pass around, saying in the mildest tones they
+could assume:
+
+"Move on, messieurs! Move on! Take yourselves off!"
+
+Somebody exclaimed:
+
+"Down with the slaughterers!"
+
+This was a form of insult usual since the troubles of the month of
+September. Everyone echoed it. The guardians of public order were hooted
+and hissed. They began to grow pale. One of them could endure it no
+longer, and, seeing a low-sized young man approaching too close,
+laughing in his teeth, pushed him back so roughly, that he tumbled over
+on his back some five paces away, in front of a wine-merchant's shop.
+All made way; but almost immediately afterwards the policeman rolled on
+the ground himself, felled by a blow from a species of Hercules, whose
+hair hung down like a bundle of tow under an oilskin cap. Having stopped
+for a few minutes at the corner of the Rue Saint-Jacques, he had very
+quickly laid down a large case, which he had been carrying, in order to
+make a spring at the policeman, and, holding down that functionary,
+punched his face unmercifully. The other policemen rushed to the rescue
+of their comrade. The terrible shop-assistant was so powerfully built
+that it took four of them at least to get the better of him. Two of them
+shook him, while keeping a grip on his collar; two others dragged his
+arms; a fifth gave him digs of the knee in the ribs; and all of them
+called him "brigand," "assassin," "rioter." With his breast bare, and
+his clothes in rags, he protested that he was innocent; he could not, in
+cold blood, look at a child receiving a beating.
+
+"My name is Dussardier. I'm employed at Messieurs Valincart Brothers'
+lace and fancy warehouse, in the Rue de Clery. Where's my case? I want
+my case!"
+
+He kept repeating:
+
+"Dussardier, Rue de Clery. My case!"
+
+However, he became quiet, and, with a stoical air, allowed himself to be
+led towards the guard-house in the Rue Descartes. A flood of people came
+rushing after him. Frederick and the young man with the moustaches
+walked immediately behind, full of admiration for the shopman, and
+indignant at the violence of power.
+
+As they advanced, the crowd became less thick.
+
+The policemen from time to time turned round, with threatening looks;
+and the rowdies, no longer having anything to do, and the spectators not
+having anything to look at, all drifted away by degrees. The passers-by,
+who met the procession, as they came along, stared at Dussardier, and in
+loud tones, gave vent to abusive remarks about him. One old woman, at
+her own door, bawled out that he had stolen a loaf of bread from her.
+This unjust accusation increased the wrath of the two friends. At
+length, they reached the guard-house. Only about twenty persons were
+now left in the attenuated crowd, and the sight of the soldiers was
+enough to disperse them.
+
+Frederick and his companion boldly asked to have the man who had just
+been imprisoned delivered up. The sentinel threatened, if they
+persisted, to ram them into jail too. They said they required to see the
+commander of the guard-house, and stated their names, and the fact that
+they were law-students, declaring that the prisoner was one also.
+
+They were ushered into a room perfectly bare, in which, amid an
+atmosphere of smoke, four benches might be seen lining the
+roughly-plastered walls. At the lower end there was an open wicket. Then
+appeared the sturdy face of Dussardier, who, with his hair all tousled,
+his honest little eyes, and his broad snout, suggested to one's mind in
+a confused sort of way the physiognomy of a good dog.
+
+"Don't you recognise us?" said Hussonnet.
+
+This was the name of the young man with the moustaches.
+
+"Why----" stammered Dussardier.
+
+"Don't play the fool any further," returned the other. "We know that you
+are, just like ourselves, a law-student."
+
+In spite of their winks, Dussardier failed to understand. He appeared to
+be collecting his thoughts; then, suddenly:
+
+"Has my case been found?"
+
+Frederick raised his eyes, feeling much discouraged.
+
+Hussonnet, however, said promptly:
+
+"Ha! your case, in which you keep your notes of lectures? Yes, yes, make
+your mind easy about it!"
+
+They made further pantomimic signs with redoubled energy, till
+Dussardier at last realised that they had come to help him; and he held
+his tongue, fearing that he might compromise them. Besides, he
+experienced a kind of shamefacedness at seeing himself raised to the
+social rank of student, and to an equality with those young men who had
+such white hands.
+
+"Do you wish to send any message to anyone?" asked Frederick.
+
+"No, thanks, to nobody."
+
+"But your family?"
+
+He lowered his head without replying; the poor fellow was a bastard. The
+two friends stood quite astonished at his silence.
+
+"Have you anything to smoke?" was Frederick's next question.
+
+He felt about, then drew forth from the depths of one of his pockets the
+remains of a pipe--a beautiful pipe, made of white talc with a shank of
+blackwood, a silver cover, and an amber mouthpiece.
+
+For the last three years he had been engaged in completing this
+masterpiece. He had been careful to keep the bowl of it constantly
+thrust into a kind of sheath of chamois, to smoke it as slowly as
+possible, without ever letting it lie on any cold stone substance, and
+to hang it up every evening over the head of his bed. And now he shook
+out the fragments of it into his hand, the nails of which were covered
+with blood, and with his chin sunk on his chest, his pupils fixed and
+dilated, he contemplated this wreck of the thing that had yielded him
+such delight with a glance of unutterable sadness.
+
+"Suppose we give him some cigars, eh?" said Hussonnet in a whisper,
+making a gesture as if he were reaching them out.
+
+Frederick had already laid down a cigar-holder, filled, on the edge of
+the wicket.
+
+"Pray take this. Good-bye! Cheer up!"
+
+Dussardier flung himself on the two hands that were held out towards
+him. He pressed them frantically, his voice choked with sobs.
+
+"What? For me!--for me!"
+
+The two friends tore themselves away from the effusive display of
+gratitude which he made, and went off to lunch together at the Cafe
+Tabourey, in front of the Luxembourg.
+
+While cutting up the beefsteak, Hussonnet informed his companion that he
+did work for the fashion journals, and manufactured catchwords for
+_L'Art Industriel_.
+
+"At Jacques Arnoux's establishment?" said Frederick.
+
+"Do you know him?"
+
+"Yes!--no!--that is to say, I have seen him--I have met him."
+
+He carelessly asked Hussonnet if he sometimes saw Arnoux's wife.
+
+"From time to time," the Bohemian replied.
+
+Frederick did not venture to follow up his enquiries. This man
+henceforth would fill up a large space in his life. He paid the
+lunch-bill without any protest on the other's part.
+
+There was a bond of mutual sympathy between them; they gave one another
+their respective addresses, and Hussonnet cordially invited Frederick to
+accompany him to the Rue de Fleurus.
+
+They had reached the middle of the garden, when Arnoux's clerk, holding
+his breath, twisted his features into a hideous grimace, and began to
+crow like a cock. Thereupon all the cocks in the vicinity responded
+with prolonged "cock-a-doodle-doos."
+
+"It is a signal," explained Hussonnet.
+
+They stopped close to the Theatre Bobino, in front of a house to which
+they had to find their way through an alley. In the skylight of a
+garret, between the nasturtiums and the sweet peas, a young woman showed
+herself, bare-headed, in her stays, her two arms resting on the edge of
+the roof-gutter.
+
+"Good-morrow, my angel! good-morrow, ducky!" said Hussonnet, sending her
+kisses.
+
+He made the barrier fly open with a kick, and disappeared.
+
+Frederick waited for him all the week. He did not venture to call at
+Hussonnet's residence, lest it might look as if he were in a hurry to
+get a lunch in return for the one he had paid for. But he sought the
+clerk all over the Latin Quarter. He came across him one evening, and
+brought him to his apartment on the Quai Napoleon.
+
+They had a long chat, and unbosomed themselves to each other. Hussonnet
+yearned after the glory and the gains of the theatre. He collaborated in
+the writing of vaudevilles which were not accepted, "had heaps of
+plans," could turn a couplet; he sang out for Frederick a few of the
+verses he had composed. Then, noticing on one of the shelves a volume of
+Hugo and another of Lamartine, he broke out into sarcastic criticisms of
+the romantic school. These poets had neither good sense nor correctness,
+and, above all, were not French! He plumed himself on his knowledge of
+the language, and analysed the most beautiful phrases with that snarling
+severity, that academic taste which persons of playful disposition
+exhibit when they are discussing serious art.
+
+Frederick was wounded in his predilections, and he felt a desire to cut
+the discussion short. Why not take the risk at once of uttering the word
+on which his happiness depended? He asked this literary youth whether it
+would be possible to get an introduction into the Arnoux's house through
+his agency.
+
+The thing was declared to be quite easy, and they fixed upon the
+following day.
+
+Hussonnet failed to keep the appointment, and on three subsequent
+occasions he did not turn up. One Saturday, about four o'clock, he made
+his appearance. But, taking advantage of the cab into which they had
+got, he drew up in front of the Theatre Francais to get a box-ticket,
+got down at a tailor's shop, then at a dressmaker's, and wrote notes in
+the door-keeper's lodge. At last they came to the Boulevard Montmartre.
+Frederick passed through the shop, and went up the staircase. Arnoux
+recognised him through the glass-partition in front of his desk, and
+while continuing to write he stretched out his hand and laid it on
+Frederick's shoulder.
+
+Five or six persons, standing up, filled the narrow apartment, which was
+lighted by a single window looking out on the yard, a sofa of brown
+damask wool occupying the interior of an alcove between two
+door-curtains of similar material. Upon the chimney-piece, covered with
+old papers, there was a bronze Venus. Two candelabra, garnished with
+rose-coloured wax-tapers, supported it, one at each side. At the right
+near a cardboard chest of drawers, a man, seated in an armchair, was
+reading the newspaper, with his hat on. The walls were hidden from view
+beneath the array of prints and pictures, precious engravings or
+sketches by contemporary masters, adorned with dedications testifying
+the most sincere affection for Jacques Arnoux.
+
+"You're getting on well all this time?" said he, turning round to
+Frederick.
+
+And, without waiting for an answer, he asked Hussonnet in a low tone:
+
+"What is your friend's name?" Then, raising his voice:
+
+"Take a cigar out of the box on the cardboard stand."
+
+The office of _L'Art Industriel_, situated in a central position in
+Paris, was a convenient place of resort, a neutral ground wherein
+rivalries elbowed each other familiarly. On this day might be seen there
+Antenor Braive, who painted portraits of kings; Jules Burrieu, who by
+his sketches was beginning to popularise the wars in Algeria; the
+caricaturist Sombary, the sculptor Vourdat, and others. And not a single
+one of them corresponded with the student's preconceived ideas. Their
+manners were simple, their talk free and easy. The mystic Lovarias told
+an obscene story; and the inventor of Oriental landscape, the famous
+Dittmer, wore a knitted shirt under his waistcoat, and went home in the
+omnibus.
+
+The first topic that came on the carpet was the case of a girl named
+Apollonie, formerly a model, whom Burrieu alleged that he had seen on
+the boulevard in a carriage. Hussonnet explained this metamorphosis
+through the succession of persons who had loved her.
+
+"How well this sly dog knows the girls of Paris!" said Arnoux.
+
+"After you, if there are any of them left, sire," replied the Bohemian,
+with a military salute, in imitation of the grenadier offering his flask
+to Napoleon.
+
+Then they talked about some pictures in which Apollonie had sat for the
+female figures. They criticised their absent brethren, expressing
+astonishment at the sums paid for their works; and they were all
+complaining of not having been sufficiently remunerated themselves, when
+the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a man of middle
+stature, who had his coat fastened by a single button, and whose eyes
+glittered with a rather wild expression.
+
+"What a lot of shopkeepers you are!" said he. "God bless my soul! what
+does that signify? The old masters did not trouble their heads about the
+million--Correggio, Murillo----"
+
+"Add Pellerin," said Sombary.
+
+But, without taking the slightest notice of the epigram, he went on
+talking with such vehemence, that Arnoux was forced to repeat twice to
+him:
+
+"My wife wants you on Thursday. Don't forget!"
+
+This remark recalled Madame Arnoux to Frederick's thoughts. No doubt,
+one might be able to reach her through the little room near the sofa.
+Arnoux had just opened the portiere leading into it to get a
+pocket-handkerchief, and Frederic had seen a wash-stand at the far end
+of the apartment.
+
+But at this point a kind of muttering sound came from the corner of the
+chimney-piece; it was caused by the personage who sat in the armchair
+reading the newspaper. He was a man of five feet nine inches in height,
+with rather heavy eyelashes, a head of grey hair, and an imposing
+appearance; and his name was Regimbart.
+
+"What's the matter now, citizen?" said Arnoux.
+
+"Another fresh piece of rascality on the part of Government!"
+
+The thing that he was referring to was the dismissal of a schoolmaster.
+
+Pellerin again took up his parallel between Michael Angelo and
+Shakespeare. Dittmer was taking himself off when Arnoux pulled him back
+in order to put two bank notes into his hand. Thereupon Hussonnet said,
+considering this an opportune time:
+
+"Couldn't you give me an advance, my dear master----?"
+
+But Arnoux had resumed his seat, and was administering a severe
+reprimand to an old man of mean aspect, who wore a pair of blue
+spectacles.
+
+"Ha! a nice fellow you are, Pere Isaac! Here are three works cried down,
+destroyed! Everybody is laughing at me! People know what they are now!
+What do you want me to do with them? I'll have to send them off to
+California--or to the devil! Hold your tongue!"
+
+The specialty of this old worthy consisted in attaching the signatures
+of the great masters at the bottom of these pictures. Arnoux refused to
+pay him, and dismissed him in a brutal fashion. Then, with an entire
+change of manner, he bowed to a gentleman of affectedly grave demeanour,
+who wore whiskers and displayed a white tie round his neck and the cross
+of the Legion of Honour over his breast.
+
+With his elbow resting on the window-fastening, he kept talking to him
+for a long time in honeyed tones. At last he burst out:
+
+"Ah! well, I am not bothered with brokers, Count."
+
+The nobleman gave way, and Arnoux paid him down twenty-five louis. As
+soon as he had gone out:
+
+"What a plague these big lords are!"
+
+"A lot of wretches!" muttered Regimbart.
+
+As it grew later, Arnoux was much more busily occupied. He classified
+articles, tore open letters, set out accounts in a row; at the sound of
+hammering in the warehouse he went out to look after the packing; then
+he went back to his ordinary work; and, while he kept his steel pen
+running over the paper, he indulged in sharp witticisms. He had an
+invitation to dine with his lawyer that evening, and was starting next
+day for Belgium.
+
+The others chatted about the topics of the day--Cherubini's portrait,
+the hemicycle of the Fine Arts, and the next Exhibition. Pellerin railed
+at the Institute. Scandalous stories and serious discussions got mixed
+up together. The apartment with its low ceiling was so much stuffed up
+that one could scarcely move; and the light of the rose-coloured
+wax-tapers was obscured in the smoke of their cigars, like the sun's
+rays in a fog.
+
+The door near the sofa flew open, and a tall, thin woman entered with
+abrupt movements, which made all the trinkets of her watch rattle under
+her black taffeta gown.
+
+It was the woman of whom Frederick had caught a glimpse last summer at
+the Palais-Royal. Some of those present, addressing her by name, shook
+hands with her. Hussonnet had at last managed to extract from his
+employer the sum of fifty francs. The clock struck seven.
+
+All rose to go.
+
+Arnoux told Pellerin to remain, and accompanied Mademoiselle Vatnaz into
+the dressing-room.
+
+Frederick could not hear what they said; they spoke in whispers.
+However, the woman's voice was raised:
+
+"I have been waiting ever since the job was done, six months ago."
+
+There was a long silence, and then Mademoiselle Vatnaz reappeared.
+Arnoux had again promised her something.
+
+"Oh! oh! later, we shall see!"
+
+"Good-bye! happy man," said she, as she was going out.
+
+Arnoux quickly re-entered the dressing-room, rubbed some cosmetic over
+his moustaches, raised his braces, stretched his straps; and, while he
+was washing his hands:
+
+"I would require two over the door at two hundred and fifty apiece, in
+Boucher's style. Is that understood?"
+
+"Be it so," said the artist, his face reddening.
+
+"Good! and don't forget my wife!"
+
+Frederick accompanied Pellerin to the top of the Faubourg Poissonniere,
+and asked his permission to come to see him sometimes, a favour which
+was graciously accorded.
+
+Pellerin read every work on aesthetics, in order to find out the true
+theory of the Beautiful, convinced that, when he had discovered it, he
+would produce masterpieces. He surrounded himself with every imaginable
+auxiliary--drawings, plaster-casts, models, engravings; and he kept
+searching about, eating his heart out. He blamed the weather, his
+nerves, his studio, went out into the street to find inspiration there,
+quivered with delight at the thought that he had caught it, then
+abandoned the work in which he was engaged, and dreamed of another which
+should be finer. Thus, tormented by the desire for glory, and wasting
+his days in discussions, believing in a thousand fooleries--in systems,
+in criticisms, in the importance of a regulation or a reform in the
+domain of Art--he had at fifty as yet turned out nothing save mere
+sketches. His robust pride prevented him from experiencing any
+discouragement, but he was always irritated, and in that state of
+exaltation, at the same time factitious and natural, which is
+characteristic of comedians.
+
+On entering his studio one's attention was directed towards two large
+pictures, in which the first tones of colour laid on here and there made
+on the white canvas spots of brown, red, and blue. A network of lines in
+chalk stretched overhead, like stitches of thread repeated twenty times;
+it was impossible to understand what it meant. Pellerin explained the
+subject of these two compositions by pointing out with his thumb the
+portions that were lacking. The first was intended to represent "The
+Madness of Nebuchadnezzar," and the second "The Burning of Rome by
+Nero." Frederick admired them.
+
+He admired academies of women with dishevelled hair, landscapes in which
+trunks of trees, twisted by the storm, abounded, and above all freaks of
+the pen, imitations from memory of Callot, Rembrandt, or Goya, of which
+he did not know the models. Pellerin no longer set any value on these
+works of his youth. He was now all in favour of the grand style; he
+dogmatised eloquently about Phidias and Winckelmann. The objects around
+him strengthened the force of his language; one saw a death's head on a
+prie-dieu, yataghans, a monk's habit. Frederick put it on.
+
+When he arrived early, he surprised the artist in his wretched
+folding-bed, which was hidden from view by a strip of tapestry; for
+Pellerin went to bed late, being an assiduous frequenter of the
+theatres. An old woman in tatters attended on him. He dined at a
+cook-shop, and lived without a mistress. His acquirements, picked up in
+the most irregular fashion, rendered his paradoxes amusing. His hatred
+of the vulgar and the "bourgeois" overflowed in sarcasms, marked by a
+superb lyricism, and he had such religious reverence for the masters
+that it raised him almost to their level.
+
+But why had he never spoken about Madame Arnoux? As for her son, at one
+time he called Pellerin a decent fellow, at other times a charlatan.
+Frederick was waiting for some disclosures on his part.
+
+One day, while turning over one of the portfolios in the studio, he
+thought he could trace in the portrait of a female Bohemian some
+resemblance to Mademoiselle Vatnaz; and, as he felt interested in this
+lady, he desired to know what was her exact social position.
+
+She had been, as far as Pellerin could ascertain, originally a
+schoolmistress in the provinces. She now gave lessons in Paris, and
+tried to write for the small journals.
+
+According to Frederick, one would imagine from her manners with Arnoux
+that she was his mistress.
+
+"Pshaw! he has others!"
+
+Then, turning away his face, which reddened with shame as he realised
+the baseness of the suggestion, the young man added, with a swaggering
+air:
+
+"Very likely his wife pays him back for it?"
+
+"Not at all; she is virtuous."
+
+Frederick again experienced a feeling of compunction, and the result was
+that his attendance at the office of the art journal became more marked
+than before.
+
+The big letters which formed the name of Arnoux on the marble plate
+above the shop seemed to him quite peculiar and pregnant with
+significance, like some sacred writing. The wide footpath, by its
+descent, facilitated his approach; the door almost turned of its own
+accord; and the handle, smooth to the touch, gave him the sensation of
+friendly and, as it were, intelligent fingers clasping his.
+Unconsciously, he became quite as punctual as Regimbart.
+
+Every day Regimbart seated himself in the chimney corner, in his
+armchair, got hold of the _National_, and kept possession of it,
+expressing his thoughts by exclamations or by shrugs of the
+shoulders. From time to time he would wipe his forehead with his
+pocket-handkerchief, rolled up in a ball, which he usually stuck in
+between two buttons of his green frock-coat. He had trousers with
+wrinkles, bluchers, and a long cravat; and his hat, with its turned-up
+brim, made him easily recognised, at a distance, in a crowd.
+
+At eight o'clock in the morning he descended the heights of Montmartre,
+in order to imbibe white wine in the Rue Notre Dame des Victoires. A
+late breakfast, following several games of billiards, brought him on to
+three o'clock. He then directed his steps towards the Passage des
+Panoramas, where he had a glass of absinthe. After the sitting in
+Arnoux's shop, he entered the Bordelais smoking-divan, where he
+swallowed some bitters; then, in place of returning home to his wife, he
+preferred to dine alone in a little cafe in the Rue Gaillon, where he
+desired them to serve up to him "household dishes, natural things."
+Finally, he made his way to another billiard-room, and remained there
+till midnight, in fact, till one o'clock in the morning, up till the
+last moment, when, the gas being put out and the window-shutters
+fastened, the master of the establishment, worn out, begged of him to
+go.
+
+And it was not the love of drinking that attracted Citizen Regimbart to
+these places, but the inveterate habit of talking politics at such
+resorts. With advancing age, he had lost his vivacity, and now exhibited
+only a silent moroseness. One would have said, judging from the gravity
+of his countenence, that he was turning over in his mind the affairs of
+the whole world. Nothing, however, came from it; and nobody, even
+amongst his own friends, knew him to have any occupation, although he
+gave himself out as being up to his eyes in business.
+
+Arnoux appeared to have a very great esteem for him. One day he said to
+Frederick:
+
+"He knows a lot, I assure you. He is an able man."
+
+On another occasion Regimbart spread over his desk papers relating to
+the kaolin mines in Brittany. Arnoux referred to his own experience on
+the subject.
+
+Frederick showed himself more ceremonious towards Regimbart, going so
+far as to invite him from time to time to take a glass of absinthe; and,
+although he considered him a stupid man, he often remained a full hour
+in his company solely because he was Jacques Arnoux's friend.
+
+After pushing forward some contemporary masters in the early portions of
+their career, the picture-dealer, a man of progressive ideas, had tried,
+while clinging to his artistic ways, to extend his pecuniary profits.
+His object was to emancipate the fine arts, to get the sublime at a
+cheap rate. Over every industry associated with Parisian luxury he
+exercised an influence which proved fortunate with respect to little
+things, but fatal with respect to great things. With his mania for
+pandering to public opinion, he made clever artists swerve from their
+true path, corrupted the strong, exhausted the weak, and got distinction
+for those of mediocre talent; he set them up with the assistance of his
+connections and of his magazine. Tyros in painting were ambitious of
+seeing their works in his shop-window, and upholsterers brought
+specimens of furniture to his house. Frederick regarded him, at the same
+time, as a millionaire, as a _dilettante_, and as a man of action.
+However, he found many things that filled him with astonishment, for my
+lord Arnoux was rather sly in his commercial transactions.
+
+He received from the very heart of Germany or of Italy a picture
+purchased in Paris for fifteen hundred francs, and, exhibiting an
+invoice that brought the price up to four thousand, sold it over again
+through complaisance for three thousand five hundred. One of his usual
+tricks with painters was to exact as a drink-allowance an abatement in
+the purchase-money of their pictures, under the pretence that he would
+bring out an engraving of it. He always, when selling such pictures,
+made a profit by the abatement; but the engraving never appeared. To
+those who complained that he had taken an advantage of them, he would
+reply by a slap on the stomach. Generous in other ways, he squandered
+money on cigars for his acquaintances, "thee'd" and "thou'd" persons who
+were unknown, displayed enthusiasm about a work or a man; and, after
+that, sticking to his opinion, and, regardless of consequences, spared
+no expense in journeys, correspondence, and advertising. He looked upon
+himself as very upright, and, yielding to an irresistible impulse to
+unbosom himself, ingenuously told his friends about certain indelicate
+acts of which he had been guilty. Once, in order to annoy a member of
+his own trade who inaugurated another art journal with a big banquet, he
+asked Frederick to write, under his own eyes, a little before the hour
+fixed for the entertainment, letters to the guests recalling the
+invitations.
+
+"This impugns nobody's honour, do you understand?"
+
+And the young man did not dare to refuse the service.
+
+Next day, on entering with Hussonnet M. Arnoux's office, Frederick saw
+through the door (the one opening on the staircase) the hem of a lady's
+dress disappearing.
+
+"A thousand pardons!" said Hussonnet. "If I had known that there were
+women----"
+
+"Oh! as for that one, she is my own," replied Arnoux. "She just came in
+to pay me a visit as she was passing."
+
+"You don't say so!" said Frederick.
+
+"Why, yes; she is going back home again."
+
+The charm of the things around him was suddenly withdrawn. That which
+had seemed to him to be diffused vaguely through the place had now
+vanished--or, rather, it had never been there. He experienced an
+infinite amazement, and, as it were, the painful sensation of having
+been betrayed.
+
+Arnoux, while rummaging about in his drawer, began to smile. Was he
+laughing at him? The clerk laid down a bundle of moist papers on the
+table.
+
+"Ha! the placards," exclaimed the picture-dealer. "I am not ready to
+dine this evening."
+
+Regimbart took up his hat.
+
+"What, are you leaving me?"
+
+"Seven o'clock," said Regimbart.
+
+Frederick followed him.
+
+At the corner of the Rue Montmartre, he turned round. He glanced towards
+the windows of the first floor, and he laughed internally with self-pity
+as he recalled to mind with what love he had so often contemplated them.
+Where, then, did she reside? How was he to meet her now? Once more
+around the object of his desire a solitude opened more immense than
+ever!
+
+"Are you coming to take it?" asked Regimbart.
+
+"To take what?"
+
+"The absinthe."
+
+And, yielding to his importunities, Frederick allowed himself to be led
+towards the Bordelais smoking-divan. Whilst his companion, leaning on
+his elbow, was staring at the decanter, he was turning his eyes to the
+right and to the left. But he caught a glimpse of Pellerin's profile on
+the footpath outside; the painter gave a quick tap at the window-pane,
+and he had scarcely sat down when Regimbart asked him why they no longer
+saw him at the office of _L'Art Industriel_.
+
+"May I perish before ever I go back there again. The fellow is a brute,
+a mere tradesman, a wretch, a downright rogue!"
+
+These insulting words harmonised with Frederick's present angry mood.
+Nevertheless, he was wounded, for it seemed to him that they hit at
+Madame Arnoux more or less.
+
+"Why, what has he done to you?" said Regimbart.
+
+Pellerin stamped with his foot on the ground, and his only response was
+an energetic puff.
+
+He had been devoting himself to artistic work of a kind that he did not
+care to connect his name with, such as portraits for two crayons, or
+pasticcios from the great masters for amateurs of limited knowledge;
+and, as he felt humiliated by these inferior productions, he preferred
+to hold his tongue on the subject as a general rule. But "Arnoux's dirty
+conduct" exasperated him too much. He had to relieve his feelings.
+
+In accordance with an order, which had been given in Frederick's very
+presence, he had brought Arnoux two pictures. Thereupon the dealer took
+the liberty of criticising them. He found fault with the composition,
+the colouring, and the drawing--above all the drawing; he would not, in
+short, take them at any price. But, driven to extremities by a bill
+falling due, Pellerin had to give them to the Jew Isaac; and, a
+fortnight later, Arnoux himself sold them to a Spaniard for two thousand
+francs.
+
+"Not a sou less! What rascality! and, faith, he has done many other
+things just as bad. One of these mornings we'll see him in the dock!"
+
+"How you exaggerate!" said Frederick, in a timid voice.
+
+"Come, now, that's good; I exaggerate!" exclaimed the artist, giving the
+table a great blow with his fist.
+
+This violence had the effect of completely restoring the young man's
+self-command. No doubt he might have acted more nicely; still, if Arnoux
+found these two pictures----
+
+"Bad! say it out! Are you a judge of them? Is this your profession? Now,
+you know, my youngster, I don't allow this sort of thing on the part of
+mere amateurs."
+
+"Ah! well, it's not my business," said Frederick.
+
+"Then, what interest have you in defending him?" returned Pellerin,
+coldly.
+
+The young man faltered:
+
+"But--since I am his friend----"
+
+"Go, and give him a hug for me. Good evening!"
+
+And the painter rushed away in a rage, and, of course, without paying
+for his drink.
+
+Frederick, whilst defending Arnoux, had convinced himself. In the heat
+of his eloquence, he was filled with tenderness towards this man, so
+intelligent and kind, whom his friends calumniated, and who had now to
+work all alone, abandoned by them. He could not resist a strange impulse
+to go at once and see him again. Ten minutes afterwards he pushed open
+the door of the picture-warehouse.
+
+Arnoux was preparing, with the assistance of his clerks, some huge
+placards for an exhibition of pictures.
+
+"Halloa! what brings you back again?"
+
+This question, simple though it was, embarrassed Frederick, and, at a
+loss for an answer, he asked whether they had happened to find a
+notebook of his--a little notebook with a blue leather cover.
+
+"The one that you put your letters to women in?" said Arnoux.
+
+Frederick, blushing like a young girl, protested against such an
+assumption.
+
+"Your verses, then?" returned the picture-dealer.
+
+He handled the pictorial specimens that were to be exhibited,
+discovering their form, colouring, and frames; and Frederick felt more
+and more irritated by his air of abstraction, and particularly by the
+appearance of his hands--large hands, rather soft, with flat nails. At
+length, M. Arnoux arose, and saying, "That's disposed of!" he chucked
+the young man familiarly under the chin. Frederick was offended at this
+liberty, and recoiled a pace or two; then he made a dash for the
+shop-door, and passed out through it, as he imagined, for the last time
+in his life. Madame Arnoux herself had been lowered by the vulgarity of
+her husband.
+
+During the same week he got a letter from Deslauriers, informing him
+that the clerk would be in Paris on the following Thursday. Then he
+flung himself back violently on this affection as one of a more solid
+and lofty character. A man of this sort was worth all the women in the
+world. He would no longer have any need of Regimbart, of Pellerin, of
+Hussonnet, of anyone! In order to provide his friend with as comfortable
+lodgings as possible, he bought an iron bedstead and a second armchair,
+and stripped off some of his own bed-covering to garnish this one
+properly. On Thursday morning he was dressing himself to go to meet
+Deslauriers when there was a ring at the door.
+
+Arnoux entered.
+
+"Just one word. Yesterday I got a lovely trout from Geneva. We expect
+you by-and-by--at seven o'clock sharp. The address is the Rue de
+Choiseul 24 _bis_. Don't forget!"
+
+Frederick was obliged to sit down; his knees were tottering under him.
+He repeated to himself, "At last! at last!" Then he wrote to his
+tailor, to his hatter, and to his bootmaker; and he despatched these
+three notes by three different messengers.
+
+The key turned in the lock, and the door-keeper appeared with a trunk on
+his shoulder.
+
+Frederick, on seeing Deslauriers, began to tremble like an adulteress
+under the glance of her husband.
+
+"What has happened to you?" said Deslauriers. "Surely you got my
+letter?"
+
+Frederick had not enough energy left to lie. He opened his arms, and
+flung himself on his friend's breast.
+
+Then the clerk told his story. His father thought to avoid giving an
+account of the expense of tutelage, fancying that the period limited for
+rendering such accounts was ten years; but, well up in legal procedure,
+Deslauriers had managed to get the share coming to him from his mother
+into his clutches--seven thousand francs clear--which he had there with
+him in an old pocket-book.
+
+"'Tis a reserve fund, in case of misfortune. I must think over the best
+way of investing it, and find quarters for myself to-morrow morning.
+To-day I'm perfectly free, and am entirely at your service, my old
+friend."
+
+"Oh! don't put yourself about," said Frederick. "If you had anything of
+importance to do this evening----"
+
+"Come, now! I would be a selfish wretch----"
+
+This epithet, flung out at random, touched Frederick to the quick, like
+a reproachful hint.
+
+The door-keeper had placed on the table close to the fire some chops,
+cold meat, a large lobster, some sweets for dessert, and two bottles of
+Bordeaux.
+
+Deslauriers was touched by these excellent preparations to welcome his
+arrival.
+
+"Upon my word, you are treating me like a king!"
+
+They talked about their past and about the future; and, from time to
+time, they grasped each other's hands across the table, gazing at each
+other tenderly for a moment.
+
+But a messenger came with a new hat. Deslauriers, in a loud tone,
+remarked that this head-gear was very showy. Next came the tailor
+himself to fit on the coat, to which he had given a touch with the
+smoothing-iron.
+
+"One would imagine you were going to be married," said Deslauriers.
+
+An hour later, a third individual appeared on the scene, and drew forth
+from a big black bag a pair of shining patent leather boots. While
+Frederick was trying them on, the bootmaker slyly drew attention to the
+shoes of the young man from the country.
+
+"Does Monsieur require anything?"
+
+"Thanks," replied the clerk, pulling behind his chair his old shoes
+fastened with strings.
+
+This humiliating incident annoyed Frederick. At length he exclaimed, as
+if an idea had suddenly taken possession of him:
+
+"Ha! deuce take it! I was forgetting."
+
+"What is it, pray?"
+
+"I have to dine in the city this evening."
+
+"At the Dambreuses'? Why did you never say anything to me about them in
+your letters?"
+
+"It is not at the Dambreuses', but at the Arnoux's."
+
+"You should have let me know beforehand," said Deslauriers. "I would
+have come a day later."
+
+"Impossible," returned Frederick, abruptly. "I only got the invitation
+this morning, a little while ago."
+
+And to redeem his error and distract his friend's mind from the
+occurrence, he proceeded to unfasten the tangled cords round the trunk,
+and to arrange all his belongings in the chest of drawers, expressed his
+willingness to give him his own bed, and offered to sleep himself in the
+dressing-room bedstead. Then, as soon as it was four o'clock, he began
+the preparations for his toilet.
+
+"You have plenty of time," said the other.
+
+At last he was dressed and off he went.
+
+"That's the way with the rich," thought Deslauriers.
+
+And he went to dine in the Rue Saint-Jacques, at a little restaurant
+kept by a man he knew.
+
+Frederick stopped several times while going up the stairs, so violently
+did his heart beat. One of his gloves, which was too tight, burst, and,
+while he was fastening back the torn part under his shirt-cuff, Arnoux,
+who was mounting the stairs behind him, took his arm and led him in.
+
+The anteroom, decorated in the Chinese fashion, had a painted lantern
+hanging from the ceiling, and bamboos in the corners. As he was passing
+into the drawing-room, Frederick stumbled against a tiger's skin. The
+place had not yet been lighted up, but two lamps were burning in the
+boudoir in the far corner.
+
+Mademoiselle Marthe came to announce that her mamma was dressing. Arnoux
+raised her as high as his mouth in order to kiss her; then, as he wished
+to go to the cellar himself to select certain bottles of wine, he left
+Frederick with the little girl.
+
+She had grown much larger since the trip in the steamboat. Her dark hair
+descended in long ringlets, which curled over her bare arms. Her dress,
+more puffed out than the petticoat of a _danseuse_, allowed her rosy
+calves to be seen, and her pretty childlike form had all the fresh odour
+of a bunch of flowers. She received the young gentleman's compliments
+with a coquettish air, fixed on him her large, dreamy eyes, then
+slipping on the carpet amid the furniture, disappeared like a cat.
+
+After this he no longer felt ill at ease. The globes of the lamps,
+covered with a paper lace-work, sent forth a white light, softening the
+colour of the walls, hung with mauve satin. Through the fender-bars, as
+through the slits in a big fan, the coal could be seen in the fireplace,
+and close beside the clock there was a little chest with silver clasps.
+Here and there things lay about which gave the place a look of home--a
+doll in the middle of the sofa, a fichu against the back of a chair, and
+on the work-table a knitted woollen vest, from which two ivory needles
+were hanging with their points downwards. It was altogether a peaceful
+spot, suggesting the idea of propriety and innocent family life.
+
+Arnoux returned, and Madame Arnoux appeared at the other doorway. As she
+was enveloped in shadow, the young man could at first distinguish only
+her head. She wore a black velvet gown, and in her hair she had fastened
+a long Algerian cap, in a red silk net, which coiling round her comb,
+fell over her left shoulder.
+
+Arnoux introduced Frederick.
+
+"Oh! I remember Monsieur perfectly well," she responded.
+
+Then the guests arrived, nearly all at the same time--Dittmer, Lovarias,
+Burrieu, the composer Rosenwald, the poet Theophile Lorris, two art
+critics, colleagues of Hussonnet, a paper manufacturer, and in the rear
+the illustrious Pierre Paul Meinsius, the last representative of the
+grand school of painting, who blithely carried along with his glory his
+forty-five years and his big paunch.
+
+When they were passing into the dining-room, Madame Arnoux took his arm.
+A chair had been left vacant for Pellerin. Arnoux, though he took
+advantage of him, was fond of him. Besides, he was afraid of his
+terrible tongue, so much so, that, in order to soften him, he had given
+a portrait of him in _L'Art Industriel_, accompanied by exaggerated
+eulogies; and Pellerin, more sensitive about distinction than about
+money, made his appearance about eight o'clock quite out of breath.
+Frederick fancied that they had been a long time reconciled.
+
+He liked the company, the dishes, everything. The dining-room, which
+resembled a mediaeval parlour, was hung with stamped leather. A Dutch
+whatnot faced a rack for chibouks, and around the table the Bohemian
+glasses, variously coloured, had, in the midst of the flowers and
+fruits, the effect of an illumination in a garden.
+
+He had to make his choice between ten sorts of mustard. He partook of
+daspachio, of curry, of ginger, of Corsican blackbirds, and a species of
+Roman macaroni called lasagna; he drank extraordinary wines, lip-fraeli
+and tokay. Arnoux indeed prided himself on entertaining people in good
+style. With an eye to the procurement of eatables, he paid court to
+mail-coach drivers, and was in league with the cooks of great houses,
+who communicated to him the secrets of rare sauces.
+
+But Frederick was particularly amused by the conversation. His taste for
+travelling was tickled by Dittmer, who talked about the East; he
+gratified his curiosity about theatrical matters by listening to
+Rosenwald's chat about the opera; and the atrocious existence of Bohemia
+assumed for him a droll aspect when seen through the gaiety of
+Hussonnet, who related, in a picturesque fashion, how he had spent an
+entire winter with no food except Dutch cheese. Then, a discussion
+between Lovarias and Burrieu about the Florentine School gave him new
+ideas with regard to masterpieces, widened his horizon, and he found
+difficulty in restraining his enthusiasm when Pellerin exclaimed:
+
+"Don't bother me with your hideous reality! What does it mean--reality?
+Some see things black, others blue--the multitude sees them
+brute-fashion. There is nothing less natural than Michael Angelo; there
+is nothing more powerful! The anxiety about external truth is a mark of
+contemporary baseness; and art will become, if things go on that way, a
+sort of poor joke as much below religion as it is below poetry, and as
+much below politics as it is below business. You will never reach its
+end--yes, its end!--which is to cause within us an impersonal
+exaltation, with petty works, in spite of all your finished execution.
+Look, for instance, at Bassolier's pictures: they are pretty,
+coquettish, spruce, and by no means dull. You might put them into your
+pocket, bring them with you when you are travelling. Notaries buy them
+for twenty thousand francs, while pictures of the ideal type are sold
+for three sous. But, without ideality, there is no grandeur; without
+grandeur there is no beauty. Olympus is a mountain. The most swagger
+monument will always be the Pyramids. Exuberance is better than taste;
+the desert is better than a street-pavement, and a savage is better than
+a hairdresser!"
+
+Frederick, as these words fell upon his ear, glanced towards Madame
+Arnoux. They sank into his soul like metals falling into a furnace,
+added to his passion, and supplied the material of love.
+
+His chair was three seats below hers on the same side. From time to
+time, she bent forward a little, turning aside her head to address a few
+words to her little daughter; and as she smiled on these occasions, a
+dimple took shape in her cheek, giving to her face an expression of more
+dainty good-nature.
+
+As soon as the time came for the gentlemen to take their wine, she
+disappeared. The conversation became more free and easy. M. Arnoux shone
+in it, and Frederick was astonished at the cynicism of men. However,
+their preoccupation with woman established between them and him, as it
+were, an equality, which raised him in his own estimation.
+
+When they had returned to the drawing-room, he took up, to keep himself
+in countenance, one of the albums which lay about on the table. The
+great artists of the day had illustrated them with drawings, had written
+in them snatches of verse or prose, or their signatures simply. In the
+midst of famous names he found many that he had never heard of before,
+and original thoughts appeared only underneath a flood of nonsense. All
+these effusions contained a more or less direct expression of homage
+towards Madame Arnoux. Frederick would have been afraid to write a line
+beside them.
+
+She went into her boudoir to look at the little chest with silver clasps
+which he had noticed on the mantel-shelf. It was a present from her
+husband, a work of the Renaissance. Arnoux's friends complimented him,
+and his wife thanked him. His tender emotions were aroused, and before
+all the guests he gave her a kiss.
+
+After this they all chatted in groups here and there. The worthy
+Meinsius was with Madame Arnoux on an easy chair close beside the fire.
+She was leaning forward towards his ear; their heads were just touching,
+and Frederick would have been glad to become deaf, infirm, and ugly if,
+instead, he had an illustrious name and white hair--in short, if he only
+happened to possess something which would install him in such intimate
+association with her. He began once more to eat out his heart, furious
+at the idea of being so young a man.
+
+But she came into the corner of the drawing-room in which he was
+sitting, asked him whether he was acquainted with any of the guests,
+whether he was fond of painting, how long he had been a student in
+Paris. Every word that came out of her mouth seemed to Frederick
+something entirely new, an exclusive appendage of her personality. He
+gazed attentively at the fringes of her head-dress, the ends of which
+caressed her bare shoulder, and he was unable to take away his eyes; he
+plunged his soul into the whiteness of that feminine flesh, and yet he
+did not venture to raise his eyelids to glance at her higher, face to
+face.
+
+Rosenwald interrupted them, begging of Madame Arnoux to sing something.
+He played a prelude, she waited, her lips opened slightly, and a sound,
+pure, long-continued, silvery, ascended into the air.
+
+Frederick did not understand a single one of the Italian words. The song
+began with a grave measure, something like church music, then in a more
+animated strain, with a crescendo movement, it broke into repeated
+bursts of sound, then suddenly subsided, and the melody came back again
+in a tender fashion with a wide and easy swing.
+
+She stood beside the keyboard with her arms hanging down and a far-off
+look on her face. Sometimes, in order to read the music, she advanced
+her forehead for a moment and her eyelashes moved to and fro. Her
+contralto voice in the low notes took a mournful intonation which had a
+chilling effect on the listener, and then her beautiful head, with those
+great brows of hers, bent over her shoulder; her bosom swelled; her eyes
+were wide apart; her neck, from which roulades made their escape, fell
+back as if under aerial kisses. She flung out three sharp notes, came
+down again, cast forth one higher still, and, after a silence, finished
+with an organ-point.
+
+Rosenwald did not leave the piano. He continued playing, to amuse
+himself. From time to time a guest stole away. At eleven o'clock, as the
+last of them were going off, Arnoux went out along with Pellerin, under
+the pretext of seeing him home. He was one of those people who say that
+they are ill when they do not "take a turn" after dinner. Madame Arnoux
+had made her way towards the anteroom. Dittmer and Hussonnet bowed to
+her. She stretched out her hand to them. She did the same to Frederick;
+and he felt, as it were, something penetrating every particle of his
+skin.
+
+He quitted his friends. He wished to be alone. His heart was
+overflowing. Why had she offered him her hand? Was it a thoughtless
+act, or an encouragement? "Come now! I am mad!" Besides, what did it
+matter, when he could now visit her entirely at his ease, live in the
+very atmosphere she breathed?
+
+The streets were deserted. Now and then a heavy wagon would roll past,
+shaking the pavements. The houses came one after another with their grey
+fronts, their closed windows; and he thought with disdain of all those
+human beings who lived behind those walls without having seen her, and
+not one of whom dreamed of her existence. He had no consciousness of his
+surroundings, of space, of anything, and striking the ground with his
+heel, rapping with his walking-stick on the shutters of the shops, he
+kept walking on continually at random, in a state of excitement, carried
+away by his emotions. Suddenly he felt himself surrounded by a circle of
+damp air, and found that he was on the edge of the quays.
+
+The gas-lamps shone in two straight lines, which ran on endlessly, and
+long red flames flickered in the depths of the water. The waves were
+slate-coloured, while the sky, which was of clearer hue, seemed to be
+supported by vast masses of shadow that rose on each side of the river.
+The darkness was intensified by buildings whose outlines the eye could
+not distinguish. A luminous haze floated above the roofs further on. All
+the noises of the night had melted into a single monotonous hum.
+
+He stopped in the middle of the Pont Neuf, and, taking off his hat and
+exposing his chest, he drank in the air. And now he felt as if something
+that was inexhaustible were rising up from the very depths of his being,
+an afflux of tenderness that enervated him, like the motion of the
+waves under his eyes. A church-clock slowly struck one, like a voice
+calling out to him.
+
+Then, he was seized with one of those shuddering sensations of the soul
+in which one seems to be transported into a higher world. He felt, as it
+were, endowed with some extraordinary faculty, the aim of which he could
+not determine. He seriously asked himself whether he would be a great
+painter or a great poet; and he decided in favour of painting, for the
+exigencies of this profession would bring him into contact with Madame
+Arnoux. So, then, he had found his vocation! The object of his existence
+was now perfectly clear, and there could be no mistake about the future.
+
+When he had shut his door, he heard some one snoring in the dark closet
+near his apartment. It was his friend. He no longer bestowed a thought
+on him.
+
+His own face presented itself to his view in the glass. He thought
+himself handsome, and for a minute he remained gazing at himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"Love Knoweth No Laws."
+
+
+Before twelve o'clock next day he had bought a box of colours,
+paintbrushes, and an easel. Pellerin consented to give him lessons, and
+Frederick brought him to his lodgings to see whether anything was
+wanting among his painting utensils.
+
+Deslauriers had come back, and the second armchair was occupied by a
+young man. The clerk said, pointing towards him:
+
+"'Tis he! There he is! Senecal!" Frederick disliked this young man. His
+forehead was heightened by the way in which he wore his hair, cut
+straight like a brush. There was a certain hard, cold look in his grey
+eyes; and his long black coat, his entire costume, savoured of the
+pedagogue and the ecclesiastic.
+
+They first discussed topics of the hour, amongst others the _Stabat_ of
+Rossini. Senecal, in answer to a question, declared that he never went
+to the theatre.
+
+Pellerin opened the box of colours.
+
+"Are these all for you?" said the clerk.
+
+"Why, certainly!"
+
+"Well, really! What a notion!" And he leaned across the table, at which
+the mathematical tutor was turning over the leaves of a volume of Louis
+Blanc. He had brought it with him, and was reading passages from it in
+low tones, while Pellerin and Frederick were examining together the
+palette, the knife, and the bladders; then the talk came round to the
+dinner at Arnoux's.
+
+"The picture-dealer, is it?" asked Senecal. "A nice gentleman, truly!"
+
+"Why, now?" said Pellerin. Senecal replied:
+
+"A man who makes money by political turpitude!"
+
+And he went on to talk about a well-known lithograph, in which the Royal
+Family was all represented as being engaged in edifying occupations:
+Louis Philippe had a copy of the Code in his hand; the Queen had a
+Catholic prayer-book; the Princesses were embroidering; the Duc de
+Nemours was girding on a sword; M. de Joinville was showing a map to his
+young brothers; and at the end of the apartment could be seen a bed with
+two divisions. This picture, which was entitled "A Good Family," was a
+source of delight to commonplace middle-class people, but of grief to
+patriots.
+
+Pellerin, in a tone of vexation, as if he had been the producer of this
+work himself, observed by way of answer that every opinion had some
+value. Senecal protested: Art should aim exclusively at promoting
+morality amongst the masses! The only subjects that ought to be
+reproduced were those which impelled people to virtuous actions; all
+others were injurious.
+
+"But that depends on the execution," cried Pellerin. "I might produce
+masterpieces."
+
+"So much the worse for you, then; you have no right----"
+
+"What?"
+
+"No, monsieur, you have no right to excite my interest in matters of
+which I disapprove. What need have we of laborious trifles, from which
+it is impossible to derive any benefit--those Venuses, for instance,
+with all your landscapes? I see there no instruction for the people!
+Show us rather their miseries! arouse enthusiasm in us for their
+sacrifices! Ah, my God! there is no lack of subjects--the farm, the
+workshop----"
+
+Pellerin stammered forth his indignation at this, and, imagining that he
+had found an argument:
+
+"Moliere, do you accept him?"
+
+"Certainly!" said Senecal. "I admire him as the precursor of the French
+Revolution."
+
+"Ha! the Revolution! What art! Never was there a more pitiable epoch!"
+
+"None greater, Monsieur!"
+
+Pellerin folded his arms, and looking at him straight in the face:
+
+"You have the appearance of a famous member of the National Guard!"
+
+His opponent, accustomed to discussions, responded:
+
+"I am not, and I detest it just as much as you. But with such principles
+we corrupt the crowd. This sort of thing, however, is profitable to the
+Government. It would not be so powerful but for the complicity of a lot
+of rogues of that sort."
+
+The painter took up the defence of the picture-dealer, for Senecal's
+opinions exasperated him. He even went so far as to maintain that Arnoux
+was really a man with a heart of gold, devoted to his friends, deeply
+attached to his wife.
+
+"Oho! if you offered him a good sum, he would not refuse to let her
+serve as a model."
+
+Frederick turned pale.
+
+"So then, he has done you some great injury, Monsieur?"
+
+"Me? no! I saw him once at a cafe with a friend. That's all."
+
+Senecal had spoken truly. But he had his teeth daily set on edge by the
+announcements in _L'Art Industriel_. Arnoux was for him the
+representative of a world which he considered fatal to democracy. An
+austere Republican, he suspected that there was something corrupt in
+every form of elegance, and the more so as he wanted nothing and was
+inflexible in his integrity.
+
+They found some difficulty in resuming the conversation. The painter
+soon recalled to mind his appointment, the tutor his pupils; and, when
+they had gone, after a long silence, Deslauriers asked a number of
+questions about Arnoux.
+
+"You will introduce me there later, will you not, old fellow?"
+
+"Certainly," said Frederick. Then they thought about settling
+themselves. Deslauriers had without much trouble obtained the post of
+second clerk in a solicitor's office; he had also entered his name for
+the terms at the Law School, and bought the indispensable books; and the
+life of which they had dreamed now began.
+
+It was delightful, owing to their youth, which made everything assume a
+beautiful aspect. As Deslauriers had said nothing as to any pecuniary
+arrangement, Frederick did not refer to the subject. He helped to defray
+all the expenses, kept the cupboard well stocked, and looked after all
+the household requirements; but if it happened to be desirable to give
+the door-keeper a rating, the clerk took that on his own shoulders,
+still playing the part, which he had assumed in their college days, of
+protector and senior.
+
+Separated all day long, they met again in the evening. Each took his
+place at the fireside and set about his work. But ere long it would be
+interrupted. Then would follow endless outpourings, unaccountable bursts
+of merriment, and occasional disputes about the lamp flaring too much or
+a book being mislaid, momentary ebullitions of anger which subsided in
+hearty laughter.
+
+While in bed they left open the door of the little room where
+Deslauriers slept, and kept chattering to each other from a distance.
+
+In the morning they walked in their shirt-sleeves on the terrace. The
+sun rose; light vapours passed over the river. From the flower-market
+close beside them the noise of screaming reached their ears; and the
+smoke from their pipes whirled round in the clear air, which was
+refreshing to their eyes still puffed from sleep. While they inhaled it,
+their hearts swelled with great expectations.
+
+When it was not raining on Sunday they went out together, and, arm in
+arm, they sauntered through the streets. The same reflection nearly
+always occurred to them at the same time, or else they would go on
+chatting without noticing anything around them. Deslauriers longed for
+riches, as a means for gaining power over men. He was anxious to possess
+an influence over a vast number of people, to make a great noise, to
+have three secretaries under his command, and to give a big political
+dinner once a month.
+
+Frederick would have furnished for himself a palace in the Moorish
+fashion, to spend his life reclining on cashmere divans, to the murmur
+of a jet of water, attended by negro pages. And these things, of which
+he had only dreamed, became in the end so definite that they made him
+feel as dejected as if he had lost them.
+
+"What is the use of talking about all these things," said he, "when
+we'll never have them?"
+
+"Who knows?" returned Deslauriers.
+
+In spite of his democratic views, he urged Frederick to get an
+introduction into the Dambreuses' house.
+
+The other, by way of objection, pointed to the failure of his previous
+attempts.
+
+"Bah! go back there. They'll give you an invitation!"
+
+Towards the close of the month of March, they received amongst other
+bills of a rather awkward description that of the restaurant-keeper who
+supplied them with dinners. Frederick, not having the entire amount,
+borrowed a hundred crowns from Deslauriers. A fortnight afterwards, he
+renewed the same request, and the clerk administered a lecture to him on
+the extravagant habits to which he gave himself up in the Arnoux's
+society.
+
+As a matter of fact, he put no restraint upon himself in this respect. A
+view of Venice, a view of Naples, and another of Constantinople
+occupying the centre of three walls respectively, equestrian subjects by
+Alfred de Dreux here and there, a group by Pradier over the mantelpiece,
+numbers of _L'Art Industriel_ lying on the piano, and works in boards on
+the floor in the corners, encumbered the apartment which he occupied to
+such an extent that it was hard to find a place to lay a book on, or to
+move one's elbows about freely. Frederick maintained that he needed all
+this for his painting.
+
+He pursued his art-studies under Pellerin. But when he called on the
+artist, the latter was often out, being accustomed to attend at every
+funeral and public occurrence of which an account was given in the
+newspapers, and so it was that Frederick spent entire hours alone in the
+studio. The quietude of this spacious room, which nothing disturbed save
+the scampering of the mice, the light falling from the ceiling, or the
+hissing noise of the stove, made him sink into a kind of intellectual
+ease. Then his eyes, wandering away from the task at which he was
+engaged, roamed over the shell-work on the wall, around the objects of
+virtu on the whatnot, along the torsos on which the dust that had
+collected made, as it were, shreds of velvet; and, like a traveller who
+has lost his way in the middle of a wood, and whom every path brings
+back to the same spot, continually, he found underlying every idea in
+his mind the recollection of Madame Arnoux.
+
+He selected days for calling on her. When he had reached the second
+floor, he would pause on the threshold, hesitating as to whether he
+ought to ring or not. Steps drew nigh, the door opened, and the
+announcement "Madame is gone out," a sense of relief would come upon
+him, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. He met her, however.
+On the first occasion there were three other ladies with her; the next
+time it was in the afternoon, and Mademoiselle Marthe's writing-master
+came on the scene. Besides, the men whom Madame Arnoux received were
+not very punctilious about paying visits. For the sake of prudence he
+deemed it better not to call again.
+
+But he did not fail to present himself regularly at the office of _L'Art
+Industriel_ every Wednesday in order to get an invitation to the
+Thursday dinners, and he remained there after all the others, even
+longer than Regimbart, up to the last moment, pretending to be looking
+at an engraving or to be running his eye through a newspaper. At last
+Arnoux would say to him, "Shall you be disengaged to-morrow evening?"
+and, before the sentence was finished, he would give an affirmative
+answer. Arnoux appeared to have taken a fancy to him. He showed him how
+to become a good judge of wines, how to make hot punch, and how to
+prepare a woodcock ragout. Frederick followed his advice with docility,
+feeling an attachment to everything connected with Madame Arnoux--her
+furniture, her servants, her house, her street.
+
+During these dinners he scarcely uttered a word; he kept gazing at her.
+She had a little mole close to her temple. Her head-bands were darker
+than the rest of her hair, and were always a little moist at the edges;
+from time to time she stroked them with only two fingers. He knew the
+shape of each of her nails. He took delight in listening to the rustle
+of her silk skirt as she swept past doors; he stealthily inhaled the
+perfume that came from her handkerchief; her comb, her gloves, her rings
+were for him things of special interest, important as works of art,
+almost endowed with life like individuals; all took possession of his
+heart and strengthened his passion.
+
+He had not been sufficiently self-contained to conceal it from
+Deslauriers. When he came home from Madame Arnoux's, he would wake up
+his friend, as if inadvertently, in order to have an opportunity of
+talking about her.
+
+Deslauriers, who slept in the little off-room, close to where they had
+their water-supply, would give a great yawn. Frederick seated himself on
+the side of the bed. At first, he spoke about the dinner; then he
+referred to a thousand petty details, in which he saw marks of contempt
+or of affection. On one occasion, for instance, she had refused his arm,
+in order to take Dittmer's; and Frederick gave vent to his humiliation:
+
+"Ah! how stupid!"
+
+Or else she had called him her "dear friend."
+
+"Then go after her gaily!"
+
+"But I dare not do that," said Frederick.
+
+"Well, then, think no more about her! Good night!"
+
+Deslauriers thereupon turned on his side, and fell asleep. He felt
+utterly unable to comprehend this love, which seemed to him the last
+weakness of adolescence; and, as his own society was apparently not
+enough to content Frederick, he conceived the idea of bringing together,
+once a week, those whom they both recognised as friends.
+
+They came on Saturday about nine o'clock. The three Algerine curtains
+were carefully drawn. The lamp and four wax-lights were burning. In the
+middle of the table the tobacco-pot, filled with pipes, displayed itself
+between the beer-bottles, the tea-pot, a flagon of rum, and some fancy
+biscuits.
+
+They discussed the immortality of the soul, and drew comparisons between
+the different professors.
+
+One evening Hussonnet introduced a tall young man, attired in a
+frock-coat, too short in the wrists, and with a look of embarrassment in
+his face. It was the young fellow whom they had gone to release from
+the guard-house the year before.
+
+As he had not been able to restore the box of lace which he had lost in
+the scuffle, his employer had accused him of theft, and threatened to
+prosecute him. He was now a clerk in a wagon-office. Hussonnet had come
+across him that morning at the corner of the street, and brought him
+along, for Dussardier, in a spirit of gratitude, had expressed a wish to
+see "the other."
+
+He stretched out towards Frederick the cigar-holder, still full, which
+he had religiously preserved, in the hope of being able to give it back.
+The young men invited him to pay them a second visit; and he was not
+slow in doing so.
+
+They all had sympathies in common. At first, their hatred of the
+Government reached the height of an unquestionable dogma. Martinon alone
+attempted to defend Louis Philippe. They overwhelmed him with the
+commonplaces scattered through the newspapers--the "Bastillization" of
+Paris, the September laws, Pritchard, Lord Guizot--so that Martinon held
+his tongue for fear of giving offence to somebody. During his seven
+years at college he had never incurred the penalty of an imposition, and
+at the Law School he knew how to make himself agreeable to the
+professors. He usually wore a big frock-coat of the colour of putty,
+with india-rubber goloshes; but one evening he presented himself arrayed
+like a bridegroom, in a velvet roll-collar waistcoat, a white tie, and a
+gold chain.
+
+The astonishment of the other young men was greatly increased when they
+learned that he had just come away from M. Dambreuse's house. In fact,
+the banker Dambreuse had just bought a portion of an extensive wood
+from Martinon senior; and, when the worthy man introduced his son, the
+other had invited them both to dinner.
+
+"Was there a good supply of truffles there?" asked Deslauriers. "And did
+you take his wife by the waist between the two doors, _sicut decet_?"
+
+Hereupon the conversation turned on women. Pellerin would not admit that
+there were beautiful women (he preferred tigers); besides the human
+female was an inferior creature in the aesthetic hierarchy.
+
+"What fascinates you is just the very thing that degrades her as an
+idea; I mean her breasts, her hair----"
+
+"Nevertheless," urged Frederick, "long black hair and large dark
+eyes----"
+
+"Oh! we know all about that," cried Hussonnet. "Enough of Andalusian
+beauties on the lawn. Those things are out of date; no thank you! For
+the fact is, honour bright! a fast woman is more amusing than the Venus
+of Milo. Let us be Gallic, in Heaven's name, and after the Regency
+style, if we can!
+
+    'Flow, generous wines; ladies, deign to smile!'[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: _Coules, bons vins; femmes, deignez sourire._]
+
+We must pass from the dark to the fair. Is that your opinion, Father
+Dussardier?"
+
+Dussardier did not reply. They all pressed him to ascertain what his
+tastes were.
+
+"Well," said he, colouring, "for my part, I would like to love the same
+one always!"
+
+This was said in such a way that there was a moment of silence, some of
+them being surprised at this candour, and others finding in his words,
+perhaps, the secret yearning of their souls.
+
+Senecal placed his glass of beer on the mantelpiece, and declared
+dogmatically that, as prostitution was tyrannical and marriage immoral,
+it was better to practice abstinence. Deslauriers regarded women as a
+source of amusement--nothing more. M. de Cisy looked upon them with the
+utmost dread.
+
+Brought up under the eyes of a grandmother who was a devotee, he found
+the society of those young fellows as alluring as a place of ill-repute
+and as instructive as the Sorbonne. They gave him lessons without stint;
+and so much zeal did he exhibit that he even wanted to smoke in spite of
+the qualms that upset him every time he made the experiment. Frederick
+paid him the greatest attention. He admired the shade of this young
+gentleman's cravat, the fur on his overcoat, and especially his boots,
+as thin as gloves, and so very neat and fine that they had a look of
+insolent superiority. His carriage used to wait for him below in the
+street.
+
+One evening, after his departure, when there was a fall of snow, Senecal
+began to complain about his having a coachman. He declaimed against
+kid-gloved exquisites and against the Jockey Club. He had more respect
+for a workman than for these fine gentlemen.
+
+"For my part, anyhow, I work for my livelihood! I am a poor man!"
+
+"That's quite evident," said Frederick, at length, losing patience.
+
+The tutor conceived a grudge against him for this remark.
+
+But, as Regimbart said he knew Senecal pretty well, Frederick, wishing
+to be civil to a friend of the Arnoux, asked him to come to the
+Saturday meetings; and the two patriots were glad to be brought together
+in this way.
+
+However, they took opposite views of things.
+
+Senecal--who had a skull of the angular type--fixed his attention merely
+on systems, whereas Regimbart, on the contrary, saw in facts nothing but
+facts. The thing that chiefly troubled him was the Rhine frontier. He
+claimed to be an authority on the subject of artillery, and got his
+clothes made by a tailor of the Polytechnic School.
+
+The first day, when they asked him to take some cakes, he disdainfully
+shrugged his shoulders, saying that these might suit women; and on the
+next few occasions his manner was not much more gracious. Whenever
+speculative ideas had reached a certain elevation, he would mutter: "Oh!
+no Utopias, no dreams!" On the subject of Art (though he used to visit
+the studios, where he occasionally out of complaisance gave a lesson in
+fencing) his opinions were not remarkable for their excellence. He
+compared the style of M. Marast to that of Voltaire, and Mademoiselle
+Vatnaz to Madame de Stael, on account of an Ode on Poland in which
+"there was some spirit." In short, Regimbart bored everyone, and
+especially Deslauriers, for the Citizen was a friend of the Arnoux
+family. Now the clerk was most anxious to visit those people in the hope
+that he might there make the acquaintance of some persons who would be
+an advantage to him.
+
+"When are you going to take me there with you?" he would say. Arnoux was
+either overburdened with business, or else starting on a journey. Then
+it was not worth while, as the dinners were coming to an end.
+
+If he had been called on to risk his life for his friend, Frederick
+would have done so. But, as he was desirous of making as good a figure
+as possible, and with this view was most careful about his language and
+manners, and so attentive to his costume that he always presented
+himself at the office of _L'Art Industriel_ irreproachably gloved, he
+was afraid that Deslauriers, with his shabby black coat, his
+attorney-like exterior, and his swaggering kind of talk, might make
+himself disagreeable to Madame Arnoux, and thus compromise him and lower
+him in her estimation. The other results would have been bad enough, but
+the last one would have annoyed him a thousand times more.
+
+The clerk saw that his friend did not wish to keep his promise, and
+Frederick's silence seemed to him an aggravation of the insult. He would
+have liked to exercise absolute control over him, to see him developing
+in accordance with the ideal of their youth; and his inactivity excited
+the clerk's indignation as a breach of duty and a want of loyalty
+towards himself. Moreover, Frederick, with his thoughts full of Madame
+Arnoux, frequently talked about her husband; and Deslauriers now began
+an intolerable course of boredom by repeating the name a hundred times a
+day, at the end of each remark, like the parrot-cry of an idiot.
+
+When there was a knock at the door, he would answer, "Come in, Arnoux!"
+At the restaurant he asked for a Brie cheese "in imitation of Arnoux,"
+and at night, pretending to wake up from a bad dream, he would rouse his
+comrade by howling out, "Arnoux! Arnoux!" At last Frederick, worn out,
+said to him one day, in a piteous voice:
+
+"Oh! don't bother me about Arnoux!"
+
+"Never!" replied the clerk:
+
+    "He always, everywhere, burning or icy cold,
+    The pictured form of Arnoux----"[3]
+
+[Footnote 3: _Toujours lui! lui partout! ou brulante ou glacee, L'image
+de l'Arnoux._]
+
+"Hold your tongue, I tell you!" exclaimed Frederick, raising his fist.
+
+Then less angrily he added:
+
+"You know well this is a painful subject to me."
+
+"Oh! forgive me, old fellow," returned Deslauriers with a very low bow.
+"From this time forth we will be considerate towards Mademoiselle's
+nerves. Again, I say, forgive me. A thousand pardons!"
+
+And so this little joke came to an end.
+
+But, three weeks later, one evening, Deslauriers said to him:
+
+"Well, I have just seen Madame Arnoux."
+
+"Where, pray?"
+
+"At the Palais, with Balandard, the solicitor. A dark woman, is she not,
+of the middle height?"
+
+Frederick made a gesture of assent. He waited for Deslauriers to speak.
+At the least expression of admiration he would have been most effusive,
+and would have fairly hugged the other. However, Deslauriers remained
+silent. At last, unable to contain himself any longer, Frederick, with
+assumed indifference, asked him what he thought of her.
+
+Deslauriers considered that "she was not so bad, but still nothing
+extraordinary."
+
+"Ha! you think so," said Frederick.
+
+They soon reached the month of August, the time when he was to present
+himself for his second examination. According to the prevailing opinion,
+the subjects could be made up in a fortnight. Frederick, having full
+confidence in his own powers, swallowed up in a trice the first four
+books of the Code of Procedure, the first three of the Penal Code, many
+bits of the system of criminal investigation, and a part of the Civil
+Code, with the annotations of M. Poncelet. The night before, Deslauriers
+made him run through the whole course, a process which did not finish
+till morning, and, in order to take advantage of even the last quarter
+of an hour, continued questioning him while they walked along the
+footpath together.
+
+As several examinations were taking place at the same time, there were
+many persons in the precincts, and amongst others Hussonnet and Cisy:
+young men never failed to come and watch these ordeals when the fortunes
+of their comrades were at stake.
+
+Frederick put on the traditional black gown; then, followed by the
+throng, with three other students, he entered a spacious apartment, into
+which the light penetrated through uncurtained windows, and which was
+garnished with benches ranged along the walls. In the centre, leather
+chairs were drawn round a table adorned with a green cover. This
+separated the candidates from the examiners in their red gowns and
+ermine shoulder-knots, the head examiners wearing gold-laced flat caps.
+
+Frederick found himself the last but one in the series--an unfortunate
+place. In answer to the first question, as to the difference between a
+convention and a contract, he defined the one as if it were the other;
+and the professor, who was a fair sort of man, said to him, "Don't be
+agitated, Monsieur! Compose yourself!" Then, having asked two easy
+questions, which were answered in a doubtful fashion, he passed on at
+last to the fourth. This wretched beginning made Frederick lose his
+head. Deslauriers, who was facing him amongst the spectators, made a
+sign to him to indicate that it was not a hopeless case yet; and at the
+second batch of questions, dealing with the criminal law, he came out
+tolerably well. But, after the third, with reference to the "mystic
+will," the examiner having remained impassive the whole time, his mental
+distress redoubled; for Hussonnet brought his hands together as if to
+applaud, whilst Deslauriers liberally indulged in shrugs of the
+shoulders. Finally, the moment was reached when it was necessary to be
+examined on Procedure. The professor, displeased at listening to
+theories opposed to his own, asked him in a churlish tone:
+
+"And so this is your view, monsieur? How do you reconcile the principle
+of article 1351 of the Civil Code with this application by a third party
+to set aside a judgment by default?"
+
+Frederick had a great headache from not having slept the night before. A
+ray of sunlight, penetrating through one of the slits in a Venetian
+blind, fell on his face. Standing behind the seat, he kept wriggling
+about and tugging at his moustache.
+
+"I am still awaiting your answer," the man with the gold-edged cap
+observed.
+
+And as Frederick's movements, no doubt, irritated him:
+
+"You won't find it in that moustache of yours!"
+
+This sarcasm made the spectators laugh. The professor, feeling
+flattered, adopted a wheedling tone. He put two more questions with
+reference to adjournment and summary jurisdiction, then nodded his head
+by way of approval. The examination was over. Frederick retired into the
+vestibule.
+
+While an usher was taking off his gown, to draw it over some other
+person immediately afterwards, his friends gathered around him, and
+succeeded in fairly bothering him with their conflicting opinions as to
+the result of his examination. Presently the announcement was made in a
+sonorous voice at the entrance of the hall: "The third was--put off!"
+
+"Sent packing!" said Hussonnet. "Let us go away!"
+
+In front of the door-keeper's lodge they met Martinon, flushed, excited,
+with a smile on his face and the halo of victory around his brow. He had
+just passed his final examination without any impediment. All he had now
+to do was the thesis. Before a fortnight he would be a licentiate. His
+family enjoyed the acquaintance of a Minister; "a beautiful career" was
+opening before him.
+
+"All the same, this puts you into a mess," said Deslauriers.
+
+There is nothing so humiliating as to see blockheads succeed in
+undertakings in which we fail. Frederick, filled with vexation, replied
+that he did not care a straw about the matter. He had higher
+pretensions; and as Hussonnet made a show of leaving, Frederick took him
+aside, and said to him:
+
+"Not a word about this to them, mind!"
+
+It was easy to keep it secret, since Arnoux was starting the next
+morning for Germany.
+
+When he came back in the evening the clerk found his friend singularly
+altered: he danced about and whistled; and the other was astonished at
+this capricious change of mood. Frederick declared that he did not
+intend to go home to his mother, as he meant to spend his holidays
+working.
+
+At the news of Arnoux's departure, a feeling of delight had taken
+possession of him. He might present himself at the house whenever he
+liked without any fear of having his visits broken in upon. The
+consciousness of absolute security would make him self-confident. At
+last he would not stand aloof, he would not be separated from her!
+Something more powerful than an iron chain attached him to Paris; a
+voice from the depths of his heart called out to him to remain.
+
+There were certain obstacles in his path. These he got over by writing
+to his mother: he first of all admitted that he had failed to pass,
+owing to alterations made in the course--a mere mischance--an unfair
+thing; besides, all the great advocates (he referred to them by name)
+had been rejected at their examinations. But he calculated on presenting
+himself again in the month of November. Now, having no time to lose, he
+would not go home this year; and he asked, in addition to the quarterly
+allowance, for two hundred and fifty francs, to get coached in law by a
+private tutor, which would be of great assistance to him; and he threw
+around the entire epistle a garland of regrets, condolences, expressions
+of endearment, and protestations of filial love.
+
+Madame Moreau, who had been expecting him the following day, was doubly
+grieved. She threw a veil over her son's misadventure, and in answer
+told him to "come all the same." Frederick would not give way, and the
+result was a falling out between them. However, at the end of the week,
+he received the amount of the quarter's allowance together with the sum
+required for the payment of the private tutor, which helped to pay for
+a pair of pearl-grey trousers, a white felt hat, and a gold-headed
+switch. When he had procured all these things he thought:
+
+"Perhaps this is only a hairdresser's fancy on my part!"
+
+And a feeling of considerable hesitation took possession of him.
+
+In order to make sure as to whether he ought to call on Madame Arnoux,
+he tossed three coins into the air in succession. On each occasion luck
+was in his favour. So then Fate must have ordained it. He hailed a cab
+and drove to the Rue de Choiseul.
+
+He quickly ascended the staircase and drew the bell-pull, but without
+effect. He felt as if he were about to faint.
+
+Then, with fierce energy, he shook the heavy silk tassel. There was a
+resounding peal which gradually died away till no further sound was
+heard. Frederick got rather frightened.
+
+He pasted his ear to the door--not a breath! He looked in through the
+key-hole, and only saw two reed-points on the wall-paper in the midst of
+designs of flowers. At last, he was on the point of going away when he
+changed his mind. This time, he gave a timid little ring. The door flew
+open, and Arnoux himself appeared on the threshold, with his hair all in
+disorder, his face crimson, and his features distorted by an expression
+of sullen embarrassment.
+
+"Hallo! What the deuce brings you here? Come in!"
+
+He led Frederick, not into the boudoir or into the bedroom, but into the
+dining-room, where on the table could be seen a bottle of champagne and
+two glasses; and, in an abrupt tone:
+
+"There is something you want to ask me, my dear friend?"
+
+"No! nothing! nothing!" stammered the young man, trying to think of some
+excuse for his visit. At length, he said to Arnoux that he had called to
+know whether they had heard from him, as Hussonnet had announced that he
+had gone to Germany.
+
+"Not at all!" returned Arnoux. "What a feather-headed fellow that is to
+take everything in the wrong way!"
+
+In order to conceal his agitation, Frederick kept walking from right to
+left in the dining-room. Happening to come into contact with a chair, he
+knocked down a parasol which had been laid across it, and the ivory
+handle got broken.
+
+"Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "How sorry I am for having broken Madame
+Arnoux's parasol!"
+
+At this remark, the picture-dealer raised his head and smiled in a very
+peculiar fashion. Frederick, taking advantage of the opportunity thus
+offered to talk about her, added shyly:
+
+"Could I not see her?"
+
+No. She had gone to the country to see her mother, who was ill.
+
+He did not venture to ask any questions as to the length of time that
+she would be away. He merely enquired what was Madame Arnoux's native
+place.
+
+"Chartres. Does this astonish you?"
+
+"Astonish me? Oh, no! Why should it! Not in the least!"
+
+After that, they could find absolutely nothing to talk about. Arnoux,
+having made a cigarette for himself, kept walking round the table,
+puffing. Frederick, standing near the stove, stared at the walls, the
+whatnot, and the floor; and delightful pictures flitted through his
+memory, or, rather, before his eyes. Then he left the apartment.
+
+A piece of a newspaper, rolled up into a ball, lay on the floor in the
+anteroom. Arnoux snatched it up, and, raising himself on the tips of his
+toes, he stuck it into the bell, in order, as he said, that he might be
+able to go and finish his interrupted siesta. Then, as he grasped
+Frederick's hand:
+
+"Kindly tell the porter that I am not in."
+
+And he shut the door after him with a bang.
+
+Frederick descended the staircase step by step. The ill-success of this
+first attempt discouraged him as to the possible results of those that
+might follow. Then began three months of absolute boredom. As he had
+nothing to do, his melancholy was aggravated by the want of occupation.
+
+He spent whole hours gazing from the top of his balcony at the river as
+it flowed between the quays, with their bulwarks of grey stone,
+blackened here and there by the seams of the sewers, with a pontoon of
+washerwomen moored close to the bank, where some brats were amusing
+themselves by making a water-spaniel swim in the slime. His eyes,
+turning aside from the stone bridge of Notre Dame and the three
+suspension bridges, continually directed their glance towards the
+Quai-aux-Ormes, resting on a group of old trees, resembling the
+linden-trees of the Montereau wharf. The Saint-Jacques tower, the Hotel
+de Ville, Saint-Gervais, Saint-Louis, and Saint-Paul, rose up in front
+of him amid a confused mass of roofs; and the genius of the July Column
+glittered at the eastern side like a large gold star, whilst at the
+other end the dome of the Tuileries showed its outlines against the sky
+in one great round mass of blue. Madame Arnoux's house must be on this
+side in the rear!
+
+He went back to his bedchamber; then, throwing himself on the sofa, he
+abandoned himself to a confused succession of thoughts--plans of work,
+schemes for the guidance of his conduct, attempts to divine the future.
+At last, in order to shake off broodings all about himself, he went out
+into the open air.
+
+He plunged at random into the Latin Quarter, usually so noisy, but
+deserted at this particular time, for the students had gone back to join
+their families. The huge walls of the colleges, which the silence seemed
+to lengthen, wore a still more melancholy aspect. All sorts of peaceful
+sounds could be heard--the flapping of wings in cages, the noise made by
+the turning of a lathe, or the strokes of a cobbler's hammer; and the
+old-clothes men, standing in the middle of the street, looked up at each
+house fruitlessly. In the interior of a solitary cafe the barmaid was
+yawning between her two full decanters. The newspapers were left
+undisturbed on the tables of reading-rooms. In the ironing
+establishments linen quivered under the puffs of tepid wind. From time
+to time he stopped to look at the window of a second-hand book-shop; an
+omnibus which grazed the footpath as it came rumbling along made him
+turn round; and, when he found himself before the Luxembourg, he went no
+further.
+
+Occasionally he was attracted towards the boulevards by the hope of
+finding there something that might amuse him. After he had passed
+through dark alleys, from which his nostrils were greeted by fresh moist
+odours, he reached vast, desolate, open spaces, dazzling with light, in
+which monuments cast at the side of the pavement notches of black
+shadow. But once more the wagons and the shops appeared, and the crowd
+had the effect of stunning him, especially on Sunday, when, from the
+Bastille to the Madeleine, it kept swaying in one immense flood over the
+asphalt, in the midst of a cloud of dust, in an incessant clamour. He
+felt disgusted at the meanness of the faces, the silliness of the talk,
+and the idiotic self-satisfaction that oozed through these sweating
+foreheads. However, the consciousness of being superior to these
+individuals mitigated the weariness which he experienced in gazing at
+them.
+
+Every day he went to the office of _L'Art Industriel_; and in order to
+ascertain when Madame Arnoux would be back, he made elaborate enquiries
+about her mother. Arnoux's answer never varied--"the change for the
+better was continuing"--his wife, with his little daughter, would be
+returning the following week. The longer she delayed in coming back, the
+more uneasiness Frederick exhibited, so that Arnoux, touched by so much
+affection, brought him five or six times a week to dine at a restaurant.
+
+In the long talks which they had together on these occasions Frederick
+discovered that the picture-dealer was not a very intellectual type of
+man. Arnoux might, however, take notice of his chilling manner; and now
+Frederick deemed it advisable to pay back, in a small measure, his
+polite attentions.
+
+So, being anxious to do things on a good scale, the young man sold all
+his new clothes to a second-hand clothes-dealer for the sum of eighty
+francs, and having increased it with a hundred more francs which he had
+left, he called at Arnoux's house to bring him out to dine. Regimbart
+happened to be there, and all three of them set forth for Les Trois
+Freres Provencaux.
+
+The Citizen began by taking off his surtout, and, knowing that the two
+others would defer to his gastronomic tastes, drew up the _menu_. But in
+vain did he make his way to the kitchen to speak himself to the _chef_,
+go down to the cellar, with every corner of which he was familiar, and
+send for the master of the establishment, to whom he gave "a blowing
+up." He was not satisfied with the dishes, the wines, or the attendance.
+At each new dish, at each fresh bottle, as soon as he had swallowed the
+first mouthful, the first draught, he threw down his fork or pushed his
+glass some distance away from him; then, leaning on his elbows on the
+tablecloth, and stretching out his arms, he declared in a loud tone that
+he could no longer dine in Paris! Finally, not knowing what to put into
+his mouth, Regimbart ordered kidney-beans dressed with oil, "quite
+plain," which, though only a partial success, slightly appeased him.
+Then he had a talk with the waiter all about the latter's predecessors
+at the "Provencaux":--"What had become of Antoine? And a fellow named
+Eugene? And Theodore, the little fellow who always used to attend down
+stairs? There was much finer fare in those days, and Burgundy vintages
+the like of which they would never see again."
+
+Then there was a discussion as to the value of ground in the suburbs,
+Arnoux having speculated in that way, and looked on it as a safe thing.
+In the meantime, however, he would lie out of the interest on his money.
+As he did not want to sell out at any price, Regimbart would find out
+some one to whom he could let the ground; and so these two gentlemen
+proceeded at the close of the dessert to make calculations with a lead
+pencil.
+
+They went out to get coffee in the smoking-divan on the ground-floor in
+the Passage du Saumon. Frederick had to remain on his legs while
+interminable games of billiards were being played, drenched in
+innumerable glasses of beer; and he lingered on there till midnight
+without knowing why, through want of energy, through sheer
+senselessness, in the vague expectation that something might happen
+which would give a favourable turn to his love.
+
+When, then, would he next see her? Frederick was in a state of despair
+about it. But, one evening, towards the close of November, Arnoux said
+to him:
+
+"My wife, you know, came back yesterday!"
+
+Next day, at five o'clock, he made his way to her house. He began by
+congratulating her on her mother's recovery from such a serious illness.
+
+"Why, no! Who told you that?"
+
+"Arnoux!"
+
+She gave vent to a slight "Ah!" then added that she had grave fears at
+first, which, however, had now been dispelled. She was seated close
+beside the fire in an upholstered easy-chair. He was on the sofa, with
+his hat between his knees; and the conversation was difficult to carry
+on, as it was broken off nearly every minute, so he got no chance
+of giving utterance to his sentiments. But, when he began to
+complain of having to study legal quibbles, she answered, "Oh! I
+understand--business!" and she let her face fall, buried suddenly in her
+own reflections.
+
+He was eager to know what they were, and even did not bestow a thought
+on anything else. The twilight shadows gathered around them.
+
+She rose, having to go out about some shopping; then she reappeared in a
+bonnet trimmed with velvet, and a black mantle edged with minever. He
+plucked up courage and offered to accompany her.
+
+It was now so dark that one could scarcely see anything. The air was
+cold, and had an unpleasant odour, owing to a heavy fog, which partially
+blotted out the fronts of the houses. Frederick inhaled it with delight;
+for he could feel through the wadding of his coat the form of her arm;
+and her hand, cased in a chamois glove with two buttons, her little hand
+which he would have liked to cover with kisses, leaned on his sleeve.
+Owing to the slipperiness of the pavement, they lost their balance a
+little; it seemed to him as if they were both rocked by the wind in the
+midst of a cloud.
+
+The glitter of the lamps on the boulevard brought him back to the
+realities of existence. The opportunity was a good one, there was no
+time to lose. He gave himself as far as the Rue de Richelieu to declare
+his love. But almost at that very moment, in front of a china-shop, she
+stopped abruptly and said to him:
+
+"We are at the place. Thanks. On Thursday--is it not?--as usual."
+
+The dinners were now renewed; and the more visits he paid at Madame
+Arnoux's, the more his love-sickness increased. The contemplation of
+this woman had an enervating effect upon him, like the use of a perfume
+that is too strong. It penetrated into the very depths of his nature,
+and became almost a kind of habitual sensation, a new mode of existence.
+
+The prostitutes whom he brushed past under the gaslight, the female
+ballad-singers breaking into bursts of melody, the ladies rising on
+horseback at full gallop, the shopkeepers' wives on foot, the grisettes
+at their windows, all women brought her before his mental vision, either
+from the effect of their resemblance to her or the violent contrast to
+her which they presented. As he walked along by the shops, he gazed at
+the cashmeres, the laces, and the jewelled eardrops, imagining how they
+would look draped around her figure, sewn in her corsage, or lighting up
+her dark hair. In the flower-girls' baskets the bouquets blossomed for
+her to choose one as she passed. In the shoemakers' show-windows the
+little satin slippers with swan's-down edges seemed to be waiting for
+her foot. Every street led towards her house; the hackney-coaches stood
+in their places to carry her home the more quickly; Paris was associated
+with her person, and the great city, with all its noises, roared around
+her like an immense orchestra.
+
+When he went into the Jardin des Plantes the sight of a palm-tree
+carried him off into distant countries. They were travelling together on
+the backs of dromedaries, under the awnings of elephants, in the cabin
+of a yacht amongst the blue archipelagoes, or side by side on mules with
+little bells attached to them who went stumbling through the grass
+against broken columns. Sometimes he stopped in the Louvre before old
+pictures; and, his love embracing her even in vanished centuries, he
+substituted her for the personages in the paintings. Wearing a hennin on
+her head, she was praying on bended knees before a stained-glass window.
+Lady Paramount of Castile or Flanders, she remained seated in a starched
+ruff and a body lined with whalebone with big puffs. Then he saw her
+descending some wide porphyry staircase in the midst of senators under a
+dais of ostriches' feathers in a robe of brocade. At another time he
+dreamed of her in yellow silk trousers on the cushions of a harem--and
+all that was beautiful, the scintillation of the stars, certain tunes in
+music, the turn of a phrase, the outlines of a face, led him to think
+about her in an abrupt, unconscious fashion.
+
+As for trying to make her his mistress, he was sure that any such
+attempt would be futile.
+
+One evening, Dittmer, on his arrival, kissed her on the forehead;
+Lovarias did the same, observing:
+
+"You give me leave--don't you?--as it is a friend's privilege?"
+
+Frederick stammered out:
+
+"It seems to me that we are all friends."
+
+"Not all old friends!" she returned.
+
+This was repelling him beforehand indirectly.
+
+Besides, what was he to do? To tell her that he loved her? No doubt, she
+would decline to listen to him or else she would feel indignant and turn
+him out of the house. But he preferred to submit to even the most
+painful ordeal rather than run the horrible risk of seeing her no more.
+He envied pianists for their talents and soldiers for their scars. He
+longed for a dangerous attack of sickness, hoping in this way to make
+her take an interest in him.
+
+One thing caused astonishment to himself, that he felt in no way jealous
+of Arnoux; and he could not picture her in his imagination undressed, so
+natural did her modesty appear, and so far did her sex recede into a
+mysterious background.
+
+Nevertheless, he dreamed of the happiness of living with her, of
+"theeing" and "thouing" her, of passing his hand lingeringly over her
+head-bands, or remaining in a kneeling posture on the floor, with both
+arms clasped round her waist, so as to drink in her soul through his
+eyes. To accomplish this it would be necessary to conquer Fate; and so,
+incapable of action, cursing God, and accusing himself of being a
+coward, he kept moving restlessly within the confines of his passion
+just as a prisoner keeps moving about in his dungeon. The pangs which he
+was perpetually enduring were choking him. For hours he would remain
+quite motionless, or else he would burst into tears; and one day when he
+had not the strength to restrain his emotion, Deslauriers said to him:
+
+"Why, goodness gracious! what's the matter with you?"
+
+Frederick's nerves were unstrung. Deslauriers did not believe a word of
+it. At the sight of so much mental anguish, he felt all his old
+affection reawakening, and he tried to cheer up his friend. A man like
+him to let himself be depressed, what folly! It was all very well while
+one was young; but, as one grows older, it is only loss of time.
+
+"You are spoiling my Frederick for me! I want him whom I knew in bygone
+days. The same boy as ever! I liked him! Come, smoke a pipe, old chap!
+Shake yourself up a little! You drive me mad!"
+
+"It is true," said Frederick, "I am a fool!"
+
+The clerk replied:
+
+"Ah! old troubadour, I know well what's troubling you! A little affair
+of the heart? Confess it! Bah! One lost, four found instead! We console
+ourselves for virtuous women with the other sort. Would you like me to
+introduce you to some women? You have only to come to the Alhambra."
+
+(This was a place for public balls recently opened at the top of the
+Champs-Elysees, which had gone down owing to a display of licentiousness
+somewhat ruder than is usual in establishments of the kind.)
+
+"That's a place where there seems to be good fun. You can take your
+friends, if you like. I can even pass in Regimbart for you."
+
+Frederick did not think fit to ask the Citizen to go. Deslauriers
+deprived himself of the pleasure of Senecal's society. They took only
+Hussonnet and Cisy along with Dussardier; and the same hackney-coach set
+the group of five down at the entrance of the Alhambra.
+
+Two Moorish galleries extended on the right and on the left, parallel to
+one another. The wall of a house opposite occupied the entire backguard;
+and the fourth side (that in which the restaurant was) represented a
+Gothic cloister with stained-glass windows. A sort of Chinese roof
+screened the platform reserved for the musicians. The ground was covered
+all over with asphalt; the Venetian lanterns fastened to posts formed,
+at regular intervals, crowns of many-coloured flame above the heads of
+the dancers. A pedestal here and there supported a stone basin, from
+which rose a thin streamlet of water. In the midst of the foliage could
+be seen plaster statues, and Hebes and Cupid, painted in oil, and
+presenting a very sticky appearance; and the numerous walks, garnished
+with sand of a deep yellow, carefully raked, made the garden look much
+larger than it was in reality.
+
+Students were walking their mistresses up and down; drapers' clerks
+strutted about with canes in their hands; lads fresh from college were
+smoking their regalias; old men had their dyed beards smoothed out with
+combs. There were English, Russians, men from South America, and three
+Orientals in tarbooshes. Lorettes, grisettes, and girls of the town had
+come there in the hope of finding a protector, a lover, a gold coin, or
+simply for the pleasure of dancing; and their dresses, with tunics of
+water-green, cherry-red, or violet, swept along, fluttered between the
+ebony-trees and the lilacs. Nearly all the men's clothes were of striped
+material; some of them had white trousers, in spite of the coolness of
+the evening. The gas was lighted.
+
+Hussonnet was acquainted with a number of the women through his
+connection with the fashion-journals and the smaller theatres. He sent
+them kisses with the tips of his fingers, and from time to time he
+quitted his friends to go and chat with them.
+
+Deslauriers felt jealous of these playful familiarities. He accosted in
+a cynical manner a tall, fair-haired girl, in a nankeen costume. After
+looking at him with a certain air of sullenness, she said:
+
+"No! I wouldn't trust you, my good fellow!" and turned on her heel.
+
+His next attack was on a stout brunette, who apparently was a little
+mad; for she gave a bounce at the very first word he spoke to her,
+threatening, if he went any further, to call the police. Deslauriers
+made an effort to laugh; then, coming across a little woman sitting by
+herself under a gas-lamp, he asked her to be his partner in a quadrille.
+
+The musicians, perched on the platform in the attitude of apes, kept
+scraping and blowing away with desperate energy. The conductor, standing
+up, kept beating time automatically. The dancers were much crowded and
+enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The bonnet-strings, getting loose,
+rubbed against the cravats; the boots sank under the petticoats; and all
+this bouncing went on to the accompaniment of the music. Deslauriers
+hugged the little woman, and, seized with the delirium of the cancan,
+whirled about, like a big marionnette, in the midst of the dancers. Cisy
+and Deslauriers were still promenading up and down. The young aristocrat
+kept ogling the girls, and, in spite of the clerk's exhortations, did
+not venture to talk to them, having an idea in his head that in the
+resorts of these women there was always "a man hidden in the cupboard
+with a pistol who would come out of it and force you to sign a bill of
+exchange."
+
+They came back and joined Frederick. Deslauriers had stopped dancing;
+and they were all asking themselves how they were to finish up the
+evening, when Hussonnet exclaimed:
+
+"Look! Here's the Marquise d'Amaegui!"
+
+The person referred to was a pale woman with a _retrousse_ nose, mittens
+up to her elbows, and big black earrings hanging down her cheeks, like
+two dog's ears. Hussonnet said to her:
+
+"We ought to organise a little fete at your house--a sort of Oriental
+rout. Try to collect some of your friends here for these French
+cavaliers. Well, what is annoying you? Are you going to wait for your
+hidalgo?"
+
+The Andalusian hung down her head: being well aware of the by no means
+lavish habits of her friend, she was afraid of having to pay for any
+refreshments he ordered. When, at length, she let the word "money" slip
+from her, Cisy offered five napoleons--all he had in his purse; and so
+it was settled that the thing should come off.
+
+But Frederick was absent. He fancied that he had recognised the voice of
+Arnoux, and got a glimpse of a woman's hat; and accordingly he hastened
+towards an arbour which was not far off.
+
+Mademoiselle Vatnaz was alone there with Arnoux.
+
+"Excuse me! I am in the way?"
+
+"Not in the least!" returned the picture-merchant.
+
+Frederick, from the closing words of their conversation, understood that
+Arnoux had come to the Alhambra to talk over a pressing matter of
+business with Mademoiselle Vatnaz; and it was evident that he was not
+completely reassured, for he said to her, with some uneasiness in his
+manner:
+
+"You are quite sure?"
+
+"Perfectly certain! You are loved. Ah! what a man you are!"
+
+And she assumed a pouting look, putting out her big lips, so red that
+they seemed tinged with blood. But she had wonderful eyes, of a tawny
+hue, with specks of gold in the pupils, full of vivacity, amorousness,
+and sensuality. They illuminated, like lamps, the rather yellow tint of
+her thin face. Arnoux seemed to enjoy her exhibition of pique. He
+stooped over her, saying:
+
+"You are nice--give me a kiss!"
+
+She caught hold of his two ears, and pressed her lips against his
+forehead.
+
+At that moment the dancing stopped; and in the conductor's place
+appeared a handsome young man, rather fat, with a waxen complexion. He
+had long black hair, which he wore in the same fashion as Christ, and a
+blue velvet waistcoat embroidered with large gold palm-branches. He
+looked as proud as a peacock, and as stupid as a turkey-cock; and,
+having bowed to the audience, he began a ditty. A villager was supposed
+to be giving an account of his journey to the capital. The singer used
+the dialect of Lower Normandy, and played the part of a drunken man. The
+refrain--
+
+    "Ah! I laughed at you there, I laughed at you there,
+         In that rascally city of Paris!"[4]
+
+was greeted with enthusiastic stampings of feet. Delmas, "a vocalist who
+sang with expression," was too shrewd to let the excitement of his
+listeners cool. A guitar was quickly handed to him and he moaned forth a
+ballad entitled "The Albanian Girl's Brother."
+
+[Footnote 4: _Ah! j'ai l'y ri, j'ai l'y ri. Dans ce gueusard de Paris!_]
+
+The words recalled to Frederick those which had been sung by the man in
+rags between the paddle-boxes of the steamboat. His eyes involuntarily
+attached themselves to the hem of the dress spread out before him.
+
+After each couplet there was a long pause, and the blowing of the wind
+through the trees resembled the sound of the waves.
+
+Mademoiselle Vatnaz blushed the moment she saw Dussardier. She soon
+rose, and stretching out her hand towards him:
+
+"You do not remember me, Monsieur Auguste?"
+
+"How do you know her?" asked Frederick.
+
+"We have been in the same house," he replied.
+
+Cisy pulled him by the sleeve; they went out; and, scarcely had they
+disappeared, when Madame Vatnaz began to pronounce a eulogy on his
+character. She even went so far as to add that he possessed "the genius
+of the heart."
+
+Then they chatted about Delmas, admitting that as a mimic he might be a
+success on the stage; and a discussion followed in which Shakespeare,
+the Censorship, Style, the People, the receipts of the Porte
+Saint-Martin, Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, and Dumersan were all mixed
+up together.
+
+Arnoux had known many celebrated actresses; the young men bent forward
+their heads to hear what he had to say about these ladies. But his words
+were drowned in the noise of the music; and, as soon as the quadrille or
+the polka was over, they all squatted round the tables, called the
+waiter, and laughed. Bottles of beer and of effervescent lemonade went
+off with detonations amid the foliage; women clucked like hens; now and
+then, two gentlemen tried to fight; and a thief was arrested. The
+dancers, in the rush of a gallop, encroached on the walks. Panting, with
+flushed, smiling faces, they filed off in a whirlwind which lifted up
+the gowns with the coat-tails. The trombones brayed more loudly; the
+rhythmic movement became more rapid. Behind the mediaeval cloister could
+be heard crackling sounds; squibs went off; artificial suns began
+turning round; the gleam of the Bengal fires, like emeralds in colour,
+lighted up for the space of a minute the entire garden; and, with the
+last rocket, a great sigh escaped from the assembled throng.
+
+It slowly died away. A cloud of gunpowder floated into the air.
+Frederick and Deslauriers were walking step by step through the midst of
+the crowd, when they happened to see something that made them suddenly
+stop: Martinon was in the act of paying some money at the place where
+umbrellas were left; and he was accompanying a woman of fifty,
+plain-looking, magnificently dressed, and of problematic social rank.
+
+"That sly dog," said Deslauriers, "is not so simple as we imagine. But
+where in the world is Cisy?"
+
+Dussardier pointed out to them the smoking-divan, where they perceived
+the knightly youth, with a bowl of punch before him, and a pink hat by
+his side, to keep him company. Hussonnet, who had been away for the past
+few minutes, reappeared at the same moment.
+
+A young girl was leaning on his arm, and addressing him in a loud voice
+as "My little cat."
+
+"Oh! no!" said he to her--"not in public! Call me rather 'Vicomte.' That
+gives you a cavalier style--Louis XIII. and dainty boots--the sort of
+thing I like! Yes, my good friends, one of the old _regime_!--nice,
+isn't she?"--and he chucked her by the chin--"Salute these gentlemen!
+they are all the sons of peers of France. I keep company with them in
+order that they may get an appointment for me as an ambassador."
+
+"How insane you are!" sighed Mademoiselle Vatnaz. She asked Dussardier
+to see her as far as her own door.
+
+Arnoux watched them going off; then, turning towards Frederick:
+
+"Did you like the Vatnaz? At any rate, you're not quite frank about
+these affairs. I believe you keep your amours hidden."
+
+Frederick, turning pale, swore that he kept nothing hidden.
+
+"Can it be possible you don't know what it is to have a mistress?" said
+Arnoux.
+
+Frederick felt a longing to mention a woman's name at random. But the
+story might be repeated to her. So he replied that as a matter of fact
+he had no mistress.
+
+The picture-dealer reproached him for this.
+
+"This evening you had a good opportunity! Why didn't you do like the
+others, each of whom went off with a woman?"
+
+"Well, and what about yourself?" said Frederick, provoked by his
+persistency.
+
+"Oh! myself--that's quite a different matter, my lad! I go home to my
+own one!"
+
+Then he called a cab, and disappeared.
+
+The two friends walked towards their own destination. An east wind was
+blowing. They did not exchange a word. Deslauriers was regretting that
+he had not succeeded in making a _shine_ before a certain
+newspaper-manager, and Frederick was lost once more in his melancholy
+broodings. At length, breaking silence, he said that this public-house
+ball appeared to him a stupid affair.
+
+"Whose fault is it? If you had not left us, to join that Arnoux of
+yours----"
+
+"Bah! anything I could have done would have been utterly useless!"
+
+But the clerk had theories of his own. All that was necessary in order
+to get a thing was to desire it strongly.
+
+"Nevertheless, you yourself, a little while ago----"
+
+"I don't care a straw about that sort of thing!" returned Deslauriers,
+cutting short Frederick's allusion. "Am I going to get entangled with
+women?"
+
+And he declaimed against their affectations, their silly ways--in short,
+he disliked them.
+
+"Don't be acting, then!" said Frederick.
+
+Deslauriers became silent. Then, all at once:
+
+"Will you bet me a hundred francs that I won't _do_ the first woman that
+passes?"
+
+"Yes--it's a bet!"
+
+The first who passed was a hideous-looking beggar-woman, and they were
+giving up all hope of a chance presenting itself when, in the middle of
+the Rue de Rivoli, they saw a tall girl with a little bandbox in her
+hand.
+
+Deslauriers accosted her under the arcades. She turned up abruptly by
+the Tuileries, and soon diverged into the Place du Carrousel. She
+glanced to the right and to the left. She ran after a hackney-coach;
+Deslauriers overtook her. He walked by her side, talking to her with
+expressive gestures. At length, she accepted his arm, and they went on
+together along the quays. Then, when they reached the rising ground in
+front of the Chatelet, they kept tramping up and down for at least
+twenty minutes, like two sailors keeping watch. But, all of a sudden,
+they passed over the Pont-au-Change, through the Flower Market, and
+along the Quai Napoleon. Frederick came up behind them. Deslauriers gave
+him to understand that he would be in their way, and had only to follow
+his own example.
+
+"How much have you got still?"
+
+"Two hundred sous pieces."
+
+"That's enough--good night to you!"
+
+Frederick was seized with the astonishment one feels at seeing a piece
+of foolery coming to a successful issue.
+
+"He has the laugh at me," was his reflection. "Suppose I went back
+again?"
+
+Perhaps Deslauriers imagined that he was envious of this paltry love!
+"As if I had not one a hundred times more rare, more noble, more
+absorbing." He felt a sort of angry feeling impelling him onward. He
+arrived in front of Madame Arnoux's door.
+
+None of the outer windows belonged to her apartment. Nevertheless, he
+remained with his eyes pasted on the front of the house--as if he
+fancied he could, by his contemplation, break open the walls. No doubt,
+she was now sunk in repose, tranquil as a sleeping flower, with her
+beautiful black hair resting on the lace of the pillow, her lips
+slightly parted, and one arm under her head. Then Arnoux's head rose
+before him, and he rushed away to escape from this vision.
+
+The advice which Deslauriers had given to him came back to his memory.
+It only filled him with horror. Then he walked about the streets in a
+vagabond fashion.
+
+When a pedestrian approached, he tried to distinguish the face. From
+time to time a ray of light passed between his legs, tracing a great
+quarter of a circle on the pavement; and in the shadow a man appeared
+with his dosser and his lantern. The wind, at certain points, made the
+sheet-iron flue of a chimney shake. Distant sounds reached his ears,
+mingling with the buzzing in his brain; and it seemed to him that he was
+listening to the indistinct flourish of quadrille music. His movements
+as he walked on kept up this illusion. He found himself on the Pont de
+la Concorde.
+
+Then he recalled that evening in the previous winter, when, as he left
+her house for the first time, he was forced to stand still, so rapidly
+did his heart beat with the hopes that held it in their clasp. And now
+they had all withered!
+
+Dark clouds were drifting across the face of the moon. He gazed at it,
+musing on the vastness of space, the wretchedness of life, the
+nothingness of everything. The day dawned; his teeth began to chatter,
+and, half-asleep, wet with the morning mist, and bathed in tears, he
+asked himself, Why should I not make an end of it? All that was
+necessary was a single movement. The weight of his forehead dragged him
+along--he beheld his own dead body floating in the water. Frederick
+stooped down. The parapet was rather wide, and it was through pure
+weariness that he did not make the attempt to leap over it.
+
+Then a feeling of dismay swept over him. He reached the boulevards once
+more, and sank down upon a seat. He was aroused by some police-officers,
+who were convinced that he had been indulging a little too freely.
+
+He resumed his walk. But, as he was exceedingly hungry, and as all the
+restaurants were closed, he went to get a "snack" at a tavern by the
+fish-markets; after which, thinking it too soon to go in yet, he kept
+sauntering about the Hotel de Ville till a quarter past eight.
+
+Deslauriers had long since got rid of his wench; and he was writing at
+the table in the middle of his room. About four o'clock, M. de Cisy came
+in.
+
+Thanks to Dussardier, he had enjoyed the society of a lady the night
+before; and he had even accompanied her home in the carriage with her
+husband to the very threshold of their house, where she had given him an
+assignation. He parted with her without even knowing her name.
+
+"And what do you propose that I should do in that way?" said Frederick.
+
+Thereupon the young gentleman began to cudgel his brains to think of a
+suitable woman; he mentioned Mademoiselle Vatnaz, the Andalusian, and
+all the rest. At length, with much circumlocution, he stated the object
+of his visit. Relying on the discretion of his friend, he came to aid
+him in taking an important step, after which he might definitely regard
+himself as a man; and Frederick showed no reluctance. He told the story
+to Deslauriers without relating the facts with reference to himself
+personally.
+
+The clerk was of opinion that he was now going on very well. This
+respect for his advice increased his good humour. He owed to that
+quality his success, on the very first night he met her, with
+Mademoiselle Clemence Daviou, embroideress in gold for military outfits,
+the sweetest creature that ever lived, as slender as a reed, with large
+blue eyes, perpetually staring with wonder. The clerk had taken
+advantage of her credulity to such an extent as to make her believe that
+he had been decorated. At their private conversations he had his
+frock-coat adorned with a red ribbon, but divested himself of it in
+public in order, as he put it, not to humiliate his master. However, he
+kept her at a distance, allowed himself to be fawned upon, like a pasha,
+and, in a laughing sort of way, called her "daughter of the people."
+Every time they met, she brought him little bunches of violets.
+Frederick would not have cared for a love affair of this sort.
+
+Meanwhile, whenever they set forth arm-in-arm to visit Pinson's or
+Barillot's circulating library, he experienced a feeling of singular
+depression. Frederick did not realise how much pain he had made
+Deslauriers endure for the past year, while brushing his nails before
+going out to dine in the Rue de Choiseul!
+
+One evening, when from the commanding position in which his balcony
+stood, he had just been watching them as they went out together, he saw
+Hussonnet, some distance off, on the Pont d'Arcole. The Bohemian began
+calling him by making signals towards him, and, when Frederick had
+descended the five flights of stairs:
+
+"Here is the thing--it is next Saturday, the 24th, Madame Arnoux's
+feast-day."
+
+"How is that, when her name is Marie?"
+
+"And Angele also--no matter! They will entertain their guests at their
+country-house at Saint-Cloud. I was told to give you due notice about
+it. You'll find a vehicle at the magazine-office at three o'clock. So
+that makes matters all right! Excuse me for having disturbed you! But I
+have such a number of calls to make!"
+
+Frederick had scarcely turned round when his door-keeper placed a letter
+in his hand:
+
+"Monsieur and Madame Dambreuse beg of Monsieur F. Moreau to do them the
+honour to come and dine with them on Saturday the 24th inst.--R.S.V.P."
+
+"Too late!" he said to himself. Nevertheless, he showed the letter to
+Deslauriers, who exclaimed:
+
+"Ha! at last! But you don't look as if you were satisfied. Why?"
+
+After some little hesitation, Frederick said that he had another
+invitation for the same day.
+
+"Be kind enough to let me run across to the Rue de Choiseul. I'm not
+joking! I'll answer this for you if it puts you about."
+
+And the clerk wrote an acceptance of the invitation in the third person.
+
+Having seen nothing of the world save through the fever of his desires,
+he pictured it to himself as an artificial creation discharging its
+functions by virtue of mathematical laws. A dinner in the city, an
+accidental meeting with a man in office, a smile from a pretty woman,
+might, by a series of actions deducing themselves from one another, have
+gigantic results. Certain Parisian drawing-rooms were like those
+machines which take a material in the rough and render it a hundred
+times more valuable. He believed in courtesans advising diplomatists, in
+wealthy marriages brought about by intrigues, in the cleverness of
+convicts, in the capacity of strong men for getting the better of
+fortune. In short, he considered it so useful to visit the Dambreuses,
+and talked about it so plausibly, that Frederick was at a loss to know
+what was the best course to take.
+
+The least he ought to do, as it was Madame Arnoux's feast-day, was to
+make her a present. He naturally thought of a parasol, in order to make
+reparation for his awkwardness. Now he came across a shot-silk parasol
+with a little carved ivory handle, which had come all the way from
+China. But the price of it was a hundred and seventy-five francs, and he
+had not a sou, having in fact to live on the credit of his next
+quarter's allowance. However, he wished to get it; he was determined to
+have it; and, in spite of his repugnance to doing so, he had recourse to
+Deslauriers.
+
+Deslauriers answered Frederick's first question by saying that he had no
+money.
+
+"I want some," said Frederick--"I want some very badly!"
+
+As the other made the same excuse over again, he flew into a passion.
+
+"You might find it to your advantage some time----"
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Oh! nothing."
+
+The clerk understood. He took the sum required out of his reserve-fund,
+and when he had counted out the money, coin by coin:
+
+"I am not asking you for a receipt, as I see you have a lot of expense!"
+
+Frederick threw himself on his friend's neck with a thousand
+affectionate protestations. Deslauriers received this display of emotion
+frigidly. Then, next morning, noticing the parasol on the top of the
+piano:
+
+"Ah! it was for that!"
+
+"I will send it, perhaps," said Frederick, with an air of carelessness.
+
+Good fortune was on his side, for that evening he got a note with a
+black border from Madame Dambreuse announcing to him that she had lost
+an uncle, and excusing herself for having to defer till a later period
+the pleasure of making his acquaintance. At two o'clock, he reached the
+office of the art journal. Instead of waiting for him in order to drive
+him in his carriage, Arnoux had left the city the night before, unable
+to resist his desire to get some fresh air.
+
+Every year it was his custom, as soon as the leaves were budding forth,
+to start early in the morning and to remain away several days, making
+long journeys across the fields, drinking milk at the farm-houses,
+romping with the village girls, asking questions about the harvest, and
+carrying back home with him stalks of salad in his pocket-handkerchief.
+At length, in order to realise a long-cherished dream of his, he had
+bought a country-house.
+
+While Frederick was talking to the picture-dealer's clerk, Mademoiselle
+Vatnaz suddenly made her appearance, and was disappointed at not seeing
+Arnoux. He would, perhaps, be remaining away two days longer. The clerk
+advised her "to go there"--she could not go there; to write a
+letter--she was afraid that the letter might get lost. Frederick offered
+to be the bearer of it himself. She rapidly scribbled off a letter, and
+implored of him to let nobody see him delivering it.
+
+Forty minutes afterwards, he found himself at Saint-Cloud. The house,
+which was about a hundred paces farther away than the bridge, stood
+half-way up the hill. The garden-walls were hidden by two rows of
+linden-trees, and a wide lawn descended to the bank of the river. The
+railed entrance before the door was open, and Frederick went in.
+
+Arnoux, stretched on the grass, was playing with a litter of kittens.
+This amusement appeared to absorb him completely. Mademoiselle Vatnaz's
+letter drew him out of his sleepy idleness.
+
+"The deuce! the deuce!--this is a bore! She is right, though; I must
+go."
+
+Then, having stuck the missive into his pocket, he showed the young man
+through the grounds with manifest delight. He pointed out
+everything--the stable, the cart-house, the kitchen. The drawing-room
+was at the right, on the side facing Paris, and looked out on a floored
+arbour, covered over with clematis. But presently a few harmonious notes
+burst forth above their heads: Madame Arnoux, fancying that there was
+nobody near, was singing to amuse herself. She executed quavers,
+trills, arpeggios. There were long notes which seemed to remain
+suspended in the air; others fell in a rushing shower like the spray of
+a waterfall; and her voice passing out through the Venetian blind, cut
+its way through the deep silence and rose towards the blue sky. She
+ceased all at once, when M. and Madame Oudry, two neighbours, presented
+themselves.
+
+Then she appeared herself at the top of the steps in front of the house;
+and, as she descended, he caught a glimpse of her foot. She wore little
+open shoes of reddish-brown leather, with three straps crossing each
+other so as to draw just above her stockings a wirework of gold.
+
+Those who had been invited arrived. With the exception of Maitre
+Lefaucheur, an advocate, they were the same guests who came to the
+Thursday dinners. Each of them had brought some present--Dittmer a
+Syrian scarf, Rosenwald a scrap-book of ballads, Burieu a water-colour
+painting, Sombary one of his own caricatures, and Pellerin a
+charcoal-drawing, representing a kind of dance of death, a hideous
+fantasy, the execution of which was rather poor. Hussonnet dispensed
+with the formality of a present.
+
+Frederick was waiting to offer his, after the others.
+
+She thanked him very much for it. Thereupon, he said:
+
+"Why, 'tis almost a debt. I have been so much annoyed----"
+
+"At what, pray?" she returned. "I don't understand."
+
+"Come! dinner is waiting!" said Arnoux, catching hold of his arm; then
+in a whisper: "You are not very knowing, certainly!"
+
+Nothing could well be prettier than the dining-room, painted in
+water-green. At one end, a nymph of stone was dipping her toe in a basin
+formed like a shell. Through the open windows the entire garden could be
+seen with the long lawn flanked by an old Scotch fir, three-quarters
+stripped bare; groups of flowers swelled it out in unequal plots; and at
+the other side of the river extended in a wide semi-circle the Bois de
+Boulogne, Neuilly, Sevres, and Meudon. Before the railed gate in front a
+canoe with sail outspread was tacking about.
+
+They chatted first about the view in front of them, then about scenery
+in general; and they were beginning to plunge into discussions when
+Arnoux, at half-past nine o'clock, ordered the horse to be put to the
+carriage.
+
+"Would you like me to go back with you?" said Madame Arnoux.
+
+"Why, certainly!" and, making her a graceful bow: "You know well,
+madame, that it is impossible to live without you!"
+
+Everyone congratulated her on having so good a husband.
+
+"Ah! it is because I am not the only one," she replied quietly, pointing
+towards her little daughter.
+
+Then, the conversation having turned once more on painting, there was
+some talk about a Ruysdael, for which Arnoux expected a big sum, and
+Pellerin asked him if it were true that the celebrated Saul Mathias from
+London had come over during the past month to make him an offer of
+twenty-three thousand francs for it.
+
+"'Tis a positive fact!" and turning towards Frederick: "That was the
+very same gentleman I brought with me a few days ago to the Alhambra,
+much against my will, I assure you, for these English are by no means
+amusing companions."
+
+Frederick, who suspected that Mademoiselle Vatnaz's letter contained
+some reference to an intrigue, was amazed at the facility with which my
+lord Arnoux found a way of passing it off as a perfectly honourable
+transaction; but his new lie, which was quite needless, made the young
+man open his eyes in speechless astonishment.
+
+The picture-dealer added, with an air of simplicity:
+
+"What's the name, by-the-by, of that young fellow, your friend?"
+
+"Deslauriers," said Frederick quickly.
+
+And, in order to repair the injustice which he felt he had done to his
+comrade, he praised him as one who possessed remarkable ability.
+
+"Ah! indeed? But he doesn't look such a fine fellow as the other--the
+clerk in the wagon-office."
+
+Frederick bestowed a mental imprecation on Dussardier. She would now be
+taking it for granted that he associated with the common herd.
+
+Then they began to talk about the ornamentation of the capital--the new
+districts of the city--and the worthy Oudry happened to refer to M.
+Dambreuse as one of the big speculators.
+
+Frederick, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a good figure,
+said he was acquainted with that gentleman. But Pellerin launched into a
+harangue against shopkeepers--he saw no difference between them, whether
+they were sellers of candles or of money. Then Rosenwald and Burieu
+talked about old china; Arnoux chatted with Madame Oudry about
+gardening; Sombary, a comical character of the old school, amused
+himself by chaffing her husband, referring to him sometimes as "Odry,"
+as if he were the actor of that name, and remarking that he must be
+descended from Oudry, the dog-painter, seeing that the bump of the
+animals was visible on his forehead. He even wanted to feel M. Oudry's
+skull; but the latter excused himself on account of his wig; and the
+dessert ended with loud bursts of laughter.
+
+When they had taken their coffee, while they smoked, under the
+linden-trees, and strolled about the garden for some time, they went out
+for a walk along the river.
+
+The party stopped in front of a fishmonger's shop, where a man was
+washing eels. Mademoiselle Marthe wanted to look at them. He emptied the
+box in which he had them out on the grass; and the little girl threw
+herself on her knees in order to catch them, laughed with delight, and
+then began to scream with terror. They all got spoiled, and Arnoux paid
+for them.
+
+He next took it into his head to go out for a sail in the cutter.
+
+One side of the horizon was beginning to assume a pale aspect, while on
+the other side a wide strip of orange colour showed itself in the sky,
+deepening into purple at the summits of the hills, which were steeped in
+shadow. Madame Arnoux seated herself on a big stone with this glittering
+splendour at her back. The other ladies sauntered about here and there.
+Hussonnet, at the lower end of the river's bank, went making ducks and
+drakes over the water.
+
+Arnoux presently returned, followed by a weather-beaten long boat, into
+which, in spite of the most prudent remonstrances, he packed his
+guests. The boat got upset, and they had to go ashore again.
+
+By this time wax-tapers were burning in the drawing-room, all hung with
+chintz, and with branched candlesticks of crystal fixed close to the
+walls. Mere Oudry was sleeping comfortably in an armchair, and the
+others were listening to M. Lefaucheux expatiating on the glories of the
+Bar. Madame Arnoux was sitting by herself near the window. Frederick
+came over to her.
+
+They chatted about the remarks which were being made in their vicinity.
+She admired oratory; he preferred the renown gained by authors. But, she
+ventured to suggest, it must give a man greater pleasure to move crowds
+directly by addressing them in person, face to face, than it does to
+infuse into their souls by his pen all the sentiments that animate his
+own. Such triumphs as these did not tempt Frederick much, as he had no
+ambition.
+
+Then he broached the subject of sentimental adventures. She spoke
+pityingly of the havoc wrought by passion, but expressed indignation at
+hypocritical vileness, and this rectitude of spirit harmonised so well
+with the regular beauty of her face that it seemed indeed as if her
+physical attractions were the outcome of her moral nature.
+
+She smiled, every now and then, letting her eyes rest on him for a
+minute. Then he felt her glances penetrating his soul like those great
+rays of sunlight which descend into the depths of the water. He loved
+her without mental reservation, without any hope of his love being
+returned, unconditionally; and in those silent transports, which were
+like outbursts of gratitude, he would fain have covered her forehead
+with a rain of kisses. However, an inspiration from within carried him
+beyond himself--he felt moved by a longing for self-sacrifice, an
+imperative impulse towards immediate self-devotion, and all the stronger
+from the fact that he could not gratify it.
+
+He did not leave along with the rest. Neither did Hussonnet. They were
+to go back in the carriage; and the vehicle was waiting just in front of
+the steps when Arnoux rushed down and hurried into the garden to gather
+some flowers there. Then the bouquet having been tied round with a
+thread, as the stems fell down unevenly, he searched in his pocket,
+which was full of papers, took out a piece at random, wrapped them up,
+completed his handiwork with the aid of a strong pin, and then offered
+it to his wife with a certain amount of tenderness.
+
+"Look here, my darling! Excuse me for having forgotten you!"
+
+But she uttered a little scream: the pin, having been awkwardly fixed,
+had cut her, and she hastened up to her room. They waited nearly a
+quarter of an hour for her. At last, she reappeared, carried off Marthe,
+and threw herself into the carriage.
+
+"And your bouquet?" said Arnoux.
+
+"No! no--it is not worth while!" Frederick was running off to fetch it
+for her; she called out to him:
+
+"I don't want it!"
+
+But he speedily brought it to her, saying that he had just put it into
+an envelope again, as he had found the flowers lying on the floor. She
+thrust them behind the leathern apron of the carriage close to the seat,
+and off they started.
+
+Frederick, seated by her side, noticed that she was trembling
+frightfully. Then, when they had passed the bridge, as Arnoux was
+turning to the left:
+
+"Why, no! you are making a mistake!--that way, to the right!"
+
+She seemed irritated; everything annoyed her. At length, Marthe having
+closed her eyes, Madame Arnoux drew forth the bouquet, and flung it out
+through the carriage-door, then caught Frederick's arm, making a sign to
+him with the other hand to say nothing about it.
+
+After this, she pressed her handkerchief against her lips, and sat quite
+motionless.
+
+The two others, on the dickey, kept talking about printing and about
+subscribers. Arnoux, who was driving recklessly, lost his way in the
+middle of the Bois de Boulogne. Then they plunged into narrow paths. The
+horse proceeded along at a walking pace; the branches of the trees
+grazed the hood. Frederick could see nothing of Madame Arnoux save her
+two eyes in the shade. Marthe lay stretched across her lap while he
+supported the child's head.
+
+"She is tiring you!" said her mother.
+
+He replied:
+
+"No! Oh, no!"
+
+Whirlwinds of dust rose up slowly. They passed through Auteuil. All the
+houses were closed up; a gas-lamp here and there lighted up the angle of
+a wall; then once more they were surrounded by darkness. At one time he
+noticed that she was shedding tears.
+
+Was this remorse or passion? What in the world was it? This grief, of
+whose exact nature he was ignorant, interested him like a personal
+matter. There was now a new bond between them, as if, in a sense, they
+were accomplices; and he said to her in the most caressing voice he
+could assume:
+
+"You are ill?"
+
+"Yes, a little," she returned.
+
+The carriage rolled on, and the honeysuckles and the syringas trailed
+over the garden fences, sending forth puffs of enervating odour into the
+night air. Her gown fell around her feet in numerous folds. It seemed to
+him as if he were in communication with her entire person through the
+medium of this child's body which lay stretched between them. He stooped
+over the little girl, and spreading out her pretty brown tresses, kissed
+her softly on the forehead.
+
+"You are good!" said Madame Arnoux.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you are fond of children."
+
+"Not all!"
+
+He said no more, but he let his left hand hang down her side wide open,
+fancying that she would follow his example perhaps, and that he would
+find her palm touching his. Then he felt ashamed and withdrew it. They
+soon reached the paved street. The carriage went on more quickly; the
+number of gas-lights vastly increased--it was Paris. Hussonnet, in front
+of the lumber-room, jumped down from his seat. Frederick waited till
+they were in the courtyard before alighting; then he lay in ambush at
+the corner of the Rue de Choiseul, and saw Arnoux slowly making his way
+back to the boulevards.
+
+Next morning he began working as hard as ever he could.
+
+He saw himself in an Assize Court, on a winter's evening, at the close
+of the advocates' speeches, when the jurymen are looking pale, and when
+the panting audience make the partitions of the praetorium creak; and
+after having being four hours speaking, he was recapitulating all his
+proofs, feeling with every phrase, with every word, with every gesture,
+the chopper of the guillotine, which was suspended behind him, rising
+up; then in the tribune of the Chamber, an orator who bears on his lips
+the safety of an entire people, drowning his opponents under his figures
+of rhetoric, crushing them under a repartee, with thunders and musical
+intonations in his voice, ironical, pathetic, fiery, sublime. She would
+be there somewhere in the midst of the others, hiding beneath her veil
+her enthusiastic tears. After that they would meet again, and he would
+be unaffected by discouragements, calumnies, and insults, if she would
+only say, "Ah, that is beautiful!" while drawing her light hand across
+his brow.
+
+These images flashed, like beacon-lights, on the horizon of his life.
+His intellect, thereby excited, became more active and more vigorous. He
+buried himself in study till the month of August, and was successful at
+his final examination.
+
+Deslauriers, who had found it so troublesome to coach him once more for
+the second examination at the close of December, and for the third in
+February, was astonished at his ardour. Then the great expectations of
+former days returned. In ten years it was probable that Frederick would
+be deputy; in fifteen a minister. Why not? With his patrimony, which
+would soon come into his hands, he might, at first, start a newspaper;
+this would be the opening step in his career; after that they would see
+what the future would bring. As for himself, he was still ambitious of
+obtaining a chair in the Law School; and he sustained his thesis for
+the degree of Doctor in such a remarkable fashion that it won for him
+the compliments of the professors.
+
+Three days afterwards, Frederick took his own degree. Before leaving for
+his holidays, he conceived the idea of getting up a picnic to bring to a
+close their Saturday reunions.
+
+He displayed the utmost gaiety on the occasion. Madame Arnoux was now
+with her mother at Chartres. But he would soon come across her again,
+and would end by being her lover.
+
+Deslauriers, admitted the same day to the young advocates' pleading
+rehearsals at Orsay, had made a speech which was greatly applauded.
+Although he was sober, he drank a little more wine than was good for
+him, and said to Dussardier at dessert:
+
+"You are an honest fellow!--and, when I'm a rich man, I'll make you my
+manager."
+
+All were in a state of delight. Cisy was not going to finish his
+law-course. Martinon intended to remain during the period before his
+admission to the Bar in the provinces, where he would be nominated a
+deputy-magistrate. Pellerin was devoting himself to the production of a
+large picture representing "The Genius of the Revolution." Hussonnet
+was, in the following week, about to read for the Director of Public
+Amusements the scheme of a play, and had no doubt as to its success:
+
+"As for the framework of the drama, they may leave that to me! As for
+the passions, I have knocked about enough to understand them thoroughly;
+and as for witticisms, they're entirely in my line!"
+
+He gave a spring, fell on his two hands, and thus moved for some time
+around the table with his legs in the air. This performance, worthy of
+a street-urchin, did not get rid of Senecal's frowns. He had just been
+dismissed from the boarding-school, in which he had been a teacher, for
+having given a whipping to an aristocrat's son. His straitened
+circumstances had got worse in consequence: he laid the blame of this on
+the inequalities of society, and cursed the wealthy. He poured out his
+grievances into the sympathetic ears of Regimbart, who had become every
+day more and more disillusioned, saddened, and disgusted. The Citizen
+had now turned his attention towards questions arising out of the
+Budget, and blamed the Court party for the loss of millions in Algeria.
+
+As he could not sleep without having paid a visit to the Alexandre
+smoking-divan, he disappeared at eleven o'clock. The rest went away some
+time afterwards; and Frederick, as he was parting with Hussonnet,
+learned that Madame Arnoux was to have come back the night before.
+
+He accordingly went to the coach-office to change his time for starting
+to the next day; and, at about six o'clock in the evening, presented
+himself at her house. Her return, the door keeper said, had been put off
+for a week. Frederick dined alone, and then lounged about the
+boulevards.
+
+Rosy clouds, scarf-like in form, stretched beyond the roofs; the
+shop-tents were beginning to be taken away; water-carts were letting a
+shower of spray fall over the dusty pavement; and an unexpected coolness
+was mingled with emanations from cafes, as one got a glimpse through
+their open doors, between some silver plate and gilt ware, of flowers in
+sheaves, which were reflected in the large sheets of glass. The crowd
+moved on at a leisurely pace. Groups of men were chatting in the middle
+of the footpath; and women passed along with an indolent expression in
+their eyes and that camelia tint in their complexions which intense heat
+imparts to feminine flesh. Something immeasurable in its vastness seemed
+to pour itself out and enclose the houses. Never had Paris looked so
+beautiful. He saw nothing before him in the future but an interminable
+series of years all full of love.
+
+He stopped in front of the theatre of the Porte Saint-Martin to look at
+the bill; and, for want of something to occupy him, paid for a seat and
+went in.
+
+An old-fashioned dramatic version of a fairy-tale was the piece on the
+stage. There was a very small audience; and through the skylights of the
+top gallery the vault of heaven seemed cut up into little blue squares,
+whilst the stage lamps above the orchestra formed a single line of
+yellow illuminations. The scene represented a slave-market at Pekin,
+with hand-bells, tomtoms, sweeping robes, sharp-pointed caps, and
+clownish jokes. Then, as soon as the curtain fell, he wandered into the
+foyer all alone and gazed out with admiration at a large green landau
+which stood on the boulevard outside, before the front steps of the
+theatre, yoked to two white horses, while a coachman with short breeches
+held the reins.
+
+He had just got back to his seat when, in the balcony, a lady and a
+gentleman entered the first box in front of the stage. The husband had a
+pale face with a narrow strip of grey beard round it, the rosette of a
+Government official, and that frigid look which is supposed to
+characterise diplomatists.
+
+His wife, who was at least twenty years younger, and who was neither
+tall nor under-sized, neither ugly nor pretty, wore her fair hair in
+corkscrew curls in the English fashion, and displayed a long-bodiced
+dress and a large black lace fan. To make people so fashionable as these
+come to the theatre at such a season one would imagine either that there
+was some accidental cause, or that they had got tired of spending the
+evening in one another's society. The lady kept nibbling at her fan,
+while the gentleman yawned. Frederick could not recall to mind where he
+had seen that face.
+
+In the next interval between the acts, while passing through one of the
+lobbies, he came face to face with both of them. As he bowed in an
+undecided manner, M. Dambreuse, at once recognising him, came up and
+apologised for having treated him with unpardonable neglect. It was an
+allusion to the numerous visiting-cards he had sent in accordance with
+the clerk's advice. However, he confused the periods, supposing that
+Frederick was in the second year of his law-course. Then he said he
+envied the young man for the opportunity of going into the country. He
+sadly needed a little rest himself, but business kept him in Paris.
+
+Madame Dambreuse, leaning on his arm, nodded her head slightly, and the
+agreeable sprightliness of her face contrasted with its gloomy
+expression a short time before.
+
+"One finds charming diversions in it, nevertheless," she said, after her
+husband's last remark. "What a stupid play that was--was it not,
+Monsieur?" And all three of them remained there chatting about theatres
+and new pieces.
+
+Frederick, accustomed to the grimaces of provincial dames, had not seen
+in any woman such ease of manner combined with that simplicity which is
+the essence of refinement, and in which ingenuous souls trace the
+expression of instantaneous sympathy.
+
+They would expect to see him as soon as he returned. M. Dambreuse told
+him to give his kind remembrances to Pere Roque.
+
+Frederick, when he reached his lodgings, did not fail to inform
+Deslauriers of their hospitable invitation.
+
+"Grand!" was the clerk's reply; "and don't let your mamma get round you!
+Come back without delay!"
+
+On the day after his arrival, as soon as they had finished breakfast,
+Madame Moreau brought her son out into the garden.
+
+She said she was happy to see him in a profession, for they were not as
+rich as people imagined. The land brought in little; the people who
+farmed it paid badly. She had even been compelled to sell her carriage.
+Finally, she placed their situation in its true colours before him.
+
+During the first embarrassments which followed the death of her late
+husband, M. Roque, a man of great cunning, had made her loans of money
+which had been renewed, and left long unpaid, in spite of her desire to
+clear them off. He had suddenly made a demand for immediate payment, and
+she had gone beyond the strict terms of the agreement by giving up to
+him, at a contemptible figure, the farm of Presles. Ten years later, her
+capital disappeared through the failure of a banker at Melun. Through a
+horror which she had of mortgages, and to keep up appearances, which
+might be necessary in view of her son's future, she had, when Pere Roque
+presented himself again, listened to him once more. But now she was free
+from debt. In short, there was left them an income of about ten thousand
+francs, of which two thousand three hundred belonged to him--his entire
+patrimony.
+
+"It isn't possible!" exclaimed Frederick.
+
+She nodded her head, as if to declare that it was perfectly possible.
+
+But his uncle would leave him something?
+
+That was by no means certain!
+
+And they took a turn around the garden without exchanging a word. At
+last she pressed him to her heart, and in a voice choked with rising
+tears:
+
+"Ah! my poor boy! I have had to give up my dreams!"
+
+He seated himself on a bench in the shadow of the large acacia.
+
+Her advice was that he should become a clerk to M. Prouharam, solicitor,
+who would assign over his office to him; if he increased its value, he
+might sell it again and find a good practice.
+
+Frederick was no longer listening to her. He was gazing automatically
+across the hedge into the other garden opposite.
+
+A little girl of about twelve with red hair happened to be there all
+alone. She had made earrings for herself with the berries of the
+service-tree. Her bodice, made of grey linen-cloth, allowed her
+shoulders, slightly gilded by the sun, to be seen. Her short white
+petticoat was spotted with the stains made by sweets; and there was, so
+to speak, the grace of a young wild animal about her entire person, at
+the same time, nervous and thin. Apparently, the presence of a stranger
+astonished her, for she had stopped abruptly with her watering-pot in
+her hand darting glances at him with her large bright eyes, which were
+of a limpid greenish-blue colour.
+
+"That is M. Roque's daughter," said Madame Moreau. "He has just married
+his servant and legitimised the child that he had by her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Blighted Hopes.
+
+
+Ruined, stripped of everything, undermined!
+
+He remained seated on the bench, as if stunned by a shock. He cursed
+Fate; he would have liked to beat somebody; and, to intensify his
+despair, he felt a kind of outrage, a sense of disgrace, weighing down
+upon him; for Frederick had been under the impression that the fortune
+coming to him through his father would mount up one day to an income of
+fifteen thousand livres, and he had so informed the Arnoux' in an
+indirect sort of way. So then he would be looked upon as a braggart, a
+rogue, an obscure blackguard, who had introduced himself to them in the
+expectation of making some profit out of it! And as for her--Madame
+Arnoux--how could he ever see her again now?
+
+Moreover, that was completely impossible when he had only a yearly
+income of three thousand francs, He could not always lodge on the fourth
+floor, have the door keeper as a servant, and make his appearance with
+wretched black gloves turning blue at the ends, a greasy hat, and the
+same frock-coat for a whole year. No, no! never! And yet without her
+existence was intolerable. Many people were well able to live without
+any fortune, Deslauriers amongst the rest; and he thought himself a
+coward to attach so much importance to matters of trifling consequence.
+Need would perhaps multiply his faculties a hundredfold. He excited
+himself by thinking on the great men who had worked in garrets. A soul
+like that of Madame Arnoux ought to be touched at such a spectacle, and
+she would be moved by it to sympathetic tenderness. So, after all, this
+catastrophe was a piece of good fortune; like those earthquakes which
+unveil treasures, it had revealed to him the hidden wealth of his
+nature. But there was only one place in the world where this could be
+turned to account--Paris; for to his mind, art, science, and love (those
+three faces of God, as Pellerin would have said) were associated
+exclusively with the capital. That evening, he informed his mother of
+his intention to go back there. Madame Moreau was surprised and
+indignant. She regarded it as a foolish and absurd course. It would be
+better to follow her advice, namely, to remain near her in an office.
+Frederick shrugged his shoulders, "Come now"--looking on this proposal
+as an insult to himself.
+
+Thereupon, the good lady adopted another plan. In a tender voice broken
+by sobs she began to dwell on her solitude, her old age, and the
+sacrifices she had made for him. Now that she was more unhappy than
+ever, he was abandoning her. Then, alluding to the anticipated close of
+her life:
+
+"A little patience--good heavens! you will soon be free!"
+
+These lamentations were renewed twenty times a day for three months; and
+at the same time the luxuries of a home made him effeminate. He found it
+enjoyable to have a softer bed and napkins that were not torn, so that,
+weary, enervated, overcome by the terrible force of comfort, Frederick
+allowed himself to be brought to Maitre Prouharam's office.
+
+He displayed there neither knowledge nor aptitude. Up to this time, he
+had been regarded as a young man of great means who ought to be the
+shining light of the Department. The public would now come to the
+conclusion that he had imposed upon them.
+
+At first, he said to himself:
+
+"It is necessary to inform Madame Arnoux about it;" and for a whole week
+he kept formulating in his own mind dithyrambic letters and short notes
+in an eloquent and sublime style. The fear of avowing his actual
+position restrained him. Then he thought that it was far better to write
+to the husband. Arnoux knew life and could understand the true state of
+the case. At length, after a fortnight's hesitation:
+
+"Bah! I ought not to see them any more: let them forget me! At any rate,
+I shall be cherished in her memory without having sunk in her
+estimation! She will believe that I am dead, and will regret
+me--perhaps."
+
+As extravagant resolutions cost him little, he swore in his own mind
+that he would never return to Paris, and that he would not even make any
+enquiries about Madame Arnoux.
+
+Nevertheless, he regretted the very smell of the gas and the noise of
+the omnibuses. He mused on the things that she might have said to him,
+on the tone of her voice, on the light of her eyes--and, regarding
+himself as a dead man, he no longer did anything at all.
+
+He arose very late, and looked through the window at the passing teams
+of wagoners. The first six months especially were hateful.
+
+On certain days, however, he was possessed by a feeling of indignation
+even against her. Then he would go forth and wander through the meadows,
+half covered in winter time by the inundations of the Seine. They were
+cut up by rows of poplar-trees. Here and there arose a little bridge. He
+tramped about till evening, rolling the yellow leaves under his feet,
+inhaling the fog, and jumping over the ditches. As his arteries began to
+throb more vigorously, he felt himself carried away by a desire to do
+something wild; he longed to become a trapper in America, to attend on a
+pasha in the East, to take ship as a sailor; and he gave vent to his
+melancholy in long letters to Deslauriers.
+
+The latter was struggling to get on. The slothful conduct of his friend
+and his eternal jeremiads appeared to him simply stupid. Their
+correspondence soon became a mere form. Frederick had given up all his
+furniture to Deslauriers, who stayed on in the same lodgings. From time
+to time his mother spoke to him. At length he one day told her about the
+present he had made, and she was giving him a rating for it, when a
+letter was placed in his hands.
+
+"What is the matter now?" she said, "you are trembling?"
+
+"There is nothing the matter with me," replied Frederick.
+
+Deslauriers informed him that he had taken Senecal under his protection,
+and that for the past fortnight they had been living together. So now
+Senecal was exhibiting himself in the midst of things that had come
+from the Arnoux's shop. He might sell them, criticise, make jokes about
+them. Frederick felt wounded in the depths of his soul. He went up to
+his own apartment. He felt a yearning for death.
+
+His mother called him to consult him about a plantation in the garden.
+
+This garden was, after the fashion of an English park, cut in the middle
+by a stick fence; and the half of it belonged to Pere Roque, who had
+another for vegetables on the bank of the river. The two neighbours,
+having fallen out, abstained from making their appearance there at the
+same hour. But since Frederick's return, the old gentleman used to walk
+about there more frequently, and was not stinted in his courtesies
+towards Madame Moreau's son. He pitied the young man for having to live
+in a country town. One day he told him that Madame Dambreuse had been
+anxious to hear from him. On another occasion he expatiated on the
+custom of Champagne, where the stomach conferred nobility.
+
+"At that time you would have been a lord, since your mother's name was
+De Fouvens. And 'tis all very well to talk--never mind! there's
+something in a name. After all," he added, with a sly glance at
+Frederick, "that depends on the Keeper of the Seals."
+
+This pretension to aristocracy contrasted strangely with his personal
+appearance. As he was small, his big chestnut-coloured frock-coat
+exaggerated the length of his bust. When he took off his hat, a face
+almost like that of a woman with an extremely sharp nose could be seen;
+his hair, which was of a yellow colour, resembled a wig. He saluted
+people with a very low bow, brushing against the wall.
+
+Up to his fiftieth year, he had been content with the services of
+Catherine, a native of Lorraine, of the same age as himself, who was
+strongly marked with small-pox. But in the year 1834, he brought back
+with him from Paris a handsome blonde with a sheep-like type of
+countenance and a "queenly carriage." Ere long, she was observed
+strutting about with large earrings; and everything was explained by the
+birth of a daughter who was introduced to the world under the name of
+Elisabeth Olympe Louise Roque.
+
+Catherine, in her first ebullition of jealousy, expected that she would
+curse this child. On the contrary, she became fond of the little girl,
+and treated her with the utmost care, consideration, and tenderness, in
+order to supplant her mother and render her odious--an easy task,
+inasmuch as Madame Eleonore entirely neglected the little one,
+preferring to gossip at the tradesmen's shops. On the day after her
+marriage, she went to pay a visit at the Sub-prefecture, no longer
+"thee'd" and "thou'd" the servants, and took it into her head that, as a
+matter of good form, she ought to exhibit a certain severity towards the
+child. She was present while the little one was at her lessons. The
+teacher, an old clerk who had been employed at the Mayor's office, did
+not know how to go about the work of instructing the girl. The pupil
+rebelled, got her ears boxed, and rushed away to shed tears on the lap
+of Catherine, who always took her part. After this the two women
+wrangled, and M. Roque ordered them to hold their tongues. He had
+married only out of tender regard for his daughter, and did not wish to
+be annoyed by them.
+
+She often wore a white dress with ribbons, and pantalettes trimmed with
+lace; and on great festival-days she would leave the house attired like
+a princess, in order to mortify a little the matrons of the town, who
+forbade their brats to associate with her on account of her illegitimate
+birth.
+
+She passed her life nearly always by herself in the garden, went
+see-sawing on the swing, chased butterflies, then suddenly stopped to
+watch the floral beetles swooping down on the rose-trees. It was, no
+doubt, these habits which imparted to her face an expression at the same
+time of audacity and dreaminess. She had, moreover, a figure like
+Marthe, so that Frederick said to her, at their second interview:
+
+"Will you permit me to kiss you, mademoiselle?"
+
+The little girl lifted up her head and replied:
+
+"I will!"
+
+But the stick-hedge separated them from one another.
+
+"We must climb over," said Frederick.
+
+"No, lift me up!"
+
+He stooped over the hedge, and raising her off the ground with his
+hands, kissed her on both cheeks; then he put her back on her own side
+by a similar process; and this performance was repeated on the next
+occasions when they found themselves together.
+
+Without more reserve than a child of four, as soon as she heard her
+friend coming, she sprang forward to meet him, or else, hiding behind a
+tree, she began yelping like a dog to frighten him.
+
+One day, when Madame Moreau had gone out, he brought her up to his own
+room. She opened all the scent-bottles, and pomaded her hair
+plentifully; then, without the slightest embarrassment, she lay down on
+the bed, where she remained stretched out at full length, wide awake.
+
+"I fancy myself your wife," she said to him.
+
+Next day he found her all in tears. She confessed that she had been
+"weeping for her sins;" and, when he wished to know what they were, she
+hung down her head, and answered:
+
+"Ask me no more!"
+
+The time for first communion was at hand. She had been brought to
+confession in the morning. The sacrament scarcely made her wiser.
+Occasionally, she got into a real passion; and Frederick was sent for to
+appease her.
+
+He often brought her with him in his walks. While he indulged in
+day-dreams as he walked along, she would gather wild poppies at the
+edges of the corn-fields; and, when she saw him more melancholy than
+usual, she tried to console him with her pretty childish prattle. His
+heart, bereft of love, fell back on this friendship inspired by a little
+girl. He gave her sketches of old fogies, told her stories, and devoted
+himself to reading books for her.
+
+He began with the _Annales Romantiques_, a collection of prose and verse
+celebrated at the period. Then, forgetting her age, so much was he
+charmed by her intelligence, he read for her in succession, _Atala_,
+_Cinq-Mars_, and _Les Feuilles d'Automne_. But one night (she had that
+very evening heard _Macbeth_ in Letourneur's simple translation) she
+woke up, exclaiming:
+
+"The spot! the spot!" Her teeth chattered, she shivered, and, fixing
+terrified glances on her right hand, she kept rubbing it, saying:
+
+"Always a spot!"
+
+At last a doctor was brought, who directed that she should be kept free
+from violent emotions.
+
+The townsfolk saw in this only an unfavourable prognostic for her
+morals. It was said that "young Moreau" wished to make an actress of her
+later.
+
+Soon another event became the subject of discussion--namely, the arrival
+of uncle Barthelemy. Madame Moreau gave up her sleeping-apartment to
+him, and was so gracious as to serve up meat to him on fast-days.
+
+The old man was not very agreeable. He was perpetually making
+comparisons between Havre and Nogent, the air of which he considered
+heavy, the bread bad, the streets ill-paved, the food indifferent, and
+the inhabitants very lazy. "How wretched trade is with you in this
+place!" He blamed his deceased brother for his extravagance, pointing
+out by way of contrast that he had himself accumulated an income of
+twenty-seven thousand livres a year. At last, he left at the end of the
+week, and on the footboard of the carriage gave utterance to these by no
+means reassuring words:
+
+"I am always very glad to know that you are in a good position."
+
+"You will get nothing," said Madame Moreau as they re-entered the
+dining-room.
+
+He had come only at her urgent request, and for eight days she had been
+seeking, on her part, for an opening--only too clearly perhaps. She
+repented now of having done so, and remained seated in her armchair with
+her head bent down and her lips tightly pressed together. Frederick sat
+opposite, staring at her; and they were both silent, as they had been
+five years before on his return home by the Montereau steamboat. This
+coincidence, which presented itself even to her mind, recalled Madame
+Arnoux to his recollection.
+
+At that moment the crack of a whip outside the window reached their
+ears, while a voice was heard calling out to him.
+
+It was Pere Roque, who was alone in his tilted cart. He was going to
+spend the whole day at La Fortelle with M. Dambreuse, and cordially
+offered to drive Frederick there.
+
+"You have no need of an invitation as long as you are with me. Don't be
+afraid!"
+
+Frederick felt inclined to accept this offer. But how would he explain
+his fixed sojourn at Nogent? He had not a proper summer suit. Finally,
+what would his mother say? He accordingly decided not to go.
+
+From that time, their neighbour exhibited less friendliness. Louise was
+growing tall; Madame Eleonore fell dangerously ill; and the intimacy
+broke off, to the great delight of Madame Moreau, who feared lest her
+son's prospects of being settled in life might be affected by
+association with such people.
+
+She was thinking of purchasing for him the registrarship of the Court of
+Justice. Frederick raised no particular objection to this scheme. He now
+accompanied her to mass; in the evening he took a hand in a game of "all
+fours." He became accustomed to provincial habits of life, and allowed
+himself to slide into them; and even his love had assumed a character of
+mournful sweetness, a kind of soporific charm. By dint of having poured
+out his grief in his letters, mixed it up with everything he read, given
+full vent to it during his walks through the country, he had almost
+exhausted it, so that Madame Arnoux was for him, as it were, a dead
+woman whose tomb he wondered that he did not know, so tranquil and
+resigned had his affection for her now become.
+
+One day, the 12th of December, 1845, about nine o'clock in the morning,
+the cook brought up a letter to his room. The address, which was in big
+characters, was written in a hand he was not acquainted with; and
+Frederick, feeling sleepy, was in no great hurry to break the seal. At
+length, when he did so, he read:
+
+    "Justice of the Peace at Havre,
+     3rd Arrondissement.
+
+"MONSIEUR,--Monsieur Moreau, your uncle, having died intestate----"
+
+He had fallen in for the inheritance! As if a conflagration had burst
+out behind the wall, he jumped out of bed in his shirt, with his feet
+bare. He passed his hand over his face, doubting the evidence of his own
+eyes, believing that he was still dreaming, and in order to make his
+mind more clearly conscious of the reality of the event, he flung the
+window wide open.
+
+There had been a fall of snow; the roofs were white, and he even
+recognised in the yard outside a washtub which had caused him to stumble
+after dark the evening before.
+
+He read the letter over three times in succession. Could there be
+anything more certain? His uncle's entire fortune! A yearly income of
+twenty-seven thousand livres![5] And he was overwhelmed with frantic joy
+at the idea of seeing Madame Arnoux once more. With the vividness of a
+hallucination he saw himself beside her, at her house, bringing her some
+present in silver paper, while at the door stood a tilbury--no, a
+brougham rather!--a black brougham, with a servant in brown livery. He
+could hear his horse pawing the ground and the noise of the curb-chain
+mingling with the rippling sound of their kisses. And every day this was
+renewed indefinitely. He would receive them in his own house: the
+dining-room would be furnished in red leather; the boudoir in yellow
+silk; sofas everywhere! and such a variety of whatnots, china vases, and
+carpets! These images came in so tumultuous a fashion into his mind that
+he felt his head turning round. Then he thought of his mother; and he
+descended the stairs with the letter in his hand.
+
+[Footnote 5: About L1,350.--Translator.]
+
+Madame Moreau made an effort to control her emotion, but could not keep
+herself from swooning. Frederick caught her in his arms and kissed her
+on the forehead.
+
+"Dear mother, you can now buy back your carriage--laugh then! shed no
+more tears! be happy!"
+
+[Illustration: Laugh then! shed no more tears! be happy!]
+
+Ten minutes later the news had travelled as far as the faubourgs. Then
+M. Benoist, M. Gamblin, M. Chambion, and other friends hurried towards
+the house. Frederick got away for a minute in order to write to
+Deslauriers. Then other visitors turned up. The afternoon passed in
+congratulations. They had forgotten all about "Roque's wife," who,
+however, was declared to be "very low."
+
+When they were alone, the same evening, Madame Moreau said to her son
+that she would advise him to set up as an advocate at Troyes. As he was
+better known in his own part of the country than in any other, he might
+more easily find there a profitable connection.
+
+"Ah, it is too hard!" exclaimed Frederick. He had scarcely grasped his
+good fortune in his hands when he longed to carry it to Madame Arnoux.
+He announced his express determination to live in Paris.
+
+"And what are you going to do there?"
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+Madame Moreau, astonished at his manner, asked what he intended to
+become.
+
+"A minister," was Frederick's reply. And he declared that he was not at
+all joking, that he meant to plunge at once into diplomacy, and that his
+studies and his instincts impelled him in that direction. He would first
+enter the Council of State under M. Dambreuse's patronage.
+
+"So then, you know him?"
+
+"Oh, yes--through M. Roque."
+
+"That is singular," said Madame Moreau. He had awakened in her heart her
+former dreams of ambition. She internally abandoned herself to them, and
+said no more about other matters.
+
+If he had yielded to his impatience, Frederick would have started that
+very instant. Next morning every seat in the diligence had been engaged;
+and so he kept eating out his heart till seven o'clock in the evening.
+
+They had sat down to dinner when three prolonged tolls of the
+church-bell fell on their ears; and the housemaid, coming in, informed
+them that Madame Eleonore had just died.
+
+This death, after all, was not a misfortune for anyone, not even for her
+child. The young girl would only find it all the better for herself
+afterwards.
+
+As the two houses were close to one another, a great coming and going
+and a clatter of tongues could be heard; and the idea of this corpse
+being so near them threw a certain funereal gloom over their parting.
+Madame Moreau wiped her eyes two or three times. Frederick felt his
+heart oppressed.
+
+When the meal was over, Catherine stopped him between two doors.
+Mademoiselle had peremptorily expressed a wish to see him. She was
+waiting for him in the garden. He went out there, strode over the hedge,
+and knocking more or less against the trees, directed his steps towards
+M. Roque's house. Lights were glittering through a window in the second
+story then a form appeared in the midst of the darkness, and a voice
+whispered:
+
+"'Tis I!"
+
+She seemed to him taller than usual, owing to her black dress, no doubt.
+Not knowing what to say to her, he contented himself with catching her
+hands, and sighing forth:
+
+"Ah! my poor Louise!"
+
+She did not reply. She gazed at him for a long time with a look of sad,
+deep earnestness.
+
+Frederick was afraid of missing the coach; he fancied that he could hear
+the rolling of wheels some distance away, and, in order to put an end to
+the interview without any delay:
+
+"Catherine told me that you had something----"
+
+"Yes--'tis true! I wanted to tell you----"
+
+He was astonished to find that she addressed him in the plural; and, as
+she again relapsed into silence:
+
+"Well, what?"
+
+"I don't know. I forget! Is it true that you're going away?"
+
+"Yes, I'm starting just now."
+
+She repeated: "Ah! just now?--for good?--we'll never see one another
+again?"
+
+She was choking with sobs.
+
+"Good-bye! good-bye! embrace me then!"
+
+And she threw her arms about him passionately.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A Change of Fortune.
+
+
+Then he had taken his place behind the other passengers in the front of
+the diligence, and when the vehicle began to shake as the five horses
+started into a brisk trot all at the same time, he allowed himself to
+plunge into an intoxicating dream of the future. Like an architect
+drawing up the plan of a palace, he mapped out his life beforehand. He
+filled it with dainties and with splendours; it rose up to the sky; a
+profuse display of allurements could be seen there; and so deeply was he
+buried in the contemplation of these things that he lost sight of all
+external objects.
+
+At the foot of the hill of Sourdun his attention was directed to the
+stage which they had reached in their journey. They had travelled only
+about five kilometres[6] at the most. He was annoyed at this tardy rate
+of travelling. He pulled down the coach-window in order to get a view of
+the road. He asked the conductor several times at what hour they would
+reach their destination. However, he eventually regained his composure,
+and remained seated in his corner of the vehicle with eyes wide open.
+
+[Footnote 6: A little over three miles.--Translator.]
+
+The lantern, which hung from the postilion's seat, threw its light on
+the buttocks of the shaft-horses. In front, only the manes of the other
+horses could be seen undulating like white billows. Their breathing
+caused a kind of fog to gather at each side of the team. The little iron
+chains of the harness rang; the windows shook in their sashes; and the
+heavy coach went rolling at an even pace over the pavement. Here and
+there could be distinguished the wall of a barn, or else an inn standing
+by itself. Sometimes, as they entered a village, a baker's oven threw
+out gleams of light; and the gigantic silhouettes of the horses kept
+rushing past the walls of the opposite houses. At every change of
+horses, when the harness was unfastened, there was a great silence for a
+minute. Overhead, under the awning, some passenger might be heard
+tapping with his feet, while a woman sitting at the threshold of the
+door screened her candle with her hand. Then the conductor would jump on
+the footboard, and the vehicle would start on its way again.
+
+At Mormans, the striking of the clocks announced that it was a quarter
+past one.
+
+"So then we are in another day," he thought, "we have been in it for
+some time!"
+
+But gradually his hopes and his recollections, Nogent, the Rue de
+Choiseul, Madame Arnoux, and his mother, all got mixed up together.
+
+He was awakened by the dull sound of wheels passing over planks: they
+were crossing the Pont de Charenton--it was Paris. Then his two
+travelling companions, the first taking off his cap, and the second his
+silk handkerchief, put on their hats, and began to chat.
+
+The first, a big, red-faced man in a velvet frock-coat, was a merchant;
+the second was coming up to the capital to consult a physician; and,
+fearing that he had disturbed this gentleman during the night, Frederick
+spontaneously apologised to him, so much had the young man's heart been
+softened by the feelings of happiness that possessed it. The wharf of
+the wet dock being flooded, no doubt, they went straight ahead; and once
+more they could see green fields. In the distance, tall factory-chimneys
+were sending forth their smoke. Then they turned into Ivry. Then drove
+up a street: all at once, he saw before him the dome of the Pantheon.
+
+The plain, quite broken up, seemed a waste of ruins. The enclosing wall
+of the fortifications made a horizontal swelling there; and, on the
+footpath, on the ground at the side of the road, little branchless trees
+were protected by laths bristling with nails. Establishments for
+chemical products and timber-merchants' yards made their appearance
+alternately. High gates, like those seen in farm-houses, afforded
+glimpses, through their opening leaves, of wretched yards within, full
+of filth, with puddles of dirty water in the middle of them. Long
+wine-shops, of the colour of ox's blood, displayed in the first floor,
+between the windows, two billiard-cues crossing one another, with a
+wreath of painted flowers. Here and there might be noticed a half-built
+plaster hut, which had been allowed to remain unfinished. Then the
+double row of houses was no longer interrupted; and over their bare
+fronts enormous tin cigars showed themselves at some distance from each
+other, indicating tobacconists' shops. Midwives' signboards represented
+in each case a matron in a cap rocking a doll under a counterpane
+trimmed with lace. The corners of the walls were covered with placards,
+which, three-quarters torn, were quivering in the wind like rags.
+Workmen in blouses, brewers' drays, laundresses' and butchers' carts
+passed along. A thin rain was falling. It was cold. There was a pale
+sky; but two eyes, which to him were as precious as the sun, were
+shining behind the haze.
+
+They had to wait a long time at the barrier, for vendors of poultry,
+wagoners, and a flock of sheep caused an obstruction there. The sentry,
+with his great-coat thrown back, walked to and fro in front of his box,
+to keep himself warm. The clerk who collected the city-dues clambered up
+to the roof of the diligence, and a cornet-a-piston sent forth a
+flourish. They went down the boulevard at a quick trot, the
+whipple-trees clapping and the traces hanging loose. The lash of the
+whip went cracking through the moist air. The conductor uttered his
+sonorous shout:
+
+"Look alive! look alive! oho!" and the scavengers drew out of the way,
+the pedestrians sprang back, the mud gushed against the coach-windows;
+they crossed dung-carts, cabs, and omnibuses. At length, the iron gate
+of the Jardin des Plantes came into sight.
+
+The Seine, which was of a yellowish colour, almost reached the platforms
+of the bridges. A cool breath of air issued from it. Frederick inhaled
+it with his utmost energy, drinking in this good air of Paris, which
+seems to contain the effluvia of love and the emanations of the
+intellect. He was touched with emotion at the first glimpse of a
+hackney-coach. He gazed with delight on the thresholds of the
+wine-merchants' shops garnished with straw, on the shoe-blacks with
+their boxes, on the lads who sold groceries as they shook their
+coffee-burners. Women hurried along at a jog-trot with umbrellas over
+their heads. He bent forward to try whether he could distinguish their
+faces--chance might have led Madame Arnoux to come out.
+
+The shops displayed their wares. The crowd grew denser; the noise in the
+streets grew louder. After passing the Quai Saint-Bernard, the Quai de
+la Tournelle, and the Quai Montebello, they drove along the Quai
+Napoleon. He was anxious to see the windows there; but they were too far
+away from him. Then they once more crossed the Seine over the Pont-Neuf,
+and descended in the direction of the Louvre; and, having traversed the
+Rues Saint-Honore, Croix des Petits-Champs, and Du Bouloi, he reached
+the Rue Coq-Heron, and entered the courtyard of the hotel.
+
+To make his enjoyment last the longer, Frederick dressed himself as
+slowly as possible, and even walked as far as the Boulevard Montmartre.
+He smiled at the thought of presently beholding once more the beloved
+name on the marble plate. He cast a glance upwards; there was no longer
+a trace of the display in the windows, the pictures, or anything else.
+
+He hastened to the Rue de Choiseul. M. and Madame Arnoux no longer
+resided there, and a woman next door was keeping an eye on the porter's
+lodge. Frederick waited to see the porter himself. After some time he
+made his appearance--it was no longer the same man. He did not know
+their address.
+
+Frederick went into a cafe, and, while at breakfast, consulted the
+Commercial Directory. There were three hundred Arnoux in it, but no
+Jacques Arnoux. Where, then, were they living? Pellerin ought to know.
+
+He made his way to the very top of the Faubourg Poissonniere, to the
+artist's studio. As the door had neither a bell nor a knocker, he rapped
+loudly on it with his knuckles, and then called out--shouted. But the
+only response was the echo of his voice from the empty house.
+
+After this he thought of Hussonnet; but where could he discover a man of
+that sort? On one occasion he had waited on Hussonnet when the latter
+was paying a visit to his mistress's house in the Rue de Fleurus.
+Frederick had just reached the Rue de Fleurus when he became conscious
+of the fact that he did not even know the lady's name.
+
+He had recourse to the Prefecture of Police. He wandered from staircase
+to staircase, from office to office. He found that the Intelligence
+Department was closed for the day, and was told to come back again next
+morning.
+
+Then he called at all the picture-dealers' shops that he could discover,
+and enquired whether they could give him any information as to Arnoux's
+whereabouts. The only answer he got was that M. Arnoux was no longer in
+the trade.
+
+At last, discouraged, weary, sickened, he returned to his hotel, and
+went to bed. Just as he was stretching himself between the sheets, an
+idea flashed upon him which made him leap up with delight:
+
+"Regimbart! what an idiot I was not to think of him before!"
+
+Next morning, at seven o'clock, he arrived in the Rue Notre Dame des
+Victoires, in front of a dram-shop, where Regimbart was in the habit of
+drinking white wine. It was not yet open. He walked about the
+neighbourhood, and at the end of about half-an-hour, presented himself
+at the place once more. Regimbart had left it.
+
+Frederick rushed out into the street. He fancied that he could even
+notice Regimbart's hat some distance away. A hearse and some mourning
+coaches intercepted his progress. When they had got out of the way, the
+vision had disappeared.
+
+Fortunately, he recalled to mind that the Citizen breakfasted every day
+at eleven o'clock sharp, at a little restaurant in the Place Gaillon.
+All he had to do was to wait patiently till then; and, after sauntering
+about from the Bourse to the Madeleine, and from the Madeleine to the
+Gymnase, so long that it seemed as if it would never come to an end,
+Frederick, just as the clocks were striking eleven, entered the
+restaurant in the Rue Gaillon, certain of finding Regimbart there.
+
+"Don't know!" said the restaurant-keeper, in an unceremonious tone.
+
+Frederick persisted: the man replied:
+
+"I have no longer any acquaintance with him, Monsieur"--and, as he
+spoke, he raised his eyebrows majestically and shook his head in a
+mysterious fashion.
+
+But, in their last interview, the Citizen had referred to the Alexandre
+smoking-divan. Frederick swallowed a cake, jumped into a cab, and asked
+the driver whether there happened to be anywhere on the heights of
+Sainte-Genevieve a certain Cafe Alexandre. The cabman drove him to the
+Rue des Francs Bourgeois Saint-Michel, where there was an establishment
+of that name, and in answer to his question:
+
+"M. Regimbart, if you please?" the keeper of the cafe said with an
+unusually gracious smile:
+
+"We have not seen him as yet, Monsieur," while he directed towards his
+wife, who sat behind the counter, a look of intelligence. And the next
+moment, turning towards the clock:
+
+"But he'll be here, I hope, in ten minutes, or at most a quarter of an
+hour. Celestin, hurry with the newspapers! What would Monsieur like to
+take?"
+
+Though he did not want to take anything, Frederick swallowed a glass of
+rum, then a glass of kirsch, then a glass of curacoa, then several
+glasses of grog, both cold and hot. He read through that day's _Siecle_,
+and then read it over again; he examined the caricatures in the
+_Charivari_ down to the very tissue of the paper. When he had finished,
+he knew the advertisements by heart. From time to time, the tramp of
+boots on the footpath outside reached his ears--it was he! and some
+one's form would trace its outlines on the window-panes; but it
+invariably passed on.
+
+In order to get rid of the sense of weariness he experienced, Frederick
+shifted his seat. He took up his position at the lower end of the room;
+then at the right; after that at the left; and he remained in the middle
+of the bench with his arms stretched out. But a cat, daintily pressing
+down the velvet at the back of the seat, startled him by giving a sudden
+spring, in order to lick up the spots of syrup on the tray; and the
+child of the house, an insufferable brat of four, played noisily with a
+rattle on the bar steps. His mother, a pale-faced little woman, with
+decayed teeth, was smiling in a stupid sort of way. What in the world
+could Regimbart be doing? Frederick waited for him in an exceedingly
+miserable frame of mind.
+
+The rain clattered like hail on the covering of the cab. Through the
+opening in the muslin curtain he could see the poor horse in the street
+more motionless than a horse made of wood. The stream of water, becoming
+enormous, trickled down between two spokes of the wheels, and the
+coachman was nodding drowsily with the horsecloth wrapped round him for
+protection, but fearing lest his fare might give him the slip, he opened
+the door every now and then, with the rain dripping from him as if
+falling from a mountain torrent; and, if things could get worn out by
+looking at them, the clock ought to have by this time been utterly
+dissolved, so frequently did Frederick rivet his eyes on it. However, it
+kept going. "Mine host" Alexandre walked up and down repeating, "He'll
+come! Cheer up! he'll come!" and, in order to divert his thoughts,
+talked politics, holding forth at some length. He even carried civility
+so far as to propose a game of dominoes.
+
+At length when it was half-past four, Frederick, who had been there
+since about twelve, sprang to his feet, and declared that he would not
+wait any longer.
+
+"I can't understand it at all myself," replied the cafe-keeper, in a
+tone of straightforwardness. "This is the first time that M. Ledoux has
+failed to come!"
+
+"What! Monsieur Ledoux?"
+
+"Why, yes, Monsieur!"
+
+"I said Regimbart," exclaimed Frederick, exasperated.
+
+"Ah! a thousand pardons! You are making a mistake! Madame Alexandre, did
+not Monsieur say M. Ledoux?"
+
+And, questioning the waiter: "You heard him yourself, just as I did?"
+
+No doubt, to pay his master off for old scores, the waiter contented
+himself with smiling.
+
+Frederick drove back to the boulevards, indignant at having his time
+wasted, raging against the Citizen, but craving for his presence as if
+for that of a god, and firmly resolved to drag him forth, if necessary,
+from the depths of the most remote cellars. The vehicle in which he was
+driving only irritated him the more, and he accordingly got rid of it.
+His ideas were in a state of confusion. Then all the names of the cafes
+which he had heard pronounced by that idiot burst forth at the same time
+from his memory like the thousand pieces of an exhibition of
+fireworks--the Cafe Gascard, the Cafe Grimbert, the Cafe Halbout, the
+Bordelais smoking-divan, the Havanais, the Havrais, the Boeuf a la
+Mode, the Brasserie Allemande, and the Mere Morel; and he made his way
+to all of them in succession. But in one he was told that Regimbart had
+just gone out; in another, that he might perhaps call at a later hour;
+in a third, that they had not seen him for six months; and, in another
+place, that he had the day before ordered a leg of mutton for Saturday.
+Finally, at Vautier's dining-rooms, Frederick, on opening the door,
+knocked against the waiter.
+
+"Do you know M. Regimbart?"
+
+"What, monsieur! do I know him? 'Tis I who have the honour of attending
+on him. He's upstairs--he is just finishing his dinner!"
+
+And, with a napkin under his arm, the master of the establishment
+himself accosted him:
+
+"You're asking him for M. Regimbart, monsieur? He was here a moment
+ago."
+
+Frederick gave vent to an oath, but the proprietor of the dining-rooms
+stated that he would find the gentleman as a matter of certainty at
+Bouttevilain's.
+
+"I assure you, on my honour, he left a little earlier than usual, for he
+had a business appointment with some gentlemen. But you'll find him, I
+tell you again, at Bouttevilain's, in the Rue Saint-Martin, No. 92, the
+second row of steps at the left, at the end of the courtyard--first
+floor--door to the right!"
+
+At last, he saw Regimbart, in a cloud of tobacco-smoke, by himself, at
+the lower end of the refreshment-room, near the billiard-table, with a
+glass of beer in front of him, and his chin lowered in a thoughtful
+attitude.
+
+"Ah! I have been a long time searching for you!"
+
+Without rising, Regimbart extended towards him only two fingers, and, as
+if he had seen Frederick the day before, he gave utterance to a number
+of commonplace remarks about the opening of the session.
+
+Frederick interrupted him, saying in the most natural tone he could
+assume:
+
+"Is Arnoux going on well?"
+
+The reply was a long time coming, as Regimbart was gargling the liquor
+in his throat:
+
+"Yes, not badly."
+
+"Where is he living now?"
+
+"Why, in the Rue Paradis Poissonniere," the Citizen returned with
+astonishment.
+
+"What number?"
+
+"Thirty-seven--confound it! what a funny fellow you are!"
+
+Frederick rose.
+
+"What! are you going?"
+
+"Yes, yes! I have to make a call--some business matter I had forgotten!
+Good-bye!"
+
+Frederick went from the smoking-divan to the Arnoux's residence, as if
+carried along by a tepid wind, with a sensation of extreme ease such as
+people experience in dreams.
+
+He found himself soon on the second floor in front of a door, at the
+ringing of whose bell a servant appeared. A second door was flung open.
+Madame Arnoux was seated near the fire. Arnoux jumped up, and rushed
+across to embrace Frederick. She had on her lap a little boy not quite
+three years old. Her daughter, now as tall as herself, was standing up
+at the opposite side of the mantelpiece.
+
+"Allow me to present this gentleman to you," said Arnoux, taking his son
+up in his arms. And he amused himself for some minutes in making the
+child jump up in the air very high, and then catching him with both
+hands as he came down.
+
+"You'll kill him!--ah! good heavens, have done!" exclaimed Madame
+Arnoux.
+
+But Arnoux, declaring that there was not the slightest danger, still
+kept tossing up the child, and even addressed him in words of endearment
+such as nurses use in the Marseillaise dialect, his natal tongue: "Ah!
+my fine picheoun! my ducksy of a little nightingale!"
+
+Then, he asked Frederick why he had been so long without writing to
+them, what he had been doing down in the country, and what brought him
+back.
+
+"As for me, I am at present, my dear friend, a dealer in faience. But
+let us talk about yourself!"
+
+Frederick gave as reasons for his absence a protracted lawsuit and the
+state of his mother's health.
+
+He laid special stress on the latter subject in order to make himself
+interesting. He ended by saying that this time he was going to settle in
+Paris for good; and he said nothing about the inheritance, lest it might
+be prejudicial to his past.
+
+The curtains, like the upholstering of the furniture, were of maroon
+damask wool. Two pillows were close beside one another on the bolster.
+On the coal-fire a kettle was boiling; and the shade of the lamp, which
+stood near the edge of the chest of drawers, darkened the apartment.
+Madame Arnoux wore a large blue merino dressing-gown. With her face
+turned towards the fire and one hand on the shoulder of the little boy,
+she unfastened with the other the child's bodice. The youngster in his
+shirt began to cry, while scratching his head, like the son of M.
+Alexandre.
+
+Frederick expected that he would have felt spasms of joy; but the
+passions grow pale when we find ourselves in an altered situation; and,
+as he no longer saw Madame Arnoux in the environment wherein he had
+known her, she seemed to him to have lost some of her fascination; to
+have degenerated in some way that he could not comprehend--in fact, not
+to be the same. He was astonished at the serenity of his own heart. He
+made enquiries about some old friends, about Pellerin, amongst others.
+
+"I don't see him often," said Arnoux. She added:
+
+"We no longer entertain as we used to do formerly!"
+
+Was the object of this to let him know that he would get no invitation
+from them? But Arnoux, continuing to exhibit the same cordiality,
+reproached him for not having come to dine with them uninvited; and he
+explained why he had changed his business.
+
+"What are you to do in an age of decadence like ours? Great painting is
+gone out of fashion! Besides, we may import art into everything. You
+know that, for my part, I am a lover of the beautiful. I must bring you
+one of these days to see my earthenware works."
+
+And he wanted to show Frederick immediately some of his productions in
+the store which he had between the ground-floor and the first floor.
+
+Dishes, soup-tureens, and washhand-basins encumbered the floor. Against
+the walls were laid out large squares of pavement for bathrooms and
+dressing-rooms, with mythological subjects in the Renaissance style;
+whilst in the centre, a pair of whatnots, rising up to the ceiling,
+supported ice-urns, flower-pots, candelabra, little flower-stands, and
+large statuettes of many colours, representing a negro or a shepherdess
+in the Pompadour fashion. Frederick, who was cold and hungry, was bored
+with Arnoux's display of his wares. He hurried off to the Cafe Anglais,
+where he ordered a sumptuous supper, and while eating, said to himself:
+
+"I was well off enough below there with all my troubles! She scarcely
+took any notice of me! How like a shopkeeper's wife!"
+
+And in an abrupt expansion of healthfulness, he formed egoistic
+resolutions. He felt his heart as hard as the table on which his elbows
+rested. So then he could by this time plunge fearlessly into the vortex
+of society. The thought of the Dambreuses recurred to his mind. He would
+make use of them. Then he recalled Deslauriers to mind. "Ah! faith, so
+much the worse!" Nevertheless, he sent him a note by a messenger, making
+an appointment with him for the following day, in order that they might
+breakfast together.
+
+Fortune had not been so kind to the other.
+
+He had presented himself at the examination for a fellowship with a
+thesis on the law of wills, in which he maintained that the powers of
+testators ought to be restricted as much as possible; and, as his
+adversary provoked him in such a way as to make him say foolish things,
+he gave utterance to many of these absurdities without in any way
+inducing the examiners to falter in deciding that he was wrong. Then
+chance so willed it that he should choose by lot, as a subject for a
+lecture, Prescription. Thereupon, Deslauriers gave vent to some
+lamentable theories: the questions in dispute in former times ought to
+be brought forward as well as those which had recently arisen; why
+should the proprietor be deprived of his estate because he could furnish
+his title-deeds only after the lapse of thirty-one years? This was
+giving the security of the honest man to the inheritor of the enriched
+thief. Every injustice was consecrated by extending this law, which was
+a form of tyranny, the abuse of force! He had even exclaimed: "Abolish
+it; and the Franks will no longer oppress the Gauls, the English oppress
+the Irish, the Yankee oppress the Redskins, the Turks oppress the Arabs,
+the whites oppress the blacks, Poland----"
+
+The President interrupted him: "Well! well! Monsieur, we have nothing to
+do with your political opinions--you will have them represented in your
+behalf by-and-by!"
+
+Deslauriers did not wish to have his opinions represented; but this
+unfortunate Title XX. of the Third Book of the Civil Code had become a
+sort of mountain over which he stumbled. He was elaborating a great work
+on "Prescription considered as the Basis of the Civil Law and of the Law
+of Nature amongst Peoples"; and he got lost in Dunod, Rogerius, Balbus,
+Merlin, Vazeille, Savigny, Traplong, and other weighty authorities on
+the subject. In order to have more leisure for the purpose of devoting
+himself to this task, he had resigned his post of head-clerk. He lived
+by giving private tuitions and preparing theses; and at the meetings of
+newly-fledged barristers to rehearse legal arguments he frightened by
+his display of virulence those who held conservative views, all the
+young doctrinaires who acknowledged M. Guizot as their master--so that
+in a certain set he had gained a sort of celebrity, mingled, in a slight
+degree, with lack of confidence in him as an individual.
+
+He came to keep the appointment in a big paletot, lined with red
+flannel, like the one Senecal used to wear in former days.
+
+Human respect on account of the passers-by prevented them from straining
+one another long in an embrace of friendship; and they made their way to
+Vefour's arm-in-arm, laughing pleasantly, though with tear-drops
+lingering in the depths of their eyes. Then, as soon as they were free
+from observation, Deslauriers exclaimed:
+
+"Ah! damn it! we'll have a jolly time of it now!"
+
+Frederick was not quite pleased to find Deslauriers all at once
+associating himself in this way with his own newly-acquired
+inheritance. His friend exhibited too much pleasure on account of them
+both, and not enough on his account alone.
+
+After this, Deslauriers gave details about the reverse he had met with,
+and gradually told Frederick all about his occupations and his daily
+existence, speaking of himself in a stoical fashion, and of others in
+tones of intense bitterness. He found fault with everything; there was
+not a man in office who was not an idiot or a rascal. He flew into a
+passion against the waiter for having a glass badly rinsed, and, when
+Frederick uttered a reproach with a view to mitigating his wrath: "As if
+I were going to annoy myself with such numbskulls, who, you must know,
+can earn as much as six and even eight thousand francs a year, who are
+electors, perhaps eligible as candidates. Ah! no, no!"
+
+Then, with a sprightly air, "But I've forgotten that I'm talking to a
+capitalist, to a Mondor,[7] for you are a Mondor now!"
+
+[Footnote 7: Mondor was a celebrated Italian charlatan, who,
+in the seventeenth century, settled in Paris and made a large
+fortune.--Translator.]
+
+And, coming back to the question of the inheritance, he gave expression
+to this view--that collateral successorship (a thing unjust in itself,
+though in the present case he was glad it was possible) would be
+abolished one of these days at the approaching revolution.
+
+"Do you believe in that?" said Frederick.
+
+"Be sure of it!" he replied. "This sort of thing cannot last. There is
+too much suffering. When I see into the wretchedness of men like
+Senecal----"
+
+"Always Senecal!" thought Frederick.
+
+"But, at all events, tell me the news? Are you still in love with Madame
+Arnoux? Is it all over--eh?"
+
+Frederick, not knowing what answer to give him, closed his eyes and hung
+down his head.
+
+With regard to Arnoux, Deslauriers told him that the journal was now the
+property of Hussonnet, who had transformed it. It was called "_L'Art_, a
+literary institution--a company with shares of one hundred francs each;
+capital of the firm, forty thousand francs," each shareholder having the
+right to put into it his own contributions; for "the company has for its
+object to publish the works of beginners, to spare talent, perchance
+genius, the sad crises which drench," etc.
+
+"You see the dodge!" There was, however, something to be effected by the
+change--the tone of the journal could be raised; then, without any
+delay, while retaining the same writers, and promising a continuation of
+the feuilleton, to supply the subscribers with a political organ: the
+amount to be advanced would not be very great.
+
+"What do you think of it? Come! would you like to have a hand in it?"
+
+Frederick did not reject the proposal; but he pointed out that it was
+necessary for him to attend to the regulation of his affairs.
+
+"After that, if you require anything----"
+
+"Thanks, my boy!" said Deslauriers.
+
+Then, they smoked puros, leaning with their elbows on the shelf covered
+with velvet beside the window. The sun was shining; the air was balmy.
+Flocks of birds, fluttering about, swooped down into the garden. The
+statues of bronze and marble, washed by the rain, were glistening.
+Nursery-maids wearing aprons, were seated on chairs, chatting together;
+and the laughter of children could be heard mingling with the continuous
+plash that came from the sheaf-jets of the fountain.
+
+Frederick was troubled by Deslauriers' irritability; but under the
+influence of the wine which circulated through his veins, half-asleep,
+in a state of torpor, with the sun shining full on his face, he was no
+longer conscious of anything save a profound sense of comfort, a kind of
+voluptuous feeling that stupefied him, as a plant is saturated with heat
+and moisture. Deslauriers, with half-closed eyelids, was staring
+vacantly into the distance. His breast swelled, and he broke out in the
+following strain:
+
+"Ah! those were better days when Camille Desmoulins, standing below
+there on a table, drove the people on to the Bastille. Men really lived
+in those times; they could assert themselves, and prove their strength!
+Simple advocates commanded generals. Kings were beaten by beggars;
+whilst now----"
+
+He stopped, then added all of a sudden:
+
+"Pooh! the future is big with great things!"
+
+And, drumming a battle-march on the window-panes, he declaimed some
+verses of Barthelemy, which ran thus:
+
+    "'That dread Assembly shall again appear,
+    Which, after forty years, fills you with fear,
+    Marching with giant stride and dauntless soul'[8]
+
+--I don't know the rest of it! But 'tis late; suppose we go?"
+
+[Footnote 8:   "Elle reparaitra, la terrible Assemblee,
+               Dont, apres quarante ans, votre tete est troublee,
+               Colosse qui sans peur marche d'un pas puissant."]
+
+And he went on setting forth his theories in the street.
+
+Frederick, without listening to him, was looking at certain materials
+and articles of furniture in the shop-windows which would be suitable
+for his new residence in Paris; and it was, perhaps, the thought of
+Madame Arnoux that made him stop before a second-hand dealer's window,
+where three plates made of fine ware were exposed to view. They were
+decorated with yellow arabesques with metallic reflections, and were
+worth a hundred crowns apiece. He got them put by.
+
+"For my part, if I were in your place," said Deslauriers, "I would
+rather buy silver plate," revealing by this love of substantial things
+the man of mean extraction.
+
+As soon as he was alone, Frederick repaired to the establishment of the
+celebrated Pomadere, where he ordered three pairs of trousers, two
+coats, a pelisse trimmed with fur, and five waistcoats. Then he called
+at a bootmaker's, a shirtmaker's, and a hatter's, giving them directions
+in each shop to make the greatest possible haste. Three days later, on
+the evening of his return from Havre, he found his complete wardrobe
+awaiting him in his Parisian abode; and impatient to make use of it, he
+resolved to pay an immediate visit to the Dambreuses. But it was too
+early yet--scarcely eight o'clock.
+
+"Suppose I went to see the others?" said he to himself.
+
+He came upon Arnoux, all alone, in the act of shaving in front of his
+glass. The latter proposed to drive him to a place where they could
+amuse themselves, and when M. Dambreuse was referred to, "Ah, that's
+just lucky! You'll see some of his friends there. Come on, then! It will
+be good fun!"
+
+Frederick asked to be excused. Madame Arnoux recognised his voice, and
+wished him good-day, through the partition, for her daughter was
+indisposed, and she was also rather unwell herself. The noise of a
+soup-ladle against a glass could be heard from within, and all those
+quivering sounds made by things being lightly moved about, which are
+usual in a sick-room. Then Arnoux left his dressing-room to say good-bye
+to his wife. He brought forward a heap of reasons for going out:
+
+"You know well that it is a serious matter! I must go there; 'tis a case
+of necessity. They'll be waiting for me!"
+
+"Go, go, my dear! Amuse yourself!"
+
+Arnoux hailed a hackney-coach:
+
+"Palais Royal, No. 7 Montpensier Gallery." And, as he let himself sink
+back in the cushions:
+
+"Ah! how tired I am, my dear fellow! It will be the death of me!
+However, I can tell it to you--to you!"
+
+He bent towards Frederick's ear in a mysterious fashion:
+
+"I am trying to discover again the red of Chinese copper!"
+
+And he explained the nature of the glaze and the little fire.
+
+On their arrival at Chevet's shop, a large hamper was brought to him,
+which he stowed away in the hackney-coach. Then he bought for his "poor
+wife" pine-apples and various dainties, and directed that they should be
+sent early next morning.
+
+After this, they called at a costumer's establishment; it was to a ball
+they were going.
+
+Arnoux selected blue velvet breeches, a vest of the same material, and a
+red wig; Frederick a domino; and they went down the Rue de Laval towards
+a house the second floor of which was illuminated by coloured lanterns.
+
+At the foot of the stairs they heard violins playing above.
+
+"Where the deuce are you bringing me to?" said Frederick.
+
+"To see a nice girl! don't be afraid!"
+
+The door was opened for them by a groom; and they entered the anteroom,
+where paletots, mantles, and shawls were thrown together in a heap on
+some chairs. A young woman in the costume of a dragoon of Louis XIV.'s
+reign was passing at that moment. It was Mademoiselle Rosanette Bron,
+the mistress of the place.
+
+"Well?" said Arnoux.
+
+"'Tis done!" she replied.
+
+"Ah! thanks, my angel!"
+
+And he wanted to kiss her.
+
+"Take care, now, you foolish man! You'll spoil the paint on my face!"
+
+Arnoux introduced Frederick.
+
+"Step in there, Monsieur; you are quite welcome!"
+
+She drew aside a door-curtain, and cried out with a certain emphasis:
+
+"Here's my lord Arnoux, girl, and a princely friend of his!"
+
+Frederick was at first dazzled by the lights. He could see nothing save
+some silk and velvet dresses, naked shoulders, a mass of colours swaying
+to and fro to the accompaniment of an orchestra hidden behind green
+foliage, between walls hung with yellow silk, with pastel portraits here
+and there and crystal chandeliers in the style of Louis XVI.'s period.
+High lamps, whose globes of roughened glass resembled snowballs, looked
+down on baskets of flowers placed on brackets in the corners; and at the
+opposite side, at the rear of a second room, smaller in size, one could
+distinguish, in a third, a bed with twisted posts, and at its head a
+Venetian mirror.
+
+The dancing stopped, and there were bursts of applause, a hubbub of
+delight, as Arnoux was seen advancing with his hamper on his head; the
+eatables contained in it made a lump in the centre.
+
+"Make way for the lustre!"
+
+Frederick raised his eyes: it was the lustre of old Saxe that had
+adorned the shop attached to the office of _L'Art Industriel_. The
+memory of former days was brought back to his mind. But a foot-soldier
+of the line in undress, with that silly expression of countenance
+ascribed by tradition to conscripts, planted himself right in front of
+him, spreading out his two arms in order to emphasise his astonishment,
+and, in spite of the hideous black moustaches, unusually pointed, which
+disfigured his face, Frederick recognised his old friend Hussonnet. In a
+half-Alsatian, half-negro kind of gibberish, the Bohemian loaded him
+with congratulations, calling him his colonel. Frederick, put out of
+countenance by the crowd of personages assembled around him, was at a
+loss for an answer. At a tap on the desk from a fiddlestick, the
+partners in the dance fell into their places.
+
+They were about sixty in number, the women being for the most part
+dressed either as village-girls or marchionesses, and the men, who were
+nearly all of mature age, being got up as wagoners, 'longshoremen, or
+sailors.
+
+Frederick having taken up his position close to the wall, stared at
+those who were going through the quadrille in front of him.
+
+An old beau, dressed like a Venetian Doge in a long gown or purple silk,
+was dancing with Mademoiselle Rosanette, who wore a green coat, laced
+breeches, and boots of soft leather with gold spurs. The pair in front
+of them consisted of an Albanian laden with yataghans and a Swiss girl
+with blue eyes and skin white as milk, who looked as plump as a quail
+with her chemise-sleeves and red corset exposed to view. In order to
+turn to account her hair, which fell down to her hips, a tall blonde, a
+walking lady in the opera, had assumed the part of a female savage; and
+over her brown swaddling-cloth she displayed nothing save leathern
+breeches, glass bracelets, and a tinsel diadem, from which rose a large
+sheaf of peacock's feathers. In front of her, a gentleman who had
+intended to represent Pritchard,[9] muffled up in a grotesquely big
+black coat, was beating time with his elbows on his snuff-box. A little
+Watteau shepherd in blue-and-silver, like moonlight, dashed his crook
+against the thyrsus of a Bacchante crowned with grapes, who wore a
+leopard's skin over her left side, and buskins with gold ribbons. On the
+other side, a Polish lady, in a spencer of nacarat-coloured velvet, made
+her gauze petticoat flutter over her pearl-gray stockings, which rose
+above her fashionable pink boots bordered with white fur. She was
+smiling on a big-paunched man of forty, disguised as a choir-boy, who
+was skipping very high, lifting up his surplice with one hand, and with
+the other his red clerical cap. But the queen, the star, was
+Mademoiselle Loulou, a celebrated dancer at public halls. As she had now
+become wealthy, she wore a large lace collar over her vest of smooth
+black velvet; and her wide trousers of poppy-coloured silk, clinging
+closely to her figure, and drawn tight round her waist by a cashmere
+scarf, had all over their seams little natural white camellias. Her pale
+face, a little puffed, and with the nose somewhat _retrousse_, looked
+all the more pert from the disordered appearance of her wig, over which
+she had with a touch of her hand clapped a man's grey felt hat, so that
+it covered her right ear; and, with every bounce she made, her pumps,
+adorned with diamond buckles, nearly reached the nose of her neighbour,
+a big mediaeval baron, who was quite entangled in his steel armour. There
+was also an angel, with a gold sword in her hand, and two swan's wings
+over her back, who kept rushing up and down, every minute losing her
+partner who appeared as Louis XIV., displaying an utter ignorance of the
+figures and confusing the quadrille.
+
+[Footnote 9: This probably refers to the English astronomer of that
+name.--Translator.]
+
+Frederick, as he gazed at these people, experienced a sense of
+forlornness, a feeling of uneasiness. He was still thinking of Madame
+Arnoux and it seemed to him as if he were taking part in some plot that
+was being hatched against her.
+
+When the quadrille was over, Mademoiselle Rosanette accosted him. She
+was slightly out of breath, and her gorget, polished like a mirror,
+swelled up softly under her chin.
+
+"And you, Monsieur," said she, "don't you dance?"
+
+Frederick excused himself; he did not know how to dance.
+
+"Really! but with me? Are you quite sure?" And, poising herself on one
+hip, with her other knee a little drawn back, while she stroked with her
+left hand the mother-of-pearl pommel of her sword, she kept staring at
+him for a minute with a half-beseeching, half-teasing air. At last she
+said "Good night! then," made a pirouette, and disappeared.
+
+Frederick, dissatisfied with himself, and not well knowing what to do,
+began to wander through the ball-room.
+
+He entered the boudoir padded with pale blue silk, with bouquets of
+flowers from the fields, whilst on the ceiling, in a circle of gilt
+wood, Cupids, emerging out of an azure sky, played over the clouds,
+resembling down in appearance. This display of luxuries, which would
+to-day be only trifles to persons like Rosanette, dazzled him, and he
+admired everything--the artificial convolvuli which adorned the surface
+of the mirror, the curtains on the mantelpiece, the Turkish divan, and a
+sort of tent in a recess in the wall, with pink silk hangings and a
+covering of white muslin overhead. Furniture made of dark wood with
+inlaid work of copper filled the sleeping apartment, where, on a
+platform covered with swan's-down, stood the large canopied bedstead
+trimmed with ostrich-feathers. Pins, with heads made of precious stones,
+stuck into pincushions, rings trailing over trays, lockets with hoops of
+gold, and little silver chests, could be distinguished in the shade
+under the light shed by a Bohemian urn suspended from three chainlets.
+Through a little door, which was slightly ajar, could be seen a
+hot-house occupying the entire breadth of a terrace, with an aviary at
+the other end.
+
+Here were surroundings specially calculated to charm him. In a sudden
+revolt of his youthful blood he swore that he would enjoy such things;
+he grew bold; then, coming back to the place opening into the
+drawing-room, where there was now a larger gathering--it kept moving
+about in a kind of luminous pulverulence--he stood to watch the
+quadrilles, blinking his eyes to see better, and inhaling the soft
+perfumes of the women, which floated through the atmosphere like an
+immense kiss.
+
+But, close to him, on the other side of the door, was
+Pellerin--Pellerin, in full dress, his left arm over his breast and with
+his hat and a torn white glove in his right.
+
+"Halloa! 'Tis a long time since we saw you! Where the deuce have you
+been? Gone to travel in Italy? 'Tis a commonplace country enough--Italy,
+eh? not so unique as people say it is? No matter! Will you bring me your
+sketches one of these days?"
+
+And, without giving him time to answer, the artist began talking about
+himself. He had made considerable progress, having definitely satisfied
+himself as to the stupidity of the line. We ought not to look so much
+for beauty and unity in a work as for character and diversity of
+subject.
+
+"For everything exists in nature; therefore, everything is legitimate;
+everything is plastic. It is only a question of catching the note, mind
+you! I have discovered the secret." And giving him a nudge, he repeated
+several times, "I have discovered the secret, you see! just look at that
+little woman with the head-dress of a sphinx who is dancing with a
+Russian postilion--that's neat, dry, fixed, all in flats and in stiff
+tones--indigo under the eyes, a patch of vermilion on the cheek, and
+bistre on the temples--pif! paf!" And with his thumb he drew, as it
+were, pencil-strokes in the air. "Whilst the big one over there," he
+went on, pointing towards a fishwife in a cherry gown with a gold cross
+hanging from her neck, and a lawn fichu fastened round her shoulders,
+"is nothing but curves. The nostrils are spread out just like the
+borders of her cap; the corners of the mouth are rising up; the chin
+sinks: all is fleshy, melting, abundant, tranquil, and sunshiny--a true
+Rubens! Nevertheless, they are both perfect! Where, then, is the type?"
+He grew warm with the subject. "What is this but a beautiful woman? What
+is it but the beautiful? Ah! the beautiful--tell me what that is----"
+
+Frederick interrupted him to enquire who was the merry-andrew with the
+face of a he-goat, who was in the very act of blessing all the dancers
+in the middle of a pastourelle.
+
+"Oh! he's not much!--a widower, the father of three boys. He leaves them
+without breeches, spends his whole day at the club, and lives with the
+servant!"
+
+"And who is that dressed like a bailiff talking in the recess of the
+window to a Marquise de Pompadour?"
+
+"The Marquise is Mademoiselle Vandael, formerly an actress at the
+Gymnase, the mistress of the Doge, the Comte de Palazot. They have now
+been twenty years living together--nobody can tell why. Had she fine
+eyes at one time, this woman? As for the citizen by her side, his name
+is Captain d'Herbigny, an old man of the hurdy-gurdy sort that you can
+play on, with nothing in the world except his Cross of the Legion of
+Honour and his pension. He passes for the uncle of the grisettes at
+festival times, arranges duels, and dines in the city."
+
+"A rascal?" said Frederick.
+
+"No! an honest man!"
+
+"Ha!"
+
+The artist was going on to mention the names of many others, when,
+perceiving a gentleman who, like Moliere's physician, wore a big black
+serge gown opening very wide as it descended in order to display all his
+trinkets:
+
+"The person who presents himself there before you is Dr. Des Rogis, who,
+full of rage at not having made a name for himself, has written a book
+of medical pornography, and willingly blacks people's boots in society,
+while he is at the same time discreet. These ladies adore him. He and
+his wife (that lean chatelaine in the grey dress) trip about together at
+every public place--aye, and at other places too. In spite of domestic
+embarrassments, they have a _day_--artistic teas, at which verses are
+recited. Attention!"
+
+In fact, the doctor came up to them at that moment; and soon they formed
+all three, at the entrance to the drawing-room, a group of talkers,
+which was presently augmented by Hussonnet, then by the lover of the
+female savage, a young poet who displayed, under a court cloak of
+Francis I.'s reign, the most pitiful of anatomies, and finally a
+sprightly youth disguised as a Turk of the barrier. But his vest with
+its yellow galloon had taken so many voyages on the backs of strolling
+dentists, his wide trousers full of creases, were of so faded a red, his
+turban, rolled about like an eel in the Tartar fashion, was so poor in
+appearance--in short, his entire costume was so wretched and made-up,
+that the women did not attempt to hide their disgust. The doctor
+consoled him by pronouncing eulogies on his mistress, the lady in the
+dress of a 'longshorewoman. This Turk was a banker's son.
+
+Between two quadrilles, Rosanette advanced towards the mantelpiece,
+where an obese little old man, in a maroon coat with gold buttons, had
+seated himself in an armchair. In spite of his withered cheeks, which
+fell over his white cravat, his hair, still fair, and curling naturally
+like that of a poodle, gave him a certain frivolity of aspect.
+
+She was listening to him with her face bent close to his. Presently, she
+accommodated him with a little glass of syrup; and nothing could be more
+dainty than her hands under their laced sleeves, which passed over the
+facings of her green coat. When the old man had swallowed it, he kissed
+them.
+
+"Why, that's M. Oudry, a neighbor of Arnoux!"
+
+"He has lost her!" said Pellerin, smiling.
+
+A Longjumeau postilion caught her by the waist. A waltz was beginning.
+Then all the women, seated round the drawing-room on benches, rose up
+quickly at the same time; and their petticoats, their scarfs, and their
+head-dresses went whirling round.
+
+They whirled so close to him that Frederick could notice the beads of
+perspiration on their foreheads; and this gyral movement, more and more
+lively, regular, provocative of dizzy sensations, communicated to his
+mind a sort of intoxication, which made other images surge up within it,
+while every woman passed with the same dazzling effect, and each of them
+with a special kind of exciting influence, according to her style of
+beauty.
+
+The Polish lady, surrendering herself in a languorous fashion, inspired
+him with a longing to clasp her to his heart while they were both
+spinning forward on a sledge along a plain covered with snow. Horizons
+of tranquil voluptuousness in a chalet at the side of a lake opened out
+under the footsteps of the Swiss girl, who waltzed with her bust erect
+and her eyelashes drooping. Then, suddenly, the Bacchante, bending back
+her head with its dark locks, made him dream of devouring caresses in a
+wood of oleanders, in the midst of a storm, to the confused
+accompaniment of tabours. The fishwife, who was panting from the
+rapidity of the music, which was far too great for her, gave vent to
+bursts of laughter; and he would have liked, while drinking with her in
+some tavern in the "Porcherons,"[10] to rumple her fichu with both
+hands, as in the good old times. But the 'longshorewoman, whose light
+toes barely skimmed the floor, seemed to conceal under the suppleness of
+her limbs and the seriousness of her face all the refinements of modern
+love, which possesses the exactitude of a science and the mobility of a
+bird. Rosanette was whirling with arms akimbo; her wig, in an awkward
+position, bobbing over her collar, flung iris-powder around her; and, at
+every turn, she was near catching hold of Frederick with the ends of her
+gold spurs.
+
+[Footnote 10: The "Porcherons" was the name given to an old quarter of
+Paris famous for its taverns, situated between the Rue du Faubourg
+Montmartre and the Rue de Saint-Lazare.--Translator.]
+
+During the closing bar of the waltz, Mademoiselle Vatnaz made her
+appearance. She had an Algerian handkerchief on her head, a number of
+piastres on her forehead, antimony at the edges of her eyes, with a kind
+of paletot made of black cashmere falling over a petticoat of sparkling
+colour, with stripes of silver; and in her hand she held a tambourine.
+
+Behind her back came a tall fellow in the classical costume of Dante,
+who happened to be--she now made no concealment any longer about it--the
+ex-singer of the Alhambra, and who, though his name was Auguste
+Delamare, had first called himself Antenor Delamarre, then Delmas, then
+Belmar, and at last Delmar, thus modifying and perfecting his name, as
+his celebrity increased, for he had forsaken the public-house concert
+for the theatre, and had even just made his _debut_ in a noisy fashion
+at the Ambigu in _Gaspardo le Pecheur_.
+
+Hussonnet, on seeing him, knitted his brows. Since his play had been
+rejected, he hated actors. It was impossible to conceive the vanity of
+individuals of this sort, and above all of this fellow. "What a prig!
+Just look at him!"
+
+After a light bow towards Rosanette, Delmar leaned back against the
+mantelpiece; and he remained motionless with one hand over his heart,
+his left foot thrust forward, his eyes raised towards heaven, with his
+wreath of gilt laurels above his cowl, while he strove to put into the
+expression of his face a considerable amount of poetry in order to
+fascinate the ladies. They made, at some distance, a great circle around
+him.
+
+But the Vatnaz, having given Rosanette a prolonged embrace, came to beg
+of Hussonnet to revise, with a view to the improvement of the style, an
+educational work which she intended to publish, under the title of "The
+Young Ladies' Garland," a collection of literature and moral philosophy.
+
+The man of letters promised to assist her in the preparation of the
+work. Then she asked him whether he could not in one of the prints to
+which he had access give her friend a slight puff, and even assign to
+him, later, some part. Hussonnet had forgotten to take a glass of punch
+on account of her.
+
+It was Arnoux who had brewed the beverage; and, followed by the Comte's
+groom carrying an empty tray, he offered it to the ladies with a
+self-satisfied air.
+
+When he came to pass in front of M. Oudry, Rosanette stopped him.
+
+"Well--and this little business?"
+
+He coloured slightly; finally, addressing the old man:
+
+"Our fair friend tells me that you would have the kindness----"
+
+"What of that, neighbour? I am quite at your service!"
+
+And M. Dambreuse's name was pronounced. As they were talking to one
+another in low tones, Frederick could only hear indistinctly; and he
+made his way to the other side of the mantelpiece, where Rosanette and
+Delmar were chatting together.
+
+The mummer had a vulgar countenance, made, like the scenery of the
+stage, to be viewed from a distance--coarse hands, big feet, and a heavy
+jaw; and he disparaged the most distinguished actors, spoke of poets
+with patronising contempt, made use of the expressions "my organ," "my
+physique," "my powers," enamelling his conversation with words that were
+scarcely intelligible even to himself, and for which he had quite an
+affection, such as "_morbidezza_," "analogue," and "homogeneity."
+
+Rosanette listened to him with little nods of approbation. One could see
+her enthusiasm bursting out under the paint on her cheeks, and a touch
+of moisture passed like a veil over her bright eyes of an indefinable
+colour. How could such a man as this fascinate her? Frederick internally
+excited himself to greater contempt for him, in order to banish,
+perhaps, the species of envy which he felt with regard to him.
+
+Mademoiselle Vatnaz was now with Arnoux, and, while laughing from time
+to time very loudly, she cast glances towards Rosanette, of whom M.
+Oudry did not lose sight.
+
+Then Arnoux and the Vatnaz disappeared. The old man began talking in a
+subdued voice to Rosanette.
+
+"Well, yes, 'tis settled then! Leave me alone!"
+
+And she asked Frederick to go and give a look into the kitchen to see
+whether Arnoux happened to be there.
+
+A battalion of glasses half-full covered the floor; and the saucepans,
+the pots, the turbot-kettle, and the frying-stove were all in a state of
+commotion. Arnoux was giving directions to the servants, whom he
+"thee'd" and "thou'd," beating up the mustard, tasting the sauces, and
+larking with the housemaid.
+
+"All right," he said; "tell them 'tis ready! I'm going to have it served
+up."
+
+The dancing had ceased. The women came and sat down; the men were
+walking about. In the centre of the drawing-room, one of the curtains
+stretched over a window was swelling in the wind; and the Sphinx, in
+spite of the observations of everyone, exposed her sweating arms to the
+current of air.
+
+Where could Rosanette be? Frederick went on further to find her, even
+into her boudoir and her bedroom. Some, in order to be alone, or to be
+in pairs, had retreated into the corners. Whisperings intermingled with
+the shade. There were little laughs stifled under handkerchiefs, and at
+the sides of women's corsages one could catch glimpses of fans quivering
+with slow, gentle movements, like the beating of a wounded bird's wings.
+
+As he entered the hot-house, he saw under the large leaves of a caladium
+near the jet d'eau, Delmar lying on his face on the sofa covered with
+linen cloth. Rosanette, seated beside him, had passed her fingers
+through his hair; and they were gazing into each other's faces. At the
+same moment, Arnoux came in at the opposite side--that which was near
+the aviary. Delmar sprang to his feet; then he went out at a rapid pace,
+without turning round; and even paused close to the door to gather a
+hibiscus flower, with which he adorned his button-hole. Rosanette hung
+down her head; Frederick, who caught a sight of her profile, saw that
+she was in tears.
+
+"I say! What's the matter with you?" exclaimed Arnoux.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders without replying.
+
+"Is it on account of him?" he went on.
+
+She threw her arms round his neck, and kissing him on the forehead,
+slowly:
+
+"You know well that I will always love you, my big fellow! Think no more
+about it! Let us go to supper!"
+
+A copper chandelier with forty wax tapers lighted up the dining-room,
+the walls of which were hidden from view under some fine old earthenware
+that was hung up there; and this crude light, falling perpendicularly,
+rendered still whiter, amid the side-dishes and the fruits, a huge
+turbot which occupied the centre of the tablecloth, with plates all
+round filled with crayfish soup. With a rustle of garments, the women,
+having arranged their skirts, their sleeves, and their scarfs, took
+their seats beside one another; the men, standing up, posted themselves
+at the corners. Pellerin and M. Oudry were placed near Rosanette. Arnoux
+was facing her. Palazot and his female companion had just gone out.
+
+"Good-bye to them!" said she. "Now let us begin the attack!"
+
+And the choir-boy, a facetious man with a big sign of the cross, said
+grace.
+
+The ladies were scandalised, and especially the fishwife, the mother of
+a young girl of whom she wished to make an honest woman. Neither did
+Arnoux like "that sort of thing," as he considered that religion ought
+to be respected.
+
+A German clock with a cock attached to it happening to chime out the
+hour of two, gave rise to a number of jokes about the cuckoo. All kinds
+of talk followed--puns, anecdotes, bragging remarks, bets, lies taken
+for truth, improbable assertions, a tumult of words, which soon became
+dispersed in the form of chats between particular individuals. The wines
+went round; the dishes succeeded each other; the doctor carved. An
+orange or a cork would every now and then be flung from a distance.
+People would quit their seats to go and talk to some one at another end
+of the table. Rosanette turned round towards Delmar, who sat motionless
+behind her; Pellerin kept babbling; M. Oudry smiled. Mademoiselle Vatnaz
+ate, almost alone, a group of crayfish, and the shells crackled under
+her long teeth. The angel, poised on the piano-stool--the only place on
+which her wings permitted her to sit down--was placidly masticating
+without ever stopping.
+
+"What an appetite!" the choir-boy kept repeating in amazement, "what an
+appetite!"
+
+And the Sphinx drank brandy, screamed out with her throat full, and
+wriggled like a demon. Suddenly her jaws swelled, and no longer being
+able to keep down the blood which rushed to her head and nearly choked
+her, she pressed her napkin against her lips, and threw herself under
+the table.
+
+Frederick had seen her falling: "'Tis nothing!" And at his entreaties to
+be allowed to go and look after her, she replied slowly:
+
+"Pooh! what's the good? That's just as pleasant as anything else. Life
+is not so amusing!"
+
+Then, he shivered, a feeling of icy sadness taking possession of him, as
+if he had caught a glimpse of whole worlds of wretchedness and
+despair--a chafing-dish of charcoal beside a folding-bed, the corpses of
+the Morgue in leathern aprons, with the tap of cold water that flows
+over their heads.
+
+Meanwhile, Hussonnet, squatted at the feet of the female savage, was
+howling in a hoarse voice in imitation of the actor Grassot:
+
+"Be not cruel, O Celuta! this little family fete is charming! Intoxicate
+me with delight, my loves! Let us be gay! let us be gay!"
+
+And he began kissing the women on the shoulders. They quivered under the
+tickling of his moustaches. Then he conceived the idea of breaking a
+plate against his head by rapping it there with a little energy. Others
+followed his example. The broken earthenware flew about in bits like
+slates in a storm; and the 'longshorewoman exclaimed:
+
+"Don't bother yourselves about it; these cost nothing. We get a present
+of them from the merchant who makes them!"
+
+Every eye was riveted on Arnoux. He replied:
+
+"Ha! about the invoice--allow me!" desiring, no doubt, to pass for not
+being, or for no longer being, Rosanette's lover.
+
+But two angry voices here made themselves heard:
+
+"Idiot!"
+
+"Rascal!"
+
+"I am at your command!"
+
+"So am I at yours!"
+
+It was the mediaeval knight and the Russian postilion who were disputing,
+the latter having maintained that armour dispensed with bravery, while
+the other regarded this view as an insult. He desired to fight; all
+interposed to prevent him, and in the midst of the uproar the captain
+tried to make himself heard.
+
+"Listen to me, messieurs! One word! I have some experience, messieurs!"
+
+Rosanette, by tapping with her knife on a glass, succeeded eventually in
+restoring silence, and, addressing the knight, who had kept his helmet
+on, and then the postilion, whose head was covered with a hairy cap:
+
+"Take off that saucepan of yours! and you, there, your wolf's head! Are
+you going to obey me, damn you? Pray show respect to my epaulets! I am
+your commanding officer!"
+
+They complied, and everyone present applauded, exclaiming, "Long live
+the Marechale! long live the Marechale!" Then she took a bottle of
+champagne off the stove, and poured out its contents into the cups which
+they successively stretched forth to her. As the table was very large,
+the guests, especially the women, came over to her side, and stood erect
+on tiptoe on the slats of the chairs, so as to form, for the space of a
+minute, a pyramidal group of head-dresses, naked shoulders, extended
+arms, and stooping bodies; and over all these objects a spray of wine
+played for some time, for the merry-andrew and Arnoux, at opposite
+corners of the dining-room, each letting fly the cork of a bottle,
+splashed the faces of those around them.
+
+The little birds of the aviary, the door of which had been left open,
+broke into the apartment, quite scared, flying round the chandelier,
+knocking against the window-panes and against the furniture, and some of
+them, alighting on the heads of the guests, presented the appearance
+there of large flowers.
+
+The musicians had gone. The piano had been drawn out of the anteroom.
+The Vatnaz seated herself before it, and, accompanied by the choir-boy,
+who thumped his tambourine, she made a wild dash into a quadrille,
+striking the keys like a horse pawing the ground, and wriggling her
+waist about, the better to mark the time. The Marechale dragged out
+Frederick; Hussonnet took the windmill; the 'longshorewoman put out her
+joints like a circus-clown; the merry-andrew exhibited the manoeuvres
+of an orang-outang; the female savage, with outspread arms, imitated the
+swaying motion of a boat. At last, unable to go on any further, they all
+stopped; and a window was flung open.
+
+The broad daylight penetrated the apartment with the cool breath of
+morning. There was an exclamation of astonishment, and then came
+silence. The yellow flames flickered, making the sockets of the
+candlesticks crack from time to time. The floor was strewn with ribbons,
+flowers, and pearls. The pier-tables were sticky with the stains of
+punch and syrup. The hangings were soiled, the dresses rumpled and
+dusty. The plaits of the women's hair hung loose over their shoulders,
+and the paint, trickling down with the perspiration, revealed pallid
+faces and red, blinking eyelids.
+
+The Marechale, fresh as if she had come out of a bath, had rosy checks
+and sparkling eyes. She flung her wig some distance away, and her hair
+fell around her like a fleece, allowing none of her uniform to be seen
+except her breeches, the effect thus produced being at the same time
+comical and pretty.
+
+The Sphinx, whose teeth chattered as if she had the ague, wanted a
+shawl.
+
+Rosanette rushed up to her own room to look for one, and, as the other
+came after her, she quickly shut the door in her face.
+
+The Turk remarked, in a loud tone, that M. Oudry had not been seen going
+out. Nobody noticed the maliciousness of this observation, so worn out
+were they all.
+
+Then, while waiting for vehicles, they managed to get on their
+broad-brimmed hats and cloaks. It struck seven. The angel was still in
+the dining-room, seated at the table with a plate of sardines and fruit
+stewed in melted butter in front of her, and close beside her was the
+fishwife, smoking cigarettes, while giving her advice as to the right
+way to live.
+
+At last, the cabs having arrived, the guests took their departure.
+Hussonnet, who had an engagement as correspondent for the provinces, had
+to read through fifty-three newspapers before his breakfast. The female
+savage had a rehearsal at the theatre; Pellerin had to see a model; and
+the choir-boy had three appointments. But the angel, attacked by the
+preliminary symptoms of indigestion, was unable to rise. The mediaeval
+baron carried her to the cab.
+
+"Take care of her wings!" cried the 'longshorewoman through the window.
+
+At the top of the stairs, Mademoiselle Vatnaz said to Rosanette:
+
+"Good-bye, darling! That was a very nice evening party of yours."
+
+Then, bending close to her ear: "Take care of him!"
+
+"Till better times come," returned the Marechale, in drawling tones, as
+she turned her back.
+
+Arnoux and Frederick returned together, just as they had come. The
+dealer in faience looked so gloomy that his companion wished to know if
+he were ill.
+
+"I? Not at all!"
+
+He bit his moustache, knitted his brows; and Frederick asked him, was it
+his business that annoyed him.
+
+"By no means!"
+
+Then all of a sudden:
+
+"You know him--Pere Oudry--don't you?"
+
+And, with a spiteful expression on his countenance:
+
+"He's rich, the old scoundrel!"
+
+After this, Arnoux spoke about an important piece of ware-making, which
+had to be finished that day at his works. He wanted to see it; the
+train was starting in an hour.
+
+"Meantime, I must go and embrace my wife."
+
+"Ha! his wife!" thought Frederick. Then he made his way home to go to
+bed, with his head aching terribly; and, to appease his thirst, he
+swallowed a whole carafe of water.
+
+Another thirst had come to him--the thirst for women, for licentious
+pleasure, and all that Parisian life permitted him to enjoy. He felt
+somewhat stunned, like a man coming out of a ship, and in the visions
+that haunted his first sleep, he saw the shoulders of the fishwife, the
+loins of the 'longshorewoman, the calves of the Polish lady, and the
+head-dress of the female savage flying past him and coming back again
+continually. Then, two large black eyes, which had not been at the ball,
+appeared before him; and, light as butterflies, burning as torches, they
+came and went, ascended to the cornice and descended to his very mouth.
+
+Frederick made desperate efforts to recognise those eyes, without
+succeeding in doing so. But already the dream had taken hold of him. It
+seemed to him that he was yoked beside Arnoux to the pole of a
+hackney-coach, and that the Marechale, astride of him, was
+disembowelling him with her gold spurs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Frederick Entertains
+
+
+Frederick found a little mansion at the corner of the Rue Rumfort, and
+he bought it along with the brougham, the horse, the furniture, and two
+flower-stands which were taken from the Arnoux's house to be placed on
+each side of his drawing-room door. In the rear of this apartment were a
+bedroom and a closet. The idea occurred to his mind to put up
+Deslauriers there. But how could he receive her--_her_, his future
+mistress? The presence of a friend would be an obstacle. He knocked down
+the partition-wall in order to enlarge the drawing-room, and converted
+the closet into a smoking-room.
+
+He bought the works of the poets whom he loved, books of travel,
+atlases, and dictionaries, for he had innumerable plans of study. He
+hurried on the workmen, rushed about to the different shops, and in his
+impatience to enjoy, carried off everything without even holding out for
+a bargain beforehand.
+
+From the tradesmen's bills, Frederick ascertained that he would have to
+expend very soon forty thousand francs, not including the succession
+duties, which would exceed thirty-seven thousand. As his fortune was in
+landed property, he wrote to the notary at Havre to sell a portion of it
+in order to pay off his debts, and to have some money at his disposal.
+Then, anxious to become acquainted at last with that vague entity,
+glittering and indefinable, which is known as "society," he sent a note
+to the Dambreuses to know whether he might be at liberty to call upon
+them. Madame, in reply, said she would expect a visit from him the
+following day.
+
+This happened to be their reception-day. Carriages were standing in the
+courtyard. Two footmen rushed forward under the marquee, and a third at
+the head of the stairs began walking in front of him.
+
+He was conducted through an anteroom, a second room, and then a
+drawing-room with high windows and a monumental mantel-shelf supporting
+a time-piece in the form of a sphere, and two enormous porcelain vases,
+in each of which bristled, like a golden bush, a cluster of sconces.
+Pictures in the manner of Espagnolet hung on the walls. The heavy
+tapestry portieres fell majestically, and the armchairs, the brackets,
+the tables, the entire furniture, which was in the style of the Second
+Empire, had a certain imposing and diplomatic air.
+
+Frederick smiled with pleasure in spite of himself.
+
+At last he reached an oval apartment wainscoted in cypress-wood, stuffed
+with dainty furniture, and letting in the light through a single sheet
+of plate-glass, which looked out on a garden. Madame Dambreuse was
+seated at the fireside, with a dozen persons gathered round her in a
+circle. With a polite greeting, she made a sign to him to take a seat,
+without, however, exhibiting any surprise at not having seen him for so
+long a time.
+
+Just at the moment when he was entering the room, they had been praising
+the eloquence of the Abbe Coeur. Then they deplored the immorality of
+servants, a topic suggested by a theft which a _valet-de-chambre_ had
+committed, and they began to indulge in tittle-tattle. Old Madame de
+Sommery had a cold; Mademoiselle de Turvisot had got married; the
+Montcharrons would not return before the end of January; neither would
+the Bretancourts, now that people remained in the country till a late
+period of the year. And the triviality of the conversation was, so to
+speak, intensified by the luxuriousness of the surroundings; but what
+they said was less stupid than their way of talking, which was aimless,
+disconnected, and utterly devoid of animation. And yet there were
+present men versed in life--an ex-minister, the cure of a large parish,
+two or three Government officials of high rank. They adhered to the most
+hackneyed commonplaces. Some of them resembled weary dowagers; others
+had the appearance of horse-jockeys; and old men accompanied their
+wives, of whom they were old enough to be the grandfathers.
+
+Madame Dambreuse received all of them graciously. When it was mentioned
+that anyone was ill, she knitted her brows with a painful expression on
+her face, and when balls or evening parties were discussed, assumed a
+joyous air. She would ere long be compelled to deprive herself of these
+pleasures, for she was going to take away from a boarding-school a niece
+of her husband, an orphan. The guests extolled her devotedness: this was
+behaving like a true mother of a family.
+
+Frederick gazed at her attentively. The dull skin of her face looked as
+if it had been stretched out, and had a bloom in which there was no
+brilliancy; like that of preserved fruit. But her hair, which was in
+corkscrew curls, after the English fashion, was finer than silk; her
+eyes of a sparkling blue; and all her movements were dainty. Seated at
+the lower end of the apartment, on a small sofa, she kept brushing off
+the red flock from a Japanese screen, no doubt in order to let her hands
+be seen to greater advantage--long narrow hands, a little thin, with
+fingers tilting up at the points. She wore a grey moire gown with a
+high-necked body, like a Puritan lady.
+
+Frederick asked her whether she intended to go to La Fortelle this year.
+Madame Dambreuse was unable to say. He was sure, however, of one thing,
+that one would be bored to death in Nogent.
+
+Then the visitors thronged in more quickly. There was an incessant
+rustling of robes on the carpet. Ladies, seated on the edges of chairs,
+gave vent to little sneering laughs, articulated two or three words, and
+at the end of five minutes left along with their young daughters. It
+soon became impossible to follow the conversation, and Frederick
+withdrew when Madame Dambreuse said to him:
+
+"Every Wednesday, is it not, Monsieur Moreau?" making up for her
+previous display of indifference by these simple words.
+
+He was satisfied. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath when he got out
+into the open air; and, needing a less artificial environment, Frederick
+recalled to mind that he owed the Marechale a visit.
+
+The door of the anteroom was open. Two Havanese lapdogs rushed forward.
+A voice exclaimed:
+
+"Delphine! Delphine! Is that you, Felix?"
+
+He stood there without advancing a step. The two little dogs kept
+yelping continually. At length Rosanette appeared, wrapped up in a sort
+of dressing-gown of white muslin trimmed with lace, and with her
+stockingless feet in Turkish slippers.
+
+"Ah! excuse me, Monsieur! I thought it was the hairdresser. One minute;
+I am coming back!"
+
+And he was left alone in the dining-room. The Venetian blinds were
+closed. Frederick, as he cast a glance round, was beginning to recall
+the hubbub of the other night, when he noticed on the table, in the
+middle of the room, a man's hat, an old felt hat, bruised, greasy,
+dirty. To whom did this hat belong? Impudently displaying its torn
+lining, it seemed to say:
+
+"I have the laugh, after all! I am the master!"
+
+The Marechale suddenly reappeared on the scene. She took up the hat,
+opened the conservatory, flung it in there, shut the door again (other
+doors flew open and closed again at the same moment), and, having
+brought Frederick through the kitchen, she introduced him into her
+dressing-room.
+
+It could at once be seen that this was the most frequented room in the
+house, and, so to speak, its true moral centre. The walls, the
+armchairs, and a big divan with a spring were adorned with a chintz
+pattern on which was traced a great deal of foliage. On a white marble
+table stood two large washhand-basins of fine blue earthenware. Crystal
+shelves, forming a whatnot overhead, were laden with phials, brushes,
+combs, sticks of cosmetic, and powder-boxes. The fire was reflected in a
+high cheval-glass. A sheet was hanging outside a bath, and odours of
+almond-paste and of benzoin were exhaled.
+
+"You'll excuse the disorder. I'm dining in the city this evening."
+
+And as she turned on her heel, she was near crushing one of the little
+dogs. Frederick declared that they were charming. She lifted up the pair
+of them, and raising their black snouts up to her face:
+
+"Come! do a laugh--kiss the gentleman!"
+
+A man dressed in a dirty overcoat with a fur collar here entered
+abruptly.
+
+"Felix, my worthy fellow," said she, "you'll have that business of yours
+disposed of next Sunday without fail."
+
+The man proceeded to dress her hair. Frederick told her he had heard
+news of her friends, Madame de Rochegune, Madame de Saint-Florentin, and
+Madame Lombard, every woman being noble, as if it were at the mansion of
+the Dambreuses. Then he talked about the theatres. An extraordinary
+performance was to be given that evening at the Ambigu.
+
+"Shall you go?"
+
+"Faith, no! I'm staying at home."
+
+Delphine appeared. Her mistress gave her a scolding for having gone out
+without permission.
+
+The other vowed that she was just "returning from market."
+
+"Well, bring me your book. You have no objection, isn't that so?"
+
+And, reading the pass-book in a low tone, Rosanette made remarks on
+every item. The different sums were not added up correctly.
+
+"Hand me over four sous!"
+
+Delphine handed the amount over to her, and, when she had sent the maid
+away:
+
+"Ah! Holy Virgin! could I be more unfortunate than I am with these
+creatures?"
+
+Frederick was shocked at this complaint about servants. It recalled the
+others too vividly to his mind, and established between the two houses a
+kind of vexatious equality.
+
+When Delphine came back again, she drew close to the Marechale's side in
+order to whisper something in her ear.
+
+"Ah, no! I don't want her!"
+
+Delphine presented herself once more.
+
+"Madame, she insists."
+
+"Ah, what a plague! Throw her out!"
+
+At the same moment, an old lady, dressed in black, pushed forward the
+door. Frederick heard nothing, saw nothing. Rosanette rushed into her
+apartment to meet her.
+
+When she reappeared her cheeks were flushed, and she sat down in one of
+the armchairs without saying a word. A tear fell down her face; then,
+turning towards the young man, softly:
+
+"What is your Christian name?"
+
+"Frederick."
+
+"Ha! Federico! It doesn't annoy you when I address you in that way?"
+
+And she gazed at him in a coaxing sort of way that was almost amorous.
+
+All of a sudden she uttered an exclamation of delight at the sight of
+Mademoiselle Vatnaz.
+
+The lady-artist had no time to lose before presiding at her _table
+d'hote_ at six o'clock sharp; and she was panting for breath, being
+completely exhausted. She first took out of her pocket a gold chain in a
+paper, then various objects that she had bought.
+
+"You should know that there are in the Rue Joubert splendid Suede gloves
+at thirty-six sous. Your dyer wants eight days more. As for the guipure,
+I told you that they would dye it again. Bugneaux has got the instalment
+you paid. That's all, I think. You owe me a hundred and eighty-five
+francs."
+
+Rosanette went to a drawer to get ten napoleons. Neither of the pair had
+any money. Frederick offered some.
+
+"I'll pay you back," said the Vatnaz, as she stuffed the fifteen francs
+into her handbag. "But you are a naughty boy! I don't love you any
+longer--you didn't get me to dance with you even once the other evening!
+Ah! my dear, I came across a case of stuffed humming-birds which are
+perfect loves at a shop in the Quai Voltaire. If I were in your place, I
+would make myself a present of them. Look here! What do you think of
+it?"
+
+And she exhibited an old remnant of pink silk which she had purchased at
+the Temple to make a mediaeval doublet for Delmar.
+
+"He came to-day, didn't he?"
+
+"No."
+
+"That's singular."
+
+And, after a minute's silence:
+
+"Where are you going this evening?"
+
+"To Alphonsine's," said Rosanette, this being the third version given by
+her as to the way in which she was going to pass the evening.
+
+Mademoiselle Vatnaz went on: "And what news about the old man of the
+mountain?"
+
+But, with an abrupt wink, the Marechale bade her hold her tongue; and
+she accompanied Frederick out as far as the anteroom to ascertain from
+him whether he would soon see Arnoux.
+
+"Pray ask him to come--not before his wife, mind!"
+
+At the top of the stairs an umbrella was placed against the wall near a
+pair of goloshes.
+
+"Vatnaz's goloshes," said Rosanette. "What a foot, eh? My little friend
+is rather strongly built!"
+
+And, in a melodramatic tone, making the final letter of the word roll:
+
+"Don't tru-us-st her!"
+
+Frederick, emboldened by a confidence of this sort, tried to kiss her on
+the neck.
+
+"Oh, do it! It costs nothing!"
+
+He felt rather light-hearted as he left her, having no doubt that ere
+long the Marechale would be his mistress. This desire awakened another
+in him; and, in spite of the species of grudge that he owed her, he felt
+a longing to see Madame Arnoux.
+
+Besides, he would have to call at her house in order to execute the
+commission with which he had been entrusted by Rosanette.
+
+"But now," thought he (it had just struck six), "Arnoux is probably at
+home."
+
+So he put off his visit till the following day.
+
+She was seated in the same attitude as on the former day, and was sewing
+a little boy's shirt.
+
+The child, at her feet, was playing with a wooden toy menagerie. Marthe,
+a short distance away, was writing.
+
+He began by complimenting her on her children. She replied without any
+exaggeration of maternal silliness.
+
+The room had a tranquil aspect. A glow of sunshine stole in through the
+window-panes, lighting up the angles of the different articles of
+furniture, and, as Madame Arnoux sat close beside the window, a large
+ray, falling on the curls over the nape of her neck, penetrated with
+liquid gold her skin, which assumed the colour of amber.
+
+Then he said:
+
+"This young lady here has grown very tall during the past three years!
+Do you remember, Mademoiselle, when you slept on my knees in the
+carriage?"
+
+Marthe did not remember.
+
+"One evening, returning from Saint-Cloud?"
+
+There was a look of peculiar sadness in Madame
+
+Arnoux's face. Was it in order to prevent any allusion on his part to
+the memories they possessed in common?
+
+Her beautiful black eyes, whose sclerotics were glistening, moved gently
+under their somewhat drooping lids, and her pupils revealed in their
+depths an inexpressible kindness of heart. He was seized with a love
+stronger than ever, a passion that knew no bounds. It enervated him to
+contemplate the object of his attachment; however, he shook off this
+feeling. How was he to make the most of himself? by what means? And,
+having turned the matter over thoroughly in his mind, Frederick could
+think of none that seemed more effectual than money.
+
+He began talking about the weather, which was less cold than it had been
+at Havre.
+
+"You have been there?"
+
+"Yes; about a family matter--an inheritance."
+
+"Ah! I am very glad," she said, with an air of such genuine pleasure
+that he felt quite touched, just as if she had rendered him a great
+service.
+
+She asked him what he intended to do, as it was necessary for a man to
+occupy himself with something.
+
+He recalled to mind his false position, and said that he hoped to reach
+the Council of State with the help of M. Dambreuse, the secretary.
+
+"You are acquainted with him, perhaps?"
+
+"Merely by name."
+
+Then, in a low tone:
+
+"_He_ brought you to the ball the other night, did he not?"
+
+Frederick remained silent.
+
+"That was what I wanted to know; thanks!"
+
+After that she put two or three discreet questions to him about his
+family and the part of the country in which he lived. It was very kind
+of him not to have forgotten them after having lived so long away from
+Paris.
+
+"But could I do so?" he rejoined. "Have you any doubt about it?"
+
+Madame Arnoux arose: "I believe that you entertain towards us a true and
+solid affection. _Au revoir!_"
+
+And she extended her hand towards him in a sincere and virile fashion.
+
+Was this not an engagement, a promise? Frederick felt a sense of delight
+at merely living; he had to restrain himself to keep from singing. He
+wanted to burst out, to do generous deeds, and to give alms. He looked
+around him to see if there were anyone near whom he could relieve. No
+wretch happened to be passing by; and his desire for self-devotion
+evaporated, for he was not a man to go out of his way to find
+opportunities for benevolence.
+
+Then he remembered his friends. The first of whom he thought was
+Hussonnet, the second, Pellerin. The lowly position of Dussardier
+naturally called for consideration. As for Cisy, he was glad to let that
+young aristocrat get a slight glimpse as to the extent of his fortune.
+He wrote accordingly to all four to come to a housewarming the following
+Sunday at eleven o'clock sharp; and he told Deslauriers to bring
+Senecal.
+
+The tutor had been dismissed from the third boarding-school in which he
+had been employed for not having given his consent to the distribution
+of prizes--a custom which he looked upon as dangerous to equality. He
+was now with an engine-builder, and for the past six months had been no
+longer living with Deslauriers. There had been nothing painful about
+their parting.
+
+Senecal had been visited by men in blouses--all patriots, all workmen,
+all honest fellows, but at the same time men whose society seemed
+distasteful to the advocate. Besides, he disliked certain ideas of his
+friend, excellent though they might be as weapons of warfare. He held
+his tongue on the subject through motives of ambition, deeming it
+prudent to pay deference to him in order to exercise control over him,
+for he looked forward impatiently to a revolutionary movement, in which
+he calculated on making an opening for himself and occupying a prominent
+position.
+
+Senecal's convictions were more disinterested. Every evening, when his
+work was finished, he returned to his garret and sought in books for
+something that might justify his dreams. He had annotated the _Contrat
+Social_; he had crammed himself with the _Revue Independante_; he was
+acquainted with Mably, Morelly, Fourier, Saint-Simon, Comte, Cabet,
+Louis Blanc--the heavy cartload of Socialistic writers--those who claim
+for humanity the dead level of barracks, those who would like to amuse
+it in a brothel or to bend it over a counter; and from a medley of all
+these things he constructed an ideal of virtuous democracy, with the
+double aspect of a farm in which the landlord was to receive a share of
+the produce, and a spinning-mill, a sort of American Lacedaemon, in which
+the individual would only exist for the benefit of society, which was to
+be more omnipotent, absolute, infallible, and divine than the Grand
+Lamas and the Nebuchadnezzars. He had no doubt as to the approaching
+realisation of this ideal; and Senecal raged against everything that he
+considered hostile to it with the reasoning of a geometrician and the
+zeal of an Inquisitor. Titles of nobility, crosses, plumes, liveries
+above all, and even reputations that were too loud-sounding scandalised
+him, his studies as well as his sufferings intensifying every day his
+essential hatred of every kind of distinction and every form of social
+superiority.
+
+"What do I owe to this gentleman that I should be polite to him? If he
+wants me, he can come to me."
+
+Deslauriers, however, forced him to go to Frederick's reunion.
+
+They found their friend in his bedroom. Spring-roller blinds and double
+curtains, Venetian mirrors--nothing was wanting there. Frederick, in a
+velvet vest, was lying back on an easy-chair, smoking cigarettes of
+Turkish tobacco.
+
+Senecal wore the gloomy look of a bigot arriving in the midst of a
+pleasure-party.
+
+Deslauriers gave him a single comprehensive glance; then, with a very
+low bow:
+
+"Monseigneur, allow me to pay my respects to you!"
+
+Dussardier leaped on his neck. "So you are a rich man now. Ah! upon my
+soul, so much the better!"
+
+Cisy made his appearance with crape on his hat. Since the death of his
+grandmother, he was in the enjoyment of a considerable fortune, and was
+less bent on amusing himself than on being distinguished from
+others--not being the same as everyone else--in short, on "having the
+proper stamp." This was his favourite phrase.
+
+However, it was now midday, and they were all yawning.
+
+Frederick was waiting for some one.
+
+At the mention of Arnoux's name, Pellerin made a wry face. He looked on
+him as a renegade since he had abandoned the fine arts.
+
+"Suppose we pass over him--what do you say to that?"
+
+They all approved of this suggestion.
+
+The door was opened by a man-servant in long gaiters; and the
+dining-room could be seen with its lofty oak plinths relieved with gold,
+and its two sideboards laden with plate.
+
+The bottles of wine were heating on the stove; the blades of new knives
+were glittering beside oysters. In the milky tint of the enamelled
+glasses there was a kind of alluring sweetness; and the table
+disappeared from view under its load of game, fruit, and meats of the
+rarest quality.
+
+These attentions were lost on Senecal. He began by asking for household
+bread (the hardest that could be got), and in connection with this
+subject, spoke of the murders of Buzancais and the crisis arising from
+lack of the means of subsistence.
+
+Nothing of this sort could have happened if agriculture had been better
+protected, if everything had not been given up to competition, to
+anarchy, and to the deplorable maxim of "Let things alone! let things go
+their own way!" It was in this way that the feudalism of money was
+established--the worst form of feudalism. But let them take care! The
+people in the end will get tired of it, and may make the capitalist pay
+for their sufferings either by bloody proscriptions or by the plunder of
+their houses.
+
+Frederick saw, as if by a lightning-flash, a flood of men with bare arms
+invading Madame Dambreuse's drawing-room, and smashing the mirrors with
+blows of pikes.
+
+Senecal went on to say that the workman, owing to the insufficiency of
+wages, was more unfortunate than the helot, the negro, and the pariah,
+especially if he has children.
+
+"Ought he to get rid of them by asphyxia, as some English doctor, whose
+name I don't remember--a disciple of Malthus--advises him?"
+
+And, turning towards Cisy: "Are we to be obliged to follow the advice of
+the infamous Malthus?"
+
+Cisy, who was ignorant of the infamy and even of the existence of
+Malthus, said by way of reply, that after all, much human misery was
+relieved, and that the higher classes----
+
+"Ha! the higher classes!" said the Socialist, with a sneer. "In the
+first place, there are no higher classes. 'Tis the heart alone that
+makes anyone higher than another. We want no alms, understand! but
+equality, the fair division of products."
+
+What he required was that the workman might become a capitalist, just as
+the soldier might become a colonel. The trade-wardenships, at least, in
+limiting the number of apprentices, prevented workmen from growing
+inconveniently numerous, and the sentiment of fraternity was kept up by
+means of the fetes and the banners.
+
+Hussonnet, as a poet, regretted the banners; so did Pellerin, too--a
+predilection which had taken possession of him at the Cafe Dagneaux,
+while listening to the Phalansterians talking. He expressed the opinion
+that Fourier was a great man.
+
+"Come now!" said Deslauriers. "An old fool who sees in the overthrow of
+governments the effects of Divine vengeance. He is just like my lord
+Saint-Simon and his church, with his hatred of the French Revolution--a
+set of buffoons who would fain re-establish Catholicism."
+
+M. de Cisy, no doubt in order to get information or to make a good
+impression, broke in with this remark, which he uttered in a mild tone:
+
+"These two men of science are not, then, of the same way of thinking as
+Voltaire?"
+
+"That fellow! I make you a present of him!"
+
+"How is that? Why, I thought----"
+
+"Oh! no, he did not love the people!"
+
+Then the conversation came down to contemporary events: the Spanish
+marriages, the dilapidations of Rochefort, the new chapter-house of
+Saint-Denis, which had led to the taxes being doubled. Nevertheless,
+according to Senecal, they were not high enough!
+
+"And why are they paid? My God! to erect the palace for apes at the
+Museum, to make showy staff-officers parade along our squares, or to
+maintain a Gothic etiquette amongst the flunkeys of the Chateau!"
+
+"I have read in the _Mode_," said Cisy, "that at the Tuileries ball on
+the feast of Saint-Ferdinand, everyone was disguised as a miser."
+
+"How pitiable!" said the Socialist, with a shrug of his shoulders, as if
+to indicate his disgust.
+
+"And the Museum of Versailles!" exclaimed Pellerin. "Let us talk about
+it! These idiots have foreshortened a Delacroix and lengthened a Gros!
+At the Louvre they have so well restored, scratched, and made a jumble
+of all the canvases, that in ten years probably not one will be left. As
+for the errors in the catalogue, a German has written a whole volume on
+the subject. Upon my word, the foreigners are laughing at us."
+
+"Yes, we are the laughing-stock of Europe," said Senecal.
+
+"'Tis because Art is conveyed in fee-simple to the Crown."
+
+"As long as you haven't universal suffrage----"
+
+"Allow me!"--for the artist, having been rejected at every _salon_ for
+the last twenty years, was filled with rage against Power.
+
+"Ah! let them not bother us! As for me, I ask for nothing. Only the
+Chambers ought to pass enactments in the interests of Art. A chair of
+aesthetics should be established with a professor who, being a practical
+man as well as a philosopher, would succeed, I hope, in grouping the
+multitude. You would do well, Hussonnet, to touch on this matter with a
+word or two in your newspaper?"
+
+"Are the newspapers free? are we ourselves free?" said Deslauriers in an
+angry tone. "When one reflects that there might be as many as
+twenty-eight different formalities to set up a boat on the river, it
+makes me feel a longing to go and live amongst the cannibals! The
+Government is eating us up. Everything belongs to it--philosophy, law,
+the arts, the very air of heaven; and France, bereft of all energy, lies
+under the boot of the gendarme and the cassock of the devil-dodger with
+the death-rattle in her throat!"
+
+The future Mirabeau thus poured out his bile in abundance. Finally he
+took his glass in his right hand, raised it, and with his other arm
+akimbo, and his eyes flashing:
+
+"I drink to the utter destruction of the existing order of things--that
+is to say, of everything included in the words Privilege, Monopoly,
+Regulation, Hierarchy, Authority, State!"--and in a louder voice--"which
+I would like to smash as I do this!" dashing on the table the beautiful
+wine-glass, which broke into a thousand pieces.
+
+They all applauded, and especially Dussardier.
+
+The spectacle of injustices made his heart leap up with indignation.
+Everything that wore a beard claimed his sympathy. He was one of those
+persons who fling themselves under vehicles to relieve the horses who
+have fallen. His erudition was limited to two works, one entitled
+_Crimes of Kings_, and the other _Mysteries of the Vatican_. He had
+listened to the advocate with open-mouthed delight. At length, unable to
+stand it any longer:
+
+"For my part, the thing I blame Louis Philippe for is abandoning the
+Poles!"
+
+"One moment!" said Hussonnet. "In the first place, Poland has no
+existence; 'tis an invention of Lafayette! The Poles, as a general rule,
+all belong to the Faubourg Saint-Marceau, the real ones having been
+drowned with Poniatowski." In short, "he no longer gave into it;" he had
+"got over all that sort of thing; it was just like the sea-serpent, the
+revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and that antiquated hum-bug about the
+Saint-Bartholomew massacre!"
+
+Senecal, while he did not defend the Poles, extolled the latest remarks
+made by the men of letters. The Popes had been calumniated, inasmuch as
+they, at any rate, defended the people, and he called the League "the
+aurora of Democracy, a great movement in the direction of equality as
+opposed to the individualism of Protestants."
+
+Frederick was a little surprised at these views. They probably bored
+Cisy, for he changed the conversation to the _tableaux vivants_ at the
+Gymnase, which at that time attracted a great number of people.
+
+Senecal regarded them with disfavour. Such exhibitions corrupted the
+daughters of the proletariat. Then, it was noticeable that they went in
+for a display of shameless luxury. Therefore, he approved of the conduct
+of the Bavarian students who insulted Lola Montes. In imitation of
+Rousseau, he showed more esteem for the wife of a coal-porter than for
+the mistress of a king.
+
+"You don't appreciate dainties," retorted Hussonnet in a majestic tone.
+And he took up the championship of ladies of this class in order to
+praise Rosanette. Then, as he happened to make an allusion to the ball
+at her house and to Arnoux's costume, Pellerin remarked:
+
+"People maintain that he is becoming shaky?"
+
+The picture-dealer had just been engaged in a lawsuit with reference to
+his grounds at Belleville, and he was actually in a kaolin company in
+Lower Brittany with other rogues of the same sort.
+
+Dussardier knew more about him, for his own master, M. Moussinot, having
+made enquiries about Arnoux from the banker, Oscar Lefebvre, the latter
+had said in reply that he considered him by no means solvent, as he knew
+about bills of his that had been renewed.
+
+The dessert was over; they passed into the drawing-room, which was hung,
+like that of the Marechale, in yellow damask in the style of Louis XVI.
+
+Pellerin found fault with Frederick for not having chosen in preference
+the Neo-Greek style; Senecal rubbed matches against the hangings;
+Deslauriers did not make any remark.
+
+There was a bookcase set up there, which he called "a little girl's
+library." The principal contemporary writers were to be found there. It
+was impossible to speak about their works, for Hussonnet immediately
+began relating anecdotes with reference to their personal
+characteristics, criticising their faces, their habits, their dress,
+glorifying fifth-rate intellects and disparaging those of the first; and
+all the while making it clear that he deplored modern decadence.
+
+He instanced some village ditty as containing in itself alone more
+poetry than all the lyrics of the nineteenth century. He went on to say
+that Balzac was overrated, that Byron was effaced, and that Hugo knew
+nothing about the stage.
+
+"Why, then," said Senecal, "have you not got the volumes of the
+working-men poets?"
+
+And M. de Cisy, who devoted his attention to literature, was astonished
+at not seeing on Frederick's table some of those new physiological
+studies--the physiology of the smoker, of the angler, of the man
+employed at the barrier.
+
+They went on irritating him to such an extent that he felt a longing to
+shove them out by the shoulders.
+
+"But they are making me quite stupid!" And then he drew Dussardier
+aside, and wished to know whether he could do him any service.
+
+The honest fellow was moved. He answered that his post of cashier
+entirely sufficed for his wants.
+
+After that, Frederick led Deslauriers into his own apartment, and,
+taking out of his escritoire two thousand francs:
+
+"Look here, old boy, put this money in your pocket. 'Tis the balance of
+my old debts to you."
+
+"But--what about the journal?" said the advocate. "You are, of course,
+aware that I spoke about it to Hussonnet."
+
+And, when Frederick replied that he was "a little short of cash just
+now," the other smiled in a sinister fashion.
+
+After the liqueurs they drank beer, and after the beer, grog; and then
+they lighted their pipes once more. At last they left, at five o'clock
+in the evening, and they were walking along at each others' side without
+speaking, when Dussardier broke the silence by saying that Frederick had
+entertained them in excellent style. They all agreed with him on that
+point.
+
+Then Hussonnet remarked that his luncheon was too heavy. Senecal found
+fault with the trivial character of his household arrangements. Cisy
+took the same view. It was absolutely devoid of the "proper stamp."
+
+"For my part, I think," said Pellerin, "he might have had the grace to
+give me an order for a picture."
+
+Deslauriers held his tongue, as he had the bank-notes that had been
+given to him in his breeches' pocket.
+
+Frederick was left by himself. He was thinking about his friends, and it
+seemed to him as if a huge ditch surrounded with shade separated him
+from them. He had nevertheless held out his hand to them, and they had
+not responded to the sincerity of his heart.
+
+He recalled to mind what Pellerin and Dussardier had said about Arnoux.
+Undoubtedly it must be an invention, a calumny? But why? And he had a
+vision of Madame Arnoux, ruined, weeping, selling her furniture. This
+idea tormented him all night long. Next day he presented himself at her
+house.
+
+At a loss to find any way of communicating to her what he had heard, he
+asked her, as if in casual conversation, whether Arnoux still held
+possession of his building grounds at Belleville.
+
+"Yes, he has them still."
+
+"He is now, I believe, a shareholder in a kaolin company in Brittany."
+
+"That's true."
+
+"His earthenware-works are going on very well, are they not?"
+
+"Well--I suppose so----"
+
+And, as he hesitated:
+
+"What is the matter with you? You frighten me!"
+
+He told her the story about the renewals. She hung down her head, and
+said:
+
+"I thought so!"
+
+In fact, Arnoux, in order to make a good speculation, had refused to
+sell his grounds, had borrowed money extensively on them, and finding no
+purchasers, had thought of rehabilitating himself by establishing the
+earthenware manufactory. The expense of this had exceeded his
+calculations. She knew nothing more about it. He evaded all her
+questions, and declared repeatedly that it was going on very well.
+
+Frederick tried to reassure her. These in all probability were mere
+temporary embarrassments. However, if he got any information, he would
+impart it to her.
+
+"Oh! yes, will you not?" said she, clasping her two hands with an air of
+charming supplication.
+
+So then, he had it in his power to be useful to her. He was now entering
+into her existence--finding a place in her heart.
+
+Arnoux appeared.
+
+"Ha! how nice of you to come to take me out to dine!"
+
+Frederick was silent on hearing these words.
+
+Arnoux spoke about general topics, then informed his wife that he would
+be returning home very late, as he had an appointment with M. Oudry.
+
+"At his house?"
+
+"Why, certainly, at his house."
+
+As they went down the stairs, he confessed that, as the Marechale had no
+engagement at home, they were going on a secret pleasure-party to the
+Moulin Rouge; and, as he always needed somebody to be the recipient of
+his outpourings, he got Frederick to drive him to the door.
+
+In place of entering, he walked about on the footpath, looking up at the
+windows on the second floor. Suddenly the curtains parted.
+
+"Ha! bravo! Pere Oudry is no longer there! Good evening!"
+
+Frederick did not know what to think now.
+
+From this day forth, Arnoux was still more cordial than before; he
+invited the young man to dine with his mistress; and ere long Frederick
+frequented both houses at the same time.
+
+Rosanette's abode furnished him with amusement. He used to call there of
+an evening on his way back from the club or the play. He would take a
+cup of tea there, or play a game of loto. On Sundays they played
+charades; Rosanette, more noisy than the rest, made herself conspicuous
+by funny tricks, such as running on all-fours or muffling her head in a
+cotton cap. In order to watch the passers-by through the window, she had
+a hat of waxed leather; she smoked chibouks; she sang Tyrolese airs. In
+the afternoon, to kill time, she cut out flowers in a piece of chintz
+and pasted them against the window-panes, smeared her two little dogs
+with varnish, burned pastilles, or drew cards to tell her fortune.
+Incapable of resisting a desire, she became infatuated about some
+trinket which she happened to see, and could not sleep till she had gone
+and bought it, then bartered it for another, sold costly dresses for
+little or nothing, lost her jewellery, squandered money, and would have
+sold her chemise for a stage-box at the theatre. Often she asked
+Frederick to explain to her some word she came across when reading a
+book, but did not pay any attention to his answer, for she jumped
+quickly to another idea, while heaping questions on top of each other.
+After spasms of gaiety came childish outbursts of rage, or else she sat
+on the ground dreaming before the fire with her head down and her hands
+clasping her knees, more inert than a torpid adder. Without minding it,
+she made her toilet in his presence, drew on her silk stockings, then
+washed her face with great splashes of water, throwing back her figure
+as if she were a shivering naiad; and her laughing white teeth, her
+sparkling eyes, her beauty, her gaiety, dazzled Frederick, and made his
+nerves tingle under the lash of desire.
+
+Nearly always he found Madame Arnoux teaching her little boy how to
+read, or standing behind Marthe's chair while she played her scales on
+the piano. When she was doing a piece of sewing, it was a great source
+of delight to him to pick up her scissors now and then. In all her
+movements there was a tranquil majesty. Her little hands seemed made to
+scatter alms and to wipe away tears, and her voice, naturally rather
+hollow, had caressing intonations and a sort of breezy lightness.
+
+She did not display much enthusiasm about literature; but her
+intelligence exercised a charm by the use of a few simple and
+penetrating words. She loved travelling, the sound of the wind in the
+woods, and a walk with uncovered head under the rain.
+
+Frederick listened to these confidences with rapture, fancying that he
+saw in them the beginning of a certain self-abandonment on her part.
+
+His association with these two women made, as it were, two different
+strains of music in his life, the one playful, passionate, diverting,
+the other grave and almost religious, and vibrating both at the same
+time, they always increased in volume and gradually blended with one
+another; for if Madame Arnoux happened merely to touch him with her
+finger, the image of the other immediately presented itself to him as an
+object of desire, because from that quarter a better opportunity was
+thrown in his way, and, when his heart happened to be touched while in
+Rosanette's company, he was immediately reminded of the woman for whom
+he felt such a consuming passion.
+
+This confusion was, in some measure, due to a similarity which existed
+between the interiors of the two houses. One of the trunks which was
+formerly to be seen in the Boulevard Montmartre now adorned Rosanette's
+dining-room. The same courses were served up for dinner in both places,
+and even the same velvet cap was to be found trailing over the
+easy-chairs; then, a heap of little presents--screens, boxes, fans--went
+to the mistress's house from the wife's and returned again, for Arnoux,
+without the slightest embarrassment, often took back from the one what
+he had given to her in order to make a present of it to the other.
+
+The Marechale laughed with Frederick at the utter disregard for
+propriety which his habits exhibited. One Sunday, after dinner, she led
+him behind the door, and showed him in the pocket of Arnoux's overcoat a
+bag of cakes which he had just pilfered from the table, in order, no
+doubt, to regale his little family with it at home. M. Arnoux gave
+himself up to some rogueries which bordered on vileness. It seemed to
+him a duty to practise fraud with regard to the city dues; he never paid
+when he went to the theatre, or if he took a ticket for the second seats
+always tried to make his way into the first; and he used to relate as
+an excellent joke that it was a custom of his at the cold baths to put
+into the waiters' collection-box a breeches' button instead of a
+ten-sous piece--and this did not prevent the Marechale from loving him.
+
+One day, however, she said, while talking about him:
+
+"Ah! he's making himself a nuisance to me, at last! I've had enough of
+him! Faith, so much the better--I'll find another instead!"
+
+Frederick believed that the other had already been found, and that his
+name was M. Oudry.
+
+"Well," said Rosanette, "what does that signify?"
+
+Then, in a voice choked with rising tears:
+
+"I ask very little from him, however, and he won't give me that."
+
+He had even promised a fourth of his profits in the famous kaolin mines.
+No profit made its appearance any more than the cashmere with which he
+had been luring her on for the last six months.
+
+Frederick immediately thought of making her a present. Arnoux might
+regard it as a lesson for himself, and be annoyed at it.
+
+For all that, he was good-natured, his wife herself said so, but so
+foolish! Instead of bringing people to dine every day at his house, he
+now entertained his acquaintances at a restaurant. He bought things that
+were utterly useless, such as gold chains, timepieces, and household
+articles. Madame Arnoux even pointed out to Frederick in the lobby an
+enormous supply of tea-kettles, foot-warmers, and samovars. Finally, she
+one day confessed that a certain matter caused her much anxiety. Arnoux
+had made her sign a promissory note payable to M. Dambreuse.
+
+Meanwhile Frederick still cherished his literary projects as if it were
+a point of honour with himself to do so. He wished to write a history of
+aesthetics, a result of his conversations with Pellerin; next, to write
+dramas dealing with different epochs of the French Revolution, and to
+compose a great comedy, an idea traceable to the indirect influence of
+Deslauriers and Hussonnet. In the midst of his work her face or that of
+the other passed before his mental vision. He struggled against the
+longing to see her, but was not long ere he yielded to it; and he felt
+sadder as he came back from Madame Arnoux's house.
+
+One morning, while he was brooding over his melancholy thoughts by the
+fireside, Deslauriers came in. The incendiary speeches of Senecal had
+filled his master with uneasiness, and once more he found himself
+without resources.
+
+"What do you want me to do?" said Frederick.
+
+"Nothing! I know you have no money. But it will not be much trouble for
+you to get him a post either through M. Dambreuse or else through
+Arnoux. The latter ought to have need of engineers in his
+establishment."
+
+Frederick had an inspiration. Senecal would be able to let him know when
+the husband was away, carry letters for him and assist him on a thousand
+occasions when opportunities presented themselves. Services of this sort
+are always rendered between man and man. Besides, he would find means of
+employing him without arousing any suspicion on his part. Chance offered
+him an auxiliary; it was a circumstance that omened well for the future,
+and he hastened to take advantage of it; and, with an affectation of
+indifference, he replied that the thing was feasible perhaps, and that
+he would devote attention to it.
+
+And he did so at once. Arnoux took a great deal of pains with his
+earthenware works. He was endeavouring to discover the copper-red of the
+Chinese, but his colours evaporated in the process of baking. In order
+to avoid cracks in his ware, he mixed lime with his potter's clay; but
+the articles got broken for the most part; the enamel of his paintings
+on the raw material boiled away; his large plates became bulged; and,
+attributing these mischances to the inferior plant of his manufactory,
+he was anxious to start other grinding-mills and other drying-rooms.
+Frederick recalled some of these things to mind, and, when he met
+Arnoux, said that he had discovered a very able man, who would be
+capable of finding his famous red. Arnoux gave a jump; then, having
+listened to what the young man had to tell him, replied that he wanted
+assistance from nobody.
+
+Frederick spoke in a very laudatory style about Senecal's prodigious
+attainments, pointing out that he was at the same time an engineer, a
+chemist, and an accountant, being a mathematician of the first rank.
+
+The earthenware-dealer consented to see him.
+
+But they squabbled over the emoluments. Frederick interposed, and, at
+the end of a week, succeeded in getting them to come to an agreement.
+
+But as the works were situated at Creil, Senecal could not assist him in
+any way. This thought alone was enough to make his courage flag, as if
+he had met with some misfortune. His notion was that the more Arnoux
+would be kept apart from his wife the better would be his own chance
+with her. Then he proceeded to make repeated apologies for Rosanette.
+He referred to all the wrongs she had sustained at the other's hands,
+referred to the vague threats which she had uttered a few days before,
+and even spoke about the cashmere without concealing the fact that she
+had accused Arnoux of avarice.
+
+Arnoux, nettled at the word (and, furthermore, feeling some uneasiness),
+brought Rosanette the cashmere, but scolded her for having made any
+complaint to Frederick. When she told him that she had reminded him a
+hundred times of his promise, he pretended that, owing to pressure of
+business, he had forgotten all about it.
+
+The next day Frederick presented himself at her abode, and found the
+Marechale still in bed, though it was two o'clock, with Delmar beside
+her finishing a _pate de foie gras_ at a little round table. Before he
+had advanced many paces, she broke out into a cry of delight, saying: "I
+have him! I have him!" Then she seized him by the ears, kissed him on
+the forehead, thanked him effusively, "thee'd" and "thou'd" him, and
+even wanted to make him sit down on the bed. Her fine eyes, full of
+tender emotion, were sparkling with pleasure. There was a smile on her
+humid mouth. Her two round arms emerged through the sleeveless opening
+of her night-dress, and, from time to time, he could feel through the
+cambric the well-rounded outlines of her form.
+
+[Illustration: Then she seized him by the ears and kissed him.]
+
+All this time Delmar kept rolling his eyeballs about.
+
+"But really, my dear, my own pet..."
+
+It was the same way on the occasion when he saw her next. As soon as
+Frederick entered, she sat up on a cushion in order to embrace him with
+more ease, called him a darling, a "dearie," put a flower in his
+button-hole, and settled his cravat. These delicate attentions were
+redoubled when Delmar happened to be there. Were they advances on her
+part? So it seemed to Frederick.
+
+As for deceiving a friend, Arnoux, in his place, would not have had many
+scruples on that score, and he had every right not to adhere to rigidly
+virtuous principles with regard to this man's mistress, seeing that his
+relations with the wife had been strictly honourable, for so he
+thought--or rather he would have liked Arnoux to think so, in any event,
+as a sort of justification of his own prodigious cowardice. Nevertheless
+he felt somewhat bewildered; and presently he made up his mind to lay
+siege boldly to the Marechale.
+
+So, one afternoon, just as she was stooping down in front of her chest
+of drawers, he came across to her, and repeated his overtures without a
+pause.
+
+Thereupon, she began to cry, saying that she was very unfortunate, but
+that people should not despise her on that account.
+
+He only made fresh advances. She now adopted a different plan, namely,
+to laugh at his attempts without stopping. He thought it a clever thing
+to answer her sarcasms with repartees in the same strain, in which there
+was even a touch of exaggeration. But he made too great a display of
+gaiety to convince her that he was in earnest; and their comradeship was
+an impediment to any outpouring of serious feeling. At last, when she
+said one day, in reply to his amorous whispers, that she would not take
+another woman's leavings, he answered.
+
+"What other woman?"
+
+"Ah! yes, go and meet Madame Arnoux again!"
+
+For Frederick used to talk about her often. Arnoux, on his side, had the
+same mania. At last she lost patience at always hearing this woman's
+praises sung, and her insinuation was a kind of revenge.
+
+Frederick resented it. However, Rosanette was beginning to excite his
+love to an unusual degree. Sometimes, assuming the attitude of a woman
+of experience, she spoke ill of love with a sceptical smile that made
+him feel inclined to box her ears. A quarter of an hour afterwards, it
+was the only thing of any consequence in the world, and, with her arms
+crossed over her breast, as if she were clasping some one close to her:
+"Oh, yes, 'tis good! 'tis good!" and her eyelids would quiver in a kind
+of rapturous swoon. It was impossible to understand her, to know, for
+instance, whether she loved Arnoux, for she made fun of him, and yet
+seemed jealous of him. So likewise with the Vatnaz, whom she would
+sometimes call a wretch, and at other times her best friend. In short,
+there was about her entire person, even to the very arrangement of her
+chignon over her head, an inexpressible something, which seemed like a
+challenge; and he desired her for the satisfaction, above all, of
+conquering her and being her master.
+
+How was he to accomplish this? for she often sent him away
+unceremoniously, appearing only for a moment between two doors in order
+to say in a subdued voice, "I'm engaged--for the evening;" or else he
+found her surrounded by a dozen persons; and when they were alone, so
+many impediments presented themselves one after the other, that one
+would have sworn there was a bet to keep matters from going any further.
+He invited her to dinner; as a rule, she declined the invitation. On one
+occasion, she accepted it, but did not come.
+
+A Machiavellian idea arose in his brain.
+
+Having heard from Dussardier about Pellerin's complaints against
+himself, he thought of giving the artist an order to paint the
+Marechale's portrait, a life-sized portrait, which would necessitate a
+good number of sittings. He would not fail to be present at all of them.
+The habitual incorrectness of the painter would facilitate their private
+conversations. So then he would urge Rosanette to get the picture
+executed in order to make a present of her face to her dear Arnoux. She
+consented, for she saw herself in the midst of the Grand Salon in the
+most prominent position with a crowd of people staring at her picture,
+and the newspapers would all talk about it, which at once would set her
+afloat.
+
+As for Pellerin, he eagerly snatched at the offer. This portrait ought
+to place him in the position of a great man; it ought to be a
+masterpiece. He passed in review in his memory all the portraits by
+great masters with which he was acquainted, and decided finally in
+favour of a Titian, which would be set off with ornaments in the style
+of Veronese. Therefore, he would carry out his design without artificial
+backgrounds in a bold light, which would illuminate the flesh-tints with
+a single tone, and which would make the accessories glitter.
+
+"Suppose I were to put on her," he thought, "a pink silk dress with an
+Oriental bournous? Oh, no! the bournous is only a rascally thing! Or
+suppose, rather, I were to make her wear blue velvet with a grey
+background, richly coloured? We might likewise give her a white guipure
+collar with a black fan and a scarlet curtain behind." And thus, seeking
+for ideas, he enlarged his conception, and regarded it with admiration.
+
+He felt his heart beating when Rosanette, accompanied by Frederick,
+called at his house for the first sitting. He placed her standing up on
+a sort of platform in the midst of the apartment, and, finding fault
+with the light and expressing regret at the loss of his former studio,
+he first made her lean on her elbow against a pedestal, then sit down in
+an armchair, and, drawing away from her and coming near her again by
+turns in order to adjust with a fillip the folds of her dress, he
+watched her with eyelids half-closed, and appealed to Frederick's taste
+with a passing word.
+
+"Well, no," he exclaimed; "I return to my own idea. I will set you up in
+the Venetian style."
+
+She would have a poppy-coloured velvet gown with a jewelled girdle; and
+her wide sleeve lined with ermine would afford a glimpse of her bare
+arm, which was to touch the balustrade of a staircase rising behind her.
+At her left, a large column would mount as far as the top of the canvas
+to meet certain structures so as to form an arch. Underneath one would
+vaguely distinguish groups of orange-trees almost black, through which
+the blue sky, with its streaks of white cloud, would seem cut into
+fragments. On the baluster, covered with a carpet, there would be, on a
+silver dish, a bouquet of flowers, a chaplet of amber, a poniard, and a
+little chest of antique ivory, rather yellow with age, which would
+appear to be disgorging gold sequins. Some of them, falling on the
+ground here and there, would form brilliant splashes, as it were, in
+such a way as to direct one's glance towards the tip of her foot, for
+she would be standing on the last step but one in a natural position, as
+if in the act of moving under the glow of the broad sunlight.
+
+He went to look for a picture-case, which he laid on the platform to
+represent the step. Then he arranged as accessories, on a stool by way
+of balustrade, his pea-jacket, a buckler, a sardine-box, a bundle of
+pens, and a knife; and when he had flung in front of Rosanette a dozen
+big sous, he made her assume the attitude he required.
+
+"Just try to imagine that these things are riches, magnificent presents.
+The head a little on one side! Perfect! and don't stir! This majestic
+posture exactly suits your style of beauty."
+
+She wore a plaid dress and carried a big muff, and only kept from
+laughing outright by an effort of self-control.
+
+"As regards the head-dress, we will mingle with it a circle of pearls.
+It always produces a striking effect with red hair."
+
+The Marechale burst out into an exclamation, remarking that she had not
+red hair.
+
+"Nonsense! The red of painters is not that of ordinary people."
+
+He began to sketch the position of the masses; and he was so much
+preoccupied with the great artists of the Renaissance that he kept
+talking about them persistently. For a whole hour he went on musing
+aloud on those splendid lives, full of genius, glory, and sumptuous
+displays, with triumphal entries into the cities, and galas by
+torchlight among half-naked women, beautiful as goddesses.
+
+"You were made to live in those days. A creature of your calibre would
+have deserved a monseigneur."
+
+Rosanette thought the compliments he paid her very pretty. The day was
+fixed for the next sitting. Frederick took it on himself to bring the
+accessories.
+
+As the heat of the stove had stupefied her a little, they went home on
+foot through the Rue du Bac, and reached the Pont Royal.
+
+It was fine weather, piercingly bright and warm. Some windows of houses
+in the city shone in the distance, like plates of gold, whilst behind
+them at the right the turrets of Notre Dame showed their outlines in
+black against the blue sky, softly bathed at the horizon in grey
+vapours.
+
+The wind began to swell; and Rosanette, having declared that she felt
+hungry, they entered the "Patisserie Anglaise."
+
+Young women with their children stood eating in front of the marble
+buffet, where plates of little cakes had glass covers pressed down on
+them. Rosanette swallowed two cream-tarts. The powdered sugar formed
+moustaches at the sides of her mouth. From time to time, in order to
+wipe it, she drew out her handkerchief from her muff, and her face,
+under her green silk hood, resembled a full-blown rose in the midst of
+its leaves.
+
+They resumed their walk. In the Rue de la Paix she stood before a
+goldsmith's shop to look at a bracelet. Frederick wished to make her a
+present of it.
+
+"No!" said she; "keep your money!"
+
+He was hurt by these words.
+
+"What's the matter now with the ducky? We are melancholy?"
+
+And, the conversation having been renewed, he began making the same
+protestations of love to her as usual.
+
+"You know well 'tis impossible!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Ah! because----"
+
+They went on side by side, she leaning on his arm, and the flounces of
+her gown kept flapping against his legs. Then, he recalled to mind one
+winter twilight when on the same footpath Madame Arnoux walked thus by
+his side, and he became so much absorbed in this recollection that he no
+longer saw Rosanette, and did not bestow a thought upon her.
+
+She kept looking straight before her in a careless fashion, lagging a
+little, like a lazy child. It was the hour when people had just come
+back from their promenade, and equipages were making their way at a
+quick trot over the hard pavement.
+
+Pellerin's flatteries having probably recurred to her mind, she heaved a
+sigh.
+
+"Ah! there are some lucky women in the world. Decidedly, I was made for
+a rich man!"
+
+He replied, with a certain brutality in his tone:
+
+"You have one, in the meantime!" for M. Oudry was looked upon as a man
+that could count a million three times over.
+
+She asked for nothing better than to get free from him.
+
+"What prevents you from doing so?" And he gave utterance to bitter jests
+about this old bewigged citizen, pointing out to her that such an
+intrigue was unworthy of her, and that she ought to break it off.
+
+"Yes," replied the Marechale, as if talking to herself. "'Tis what I
+shall end by doing, no doubt!"
+
+Frederick was charmed by this disinterestedness. She slackened her pace,
+and he fancied that she was fatigued. She obstinately refused to let him
+take a cab, and she parted with him at her door, sending him a kiss with
+her finger-tips.
+
+"Ah! what a pity! and to think that imbeciles take me for a man of
+wealth!"
+
+He reached home in a gloomy frame of mind.
+
+Hussonnet and Deslauriers were awaiting him. The Bohemian, seated before
+the table, made sketches of Turks' heads; and the advocate, in dirty
+boots, lay asleep on the sofa.
+
+"Ha! at last," he exclaimed. "But how sullen you look! Will you listen
+to me?"
+
+His vogue as a tutor had fallen off, for he crammed his pupils with
+theories unfavourable for their examinations. He had appeared in two or
+three cases in which he had been unsuccessful, and each new
+disappointment flung him back with greater force on the dream of his
+earlier days--a journal in which he could show himself off, avenge
+himself, and spit forth his bile and his opinions. Fortune and
+reputation, moreover, would follow as a necessary consequence. It was in
+this hope that he had got round the Bohemian, Hussonnet happening to be
+the possessor of a press.
+
+At present, he printed it on pink paper. He invented hoaxes, composed
+rebuses, tried to engage in polemics, and even intended, in spite of the
+situation of the premises, to get up concerts. A year's subscription was
+to give a right to a place in the orchestra in one of the principal
+theatres of Paris. Besides, the board of management took on itself to
+furnish foreigners with all necessary information, artistic and
+otherwise. But the printer gave vent to threats; there were three
+quarters' rent due to the landlord. All sorts of embarrassments arose;
+and Hussonnet would have allowed _L'Art_ to perish, were it not for the
+exhortations of the advocate, who kept every day exciting his mind. He
+had brought the other with him, in order to give more weight to the
+application he was now making.
+
+"We've come about the journal," said he.
+
+"What! are you still thinking about that?" said Frederick, in an absent
+tone.
+
+"Certainly, I am thinking about it!"
+
+And he explained his plan anew. By means of the Bourse returns, they
+would get into communication with financiers, and would thus obtain the
+hundred thousand francs indispensable as security. But, in order that
+the print might be transformed into a political journal, it was
+necessary beforehand to have a large _clientele_, and for that purpose
+to make up their minds to go to some expense--so much for the cost of
+paper and printing, and for outlay at the office; in short, a sum of
+about fifteen thousand francs.
+
+"I have no funds," said Frederick.
+
+"And what are we to do, then?" said Deslauriers, with folded arms.
+
+Frederick, hurt by the attitude which Deslauriers was assuming, replied:
+
+"Is that my fault?"
+
+"Ah! very fine. A man has wood in his fire, truffles on his table, a
+good bed, a library, a carriage, every kind of comfort. But let another
+man shiver under the slates, dine at twenty sous, work like a convict,
+and sprawl through want in the mire--is it the rich man's fault?"
+
+And he repeated, "Is it the rich man's fault?" with a Ciceronian irony
+which smacked of the law-courts.
+
+Frederick tried to speak.
+
+"However, I understand one has certain wants--aristocratic wants; for,
+no doubt, some woman----"
+
+"Well, even if that were so? Am I not free----?"
+
+"Oh! quite free!"
+
+And, after a minute's silence:
+
+"Promises are so convenient!"
+
+"Good God! I don't deny that I gave them!" said Frederick.
+
+The advocate went on:
+
+"At college we take oaths; we are going to set up a phalanx; we are
+going to imitate Balzac's Thirteen. Then, on meeting a friend after a
+separation: 'Good night, old fellow! Go about your business!' For he who
+might help the other carefully keeps everything for himself alone."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Yes, you have not even introduced me to the Dambreuses."
+
+Frederick cast a scrutinising glance at him. With his shabby frock-coat,
+his spectacles of rough glass, and his sallow face, that advocate seemed
+to him such a typical specimen of the penniless pedant that he could not
+prevent his lips from curling with a disdainful smile.
+
+Deslauriers perceived this, and reddened.
+
+He had already taken his hat to leave. Hussonnet, filled with
+uneasiness, tried to mollify him with appealing looks, and, as Frederick
+was turning his back on him:
+
+"Look here, my boy, become my Maecenas! Protect the arts!"
+
+Frederick, with an abrupt movement of resignation, took a sheet of
+paper, and, having scrawled some lines on it, handed it to him. The
+Bohemian's face lighted up.
+
+Then, passing across the sheet of paper to Deslauriers:
+
+"Apologise, my fine fellow!"
+
+Their friend begged his notary to send him fifteen thousand francs as
+quickly as possible.
+
+"Ah! I recognise you in that," said Deslauriers.
+
+"On the faith of a gentleman," added the Bohemian, "you are a noble
+fellow, you'll be placed in the gallery of useful men!"
+
+The advocate remarked:
+
+"You'll lose nothing by it, 'tis an excellent speculation."
+
+"Faith," exclaimed Hussonnet, "I'd stake my head at the scaffold on its
+success!"
+
+And he said so many foolish things, and promised so many wonderful
+things, in which perhaps he believed, that Frederick did not know
+whether he did this in order to laugh at others or at himself.
+
+The same evening he received a letter from his mother. She expressed
+astonishment at not seeing him yet a minister, while indulging in a
+little banter at his expense. Then she spoke of her health, and informed
+him that M. Roque had now become one of her visitors.
+
+"Since he is a widower, I thought there would be no objection to
+inviting him to the house. Louise is greatly changed for the better."
+And in a postscript: "You have told me nothing about your fine
+acquaintance, M. Dambreuse; if I were you, I would make use of him."
+
+Why not? His intellectual ambitions had left him, and his fortune (he
+saw it clearly) was insufficient, for when his debts had been paid, and
+the sum agreed on remitted to the others, his income would be diminished
+by four thousand at least! Moreover, he felt the need of giving up this
+sort of life, and attaching himself to some pursuit. So, next day, when
+dining at Madame Arnoux's, he said that his mother was tormenting him in
+order to make him take up a profession.
+
+"But I was under the impression," she said, "that M. Dambreuse was going
+to get you into the Council of State? That would suit you very well."
+
+So, then, she wished him to take this course. He regarded her wish as a
+command.
+
+The banker, as on the first occasion, was seated at his desk, and, with
+a gesture, intimated that he desired Frederick to wait a few minutes;
+for a gentleman who was standing at the door with his back turned had
+been discussing some serious topic with him.
+
+The subject of their conversation was the proposed amalgamation of the
+different coal-mining companies.
+
+On each side of the glass hung portraits of General Foy and Louis
+Philippe. Cardboard shelves rose along the panels up to the ceiling, and
+there were six straw chairs, M. Dambreuse not requiring a more
+fashionably-furnished apartment for the transaction of business. It
+resembled those gloomy kitchens in which great banquets are prepared.
+
+Frederick noticed particularly two chests of prodigious size which stood
+in the corners. He asked himself how many millions they might contain.
+The banker unlocked one of them, and as the iron plate revolved, it
+disclosed to view nothing inside but blue paper books full of entries.
+
+At last, the person who had been talking to M. Dambreuse passed in front
+of Frederick. It was Pere Oudry. The two saluted one another, their
+faces colouring--a circumstance which surprised M. Dambreuse. However,
+he exhibited the utmost affability, observing that nothing would be
+easier than to recommend the young man to the Keeper of the Seals. They
+would be too happy to have him, he added, concluding his polite
+attentions by inviting him to an evening party which he would be giving
+in a few days.
+
+Frederick was stepping into a brougham on his way to this party when a
+note from the Marechale reached him. By the light of the carriage-lamps
+he read:
+
+"Darling, I have followed your advice: I have just expelled my savage.
+After to-morrow evening, liberty! Say whether I am not brave!"
+
+Nothing more. But it was clearly an invitation to him to take the vacant
+place. He uttered an exclamation, squeezed the note into his pocket, and
+set forth.
+
+Two municipal guards on horseback were stationed in the street. A row of
+lamps burned on the two front gates, and some servants were calling out
+in the courtyard to have the carriages brought up to the end of the
+steps before the house under the marquee.
+
+Then suddenly the noise in the vestibule ceased.
+
+Large trees filled up the space in front of the staircase. The porcelain
+globes shed a light which waved like white moire satin on the walls.
+
+Frederick rushed up the steps in a joyous frame of mind. An usher
+announced his name. M. Dambreuse extended his hand. Almost at the very
+same moment, Madame Dambreuse appeared. She wore a mauve dress trimmed
+with lace. The ringlets of her hair were more abundant than usual, and
+not a single jewel did she display.
+
+She complained of his coming to visit them so rarely, and seized the
+opportunity to exchange a few confidential words with him.
+
+The guests began to arrive. In their mode of bowing they twisted their
+bodies on one side or bent in two, or merely lowered their heads a
+little. Then, a married pair, a family passed in, and all scattered
+themselves about the drawing-room, which was already filled. Under the
+chandelier in the centre, an enormous ottoman-seat supported a stand,
+the flowers of which, bending forward, like plumes of feathers, hung
+over the heads of the ladies seated all around in a ring, while others
+occupied the easy-chairs, which formed two straight lines symmetrically
+interrupted by the large velvet curtains of the windows and the lofty
+bays of the doors with their gilded lintels.
+
+The crowd of men who remained standing on the floor with their hats in
+their hands seemed, at some distance, like one black mass, into which
+the ribbons in the button-holes introduced red points here and there,
+and rendered all the more dull the monotonous whiteness of their
+cravats. With the exception of the very young men with the down on their
+faces, all appeared to be bored. Some dandies, with an expression of
+sullenness on their countenances, were swinging on their heels. There
+were numbers of men with grey hair or wigs. Here and there glistened a
+bald pate; and the visages of many of these men, either purple or
+exceedingly pale, showed in their worn aspect the traces of immense
+fatigues: for they were persons who devoted themselves either to
+political or commercial pursuits. M. Dambreuse had also invited a number
+of scholars and magistrates, two or three celebrated doctors, and he
+deprecated with an air of humility the eulogies which they pronounced on
+his entertainment and the allusions to his wealth.
+
+An immense number of men-servants, with fine gold-laced livery, kept
+moving about on every side. The large branched candlesticks, like
+bouquets of flame, threw a glow over the hangings. They were reflected
+in the mirrors; and at the bottom of the dining-room, which was adorned
+with a jessamine treillage, the side-board resembled the high altar of a
+cathedral or an exhibition of jewellery, there were so many dishes,
+bells, knives and forks, silver and silver-gilt spoons in the midst of
+crystal ware glittering with iridescence.
+
+The three other reception-rooms overflowed with artistic
+objects--landscapes by great masters on the walls, ivory and porcelain
+at the sides of the tables, and Chinese ornaments on the brackets.
+Lacquered screens were displayed in front of the windows, clusters of
+camelias rose above the mantel-shelves, and a light music vibrated in
+the distance, like the humming of bees.
+
+The quadrilles were not numerous, and the dancers, judged by the
+indifferent fashion in which they dragged their pumps after them, seemed
+to be going through the performance of a duty.
+
+Frederick heard some phrases, such as the following:
+
+"Were you at the last charity fete at the Hotel Lambert, Mademoiselle?"
+"No, Monsieur." "It will soon be intolerably warm here." "Oh! yes,
+indeed; quite suffocating!" "Whose polka, pray, is this?" "Good heavens,
+Madame, I don't know!"
+
+And, behind him, three greybeards, who had posted themselves in the
+recess of a window, were whispering some _risque_ remarks. A sportsman
+told a hunting story, while a Legitimist carried on an argument with an
+Orleanist. And, wandering about from one group to another, he reached
+the card-room, where, in the midst of grave-looking men gathered in a
+circle, he recognised Martinon, now attached to the Bar of the capital.
+
+His big face, with its waxen complexion, filled up the space encircled
+by his collar-like beard, which was a marvel with its even surface of
+black hair; and, observing the golden mean between the elegance which
+his age might yearn for and the dignity which his profession exacted
+from him, he kept his thumbs stuck under his armpits, according to the
+custom of beaux, and then put his hands into his waistcoat pockets after
+the manner of learned personages. Though his boots were polished to
+excess, he kept his temples shaved in order to have the forehead of a
+thinker.
+
+After he had addressed a few chilling words to Frederick, he turned once
+more towards those who were chatting around him. A land-owner was
+saying: "This is a class of men that dreams of upsetting society."
+
+"They are calling for the organisation of labour," said another: "Can
+this be conceived?"
+
+"What could you expect," said a third, "when we see M. de Genoude giving
+his assistance to the _Siecle_?"
+
+"And even Conservatives style themselves Progressives. To lead us to
+what? To the Republic! as if such a thing were possible in France!"
+
+Everyone declared that the Republic was impossible in France.
+
+"No matter!" remarked one gentleman in a loud tone. "People take too
+much interest in the Revolution. A heap of histories, of different kinds
+of works, are published concerning it!"
+
+"Without taking into account," said Martinon, "that there are probably
+subjects of far more importance which might be studied."
+
+A gentleman occupying a ministerial office laid the blame on the
+scandals associated with the stage:
+
+"Thus, for instance, this new drama of _La Reine Margot_ really goes
+beyond the proper limits. What need was there for telling us about the
+Valois? All this exhibits loyalty in an unfavourable light. 'Tis just
+like your press! There is no use in talking, the September laws are
+altogether too mild. For my part, I would like to have court-martials,
+to gag the journalists! At the slightest display of insolence, drag them
+before a council of war, and then make an end of the business!"
+
+"Oh, take care, Monsieur! take care!" said a professor. "Don't attack
+the precious boons we gained in 1830! Respect our liberties!" It would
+be better, he contended, to adopt a policy of decentralisation, and to
+distribute the surplus populations of the towns through the country
+districts.
+
+"But they are gangrened!" exclaimed a Catholic. "Let religion be more
+firmly established!"
+
+Martinon hastened to observe:
+
+"As a matter of fact, it is a restraining force."
+
+All the evil lay in this modern longing to rise above one's class and to
+possess luxuries.
+
+"However," urged a manufacturer, "luxury aids commerce. Therefore, I
+approve of the Duc de Nemours' action in insisting on having short
+breeches at his evening parties."
+
+"M. Thiers came to one of them in a pair of trousers. You know his joke
+on the subject?"
+
+"Yes; charming! But he turned round to the demagogues, and his speech on
+the question of incompatibilities was not without its influence in
+bringing about the attempt of the twelfth of May."
+
+"Oh, pooh!"
+
+"Ay, ay!"
+
+The circle had to make a little opening to give a passage to a
+man-servant carrying a tray, who was trying to make his way into the
+card-room.
+
+Under the green shades of the wax-lights the tables were covered with
+two rows of cards and gold coins. Frederick stopped beside one corner of
+the table, lost the fifteen napoleons which he had in his pocket,
+whirled lightly about, and found himself on the threshold of the boudoir
+in which Madame Dambreuse happened to be at that moment.
+
+It was filled with women sitting close to one another in little groups
+on seats without backs. Their long skirts, swelling round them, seemed
+like waves, from which their waists emerged; and their breasts were
+clearly outlined by the slope of their corsages. Nearly every one of
+them had a bouquet of violets in her hand. The dull shade of their
+gloves showed off the whiteness of their arms, which formed a contrast
+with its human flesh tints. Over the shoulders of some of them hung
+fringe or mourning-weeds, and, every now and then, as they quivered with
+emotion, it seemed as if their bodices were about to fall down.
+
+But the decorum of their countenances tempered the exciting effect of
+their costumes. Several of them had a placidity almost like that of
+animals; and this resemblance to the brute creation on the part of
+half-nude women made him think of the interior of a harem--indeed, a
+grosser comparison suggested itself to the young man's mind.
+
+Every variety of beauty was to be found there--some English ladies, with
+the profile familiar in "keepsakes"; an Italian, whose black eyes shot
+forth lava-like flashes, like a Vesuvius; three sisters, dressed in
+blue; three Normans, fresh as April apples; a tall red-haired girl, with
+a set of amethysts. And the bright scintillation of diamonds, which
+trembled in aigrettes worn over their hair, the luminous spots of
+precious stones laid over their breasts, and the delightful radiance of
+pearls which adorned their foreheads mingled with the glitter of gold
+rings, as well as with the lace, powder, the feathers, the vermilion of
+dainty mouths, and the mother-of-pearl hue of teeth. The ceiling,
+rounded like a cupola, gave to the boudoir the form of a flower-basket,
+and a current of perfumed air circulated under the flapping of their
+fans.
+
+Frederick, planting himself behind them, put up his eyeglass and scanned
+their shoulders, not all of which did he consider irreproachable. He
+thought about the Marechale, and this dispelled the temptations that
+beset him or consoled him for not yielding to them.
+
+He gazed, however, at Madame Dambreuse, and he considered her charming,
+in spite of her mouth being rather large and her nostrils too dilated.
+But she was remarkably graceful in appearance. There was, as it were, an
+expression of passionate languor in the ringlets of her hair, and her
+forehead, which was like agate, seemed to cover a great deal, and
+indicated a masterful intelligence.
+
+She had placed beside her her husband's niece, a rather plain-looking
+young person. From time to time she left her seat to receive those who
+had just come in; and the murmur of feminine voices, made, as it were, a
+cackling like that of birds.
+
+They were talking about the Tunisian ambassadors and their costumes. One
+lady had been present at the last reception of the Academy. Another
+referred to the _Don Juan_ of Moliere, which had recently been performed
+at the Theatre Francais.
+
+But with a significant glance towards her niece, Madame Dambreuse laid a
+finger on her lips, while the smile which escaped from her contradicted
+this display of austerity.
+
+Suddenly, Martinon appeared at the door directly in front of her. She
+arose at once. He offered her his arm. Frederick, in order to watch the
+progress of these gallantries on Martinon's part, walked past the
+card-table, and came up with them in the large drawing-room. Madame
+Dambreuse very soon quitted her cavalier, and began chatting with
+Frederick himself in a very familiar tone.
+
+She understood that he did not play cards, and did not dance.
+
+"Young people have a tendency to be melancholy!" Then, with a single
+comprehensive glance around:
+
+"Besides, this sort of thing is not amusing--at least for certain
+natures!"
+
+And she drew up in front of the row of armchairs, uttering a few polite
+remarks here and there, while some old men with double eyeglasses came
+to pay court to her. She introduced Frederick to some of them. M.
+Dambreuse touched him lightly on the elbow, and led him out on the
+terrace.
+
+He had seen the Minister. The thing was not easy to manage. Before he
+could be qualified for the post of auditor to the Council of State, he
+should pass an examination. Frederick, seized with an unaccountable
+self-confidence, replied that he had a knowledge of the subjects
+prescribed for it.
+
+The financier was not surprised at this, after all the eulogies M. Roque
+had pronounced on his abilities.
+
+At the mention of this name, a vision of little Louise, her house and
+her room, passed through his mind, and he remembered how he had on
+nights like this stood at her window listening to the wagoners driving
+past. This recollection of his griefs brought back the thought of Madame
+Arnoux, and he relapsed into silence as he continued to pace up and down
+the terrace. The windows shone amid the darkness like slabs of flame.
+The buzz of the ball gradually grew fainter; the carriages were
+beginning to leave.
+
+"Why in the world," M. Dambreuse went on, "are you so anxious to be
+attached to the Council of State?"
+
+And he declared, in the tone of a man of broad views, that the public
+functions led to nothing--he could speak with some authority on that
+point--business was much better.
+
+Frederick urged as an objection the difficulty of grappling with all the
+details of business.
+
+"Pooh! I could post you up well in them in a very short time."
+
+Would he like to be a partner in any of his own undertakings?
+
+The young man saw, as by a lightning-flash, an enormous fortune coming
+into his hands.
+
+"Let us go in again," said the banker. "You are staying for supper with
+us, are you not?"
+
+It was three o'clock. They left the terrace.
+
+In the dining-room, a table at which supper was served up awaited the
+guests.
+
+M. Dambreuse perceived Martinon, and, drawing near his wife, in a low
+tone:
+
+"Is it you who invited him?"
+
+She answered dryly:
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+The niece was not present.
+
+The guests drank a great deal of wine, and laughed very loudly; and
+risky jokes did not give any offence, all present experiencing that
+sense of relief which follows a somewhat prolonged period of constraint.
+
+Martinon alone displayed anything like gravity. He refused to drink
+champagne, as he thought this good form, and, moreover, he assumed an
+air of tact and politeness, for when M. Dambreuse, who had a contracted
+chest, complained of an oppression, he made repeated enquiries about
+that gentleman's health, and then let his blue eyes wander in the
+direction of Madame Dambreuse.
+
+She questioned Frederick in order to find out which of the young ladies
+he liked best. He had noticed none of them in particular, and besides,
+he preferred the women of thirty.
+
+"There, perhaps, you show your sense," she returned.
+
+Then, as they were putting on their pelisses and paletots, M. Dambreuse
+said to him:
+
+"Come and see me one of these mornings and we'll have a chat."
+
+Martinon, at the foot of the stairs, was lighting a cigar, and, as he
+puffed it, he presented such a heavy profile that his companion allowed
+this remark to escape from him:
+
+"Upon my word, you have a fine head!"
+
+"It has turned a few other heads," replied the young magistrate, with an
+air of mingled self-complacency and annoyance.
+
+As soon as Frederick was in bed, he summed up the main features of the
+evening party. In the first place, his own toilet (he had looked at
+himself several times in the mirrors), from the cut of his coat to the
+knot of his pumps left nothing to find fault with. He had spoken to
+influential men, and seen wealthy ladies at close quarters. M. Dambreuse
+had shown himself to be an admirable type of man, and Madame Dambreuse
+an almost bewitching type of woman. He weighed one by one her slightest
+words, her looks, a thousand things incapable of being analysed. It
+would be a right good thing to have such a mistress. And, after all, why
+should he not? He would have as good a chance with her as any other man.
+Perhaps she was not so hard to win? Then Martinon came back to his
+recollection; and, as he fell asleep, he smiled with pity for this
+worthy fellow.
+
+He woke up with the thought of the Marechale in his mind. Those words of
+her note, "After to-morrow evening," were in fact an appointment for the
+very same day.
+
+He waited until nine o'clock, and then hurried to her house.
+
+Some one who had been going up the stairs before him shut the door. He
+rang the bell; Delphine came out and told him that "Madame" was not
+there.
+
+Frederick persisted, begging of her to admit him. He had something of a
+very serious nature to communicate to her; only a word would suffice. At
+length, the hundred-sous-piece argument proved successful, and the maid
+let him into the anteroom.
+
+Rosanette appeared. She was in a negligee, with her hair loose, and,
+shaking her head, she waved her arms when she was some paces away from
+him to indicate that she could not receive him now.
+
+Frederick descended the stairs slowly. This caprice was worse than any
+of the others she had indulged in. He could not understand it at all.
+
+In front of the porter's lodge Mademoiselle Vatnaz stopped him.
+
+"Has she received you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You've been put out?"
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"'Tis quite plain. But come on; let us go away. I am suffocating!"
+
+She made him accompany her along the street; she panted for breath; he
+could feel her thin arm trembling on his own. Suddenly, she broke out:
+
+"Ah! the wretch!"
+
+"Who, pray?"
+
+"Why, he--he--Delmar!"
+
+This revelation humiliated Frederick. He next asked:
+
+"Are you quite sure of it?"
+
+"Why, when I tell you I followed him!" exclaimed the Vatnaz. "I saw him
+going in! Now do you understand? I ought to have expected it for that
+matter--'twas I, in my stupidity, that introduced him to her. And if you
+only knew all; my God! Why, I picked him up, supported him, clothed him!
+And then all the paragraphs I got into the newspapers about him! I loved
+him like a mother!"
+
+Then, with a sneer:
+
+"Ha! Monsieur wants velvet robes! You may be sure 'tis a speculation on
+his part. And as for her!--to think that I knew her to earn her living
+as a seamstress! If it were not for me, she would have fallen into the
+mire twenty times over! But I will plunge her into it yet! I'll see her
+dying in a hospital--and everything about her will be known!"
+
+And, like a torrent of dirty water from a vessel full of refuse, her
+rage poured out in a tumultuous fashion into Frederick's ear the recital
+of her rival's disgraceful acts.
+
+"She lived with Jumillac, with Flacourt, with little Allard, with
+Bertinaux, with Saint-Valery, the pock-marked fellow! No, 'twas the
+other! They are two brothers--it makes no difference. And when she was
+in difficulties, I settled everything. She is so avaricious! And then,
+you will agree with me, 'twas nice and kind of me to go to see her, for
+we are not persons of the same grade! Am I a fast woman--I? Do I sell
+myself? Without taking into account that she is as stupid as a head of
+cabbage. She writes 'category' with a 'th.' After all, they are well
+met. They make a precious couple, though he styles himself an artist and
+thinks himself a man of genius. But, my God! if he had only
+intelligence, he would not have done such an infamous thing! Men don't,
+as a rule, leave a superior woman for a hussy! What do I care about him
+after all? He is becoming ugly. I hate him! If I met him, mind you, I'd
+spit in his face." She spat out as she uttered the words.
+
+"Yes, this is what I think about him now. And Arnoux, eh? Isn't it
+abominable? He has forgiven her so often! You can't conceive the
+sacrifices he has made for her. She ought to kiss his feet! He is so
+generous, so good!"
+
+Frederick was delighted at hearing Delmar disparaged. He had taken sides
+with Arnoux. This perfidy on Rosanette's part seemed to him an abnormal
+and inexcusable thing; and, infected with this elderly spinster's
+emotion, he felt a sort of tenderness towards her. Suddenly he found
+himself in front of Arnoux's door. Mademoiselle Vatnaz, without his
+attention having been drawn to it, had led him down towards the Rue
+Poissonniere.
+
+"Here we are!" said she. "As for me, I can't go up; but you, surely
+there is nothing to prevent you?"
+
+"From doing what?"
+
+"From telling him everything, faith!"
+
+Frederick, as if waking up with a start, saw the baseness towards which
+she was urging him.
+
+"Well?" she said after a pause.
+
+He raised his eyes towards the second floor. Madame Arnoux's lamp was
+burning. In fact there was nothing to prevent him from going up.
+
+"I am going to wait for you here. Go on, then!"
+
+This direction had the effect of chilling him, and he said:
+
+"I shall be a long time up there; you would do better to return home. I
+will call on you to-morrow."
+
+"No, no!" replied the Vatnaz, stamping with her foot. "Take him with
+you! Bring him there! Let him catch them together!"
+
+"But Delmar will no longer be there."
+
+She hung down her head.
+
+"Yes; that's true, perhaps."
+
+And she remained without speaking in the middle of the street, with
+vehicles all around her; then, fixing on him her wild-cat's eyes:
+
+"I may rely on you, may I not? There is now a sacred bond between us. Do
+what you say, then; we'll talk about it to-morrow."
+
+Frederick, in passing through the lobby, heard two voices responding to
+one another.
+
+Madame Arnoux's voice was saying:
+
+"Don't lie! don't lie, pray!"
+
+He went in. The voices suddenly ceased.
+
+Arnoux was walking from one end of the apartment to the other, and
+Madame was seated on the little chair near the fire, extremely pale and
+staring straight before her. Frederick stepped back, and was about to
+retire, when Arnoux grasped his hand, glad that some one had come to his
+rescue.
+
+"But I am afraid----" said Frederick.
+
+"Stay here, I beg of you!" he whispered in his ear.
+
+Madame remarked:
+
+"You must make some allowance for this scene, Monsieur Moreau. Such
+things sometimes unfortunately occur in households."
+
+"They do when we introduce them there ourselves," said Arnoux in a jolly
+tone. "Women have crotchets, I assure you. This, for instance, is not a
+bad one--see! No; quite the contrary. Well, she has been amusing
+herself for the last hour by teasing me with a heap of idle stories."
+
+"They are true," retorted Madame Arnoux, losing patience; "for, in fact,
+you bought it yourself."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes, you yourself, at the Persian House."
+
+"The cashmere," thought Frederick.
+
+He was filled with a consciousness of guilt, and got quite alarmed.
+
+She quickly added:
+
+"It was on Saturday, the fourteenth."
+
+"The fourteenth," said Arnoux, looking up, as if he were searching in
+his mind for a date.
+
+"And, furthermore, the clerk who sold it to you was a fair-haired young
+man."
+
+"How could I remember what sort of man the clerk was?"
+
+"And yet it was at your dictation he wrote the address, 18 Rue de
+Laval."
+
+"How do you know?" said Arnoux in amazement.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders.
+
+"Oh! 'tis very simple: I went to get my cashmere altered, and the
+superintendent of the millinery department told me that they had just
+sent another of the same sort to Madame Arnoux."
+
+"Is it my fault if there is a Madame Arnoux in the same street?"
+
+"Yes; but not Jacques Arnoux," she returned.
+
+Thereupon, he began to talk in an incoherent fashion, protesting that he
+was innocent. It was some misapprehension, some accident, one of those
+things that happen in some way that is utterly unaccountable. Men should
+not be condemned on mere suspicion, vague probabilities; and he
+referred to the case of the unfortunate Lesurques.
+
+"In short, I say you are mistaken. Do you want me to take my oath on
+it?"
+
+"'Tis not worth while."
+
+"Why?"
+
+She looked him straight in the face without saying a word, then
+stretched out her hand, took down the little silver chest from the
+mantelpiece, and handed him a bill which was spread open.
+
+Arnoux coloured up to his ears, and his swollen and distorted features
+betrayed his confusion.
+
+"But," he said in faltering tones, "what does this prove?"
+
+"Ah!" she said, with a peculiar ring in her voice, in which sorrow and
+irony were blended. "Ah!"
+
+Arnoux held the bill in his hands, and turned it round without removing
+his eyes from it, as if he were going to find in it the solution of a
+great problem.
+
+"Ah! yes, yes; I remember," said he at length. "'Twas a commission. You
+ought to know about that matter, Frederick." Frederick remained silent.
+"A commission that Pere Oudry entrusted to me."
+
+"And for whom?"
+
+"For his mistress."
+
+"For your own!" exclaimed Madame Arnoux, springing to her feet and
+standing erect before him.
+
+"I swear to you!"
+
+"Don't begin over again. I know everything."
+
+"Ha! quite right. So you're spying on me!"
+
+She returned coldly:
+
+"Perhaps that wounds your delicacy?"
+
+"Since you are in a passion," said Arnoux, looking for his hat, "and
+can't be reasoned with----"
+
+Then, with a big sigh:
+
+"Don't marry, my poor friend, don't, if you take my advice!"
+
+And he took himself off, finding it absolutely necessary to get into the
+open air.
+
+Then there was a deep silence, and it seemed as if everything in the
+room had become more motionless than before. A luminous circle above the
+lamp whitened the ceiling, while at the corners stretched out bits of
+shade resembling pieces of black gauze placed on top of one another. The
+ticking of the clock and the crackling of the fire were the only sounds
+that disturbed the stillness.
+
+Madame Arnoux had just seated herself in the armchair at the opposite
+side of the chimney-piece. She bit her lip and shivered. She drew her
+hands up to her face; a sob broke from her, and she began to weep.
+
+He sat down on the little couch, and in the soothing tone in which one
+addresses a sick person:
+
+"You don't suspect me of having anything to do with----?"
+
+She made no reply. But, continuing presently to give utterance to her
+own thoughts:
+
+"I leave him perfectly free! There was no necessity for lying on his
+part!"
+
+"That is quite true," said Frederick. "No doubt," he added, "it was the
+result of Arnoux's habits; he had acted thoughtlessly, but perhaps in
+matters of a graver character----"
+
+"What do you see, then, that can be graver?"
+
+"Oh, nothing!"
+
+Frederick bent his head with a smile of acquiescence. Nevertheless, he
+urged, Arnoux possessed certain good qualities; he was fond of his
+children.
+
+"Ay, and he does all he can to ruin them!"
+
+Frederick urged that this was due to an excessively easy-going
+disposition, for indeed he was a good fellow.
+
+She exclaimed:
+
+"But what is the meaning of that--a good fellow?"
+
+And he proceeded to defend Arnoux in the vaguest kind of language he
+could think of, and, while expressing his sympathy with her, he
+rejoiced, he was delighted, at the bottom of his heart. Through
+retaliation or need of affection she would fly to him for refuge. His
+love was intensified by the hope which had now grown immeasurably
+stronger in his breast.
+
+Never had she appeared to him so captivating, so perfectly beautiful.
+From time to time a deep breath made her bosom swell. Her two eyes,
+gazing fixedly into space, seemed dilated by a vision in the depths of
+her consciousness, and her lips were slightly parted, as if to let her
+soul escape through them. Sometimes she pressed her handkerchief over
+them tightly. He would have liked to be this dainty little piece of
+cambric moistened with her tears. In spite of himself, he cast a look at
+the bed at the end of the alcove, picturing to himself her head lying on
+the pillow, and so vividly did this present itself to his imagination
+that he had to restrain himself to keep from clasping her in his arms.
+She closed her eyelids, and now she appeared quiescent and languid. Then
+he drew closer to her, and, bending over her, he eagerly scanned her
+face. At that moment, he heard the noise of boots in the lobby
+outside--it was the other. They heard him shutting the door of his own
+room. Frederick made a sign to Madame Arnoux to ascertain from her
+whether he ought to go there.
+
+She replied "Yes," in the same voiceless fashion; and this mute exchange
+of thoughts between them was, as it were, an assent--the preliminary
+step in adultery.
+
+Arnoux was just taking off his coat to go to bed.
+
+"Well, how is she going on?"
+
+"Oh! better," said Frederick; "this will pass off."
+
+But Arnoux was in an anxious state of mind.
+
+"You don't know her; she has got hysterical now! Idiot of a clerk! This
+is what comes of being too good. If I had not given that cursed shawl to
+Rosanette!"
+
+"Don't regret having done so a bit. Nobody could be more grateful to you
+than she is."
+
+"Do you really think so?"
+
+Frederick had not a doubt of it. The best proof of it was her dismissal
+of Pere Oudry.
+
+"Ah! poor little thing!"
+
+And in the excess of his emotion, Arnoux wanted to rush off to her
+forthwith.
+
+"'Tisn't worth while. I am calling to see her. She is unwell."
+
+"All the more reason for my going."
+
+He quickly put on his coat again, and took up his candlestick. Frederick
+cursed his own stupidity, and pointed out to him that for decency's sake
+he ought to remain this night with his wife. He could not leave her; it
+would be very nasty.
+
+"I tell you candidly you would be doing wrong. There is no hurry over
+there. You will go to-morrow. Come; do this for my sake."
+
+Arnoux put down his candlestick, and, embracing him, said:
+
+"You are a right good fellow!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+The Friend of the Family.
+
+
+Then began for Frederick an existence of misery. He became the parasite
+of the house.
+
+If anyone were indisposed, he called three times a day to know how the
+patient was, went to the piano-tuner's, contrived to do a thousand acts
+of kindness; and he endured with an air of contentment Mademoiselle
+Marthe's poutings and the caresses of little Eugene, who was always
+drawing his dirty hands over the young man's face. He was present at
+dinners at which Monsieur and Madame, facing each other, did not
+exchange a word, unless it happened that Arnoux provoked his wife with
+the absurd remarks he made. When the meal was over, he would play about
+the room with his son, conceal himself behind the furniture, or carry
+the little boy on his back, walking about on all fours, like the
+Bearnais.[11] At last, he would go out, and she would at once plunge
+into the eternal subject of complaint--Arnoux.
+
+[Footnote 11: Henry IV.--Translator.]
+
+It was not his misconduct that excited her indignation, but her pride
+appeared to be wounded, and she did not hide her repugnance towards this
+man, who showed an absence of delicacy, dignity, and honour.
+
+"Or rather, he is mad!" she said.
+
+Frederick artfully appealed to her to confide in him. Ere long he knew
+all the details of her life. Her parents were people in a humble rank in
+life at Chartres. One day, Arnoux, while sketching on the bank of the
+river (at this period he believed himself to be a painter), saw her
+leaving the church, and made her an offer of marriage. On account of his
+wealth, he was unhesitatingly accepted. Besides, he was desperately in
+love with her. She added:
+
+"Good heavens! he loves me still, after his fashion!"
+
+They spent the few months immediately after their marriage in travelling
+through Italy.
+
+Arnoux, in spite of his enthusiasm at the sight of the scenery and the
+masterpieces, did nothing but groan over the wine, and, to find some
+kind of amusement, organised picnics along with some English people. The
+profit which he had made by reselling some pictures tempted him to take
+up the fine arts as a commercial speculation. Then, he became infatuated
+about pottery. Just now other branches of commerce attracted him; and,
+as he had become more and more vulgarised, he contracted coarse and
+extravagant habits. It was not so much for his vices she had to reproach
+him as for his entire conduct. No change could be expected in him, and
+her unhappiness was irreparable.
+
+Frederick declared that his own life in the same way was a failure.
+
+He was still a young man, however. Why should he despair? And she gave
+him good advice: "Work! and marry!" He answered her with bitter smiles;
+for in place of giving utterance to the real cause of his grief, he
+pretended that it was of a different character, a sublime feeling, and
+he assumed the part of an Antony to some extent, the man accursed by
+fate--language which did not, however, change very materially the
+complexion of his thoughts.
+
+For certain men action becomes more difficult as desire becomes
+stronger. They are embarrassed by self-distrust, and terrified by the
+fear of making themselves disliked. Besides, deep attachments resemble
+virtuous women: they are afraid of being discovered, and pass through
+life with downcast eyes.
+
+Though he was now better acquainted with Madame Arnoux (for that very
+reason perhaps), he was still more faint-hearted than before. Each
+morning he swore in his own mind that he would take a bold course. He
+was prevented from doing so by an unconquerable feeling of bashfulness;
+and he had no example to guide him, inasmuch as she was different from
+other women. From the force of his dreams, he had placed her outside the
+ordinary pale of humanity. At her side he felt himself of less
+importance in the world than the sprigs of silk that escaped from her
+scissors.
+
+Then he thought of some monstrous and absurd devices, such as surprises
+at night, with narcotics and false keys--anything appearing easier to
+him than to face her disdain.
+
+Besides, the children, the two servant-maids, and the relative position
+of the rooms caused insurmountable obstacles. So then he made up his
+mind to possess her himself alone, and to bring her to live with him
+far away in the depths of some solitude. He even asked himself what lake
+would be blue enough, what seashore would be delightful enough for her,
+whether it would be in Spain, Switzerland, or the East; and expressly
+fixing on days when she seemed more irritated than usual, he told her
+that it would be necessary for her to leave the house, to find out some
+ground to justify such a step, and that he saw no way out of it but a
+separation. However, for the sake of the children whom she loved, she
+would never resort to such an extreme course. So much virtue served to
+increase his respect for her.
+
+He spent each afternoon in recalling the visit he had paid the night
+before, and in longing for the evening to come in order that he might
+call again. When he did not dine with them, he posted himself about nine
+o'clock at the corner of the street, and, as soon as Arnoux had slammed
+the hall-door behind him, Frederick quickly ascended the two flights of
+stairs, and asked the servant-girl in an ingenuous fashion:
+
+"Is Monsieur in?"
+
+Then he would exhibit surprise at finding that Arnoux was gone out.
+
+The latter frequently came back unexpectedly. Then Frederick had to
+accompany him to the little cafe in the Rue Sainte-Anne, which Regimbart
+now frequented.
+
+The Citizen began by giving vent to some fresh grievance which he had
+against the Crown. Then they would chat, pouring out friendly abuse on
+one another, for the earthenware manufacturer took Regimbart for a
+thinker of a high order, and, vexed at seeing him neglecting so many
+chances of winning distinction, teased the Citizen about his laziness.
+It seemed to Regimbart that Arnoux was a man full of heart and
+imagination, but decidedly of lax morals, and therefore he was quite
+unceremonious towards a personage he respected so little, refusing even
+to dine at his house on the ground that "such formality was a bore."
+
+Sometimes, at the moment of parting, Arnoux would be seized with hunger.
+He found it necessary to order an omelet or some roasted apples; and, as
+there was never anything to eat in the establishment, he sent out for
+something. They waited. Regimbart did not leave, and ended by consenting
+in a grumbling fashion to have something himself. He was nevertheless
+gloomy, for he remained for hours seated before a half-filled glass. As
+Providence did not regulate things in harmony with his ideas, he was
+becoming a hypochondriac, no longer cared even to read the newspapers,
+and at the mere mention of England's name began to bellow with rage. On
+one occasion, referring to a waiter who attended on him carelessly, he
+exclaimed:
+
+"Have we not enough of insults from the foreigner?"
+
+Except at these critical periods he remained taciturn, contemplating "an
+infallible stroke of business that would burst up the whole shop."
+
+Whilst he was lost in these reflections, Arnoux in a monotonous voice
+and with a slight look of intoxication, related incredible anecdotes in
+which he always shone himself, owing to his assurance; and Frederick
+(this was, no doubt, due to some deep-rooted resemblances) felt more or
+less attracted towards him. He reproached himself for this weakness,
+believing that on the contrary he ought to hate this man.
+
+Arnoux, in Frederick's presence, complained of his wife's ill-temper,
+her obstinacy, her unjust accusations. She had not been like this in
+former days.
+
+"If I were you," said Frederick, "I would make her an allowance and live
+alone."
+
+Arnoux made no reply; and the next moment he began to sound her praises.
+She was good, devoted, intelligent, and virtuous; and, passing to her
+personal beauty, he made some revelations on the subject with the
+thoughtlessness of people who display their treasures at taverns.
+
+His equilibrium was disturbed by a catastrophe.
+
+He had been appointed one of the Board of Superintendence in a kaolin
+company. But placing reliance on everything that he was told, he had
+signed inaccurate reports and approved, without verification, of the
+annual inventories fraudulently prepared by the manager. The company had
+now failed, and Arnoux, being legally responsible, was, along with the
+others who were liable under the guaranty, condemned to pay damages,
+which meant a loss to him of thirty thousand francs, not to speak of the
+costs of the judgment.
+
+Frederick read the report of the case in a newspaper, and at once
+hurried off to the Rue de Paradis.
+
+He was ushered into Madame's apartment. It was breakfast-time. A round
+table close to the fire was covered with bowls of _cafe au lait_.
+Slippers trailed over the carpet, and clothes over the armchairs. Arnoux
+was attired in trousers and a knitted vest, with his eyes bloodshot and
+his hair in disorder. Little Eugene was crying at the pain caused by an
+attack of mumps, while nibbling at a slice of bread and butter. His
+sister was eating quietly. Madame Arnoux, a little paler than usual, was
+attending on all three of them.
+
+"Well," said Arnoux, heaving a deep sigh, "you know all about it?"
+
+And, as Frederick gave him a pitying look: "There, you see, I have been
+the victim of my own trustfulness!"
+
+Then he relapsed into silence, and so great was his prostration, that he
+pushed his breakfast away from him. Madame Arnoux raised her eyes with a
+shrug of the shoulders. He passed his hand across his forehead.
+
+"After all, I am not guilty. I have nothing to reproach myself with.
+'Tis a misfortune. It will be got over--ay, and so much the worse,
+faith!"
+
+He took a bite of a cake, however, in obedience to his wife's
+entreaties.
+
+That evening, he wished that she should go and dine with him alone in a
+private room at the Maison d'Or. Madame Arnoux did not at all understand
+this emotional impulse, taking offence, in fact, at being treated as if
+she were a light woman. Arnoux, on the contrary, meant it as a proof of
+affection. Then, as he was beginning to feel dull, he went to pay the
+Marechale a visit in order to amuse himself.
+
+Up to the present, he had been pardoned for many things owing to his
+reputation for good-fellowship. His lawsuit placed him amongst men of
+bad character. No one visited his house.
+
+Frederick, however, considered that he was bound in honour to go there
+more frequently than ever. He hired a box at the Italian opera, and
+brought them there with him every week. Meanwhile, the pair had reached
+that period in unsuitable unions when an invincible lassitude springs
+from concessions which people get into the habit of making, and which
+render existence intolerable. Madame Arnoux restrained her pent-up
+feelings from breaking out; Arnoux became gloomy; and Frederick grew sad
+at witnessing the unhappiness of these two ill-fated beings.
+
+She had imposed on him the obligation, since she had given him her
+confidence, of making enquiries as to the state of her husband's
+affairs. But shame prevented him from doing so. It was painful to him to
+reflect that he coveted the wife of this man, at whose dinner-table he
+constantly sat. Nevertheless, he continued his visits, excusing himself
+on the ground that he was bound to protect her, and that an occasion
+might present itself for being of service to her.
+
+Eight days after the ball, he had paid a visit to M. Dambreuse. The
+financier had offered him twenty shares in a coal-mining speculation;
+Frederick did not go back there again. Deslauriers had written letters
+to him, which he left unanswered. Pellerin had invited him to go and see
+the portrait; he always put it off. He gave way, however, to Cisy's
+persistent appeals to be introduced to Rosanette.
+
+She received him very nicely, but without springing on his neck as she
+used to do formerly. His comrade was delighted at being received by a
+woman of easy virtue, and above all at having a chat with an actor.
+Delmar was there when he called. A drama in which he appeared as a
+peasant lecturing Louis XIV. and prophesying the events of '89 had made
+him so conspicuous, that the same part was continually assigned to him;
+and now his function consisted of attacks on the monarchs of all
+nations. As an English brewer, he inveighed against Charles I.; as a
+student at Salamanca, he cursed Philip II.; or, as a sensitive father,
+he expressed indignation against the Pompadour--this was the most
+beautiful bit of acting! The brats of the street used to wait at the
+door leading to the side-scenes in order to see him; and his biography,
+sold between the acts, described him as taking care of his aged mother,
+reading the Bible, assisting the poor, in fact, under the aspect of a
+Saint Vincent de Paul together with a dash of Brutus and Mirabeau.
+People spoke of him as "Our Delmar." He had a mission; he became another
+Christ.
+
+All this had fascinated Rosanette; and she had got rid of Pere Oudry,
+without caring one jot about consequences, as she was not of a covetous
+disposition.
+
+Arnoux, who knew her, had taken advantage of the state of affairs for
+some time past to spend very little money on her. M. Roque had appeared
+on the scene, and all three of them carefully avoided anything like a
+candid explanation. Then, fancying that she had got rid of the other
+solely on his account, Arnoux increased her allowance, for she was
+living at a very expensive rate. She had even sold her cashmere in her
+anxiety to pay off her old debts, as she said; and he was continually
+giving her money, while she bewitched him and imposed upon him
+pitilessly. Therefore, bills and stamped paper rained all over the
+house. Frederick felt that a crisis was approaching.
+
+One day he called to see Madame Arnoux. She had gone out. Monsieur was
+at work below stairs in the shop. In fact, Arnoux, in the midst of his
+Japanese vases, was trying to take in a newly-married pair who happened
+to be well-to-do people from the provinces. He talked about
+wheel-moulding and fine-moulding, about spotted porcelain and glazed
+porcelain; the others, not wishing to appear utterly ignorant of the
+subject, listened with nods of approbation, and made purchases.
+
+When the customers had gone out, he told Frederick that he had that very
+morning been engaged in a little altercation with his wife. In order to
+obviate any remarks about expense, he had declared that the Marechale
+was no longer his mistress. "I even told her that she was yours."
+
+Frederick was annoyed at this; but to utter reproaches might only betray
+him. He faltered: "Ah! you were in the wrong--greatly in the wrong!"
+
+"What does that signify?" said Arnoux. "Where is the disgrace of passing
+for her lover? I am really so myself. Would you not be flattered at
+being in that position?"
+
+Had she spoken? Was this a hint? Frederick hastened to reply:
+
+"No! not at all! on the contrary!"
+
+"Well, what then?"
+
+"Yes, 'tis true; it makes no difference so far as that's concerned."
+
+Arnoux next asked: "And why don't you call there oftener?"
+
+Frederick promised that he would make it his business to go there again.
+
+"Ah! I forgot! you ought, when talking about Rosanette, to let out in
+some way to my wife that you are her lover. I can't suggest how you can
+best do it, but you'll find out that. I ask this of you as a special
+favour--eh?"
+
+The young man's only answer was an equivocal grimace. This calumny had
+undone him. He even called on her that evening, and swore that Arnoux's
+accusation was false.
+
+"Is that really so?"
+
+He appeared to be speaking sincerely, and, when she had taken a long
+breath of relief, she said to him:
+
+"I believe you," with a beautiful smile. Then she hung down her head,
+and, without looking at him:
+
+"Besides, nobody has any claim on you!"
+
+So then she had divined nothing; and she despised him, seeing that she
+did not think he could love her well enough to remain faithful to her!
+Frederick, forgetting his overtures while with the other, looked on the
+permission accorded to him as an insult to himself.
+
+After this she suggested that he ought now and then to pay Rosanette a
+visit, to get a little glimpse of what she was like.
+
+Arnoux presently made his appearance, and, five minutes later, wished to
+carry him off to Rosanette's abode.
+
+The situation was becoming intolerable.
+
+His attention was diverted by a letter from a notary, who was going to
+send him fifteen thousand francs the following day; and, in order to
+make up for his neglect of Deslauriers, he went forthwith to tell him
+this good news.
+
+The advocate was lodging in the Rue des Trois-Maries, on the fifth
+floor, over a courtyard. His study, a little tiled apartment, chilly,
+and with a grey paper on the walls, had as its principal decoration a
+gold medal, the prize awarded him on the occasion of taking out his
+degree as a Doctor of Laws, which was fixed in an ebony frame near the
+mirror. A mahogany bookcase enclosed under its glass front a hundred
+volumes, more or less. The writing-desk, covered with sheep-leather,
+occupied the centre of the apartment. Four old armchairs upholstered in
+green velvet were placed in the corners; and a heap of shavings made a
+blaze in the fireplace, where there was always a bundle of sticks ready
+to be lighted as soon as he rang the bell. It was his consultation-hour,
+and the advocate had on a white cravat.
+
+The announcement as to the fifteen thousand francs (he had, no doubt,
+given up all hope of getting the amount) made him chuckle with delight.
+
+"That's right, old fellow, that's right--that's quite right!"
+
+He threw some wood into the fire, sat down again, and immediately began
+talking about the journal. The first thing to do was to get rid of
+Hussonnet.
+
+"I'm quite tired of that idiot! As for officially professing opinions,
+my own notion is that the most equitable and forcible position is to
+have no opinions at all."
+
+Frederick appeared astonished.
+
+"Why, the thing is perfectly plain. It is time that politics should be
+dealt with scientifically. The old men of the eighteenth century began
+it when Rousseau and the men of letters introduced into the political
+sphere philanthropy, poetry, and other fudge, to the great delight of
+the Catholics--a natural alliance, however, since the modern reformers
+(I can prove it) all believe in Revelation. But, if you sing high masses
+for Poland, if, in place of the God of the Dominicans, who was an
+executioner, you take the God of the Romanticists, who is an
+upholsterer, if, in fact, you have not a wider conception of the
+Absolute than your ancestors, Monarchy will penetrate underneath your
+Republican forms, and your red cap will never be more than the headpiece
+of a priest. The only difference will be that the cell system will take
+the place of torture, the outrageous treatment of Religion that of
+sacrilege, and the European Concert that of the Holy Alliance; and in
+this beautiful order which we admire, composed of the wreckage of the
+followers of Louis XIV., the last remains of the Voltaireans, with some
+Imperial white-wash on top, and some fragments of the British
+Constitution, you will see the municipal councils trying to give
+annoyance to the Mayor, the general councils to their Prefect, the
+Chambers to the King, the Press to Power, and the Administration to
+everybody. But simple-minded people get enraptured about the Civil Code,
+a work fabricated--let them say what they like--in a mean and tyrannical
+spirit, for the legislator, in place of doing his duty to the State,
+which simply means to observe customs in a regular fashion, claims to
+model society like another Lycurgus. Why does the law impede fathers of
+families with regard to the making of wills? Why does it place shackles
+on the compulsory sale of real estate? Why does it punish as a
+misdemeanour vagrancy, which ought not even to be regarded as a
+technical contravention of the Code. And there are other things! I know
+all about them! and so I am going to write a little novel, entitled
+'The History of the Idea of Justice,' which will be amusing. But I am
+infernally thirsty! And you?"
+
+He leaned out through the window, and called to the porter to go and
+fetch them two glasses of grog from the public-house over the way.
+
+"To sum up, I see three parties--no! three groups--in none of which do I
+take the slightest interest: those who have, those who have nothing, and
+those who are trying to have. But all agree in their idiotic worship of
+Authority! For example, Mably recommends that the philosophers should be
+prevented from publishing their doctrines; M. Wronsky, the geometrician,
+describes the censorship as the 'critical expression of speculative
+spontaneity'; Pere Enfantin gives his blessing to the Hapsburgs for
+having passed a hand across the Alps in order to keep Italy down; Pierre
+Leroux wishes people to be compelled to listen to an orator; and Louis
+Blanc inclines towards a State religion--so much rage for government
+have these vassals whom we call the people! Nevertheless, there is not a
+single legitimate government, in spite of their sempiternal principles.
+But 'principle' signifies 'origin.' It is always necessary to go back to
+a revolution, to an act of violence, to a transitory fact. Thus, our
+principle is the national sovereignty embodied in the Parliamentary
+form, though the Parliament does not assent to this! But in what way
+could the sovereignty of the people be more sacred than the Divine
+Right? They are both fictions. Enough of metaphysics; no more phantoms!
+There is no need of dogmas in order to get the streets swept! It will be
+said that I am turning society upside down. Well, after all, where would
+be the harm of that? It is, indeed, a nice thing--this society of
+yours."
+
+Frederick could have given many answers. But, seeing that his theories
+were far less advanced than those of Senecal, he was full of indulgence
+towards Deslauriers. He contented himself with arguing that such a
+system would make them generally hated.
+
+"On the contrary, as we should have given to each party a pledge of
+hatred against his neighbour, all will reckon on us. You are about to
+enter into it yourself, and to furnish us with some transcendent
+criticism!"
+
+It was necessary to attack accepted ideas--the Academy, the Normal
+School, the Conservatoire, the Comedie Francaise, everything that
+resembled an institution. It was in that way that they would give
+uniformity to the doctrines taught in their review. Then, as soon as it
+had been thoroughly well-established, the journal would suddenly be
+converted into a daily publication. Thereupon they could find fault with
+individuals.
+
+"And they will respect us, you may be sure!"
+
+Deslauriers touched upon that old dream of his--the position of
+editor-in-chief, so that he might have the unutterable happiness of
+directing others, of entirely cutting down their articles, of ordering
+them to be written or declining them. His eyes twinkled under his
+goggles; he got into a state of excitement, and drank a few glasses of
+brandy, one after the other, in an automatic fashion.
+
+"You'll have to stand me a dinner once a week. That's indispensable,
+even though you should have to squander half your income on it. People
+would feel pleasure in going to it; it would be a centre for the
+others, a lever for yourself; and by manipulating public opinion at its
+two ends--literature and politics--you will see how, before six months
+have passed, we shall occupy the first rank in Paris."
+
+Frederick, as he listened to Deslauriers, experienced a sensation of
+rejuvenescence, like a man who, after having been confined in a room for
+a long time, is suddenly transported into the open air. The enthusiasm
+of his friend had a contagious effect upon him.
+
+"Yes, I have been an idler, an imbecile--you are right!"
+
+"All in good time," said Deslauriers. "I have found my Frederick again!"
+
+And, holding up his jaw with closed fingers:
+
+"Ah! you have made me suffer! Never mind, I am fond of you all the
+same."
+
+They stood there gazing into each other's faces, both deeply affected,
+and were on the point of embracing each other.
+
+A woman's cap appeared on the threshold of the anteroom.
+
+"What brings you here?" said Deslauriers.
+
+It was Mademoiselle Clemence, his mistress.
+
+She replied that, as she happened to be passing, she could not resist
+the desire to go in to see him, and in order that they might have a
+little repast together, she had brought some cakes, which she laid on
+the table.
+
+"Take care of my papers!" said the advocate, sharply. "Besides,
+this is the third time that I have forbidden you to come at my
+consultation-hours."
+
+She wished to embrace him.
+
+"All right! Go away! Cut your stick!"
+
+He repelled her; she heaved a great sigh.
+
+"Ah! you are plaguing me again!"
+
+"'Tis because I love you!"
+
+"I don't ask you to love me, but to oblige me!"
+
+This harsh remark stopped Clemence's tears. She took up her station
+before the window, and remained there motionless, with her forehead
+against the pane.
+
+Her attitude and her silence had an irritating effect on Deslauriers.
+
+"When you have finished, you will order your carriage, will you not?"
+
+She turned round with a start.
+
+"You are sending me away?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+She fixed on him her large blue eyes, no doubt as a last appeal, then
+drew the two ends of her tartan across each other, lingered for a minute
+or two, and went away.
+
+"You ought to call her back," said Frederick.
+
+"Come, now!"
+
+And, as he wished to go out, Deslauriers went into the kitchen, which
+also served as his dressing-room. On the stone floor, beside a pair of
+boots, were to be seen the remains of a meagre breakfast, and a mattress
+with a coverlid was rolled up on the floor in a corner.
+
+"This will show you," said he, "that I receive few marchionesses. 'Tis
+easy to get enough of them, ay, faith! and some others, too! Those who
+cost nothing take up your time--'tis money under another form. Now, I'm
+not rich! And then they are all so silly, so silly! Can you chat with a
+woman yourself?"
+
+As they parted, at the corner of the Pont Neuf, Deslauriers said: "It's
+agreed, then; you'll bring the thing to me to-morrow as soon as you have
+it!"
+
+"Agreed!" said Frederick.
+
+When he awoke next morning, he received through the post a cheque on the
+bank for fifteen thousand francs.
+
+This scrap of paper represented to him fifteen big bags of money; and he
+said to himself that, with such a sum he could, first of all, keep his
+carriage for three years instead of selling it, as he would soon be
+forced to do, or buy for himself two beautiful damaskeened pieces of
+armour, which he had seen on the Quai Voltaire, then a quantity of other
+things, pictures, books and what a quantity of bouquets of flowers,
+presents for Madame Arnoux! anything, in short, would have been
+preferable to risking losing everything in that journal! Deslauriers
+seemed to him presumptuous, his insensibility on the night before having
+chilled Frederick's affection for him; and the young man was indulging
+in these feelings of regret, when he was quite surprised by the sudden
+appearance of Arnoux, who sat down heavily on the side of the bed, like
+a man overwhelmed with trouble.
+
+"What is the matter now?"
+
+"I am ruined!"
+
+He had to deposit that very day at the office of Maitre Beaumont,
+notary, in the Rue Saint-Anne, eighteen thousand francs lent him by one
+Vanneroy.
+
+"'Tis an unaccountable disaster. I have, however, given him a mortgage,
+which ought to keep him quiet. But he threatens me with a writ if it is
+not paid this afternoon promptly."
+
+"And what next?"
+
+"Oh! the next step is simple enough; he will take possession of my real
+estate. Once the thing is publicly announced, it means ruin to
+me--that's all! Ah! if I could find anyone to advance me this cursed
+sum, he might take Vanneroy's place, and I should be saved! You don't
+chance to have it yourself?"
+
+The cheque had remained on the night-table near a book. Frederick took
+up a volume, and placed it on the cheque, while he replied:
+
+"Good heavens, my dear friend, no!"
+
+But it was painful to him to say "no" to Arnoux.
+
+"What, don't you know anyone who would----?"
+
+"Nobody! and to think that in eight days I should be getting in money!
+There is owing to me probably fifty thousand francs at the end of the
+month!"
+
+"Couldn't you ask some of the persons that owe you money to make you an
+advance?"
+
+"Ah! well, so I did!"
+
+"But have you any bills or promissory notes?"
+
+"Not one!"
+
+"What is to be done?" said Frederick.
+
+"That's what I'm asking myself," said Arnoux. "'Tisn't for myself, my
+God! but for my children and my poor wife!"
+
+Then, letting each phrase fall from his lips in a broken fashion:
+
+"In fact--I could rough it--I could pack off all I have--and go and seek
+my fortune--I don't know where!"
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed Frederick.
+
+Arnoux replied with an air of calmness:
+
+"How do you think I could live in Paris now?"
+
+There was a long silence. Frederick broke it by saying:
+
+"When could you pay back this money?"
+
+Not that he had it; quite the contrary! But there was nothing to prevent
+him from seeing some friends, and making an application to them.
+
+And he rang for his servant to get himself dressed.
+
+Arnoux thanked him.
+
+"The amount you want is eighteen thousand francs--isn't it?"
+
+"Oh! I could manage easily with sixteen thousand! For I could make two
+thousand five hundred out of it, or get three thousand on my silver
+plate, if Vanneroy meanwhile would give me till to-morrow; and, I repeat
+to you, you may inform the lender, give him a solemn undertaking, that
+in eight days, perhaps even in five or six, the money will be
+reimbursed. Besides, the mortgage will be security for it. So there is
+no risk, you understand?"
+
+Frederick assured him that he thoroughly understood the state of
+affairs, and added that he was going out immediately.
+
+He would be sure on his return to bestow hearty maledictions on
+Deslauriers, for he wished to keep his word, and in the meantime, to
+oblige Arnoux.
+
+"Suppose I applied to M. Dambreuse? But on what pretext could I ask for
+money? 'Tis I, on the contrary, that should give him some for the shares
+I took in his coal-mining company. Ah! let him go hang himself--his
+shares! I am really not liable for them!"
+
+And Frederick applauded himself for his own independence, as if he had
+refused to do some service for M. Dambreuse.
+
+"Ah, well," said he to himself afterwards, "since I'm going to meet with
+a loss in this way--for with fifteen thousand francs I might gain a
+hundred thousand! such things sometimes happen on the Bourse--well,
+then, since I am breaking my promise to one of them, am I not free?
+Besides, when Deslauriers might wait? No, no; that's wrong; let us go
+there."
+
+He looked at his watch.
+
+"Ah! there's no hurry. The bank does not close till five o'clock."
+
+And, at half-past four, when he had cashed the cheque:
+
+"'Tis useless now; I should not find him in. I'll go this evening." Thus
+giving himself the opportunity of changing his mind, for there always
+remain in the conscience some of those sophistries which we pour into it
+ourselves. It preserves the after-taste of them, like some unwholesome
+liquor.
+
+He walked along the boulevards, and dined alone at the restaurant. Then
+he listened to one act of a play at the Vaudeville, in order to divert
+his thoughts. But his bank-notes caused him as much embarrassment as if
+he had stolen them. He would not have been very sorry if he had lost
+them.
+
+When he reached home again he found a letter containing these words:
+
+"What news? My wife joins me, dear friend, in the hope, etc.--Yours."
+
+And then there was a flourish after his signature.
+
+"His wife! She appeals to me!"
+
+At the same moment Arnoux appeared, to have an answer as to whether he
+had been able to obtain the sum so sorely needed.
+
+"Wait a moment; here it is," said Frederick.
+
+And, twenty-four hours later, he gave this reply to Deslauriers:
+
+"I have no money."
+
+The advocate came back three days, one after the other, and urged
+Frederick to write to the notary. He even offered to take a trip to
+Havre in connection with the matter.
+
+At the end of the week, Frederick timidly asked the worthy Arnoux for
+his fifteen thousand francs. Arnoux put it off till the following day,
+and then till the day after. Frederick ventured out late at night,
+fearing lest Deslauriers might come on him by surprise.
+
+One evening, somebody knocked against him at the corner of the
+Madeleine. It was he.
+
+And Deslauriers accompanied Frederick as far as the door of a house in
+the Faubourg Poissonniere.
+
+"Wait for me!"
+
+He waited. At last, after three quarters of an hour, Frederick came out,
+accompanied by Arnoux, and made signs to him to have patience a little
+longer. The earthenware merchant and his companion went up the Rue de
+Hauteville arm-in-arm, and then turned down the Rue de Chabrol.
+
+The night was dark, with gusts of tepid wind. Arnoux walked on slowly,
+talking about the Galleries of Commerce--a succession of covered
+passages which would have led from the Boulevard Saint-Denis to the
+Chatelet, a marvellous speculation, into which he was very anxious to
+enter; and he stopped from time to time in order to have a look at the
+grisettes' faces in front of the shop-windows, and then, raising his
+head again, resumed the thread of his discourse.
+
+Frederick heard Deslauriers' steps behind him like reproaches, like
+blows falling on his conscience. But he did not venture to claim his
+money, through a feeling of bashfulness, and also through a fear that
+it would be fruitless. The other was drawing nearer. He made up his mind
+to ask.
+
+Arnoux, in a very flippant tone, said that, as he had not got in his
+outstanding debts, he was really unable to pay back the fifteen thousand
+francs.
+
+"You have no need of money, I fancy?"
+
+At that moment Deslauriers came up to Frederick, and, taking him aside:
+
+"Be honest. Have you got the amount? Yes or no?"
+
+"Well, then, no," said Frederick; "I've lost it."
+
+"Ah! and in what way?"
+
+"At play."
+
+Deslauriers, without saying a single word in reply, made a very low bow,
+and went away. Arnoux had taken advantage of the opportunity to light a
+cigar in a tobacconist's shop. When he came back, he wanted to know from
+Frederick "who was that young man?"
+
+"Oh! nobody--a friend."
+
+Then, three minutes later, in front of Rosanette's door:
+
+"Come on up," said Arnoux; "she'll be glad to see you. What a savage you
+are just now!"
+
+A gas-lamp, which was directly opposite, threw its light on him; and,
+with his cigar between his white teeth and his air of contentment, there
+was something intolerable about him.
+
+"Ha! now that I think of it, my notary has been at your place this
+morning about that mortgage-registry business. 'Tis my wife reminded me
+about it."
+
+"A wife with brains!" returned Frederick automatically.
+
+"I believe you."
+
+And once more Arnoux began to sing his wife's praises. There was no one
+like her for spirit, tenderness, and thrift; he added in a low tone,
+rolling his eyes about: "And a woman with so many charms, too!"
+
+"Good-bye!" said Frederick.
+
+Arnoux made a step closer to him.
+
+"Hold on! Why are you going?" And, with his hand half-stretched out
+towards Frederick, he stared at the young man, quite abashed by the look
+of anger in his face.
+
+Frederick repeated in a dry tone, "Good-bye!"
+
+He hurried down the Rue de Breda like a stone rolling headlong, raging
+against Arnoux, swearing in his own mind that he would never see the man
+again, nor her either, so broken-hearted and desolate did he feel. In
+place of the rupture which he had anticipated, here was the other, on
+the contrary, exhibiting towards her a most perfect attachment from the
+ends of her hair to the inmost depths of her soul. Frederick was
+exasperated by the vulgarity of this man. Everything, then, belonged to
+him! He would meet Arnoux again at his mistress's door; and the
+mortification of a rupture would be added to rage at his own
+powerlessness. Besides, he felt humiliated by the other's display of
+integrity in offering him guaranties for his money. He would have liked
+to strangle him, and over the pangs of disappointment floated in his
+conscience, like a fog, the sense of his baseness towards his friend.
+Rising tears nearly suffocated him.
+
+Deslauriers descended the Rue des Martyrs, swearing aloud with
+indignation; for his project, like an obelisk that has fallen, now
+assumed extraordinary proportions. He considered himself robbed, as if
+he had suffered a great loss. His friendship for Frederick was dead, and
+he experienced a feeling of joy at it--it was a sort of compensation to
+him! A hatred of all rich people took possession of him. He leaned
+towards Senecal's opinions, and resolved to make every effort to
+propagate them.
+
+All this time, Arnoux was comfortably seated in an easy-chair near the
+fire, sipping his cup of tea, with the Marechale on his knees.
+
+Frederick did not go back there; and, in order to distract his attention
+from his disastrous passion, he determined to write a "History of the
+Renaissance." He piled up confusedly on his table the humanists, the
+philosophers, and the poets, and he went to inspect some engravings of
+Mark Antony, and tried to understand Machiavelli. Gradually, the
+serenity of intellectual work had a soothing effect upon him. While his
+mind was steeped in the personality of others, he lost sight of his
+own--which is the only way, perhaps, of getting rid of suffering.
+
+One day, while he was quietly taking notes, the door opened, and the
+man-servant announced Madame Arnoux.
+
+It was she, indeed! and alone? Why, no! for she was holding little
+Eugene by the hand, followed by a nurse in a white apron. She sat down,
+and after a preliminary cough:
+
+"It is a long time since you came to see us."
+
+As Frederick could think of no excuse at the moment, she added:
+
+"It was delicacy on your part!"
+
+He asked in return:
+
+"Delicacy about what?"
+
+"About what you have done for Arnoux!" said she.
+
+Frederick made a significant gesture. "What do I care about him, indeed?
+It was for your sake I did it!"
+
+She sent off the child to play with his nurse in the drawing-room. Two
+or three words passed between them as to their state of health; then the
+conversation hung fire.
+
+She wore a brown silk gown, which had the colour of Spanish wine, with a
+paletot of black velvet bordered with sable. This fur made him yearn to
+pass his hand over it; and her head-bands, so long and so exquisitely
+smooth, seemed to draw his lips towards them. But he was agitated by
+emotion, and, turning his eyes towards the door:
+
+"'Tis rather warm here!"
+
+Frederick understood what her discreet glance meant.
+
+"Ah! excuse me! the two leaves of the door are merely drawn together."
+
+"Yes, that's true!"
+
+And she smiled, as much as to say:
+
+"I'm not a bit afraid!"
+
+He asked her presently what was the object of her visit.
+
+"My husband," she replied with an effort, "has urged me to call on you,
+not venturing to take this step himself!"
+
+"And why?"
+
+"You know M. Dambreuse, don't you?"
+
+"Yes, slightly."
+
+"Ah! slightly."
+
+She relapsed into silence.
+
+"No matter! finish what you were going to say."
+
+Thereupon she told him that, two days before, Arnoux had found himself
+unable to meet four bills of a thousand francs, made payable at the
+banker's order and with his signature attached to them. She felt sorry
+for having compromised her children's fortune. But anything was
+preferable to dishonour; and, if M. Dambreuse stopped the proceedings,
+they would certainly pay him soon, for she was going to sell a little
+house which she had at Chartres.
+
+"Poor woman!" murmured Frederick. "I will go. Rely on me!"
+
+"Thanks!"
+
+And she arose to go.
+
+"Oh! there is nothing to hurry you yet."
+
+She remained standing, examining the trophy of Mongolian arrows
+suspended from the ceiling, the bookcase, the bindings, all the utensils
+for writing. She lifted up the bronze bowl which held his pens. Her feet
+rested on different portions of the carpet. She had visited Frederick
+several times before, but always accompanied by Arnoux. They were now
+alone together--alone in his own house. It was an extraordinary
+event--almost a successful issue of his love.
+
+She wished to see his little garden. He offered her his arm to show her
+his property--thirty feet of ground enclosed by some houses, adorned
+with shrubs at the corners and flower-borders in the middle. The early
+days of April had arrived. The leaves of the lilacs were already showing
+their borders of green. A breath of pure air was diffused around, and
+the little birds chirped, their song alternating with the distant sound
+that came from a coachmaker's forge.
+
+Frederick went to look for a fire-shovel; and, while they walked on side
+by side, the child kept making sand-pies in the walk.
+
+Madame Arnoux did not believe that, as he grew older, he would have a
+great imagination; but he had a winning disposition. His sister, on the
+other hand, possessed a caustic humour that sometimes wounded her.
+
+"That will change," said Frederick. "We must never despair."
+
+She returned:
+
+"We must never despair!"
+
+This automatic repetition of the phrase he had used appeared to him a
+sort of encouragement; he plucked a rose, the only one in the garden.
+
+"Do you remember a certain bouquet of roses one evening, in a carriage?"
+
+She coloured a little; and, with an air of bantering pity:
+
+"Ah, I was very young then!"
+
+"And this one," went on Frederick, in a low tone, "will it be the same
+way with it?"
+
+She replied, while turning about the stem between her fingers, like the
+thread of a spindle:
+
+"No, I will preserve it."
+
+She called over the nurse, who took the child in her arms; then, on the
+threshold of the door in the street, Madame Arnoux inhaled the odour of
+the flower, leaning her head on her shoulder with a look as sweet as a
+kiss.
+
+When he had gone up to his study, he gazed at the armchair in which she
+had sat, and every object which she had touched. Some portion of her was
+diffused around him. The caress of her presence lingered there still.
+
+"So, then, she came here," said he to himself.
+
+And his soul was bathed in the waves of infinite tenderness.
+
+Next morning, at eleven o'clock, he presented himself at M. Dambreuse's
+house. He was received in the dining-room. The banker was seated
+opposite his wife at breakfast. Beside her sat his niece, and at the
+other side of the table appeared the governess, an English woman,
+strongly pitted with small-pox.
+
+M. Dambreuse invited his young friend to take his place among them, and
+when he declined:
+
+"What can I do for you? I am listening to whatever you have to say to
+me."
+
+Frederick confessed, while affecting indifference, that he had come to
+make a request in behalf of one Arnoux.
+
+"Ha! ha! the ex-picture-dealer," said the banker, with a noiseless laugh
+which exposed his gums. "Oudry formerly gave security for him; he has
+given a lot of trouble."
+
+And he proceeded to read the letters and newspapers which lay close
+beside him on the table.
+
+Two servants attended without making the least noise on the floor; and
+the loftiness of the apartment, which had three portieres of richest
+tapestry, and two white marble fountains, the polish of the
+chafing-dish, the arrangement of the side-dishes, and even the rigid
+folds of the napkins, all this sumptuous comfort impressed Frederick's
+mind with the contrast between it and another breakfast at the Arnouxs'
+house. He did not take the liberty of interrupting M. Dambreuse.
+
+Madame noticed his embarrassment.
+
+"Do you occasionally see our friend Martinon?"
+
+"He will be here this evening," said the young girl in a lively tone.
+
+"Ha! so you know him?" said her aunt, fixing on her a freezing look.
+
+At that moment one of the men-servants, bending forward, whispered in
+her ear.
+
+"Your dressmaker, Mademoiselle--Miss John!"
+
+And the governess, in obedience to this summons, left the room along
+with her pupil.
+
+M. Dambreuse, annoyed at the disarrangement of the chairs by this
+movement, asked what was the matter.
+
+"'Tis Madame Regimbart."
+
+"Wait a moment! Regimbart! I know that name. I have come across his
+signature."
+
+Frederick at length broached the question. Arnoux deserved some
+consideration; he was even going, for the sole purpose of fulfilling his
+engagements, to sell a house belonging to his wife.
+
+"She is considered very pretty," said Madame Dambreuse.
+
+The banker added, with a display of good-nature:
+
+"Are you on friendly terms with them--on intimate terms?"
+
+Frederick, without giving an explicit reply, said that he would be very
+much obliged to him if he considered the matter.
+
+"Well, since it pleases you, be it so; we will wait. I have some time to
+spare yet; suppose we go down to my office. Would you mind?"
+
+They had finished breakfast. Madame Dambreuse bowed slightly towards
+Frederick, smiling in a singular fashion, with a mixture of politeness
+and irony. Frederick had no time to reflect about it, for M. Dambreuse,
+as soon as they were alone:
+
+"You did not come to get your shares?"
+
+And, without permitting him to make any excuses:
+
+"Well! well! 'tis right that you should know a little more about the
+business."
+
+He offered Frederick a cigarette, and began his statement.
+
+The General Union of French Coal Mines had been constituted. All that
+they were waiting for was the order for its incorporation. The mere fact
+of the amalgamation had diminished the cost of superintendence, and of
+manual labour, and increased the profits. Besides, the company had
+conceived a new idea, which was to interest the workmen in its
+undertaking. It would erect houses for them, healthful dwellings;
+finally, it would constitute itself the purveyor of its _employes_, and
+would have everything supplied to them at net prices.
+
+"And they will be the gainers by it, Monsieur: there's true progress!
+that's the way to reply effectively to certain Republican brawlings. We
+have on our Board"--he showed the prospectus--"a peer of France, a
+scholar who is a member of the Institute, a retired field-officer of
+genius. Such elements reassure the timid capitalists, and appeal to
+intelligent capitalists!"
+
+The company would have in its favour the sanction of the State, then the
+railways, the steam service, the metallurgical establishments, the gas
+companies, and ordinary households.
+
+"Thus we heat, we light, we penetrate to the very hearth of the humblest
+home. But how, you will say to me, can we be sure of selling? By the aid
+of protective laws, dear Monsieur, and we shall get them!--that is a
+matter that concerns us! For my part, however, I am a downright
+prohibitionist! The country before anything!"
+
+He had been appointed a director; but he had no time to occupy himself
+with certain details, amongst other things with the editing of their
+publications.
+
+"I find myself rather muddled with my authors. I have forgotten my
+Greek. I should want some one who could put my ideas into shape."
+
+And suddenly: "Will you be the man to perform those duties, with the
+title of general secretary?"
+
+Frederick did not know what reply to make.
+
+"Well, what is there to prevent you?"
+
+His functions would be confined to writing a report every year for the
+shareholders. He would find himself day after day in communication with
+the most notable men in Paris. Representing the company with the
+workmen, he would ere long be worshipped by them as a natural
+consequence, and by this means he would be able, later, to push him into
+the General Council, and into the position of a deputy.
+
+Frederick's ears tingled. Whence came this goodwill? He got confused in
+returning thanks. But it was not necessary, the banker said, that he
+should be dependent on anyone. The best course was to take some shares,
+"a splendid investment besides, for your capital guarantees your
+position, as your position does your capital."
+
+"About how much should it amount to?" said Frederick.
+
+"Oh, well! whatever you please--from forty to sixty thousand francs, I
+suppose."
+
+This sum was so trifling in M. Dambreuse's eyes, and his authority was
+so great, that the young man resolved immediately to sell a farm.
+
+He accepted the offer. M. Dambreuse was to select one of his disengaged
+days for an appointment in order to finish their arrangements.
+
+"So I can say to Jacques Arnoux----?"
+
+"Anything you like--the poor chap--anything you like!"
+
+Frederick wrote to the Arnouxs' to make their minds easy, and he
+despatched the letter by a man-servant, who brought back the letter:
+"All right!" His action in the matter deserved better recognition. He
+expected a visit, or, at least, a letter. He did not receive a visit,
+and no letter arrived.
+
+Was it forgetfulness on their part, or was it intentional? Since Madame
+Arnoux had come once, what was to prevent her from coming again? The
+species of confidence, of avowal, of which she had made him the
+recipient on the occasion, was nothing better, then, than a manoeuvre
+which she had executed through interested motives.
+
+"Are they playing on me? and is she an accomplice of her husband?" A
+sort of shame, in spite of his desire, prevented him from returning to
+their house.
+
+One morning (three weeks after their interview), M. Dambreuse wrote to
+him, saying that he expected him the same day in an hour's time.
+
+On the way, the thought of Arnoux oppressed him once more, and, not
+having been able to discover any reason for his conduct, he was seized
+with a feeling of wretchedness, a melancholy presentiment. In order to
+shake it off, he hailed a cab, and drove to the Rue de Paradis.
+
+Arnoux was away travelling.
+
+"And Madame?"
+
+"In the country, at the works."
+
+"When is Monsieur coming back?"
+
+"To-morrow, without fail."
+
+He would find her alone; this was the opportune moment. Something
+imperious seemed to cry out in the depths of his consciousness: "Go,
+then, and meet her!"
+
+But M. Dambreuse? "Ah! well, so much the worse. I'll say that I was
+ill."
+
+He rushed to the railway-station, and, as soon as he was in the
+carriage:
+
+"Perhaps I have done wrong. Pshaw! what does it matter?"
+
+Green plains stretched out to the right and to the left. The train
+rolled on. The little station-houses glistened like stage-scenery, and
+the smoke of the locomotive kept constantly sending forth on the same
+side its big fleecy masses, which danced for a little while on the
+grass, and were then dispersed.
+
+Frederick, who sat alone in his compartment, gazed at these objects
+through sheer weariness, lost in that languor which is produced by the
+very excess of impatience. But cranes and warehouses presently appeared.
+They had reached Creil.
+
+The town, built on the slopes of two low-lying hills (the first of which
+was bare, and the second crowned by a wood), with its church-tower, its
+houses of unequal size, and its stone bridge, seemed to him to present
+an aspect of mingled gaiety, reserve, and propriety. A long flat barge
+descended to the edge of the water, which leaped up under the lash of
+the wind.
+
+Fowl perched on the straw at the foot of the crucifix erected on the
+spot; a woman passed with some wet linen on her head.
+
+After crossing the bridge, he found himself in an isle, where he beheld
+on his right the ruins of an abbey. A mill with its wheels revolving
+barred up the entire width of the second arm of the Oise, over which the
+manufactory projected. Frederick was greatly surprised by the imposing
+character of this structure. He felt more respect for Arnoux on account
+of it. Three paces further on, he turned up an alley, which had a
+grating at its lower end.
+
+He went in. The door-keeper called him back, exclaiming:
+
+"Have you a permit?"
+
+"For what purpose?"
+
+"For the purpose of visiting the establishment."
+
+Frederick said in a rather curt tone that he had come to see M. Arnoux.
+
+"Who is M. Arnoux?"
+
+"Why, the chief, the master, the proprietor, in fact!"
+
+"No, monsieur! These are MM. Leboeuf and Milliet's works!"
+
+The good woman was surely joking! Some workmen arrived; he came up and
+spoke to two or three of them. They gave the same response.
+
+Frederick left the premises, staggering like a drunken man; and he had
+such a look of perplexity, that on the Pont de la Boucherie an
+inhabitant of the town, who was smoking his pipe, asked whether he
+wanted to find out anything. This man knew where Arnoux's manufactory
+was. It was situated at Montataire.
+
+Frederick asked whether a vehicle was to be got. He was told that the
+only place where he could find one was at the station. He went back
+there. A shaky-looking calash, to which was yoked an old horse, with
+torn harness hanging over the shafts, stood all alone in front of the
+luggage office. An urchin who was looking on offered to go and find Pere
+Pilon. In ten minutes' time he came back, and announced that Pere Pilon
+was at his breakfast. Frederick, unable to stand this any longer, walked
+away. But the gates of the thoroughfare across the line were closed. He
+would have to wait till two trains had passed. At last, he made a dash
+into the open country.
+
+The monotonous greenery made it look like the cover of an immense
+billiard-table. The scoriae of iron were ranged on both sides of the
+track, like heaps of stones. A little further on, some factory chimneys
+were smoking close beside each other. In front of him, on a round
+hillock, stood a little turreted chateau, with the quadrangular belfry
+of a church. At a lower level, long walls formed irregular lines past
+the trees; and, further down again, the houses of the village spread
+out.
+
+They had only a single story, with staircases consisting of three steps
+made of uncemented blocks. Every now and then the bell in front of a
+grocery-shop could be heard tinkling. Heavy steps sank into the black
+mire, and a light shower was falling, which cut the pale sky with a
+thousand hatchings.
+
+Frederick pursued his way along the middle of the street. Then, he saw
+on his left, at the opening of a pathway, a large wooden arch, whereon
+was traced, in letters of gold, the word "Faiences."
+
+It was not without an object that Jacques Arnoux had selected the
+vicinity of Creil. By placing his works as close as possible to the
+other works (which had long enjoyed a high reputation), he had created a
+certain confusion in the public mind, with a favourable result so far as
+his own interests were concerned.
+
+The main body of the building rested on the same bank of a river which
+flows through the meadowlands. The master's house, surrounded by a
+garden, could be distinguished by the steps in front of it, adorned with
+four vases, in which cactuses were bristling.
+
+Heaps of white clay were drying under sheds. There were others in the
+open air; and in the midst of the yard stood Senecal with his
+everlasting blue paletot lined with red.
+
+The ex-tutor extended towards Frederick his cold hand.
+
+"You've come to see the master? He's not there."
+
+Frederick, nonplussed, replied in a stupefied fashion:
+
+"I knew it." But the next moment, correcting himself:
+
+"'Tis about a matter that concerns Madame Arnoux. Can she receive me?"
+
+"Ha! I have not seen her for the last three days," said Senecal.
+
+And he broke into a long string of complaints. When he accepted the post
+of manager, he understood that he would have been allowed to reside in
+Paris, and not be forced to bury himself in this country district, far
+from his friends, deprived of newspapers. No matter! he had overlooked
+all that. But Arnoux appeared to pay no heed to his merits. He was,
+moreover, shallow and retrograde--no one could be more ignorant. In
+place of seeking for artistic improvements, it would have been better to
+introduce firewood instead of coal and gas. The shop-keeping spirit
+_thrust itself in_--Senecal laid stress on the last words. In short, he
+disliked his present occupation, and he all but appealed to Frederick to
+say a word in his behalf in order that he might get an increase of
+salary.
+
+"Make your mind easy," said the other.
+
+He met nobody on the staircase. On the first floor, he pushed his way
+head-foremost into an empty room. It was the drawing-room. He called out
+at the top of his voice. There was no reply. No doubt, the cook had gone
+out, and so had the housemaid. At length, having reached the second
+floor, he pushed a door open. Madame Arnoux was alone in this room, in
+front of a press with a mirror attached. The belt of her dressing-gown
+hung down her hips; one entire half of her hair fell in a dark wave over
+her right shoulder; and she had raised both arms in order to hold up her
+chignon with one hand and to put a pin through it with the other. She
+broke into an exclamation and disappeared.
+
+Then, she came back again properly dressed. Her waist, her eyes, the
+rustle of her dress, her entire appearance, charmed him. Frederick felt
+it hard to keep from covering her with kisses.
+
+"I beg your pardon," said she, "but I could not----"
+
+He had the boldness to interrupt her with these words:
+
+"Nevertheless--you looked very nice--just now."
+
+She probably thought this compliment a little coarse, for her cheeks
+reddened. He was afraid that he might have offended her. She went on:
+
+"What lucky chance has brought you here?"
+
+He did not know what reply to make; and, after a slight chuckle, which
+gave him time for reflection:
+
+"If I told you, would you believe me?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+Frederick informed her that he had had a frightful dream a few nights
+before.
+
+"I dreamt that you were seriously ill--near dying."
+
+"Oh! my husband and I are never ill."
+
+"I have dreamt only of you," said he.
+
+She gazed at him calmly: "Dreams are not always realised."
+
+Frederick stammered, sought to find appropriate words to express himself
+in, and then plunged into a flowing period about the affinity of souls.
+There existed a force which could, through the intervening bounds of
+space, bring two persons into communication with each other, make known
+to each the other's feelings, and enable them to reunite.
+
+She listened to him with downcast face, while she smiled with that
+beautiful smile of hers. He watched her out of the corner of his eye
+with delight, and poured out his love all the more freely through the
+easy channel of a commonplace remark.
+
+She offered to show him the works; and, as she persisted, he made no
+objection.
+
+In order to divert his attention with something of an amusing nature,
+she showed him the species of museum that decorated the staircase. The
+specimens, hung up against the wall or laid on shelves, bore witness to
+the efforts and the successive fads of Arnoux. After seeking vainly for
+the red of Chinese copper, he had wished to manufacture majolicas,
+faience, Etruscan and Oriental ware, and had, in fact, attempted all the
+improvements which were realised at a later period.
+
+So it was that one could observe in the series big vases covered with
+figures of mandarins, porringers of shot reddish-brown, pots adorned
+with Arabian inscriptions, drinking-vessels in the style of the
+Renaissance, and large plates on which two personages were outlined as
+it were on bloodstone, in a delicate, aerial fashion. He now made
+letters for signboards and wine-labels; but his intelligence was not
+high enough to attain to art, nor commonplace enough to look merely to
+profit, so that, without satisfying anyone, he had ruined himself.
+
+They were both taking a view of these things when Mademoiselle Marthe
+passed.
+
+"So, then, you did not recognise him?" said her mother to her.
+
+"Yes, indeed," she replied, bowing to him, while her clear and sceptical
+glance--the glance of a virgin--seemed to say in a whisper: "What are
+you coming here for?" and she rushed up the steps with her head slightly
+bent over her shoulder.
+
+Madame Arnoux led Frederick into the yard attached to the works, and
+then explained to him in a grave tone how different clays were ground,
+cleaned, and sifted.
+
+"The most important thing is the preparation of pastes."
+
+And she introduced him into a hall filled with vats, in which a vertical
+axis with horizontal arms kept turning. Frederick felt some regret that
+he had not flatly declined her offer a little while before.
+
+"These things are merely the slobberings," said she.
+
+He thought the word grotesque, and, in a measure, unbecoming on her
+lips.
+
+Wide straps ran from one end of the ceiling to the other, so as to roll
+themselves round the drums, and everything kept moving continuously with
+a provoking mathematical regularity.
+
+They left the spot, and passed close to a ruined hut, which had formerly
+been used as a repository for gardening implements.
+
+"It is no longer of any use," said Madame Arnoux.
+
+He replied in a tremulous voice:
+
+"Happiness may have been associated with it!"
+
+The clacking of the fire-pump drowned his words, and they entered the
+workshop where rough drafts were made.
+
+Some men, seated at a narrow table, placed each in front of himself on a
+revolving disc a piece of paste. Then each man with his left hand
+scooped out the insides of his own piece while smoothing its surface
+with the right; and vases could be seen bursting into shape like
+blossoming flowers.
+
+Madame Arnoux had the moulds for more difficult works shown to him.
+
+In another portion of the building, the threads, the necks, and the
+projecting lines were being formed. On the floor above, they removed the
+seams, and stopped up with plaster the little holes that had been left
+by the preceding operations.
+
+At every opening in the walls, in corners, in the middle of the
+corridor, everywhere, earthenware vessels had been placed side by side.
+
+Frederick began to feel bored.
+
+"Perhaps these things are tiresome to you?" said she.
+
+Fearing lest it might be necessary to terminate his visit there and
+then, he affected, on the contrary, a tone of great enthusiasm. He even
+expressed regret at not having devoted himself to this branch of
+industry.
+
+She appeared surprised.
+
+"Certainly! I would have been able to live near you."
+
+And as he tried to catch her eye, Madame Arnoux, in order to avoid him,
+took off a bracket little balls of paste, which had come from abortive
+readjustments, flattened them out into a thin cake, and pressed her hand
+over them.
+
+"Might I carry these away with me?" said Frederick.
+
+"Good heavens! are you so childish?"
+
+He was about to reply when in came Senecal.
+
+The sub-manager, on the threshold, had noticed a breach of the rules.
+The workshops should be swept every week. This was Saturday, and, as the
+workmen had not done what was required, Senecal announced that they
+would have to remain an hour longer.
+
+"So much the worse for you!"
+
+They stooped over the work assigned to them unmurmuringly, but their
+rage could be divined by the hoarse sounds which came from their chests.
+They were, moreover, very easy to manage, having all been dismissed from
+the big manufactory. The Republican had shown himself a hard taskmaster
+to them. A mere theorist, he regarded the people only in the mass, and
+exhibited an utter absence of pity for individuals.
+
+Frederick, annoyed by his presence, asked Madame Arnoux in a low tone
+whether they could have an opportunity of seeing the kilns. They
+descended to the ground-floor; and she was just explaining the use of
+caskets, when Senecal, who had followed close behind, placed himself
+between them.
+
+He continued the explanation of his own motion, expatiated on the
+various kinds of combustibles, the process of placing in the kiln, the
+pyroscopes, the cylindrical furnaces; the instruments for rounding, the
+lustres, and the metals, making a prodigious display of chemical terms,
+such as "chloride," "sulphuret," "borax," and "carbonate." Frederick did
+not understand a single one of them, and kept turning round every minute
+towards Madame Arnoux.
+
+"You are not listening," said she. "M. Senecal, however, is very clear.
+He knows all these things much better than I."
+
+The mathematician, flattered by this eulogy, proposed to show the way in
+which colours were laid on. Frederick gave Madame Arnoux an anxious,
+questioning look. She remained impassive, not caring to be alone with
+him, very probably, and yet unwilling to leave him.
+
+He offered her his arm.
+
+"No--many thanks! the staircase is too narrow!"
+
+And, when they had reached the top, Senecal opened the door of an
+apartment filled with women.
+
+They were handling brushes, phials, shells, and plates of glass. Along
+the cornice, close to the wall, extended boards with figures engraved on
+them; scraps of thin paper floated about, and a melting-stove sent forth
+fumes that made the temperature oppressive, while there mingled with it
+the odour of turpentine.
+
+The workwomen had nearly all sordid costumes. It was noticeable,
+however, that one of them wore a Madras handkerchief, and long
+earrings. Of slight frame, and, at the same time, plump, she had large
+black eyes and the fleshy lips of a negress. Her ample bosom projected
+from under her chemise, which was fastened round her waist by the string
+of her petticoat; and, with one elbow on the board of the work-table and
+the other arm hanging down, she gazed vaguely at the open country, a
+long distance away. Beside her were a bottle of wine and some pork
+chops.
+
+The regulations prohibited eating in the workshops, a rule intended to
+secure cleanliness at work and to keep the hands in a healthy condition.
+
+Senecal, through a sense of duty or a longing to exercise despotic
+authority, shouted out to her ere he had come near her, while pointing
+towards a framed placard:
+
+"I say, you girl from Bordeaux over there! read out for me Article 9!"
+
+"Well, what then?"
+
+"What then, mademoiselle? You'll have to pay a fine of three francs."
+
+She looked him straight in the face in an impudent fashion.
+
+"What does that signify to me? The master will take off your fine when
+he comes back! I laugh at you, my good man!"
+
+Senecal, who was walking with his hands behind his back, like an usher
+in the study-room, contented himself with smiling.
+
+"Article 13, insubordination, ten francs!"
+
+The girl from Bordeaux resumed her work. Madame Arnoux, through a sense
+of propriety, said nothing; but her brows contracted. Frederick
+murmured:
+
+"Ha! you are very severe for a democrat!"
+
+The other replied in a magisterial tone:
+
+"Democracy is not the unbounded license of individualism. It is the
+equality of all belonging to the same community before the law, the
+distribution of work, order."
+
+"You are forgetting humanity!" said Frederick.
+
+Madame Arnoux took his arm. Senecal, perhaps, offended by this mark of
+silent approbation, went away.
+
+Frederick experienced an immense relief. Since morning he had been
+looking out for the opportunity to declare itself; now it had arrived.
+Besides, Madame Arnoux's spontaneous movements seemed to him to contain
+promises; and he asked her, as if on the pretext of warming their feet,
+to come up to her room. But, when he was seated close beside her, he
+began once more to feel embarrassed. He was at a loss for a
+starting-point. Senecal, luckily, suggested an idea to his mind.
+
+"Nothing could be more stupid," said he, "than this punishment!"
+
+Madame Arnoux replied: "There are certain severe measures which are
+indispensable!"
+
+"What! you who are so good! Oh! I am mistaken, for you sometimes take
+pleasure in making other people suffer!"
+
+"I don't understand riddles, my friend!"
+
+And her austere look, still more than the words she used, checked him.
+Frederick was determined to go on. A volume of De Musset chanced to be
+on the chest of drawers; he turned over some pages, then began to talk
+about love, about his hopes and his transports.
+
+All this, according to Madame Arnoux, was criminal or factitious. The
+young man felt wounded by this negative attitude with regard to his
+passion, and, in order to combat it, he cited, by way of proof, the
+suicides which they read about every day in the newspapers, extolled the
+great literary types, Phedre, Dido, Romeo, Desgrieux. He talked as if he
+meant to do away with himself.
+
+The fire was no longer burning on the hearth; the rain lashed against
+the window-panes. Madame Arnoux, without stirring, remained with her
+hands resting on the sides of her armchair. The flaps of her cap fell
+like the fillets of a sphinx. Her pure profile traced out its clear-cut
+outlines in the midst of the shadow.
+
+He was anxious to cast himself at her feet. There was a creaking sound
+in the lobby, and he did not venture to carry out his intention.
+
+He was, moreover, restrained by a kind of religious awe. That robe,
+mingling with the surrounding shadows, appeared to him boundless,
+infinite, incapable of being touched; and for this very reason his
+desire became intensified. But the fear of doing too much, and, again,
+of not doing enough, deprived him of all judgment.
+
+"If she dislikes me," he thought, "let her drive me away; if she cares
+for me, let her encourage me."
+
+He said, with a sigh:
+
+"So, then, you don't admit that a man may love--a woman?"
+
+Madame Arnoux replied:
+
+"Assuming that she is at liberty to marry, he may marry her; when she
+belongs to another, he should keep away from her."
+
+"So happiness is impossible?"
+
+"No! But it is never to be found in falsehood, mental anxiety, and
+remorse."
+
+"What does it matter, if one is compensated by the enjoyment of supreme
+bliss?"
+
+"The experience is too costly."
+
+Then he sought to assail her with irony.
+
+"Would not virtue in that case be merely cowardice?"
+
+"Say rather, clear-sightedness. Even for those women who might forget
+duty or religion, simple good sense is sufficient. A solid foundation
+for wisdom may be found in self-love."
+
+"Ah, what shop-keeping maxims these are of yours!"
+
+"But I don't boast of being a fine lady."
+
+At that moment the little boy rushed in.
+
+"Mamma, are you coming to dinner?"
+
+"Yes, in a moment."
+
+Frederick arose. At the same instant, Marthe made her appearance.
+
+He could not make up his mind to go away, and, with a look of entreaty:
+
+"These women you speak of are very unfeeling, then?"
+
+"No, but deaf when it is necessary to be so."
+
+And she remained standing on the threshold of her room with her two
+children beside her. He bowed without saying a word. She mutely returned
+his salutation.
+
+What he first experienced was an unspeakable astonishment. He felt
+crushed by this mode of impressing on him the emptiness of his hopes. It
+seemed to him as if he were lost, like a man who has fallen to the
+bottom of an abyss and knows that no help will come to him, and that he
+must die. He walked on, however, but at random, without looking before
+him. He knocked against stones; he mistook his way. A clatter of wooden
+shoes sounded close to his ear; it was caused by some of the
+working-girls who were leaving the foundry. Then he realised where he
+was.
+
+The railway lamps traced on the horizon a line of flames. He arrived
+just as the train was starting, let himself be pushed into a carriage,
+and fell asleep.
+
+An hour later on the boulevards, the gaiety of Paris by night made his
+journey all at once recede into an already far-distant past. He resolved
+to be strong, and relieved his heart by vilifying Madame Arnoux with
+insulting epithets.
+
+"She is an idiot, a goose, a mere brute; let us not bestow another
+thought on her!"
+
+When he got home, he found in his study a letter of eight pages on blue
+glazed paper, with the initials "R. A."
+
+It began with friendly reproaches.
+
+"What has become of you, my dear? I am getting quite bored."
+
+But the handwriting was so abominable, that Frederick was about to fling
+away the entire bundle of sheets, when he noticed in the postscript the
+following words:
+
+"I count on you to come to-morrow and drive me to the races."
+
+What was the meaning of this invitation? Was it another trick of the
+Marechale? But a woman does not make a fool of the same man twice
+without some object; and, seized with curiosity, he read the letter over
+again attentively.
+
+Frederick was able to distinguish "Misunderstanding--to have taken a
+wrong path--disillusions--poor children that we are!--like two rivers
+that join each other!" etc.
+
+He kept the sheets for a long time between his fingers. They had the
+odour of orris; and there was in the form of the characters and the
+irregular spaces between the lines something suggestive, as it were, of
+a disorderly toilet, that fired his blood.
+
+"Why should I not go?" said he to himself at length. "But if Madame
+Arnoux were to know about it? Ah! let her know! So much the better! and
+let her feel jealous over it! In that way I shall be avenged!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+At the Races.
+
+
+The Marechale was prepared for his visit, and had been awaiting him.
+
+"This is nice of you!" she said, fixing a glance of her fine eyes on his
+face, with an expression at the same time tender and mirthful.
+
+When she had fastened her bonnet-strings, she sat down on the divan, and
+remained silent.
+
+"Shall we go?" said Frederick. She looked at the clock on the
+mantelpiece.
+
+"Oh, no! not before half-past one!" as if she had imposed this limit to
+her indecision.
+
+At last, when the hour had struck:
+
+"Ah! well, _andiamo, caro mio_!" And she gave a final touch to her
+head-bands, and left directions for Delphine.
+
+"Is Madame coming home to dinner?"
+
+"Why should we, indeed? We shall dine together somewhere--at the Cafe
+Anglais, wherever you wish."
+
+"Be it so!"
+
+Her little dogs began yelping around her.
+
+"We can bring them with us, can't we?"
+
+Frederick carried them himself to the vehicle. It was a hired berlin
+with two post-horses and a postilion. He had put his man-servant in the
+back seat. The Marechale appeared satisfied with his attentions. Then,
+as soon as she had seated herself, she asked him whether he had been
+lately at the Arnouxs'.
+
+"Not for the past month," said Frederick.
+
+"As for me, I met him the day before yesterday. He would have even come
+to-day, but he has all sorts of troubles--another lawsuit--I don't know
+what. What a queer man!"
+
+Frederick added with an air of indifference:
+
+"Now that I think of it, do you still see--what's that his name
+is?--that ex-vocalist--Delmar?"
+
+She replied dryly:
+
+"No; that's all over."
+
+So it was clear that there had been a rupture between them. Frederick
+derived some hope from this circumstance.
+
+They descended the Quartier Breda at an easy pace. As it happened to be
+Sunday, the streets were deserted, and some citizens' faces presented
+themselves at the windows. The carriage went on more rapidly. The noise
+of wheels made the passers-by turn round; the leather of the hood, which
+had slid down, was glittering. The man-servant doubled himself up, and
+the two Havanese, beside one another, seemed like two ermine muffs laid
+on the cushions. Frederick let himself jog up and down with the rocking
+of the carriage-straps. The Marechale turned her head to the right and
+to the left with a smile on her face.
+
+Her straw hat of mother-of-pearl colour was trimmed with black lace. The
+hood of her bournous floated in the wind, and she sheltered herself
+from the rays of the sun under a parasol of lilac satin pointed at the
+top like a pagoda.
+
+"What loves of little fingers!" said Frederick, softly taking her other
+hand, her left being adorned with a gold bracelet in the form of a
+curb-chain.
+
+"I say! that's pretty! Where did it come from?"
+
+"Oh! I've had it a long time," said the Marechale.
+
+The young man did not challenge this hypocritical answer in any way. He
+preferred to profit by the circumstance. And, still keeping hold of the
+wrist, he pressed his lips on it between the glove and the cuff.
+
+"Stop! People will see us!"
+
+"Pooh! What does it signify?"
+
+After passing by the Place de la Concorde, they drove along the Quai de
+la Conference and the Quai de Billy, where might be noticed a cedar in a
+garden. Rosanette believed that Lebanon was situated in China; she
+laughed herself at her own ignorance, and asked Frederick to give her
+lessons in geography. Then, leaving the Trocadero at the right, they
+crossed the Pont de Jena, and drew up at length in the middle of the
+Champ de Mars, near some other vehicles already drawn up in the
+Hippodrome.
+
+The grass hillocks were covered with common people. Some spectators
+might be seen on the balcony of the Military School; and the two
+pavilions outside the weighing-room, the two galleries contained within
+its enclosure, and a third in front of that of the king, were filled
+with a fashionably dressed crowd whose deportment showed their regard
+for this as yet novel form of amusement.
+
+The public around the course, more select at this period, had a less
+vulgar aspect. It was the era of trouser-straps, velvet collars, and
+white gloves. The ladies, attired in showy colours, displayed gowns with
+long waists; and seated on the tiers of the stands, they formed, so to
+speak, immense groups of flowers, spotted here and there with black by
+the men's costumes. But every glance was directed towards the celebrated
+Algerian Bou-Maza, who sat, impassive, between two staff officers in one
+of the private galleries. That of the Jockey Club contained none but
+grave-looking gentlemen.
+
+The more enthusiastic portion of the throng were seated underneath,
+close to the track, protected by two lines of sticks which supported
+ropes. In the immense oval described by this passage, cocoanut-sellers
+were shaking their rattles, others were selling programmes of the races,
+others were hawking cigars, with loud cries. On every side there was a
+great murmur. The municipal guards passed to and fro. A bell, hung from
+a post covered with figures, began ringing. Five horses appeared, and
+the spectators in the galleries resumed their seats.
+
+Meanwhile, big clouds touched with their winding outlines the tops of
+the elms opposite. Rosanette was afraid that it was going to rain.
+
+"I have umbrellas," said Frederick, "and everything that we need to
+afford ourselves diversion," he added, lifting up the chest, in which
+there was a stock of provisions in a basket.
+
+"Bravo! we understand each other!"
+
+"And we'll understand each other still better, shall we not?"
+
+"That may be," she said, colouring.
+
+The jockeys, in silk jackets, were trying to draw up their horses in
+order, and were holding them back with both hands. Somebody lowered a
+red flag. Then the entire five bent over the bristling manes, and off
+they started. At first they remained pressed close to each other in a
+single mass; this presently stretched out and became cut up. The jockey
+in the yellow jacket was near falling in the middle of the first round;
+for a long time it was uncertain whether Filly or Tibi should take the
+lead; then Tom Pouce appeared in front. But Clubstick, who had been in
+the rear since the start, came up with the others and outstripped them,
+so that he was the first to reach the winning-post, beating Sir Charles
+by two lengths. It was a surprise. There was a shout of applause; the
+planks shook with the stamping of feet.
+
+"We are amusing ourselves," said the Marechale. "I love you, darling!"
+
+Frederick no longer doubted that his happiness was secure. Rosanette's
+last words were a confirmation of it.
+
+A hundred paces away from him, in a four-wheeled cabriolet, a lady could
+be seen. She stretched her head out of the carriage-door, and then
+quickly drew it in again. This movement was repeated several times.
+Frederick could not distinguish her face. He had a strong suspicion,
+however, that it was Madame Arnoux. And yet this seemed impossible! Why
+should she have come there?
+
+He stepped out of his own vehicle on the pretence of strolling into the
+weighing-room.
+
+"You are not very gallant!" said Rosanette.
+
+He paid no heed to her, and went on. The four-wheeled cabriolet, turning
+back, broke into a trot.
+
+Frederick at the same moment, found himself button-holed by Cisy.
+
+"Good-morrow, my dear boy! how are you going on? Hussonnet is over
+there! Are you listening to me?"
+
+Frederick tried to shake him off in order to get up with the
+four-wheeled cabriolet. The Marechale beckoned to him to come round to
+her. Cisy perceived her, and obstinately persisted in bidding her
+good-day.
+
+Since the termination of the regular period of mourning for his
+grandmother, he had realised his ideal, and succeeded in "getting the
+proper stamp." A Scotch plaid waistcoat, a short coat, large bows over
+the pumps, and an entrance-card stuck in the ribbon of his hat; nothing,
+in fact, was wanting to produce what he described himself as his
+_chic_--a _chic_ characterised by Anglomania and the swagger of the
+musketeer. He began by finding fault with the Champ de Mars, which he
+referred to as an "execrable turf," then spoke of the Chantilly races,
+and the droll things that had occurred there, swore that he could drink
+a dozen glasses of champagne while the clock was striking the midnight
+hour, offered to make a bet with the Marechale, softly caressed her two
+lapdogs; and, leaning against the carriage-door on one elbow, he kept
+talking nonsense, with the handle of his walking-stick in his mouth, his
+legs wide apart, and his back stretched out. Frederick, standing beside
+him, was smoking, while endeavouring to make out what had become of the
+cabriolet.
+
+The bell having rung, Cisy took himself off, to the great delight of
+Rosanette, who said he had been boring her to death.
+
+The second race had nothing special about it; neither had the third,
+save that a man was thrown over the shaft of a cart while it was taking
+place. The fourth, in which eight horses contested the City Stakes, was
+more interesting.
+
+The spectators in the gallery had clambered to the top of their seats.
+The others, standing up in the vehicles, followed with opera-glasses in
+their hands the movements of the jockeys. They could be seen starting
+out like red, yellow, white, or blue spots across the entire space
+occupied by the crowd that had gathered around the ring of the
+hippodrome. At a distance, their speed did not appear to be very great;
+at the opposite side of the Champ de Mars, they seemed even to be
+slackening their pace, and to be merely slipping along in such a way
+that the horses' bellies touched the ground without their outstretched
+legs bending at all. But, coming back at a more rapid stride, they
+looked bigger; they cut the air in their wild gallop. The sun's rays
+quivered; pebbles went flying about under their hoofs. The wind, blowing
+out the jockeys' jackets, made them flutter like veils. Each of them
+lashed the animal he rode with great blows of his whip in order to reach
+the winning-post--that was the goal they aimed at. One swept away the
+figures, another was hoisted off his saddle, and, in the midst of a
+burst of applause, the victorious horse dragged his feet to the
+weighing-room, all covered with sweat, his knees stiffened, his neck and
+shoulders bent down, while his rider, looking as if he were expiring in
+his saddle, clung to the animal's flanks.
+
+The final start was retarded by a dispute which had arisen. The crowd,
+getting tired, began to scatter. Groups of men were chatting at the
+lower end of each gallery. The talk was of a free-and-easy description.
+Some fashionable ladies left, scandalised by seeing fast women in their
+immediate vicinity.
+
+There were also some specimens of the ladies who appeared at public
+balls, some light-comedy actresses of the boulevards, and it was not the
+best-looking portion of them that got the most appreciation. The elderly
+Georgine Aubert, she whom a writer of vaudevilles called the Louis XI.
+of her profession, horribly painted, and giving vent every now and then
+to a laugh resembling a grunt, remained reclining at full length in her
+big calash, covered with a sable fur-tippet, as if it were midwinter.
+Madame de Remoussat, who had become fashionable by means of a notorious
+trial in which she figured, sat enthroned on the seat of a brake in
+company with some Americans; and Therese Bachelu, with her look of a
+Gothic virgin, filled with her dozen furbelows the interior of a trap
+which had, in place of an apron, a flower-stand filled with roses. The
+Marechale was jealous of these magnificent displays. In order to attract
+attention, she began to make vehement gestures and to speak in a very
+loud voice.
+
+Gentlemen recognised her, and bowed to her. She returned their
+salutations while telling Frederick their names. They were all counts,
+viscounts, dukes, and marquises, and carried a high head, for in all
+eyes he could read a certain respect for his good fortune.
+
+Cisy had a no less happy air in the midst of the circle of mature men
+that surrounded them. Their faces wore cynical smiles above their
+cravats, as if they were laughing at him. At length he gave a tap in
+the hand of the oldest of them, and made his way towards the Marechale.
+
+She was eating, with an affectation of gluttony, a slice of _pate de
+foie gras_. Frederick, in order to make himself agreeable to her,
+followed her example, with a bottle of wine on his knees.
+
+The four-wheeled cabriolet reappeared. It _was_ Madame Arnoux! Her face
+was startlingly pale.
+
+"Give me some champagne," said Rosanette.
+
+And, lifting up her glass, full to the brim as high as possible, she
+exclaimed:
+
+"Look over there! Look at my protector's wife, one of the virtuous
+women!"
+
+There was a great burst of laughter all round her; and the cabriolet
+disappeared from view. Frederick tugged impatiently at her dress, and
+was on the point of flying into a passion. But Cisy was there, in the
+same attitude as before, and, with increased assurance, he invited
+Rosanette to dine with him that very evening.
+
+"Impossible!" she replied; "we're going together to the Cafe Anglais."
+
+Frederick, as if he had heard nothing, remained silent; and Cisy quitted
+the Marechale with a look of disappointment on his face.
+
+While he had been talking to her at the right-hand door of the carriage,
+Hussonnet presented himself at the opposite side, and, catching the
+words "Cafe Anglais":
+
+"It's a nice establishment; suppose we had a pick there, eh?"
+
+"Just as you like," said Frederick, who, sunk down in the corner of the
+berlin, was gazing at the horizon as the four-wheeled cabriolet vanished
+from his sight, feeling that an irreparable thing had happened, and
+that there was an end of his great love. And the other woman was there
+beside him, the gay and easy love! But, worn out, full of conflicting
+desires, and no longer even knowing what he wanted, he was possessed by
+a feeling of infinite sadness, a longing to die.
+
+A great noise of footsteps and of voices made him raise his head. The
+little ragamuffins assembled round the track sprang over the ropes and
+came to stare at the galleries. Thereupon their occupants rose to go. A
+few drops of rain began to fall. The crush of vehicles increased, and
+Hussonnet got lost in it.
+
+"Well! so much the better!" said Frederick.
+
+"We like to be alone better--don't we?" said the Marechale, as she
+placed her hand in his.
+
+Then there swept past him with a glitter of copper and steel a
+magnificent landau to which were yoked four horses driven in the Daumont
+style by two jockeys in velvet vests with gold fringes. Madame Dambreuse
+was by her husband's side, and Martinon was on the other seat facing
+them. All three of them gazed at Frederick in astonishment.
+
+"They have recognised me!" said he to himself.
+
+Rosanette wished to stop in order to get a better view of the people
+driving away from the course. Madame Arnoux might again make her
+appearance! He called out to the postilion:
+
+"Go on! go on! forward!" And the berlin dashed towards the
+Champs-Elysees in the midst of the other vehicles--calashes, britzkas,
+wurths, tandems, tilburies, dog-carts, tilted carts with leather
+curtains, in which workmen in a jovial mood were singing, or one-horse
+chaises driven by fathers of families. In victorias crammed with people
+some young fellows seated on the others' feet let their legs both hang
+down. Large broughams, which had their seats lined with cloth, carried
+dowagers fast asleep, or else a splendid machine passed with a seat as
+simple and coquettish as a dandy's black coat.
+
+The shower grew heavier. Umbrellas, parasols, and mackintoshes were put
+into requisition. People cried out at some distance away: "Good-day!"
+"Are you quite well?" "Yes!" "No!" "Bye-bye!"--and the faces succeeded
+each other with the rapidity of Chinese shadows.
+
+Frederick and Rosanette did not say a word to each other, feeling a sort
+of dizziness at seeing all these wheels continually revolving close to
+them.
+
+At times, the rows of carriages, too closely pressed together, stopped
+all at the same time in several lines. Then they remained side by side,
+and their occupants scanned one another. Over the sides of panels
+adorned with coats-of-arms indifferent glances were cast on the crowd.
+Eyes full of envy gleamed from the interiors of hackney-coaches.
+Depreciatory smiles responded to the haughty manner in which some people
+carried their heads. Mouths gaping wide expressed idiotic admiration;
+and, here and there, some lounger, in the middle of the road, fell back
+with a bound, in order to avoid a rider who had been galloping through
+the midst of the vehicles, and had succeeded in getting away from them.
+Then, everything set itself in motion once more; the coachmen let go the
+reins, and lowered their long whips; the horses, excited, shook their
+curb-chains, and flung foam around them; and the cruppers and the
+harness getting moist, were smoking with the watery evaporation, through
+which struggled the rays of the sinking sun. Passing under the Arc de
+Triomphe, there stretched out at the height of a man, a reddish light,
+which shed a glittering lustre on the naves of the wheels, the handles
+of the carriage-doors, the ends of the shafts, and the rings of the
+carriage-beds; and on the two sides of the great avenue--like a river in
+which manes, garments, and human heads were undulating--the trees, all
+glittering with rain, rose up like two green walls. The blue of the sky
+overhead, reappearing in certain places, had the soft hue of satin.
+
+Then, Frederick recalled the days, already far away, when he yearned for
+the inexpressible happiness of finding himself in one of these carriages
+by the side of one of these women. He had attained to this bliss, and
+yet he was not thereby one jot the happier.
+
+The rain had ceased falling. The pedestrians, who had sought shelter
+between the columns of the Public Storerooms, took their departure.
+Persons who had been walking along the Rue Royale, went up again towards
+the boulevard. In front of the residence of the Minister of Foreign
+Affairs a group of boobies had taken up their posts on the steps.
+
+When it had got up as high as the Chinese Baths, as there were holes in
+the pavement, the berlin slackened its pace. A man in a hazel-coloured
+paletot was walking on the edge of the footpath. A splash, spurting out
+from under the springs, showed itself on his back. The man turned round
+in a rage. Frederick grew pale; he had recognised Deslauriers.
+
+At the door of the Cafe Anglais he sent away the carriage. Rosanette had
+gone in before him while he was paying the postilion.
+
+He found her subsequently on the stairs chatting with a gentleman.
+Frederick took her arm; but in the lobby a second gentleman stopped her.
+
+"Go on," said she; "I am at your service."
+
+And he entered the private room alone. Through the two open windows
+people could be seen at the casements of the other houses opposite.
+Large watery masses were quivering on the pavement as it began to dry,
+and a magnolia, placed on the side of a balcony, shed a perfume through
+the apartment. This fragrance and freshness had a relaxing effect on his
+nerves. He sank down on the red divan underneath the glass.
+
+The Marechale here entered the room, and, kissing him on the forehead:
+
+"Poor pet! there's something annoying you!"
+
+"Perhaps so," was his reply.
+
+"You are not alone; take heart!"--which was as much as to say: "Let us
+each forget our own concerns in a bliss which we shall enjoy in common."
+
+Then she placed the petal of a flower between her lips and extended it
+towards him so that he might peck at it. This movement, full of grace
+and of almost voluptuous gentleness, had a softening influence on
+Frederick.
+
+"Why do you give me pain?" said he, thinking of Madame Arnoux.
+
+"I give you pain?"
+
+And, standing before him, she looked at him with her lashes drawn close
+together and her two hands resting on his shoulders.
+
+All his virtue, all his rancour gave way before the utter weakness of
+his will.
+
+He continued:
+
+"Because you won't love me," and he took her on his knees.
+
+She gave way to him. He pressed his two hands round her waist. The
+crackling sound of her silk dress inflamed him.
+
+"Where are they?" said Hussonnet's voice in the lobby outside.
+
+The Marechale arose abruptly, and went across to the other side of the
+room, where she sat down with her back to the door.
+
+She ordered oysters, and they seated themselves at table.
+
+Hussonnet was not amusing. By dint of writing every day on all sorts of
+subjects, reading many newspapers, listening to a great number of
+discussions, and uttering paradoxes for the purpose of dazzling people,
+he had in the end lost the exact idea of things, blinding himself with
+his own feeble fireworks. The embarrassments of a life which had
+formerly been frivolous, but which was now full of difficulty, kept him
+in a state of perpetual agitation; and his impotency, which he did not
+wish to avow, rendered him snappish and sarcastic. Referring to a new
+ballet entitled _Ozai_, he gave a thorough blowing-up to the dancing,
+and then, when the opera was in question, he attacked the Italians, now
+replaced by a company of Spanish actors, "as if people had not quite
+enough of Castilles[12] already!" Frederick was shocked at this, owing
+to his romantic attachment to Spain, and, with a view to diverting the
+conversation into a new channel, he enquired about the College of
+France, where Edgar Quinet and Mickiewicz had attended. But Hussonnet,
+an admirer of M. de Maistre, declared himself on the side of Authority
+and Spiritualism. Nevertheless, he had doubts about the most
+well-established facts, contradicted history, and disputed about things
+whose certainty could not be questioned; so that at mention of the word
+"geometry," he exclaimed: "What fudge this geometry is!" All this he
+intermingled with imitations of actors. Sainville was specially his
+model.
+
+[Footnote 12: This pun of Hussonnet turns on the double sense of the
+word "Castille," which not only means a place in Spain, but also an
+altercation.--Translator.]
+
+Frederick was quite bored by these quibbles. In an outburst of
+impatience he pushed his foot under the table, and pressed it on one of
+the little dogs.
+
+Thereupon both animals began barking in a horrible fashion.
+
+"You ought to get them sent home!" said he, abruptly.
+
+Rosanette did not know anyone to whom she could intrust them.
+
+Then, he turned round to the Bohemian:
+
+"Look here, Hussonnet; sacrifice yourself!"
+
+"Oh! yes, my boy! That would be a very obliging act!"
+
+Hussonnet set off, without even requiring to have an appeal made to him.
+
+In what way could they repay him for his kindness? Frederick did not
+bestow a thought on it. He was even beginning to rejoice at finding
+himself alone with her, when a waiter entered.
+
+"Madame, somebody is asking for you!"
+
+"What! again?"
+
+"However, I must see who it is," said Rosanette.
+
+He was thirsting for her; he wanted her. This disappearance seemed to
+him an act of prevarication, almost a piece of rudeness. What, then,
+did she mean? Was it not enough to have insulted Madame Arnoux? So much
+for the latter, all the same! Now he hated all women; and he felt the
+tears choking him, for his love had been misunderstood and his desire
+eluded.
+
+The Marechale returned, and presented Cisy to him.
+
+"I have invited Monsieur. I have done right, have I not?"
+
+"How is that! Oh! certainly."
+
+Frederick, with the smile of a criminal about to be executed, beckoned
+to the gentleman to take a seat.
+
+The Marechale began to run her eye through the bill of fare, stopping at
+every fantastic name.
+
+"Suppose we eat a turban of rabbits _a la Richelieu_ and a pudding _a la
+d'Orleans_?"[13]
+
+[Footnote 13: The word "Orleans" means light woollen cloth, and
+possibly Cisy's pun might be rendered: "Oh! no cloth pudding,
+please."--Translator.]
+
+"Oh! not Orleans, pray!" exclaimed Cisy, who was a Legitimist, and
+thought of making a pun.
+
+"Would you prefer a turbot _a la_ Chambord?" she next asked.
+
+Frederick was disgusted with this display of politeness.
+
+The Marechale made up her mind to order a simple fillet of beef cut up
+into steaks, some crayfishes, truffles, a pine-apple salad, and vanilla
+ices.
+
+"We'll see what next. Go on for the present! Ah! I was forgetting! Bring
+me a sausage!--not with garlic!"
+
+And she called the waiter "young man," struck her glass with her knife,
+and flung up the crumbs of her bread to the ceiling. She wished to
+drink some Burgundy immediately.
+
+"It is not taken in the beginning," said Frederick.
+
+This was sometimes done, according to the Vicomte.
+
+"Oh! no. Never!"
+
+"Yes, indeed; I assure you!"
+
+"Ha! you see!"
+
+The look with which she accompanied these words meant: "This is a rich
+man--pay attention to what he says!"
+
+Meantime, the door was opening every moment; the waiters kept shouting;
+and on an infernal piano in the adjoining room some one was strumming a
+waltz. Then the races led to a discussion about horsemanship and the two
+rival systems. Cisy was upholding Baucher and Frederick the Comte d'Aure
+when Rosanette shrugged her shoulders:
+
+"Enough--my God!--he is a better judge of these things than you
+are--come now!"
+
+She kept nibbling at a pomegranate, with her elbow resting on the table.
+The wax-candles of the candelabrum in front of her were flickering in
+the wind. This white light penetrated her skin with mother-of-pearl
+tones, gave a pink hue to her lids, and made her eyeballs glitter. The
+red colour of the fruit blended with the purple of her lips; her thin
+nostrils heaved; and there was about her entire person an air of
+insolence, intoxication, and recklessness that exasperated Frederick,
+and yet filled his heart with wild desires.
+
+Then, she asked, in a calm voice, who owned that big landau with
+chestnut-coloured livery.
+
+Cisy replied that it was "the Comtesse Dambreuse"
+
+"They're very rich--aren't they?"
+
+"Oh! very rich! although Madame Dambreuse, who was merely a Mademoiselle
+Boutron and the daughter of a prefect, had a very modest fortune."
+
+Her husband, on the other hand, must have inherited several
+estates--Cisy enumerated them: as he visited the Dambreuses, he knew
+their family history.
+
+Frederick, in order to make himself disagreeable to the other, took a
+pleasure in contradicting him. He maintained that Madame Dambreuse's
+maiden name was De Boutron, which proved that she was of a noble family.
+
+"No matter! I'd like to have her equipage!" said the Marechale, throwing
+herself back on the armchair.
+
+And the sleeve of her dress, slipping up a little, showed on her left
+wrist a bracelet adorned with three opals.
+
+Frederick noticed it.
+
+"Look here! why----"
+
+All three looked into one another's faces, and reddened.
+
+The door was cautiously half-opened; the brim of a hat could be seen,
+and then Hussonnet's profile exhibited itself.
+
+"Pray excuse me if I disturb the lovers!"
+
+But he stopped, astonished at seeing Cisy, and that Cisy had taken his
+own seat.
+
+Another cover was brought; and, as he was very hungry, he snatched up at
+random from what remained of the dinner some meat which was in a dish,
+fruit out of a basket, and drank with one hand while he helped himself
+with the other, all the time telling them the result of his mission. The
+two bow-wows had been taken home. Nothing fresh at the house. He had
+found the cook in the company of a soldier--a fictitious story which he
+had especially invented for the sake of effect.
+
+The Marechale took down her cloak from the window-screw. Frederick made
+a rush towards the bell, calling out to the waiter, who was some
+distance away:
+
+"A carriage!"
+
+"I have one of my own," said the Vicomte.
+
+"But, Monsieur!"
+
+"Nevertheless, Monsieur!"
+
+And they stared into each other's eyes, both pale and their hands
+trembling.
+
+At last, the Marechale took Cisy's arm, and pointing towards the
+Bohemian seated at the table:
+
+"Pray mind him! He's choking himself. I wouldn't care to let his
+devotion to my pugs be the cause of his death."
+
+The door closed behind him.
+
+"Well?" said Hussonnet.
+
+"Well, what?"
+
+"I thought----"
+
+"What did you think?"
+
+"Were you not----?"
+
+He completed the sentence with a gesture.
+
+"Oh! no--never in all my life!"
+
+Hussonnet did not press the matter further.
+
+He had an object in inviting himself to dinner. His journal,--which was
+no longer called _L'Art_, but _Le Flambart_,[14] with this epigraph,
+"Gunners, to your cannons!"--not being at all in a flourishing
+condition, he had a mind to change it into a weekly review, conducted
+by himself, without any assistance from Deslauriers. He again referred
+to the old project and explained his latest plan.
+
+[Footnote 14: _The Blaser._]
+
+Frederick, probably not understanding what he was talking about, replied
+with some vague words. Hussonnet snatched up several cigars from the
+tables, said "Good-bye, old chap," and disappeared.
+
+Frederick called for the bill. It had a long list of items; and the
+waiter, with his napkin under his arm, was expecting to be paid by
+Frederick, when another, a sallow-faced individual, who resembled
+Martinon, came and said to him:
+
+"Beg pardon; they forgot at the bar to add in the charge for the cab."
+
+"What cab?"
+
+"The cab the gentleman took a short time ago for the little dogs."
+
+And the waiter put on a look of gravity, as if he pitied the poor young
+man. Frederick felt inclined to box the fellow's ears. He gave the
+waiter the twenty francs' change as a _pour-boire_.
+
+"Thanks, Monseigneur," said the man with the napkin, bowing low.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Sentimental Education Vol 1, by Gustave Flaubert
+
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