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diff --git a/3712-h/3712-h.htm b/3712-h/3712-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2fa2da3 --- /dev/null +++ b/3712-h/3712-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1399 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Chateau of Prince Polignac, by Anthony Trollope</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Chateau of Prince Polignac, by Anthony +Trollope + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: The Chateau of Prince Polignac + + +Author: Anthony Trollope + + + +Release Date: January 16, 2015 [eBook #3712] +[This file was first posted on July 31, 2001] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHATEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1864 Chapman and Hall “Tales of All +Countries” edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>THE CHÂTEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC.</h1> +<p><span class="smcap">Few</span> Englishmen or Englishwomen are +intimately acquainted with the little town of Le Puy. It is +the capital of the old province of Le Velay, which also is now +but little known, even to French ears, for it is in these days +called by the imperial name of the Department of the Haute +Loire. It is to the south-east of Auvergne, and is nearly +in the centre of the southern half of France.</p> +<p>But few towns, merely as towns, can be better worth +visiting. In the first place, the volcanic formation of the +ground on which it stands is not only singular in the extreme, so +as to be interesting to the geologist, but it is so picturesque +as to be equally gratifying to the general tourist. Within +a narrow valley there stand several rocks, rising up from the +ground with absolute abruptness. Round two of these the +town clusters, and a third stands but a mile distant, forming the +centre of a faubourg, or suburb. These rocks appear to be, +and I believe are, the harder particles of volcanic matter, which +have not been carried away through successive ages by the joint +agency of water and air.</p> +<p>When the tide of lava ran down between the hills the surface +left was no doubt on a level with the heads of these rocks; but +here and there the deposit became harder than elsewhere, and +these harder points have remained, lifting up their steep heads +in a line through the valley.</p> +<p>The highest of these is called the Rocher de Corneille. +Round this and up its steep sides the town stands. On its +highest summit there was an old castle; and there now is, or will +be before these pages are printed, a colossal figure in bronze of +the Virgin Mary, made from the cannon taken at Sebastopol. +Half-way down the hill the cathedral is built, a singularly +gloomy edifice,—Romanesque, as it is called, in its style, +but extremely similar in its mode of architecture to what we know +of Byzantine structures. But there has been no surface on +the rock side large enough to form a resting-place for the +church, which has therefore been built out on huge supporting +piles, which form a porch below the west front; so that the +approach is by numerous steps laid along the side of the wall +below the church, forming a wondrous flight of stairs. Let +all men who may find themselves stopping at Le Puy visit the top +of these stairs at the time of the setting sun, and look down +from thence through the framework of the porch on the town +beneath, and at the hill-side beyond.</p> +<p>Behind the church is the seminary of the priests, with its +beautiful walks stretching round the Rocher de Corneille, and +overlooking the town and valley below.</p> +<p>Next to this rock, and within a quarter of a mile of it, is +the second peak, called the Rock of the Needle. It rises +narrow, sharp, and abrupt from the valley, allowing of no +buildings on its sides. But on its very point has been +erected a church sacred to St. Michael, that lover of rock +summits, accessible by stairs cut from the stone. This, +perhaps—this rock, I mean—is the most wonderful of +the wonders which Nature has formed at La Puy.</p> +<p>Above this, at a mile’s distance, is the rock of +Espailly, formed in the same way, and almost equally +precipitous. On its summit is a castle, having its own +legend, and professing to have been the residence of Charles +VII., when little of France belonged to its kings but the +provinces of Berry, Auvergne, and Le Velay. Some three +miles farther up there is another volcanic rock, larger, indeed, +but equally sudden in its spring,—equally remarkable as +rising abruptly from the valley,—on which stands the castle +and old family residence of the house of Polignac. It was +lost by them at the Revolution, but was repurchased by the +minister of Charles X., and is still the property of the head of +the race.</p> +<p>Le Puy itself is a small, moderate, pleasant French town, in +which the language of the people has not the pure Parisian aroma, +nor is the glory of the boulevards of the capital emulated in its +streets. These are crooked, narrow, steep, and intricate, +forming here and there excellent sketches for a lover of street +picturesque beauty; but hurtful to the feet with their small, +round-topped paving stones, and not always as clean as pedestrian +ladies might desire.</p> +<p>And now I would ask my readers to join me at the morning table +d’hôte at the Hotel des Ambassadeurs. It will +of course be understood that this does not mean a breakfast in +the ordinary fashion of England, consisting of tea or coffee, +bread and butter, and perhaps a boiled egg. It comprises +all the requisites for a composite dinner, excepting soup; and as +one gets farther south in France, this meal is called +dinner. It is, however, eaten without any prejudice to +another similar and somewhat longer meal at six or seven +o’clock, which, when the above name is taken up by the +earlier enterprise, is styled supper.</p> +<p>The déjeûner, or dinner, at the Hôtel des +Ambassadeurs, on the morning in question, though very elaborate, +was not a very gay affair. There were some fourteen persons +present, of whom half were residents in the town, men employed in +some official capacity, who found this to be the cheapest, the +most luxurious, and to them the most comfortable mode of +living. They clustered together at the head of the table, +and as they were customary guests at the house, they talked their +little talk together—it was very little—and made the +most of the good things before them. Then there were two or +three commis-voyageurs, a chance traveller or two, and an English +lady with a young daughter. The English lady sat next to +one of the accustomed guests; but he, unlike the others, held +converse with her rather than with them. Our story at +present has reference only to that lady and to that +gentleman.</p> +<p>Place aux dames. We will speak first of the lady, whose +name was Mrs. Thompson. She was, shall I say, a young woman +of about thirty-six. In so saying, I am perhaps creating a +prejudice against her in the minds of some readers, as they will, +not unnaturally, suppose her, after such an announcement, to be +in truth over forty. Any such prejudice will be +unjust. I would have it believed that thirty-six was the +outside, not the inside of her age. She was good-looking, +lady-like, and considering that she was an Englishwoman, fairly +well dressed. She was inclined to be rather full in her +person, but perhaps not more so than is becoming to ladies at her +time of life. She had rings on her fingers and a brooch on +her bosom which were of some value, and on the back of her head +she wore a jaunty small lace cap, which seemed to tell, in +conjunction with her other appointments, that her circumstances +were comfortable.</p> +<p>The little girl who sat next to her was the youngest of her +two daughters, and might be about thirteen years of age. +Her name was Matilda, but infantine circumstances had invested +her with the nickname of Mimmy, by which her mother always called +her. A nice, pretty, playful little girl was Mimmy +Thompson, wearing two long tails of plaited hair hanging, behind +her head, and inclined occasionally to be rather loud in her +sport.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson had another and an elder daughter, now some +fifteen years old, who was at school in Le Puy; and it was with +reference to her tuition that Mrs. Thompson had taken up a +temporary residence at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs in that +town. Lilian Thompson was occasionally invited down to dine +or breakfast at the inn, and was visited daily at her school by +her mother.</p> +<p>“When I’m sure that she’ll do, I shall leave +her there, and go back to England,” Mrs. Thompson had said, +not in the purest French, to the neighbour who always sat next to +her at the table d’hôte, the gentleman, namely, to +whom we have above alluded. But still she had remained at +Le Puy a month, and did not go; a circumstance which was +considered singular, but by no means unpleasant, both by the +innkeeper and by the gentleman in question.</p> +<p>The facts, as regarded Mrs. Thompson, were as +follows:—She was the widow of a gentleman who had served +for many years in the civil service of the East Indies, and who, +on dying, had left her a comfortable income of—it matters +not how many pounds, but constituting quite a sufficiency to +enable her to live at her ease and educate her daughters.</p> +<p>Her children had been sent home to England before her +husband’s death, and after that event she had followed +them; but there, though she was possessed of moderate wealth, she +had no friends and few acquaintances, and after a little while +she had found life to be rather dull. Her customs were not +those of England, nor were her propensities English; therefore +she had gone abroad, and having received some recommendation of +this school at Le Puy, had made her way thither. As it +appeared to her that she really enjoyed more consideration at Le +Puy than had been accorded to her either at Torquay or +Leamington, there she remained from day to day. The total +payment required at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs was but six +francs daily for herself and three and a half for her little +girl; and where else could she live with a better junction of +economy and comfort? And then the gentleman who always sat +next to her was so exceedingly civil!</p> +<p>The gentleman’s name was M. Lacordaire. So much +she knew, and had learned to call him by his name very +frequently. Mimmy, too, was quite intimate with M. +Lacordaire; but nothing more than his name was known of +him. But M. Lacordaire carried a general letter of +recommendation in his face, manner, gait, dress, and tone of +voice. In all these respects there was nothing left to be +desired; and, in addition to this, he was decorated, and wore the +little red ribbon of the Legion of Honour, ingeniously twisted +into the shape of a small flower.</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire might be senior in age to Mrs. Thompson by about +ten years, nor had he about him any of the airs or graces of a +would-be young man. His hair, which he wore very short, was +grizzled, as was also the small pretence of a whisker which came +down about as far as the middle of his ear; but the tuft on his +chin was still brown, without a gray hair. His eyes were +bright and tender, his voice was low and soft, his hands were +very white, his clothes were always new and well fitting, and a +better-brushed hat could not be seen out of Paris, nor perhaps in +it.</p> +<p>Now, during the weeks which Mrs. Thompson had passed at La +Puy, the acquaintance which she had formed with M. Lacordaire had +progressed beyond the prolonged meals in the salle à +manger. He had occasionally sat beside her evening table as +she took her English cup of tea in her own room, her bed being +duly screened off in its distant niche by becoming curtains; and +then he had occasionally walked beside her, as he civilly +escorted her to the lions of the place; and he had once +accompanied her, sitting on the back seat of a French voiture, +when she had gone forth to see something of the surrounding +country.</p> +<p>On all such occasions she had been accompanied by one of her +daughters, and the world of Le Puy had had nothing material to +say against her. But still the world of Le Puy had +whispered a little, suggesting that M. Lacordaire knew very well +what he was about. But might not Mrs. Thompson also know as +well what she was about? At any rate, everything had gone +on very pleasantly since the acquaintance had been made. +And now, so much having been explained, we will go back to the +elaborate breakfast at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson, holding Mimmy by the hand, walked into the room +some few minutes after the last bell had been rung, and took the +place which was now hers by custom. The gentlemen who +constantly frequented the house all bowed to her, but M. +Lacordaire rose from his seat and offered her his hand.</p> +<p>“And how is Mees Meemy this morning?” said he; for +’twas thus he always pronounced her name.</p> +<p>Miss Mimmy, answering for herself, declared that she was very +well, and suggested that M. Lacordaire should give her a fig from +off a dish that was placed immediately before him on the +table. This M. Lacordaire did, presenting it very elegantly +between his two fingers, and making a little bow to the little +lady as he did so.</p> +<p>“Fie, Mimmy!” said her mother; “why do you +ask for the things before the waiter brings them +round?”</p> +<p>“But, mamma,” said Mimmy, speaking English, +“M. Lacordaire always gives me a fig every +morning.”</p> +<p>“M. Lacordaire always spoils you, I think,” +answered Mrs. Thompson, in French. And then they went +thoroughly to work at their breakfast. During the whole +meal M. Lacordaire attended assiduously to his neighbour; and did +so without any evil result, except that one Frenchman with a +black moustache, at the head of the table, trod on the toe of +another Frenchman with another black moustache—winking as +he made the sign—just as M. Lacordaire, having selected a +bunch of grapes, put it on Mrs. Thompson’s plate with +infinite grace. But who among us all is free from such +impertinences as these?</p> +<p>“But madame really must see the château of Prince +Polignac before she leaves Le Puy,” said M. Lacordaire.</p> +<p>“The château of who?” asked Mimmy, to whose +young ears the French words were already becoming familiar.</p> +<p>“Prince Polignac, my dear. Well, I really +don’t know, M. Lacordaire;—I have seen a great deal +of the place already, and I shall be going now very soon; +probably in a day or two,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“But madame must positively see the +château,” said M. Lacordaire, very impressively; and +then after a pause he added, “If madame will have the +complaisance to commission me to procure a carriage for this +afternoon, and will allow me the honour to be her guide, I shall +consider myself one of the most fortunate of men.”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes, mamma, do go,” said Mimmy, clapping her +hands. “And it is Thursday, and Lilian can go with +us.”</p> +<p>“Be quiet, Mimmy, do. Thank you, no, M. +Lacordaire. I could not go to-day; but I am extremely +obliged by your politeness.”</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire still pressed the matter, and Mrs. Thompson +still declined till it was time to rise from the table. She +then declared that she did not think it possible that she should +visit the château before she left Le Puy; but that she +would give him an answer at dinner.</p> +<p>The most tedious time in the day to Mrs. Thompson were the two +hours after breakfast. At one o’clock she daily went +to the school, taking Mimmy, who for an hour or two shared her +sister’s lessons. This and her little excursions +about the place, and her shopping, managed to make away with her +afternoon. Then in the evening, she generally saw something +of M. Lacordaire. But those two hours after breakfast were +hard of killing.</p> +<p>On this occasion, when she gained her own room, she as usual +placed Mimmy on the sofa with a needle. Her custom then was +to take up a novel; but on this morning she sat herself down in +her arm-chair, and resting her head upon her hand and elbow, +began to turn over certain circumstances in her mind.</p> +<p>“Mamma,” said Mimmy, “why won’t you go +with M. Lacordaire to that place belonging to the prince? +Prince—Polly something, wasn’t it?”</p> +<p>“Mind your work, my dear,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“But I do so wish you’d go, mamma. What was +the prince’s name?”</p> +<p>“Polignac.”</p> +<p>“Mamma, ain’t princes very great +people?”</p> +<p>“Yes, my dear; sometimes.”</p> +<p>“Is Prince Polly-nac like our Prince Alfred?”</p> +<p>“No, my dear; not at all. At least, I suppose +not.”</p> +<p>“Is his mother a queen?”</p> +<p>“No, my dear.”</p> +<p>“Then his father must be a king?”</p> +<p>“No, my dear. It is quite a different thing +here. Here in France they have a great many +princes.”</p> +<p>“Well, at any rate I should like to see a prince’s +château; so I do hope you’ll go.” And +then there was a pause. “Mamma, could it come to +pass, here in France, that M. Lacordaire should ever be a +prince?”</p> +<p>“M. Lacordaire a prince! No; don’t talk such +nonsense, but mind your work.”</p> +<p>“Isn’t M. Lacordaire a very nice man? +Ain’t you very fond of him?”</p> +<p>To this question Mrs. Thompson made no answer.</p> +<p>“Mamma,” continued Mimmy, after a moment’s +pause, “won’t you tell me whether you are fond of M. +Lacordaire? I’m quite sure of this,—that +he’s very fond of you.”</p> +<p>“What makes you think that?” asked Mrs. Thompson, +who could not bring herself to refrain from the question.</p> +<p>“Because he looks at you in that way, mamma, and +squeezes your hand.”</p> +<p>“Nonsense, child,” said Mrs. Thompson; “hold +your tongue. I don’t know what can have put such +stuff into your head.”</p> +<p>“But he does, mamma,” said Mimmy, who rarely +allowed her mother to put her down.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson made no further answer, but again sat with her +head resting on her hand. She also, if the truth must be +told, was thinking of M. Lacordaire and his fondness for +herself. He had squeezed her hand and he had looked into +her face. However much it may have been nonsense on +Mimmy’s part to talk of such things, they had not the less +absolutely occurred. Was it really the fact that M. +Lacordaire was in love with her?</p> +<p>And if so, what return should she, or could she make to such a +passion? He had looked at her yesterday, and squeezed her +hand to-day. Might it not be probable that he would advance a +step further to-morrow? If so, what answer would she be +prepared to make to him?</p> +<p>She did not think—so she said to herself—that she +had any particular objection to marrying again. Thompson +had been dead now for four years, and neither his friends, nor +her friends, nor the world could say she was wrong on that +score. And as to marrying a Frenchman, she could not say +she felt within herself any absolute repugnance to doing +that. Of her own country, speaking of England as such, she, +in truth, knew but little—and perhaps cared less. She +had gone to India almost as a child, and England had not been +specially kind to her on her return. She had found it dull +and cold, stiff, and almost ill-natured. People there had +not smiled on her and been civil as M. Lacordaire had done. +As far as England and Englishmen were considered she saw no +reason why she should not marry M. Lacordaire.</p> +<p>And then, as regarded the man; could she in her heart say that +she was prepared to love, honour, and obey M. Lacordaire? +She certainly knew no reason why she should not do so. She +did not know much of him, she said to herself at first; but she +knew as much, she said afterwards, as she had known personally of +Mr. Thompson before their marriage. She had known, to be +sure, what was Mr. Thompson’s profession and what his +income; or, if not, some one else had known for her. As to +both these points she was quite in the dark as regarded M. +Lacordaire.</p> +<p>Personally, she certainly did like him, as she said to herself +more than once. There was a courtesy and softness about him +which were very gratifying to her; and then, his appearance was +so much in his favour. He was not very young, she +acknowledged; but neither was she young herself. It was +quite evident that he was fond of her children, and that he would +be a kind and affectionate father to them. Indeed, there +was kindness in all that he did.</p> +<p>Should she marry again,—and she put it to herself quite +hypothetically,—she would look for no romance in such a +second marriage. She would be content to sit down in a +quiet home, to the tame dull realities of life, satisfied with +the companionship of a man who would be kind and gentle to her, +and whom she could respect and esteem. Where could she find +a companion with whom this could be more safely anticipated than +with M. Lacordaire?</p> +<p>And so she argued the question within her own breast in a +manner not unfriendly to that gentleman. That there was as +yet one great hindrance she at once saw; but then that might be +remedied by a word. She did not know what was his income or +his profession. The chambermaid, whom she had interrogated, +had told her that he was a “marchand.” To +merchants, generally, she felt that she had no objection. +The Barings and the Rothschilds were merchants, as was also that +wonderful man at Bombay, Sir Hommajee Bommajee, who was worth she +did no know how many thousand lacs of rupees.</p> +<p>That it would behove her, on her own account and that of her +daughters, to take care of her own little fortune in contracting +any such connection, that she felt strongly. She would +never so commit herself as to put security in that respect out of +her power. But then she did not think that M. Lacordaire +would ever ask her to do so; at any rate, she was determined on +this, that there should never be any doubt on that matter; and as +she firmly resolved on this, she again took up her book, and for +a minute or two made an attempt to read.</p> +<p>“Mamma,” said Mummy, “will M. Lacordaire go +up to the school to see Lilian when you go away from +this?”</p> +<p>“Indeed, I cannot say, my dear. If Lilian is a +good girl, perhaps he may do so now and then.”</p> +<p>“And will he write to you and tell you how she +is?”</p> +<p>“Lilian can write for herself; can she not?”</p> +<p>“Oh yes; I suppose she can; but I hope M. Lacordaire +will write too. We shall come back here some day; +shan’t we, mamma?”</p> +<p>“I cannot say, my dear.”</p> +<p>“I do so hope we shall see M. Lacordaire again. Do +you know what I was thinking, mamma?”</p> +<p>“Little girls like you ought not to think,” said +Mrs. Thompson, walking slowly out of the room to the top of the +stairs and back again; for she had felt the necessity of +preventing Mimmy from disclosing any more of her thoughts. +“And now, my dear, get yourself ready, and we will go up to +the school.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson always dressed herself with care, though not in +especially fine clothes, before she went down to dinner at the +table d’hôte; but on this occasion she was more than +usually particular. She hardly explained to herself why she +did this; but, nevertheless, as she stood before the glass, she +did in a certain manner feel that the circumstances of her future +life might perhaps depend on what might be said and done that +evening. She had not absolutely decided whether or no she +would go to the Prince’s château; but if she did +go—. Well, if she did; what then? She had sense +enough, as she assured herself more than once, to regulate her +own conduct with propriety in any such emergency.</p> +<p>During the dinner, M. Lacordaire conversed in his usual +manner, but said nothing whatever about the visit to +Polignac. He was very kind to Mimmy, and very courteous to +her mother, but did not appear to be at all more particular than +usual. Indeed, it might be a question whether he was not +less so. As she had entered the room Mrs. Thompson had said +to herself that, perhaps, after all, it would be better that +there should be nothing more thought about it; but before the +four of five courses were over, she was beginning to feel a +little disappointed.</p> +<p>And now the fruit was on the table, after the consumption of +which it was her practice to retire. It was certainly open +to her to ask M. Lacordaire to take tea with her that evening, as +she had done on former occasions; but she felt that she must not +do this now, considering the immediate circumstances of the +case. If any further steps were to be taken, they must be +taken by him, and not by her;—or else by Mimmy, who, just +as her mother was slowly consuming her last grapes, ran round to +the back of M. Lacordaire’s chair, and whispered something +into his ear. It may be presumed that Mrs. Thompson did not +see the intention of the movement in time to arrest it, for she +did nothing till the whispering had been whispered; and then she +rebuked the child, bade her not to be troublesome, and with more +than usual austerity in her voice, desired her to get herself +ready to go up stairs to their chamber.</p> +<p>As she spoke she herself rose from her chair, and made her +final little bow to the table, and her other final little bow and +smile to M. Lacordaire; but this was certain to all who saw it, +that the smile was not as gracious as usual.</p> +<p>As she walked forth, M. Lacordaire rose from his +chair—such being his constant practice when she left the +table; but on this occasion he accompanied her to the door.</p> +<p>“And has madame decided,” he asked, “whether +she will permit me to accompany her to the +château?”</p> +<p>“Well, I really don’t know,” said Mrs. +Thompson.</p> +<p>“Mees Meemy,” continued M. Lacordaire, “is +very anxious to see the rock, and I may perhaps hope that Mees +Lilian would be pleased with such a little excursion. As +for myself—” and then M. Lacordaire put his hand upon +his heart in a manner that seemed to speak more plainly than he +had ever spoken.</p> +<p>“Well, if the children would really like it, +and—as you are so very kind,” said Mrs. Thompson; and +so the matter was conceded.</p> +<p>“To-morrow afternoon?” suggested M. +Lacordaire. But Mrs. Thompson fixed on Saturday, thereby +showing that she herself was in no hurry for the expedition.</p> +<p>“Oh, I am so glad!” said Mimmy, when they had +re-entered their own room. “Mamma, do let me tell +Lilian myself when I go up to the school to-morrow!”</p> +<p>But mamma was in no humour to say much to her child on this +subject at the present moment. She threw herself back on +her sofa in perfect silence, and began to reflect whether she +would like to sign her name in future as Fanny Lacordaire, +instead of Fanny Thompson. It certainly seemed as though +things were verging towards such a necessity. A +marchand! But a marchand of what? She had an +instinctive feeling that the people in the hotel were talking +about her and M. Lacordaire, and was therefore more than ever +averse to asking any one a question.</p> +<p>As she went up to the school the next afternoon, she walked +through more of the streets of Le Puy than was necessary, and in +every street she looked at the names which she saw over the doors +of the more respectable houses of business. But she looked +in vain. It might be that M. Lacordaire was a marchand of +so specially high a quality as to be under no necessity to put up +his name at all. Sir Hommajee Bommajee’s name did not +appear over any door in Bombay;—at least, she thought +not.</p> +<p>And then came the Saturday morning. “We shall be +ready at two,” she said, as she left the breakfast-table; +“and perhaps you would not mind calling for Lilian on the +way.”</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire would be delighted to call anywhere for anybody +on behalf of Mrs. Thompson; and then, as he got to the door of +the salon, he offered her his hand. He did so with so much +French courtesy that she could not refuse it, and then she felt +that his purpose was more tender than ever it had been. And +why not, if this was the destiny which Fate had prepared for +her?</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson would rather have got into the carriage at any +other spot in Le Puy than at that at which she was forced to do +so—the chief entrance, namely, of the Hôtel des +Ambassadeurs. And what made it worse was this, that an +appearance of a special fate was given to the occasion. M. +Lacordaire was dressed in more than his Sunday best. He had +on new yellow kid gloves. His coat, if not new, was newer +than any Mrs. Thompson had yet observed, and was lined with silk +up to the very collar. He had on patent leather boots, +which glittered, as Mrs. Thompson thought, much too +conspicuously. And as for his hat, it was quite evident +that it was fresh that morning from the maker’s block.</p> +<p>In this costume, with his hat in his hand, he stood under the +great gateway of the hotel, ready to hand Mrs. Thompson into the +carriage. This would have been nothing if the landlord and +landlady had not been there also, as well as the man-cook, and +the four waiters, and the fille de chambre. Two or three +other pair of eyes Mrs. Thompson also saw, as she glanced round, +and then Mimmy walked across the yard in her best clothes with a +fête-day air about her for which her mother would have +liked to have whipped her.</p> +<p>But what did it matter? If it was written in the book +that she should become Madame Lacordaire, of course the world +would know that there must have been some preparatory +love-making. Let them have their laugh; a good husband +would not be dearly purchased at so trifling an expense. +And so they sallied forth with already half the ceremony of a +wedding.</p> +<p>Mimmy seated herself opposite to her mother, and M. Lacordaire +also sat with his back to the horses, leaving the second place of +honour for Lilian. “Pray make yourself comfortable, +M. Lacordaire, and don’t mind her,” said Mrs. +Thompson. But he was firm in his purpose of civility, +perhaps making up his mind that when he should in truth stand in +the place of papa to the young lady, then would be his time for +having the back seat in the carnage.</p> +<p>Lilian, also in her best frock, came down the school-steps, +and three of the school teachers came with her. It would +have added to Mrs. Thompson’s happiness at that moment if +M. Lacordaire would have kept his polished boots out of sight, +and put his yellow gloves into his pocket.</p> +<p>And then they started. The road from Le Puy to Polignac +is nearly all up hill; and a very steep hill it is, so that there +was plenty of time for conversation. But the girls had it +nearly all to themselves. Mimmy thought that she had never +found M. Lacordaire so stupid; and Lilian told her sister on the +first safe opportunity that occurred, that it seemed very much as +though they were all going to church.</p> +<p>“And do any of the Polignac people ever live at this +place?” asked Mrs. Thompson, by way of making conversation; +in answer to which M. Lacordaire informed madame that the place +was at present only a ruin; and then there was again silence till +they found themselves under the rock, and were informed by the +driver that the rest of the ascent must be made on foot.</p> +<p>The rock now stood abrupt and precipitous above their +heads. It was larger in its circumference and with much +larger space on its summit than those other volcanic rocks in and +close to the town; but then at the same time it was higher from +the ground, and quite as inaccessible, except by the single path +which led up to the château.</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire, with conspicuous gallantry, first assisted Mrs. +Thompson from the carriage, and then handed down the two young +ladies. No lady could have been so difficult to please as +to complain of him, and yet Mrs. Thompson thought that he was not +as agreeable as usual. Those horrid boots and those horrid +gloves gave him such an air of holiday finery that neither could +he be at his ease wearing them, nor could she, in seeing them +worn.</p> +<p>They were soon taken in hand by the poor woman whose privilege +it was to show the ruins. For a little distance they walked +up the path in single file; not that it was too narrow to +accommodate two, but M. Lacordaire’s courage had not yet +been screwed to a point which admitted of his offering his arm to +the widow. For in France, it must be remembered, that this +means more than it does in some other countries.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson felt that all this was silly and useless. +If they were not to be dear friends this coming out fêting +together, those boots and gloves and new hat were all very +foolish; and if they were, the sooner they understood each other +the better. So Mrs. Thompson, finding that the path was +steep and the weather warm, stood still for a while leaning +against the wall, with a look of considerable fatigue in her +face.</p> +<p>“Will madame permit me the honour of offering her my +arm?” said M. Lacordaire. “The road is so +extraordinarily steep for madame to climb.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson did permit him the honour, and so they went on +till they reached the top.</p> +<p>The view from the summit was both extensive and grand, but +neither Lilian nor Mimmy were much pleased with the place. +The elder sister, who had talked over the matter with her school +companions, expected a fine castle with turrets, battlements, and +romance; and the other expected a pretty smiling house, such as +princes, in her mind, ought to inhabit.</p> +<p>Instead of this they found an old turret, with steps so broken +that M. Lacordaire did not care to ascend them, and the ruined +walls of a mansion, in which nothing was to be seen but the +remains of an enormous kitchen chimney.</p> +<p>“It was the kitchen of the family,” said the +guide.</p> +<p>“Oh,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“And this,” said the woman, taking them into the +next ruined compartment, “was the kitchen of monsieur et +madame.”</p> +<p>“What! two kitchens?” exclaimed Lilian, upon which +M. Lacordaire explained that the ancestors of the Prince de +Polignac had been very great people, and had therefore required +culinary performances on a great scale.</p> +<p>And then the woman began to chatter something about an oracle +of Apollo. There was, she said, a hole in the rock, from +which in past times, perhaps more than a hundred years ago, the +oracle used to speak forth mysterious words.</p> +<p>“There,” she said, pointing to a part of the rock +at some distance, “was the hole. And if the ladies +would follow her to a little outhouse which was just beyond, she +would show them the huge stone mouth out of which the oracle used +to speak.”</p> +<p>Lilian and Mimmy both declared at once for seeing the oracle, +but Mrs. Thompson expressed her determination to remain sitting +where she was upon the turf. So the guide started off with +the young ladies; and will it be thought surprising that M. +Lacordaire should have remained alone by the side of Mrs. +Thompson?</p> +<p>It must be now or never, Mrs. Thompson felt; and as regarded +M. Lacordaire, he probably entertained some idea of the same +kind. Mrs. Thompson’s inclinations, though they had +never been very strong in the matter, were certainly in favour of +the “now.” M. Lacordaire’s inclinations +were stronger. He had fully and firmly made up his mind in +favour of matrimony; but then he was not so absolutely in favour +of the “now.” Mrs. Thompson’s mind, if +one could have read it, would have shown a great objection to +shilly-shallying, as she was accustomed to call it. But M. +Lacordaire, were it not for the danger which might thence arise, +would have seen no objection to some slight further +procrastination. His courage was beginning, perhaps, to +ooze out from his fingers’ ends.</p> +<p>“I declare that those girls have scampered away ever so +far,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“Would madame wish that I should call them back?” +said M. Lacordaire, innocently.</p> +<p>“Oh, no, dear children! let them enjoy themselves; it +will be a pleasure to them to run about the rock, and I suppose +they will be safe with that woman?”</p> +<p>“Oh, yes, quite safe,” said M. Lacordaire; and +then there was another little pause.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson was sitting on a broken fragment of a stone just +outside the entrance to the old family kitchen, and M. Lacordaire +was standing immediately before her. He had in his hand a +little cane with which he sometimes slapped his boots and +sometimes poked about among the rubbish. His hat was not +quite straight on his head, having a little jaunty twist to one +side, with reference to which, by-the-bye, Mrs. Thompson then +resolved that she would make a change, should ever the gentleman +become her own property. He still wore his gloves, and was +very smart; but it was clear to see that he was not at his +ease.</p> +<p>“I hope the heat does not incommode you,” he said +after a few moments’ silence. Mrs. Thompson declared +that it did not, that she liked a good deal of heat, and that, on +the whole, she was very well where she was. She was afraid, +however, that she was detaining M. Lacordaire, who might probably +wish to be moving about upon the rock. In answer to which +M. Lacordaire declared that he never could be so happy anywhere +as in her close vicinity.</p> +<p>“You are too good to me,” said Mrs. Thompson, +almost sighing. “I don’t know what my stay here +would have been without your great kindness.”</p> +<p>“It is madame that has been kind to me,” said M. +Lacordaire, pressing the handle of his cane against his +heart.</p> +<p>There was then another pause, after which Mrs. Thompson said +that that was all his French politeness; that she knew that she +had been very troublesome to him, but that she would now soon be +gone; and that then, in her own country, she would never forget +his great goodness.</p> +<p>“Ah, madame!” said M. Lacordaire; and, as he said +it, much more was expressed in his face than in his words. +But, then, you can neither accept nor reject a gentleman by what +he says in his face. He blushed, too, up to his grizzled +hair, and, turning round, walked a step or two away from the +widow’s seat, and back again.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson the while sat quite still. The displaced +fragment, lying, as it did, near a corner of the building, made +not an uncomfortable chair. She had only to be careful that +she did not injure her hat or crush her clothes, and throw in a +word here and there to assist the gentleman, should occasion +permit it.</p> +<p>“Madame!” said M. Lacordaire, on his return from a +second little walk.</p> +<p>“Monsieur!” replied Mrs. Thompson, perceiving that +M. Lacordaire paused in his speech.</p> +<p>“Madame,” he began again, and then, as he again +paused, Mrs. Thompson looked up to him very sweetly; +“madame, what I am going to say will, I am afraid, seem to +evince by far too great audacity on my part.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson may, perhaps, have thought that, at the present +moment, audacity was not his fault. She replied, however, +that she was quite sure that monsieur would say nothing that was +in any way unbecoming either for him to speak or for her to +hear.</p> +<p>“Madame, may I have ground to hope that such may be your +sentiments after I have spoken! Madame”—and now +he went down, absolutely on his knees, on the hard stones; and +Mrs. Thompson, looking about into the distance, almost thought +that she saw the top of the guide’s +cap—“Madame, I have looked forward to this +opportunity as one in which I may declare for you the greatest +passion that I have ever yet felt. Madame, with all my heart and +soul I love you. Madame, I offer to you the homage of my +heart, my hand, the happiness of my life, and all that I possess +in this world;” and then, taking her hand gracefully +between his gloves, he pressed his lips against the tips of her +fingers.</p> +<p>If the thing was to be done, this way of doing it was, +perhaps, as good as any other. It was one, at any rate, +which left no doubt whatever as to the gentleman’s +intentions. Mrs. Thompson, could she have had her own way, +would not have allowed her lover of fifty to go down upon his +knees, and would have spared him much of the romance of his +declaration. So also would she have spared him his yellow +gloves and his polished boots. But these were a part of the +necessity of the situation, and therefore she wisely took them as +matters to be passed over with indifference. Seeing, +however, that M. Lacordaire still remained on his knees, it was +necessary that she should take some step toward raising him, +especially as her two children and the guide would infallibly be +upon them before long.</p> +<p>“M. Lacordaire,” she said, “you surprise me +greatly; but pray get up.”</p> +<p>“But will madame vouchsafe to give me some small ground +for hope?”</p> +<p>“The girls will be here directly, M. Lacordaire; pray +get up. I can talk to you much better if you will stand up, +or sit down on one of these stones.”</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire did as he was bid; he got up, wiped the knees of +his pantaloons with his handkerchief, sat down beside her, and +then pressed the handle of his cane to his heart.</p> +<p>“You really have so surprised me that I hardly know how +to answer you,” said Mrs. Thompson. “Indeed, I +cannot bring myself to imagine that you are in +earnest.”</p> +<p>“Ah, madame, do not be so cruel! How can I have +lived with you so long, sat beside you for so many days, without +having received your image into my heart? I am in +earnest! Alas! I fear too much in +earnest!” And then he looked at her with all his +eyes, and sighed with all his strength.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson’s prudence told her that it would be well +to settle the matter, in one way or the other, as soon as +possible. Long periods of love-making were fit for younger +people than herself and her future possible husband. Her +object would be to make him comfortable if she could, and that he +should do the same for her, if that also were possible. As +for lookings and sighings and pressings of the hand, she had gone +through all that some twenty years since in India, when Thompson +had been young, and she was still in her teens.</p> +<p>“But, M. Lacordaire, there are so many things to be +considered. There! I hear the children coming! +Let us walk this way for a minute.” And they turned +behind a wall which placed them out of sight, and walked on a few +paces till they reached a parapet, which stood on the uttermost +edge of the high rock. Leaning upon this they continued +their conversation.</p> +<p>“There are so many things to be considered,” said +Mrs. Thompson again.</p> +<p>“Yes, of course,” said M. Lacordaire. +“But my one great consideration is this;—that I love +madame to distraction.”</p> +<p>“I am very much flattered; of course, any lady would so +feel. But, M. Lacordaire—”</p> +<p>“Madame, I am all attention. But, if you would +deign to make me happy, say that one word, ‘I love +you!’” M. Lacordaire, as he uttered these +words, did not look, as the saying is, at his best. But +Mrs. Thompson forgave him. She knew that elderly gentlemen +under such circumstances do not look at their best.</p> +<p>“But if I consented to—to—to such an +arrangement, I could only do so on seeing that it would be +beneficial—or, at any rate, not injurious—to my +children; and that it would offer to ourselves a fair promise of +future happiness.”</p> +<p>“Ah, madame; it would be the dearest wish of my heart to +be a second father to those two young ladies; except, +indeed—” and then M. Lacordaire stopped the flow of +his speech.</p> +<p>“In such matters it is so much the best to be explicit +at once,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“Oh, yes; certainly! Nothing can be more wise than +madame.”</p> +<p>“And the happiness of a household depends so much on +money.”</p> +<p>“Madame!”</p> +<p>“Let me say a word or two, Monsieur Lacordaire. I +have enough for myself and my children; and, should I every marry +again, I should not, I hope, be felt as a burden by my husband; +but it would, of course, be my duty to know what were his +circumstances before I accepted him. Of yourself, +personally, I have seen nothing that I do not like.”</p> +<p>“Oh, madame!”</p> +<p>“But as yet I know nothing of your +circumstances.”</p> +<p>M. Lacordaire, perhaps, did feel that Mrs. Thompson’s +prudence was of a strong, masculine description; but he hardly +liked her the less on this account. To give him his due he +was not desirous of marrying her solely for her money’s +sake. He also wished for a comfortable home, and proposed +to give as much as he got; only he had been anxious to wrap up +the solid cake of this business in a casing of sugar of +romance. Mrs. Thompson would not have the sugar but the +cake might not be the worse on that account.</p> +<p>“No, madame, not as yet; but they shall all be made open +and at your disposal,” said M. Lacordaire; and Mrs. +Thompson bowed approvingly.</p> +<p>“I am in business,” continued M. Lacordaire; +“and my business gives me eight thousand francs a +year.”</p> +<p>“Four times eight are thirty-two,” said Mrs. +Thompson to herself; putting the francs into pounds sterling, in +the manner that she had always found to be the readiest. +Well, so far the statement was satisfactory. An income of +three hundred and twenty pounds a year from business, joined to +her own, might do very well. She did not in the least +suspect M. Lacordaire of being false, and so far the matter +sounded well.</p> +<p>“And what is the business?” she asked, in a tone +of voice intended to be indifferent, but which nevertheless +showed that she listened anxiously for an answer to her +question.</p> +<p>They were both standing with their arms upon the wall, looking +down upon the town of Le Puy; but they had so stood that each +could see the other’s countenance as they talked. +Mrs. Thompson could now perceive that M. Lacordaire became red in +the face, as he paused before answering her. She was near +to him, and seeing his emotion gently touched his arm with her +hand. This she did to reassure him, for she saw that he was +ashamed of having to declare that he was a tradesman. As +for herself, she had made up her mind to bear with this, if she +found, as she felt sure she would find, that the trade was one +which would not degrade either him or her. Hitherto, +indeed,—in her early days,—she had looked down on +trade; but of what benefit had her grand ideas been to her when +she had returned to England? She had tried her hand at +English genteel society, and no one had seemed to care for +her. Therefore, she touched his arm lightly with her +fingers that she might encourage him.</p> +<p>He paused for a moment, as I have said, and became red; and +then feeling that he had shown some symptoms of shame—and +feeling also, probably, that it was unmanly in him to do so, he +shook himself slightly, raised his head up somewhat more proudly +than was his wont, looked her full in the face with more strength +of character than she had yet seen him assume; and then, declared +his business.</p> +<p>“Madame,” he said, in a very audible, but not in a +loud voice, “madame—je suis tailleur.” +And having so spoken, he turned slightly from her and looked down +over the valley towards Le Puy.</p> +<p>There was nothing more said upon the subject as they drove +down from the rock of Polignac back to the town. +Immediately on receiving the announcement, Mrs. Thompson found +that she had no answer to make. She withdrew her +hand—and felt at once that she had received a blow. +It was not that she was angry with M. Lacordaire for being a +tailor; nor was she angry with him in that, being a tailor, he +had so addressed her. But she was surprised, disappointed, +and altogether put beyond her ease. She had, at any rate, +not expected this. She had dreamed of his being a banker; +thought that, perhaps, he might have been a wine merchant; but +her idea had never gone below a jeweller or watchmaker. +When those words broke upon her ear, “Madame, je suis +tailleur,” she had felt herself to be speechless.</p> +<p>But the words had not been a minute spoken when Lilian and +Mimmy ran up to their mother. “Oh, mamma,” said +Lilian, “we thought you were lost; we have searched for you +all over the château.”</p> +<p>“We have been sitting very quietly here, my dear, +looking at the view,” said Mrs. Thompson.</p> +<p>“But, mamma, I do wish you’d see the mouth of the +oracle. It is so large, and so round, and so ugly. I +put my arm into it all the way,” said Mimmy.</p> +<p>But at the present moment her mamma felt no interest in the +mouth of the oracle; and so they all walked down together to the +carriage. And, though the way was steep, Mrs. Thompson +managed to pick her steps without the assistance of an arm; nor +did M. Lacordaire presume to offer it.</p> +<p>The drive back to town was very silent. Mrs. Thompson +did make one or two attempts at conversation, but they were not +effectual. M. Lacordaire could not speak at his ease till +this matter was settled, and he already had begun to perceive +that his business was against him. Why is it that the trade +of a tailor should be less honourable than that of a haberdasher, +or even a grocer?</p> +<p>They sat next each other at dinner, as usual; and here, as all +eyes were upon them, they both made a great struggle to behave in +their accustomed way. But even in this they failed. +All the world of the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs knew that M. +Lacordaire had gone forth to make an offer to Mrs. Thompson, and +all that world, therefore, was full of speculation. But all +the world could make nothing of it. M. Lacordaire did look +like a rejected man, but Mrs. Thompson did not look like the +woman who had rejected him. That the offer had been +made—in that everybody agreed, from the senior +habitué of the house who always sat at the head of the +table, down to the junior assistant garçon. But as +to reading the riddle, there was no accord among them.</p> +<p>When the dessert was done, Mrs. Thompson, as usual, withdrew, +and M. Lacordaire, as usual, bowed as he stood behind his own +chair. He did not, however, attempt to follow her.</p> +<p>But when she reached the door she called him. He was at +her side in a moment, and then she whispered in his +ear—</p> +<p>“And I, also—I will be of the same +business.”</p> +<p>When M. Lacordaire regained the table the senior +habitué, the junior garçon, and all the +intermediate ranks of men at the Hôtel des Ambassadeurs +knew that they might congratulate him.</p> +<p>Mrs. Thompson had made a great struggle; but, speaking for +myself, I am inclined to think that she arrived at last at a wise +decision.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHATEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 3712-h.htm or 3712-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/1/3712 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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