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diff --git a/3712-0.txt b/3712-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..124e967 --- /dev/null +++ b/3712-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1331 @@ +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: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHATEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC*** + + +Transcribed from the 1864 Chapman and Hall “Tales of All Countries” +edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + THE CHÂTEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC. + + +FEW 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“And how is Mees Meemy this morning?” said he; for ’twas thus he always +pronounced her name. + +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. + +“Fie, Mimmy!” said her mother; “why do you ask for the things before the +waiter brings them round?” + +“But, mamma,” said Mimmy, speaking English, “M. Lacordaire always gives +me a fig every morning.” + +“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? + +“But madame really must see the château of Prince Polignac before she +leaves Le Puy,” said M. Lacordaire. + +“The château of who?” asked Mimmy, to whose young ears the French words +were already becoming familiar. + +“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. + +“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.” + +“Oh, yes, mamma, do go,” said Mimmy, clapping her hands. “And it is +Thursday, and Lilian can go with us.” + +“Be quiet, Mimmy, do. Thank you, no, M. Lacordaire. I could not go +to-day; but I am extremely obliged by your politeness.” + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“Mamma,” said Mimmy, “why won’t you go with M. Lacordaire to that place +belonging to the prince? Prince—Polly something, wasn’t it?” + +“Mind your work, my dear,” said Mrs. Thompson. + +“But I do so wish you’d go, mamma. What was the prince’s name?” + +“Polignac.” + +“Mamma, ain’t princes very great people?” + +“Yes, my dear; sometimes.” + +“Is Prince Polly-nac like our Prince Alfred?” + +“No, my dear; not at all. At least, I suppose not.” + +“Is his mother a queen?” + +“No, my dear.” + +“Then his father must be a king?” + +“No, my dear. It is quite a different thing here. Here in France they +have a great many princes.” + +“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?” + +“M. Lacordaire a prince! No; don’t talk such nonsense, but mind your +work.” + +“Isn’t M. Lacordaire a very nice man? Ain’t you very fond of him?” + +To this question Mrs. Thompson made no answer. + +“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.” + +“What makes you think that?” asked Mrs. Thompson, who could not bring +herself to refrain from the question. + +“Because he looks at you in that way, mamma, and squeezes your hand.” + +“Nonsense, child,” said Mrs. Thompson; “hold your tongue. I don’t know +what can have put such stuff into your head.” + +“But he does, mamma,” said Mimmy, who rarely allowed her mother to put +her down. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +“Mamma,” said Mummy, “will M. Lacordaire go up to the school to see +Lilian when you go away from this?” + +“Indeed, I cannot say, my dear. If Lilian is a good girl, perhaps he may +do so now and then.” + +“And will he write to you and tell you how she is?” + +“Lilian can write for herself; can she not?” + +“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?” + +“I cannot say, my dear.” + +“I do so hope we shall see M. Lacordaire again. Do you know what I was +thinking, mamma?” + +“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.” + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“And has madame decided,” he asked, “whether she will permit me to +accompany her to the château?” + +“Well, I really don’t know,” said Mrs. Thompson. + +“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. + +“Well, if the children would really like it, and—as you are so very +kind,” said Mrs. Thompson; and so the matter was conceded. + +“To-morrow afternoon?” suggested M. Lacordaire. But Mrs. Thompson fixed +on Saturday, thereby showing that she herself was in no hurry for the +expedition. + +“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!” + +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. + +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. + +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.” + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +“Will madame permit me the honour of offering her my arm?” said M. +Lacordaire. “The road is so extraordinarily steep for madame to climb.” + +Mrs. Thompson did permit him the honour, and so they went on till they +reached the top. + +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. + +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. + +“It was the kitchen of the family,” said the guide. + +“Oh,” said Mrs. Thompson. + +“And this,” said the woman, taking them into the next ruined compartment, +“was the kitchen of monsieur et madame.” + +“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. + +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. + +“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.” + +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? + +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. + +“I declare that those girls have scampered away ever so far,” said Mrs. +Thompson. + +“Would madame wish that I should call them back?” said M. Lacordaire, +innocently. + +“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?” + +“Oh, yes, quite safe,” said M. Lacordaire; and then there was another +little pause. + +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. + +“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. + +“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.” + +“It is madame that has been kind to me,” said M. Lacordaire, pressing the +handle of his cane against his heart. + +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. + +“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. + +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. + +“Madame!” said M. Lacordaire, on his return from a second little walk. + +“Monsieur!” replied Mrs. Thompson, perceiving that M. Lacordaire paused +in his speech. + +“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.” + +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. + +“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. + +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. + +“M. Lacordaire,” she said, “you surprise me greatly; but pray get up.” + +“But will madame vouchsafe to give me some small ground for hope?” + +“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.” + +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. + +“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.” + +“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. + +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. + +“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. + +“There are so many things to be considered,” said Mrs. Thompson again. + +“Yes, of course,” said M. Lacordaire. “But my one great consideration is +this;—that I love madame to distraction.” + +“I am very much flattered; of course, any lady would so feel. But, M. +Lacordaire—” + +“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. + +“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.” + +“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. + +“In such matters it is so much the best to be explicit at once,” said +Mrs. Thompson. + +“Oh, yes; certainly! Nothing can be more wise than madame.” + +“And the happiness of a household depends so much on money.” + +“Madame!” + +“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.” + +“Oh, madame!” + +“But as yet I know nothing of your circumstances.” + +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. + +“No, madame, not as yet; but they shall all be made open and at your +disposal,” said M. Lacordaire; and Mrs. Thompson bowed approvingly. + +“I am in business,” continued M. Lacordaire; “and my business gives me +eight thousand francs a year.” + +“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. + +“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. + +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. + +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. + +“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. + +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. + +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.” + +“We have been sitting very quietly here, my dear, looking at the view,” +said Mrs. Thompson. + +“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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +But when she reached the door she called him. He was at her side in a +moment, and then she whispered in his ear— + +“And I, also—I will be of the same business.” + +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. + +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. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHATEAU OF PRINCE POLIGNAC*** + + +******* This file should be named 3712-0.txt or 3712-0.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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