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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3914.txt b/3914.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72cda79 --- /dev/null +++ b/3914.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3201 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Serge Panine, by Georges Ohnet, v1 +#1 in our series The French Immortals Crowned by the French Academy +#1 in our series by Georges Ohnet + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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D.W.] + + + + + +SERGE PANINE + +By GEORGES OHNET + + +With a General Introduction to the Series by GASTON BOISSIER, Secretaire +Perpetuel de l'academie Francaise. + + + + +GENERAL INTRODUCTION + +1905 + +BY ROBERT ARNOT + +The editor-in-chief of the Maison Mazarin--a man of letters who cherishes +an enthusiastic yet discriminating love for the literary and artistic +glories of France--formed within the last two years the great project of +collecting and presenting to the vast numbers of intelligent readers of +whom New World boasts a series of those great and undying romances which, +since 1784, have received the crown of merit awarded by the French +Academy--that coveted assurance of immortality in letters and in art. + +In the presentation of this serious enterprise for the criticism and +official sanction of The Academy, 'en seance', was included a request +that, if possible, the task of writing a preface to the series should be +undertaken by me. Official sanction having been bestowed upon the plan, +I, as the accredited officer of the French Academy, convey to you its +hearty appreciation, endorsement, and sympathy with a project so nobly +artistic. It is also my duty, privilege, and pleasure to point out, at +the request of my brethren, the peculiar importance and lasting value of +this series to all who would know the inner life of a people whose +greatness no turns of fortune have been able to diminish. + +In the last hundred years France has experienced the most terrible +vicissitudes, but, vanquished or victorious, triumphant or abased, never +has she lost her peculiar gift of attracting the curiosity of the world. +She interests every living being, and even those who do not love her +desire to know her. To this peculiar attraction which radiates from her, +artists and men of letters can well bear witness, since it is to +literature and to the arts, before all, that France owes such living and +lasting power. In every quarter of the civilized world there are +distinguished writers, painters, and eminent musicians, but in France +they exist in greater numbers than elsewhere. Moreover, it is +universally conceded that French writers and artists have this particular +and praiseworthy quality: they are most accessible to people of other +countries. Without losing their national characteristics, they possess +the happy gift of universality. To speak of letters alone: the books +that Frenchmen write are read, translated, dramatized, and imitated +everywhere; so it is not strange that these books give to foreigners a +desire for a nearer and more intimate acquaintance with France. + +Men preserve an almost innate habit of resorting to Paris from almost +every quarter of the globe. For many years American visitors have been +more numerous than others, although the journey from the United States is +long and costly. But I am sure that when for the first time they see +Paris--its palaces, its churches, its museums--and visit Versailles, +Fontainebleau, and Chantilly, they do not regret the travail they have +undergone. Meanwhile, however, I ask myself whether such sightseeing is +all that, in coming hither, they wish to accomplish. Intelligent +travellers--and, as a rule, it is the intelligent class that feels the +need of the educative influence of travel--look at our beautiful +monuments, wander through the streets and squares among the crowds that +fill them, and, observing them, I ask myself again: Do not such people +desire to study at closer range these persons who elbow them as they +pass; do they not wish to enter the houses of which they see but the +facades; do they not wish to know how Parisians live and speak and act by +their firesides? But time, alas! is lacking for the formation of those +intimate friendships which would bring this knowledge within their grasp. +French homes are rarely open to birds of passage, and visitors leave us +with regret that they have not been able to see more than the surface of +our civilization or to recognize by experience the note of our inner home +life. + +How, then, shall this void be filled? Speaking in the first person, the +simplest means appears to be to study those whose profession it is to +describe the society of the time, and primarily, therefore, the works of +dramatic writers, who are supposed to draw a faithful picture of it. So +we go to the theatre, and usually derive keen pleasure therefrom. But is +pleasure all that we expect to find? What we should look for above +everything in a comedy or a drama is a representation, exact as possible, +of the manners and characters of the dramatis persona of the play; and +perhaps the conditions under which the play was written do not allow such +representation. The exact and studied portrayal of a character demands +from the author long preparation, and cannot be accomplished in a few +hours. From, the first scene to the last, each tale must be posed in the +author's mind exactly as it will be proved to be at the end. It is the +author's aim and mission to place completely before his audience the +souls of the "agonists" laying bare the complications of motive, and +throwing into relief the delicate shades of motive that sway them. +Often, too, the play is produced before a numerous audience--an audience +often distrait, always pressed for time, and impatient of the least +delay. Again, the public in general require that they shall be able to +understand without difficulty, and at first thought, the characters the +author seeks to present, making it necessary that these characters be +depicted from their most salient sides--which are too often vulgar and +unattractive. + +In our comedies and dramas it is not the individual that is drawn, but +the type. Where the individual alone is real, the type is a myth of the +imagination--a pure invention. And invention is the mainspring of the +theatre, which rests purely upon illusion, and does not please us unless +it begins by deceiving us. + +I believe, then, that if one seeks to know the world exactly as it is, +the theatre does not furnish the means whereby one can pursue the study. +A far better opportunity for knowing the private life of a people is +available through the medium of its great novels. The novelist deals +with each person as an individual. He speaks to his reader at an hour +when the mind is disengaged from worldly affairs, and he can add without +restraint every detail that seems needful to him to complete the rounding +of his story. He can return at will, should he choose, to the source of +the plot he is unfolding, in order that his reader may better understand +him; he can emphasize and dwell upon those details which an audience in a +theatre will not allow. + +The reader, being at leisure, feels no impatience, for he knows that he +can at any time lay down or take up the book. It is the consciousness of +this privilege that gives him patience, should he encounter a dull page +here or there. He may hasten or delay his reading, according to the +interest he takes in his romance-nay, more, he can return to the earlier +pages, should he need to do so, for a better comprehension of some +obscure point. In proportion as he is attracted and interested by the +romance, and also in the degree of concentration with which he reads it, +does he grasp better the subtleties of the narrative. No shade of +character drawing escapes him. He realizes, with keener appreciation, +the most delicate of human moods, and the novelist is not compelled to +introduce the characters to him, one by one, distinguishing them only by +the most general characteristics, but can describe each of those little +individual idiosyncrasies that contribute to the sum total of a living +personality. + +When I add that the dramatic author is always to a certain extent a slave +to the public, and must ever seek to please the passing taste of his +time, it will be recognized that he is often, alas! compelled to +sacrifice his artistic leanings to popular caprice-that is, if he has the +natural desire that his generation should applaud him. + +As a rule, with the theatre-going masses, one person follows the fads or +fancies of others, and individual judgments are too apt to be +irresistibly swayed by current opinion. But the novelist, entirely +independent of his reader, is not compelled to conform himself to the +opinion of any person, or to submit to his caprices. He is absolutely +free to picture society as he sees it, and we therefore can have more +confidence in his descriptions of the customs and characters of the day. + +It is precisely this view of the case that the editor of the series has +taken, and herein is the raison d'etre of this collection of great French +romances. The choice was not easy to make. That form of literature +called the romance abounds with us. France has always loved it, for +French writers exhibit a curiosity--and I may say an indiscretion--that +is almost charming in the study of customs and morals at large; a quality +that induces them to talk freely of themselves and of their neighbors, +and to set forth fearlessly both the good and the bad in human nature. +In this fascinating phase of literature, France never has produced +greater examples than of late years. + +In the collection here presented to American readers will be found those +works especially which reveal the intimate side of French social life- +works in which are discussed the moral problems that affect most potently +the life of the world at large. If inquiring spirits seek to learn the +customs and manners of the France of any age, they must look for it among +her crowned romances. They need go back no farther than Ludovic Halevy, +who may be said to open the modern epoch. In the romantic school, on its +historic side, Alfred de Vigny must be looked upon as supreme. De Musset +and Anatole France may be taken as revealing authoritatively the moral +philosophy of nineteenth-century thought. I must not omit to mention the +Jacqueline of Th. Bentzon, and the "Attic " Philosopher of Emile +Souvestre, nor the, great names of Loti, Claretie, Coppe, Bazin, Bourget, +Malot, Droz, De Massa, and last, but not least, our French Dickens, +Alphonse Daudet. I need not add more; the very names of these +"Immortals" suffice to commend the series to readers in all countries. + +One word in conclusion: America may rest assured that her students of +international literature will find in this series of 'ouvrages couronnes' +all that they may wish to know of France at her own fireside--a knowledge +that too often escapes them, knowledge that embraces not only a faithful +picture of contemporary life in the French provinces, but a living and +exact description of French society in modern times. They may feel +certain that when they have read these romances, they will have sounded +the depths and penetrated into the hidden intimacies of France, not only +as she is, but as she would be known. + + GASTON BOISSIER + +SECRETAIRE PERPETUEL DE L'ACADEMIE FRANCAISE + + + + +GEORGES OHNET + +The only French novelist whose books have a circulation approaching the +works of Daudet and of Zola is Georges Ohnet, a writer whose popularity +is as interesting as his stories, because it explains, though it does not +excuse, the contempt the Goncourts had for the favor of the great French +public, and also because it shows how the highest form of Romanticism +still ferments beneath the varnish of Naturalism in what is called genius +among the great masses of readers. + +Georges Ohnet was born in Paris, April 3, 1848, the son of an architect. +He was destined for the Bar, but was early attracted by journalism and +literature. Being a lawyer it was not difficult for him to join the +editorial staff of Le Pays, and later Le Constitutionnel. This was soon +after the Franco-German War. His romances, since collected under the +title 'Batailles de la Vie', appeared first in 'Le Figaro, +L'Illustration, and Revue des Deux Mondes', and have been exceedingly +well received by the public. This relates also to his dramas, some of +his works meeting with a popular success rarely extended to any author. +For some time Georges Ohnet did not find the same favor with the critics, +who often attacked him with a passionate violence and unusual severity. +True, a high philosophical flow of thoughts cannot be detected in his +writings, but nevertheless it is certain that the characters and the +subjects of which he treats are brilliantly sketched and clearly +developed. They are likewise of perfect morality and honesty. + +There was expected of him, however, an idea which was not quite realized. +Appearing upon the literary stage at a period when Naturalism was +triumphant, it was for a moment believed that he would restore Idealism +in the manner of George Sand. + +In any case the hostile critics have lost. For years public opinion has +exalted him, and the reaction is the more significant when compared with +the tremendous criticism launched against his early romances and novels. + +A list of his works follows: + +Serge Panine (1881), crowned by the French Academy, has since gone +through one hundred and fifty French editions; Le Maitre des Forges (1882), +a prodigious success, two hundred and fifty editions being printed (1900); +La Comtesse Sarah (1882); Lise Fleuyon (1884); La Grande Maynieye +(1886); Les Dames de Croix-Mort (1886); Volonte (1888); Le Docteur +Rameau (1889); Deynier Amour (1889); Le Cure de Favieyes (1890); Dette +de Haine (1891); Nemsod et Cie. (1892); Le Lendemain des Amours (1893); +Le Droit de l'Enfant (1894.); Les Vielles Rancunes (1894); La Dame en +Gris (1895); La Fille du Depute (1896); Le Roi de Paris (1898); Au Fond +du Gouffre (1899); Gens de la Noce (1900); La Tenibreuse (1900); Le +Cyasseur d'Affaires (1901); Le Crepuscule (1901); Le Marche a l'Amour +(1902). + +Ohnet's novels are collected under the titles, 'Noir et Rose (1887) and +L'Ame de Pierre (1890). + +The dramatic writings of Georges Ohnet, mostly taken from his novels, +have greatly contributed to his reputation. Le Maitre des Forges was +played for a full year (Gymnase, 1883); it was followed by Serge Panine +(1884); La Comtesse Sarah (1887). La Grande Mayniere (1888), met also +with a decided and prolonged success; Dernier Amour (Gymnase, 1890); +Colonel Roquebrune (Porte St. Martin, 1897). Before that he had already +written the plays Regina Sarpi (1875) and Marthe (1877), which yet hold a +prominent place upon the French stage. + +I have shown in this rapid sketch that a man of the stamp of Georges +Ohnet must have immortal qualities in himself, even though flayed and +roasted alive by the critics. He is most assuredly an artist in form, +is endowed with a brilliant style, and has been named "L'Historiographe +de la bourgeoise contemporaine." Indeed, antagonism to plutocracy and +hatred of aristocracy are the fundamental theses in almost every one of +his books. + +His exposition, I repeat, is startlingly neat, the development of his +plots absolutely logical, and the world has acclaimed his ingenuity in +dramatic construction. He is truly, and in all senses, of the Ages. + + VICTOR CHERBOULIEZ + de l'Academie Francaise + + + + + +SERGE PANINE + + +CHAPTER I + +THE HOUSE OF DESVARENNES + +The firm of Desvarennes has been in an ancient mansion in the Rue Saint +Dominique since 1875; it is one of the best known and most important in +French industry. The counting-houses are in the wings of the building +looking upon the courtyard, which were occupied by the servants when the +family whose coat-of-arms has been effaced from above the gate-way were +still owners of the estate. + +Madame Desvarennes inhabits the mansion which she has had magnificently +renovated. A formidable rival of the Darblays, the great millers of +France, the firm of Desvarennes is a commercial and political power. +Inquire in Paris about its solvency, and you will be told that you may +safely advance twenty millions of francs on the signature of the head of +the firm. And this head is a woman. + +This woman is remarkable. Gifted with keen understanding and a firm +will, she had in former times vowed to make a large fortune, and she has +kept her word. + +She was the daughter of a humble packer of the Rue Neuve-Coquenard. +Toward 1848 she married Michel Desvarennes, who was then a journeyman +baker in a large shop in the Chaussee d'Antin. With the thousand francs +which the packer managed to give his daughter by way of dowry, the young +couple boldly took a shop and started a little bakery business. The +husband kneaded and baked the bread, and the young wife, seated at the +counter, kept watch over the till. Neither on Sundays nor on holidays +was the shop shut. + +Through the window, between two pyramids of pink and blue packets of +biscuits, one could always catch sight of the serious-looking Madame +Desvarennes, knitting woollen stockings for her husband while waiting for +customers. With her prominent forehead, and her eyes always bent on her +work, this woman appeared the living image of perseverance. + +At the end of five years of incessant work, and possessing twenty +thousand francs, saved sou by sou, the Desvarennes left the slopes of +Montmartre, and moved to the centre of Paris. They were ambitious and +full of confidence. They set up in the Rue Vivienne, in a shop +resplendent with gilding and ornamented with looking-glasses. The +ceiling was painted in panels with bright hued pictures that caught the +eyes of the passers-by. The window-shelves were of white marble, and the +counter, where Madame Desvarennes was still enthroned, was of a width +worthy of the receipts that were taken every day. Business increased +daily; the Desvarennes continued to be hard and systematic workers. The +class of customers alone had changed; they were more numerous and richer. +The house had a specialty for making small rolls for the restaurants. +Michel had learned from the Viennese bakers how to make those golden +balls which tempt the most rebellious appetite, and which, when in an +artistically folded damask napkin, set off a dinner-table. + +About this time Madame Desvarennes, while calculating how much the +millers must gain on the flour they sell to the bakers, resolved, in +order to lessen expenses, to do without middlemen and grind her own corn. +Michel, naturally timid, was frightened when his wife disclosed to him +the simple project which she had formed. Accustomed to submit to the +will of her whom he respectfully called "the mistress," and of whom he +was but the head clerk, he dared not oppose her. But, a red-tapist by +nature, and hating innovations, owing to weakness of mind, he trembled +inwardly and cried in agony: + +"Wife, you'll ruin us." + +The mistress calmed the poor man's alarm; she tried to impart to him some +of her confidence, to animate him with her hope, but without success, so +she went on without him. A mill was for sale at Jouy, on the banks of +the Oise; she paid ready money for it, and a few weeks later the bakery +in the Rue Vivienne was independent of every one. She ground her own +flour, and from that time business increased considerably. Feeling +capable of carrying out large undertakings, and, moreover, desirous of +giving up the meannesses of retail trade, Madame Desvarennes, one fine +day, sent in a tender for supplying bread to the military hospitals. It +was accepted, and from that time the house ranked among the most +important. On seeing the Desvarennes take their daring flight, the +leading men in the trade had said: + +"They have system and activity, and if they do not upset on the way, they +will attain a high position." + +But the mistress seemed to have the gift of divination. She worked +surely--if she struck out one way you might be certain that success was +there. In all her enterprises, "good luck" stood close by her; she +scented failures from afar, and the firm never made a bad debt. Still +Michel continued to tremble. The first mill had been followed by many +more; then the old system appeared insufficient to Madame Desvarennes. +As she wished to keep up with the increase of business she had steam- +mills built,--which are now grinding three hundred million francs' worth +of corn every year. + +Fortune had favored the house immensely, but Michel continued to tremble. +From time to time when the mistress launched out a new business, he +timidly ventured on his usual saying: + +"Wife, you're going to ruin us." + +But one felt it was only for form's sake, and that he himself no longer +meant what he said. Madame Desvarennes received this plaintive +remonstrance with a calm smile, and answered, maternally, as to a child: + +"There, there, don't be frightened." + +Then she would set to work again, and direct with irresistible vigor the +army of clerks who peopled her counting-houses. + +In fifteen years' time, by prodigious efforts of will and energy, Madame +Desvarennes had made her way from the lonely and muddy Rue Neuve- +Coquenard to the mansion in the Rue Saint-Dominique. Of the bakery there +was no longer question. It was some time since the business in the Rue +Vivienne had been transferred to the foreman of the shop. The flour +trade alone occupied Madame Desvarennes's attention. She ruled the +prices in the market; and great bankers came to her office and did +business with her on a footing of equality. She did not become any +prouder for it, she knew too well the strength and weakness of life to +have pride; her former plain dealing had not stiffened into self- +sufficiency. Such as one had known her when beginning business, such one +found her in the zenith of her fortune. Instead of a woollen gown she +wore a silk one, but the color was still black; her language had not +become refined; she retained the same blunt familiar accent, and at the +end of five minutes' conversation with any one of importance she could +not resist calling him "my dear," to come morally near him. Her commands +had more fulness. In giving her orders, she had the manner of a +commander-in-chief, and it was useless to haggle when she had spoken. +The best thing to do was to obey, as well and as promptly as possible. + +Placed in a political sphere, this marvellously gifted woman would have +been a Madame Roland; born to the throne, she would have been a Catherine +II.; there was genius in her. Sprung from the lower ranks, her +superiority had given her wealth; had she come from the higher, the great +mind might have governed the world. + +Still she was not happy; she had been married fifteen years, and her +fireside was devoid of a cradle. During the first years she had rejoiced +at not having a child. Where could she have found time to occupy herself +with a baby? Business engrossed her attention; she had no leisure to +amuse herself with trifles. Maternity seemed to her a luxury for rich +women; she had her fortune to make. In the struggle against the +difficulties attending the enterprise she had begun, she had not had time +to look around her and perceive that her home was lonely. She worked +from morning till night. Her whole life was absorbed in this work, and +when night came, overcome with fatigue, she fell asleep, her head filled +with cares which stifled all tricks of the imagination. + +Michel grieved, but in silence; his feeble and dependent nature missed a +child. He, whose mind lacked occupation, thought of the future. He said +to himself that the day when the dreamt-of fortune came would be more +welcome if there were an heir to whom to leave it. What was the good of +being rich, if the money went to collateral relatives? There was his +nephew Savinien, a disagreeable urchin whom he looked on with +indifference; and he was biased regarding his brother, who had all but +failed several times in business, and to whose aid he had come to save +the honor of the name. The mistress had not hesitated to help him, and +had prevented the signature of "Desvarennes" being protested. She had +not taunted him, having as large a heart as she had a mind. But Michel +had felt humiliated to see his own folk make a gap in the financial +edifice erected so laboriously by his wife. Out of this had gradually +sprung a sense of dissatisfaction with the Desvarennes of the other +branch, which manifested itself by a marked coolness, when, by chance, +his brother came to the house, accompanied by his son Savinien. + +And then the paternity of his brother made him secretly jealous. +Why should that incapable fellow, who succeeded in nothing, have a son? +It was only those ne'er-do-well sort of people who were thus favored. +He, Michel, already called the rich Desvarennes, he had not a son. Was +it just? But where is there justice in this world? + +The first time that she saw him with a downcast face the mistress had +questioned him, and he had frankly expressed his regrets. But he had +been so repelled by his wife, in whose heart a great trouble, steadily +repressed, however, had been produced, that he never dared to recur to +the subject. + +He suffered in silence. But he no longer suffered alone. Like an +overflowing river that finds an outlet in the valley, which it inundates, +the longings for maternity, hitherto repressed by the preoccupations of +business, had suddenly seized Madame Desvarennes. + +Strong and unyielding, she struggled and would not own herself conquered. +Still she became sad. Her voice sounded less sonorously in the offices +where she gave an order; her energetic nature seemed subdued. Now she +looked around her. She beheld prosperity made stable by incessant work, +respect gained by spotless honesty; she had attained the goal which she +had marked out in her ambitious dreams, as being paradise itself. +Paradise was there; but it lacked the angel. They had no child. + +From that day a change came over this woman, slowly but surely; scarcely +perceptible to strangers, but easy to be seen by those around her. +She became benevolent, and gave away considerable sums of money, +especially to children's "Homes." But when the good people who governed +these establishments, lured on by her generosity, came to ask her to be +on their committee of management, she became angry, asking them if they +were joking with her? What interest could those brats have for her? +She had other fish to fry. She gave them what they needed, and what +more could they want? The fact was she felt weak and troubled before +children. But within her a powerful and unknown voice had arisen, and +the hour was not far distant when the bitter wave of her regrets was to +overflow and be made manifest. + +She did not like Savinien, her nephew, and kept all her sweetness for the +son of one of their old neighbors in the Rue Neuve-Coquenard, a small +haberdasher, who had not been able to get on, but continued humbly to +sell thread and needles to the thrifty folks of the neighborhood. The +haberdasher, Mother Delarue, as she was called, had remained a widow +after one year of married life. Pierre, her boy, had grown up under the +shadow of the bakery, the cradle of the Desvarennes's fortunes. + +On Sundays the mistress would give him a gingerbread or a cracknel, and +amuse herself with his baby prattle. She did not lose sight of him when +she removed to the Rue Vivienne. Pierre had entered the elementary +school of the neighborhood, and by his precocious intelligence and +exceptional application, had not been long in getting to the top of his +class. The boy had left school after gaining an exhibition admitting him +to the Chaptal College. This hard worker, who was in a fair way of +making his own position without costing his relatives anything, greatly +interested Madame Desvarennes. She found in this plucky nature a +striking analogy to herself. She formed projects for Pierre's future; +in fancy she saw him enter the Polytechnic school, and leave it with +honors. The young man had the choice of becoming a mining or civil +engineer, and of entering the government service. + +He was hesitating what to do when the mistress came and offered him a +situation in her firm as junior partner; it was a golden bridge that she +placed before him. With his exceptional capacities he was not long in +giving to the house a new impulse. He perfected the machinery, and +triumphantly defied all competition. All this was a happy dream in which +Pierre was to her a real son; her home became his, and she monopolized +him completely. But suddenly a shadow came o'er the spirit of her +dreams. Pierre's mother, the little haberdasher, proud of her son, would +she consent to give him up to a stranger? Oh! if Pierre had only been an +orphan! But one could not rob a mother of her son! And Madame +Desvarennes stopped the flight of her imagination. She followed Pierre +with anxious looks; but she forbade herself to dispose of the youth: he +did not belong to her. + +This woman, at the age of thirty-five, still young in heart, was +disturbed by feelings which she strove, but vainly, to rule. She hid +them especially from her husband, whose repining chattering she feared. +If she had once shown him her weakness he would have overwhelmed her +daily with the burden of his regrets. But an unforeseen circumstance +placed her at Michel's mercy. + +Winter had come, bringing December and its snow. The weather this year +was exceptionally inclement, and traffic in the streets was so difficult, +business was almost suspended. The mistress left her deserted offices +and retired early to her private apartments. The husband and wife spent +their evenings alone. They sat there, facing each other, at the +fireside. A shade concentrated the light of the lamp upon the table +covered with expensive knick-knacks. The ceiling was sometimes vaguely +lighted up by a glimmer from the stove which glittered on the gilt +cornices. Ensconced in deep comfortable armchairs, the pair respectively +caressed their favorite dream without speaking of it. + +Madame Desvarennes saw beside her a little pink-and-white baby girl, +toddling on the carpet. She heard her words, understood her language, +untranslatable to all others than a mother. Then bedtime came. The +child, with heavy eyelids, let her little fair-haired head fall on her +shoulders. Madame Desvarennes took her in her arms and undressed her +quietly, kissing her bare and dimpled arms. It was exquisite enjoyment +which stirred her heart deliciously. She saw the cradle, and devoured +the child with her eyes. She knew that the picture was a myth. But what +did it matter to her? She was happy. Michel's voice broke on her +reverie. + +"Wife," said he, "this is Christmas Eve; and as there are only us two, +suppose you put your slipper on the hearth." + +Madame Desvarennes rose. Her eyes vaguely turned toward the hearth on +which the fire was dying, and beside the upright of the large sculptured +mantelpiece she beheld for a moment a tiny shoe, belonging to the child +which she loved to see in her dreams. Then the vision vanished, and +there was nothing left but the lonely hearth. A sharp pain tore her +swollen heart; a sob rose to her lips, and, slowly, two tears rolled down +her cheeks. Michel, quite pale, looked at her in silence; he held out +his hand to her, and said, in a trembling voice: + +"You were thinking about it, eh?" + +Madame Desvarennes bowed her head, twice, silently, and without adding +another word, the pair fell into each other's arms and wept. + +From that day they hid nothing from each other, and shared their troubles +and regrets in common. The mistress unburdened her heart by making a +full confession, and Michel, for the first time in his life, learned the +depth of soul of his companion to its inmost recesses. This woman, so +energetic, so obstinate, was, as it were, broken down. The springs of +her will seemed worn out. She felt despondencies and wearinesses until +then unknown. Work tired her. She did not venture down to the offices; +she talked of giving up business, which was a bad sign. She longed for +country air. Were they not rich enough? With their simple tastes so +much money was unnecessary. In fact, they had no wants. They would go +to some pretty estate in the suburbs of Paris, live there and plant +cabbages. Why work? they had no children. + +Michel agreed to these schemes. For a long time he had wished for +repose. Often he had feared that his wife's ambition would lead them too +far. But now, since she stopped of her own accord, it was all for the +best. + +At this juncture their solicitor informed them that, near to their works, +the Cernay estate was to be put up for sale. Very often, when going from +Jouy to the mills, Madame Desvarennes had noticed the chateau, the slate +roofs of the turrets of which rose gracefully from a mass of deep +verdure. The Count de Cernay, the last representative of a noble race, +had just died of consumption, brought on by reckless living, leaving +nothing behind him but debts and a little girl two years old. Her +mother, an Italian singer and his mistress, had left him one morning +without troubling herself about the child. Everything was to be sold, +by order of the Court. + +Some most lamentable incidents had saddened the Count's last hours. The +bailiffs had entered the house with the doctor when he came to pay his +last call, and the notices of the sale were all but posted up before the +funeral was over. Jeanne, the orphan, scared amid the troubles of this +wretched end, seeing unknown men walking into the reception-rooms with +their hats on, hearing strangers speaking loudly and with arrogance, had +taken refuge in the laundry. It was there that Madame Desvarennes found +her, playing, plainly dressed in a little alpaca frock, her pretty hair +loose and falling on her shoulders. She looked astonished at what she +had seen; silent, not daring to run or sing as formerly in the great +desolate house whence the master had just been taken away forever. + +With the vague instinct of abandoned children who seek to attach +themselves to some one or some thing, Jeanne clung to Madame Desvarennes, +who, ready to protect, and longing for maternity, took the child in her +arms. The gardener's wife acted as guide during her visit over the +property. Madame Desvarennes questioned her. She knew nothing of the +child except what she had heard from the servants when they gossiped in +the evenings about their late master. They said Jeanne was a bastard. +Of her relatives they knew nothing. The Count had an aunt in England who +was married to a rich lord; but he had not corresponded with her lately. +The little one then was reduced to beggary as the estate was to be sold. + +The gardener's wife was a good woman and was willing to keep the child +until the new proprietor came; but when once affairs were settled, she +would certainly go and make a declaration to the mayor, and take her to +the workhouse. Madame Desvarennes listened in silence. One word only +had struck her while the woman was speaking. The child was without +support, without ties, and abandoned like a poor lost dog. The little +one was pretty too; and when she fixed her large deep eyes on that +improvised mother, who pressed her so tenderly to her heart, she seemed +to implore her not to put her down, and to carry her away from the +mourning that troubled her mind and the isolation that froze her heart. + +Madame Desvarennes, very superstitious, like a woman of the people, began +to think that, perhaps, Providence had brought her to Cernay that day and +had placed the child in her path. It was perhaps a reparation which +heaven granted her, in giving her the little girl she so longed for. +Acting unhesitatingly, as she did in everything, she left her name with +the woman, carried Jeanne to her carriage, and took her to Paris, +promising herself to make inquiries to find her relatives. + +A month later, the property of Cernay pleasing her, and the researches +for Jeanne's friends not proving successful, Madame Desvarennes took +possession of the estate and the child into the bargain. + +Michel welcomed the child without enthusiasm. The little stranger was +indifferent to him; he would have preferred adopting a boy. The mistress +was delighted. Her maternal instincts, so long stifled, developed fully. +She made plans for the future. Her energy returned; she spoke loudly and +firmly. But in her appearance there was revealed an inward contentment +never remarked before, which made her sweeter and more benevolent. She +no longer spoke of retiring from business. The discouragement which had +seized her left her as if by magic. The house which had been so dull for +some months became noisy and gay. The child, like a sunbeam, had +scattered the clouds. + +It was then that the most unlooked-for phenomenon, which was so +considerably to influence Madame Desvarennes's life, occurred. At the +moment when the mistress seemed provided by chance with the heiress so +much longed for, she learned with surprise that she was about to become a +mother! After sixteen years of married life, this discovery was almost a +discomfiture. What would have been delight formerly was now a cause for +fear. She, almost an old woman! + +There was an incredible commotion in the business world when the news +became known. The younger branch of Desvarennes had witnessed Jeanne's +arrival with little satisfaction, and were still more gloomy when they +learned that the chances of their succeeding to great wealth were over. +Still they did not lose all hopes. At thirty-five years of age one +cannot always tell how these little affairs will come off. An accident +was possible. But none occurred; all passed off well. + +Madame Desvarennes was as strong physically as she was morally, and +proved victorious by bringing into the world a little girl, who was named +Michelins in honor of her father. The mistress's heart was large enough +to hold two children; she kept the orphan she had adopted, and brought +her up as if she had been her very own. Still there was soon an enormous +difference in her manner of loving Jeanne and Michelins. This mother had +for the long-wished-for child an ardent, mad, passionate love like that +of a tigress for her cubs. She had never loved her husband. All the +tenderness which had accumulated in her heart blossomed, and it was like +spring. + +This autocrat, who had never allowed contradiction, and before whom all +her dependents bowed either with or against the grain, was now led in her +turn; the bronze of her character became like wax in the little pink +hands of her daughter. The commanding woman bent before the little fair +head. There was nothing good enough for Micheline. Had the mother owned +the world she would have placed it at the little one's feet. One tear +from the child upset her. If on one of the most important subjects +Madame Desvarennes had said "No," and Micheline came and said "Yes," the +hitherto resolute will became subordinate to the caprice of a child. +They knew it in the house and acted upon it. This manoeuvre succeeded +each time, although Madame Desvarennes had seen through it from the +first. It appeared as if the mother felt a secret joy in proving under +all circumstances the unbounded adoration which she felt for her +daughter. She often said: + +"Pretty as she is, and rich as I shall make her, what husband will be +worthy of Micheline? But if she believes me when it is time to choose +one, she will prefer a man remarkable for his intelligence, and will give +him her fortune as a stepping-stone to raise him as high as she chooses +him to go." + +Inwardly she was thinking of Pierre Delarue, who had just taken honors at +the Polytechnic school, and who seemed to have a brilliant career before +him. This woman, humbly born, was proud of her origin, and sought a +plebeian for her son-in-law, to put into his hand a golden tool powerful +enough to move the world. + +Micheline was ten years old when her father died. Alas, Michel was not a +great loss. They wore mourning for him; but they hardly noticed that he +was absent. His whole life had been a void. Madame Desvarennes, it is +sad to say, felt herself more mistress of her child when she was a widow. +She was jealous of Micheline's affections, and each kiss the child gave +her father seemed to the mother to be robbed from her. With this fierce +tenderness, she preferred solitude around this beloved being. + +At this time Madame Desvarennes was really in the zenith of womanly +splendor. She seemed taller, her figure had straightened, vigorous and +powerful. Her gray hair gave her face a majestic appearance. Always +surrounded by a court of clients and friends, she seemed like a +sovereign. The fortune of the firm was not to be computed. It was said +Madame Desvarennes did not know how rich she was. + +Jeanne and Micheline grew up amid this colossal prosperity. The one, +tall, brown-haired, with blue eyes changing like the sea; the other, +fragile, fair, with dark dreamy eyes. Jeanne, proud, capricious, and +inconstant; Micheline, simple, sweet, and tenacious. The brunette +inherited from her reckless father and her fanciful mother a violent and +passionate nature; the blonde was tractable and good like Michel, but +resolute and firm like Madame Desvarennes. These two opposite natures +were congenial, Micheline sincerely loving Jeanne, and Jeanne feeling the +necessity of living amicably with Micheline, her mother's idol, but +inwardly enduring with difficulty the inequalities which began to exhibit +themselves in the manner with which the intimates of the house treated +the one and the other. She found these flatteries wounding, and thought +Madame Desvarennes's preferences for Micheline unjust. + +All these accumulated grievances made Jeanne conceive the wish one +morning of leaving the house where she had been brought up, and where she +now felt humiliated. Pretending to long to go to England to see that +rich relative of her father, who, knowing her to be in a brilliant +society, had taken notice of her, she asked Madame Desvarennes to allow +her to spend a few weeks from home. She wished to try the ground in +England, and see what she might expect in the future from her family. +Madame Desvarennes lent herself to this whim, not guessing the young +girl's real motive; and Jeanne, well attended, went to her aunt's home in +England. + +Madame Desvarennes, besides, had attained the summit of her hopes, and an +event had just taken place which preoccupied her. Micheline, deferring +to her mother's wishes, had decided to allow herself to be betrothed to +Pierre Delarue, who had just lost his mother, and whose business improved +daily. The young girl, accustomed to treat Pierre like a brother, had +easily consented to accept him as her future husband. + +Jeanne, who had been away for six months, had returned sobered and +disillusioned about her family. She had found them kind and affable, +had received many compliments on her beauty, which was really remarkable, +but had not met with any encouragement in her desires for independence. +She came home resolved not to leave until she married. She arrived in +the Rue Saint-Dominique at the moment when Pierre Delarue, thirsting with +ambition, was leaving his betrothed, his relatives, and gay Paris to +undertake engineering work on the coasts of Algeria and Tunis that would +raise him above his rivals. In leaving, the young man did not for a +moment think that Jeanne was returning from England at the same hour with +trouble for him in the person of a very handsome cavalier, Prince Serge +Panine, who had been introduced to her at a ball during the London +season. Mademoiselle de Cernay, availing herself of English liberty, was +returning escorted only by a maid in company with the Prince. The +journey had been delightful. The tete-a-tete travelling had pleased the +young people, and on leaving the train they had promised to see each +other again. Official balls facilitated their meeting; Serge was +introduced to Madame Desvarennes as being an English friend, and soon +became the most assiduous partner of Jeanne and Micheline. It was thus, +under the most trivial pretext, that the man gained admittance to the +house where he was to play such an important part. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE GALLEY-SLAVE OF PLEASURE + +One morning in the month of May, 1879, a young man, elegantly attired, +alighted from a well-appointed carriage before the door of Madame +Desvarennes's house. The young man passed quickly before the porter in +uniform, decorated with a military medal, stationed near the door. The +visitor found himself in an anteroom which communicated with several +corridors. A messenger was seated in the depth of a large armchair, +reading the newspaper, and not even lending an inattentive ear to the +whispered conversation of a dozen canvassers, who were patiently awaiting +their turn for gaining a hearing. On seeing the young man enter by the +private door, the messenger rose, dropped his newspaper on the armchair, +hastily raised his velvet skullcap, tried to smile, and made two steps +forward. + +"Good-morning, old Felix," said the young man, in a friendly tone to the +messenger. "Is my aunt within?" + +"Yes, Monsieur Savinien, Madame Desvarennes is in her office; but she has +been engaged for more than an hour with the Financial Secretary of the +War Department." + +In uttering these words old Felix put on a mysterious and important air, +which denoted how serious the discussions going on in the adjoining room +seemed to his mind. + +"You see," continued he, showing Madame Desvarennes's nephew the anteroom +full of people, "madame has kept all these waiting since this morning, +and perhaps she won't see them." + +"I must see her though," murmured the young man. + +He reflected a moment, then added: + +"Is Monsieur Marechal in?" + +"Yes, sir, certainly. If you will allow me I will announce you." + +"It is unnecessary." + +And, stepping forward, he entered the office adjoining that of Madame +Desvarennes. + +Seated at a large table of black wood, covered with bundles of papers and +notes, a young man was working. He was thirty years of age, but appeared +much older. His prematurely bald forehead, and wrinkled brow, betokened +a life of severe struggles and privations, or a life of excesses and +pleasures. Still those clear and pure eyes were not those of a +libertine, and the straight nose solidly joined to the face was that of a +searcher. Whatever the cause, the man was old before his time. + +On hearing the door of his office open, he raised his eyes, put down his +pen, and was making a movement toward his visitor, when the latter +interrupted him quickly with these words: + +"Don't stir, Marechal, or I shall be off! I only came in until Aunt +Desvarennes is at liberty; but if I disturb you I will go and take a +turn, smoke a cigar, and come back in three quarters of an hour." + +"You do not disturb me, Monsieur Savinien; at least not often enough, +for be it said, without reproaching you, it is more than three months +since we have seen anything of you. There, the post is finished. +I was writing the last addresses." + +And taking a heavy bundle of papers off the desk, Marechal showed them to +Savinien. + +"Gracious! It seems that business is going on well here." + +"Better and better." + +"You are making mountains of flour." + +"Yes; high as Mont Blanc; and then, we now have a fleet." + +"What! a fleet?" cried Savinien, whose face expressed doubt and +surprise at the same time. + +"Yes, a steam fleet. Last year Madame Desvarennes was not satisfied with +the state in which her corn came from the East. The corn was damaged +owing to defective stowage; the firm claimed compensation from the +steamship company. The claim was only moderately satisfied, Madame +Desvarennes got vexed, and now we import our own. We have branches at +Smyrna and Odessa." + +"It is fabulous! If it goes on, my aunt will have an administration as +important as that of a European state. Oh! you are happy here, you +people; you are busy. I amuse myself! And if you knew how it wearies +me! I am withering, consuming myself, I am longing for business." + +And saying these words, young Monsieur Desvarennes allowed a sorrowful +moan to escape him. + +"It seems to me," said Marechal, "that it only depends upon yourself to +do as much and more business than any one?" + +"You know well enough that it is not so," sighed Savinien; "my aunt is +opposed to it." + +"What a mistake!" cried Marechal, quickly. "I have heard Madame +Desvarennes say more than twenty times how she regretted your being +unemployed. Come into the firm, you will have a good berth in the +counting-house." + +"In the counting-house!" cried Savinien, bitterly; "there's the sore +point. Now look here; my friend, do you think that an organization like +mine is made to bend to the trivialities of a copying clerk's work? To +follow the humdrum of every-day routine? To blacken paper? To become a +servant?--me! with what I have in my brain?" + +And, rising abruptly, Savinien began to walk hurriedly up and down the +room, disdainfully shaking his little head with its low forehead on which +were plastered a few fair curls (made with curling-irons), with the +indignant air of an Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders. + +"Oh, I know very well what is at the bottom of the business--my aunt is +jealous of me because I am a man of ideas. She wishes to be the only one +of the family who possesses any. She thinks of binding me down to a +besotting work," continued he, "but I won't have it. I know what I want! +It is independence of thought, bent on the solution of great problems-- +that is, a wide field to apply my discoveries. But a fixed rule, common +law, I could not submit to it." + +"It is like the examinations," observed Marechal, looking slyly at young +Desvarennes, who was drawing himself up to his full height; "examinations +never suited you." + +"Never," said Savinien, energetically. "They wished to get me into the +Polytechnic School; impossible! Then the Central School; no better. +I astonished the examiners by the novelty of my ideas. They refused me." + +"Well, you know," retorted Marechal, "if you began by overthrowing their +theories--" + +"That's it!" cried Savinien, triumphantly. "My mind is stronger than I; +I must let my imagination have free run, and no one will ever know what +that particular turn of mind has cost me. Even my family do not think me +serious. Aunt Desvarennes has forbidden any kind of enterprise, under +pretence that I bear her name, and that I might compromise it because I +have twice failed. My aunt paid, it is true. Do you think it is +generous of her to take advantage of my situation, and prohibit my trying +to succeed? Are inventors judged by three or four failures? If my aunt +had allowed me I should have astonished the world." + +"She feared, above all," said Marechal, simply, "to see you astonishing +the Tribunal of Commerce." + +"Oh! you, too," moaned Savinien, "are in league with my enemies; you +make no account of me." + +And young Desvarennes sank as if crushed into an armchair and began to +lament. He was very unhappy at being misunderstood. His aunt allowed +him three thousand francs a month on condition that he would not make use +of his ten fingers. Was it moral? Then he with such exuberant vigor had +to waste it on pleasure and seeing life to the utmost. He passed his +time in theatres, at clubs, restaurants, in boudoirs. He lost his time, +his money, his hair, his illusions. He bemoaned his lot, but continued, +only to have something to do. With grim sarcasm he called himself the +galley-slave of pleasure. And notwithstanding all these consuming +excesses, he asserted that he could not render his imagination barren. +Amid the greatest follies at suppers, during the clinking of glasses; in +the excitement of the dance-inspirations came to him in flashes, he made +prodigious discoveries. + +And as Marechal ventured a timid "Oh!" tinged with incredulity, Savinien +flew into a passion. Yes; he had invented something astonishing; he saw +fortune within reach, and he thought the bargain made with his aunt very +unjust. Therefore he had come to break it, and to regain his liberty. + +Marechal looked at the young man while he was explaining with animation +his ambitious projects. He scrutinized that flat forehead within which +the dandy asserted so many good ideas were hidden. He measured that slim +form bent by wild living, and asked himself how that degenerate being +could struggle against the difficulties of business. A smile played on +his lips. He knew Savinien too well not to be aware that he was a prey +to one of those attacks of melancholy which seized on him when his funds +were low. + +On these occasions, which occurred frequently, the young man had longings +for business, which Madame Desvarennes stopped by asking: "How much?" +Savinien allowed himself to be with difficulty induced to consent to +renounce the certain profits promised, as he said, by his projected +enterprise. At last he would capitulate, and with his pocket well lined, +nimble and joyful, he returned to his boudoirs, race-courses, fashionable +restaurants, and became more than ever the galley-slave of pleasure. + +"And Pierre?" asked young Desvarennes, suddenly and quickly changing the +subject. "Have you any news of him?" + +Marechal became serious. A cloud seemed to have come across his brow; he +gravely answered Savinien's question. + +Pierre was still in the East. He was travelling toward Tunis, the coast +of which he was exploring. It was a question of the formation of an +island sea by taking the water through the desert. It would be a +colossal undertaking, the results of which would be considerable as +regarded Algeria. The climate would be completely changed, and the value +of the colony would be increased tenfold, because it would become the +most fertile country in the world. Pierre had been occupied in this +undertaking for more than a year with unequalled ardor; he was far from +his home, his betrothed, seeing only the goal to be attained; turning a +deaf ear to all that would distract his attention from the great work, to +the success of which he hoped to contribute gloriously. + +"And don't people say," resumed Savinien with an evil smile, "that during +his absence a dashing young fellow is busy luring his betrothed away from +him?" + +At these words Marechal made a quick movement. + +"It is false," he interrupted; "and I do not understand how you, Monsieur +Desvarennes, should be the bearer of such a tale. To admit that +Mademoiselle Micheline could break her word or her engagements is to +slander her, and if any one other than you--" + +"There, there, my dear friend," said Savinien, laughing, "don't get into +a rage. What I say to you I would not repeat to the first comer; +besides, I am only the echo of a rumor that has been going the round +during the last three weeks. They even give the name of him who has been +chosen for the honor and pleasure of such a brilliant conquest. I mean +Prince Serge Panine." + +"As you have mentioned Prince Panine," replied Marechal, "allow me to +tell you that he has not put his foot inside Madame Desvarennes's door +for three weeks. This is not the way of a man about to marry the +daughter of the house." + +"My dear fellow, I only repeat what I have heard. As for me, I don't +know any more. I have kept out of the way for more than three months. +And besides, it matters little to me whether Micheline be a commoner or a +princess, the wife of Delarue or of Panine. I shall be none the richer +or the poorer, shall I? Therefore I need not care. The dear child will +certainly have millions enough to marry easily. And her adopted sister, +the stately Mademoiselle Jeanne, what has become of her?" + +"Ah! as to Mademoiselle de Cernay, that is another affair," cried +Marechal. + +And as if wishing to divert the conversation in an opposite direction to +which Savinien had led it a moment before, he spoke readily of Madame +Desvarennes's adopted daughter. She had made a lively impression on one +of the intimate friends of the house--the banker Cayrol, who had offered +his name and his fortune to the fair Jeanne. + +This was a cause of deep amazement to Savinien. What! Cayrol! The +shrewd close--fisted Auvergnat! A girl without a fortune! Cayrol Silex +as he was called in the commercial world on account of his hardness. +This living money-bag had a heart then! It was necessary to believe it +since both money-bag and heart had been placed at Mademoiselle de +Cernay's feet. This strange girl was certainly destined to millions. +She had just missed being Madame Desvarennes's heiress, and now Cayrol +had taken it into his head to marry her. + +But that was not all. And when Marechal told Savinien that the fair +Jeanne flatly refused to become the wife of Cayrol, there was an outburst +of joyful exclamations. She refused! By Jove, she was mad! An +unlooked-for marriage--for she had not a penny, and had most extravagant +notions. She had been brought up as if she were to live always in velvet +and silks--to loll in carriages and think only of her pleasure. What +reason did she give for refusing him! None. Haughtily and disdainfully +she had declared that she did not love "that man," and that she would not +marry him. + +When Savinien heard these details his rapture increased. One thing +especially charmed him: Jeanne's saying "that man," when speaking of +Cayrol. A little girl who was called "De Cernay" just as he might call +himself "Des Batignolles" if he pleased: the natural and unacknowledged +daughter of a Count and of a shady public singer! And she refused +Cayrol, calling him "that man." It was really funny. And what did +worthy Cayrol say about it? + +When Marechal declared that the banker had not been damped by this +discouraging reception, Savinien said it was human nature. The fair +Jeanne scorned Cayrol and Cayrol adored her. He had often seen those +things happen. He knew the baggages so well! Nobody knew more of women +than he did. He had known some more difficult to manage than proud +Mademoiselle Jeanne. + +An old leaven of hatred had festered in Savinien's heart against Jeanne +since the time when the younger branch of the Desvarennes had reason to +fear that the superb heritage was going to the adopted daughter. +Savinien had lost the fear, but had kept up the animosity. And +everything that could happen to Jeanne of a vexing or painful nature +would be witnessed by him with pleasure. + +He was about to encourage Marechal to continue his revelations, and had +risen and was leaning on the desk. With his face excited and eager, he +was preparing his question, when, through the door which led to Madame +Desvarennes's office, a confused murmur of voices was heard. At the same +time the door was half opened, held by a woman's hand, square, with short +fingers, a firm-willed and energetic hand. At the same time, the last +words exchanged between Madame Desvarennes and the Financial Secretary of +the War Office were distinctly audible. Madame Desvarennes was speaking, +and her voice sounded clear and plain; a little raised and vibrating. +There seemed a shade of anger in its tone. + +"My dear sir, you will tell the Minister that does not suit me. It is +not the custom of the house. For thirty-five years I have conducted +business thus, and I have always found it answer. I wish you good- +morning." + +The door of the office facing that which Madame Desvarennes held closed, +and a light step glided along the corridor. It was the Financial +Secretary's. The mistress appeared. + +Marechal rose hastily. As to Savinien, all his resolution seemed to have +vanished at the sound of his aunt's voice, for he had rapidly gained a +corner of the room, and seated himself on a leather-covered sofa, hidden +behind an armchair, where he remained perfectly quiet. + +"Do you understand that, Marechal?" said dame Desvarennes; "they want to +place a resident agent at the mill on pretext of checking things. They +say that all military contractors are obliged to submit to it. My word, +do they take us for thieves, the rascals? It is the first time that +people have seemed to doubt me. And it has enraged me. I have been +arguing for a whole hour with the man they sent me. I said to him, 'My +dear sir, you may either take it or leave it. Let us start from this +point: I can do without you and you cannot do without me. If you don't +buy my flour, somebody else will. I am not at all troubled about it. +But as to having any one here who would be as much master as myself, or +perhaps more, never! I am too old to change my customs.' Thereupon the +Financial Secretary left. There! And, besides, they change their +Ministry every fortnight. One would never know with whom one had to +deal. Thank you, no." + +While talking thus with Marechal, Madame Desvarennes was walking about +the office. She was still the same woman with the broad prominent +forehead. Her hair, which she wore in smooth plaits, had become gray, +but the sparkle of her dark eyes only seemed the brighter from this. She +had preserved her splendid teeth, and her smile had remained young and +charming. She spoke with animation, as usual, and with the gestures of a +man. She placed herself before her secretary, seeming to appeal to him +as a witness of her being in the right. During the hour with the +official personage she had been obliged to contain herself. She +unburdened herself to Marechal, saying just what she thought. + +But all at once she perceived Savinien, who was waiting to show himself +now that she had finished. The mistress turned sharply to the young man, +and frowned slightly: + +"Hallo! you are there, eh? How is it that you could leave your fair +friends?" + +"But, aunt, I came to pay you my respects." + +"No nonsense now; I've no time," interrupted the mistress. "What do you +want?" + +Savinien, disconcerted by this rude reception, blinked his eyes, as if +seeking some form to give his request; then, making up his mind, he said: + +"I came to see you on business." + +"You on business?" replied Madame Desvarennes, with a shade of +astonishment and irony. + +"Yes, aunt, on business," declared Savinien, looking down as if he +expected a rebuff. + +"Oh, oh, oh!" said Madame Desvarennes, "you know our agreement; I give +you an allowance--" + +"I renounce my income," interrupted Savinien, quickly, "I wish to take +back my independence. The transfer I made has already cost me too dear. +It's a fool's bargain. The enterprise which I am going to launch is +superb, and must realize immense profits. I shall certainly not abandon +it." + +While speaking, Savinien had become animated and had regained his self- +possession. He believed in his scheme, and was ready to pledge his +future. He argued that his aunt could not blame him for giving proof of +his energy and daring, and he discoursed in bombastic style. + +"That's enough!" cried Madame Desvarennes, interrupting her nephew's +oration. "I am very fond of mills, but not word-mills. You are talking +too much about it to be sincere. So many words can only serve to +disguise the nullity of your projects. You want to embark in +speculation? With what money?" + +"I contribute the scheme and some capitalists will advance the money to +start with; we shall then issue shares!" + +"Never in this life! I oppose it. You! With a responsibility. You! +Directing an undertaking. You would only commit absurdities. In fact, +you want to sell an idea, eh? Well, I will buy it." + +"It is not only the money I want," said Savinien, with an indignant air, +"it is confidence in my ideas, it is enthusiasm on the part of my +shareholders, it is success. You don't believe in my ideas, aunt!" + +"What does it matter to you, if I buy them from you? It seems to me a +pretty good proof of confidence. Is that settled?" + +"Ah, aunt, you are implacable!" groaned Savinien. "When you have laid +your hand upon any one, it is all over. Adieu, independence; one must +obey you. Nevertheless, it was a vast and beautiful conception." + +"Very well. Marechal, see that my nephew has ten thousand francs. And +you, Savinien, remember that I see no more of you." + +"Until the money is spent!" murmured Marechal, in the ear of Madame +Desvarennes's nephew. + +And taking him by the arm he was leading him toward the safe when the +mistress turned to Savinien and said: + +"By the way, what is your invention?" + +"Aunt, it is a threshing machine," answered the young man, gravely. + +"Rather a machine for coining money," said the incorrigible Marechal, in +an undertone. + +"Well; bring me your plans," resumed Madame Desvarennes, after having +reflected a moment. "Perchance you may have hit upon something." + +The mistress had been generous, and now the woman of business reasserted +herself and she thought of reaping the benefit. + +Savinien seemed very confused at this demand, and as his aunt gave him an +interrogative look, he confessed: + +"There are no drawings made as yet." + +"No drawings as yet?" cried the mistress. "Where then is your +invention?" + +"It is here," replied Savinien, and with an inspired gesture he struck +his narrow forehead. + +Madame Desvarennes and Marechal could not resist breaking out into a +laugh. + +"And you were already talking of issuing shares?" said the mistress. +"Do you think people would have paid their money with your brain as sole +guarantee? You! Get along; I am the only one to make bargains like +that, and you are the only one with whom I make them. Go, Marechal, give +him his money; I won't gainsay it. But you are a trickster, as usual!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PIERRE RETURNS + +By a wave of her hand she dismissed Savinien, who, abashed, went out with +Marechal. Left alone, she seated herself at her secretary's desk, and +taking the pile of letters she signed them. The pen flew in her fingers, +and on the paper was displayed her name, written in large letters in a +man's handwriting. + +She had been occupied thus for about a quarter of an hour when Marechal +reappeared. Behind him came a stout thickset man of heavy build, and +gorgeously dressed. His face, surrounded by a bristly dark brown beard, +and his eyes overhung by bushy eyebrows, gave him, at the first glance, a +harsh appearance. But his mouth promptly banished this impression. His +thick and sensual lips betrayed voluptuous tastes. A disciple of Lavater +or Gall would have found the bump of amativeness largely developed. + +Marechal stepped aside to allow him to pass. + +"Good-morning, mistress," said he familiarly, approaching Madame +Desvarennes. + +The mistress raised her head quickly, and said: + +"Ah! it's you, Cayrol! That's capital! I was just going to send for +you." + +Jean Cayrol, a native of Cantal, had been brought up amid the wild +mountains of Auvergne. His father was a small farmer in the neighborhood +of Saint-Flour, scraping a miserable pittance from the ground for the +maintenance of his family. From the age of eight years Cayrol had been a +shepherd-boy. Alone in the quiet and remote country, the child had given +way to ambitious dreams. He was very intelligent, and felt that he was +born to another sphere than that of farming. + +Thus, at the first opportunity which had occurred to take him into a +town, he was found ready. He went as servant to a banker at Brioude. +There, in the service of this comparatively luxurious house, he got +smoothed down a little, and lost some of his clumsy loutishness. Strong +as an ox, he did the work of two men, and at night, when in his garret, +fell asleep learning to read. He was seized by the ambition to get on. +No pains were to be spared to gain his goal. + +His master having been elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, +Cayrol accompanied him to Paris. Life in the capital finished the +turmoil of Cayrol's brain. Seeing the prodigious activity of the great +city on whose pavements fortunes sprang up in a day like mushrooms, the +Auvergnat felt his moral strength equal to the occasion, and leaving his +master, he became clerk to a merchant in the Rue du Sentier. + +There, for four years, he studied commerce, and gained much experience. +He soon learned that it was only in financial transactions that large +fortunes were to be rapidly made. He left the Rue du Sentier, and found +a place at a stock-broker's. His keen scent for speculation served him +admirably. After the lapse of a few years he had charge of the business. +His position was getting better; he was making fifteen thousand francs +per annum, but that was nothing compared to his dreams. He was then +twenty-eight years of age. He felt ready to do anything to succeed, +except something unhandsome, for this lover of money would have died +rather than enrich himself by dishonest means. + +It was at this time that his lucky star threw him in Madame Desvarennes's +way. The mistress, understanding men, guessed Cayrol's worth quickly. +She was seeking a banker who would devote himself to her interests. She +watched the young man narrowly for some time; then, sure she was not +mistaken as to his capacity, she bluntly proposed to give him money to +start a business. Cayrol, who had already saved eighty thousand francs, +received twelve hundred thousand from Madame Desvarennes, and settled in +the Rue Taitbout, two steps from the house of Rothschild. + +Madame Desvarennes had made a lucky hit in choosing Cayrol as her +confidential agent. This short, thickset Auvergnat was a master of +finance, and in a few years had raised the house to an unexpected degree +of prosperity. Madame Desvarennes had drawn considerable sums as +interest on the money lent, and the banker's fortune was already +estimated at several millions. Was it the happy influence of Madame +Desvarennes that changed everything she touched into gold, or were +Cayrol's capacities really extraordinary? The results were there and +that was sufficient. They did not trouble themselves over and above +that. + +The banker had naturally become one of the intimates of Madame +Desvarennes's house. For a long time he saw Jeanne without particularly +noticing her. This young girl had not struck his fancy. It was one +night at a ball, on seeing her dancing with Prince Panine, that he +perceived that she was marvellously engaging. His eyes were attracted by +an invincible power and followed her graceful figure whirling through the +waltz. He secretly envied the brilliant cavalier who was holding this +adorable creature in his arms, who was bending over her bare shoulders, +and whose breath lightly touched her hair. He longed madly for Jeanne, +and from that moment thought only of her. + +The Prince was then very friendly with Mademoiselle de Cernay; he +overwhelmed her with kind attentions. Cayrol watched him to see if he +spoke to her of love, but Panine was a past master in these drawing-room +skirmishes, and the banker got nothing for his pains. That Cayrol was +tenacious has been proved. He became intimate with the Prince. He +tendered him such little services as create intimacy, and when he was +sure of not being repulsed with haughtiness, he questioned Serge. Did he +love Mademoiselle de Cernay? This question, asked in a trembling voice +and with a constrained smile, found the Prince quite calm. He answered +lightly that Mademoiselle de Cernay was a very agreeable partner, but +that he had never dreamed of offering her his homage. He had other +projects in his head. Cayrol pressed the Prince's hand violently, made a +thousand protestations of devotedness, and finally obtained his complete +confidence. + +Serge loved Mademoiselle Desvarennes, and it was to become intimate with +her that he had so eagerly sought her friend's company. Cayrol, in +learning the Prince's secret, resumed his usual reserved manner. He knew +that Micheline was engaged to Pierre Delarue, but still, women were so +whimsical! Who could tell? Perhaps Mademoiselle Desvarennes had looked +favorably upon the handsome Serge. + +He was really admirable to view, this Panine, with his blue eyes, pure as +a maiden's, and his long fair mustache falling on each side of his rosy +mouth. He had a truly royal bearing, and was descended from an ancient +aristocratic race; he had a charming hand and an arched foot, enough to +make a woman envious. Soft and insinuating with his tender voice and +sweet Sclavonic accent, he was no ordinary man, but one usually creating +a great impression wherever he went. + +His story was well known in Paris. He was born in the province of Posen, +so violently seized on by Prussia, that octopus of Europe. Serge's +father had been killed during the insurrection of 1848, and he, when a +year old, was brought by his uncle, Thaddeus Panine, to France, and was +educated at the College Rollin, where he had not acquired over much +learning. + +In 1866, at the moment when war broke out between Prussia and Austria, +Serge was eighteen years old. By his uncle's orders he had left Paris, +and had entered himself for the campaign in an Austrian cavalry regiment. +All who bore the name of Panine, and had strength to hold a sword or +carry a gun, had risen to fight the oppressor of Poland. Serge, during +this short and bloody struggle, showed prodigies of valor. On the night +of Sadowa, out of seven bearing the name of Panine, who had served +against Prussia, five were dead, one was wounded; Serge alone was +untouched, though red with the blood of his uncle Thaddeus, who was +killed by the bursting of a shell. All these Panines, living or dead, +had gained honors. When they were spoken of before Austrians or Poles, +they were called heroes. + +Such a man was a dangerous companion for a young, simple, and artless +girl like Micheline. His adventures were bound to please her +imagination, and his beauty sure to charm her eyes. Cayrol was a prudent +man; he watched, and it was not long before he perceived that Micheline +treated the Prince with marked favor. The quiet young girl became +animated when Serge was there. Was there love in this transformation? +Cayrol did not hesitate. He guessed at once that the future would be +Panine's, and that the maintenance of his own influence in the house of +Desvarennes depended on the attitude which he was about to take. He +passed over to the side of the newcomer with arms and baggage, and placed +himself entirely at his disposal. + +It was he who three weeks before, in the name of Panine, had made +overtures to Madame Desvarennes. The errand had been difficult, and the +banker had turned his tongue several times in his mouth before speaking. +Still, Cayrol could overcome all difficulties. He was able to explain the +object of his mission without Madame flying into a passion. But, the +explanation over, there was a terrible scene. He witnessed one of the +most awful bursts of rage that it was possible to expect from a violent +woman. The mistress treated the friend of the family as one would not +have dared to treat a petty commercial traveller who came to a private +house to offer his wares. She showed him the door, and desired him not +to darken the threshold again. + +But if Cayrol was resolute he was equally patient. He listened without +saying a word to the reproaches of Madame Desvarennes, who was +exasperated that a candidate should be set up in opposition to the son- +in-law of her choosing. He did not go, and when Madame Desvarennes was a +little calmed by the letting out of her indignation, he argued with her. +The mistress was too hasty about the business; it was no use deciding +without reflecting. Certainly, nobody esteemed Pierre Delarue more than +he did; but it was necessary to know whether Micheline loved him. A +childish affection was not love, and Prince Panine thought he might hope +that Mademoiselle Desvarennes---- + +The mistress did not allow Cayrol to finish his sentence; she rang the +bell and asked for her daughter. This time, Cayrol prudently took the +opportunity of disappearing. He had opened fire; it was for Micheline to +decide the result of the battle. The banker awaited the issue of the +interview between mother and daughter in the next room. Through the door +he heard the irritated tones of Madame Desvarennes, to which Micheline +answered softly and slowly. The mother threatened and stormed. Coldly +and quietly the daughter received the attack. The tussle lasted about an +hour, when the door reopened and Madame Desvarennes appeared, pale and +still trembling, but calmed. Micheline, wiping her beautiful eyes, still +wet with tears, regained her apartment. + +"Well," said Cayrol timidly, seeing the mistress standing silent and +absorbed before him; "I see with pleasure that you are less agitated. +Did Mademoiselle Micheline give you good reasons?" + +"Good reasons!" cried Madame Desvarennes with a violent gesture, last +flash of the late storm. "She cried, that's all. And you know when she +cries I no longer know what I do or say! She breaks my heart with her +tears. And she knows it. Ah! it is a great misfortune to love children +too much!" + +This energetic woman was conquered, and yet understood that she was wrong +to allow herself to be conquered. She fell into a deep reverie, and +forgot that Cayrol was present. She thought of the future which she had +planned for Micheline, and which the latter carelessly destroyed in an +instant. + +Pierre, now an orphan, would have been a real son to the mistress. +He would have lived in her house, and have surrounded her old age with +care and affection. And then, he was so full of ability that he could +not help attaining a brilliant position. She would have helped him, +and would have rejoiced in his success. And all this scaffolding was +overturned because this Panine had crossed Micheline's path. A foreign +adventurer, prince perhaps, but who could tell? Lies are easily told +when the proofs of the lie have to be sought beyond the frontiers. +And it was her daughter who was going to fall in love with an insipid fop +who only coveted her millions. That she should see such a man enter her +family, steal Micheline's love from her, and rummage her strongbox! In a +moment she vowed mortal hatred against Panine, and resolved to do all she +could to prevent the longed-for marriage with her daughter. + +She was disturbed in her meditation by Cayrol's voice. He wished to take +an answer to the Prince. What must he say to him? + +"You will let him know," said Madame Desvarennes, "that he must refrain +from seeking opportunities of meeting my daughter. If he be a gentleman, +he will understand that his presence, even in Paris, is disagreeable to +me. I ask him to go away for three weeks. After that time he may come +back, and I agree to give him an answer." + +"You promise me that you will not be vexed with me for having undertaken +this errand?" + +"I promise on one condition. It is, that not a word which has passed +here this morning shall be repeated to any one. Nobody must suspect the +proposal that you have just made to me." + +Cayrol swore to hold his tongue, and he kept his word. Prince Panine +left that same night for England. + +Madame Desvarennes was a woman of quick resolution. She took a sheet of +paper, a pen, and in her large handwriting wrote the following lines +addressed to Pierre: + +"If you do not wish to find Micheline married on your return, come back +without a moment's delay." + +She sent this ominous letter to the young man, who was then in Tripoli. +That done, she returned to her business as if nothing had happened. Her +placid face did not once betray the anguish of her heart during those +three weeks. + +The term fixed by Madame Desvarennes with the Prince had expired that +morning. And the severity with which the mistress had received the +Minister of War's Financial Secretary was a symptom of the agitation in +which the necessity of coming to a decision placed Micheline's mother. +Every morning for the last week she had expected Pierre to arrive. What +with having to give an answer to the Prince as she had promised, and the +longing to see him whom she loved as a son, she felt sick at heart and +utterly cast down. She thought of asking the Prince for a respite. It +was for that reason she was glad to see Cayrol. + +The latter, therefore, had arrived opportunely. He looked as if he +brought startling news. By a glance he drew Madame Desvarennes's +attention to Marechal and seemed to say: + +"I must be alone with you; send him away." + +The mistress understood, and with a decided gesture said: + +"You can speak before Marechal; he knows all my affairs as well as I do +myself." + +"Even the matter that brings me here?" replied Cayrol, with surprise. + +"Even that. It was necessary for me to have some one to whom I could +speak, or else my heart would have burst! Come, do your errand. The +Prince?" + +"A lot it has to do with the Prince," exclaimed Cayrol, in a huff. +"Pierre has arrived!" + +Madame Desvarennes rose abruptly. A rush of blood rose to her face, her +eyes brightened, and her lips opened with a smile. + +"At last!" she cried. "But where is he? How did you hear of his +return?" + +"Ah! faith, it was just by chance. I was shooting yesterday at +Fontainebleau, and I returned this morning by the express. On arriving +at Paris, I alighted on the platform, and there I found myself face to +face with a tall young man with a long beard, who, seeing me pass, called +out, 'Ah, Cayrol!' It was Pierre. I only recognized him by his voice. +He is much changed; with his beard, and his complexion bronzed like an +African." + +"What did he say to you?" + +"Nothing. He pressed my hand. He looked at me for a moment with +glistening eyes. There was something on his lips which he longed to ask, +yet did not; but I guessed it. I was afraid of giving way to tenderness, +that might have ended in my saying something foolish, so I left him." + +"How long ago is that?" + +"About an hour ago. I only just ran home before coming on here. There I +found Panine waiting for me. He insisted upon accompanying me. I hope +you won't blame him?" + +Madame Desvarennes frowned. + +"I will not see him just now," she said, looking at Cayrol with a +resolute air. "Where did you leave him?" + +"In the garden, where I found the young ladies." + +As if to verify the banker's words, a merry peal of laughter was heard +through the half-open window. It was Micheline, who, with returning +gayety, was making up for the three weeks' sadness she had experienced +during Panine's absence. + +Madame Desvarennes went to the window, and looked into the garden. +Seated on the lawn, in large bamboo chairs, the young girls were +listening to a story the Prince was telling. The morning was bright and +mild; the sun shining through Micheline's silk sunshade lit up her fair +head. Before her, Serge, bending his tall figure, was speaking with +animation. Micheline's eyes were softly fixed on him. Reclining in her +armchair, she allowed herself to be carried away with his conversation, +and thoroughly enjoyed his society, of which she had been deprived for +the last three weeks. Beside her, Jeanne, silently watching the Prince, +was mechanically nibbling, with her white teeth, a bunch of carnations +which she held in her hands. A painful thought contracted Mademoiselle +de Cernay's brow, and her pale lips on the red flowers seemed to be +drinking blood. + +The mistress slowly turned away from this scene. A shadow had crossed +her brow, which had, for a moment, become serene again at the +announcement of Pierre's arrival. She remained silent for a little +while, as if considering; then coming to a resolution, and turning to +Cayrol, she said: + +"Where is Pierre staying?" + +"At the Hotel du Louvre," replied the banker. + +"Well, I'm going there." + +Madame Desvarennes rang the bell violently. + +"My bonnet, my cloak, and the carriage," she said, and with a friendly +nod to the two men, she went out quickly. + +Micheline was still laughing in the garden. Marechal and Cayrol looked +at each other. Cayrol was the first to speak. + +"The mistress told you all about the matter then? How is it you never +spoke to me about it?" + +"Should I have been worthy of Madame Desvarennes's confidence had I +spoken of what she wished to keep secret?" + +"To me?" + +"Especially to you. The attitude which you have taken forbade my +speaking. You favor Prince Panine?" + +"And you; you are on Pierre Delarue's side?" + +"I take no side. I am only a subordinate, you know; I do not count." + +"Do not attempt to deceive me. Your influence over the mistress is +great. The confidence she has in you is a conclusive proof. Important +events are about to take place here. Pierre has certainly returned to +claim his right as betrothed, and Mademoiselle Micheline loves Prince +Serge. Out of this a serious conflict will take place in the house. +There will be a battle. And as the parties in question are about equal +in strength, I am seeking adherents for my candidate. I own, in all +humility, I am on love's side. The Prince is beloved by Mademoiselle +Desvarennes, and I serve him. Micheline will be grateful, and will do me +a turn with Mademoiselle de Cernay. As to you, let me give you a little +advice. If Madame Desvarennes consults you, speak well of Panine. When +the Prince is master here, your position will be all the better for it." + +Marechal had listened to Cayrol without anything betraying the impression +his words created. He looked at the banker in a peculiar manner, which +caused him to feel uncomfortable, and made him lower his eyes. + +"Perhaps you do not know, Monsieur Cayrol," said the secretary, after a +moment's pause, "how I entered this firm. It is as well in that case to +inform you. Four years ago, I was most wretched. After having sought +fortune ten times without success, I felt myself giving way morally and +physically. There are some beings gifted with energy, who can surmount +all the difficulties of life. You are one of those. As for me, the +struggle exhausted my strength, and I came to grief. It would take too +long to enumerate all the ways of earning my living I tried. Few even +fed me; and I was thinking of putting an end to my miserable existence +when I met Pierre. We had been at college together. I went toward him; +he was on the quay. I dared to stop him. At first he did not recognize +me, I was so haggard, so wretched-looking! But when I spoke, he cried, +'Marechal!' and, without blushing at my tatters, put his arms round my +neck. We were opposite the Belle Jardiniere, the clothiers; he wanted to +rig me out. I remember as if it were but yesterday I said, 'No, nothing, +only find me work!'--'Work, my poor fellow,' he answered, 'but just look +at yourself; who would have confidence to give you any? You look like a +tramp, and when you accosted me a little while ago, I asked myself if you +were not about to steal my watch!' And he laughed gayly, happy at having +found me again, and thinking that he might be of use to me. Seeing that +I would not go into the shop, he took off his overcoat, and put it on my +back to cover my tattered clothes, and there and then he took me to +Madame Desvarennes. Two days later I entered the office. You see the +position I hold, and I owe it to Pierre. He has been more than a friend +to me--a brother. Come! after that, tell me what you would think of me +if I did what you have just asked me?" + +Cayrol was confused; he twisted his bristly beard with his fingers. + +"Faith, I do not say that your scruples are not right; but, between +ourselves, every step that is taken against the Prince will count for +naught. He will marry Mademoiselle Desvarennes." + +"It is possible. In that case, I shall be here to console Pierre and +sympathize with him." + +"And in the mean time you are going to do all you can in his favor?" + +"I have already had the honor of telling you that I cannot do anything." + +"Well, well. One knows what talking means, and you will not change my +idea of your importance. You take the weaker side then; that's superb!" + +"It is but strictly honest," said Marechal. "It is true that that +quality has become very rare!" + +Cayrol wheeled round on his heels. He took a few steps toward the door, +then, returning to Marechal, held out his hand: + +"Without a grudge, eh?" + +The secretary allowed his hand to be shaken without answering, and the +banker went out, saying to himself: + +"He is without a sou and has prejudices! There's a lad without a +future." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE RIVALS + +On reaching Paris, Pierre Delarue experienced a strange feeling. In his +feverish haste he longed for the swiftness of electricity to bring him +near Micheline. As soon as he arrived in Paris, he regretted having +travelled so fast. He longed to meet his betrothed, yet feared to know +his fate. + +He had a sort of presentiment that his reception would destroy his hopes. +And the more he tried to banish these thoughts, the more forcibly they +returned. The thought that Micheline had forgotten her promise made the +blood rush to his face. + +Madame Desvarennes's short letter suggested it. That his betrothed was +lost to him he understood, but he would not admit it. How was it +possible that Micheline should forget him? All his childhood passed +before his mind. He remembered the sweet and artless evidences of +affection which the young girl had given him. And yet she no longer +loved him! It was her own mother who said so. After that could he still +hope? + +A prey to this deep trouble, Pierre entered Paris. On finding himself +face to face with Cayrol, the young man's first idea was, as Cayrol had +guessed, to cry out, "What's going on? Is all lost to me?" A sort of +anxious modesty kept back the words on his lips. He would not admit that +he doubted. And, then, Cayrol would only have needed to answer that all +was over, and that he could put on mourning for his love. He turned +around, and went out. + +The tumult of Paris surprised and stunned him. After spending a year in +the peaceful solitudes of Africa, to find himself amid the cries of +street-sellers, the rolling of carriages, and the incessant movement of +the great city, was too great a contrast to him. Pierre was overcome by +languor; his head seemed too heavy for his body to carry; he mechanically +entered a cab which conveyed him to the Hotel du Louvre. Through the +window, against the glass of which he tried to cool his heated forehead, +he saw pass in procession before his eyes, the Column of July, the church +of St. Paul, the Hotel de Ville in ruins, and the colonnade of the +Louvre. + +An absurd idea took possession of him. He remembered that during the +Commune he was nearly killed in the Rue Saint-Antoine by the explosion of +a shell, thrown by the insurgents from the heights of Pere-Lachaise. +He thought that had he died then, Micheline would have wept for him. +Then, as in a nightmare, it seemed to him that this hypothesis was +realized. He saw the church hung with black, he heard the funeral +chants. A catafalque contained his coffin, and slowly his betrothed +came, with a trembling hand, to throw holy water on the cloth which +covered the bier. And a voice said within him: + +"You are dead, since Micheline is about to marry another." + +He made an effort to banish this importunate idea. He could not succeed. +Thoughts flew through his brain with fearful rapidity. He thought he was +beginning to be seized with brain fever. And this dismal ceremony kept +coming before him with the same chants, the same words repeated, and the +same faces appearing. The houses seemed to fly before his vacant eyes. +To stop this nightmare he tried to count the gas-lamps: one, two, three, +four, five--but the same thought interrupted his calculation: + +"You are dead, since your betrothed is about to marry another." + +He was afraid he was going mad. A sharp pain shot across his forehead +just above the right eyebrow. In the old days he had felt the same pain +when he had overworked himself in preparing for his examinations at the +Polytechnic School. With a bitter smile he asked himself if one of the +aching vessels in his brain was about to burst? + +The sudden stoppage of the cab freed him from this torture. The hotel +porter opened the door. Pierre stepped out mechanically. Without +speaking a word he followed a waiter, who showed him to a room on the +second floor. Left alone, he sat down. This room, with its commonplace +furniture, chilled him. He saw in it a type of his future life: lonely +and desolate. Formerly, when he used to come to Paris, he stayed with +Madame Desvarennes, where he had the comforts of home, and every one +looked on him affectionately. + +Here, at the hotel, orders were obeyed with politeness at so much a day. +Would it always be thus in future? + +This painful impression dissipated his weakness as by enchantment. He so +bitterly regretted the sweets of the past, that he resolved to struggle +to secure them for the future. He dressed himself quickly, and removed +all the traces of his journey; then, his mind made up, he jumped into a +cab, and drove to Madame Desvarennes's. All indecision had left him. +His fears now seemed contemptible. He must defend himself. It was a +question of his happiness. + +At the Place de la Concorde a carriage passed his cab. He recognized the +livery of Madame Desvarennes's coachman and leant forward. The mistress +did not see him. He was about to stop the cab and tell his driver to +follow her carriage when a sudden thought decided him to go on. It was +Micheline he wanted to see. His future destiny depended on her. Madame +Desvarennes had made him clearly understand that by calling for his help +in her fatal letter. He went on his way, and in a few minutes arrived at +the mansion in the Rue Saint-Dominique. + +Micheline and Jeanne were still in the garden, seated in the same place +on the lawn. Cayrol had joined Serge. Both, profiting by the lovely +morning, were enjoying the society of their beloved ones. A quick step +on the gravel walk attracted their attention. In the sunlight a young +man, whom neither Jeanne nor Micheline recognized, was advancing. When +about two yards distant from the group he slowly raised his hat. + +Seeing the constrained and astonished manner of the young girls, a sad +smile played on his lips, then he said, softly: + +"Am I then so changed that I must tell you my name?" + +At these words Micheline jumped up, she became as white as her collar, +and trembling, with sobs rising to her lips, stood silent and petrified +before Pierre. She could not speak, but her eyes were eagerly fixed on +the young man. It was he, the companion of her youth, so changed that +she had not recognized him; worn by hard work, perhaps by anxieties, +bronzed--and with his face hidden by a black beard which gave him a manly +and energetic appearance. It was certainly he, with a thin red ribbon at +his button-hole, which he had not when he went away, and which showed the +importance of the works he had executed and of great perils he had faced. +Pierre, trembling and motionless, was silent; the sound of his voice +choked with emotion had frightened him. He had expected a cold +reception, but this scared look, which resembled terror, was beyond all +he had pictured. Serge wondered and watched. + +Jeanne broke the icy silence. She went up to Pierre, and presented her +forehead. + +"Well," she said, "don't you kiss your friends?" + +She smiled affectionately on him. Two grateful tears sparkled in the +young man's eyes, and fell on Mademoiselle de Cernay's hair. Micheline, +led away by the example and without quite knowing what she was doing, +found herself in Pierre's arms. The situation was becoming singularly +perplexing to Serge. Cayrol, who had not lost his presence of mind, +understood it, and turning toward the Prince, said: + +"Monsieur Pierre Delarue: an old friend and companion of Mademoiselle +Desvarennes's; almost a brother to her," thus explaining in one word all +that could appear unusual in such a scene of tenderness. + +Then, addressing Pierre, he simply added--"Prince Panine." + +The two men looked at each other. Serge, with haughty curiosity; Pierre, +with inexpressible rage. In a moment, he guessed that the tall, handsome +man beside his betrothed was his rival. If looks could kill, the Prince +would have fallen down dead. Panine did not deign to notice the hatred +which glistened in the eyes of the newcomer. He turned toward Micheline +with exquisite grace and said: + +"Your mother receives her friends this evening, I think, Mademoiselle; I +shall have the honor of paying my respects to her." + +And taking leave of Jeanne with a smile, and of Pierre with a courteous +bow, he left, accompanied by Cayrol. + +Serge's departure was a relief to Micheline. Between these two men to +whom she belonged, to the one by a promise, to the other by an avowal, +she felt ashamed. Left alone with Pierre she recovered her self- +possession, and felt full of pity for the poor fellow threatened with +such cruel deception. She went tenderly to him, with her loving eyes of +old, and pressed his hand: + +"I am very glad to see you again, my dear Pierre; and my mother will be +delighted. We were very anxious about you. You have not written to us +for some months." + +Pierre tried to joke: "The post does not leave very often in the desert. +I wrote whenever I had an opportunity." + +"Is it so very pleasant in Africa that you could not tear yourself away a +whole year?" + +"I had to take another journey on the coast of Tripoli to finish my +labors. I was interested in my work, and anxious not to lose the result +of so much effort, and I think I have succeeded--at least in--the opinion +of my employers," said the young man, with a ghastly smile. + +"My dear Pierre, you come in time from the land of the sphinx," +interrupted Jeanne gravely, and glancing intently at Micheline. +"There is here, I assure you, a difficult enigma to solve." + +"What is it?" + +"That which is written in this heart," she replied, lightly touching her +companion's breast. + +"From childhood I have always read it as easily as a book," said Pierre, +with tremulous voice, turning toward the amazed Micheline. + +Mademoiselle de Cernay tossed her head. + +"Who knows? Perhaps her disposition has changed during your absence;" +and nodding pleasantly, she went toward the house. + +Pierre followed her for a moment with his eyes, then, turning toward his +betrothed, said: + +"Micheline, shall I tell you your secret? You no longer love me." + +The young girl started. The attack was direct. She must at once give an +explanation. She had often thought of what she would say when Pierre +came back to her. The day had arrived unexpectedly. And the answers she +had prepared had fled. The truth appeared harsh and cold. She +understood that the change in her was treachery, of which Pierre was the +innocent victim; and feeling herself to blame, she waited tremblingly the +explosion of this loyal heart so cruelly wounded. She stammered, in +tremulous accents: + +"Pierre, my friend, my brother." + +"Your brother!" cried the young man, bitterly. "Was that the name you +were to give me on my return?" + +At these words, which so completely summed up the situation, Micheline +remained silent. Still she felt that at all hazards she must defend +herself. Her mother might come in at any moment. Between Madame +Desvarennes and her betrothed, what would become of her? The hour was +decisive. Her strong love for Serge gave her fresh energy. + +"Why did you go away?" she asked, with sadness. + +Pierre raised with pride his head which had been bent with anguish. + +"To be worthy of you," he merely said. + +"You did not need to be worthy of me; you, who were already above every +one else. We were betrothed; you only had to guard me." + +"Could not your heart guard itself?" + +"Without help, without the support of your presence and affection?" + +"Without other help or support than I had myself: Hope and Remembrance." + +Micheline turned pale. Each word spoken by Pierre made her feel the +unworthiness of her conduct more completely. She endeavored to find a +new excuse: + +"Pierre, you know I was only a child." + +"No," said the young man, with choked voice, "I see that you were already +a woman; a being weak, inconstant, and cruel; who cares not for the love +she inspires, and sacrifices all to the love she feels." + +So long as Pierre had only complained, Micheline felt overwhelmed and +without strength; but the young man began to accuse. In a moment the +young girl regained her presence of mind and revolted. + +"Those are hard words!" she exclaimed. + +"Are they not deserved?" cried Pierre, no longer restraining himself. +"You saw me arrive trembling, with eyes full of tears, and not only had +you not an affectionate word to greet me with, but you almost accuse me +of indifference. You reproach me with having gone away. Did you not +know my motive for going? I was betrothed to you; you were rich and I +was poor. To remove this inequality I resolved to make a name. I sought +one of those perilous scientific missions which bring celebrity or death +to those who undertake them. Ah! think not that I went away from you +without heart-breaking! For a year I was almost alone, crushed with +fatigue, always in danger; the thought that I was suffering for you +supported me. + +"When lost in the vast desert, I was sad and discouraged; I invoked you, +and your sweet face gave me fresh hope and energy. I said to myself, +'She is waiting for me. A day will come when I shall win the prize of +all my trouble.' Well, Micheline, the day has come; here I am, returned, +and I ask for my reward. Is it what I had a right to expect? While I +was running after glory, another, more practical and better advised, +stole your heart. My happiness is destroyed. You did well to forget me. +The fool who goes so far away from his betrothed does not deserve her +faithfulness. He is cold, indifferent, he does not know how to love!" + +These vehement utterances troubled Micheline deeply. For the first time +she understood her betrothed, felt how much he loved her, and regretted +not having known it before. If Pierre had spoken like that before going +away, who knows? Micheline's feelings might have been quickened. +No doubt she would have loved him. It would have come naturally. +But Pierre had kept the secret of his passion for the young girl to +himself. It was only despair, and the thought of losing her, that made +him give vent to his feelings now. + +"I see that I have been cruel and unjust to you," said Micheline. +"I deserve your reproaches, but I am not the only one to blame. You, +too, are at fault. What I have just heard has upset me. I am truly +sorry to cause you so much pain; but it is too late. I no longer belong +to myself." + +"And did you belong to yourself?" + +"No! It is true, you had my word, but be generous. Do not abuse the +authority which being my betrothed gives you. That promise I would now +ask back from you." + +"And if I refuse to release you from your promise? If I tried to, regain +your love?" cried Pierre, forcibly. "Have I not the right to defend +myself? And what would you think of my love if I relinquished you so +readily?" + +There was a moment's silence. The interview was at its highest pitch of +excitement. Micheline knew that she must put an end to it. She replied +with firmness: + +"A girl such as I am will not break her word; mine belongs to you, but my +heart is another's. Say you insist, and I am ready to keep my promise to +become your wife. It is for you to decide." + +Pierre gave the young girl a look which plunged into the depths of her +heart. He read there her resolve that she would act loyally, but that at +the same time she would never forget him who had so irresistibly gained +her heart. He made a last effort. + +"Listen," he said, with ardent voice, "it is impossible that you can have +forgotten me so soon: I love you so much! Remember our affection in the +old days, Micheline. Remember!" + +He no longer argued; he pleaded. Micheline felt victorious. She was +moved with pity. + +"Alas! my poor Pierre, my affection was only friendship, and my heart +has not changed toward you. The love which I now feel is quite +different. If it had not come to me, I might have been your wife. +And I esteemed you so much, that I should have been happy. But now I +understand the difference. You, whom I had accepted, would never have +been more to me than a tender companion; he whom I have chosen will be +my master." + +Pierre uttered a cry at this cruel and frank avowal. + +"Ah! how you hurt me!" + +And bitter tears rolled down his face to the relief of his overburdened +heart. He sank on to a seat, and for a moment gave way to violent grief. +Micheline, more touched by his despair than she had been by his +reproaches, went to him and wiped his face with her lace handkerchief. +Her white hand was close to the young man's mouth,--and he kissed it +eagerly. Then, as if roused by the action, he rose with a changed look +in his eyes, and seized the young girl in his arms. Micheline did not +utter a word. She looked coldly and resolutely at Pierre, and threw back +her head to avoid the contact of his eager lips. That look was enough. +The arms which held her were unloosed, and Pierre moved away, murmuring: + +"I beg your pardon. You see I am not in my right mind." + +Then passing his hand across his forehead as if to chase away a wicked +thought, he added: + +"So it is irrevocable? You love him?" + +"Enough to give you so much pain; enough to be nobody's unless I belong +to him." + +Pierre reflected a moment, then, coming to a decision: + +"Go, you are free," said he; "I give you back your promise." + +Micheline uttered a cry of triumph, which made him who had been her +betrothed turn pale. She regretted not having hidden her joy better. +She approached Pierre and said: + +"Tell me that you forgive me!" + +"I forgive you." + +"You still weep?" + +"Yes; I am weeping over my lost happiness. I thought the best means of +being loved were to deserve it. I was mistaken. I will courageously +atone for my error. Excuse my weakness, and believe that you will never +have a more faithful and devoted friend than I." + +Micheline gave him her hand, and, smiling, bowed her forehead to his +lips. He slowly impressed a brotherly kiss, which effaced the burning +trace of the one which he had stolen a moment before. + +At the same time a deep voice was heard in the distance, calling Pierre. +Micheline trembled. + +"'Tis my mother," she said. "She is seeking you. I will leave you. +Adieu, and a thousand thanks from my very heart." + +And nimbly springing behind a clump of lilac-trees in flower, Micheline +disappeared. + +Pierre mechanically went toward the house. He ascended the marble steps +and entered the drawing-room. As he shut the door, Madame Desvarennes +appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A CRITICAL INTERVIEW + +Madame Desvarennes had been driven to the Hotel du Louvre without losing +a minute. She most wanted to know in what state of mind her daughter's +betrothed had arrived in Paris. Had the letter, which brutally told him +the truth, roused him and tightened the springs of his will? Was he +ready for the struggle? + +If she found him confident and bold, she had only to settle with him as +to the common plan of action which must bring about the eviction of the +audacious candidate who wished to marry Micheline. If she found him +discouraged and doubtful of himself, she had decided to animate him with +her ardor against Serge Panine. + +She prepared these arguments on the way, and, boiling with impatience, +outstripped in thought the fleet horse which was drawing her past the +long railings of the Tuileries toward the Hotel du Louvre. Wrapped in +her meditations she did not see Pierre. She was saying to herself: + +"This fair-haired Polish dandy does not know with whom he has to deal. +He will see what sort of a woman I am. He has not risen early enough in +the morning to hoodwink me. If Pierre is only of the same opinion as I, +we shall soon spoil this fortune-hunter's work." + +The carriage stopped. + +"Monsieur Pierre Delarue?" inquired the mistress. + +"Madame, he went out a quarter of an hour ago." + +"To go where?" + +"He did not say." + +"Do you know whether he will be absent long?" + +"I don't know." + +"Much obliged." + +Madame Desvarennes, quite discomfited by this mischance, reflected. +Where could Pierre have gone? Probably to her house. Without losing a +minute, she reentered the carriage, and gave orders to return to the Rue +Saint-Dominique. If he had gone at once to her house, it was plain that +he was ready to do anything to keep Micheline. The coachman who had +received the order drove furiously. She said to herself: + +"Pierre is in a cab. Allowing that he is driving moderately quick he +will only have half-an-hour's start of me. He will pass through the +office, will see Marechal, and however eager he be, will lose a quarter +of an hour in chatting to him. It would be most vexing if he did +anything foolish in the remaining fifteen minutes! The fault is mine: +I ought to have sent him a letter at Marseilles, to tell him what line of +conduct to adopt on his arrival. So long as he does not meet Micheline +on entering the house!" + +At that idea Madame Desvarennes felt the blood rushing to her face. She +put her head out of the carriage window, and called to the coachman: + +"Drive faster!" + +He drove more furiously still, and in a few minutes reached the Rue +Saint-Dominique. + +She tore into the house like a hurricane, questioned the hall-porter, and +learned that Delarue had arrived. She hastened to Marechal, and asked +him in such a strange manner, "Have you seen Pierre?" that he thought +some accident had happened. + +On seeing her secretary's scared look, she understood that what she most +dreaded had come to pass. She hurried to the drawing-room, calling +Pierre in a loud voice. The French window opened, and she found herself +face to face with the young man. A glance at her adopted son's face +increased her fears. She opened her arms and clasped Pierre to her +heart. + +After the first emotions were over, she longed to know what had happened +during her absence, and inquired of Pierre: + +"By whom were you received on arriving here?" + +"By Micheline." + +"That is what I feared! What did she tell you?" + +"Everything!" + +In three sentences these two strong beings had summed up all that had +taken place. Madame Desvarennes remained silent for a moment, then, +with sudden tenderness, and as if to make up for her daughter's +treachery, said: + +"Come, let me kiss you again, my poor boy. You suffer, eh? and I too! +I am quite overcome. For ten years I have cherished the idea of your +marrying Micheline. You are a man of merit, and you have no relatives. +You would not take my daughter away from me; on the contrary I think you +like me, and would willingly live with me. In arranging this marriage +I realized the dream of my life. I was not taking a son-in-law-I was +gaining a new child." + +"Believe me," said Pierre, sadly, "it is not my fault that your wish is +not carried out." + +"That, my boy, is another question!" cried Madame Desvarennes, whose +voice was at once raised two tones. "And that is where we do not agree. +You are responsible for what has occurred. I know what you are going, +to tell me. You wished to bring laurels to Micheline as a dower. That +is all nonsense! When one leaves the Polytechnic School with honors, and +with a future open to you like yours, it is not necessary to scour the +deserts to dazzle a young girl. One begins by marrying her, and +celebrity comes afterward, at the same time as the children. And then +there was no need to risk all at such a cost. What, are we then so +grand? Ex-bakers! Millionaires, certainly, which does not alter the +fact that poor Desvarennes carried out the bread, and that I gave change +across the counter when folks came to buy sou-cakes! But you wanted to +be a knight-errant, and, during that time, a handsome fellow. Did +Micheline tell you the gentleman's name?" + +"I met him when I came here; he was with her in the garden. We were +introduced to each other." + +"That was good taste," said Madame Desvarennes with irony. "Oh, he is a +youth who is not easily disturbed, and in his most passionate transports +will not disarrange a fold of his cravat. You know he is a Prince? +That is most flattering to the Desvarennes! We shall use his coat-of- +arms as our trade-mark. The fortune hunter, ugh! No doubt he said to +himself, 'The baker has money--and her daughter is agreeable.' And he is +making a business of it." + +"He is only following the example of many of his equals. Marriage is +to-day the sole pursuit of the nobility." + +"The nobility! That of our country might be tolerated, but foreign +noblemen are mere adventurers." + +"It is well known that the Panines come from Posen--the papers have +mentioned them more than twenty times." + +"Why is he not in his own country?" + +"He is exiled." + +"He has done something wrong, then!" + +"He has, like all his family, fought for independence." + +"Then he is a revolutionist!" + +"A patriot." + +"You are very kind to tell me all that." + +"I may hate Prince Panine," said Pierre, simply, "but that is no reason +why I should not be just to him." + +"So be it; he is an exceptional being, a great citizen, a hero, if you +like. But that does not prove that he will make my daughter happy. And +if you take my advice, we shall send him about his business in a very +short time." + +Madame Desvarennes was excited and paced hurriedly up and down the room. +The idea of resuming the offensive after she had been forced to act on +the defensive for months past pleased her. She thought Pierre argued too +much. A woman of action, she did not understand why Pierre had not yet +come to a resolution. She felt that she must gain his confidence. + +"You are master of the situation," she said. "The Prince does not suit +me--" + +"Micheline loves him," interrupted Pierre. + +"She fancies so," replied Madame Desvarennes. "She has got it into her +head, but it will wear off. You thoroughly understand that I did not bid +you to come from Africa to be present at my daughter's wedding. If you +are a man, we shall see some fun. Micheline is your betrothed. You have +our word, and the word of a Desvarennes is as good as the signature. +--It has never been dishonored. Well, refuse to give us back our +promise. Gain time, make love, and take my daughter away from that +dandy." + +Pierre remained silent for a few minutes. In a moment he measured the +extent of the mischief done, by seeing Micheline before consulting Madame +Desvarennes. With the help of this energetic woman he might have +struggled, whereas left to his own strength, he had at the outset been +vanquished and forced to lay down his arms. Not only had he yielded, but +he had drawn his ally into his defeat. + +"Your encouragements come too late," said he. "Micheline asked me to +give her back her promise, and I gave it to her." + +"You were so weak as that!" cried Madame Desvarennes. "And she had so +much boldness? Does she dote on him so? I suspected her plans, and I +hastened to warn you. But all is not lost. You have given Micheline +back her promise. So be it. But I have not given you back yours. You +are pledged to me. I will not countenance the marriage which my daughter +has arranged without my consent! Help me to break it off. And, faith, +you could easily find another woman worth Micheline, but where shall I +find a son-in-law worth you? Come, the happiness of us all is in peril; +save it!" + +"Why continue the struggle? I am beaten beforehand." + +"But if you forsake me, what can I do single-handed with Micheline?" + +"Do what she wishes, as usual. You are surprised at my giving you this +advice? It is no merit on my part. Until now you have refused your +daughter's request; but if she comes again beseeching and crying, you who +are so strong and can say so well 'I will,' will be weak and will not be +able to refuse her her Prince. Believe me; consent willingly. Who +knows? Your son'-in-law may be grateful to you for it by-and-by." + +Madame Desvarennes had listened to Pierre with amazement. + +"Really, you are incredible," she said; "you discuss all this so calmly. +Have you no grief?" + +"Yes," replied Pierre, solemnly, "it is almost killing me." + +"Nonsense! You are boasting!" cried Madame Desvarennes, vehemently. +"Ah, scholar! figures have dried up your heart!" + +"No," replied the young man, with melancholy, "but work has destroyed in +me the seductions of youth. It has made me thoughtful, and a little sad. +I frightened Micheline, instead of attracting her. The worst is that we +live in such a state of high pressure, it is quite impossible to grasp +all that is offered to us in this life-work and pleasure. It is +necessary to make a choice, to economize one's time and strength, and to +work with either the heart or the brain alone. The result is that the +neglected organ wastes away, and that men of pleasure remain all their +lives mediocre workers, while hard workers are pitiful lovers. The +former sacrifice the dignity of existence, the latter that which is the +charm of existence. So that, in decisive moments, when the man of +pleasure appeals to his intelligence, he finds he is unfit for duty, and +when the man of toil appeals to his heart, he finds that he is +unqualified for happiness." + +"Well, my boy, so much the worse for the women who cannot appreciate men +of work, and who allow themselves to be wheedled by men of pleasure. +I never was one of those; and serious as you are, thirty years ago I +would have jumped at you. But as you know your ailment so well, why +don't you cure yourself? The remedy is at hand." + +"What is it?" + +"Strong will. Marry Micheline. I'll answer for everything." + +"She does not love me." + +"A woman always ends by loving her husband." + +"I love Micheline too much to accept her hand without her heart." + +Madame Desvarennes saw that she would gain nothing, and that the game was +irrevocably lost. A great sorrow stole over her. She foresaw a dark +future, and had a presentiment that trouble had entered the house with +Serge Panine. What could she do? Combat the infatuation of her +daughter! She knew that life would be odious for her if Micheline ceased +to laugh and to sing. Her daughter's tears would conquer her will. +Pierre had told her truly. Where was the use of fighting when defeat was +certain? She, too, felt that she was powerless, and with heartfelt +sorrow came to a decision. + +"Come, I see that I must make up my mind to be grandmother to little +princes. It pleases me but little on the father's account. My daughter +will have a sad lot with a fellow of that kind. Well, he had better keep +in the right path; for I shall be there to call him to order. Micheline +must be happy. When my husband was alive, I was already more of a mother +than a wife; now my whole life is wrapped up in my daughter." + +Then raising her vigorous arms with grim energy, she added: + +"Do you know, if my daughter were made miserable through her husband, I +should be capable of killing him." + +These were the last words of the interview which decided the destiny of +Micheline, of the Prince, of Madame Desvarennes, and of Pierre. The +mistress stretched out her hand and rang the bell. A servant appeared, +to whom she gave instructions to tell Marechal to come down. She thought +it would be pleasant for Pierre to pour out his griefs into the heart of +his friend. A man weeps with difficulty before a woman, and she guessed +that the young man's heart was swollen with tears. Marechal was not far +off. He arrived in a moment, and springing toward Pierre put his arms +round his neck. When Madame Desvarennes saw the two friends fully +engrossed with each other, she said to Marechal: + +"I give you leave until this evening. Then bring Pierre back with you; +I wish to see him after dinner." + +And with a firm step she went toward Micheline's room, where the latter +was waiting in fear to know the result of the interview. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A SIGNIFICANT MEETING + +The mansion in the Rue Saint-Dominique is certainly one of the finest to +be seen. Sovereigns alone have more sumptuous palaces. The wide +staircase, of carved oak, is bordered by a bronze balustrade, made by +Ghirlandajo, and brought from Florence by Sommervieux, the great dealer +in curiosities. Baron Rothschild would consent to give only a hundred +thousand francs for it. Madame Desvarennes bought it. The large panels +of the staircase are hung with splendid tapestry, from designs by +Boucher, representing the different metamorphoses of Jupiter. At each +landing-place stands a massive Japanese vase of 'claisonne' enamel, +supported by a tripod of Chinese bronze, representing chimeras. On the +first floor, tall columns of red granite, crowned by gilt capitals, +divide the staircase from a gallery, serving as a conservatory. Plaited +blinds of crimson silk hang before the Gothic windows, filled with +marvellous stained glass. + +In the vestibule-the hangings of which are of Cordova-leather, with gold +ground-seemingly awaiting the good pleasure of some grand lady, is a +sedan-chair, decorated with paintings by Fragonard. Farther on, there is +one of those superb carved mother-of-pearl coffers, in which Oriental +women lay by their finery and jewellery. A splendid Venetian mirror, +its frame embellished with tiny figure subjects, and measuring two metres +in width and three in height, fills a whole panel of the vestibule. +Portieres of Chinese satin, ornamented with striking embroidery, such as +figures on a priest's chasuble, fall in sumptuous folds at the drawing- +room and dining-room doors. + +The drawing-room contains a splendid set of Louis Quatorze furniture, +of gilt wood, upholstered in fine tapestry, in an extraordinary state of +preservation. Three crystal lustres, hanging at intervals along the +room, sparkle like diamonds. The hangings, of woven silk and gold, are +those which were sent as a present by Louis Quatorze to Monsieur de +Pimentel, the Spanish Ambassador, to reward him for the part he had taken +in the conclusion of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. These hangings are +unique, and were brought back from Spain in 1814, in the baggage-train of +Soult's army, and sold to an inhabitant of Toulouse for ten thousand +francs. It was there that Madame Desvarennes discovered them in a garret +in 1864, neglected by the grandchildren of the buyer, who were ignorant +of the immense value of such unrivalled work. Cleverly mended, they are +to-day the pride of the great trader's drawing-room. On the mantelpiece +there is a large clock in Chinese lacquer, ornamented with gilt bronze, +made on a model sent out from Paris in the reign of Louis Quatorze, and +representing the Flight of the Hours pursued by Time. + +Adjoining the great drawing-room is a boudoir upholstered in light gray +silk damask, with bouquets of flowers. This is Madame Desvarennes's +favorite room. A splendid Erard piano occupies one side of the +apartment. Facing it is a sideboard in sculptured ebony, enriched with +bronze, by Gouthieres. There are only two pictures on the walls: "The +Departure of the Newly Married Couple," exquisitely painted by Lancret; +and "The Prediction," an adorable work by Watteau, bought at an +incredible price at the Pourtales sale. Over the chimney-piece is a +miniature by Pommayrac, representing Micheline as a little child--a +treasure which Madame Desvarennes cannot behold without tears coming to +her eyes. A door, hidden by curtains, opens on to a staircase leading +directly to the courtyard. + +The dining-room is in the purest Renaissance style austere woodwork; +immense chests of caned pearwood, on which stand precious ewers in Urbino +ware, and dishes by Bernard Palissy. The high stone fireplace is +surmounted by a portrait of Diana of Poitiers, with a crescent on her +brow, and is furnished with firedogs of elaborately worked iron. The +centre panel bears the arms of Admiral Bonnivet. Stained-glass windows +admit a softly-tinted light. From the magnificently painted ceiling, a +chandelier of brass repousse work hangs from the claws of a hovering +eagle. + +The billiard-room is in the Indian style. Magnificent panoplies unite +Rajpoot shields, Mahratta scimitars, helmets with curtains of steel, +rings belonging to Afghan chiefs, and long lances ornamented with white +mares' tails, wielded by the horsemen of Cabul. The walls are painted +from designs brought from Lahore. The panels of the doors were decorated +by Gerome. The great artist has painted Nautch girls twisting their +floating scarves, and jugglers throwing poignards into the air. Around +the room are low divans, covered with soft and brilliant Oriental cloth. +The chandelier is quite original in form, being the exact representation +of the god Vishnu. From the centre of the body hangs a lotus leaf of +emeralds, and from each of the four arms is suspended a lamp shaped like +a Hindu pagoda, which throws out a mellow light. + +Madame Desvarennes was entertaining her visitors in these celebrated +apartments that evening. Marechal and Pierre had just come in, and were +talking together near the fireplace. A few steps from them was a group, +consisting of Cayrol, Madame Desvarennes, and a third person, who had +never until then put his foot in the house, in spite of intercessions in +his favor made by the banker to Madame Desvarennes. He was a tall, pale, +thin man, whose skin seemed stretched on his bones, with a strongly +developed under-jaw, like that of a ravenous animal, and eyes of +indefinable color, always changing, and veiled behind golden-rimmed +spectacles. His hands were soft and smooth, with moist palms and closely +cut nails--vicious hands, made to take cunningly what they coveted. He +had scanty hair, of a pale yellow, parted just above the ear, so as to +enable him to brush it over the top of his head. This personage, clad in +a double-breasted surtout, over a white waistcoat, and wearing a many- +colored rosette, was called Hermann Herzog. + +A daring financier, he had come from Luxembourg, preceded by a great +reputation; and, in a few months, he had launched in Paris such a series +of important affairs that the big-wigs on the Exchange felt bound to +treat with him. There were many rumors current about him. Some said he +was the most intelligent, most active, and most scrupulous of men that it +was possible to meet. Others said that no greater scoundrel had ever +dared the vengeance of the law, after plundering honest people. Of +German nationality, those who cried him down said he was born at Mayence. +Those who treated the rumors as legends said he was born at Frankfort, +the most Gallic town beyond the river Rhine. + +He had just completed an important line of railway from Morocco to the +centre of our colony in Algeria, and now he was promoting a company for +exporting grain and flour from America. Several times Cayrol had tried +to bring Herzog and Madame Desvarennes together. The banker had an +interest in the grain and flour speculation, but he asserted that it +would not succeed unless the mistress had a hand in it. Cayrol had a +blind faith in the mistress's luck. + +Madame Desvarennes, suspicious of everything foreign, and perfectly +acquainted with the rumors circulated respecting Herzog, had always +refused to receive him. But Cayrol had been so importunate that, being +quite tired of refusing, and, besides, being willing to favor Cayrol for +having so discreetly managed the negotiations of Micheline's marriage, +she had consented. + +Herzog had just arrived. He was expressing to Madame Desvarennes his +delight at being admitted to her house. He had so often heard her highly +spoken of that he had formed a high idea of her, but one which was, +however, far below the reality; he understood now that it was an honor to +be acquainted with her. He wheedled her with German grace, and with a +German-Jewish accent, which reminds one of the itinerant merchants, who +offer you with persistence "a goot pargain." + +The mistress had been rather cold at first, but Herzog's amiability had +thawed her. This man, with his slow speech and queer eyes, produced a +fascinating effect on one like a serpent. He was repugnant, and yet, in +spite of one's self one was led on. He, had at once introduced the grain +question, but in this he found himself face to face with the real Madame +Desvarennes; and no politeness held good on her part when it was a +question of business. From his first words, she had found a weak point +in the plan, and had attacked him with such plainness that the financier, +seeing his enterprise collapse at the sound of the mistress's voice-like +the walls of Jericho at the sound of the Jewish trumpets--had beaten a +retreat, and had changed the subject. + +He was about to float a credit and discount company superior to any in +the world. He would come back and talk with Madame Desvarennes about it, +because she ought to participate in the large profits which the matter +promised. There was no risk. The novelty of the undertaking consisted +in the concurrence of the largest banking-houses of France and abroad, +which would hinder all competition, and prevent hostility on the part of +the great money-handlers. It was very curious, and Madame Desvarennes +would feel great satisfaction in knowing the mechanism of this company, +destined to become, from the first, the most important in the world, and +yet most easy to understand. + +Madame Desvarennes neither said "Yes" nor "No." Moved by the soft and +insinuating talkativeness of Herzog, she felt herself treading on +dangerous ground. It seemed to her that her foot was sinking, as in +those dangerous peat-mosses of which the surface is covered with green +grass, tempting one to run on it. Cayrol was under the charm. He drank +in the German's words. This clever man, who had never till then been +duped, had found his master in Herzog. + +Pierre and Marechal had come nearer, and Madame Desvarennes, profiting by +this mingling of groups, introduced the men to each other. On hearing +the name of Pierre Delarue, Herzog looked thoughtful, and asked if the +young man was the renowned engineer whose works on the coast of Africa +had caused so much talk in Europe? On Madame Desvarennes replying in the +affirmative, he showered well-chosen compliments on Pierre. He had had +the pleasure of meeting Delarue in Algeria, when he had gone over to +finish the railroad in Morocco. + +But Pierre had stepped back on learning that the constructor of that +important line was before him. + +"Ah! is it you, sir, who carried out that job?" said he. "Faith! you +treated those poor Moors rather hardly!" + +He remembered the misery of the poor natives employed by Europeans who +superintended the work. Old men, women, and children were placed at the +disposal of the contractors by the native authorities, to dig up and +remove the soil; and these poor wretches, crushed with hard work, and +driven with the lash by drunken overseers--who commanded them with a +pistol in hand--under a burning sun, inhaled the noxious vapors arising +from the upturned soil, and died like flies. It was a terrible sight, +and one that Pierre could not forget. + +But Herzog, with his cajoling sweetness, protested against this +exaggerated picture. Delarue had arrived during the dog-days--a bad +time. And then, it was necessary for the work to be carried on without +delay. Besides, a few Moors, more or less--what did it matter? Negroes, +all but monkeys! + +Marechal, who had listened silently until then, interrupted the +conversation, to defend the monkeys in the name of Littre. He had framed +a theory, founded on Darwin, and tending to prove that men who despised +monkeys despised themselves. Herzog, a little taken aback by this +unexpected reply, had looked at Marechal slyly, asking himself if it was +a joke. But, seeing Madame Desvarennes laugh, he recovered his self- +possession. Business could not be carried on in the East as in Europe. +And then, had it not always been thus? Had not all the great discoverers +worked the countries which they discovered? Christopher Columbus, +Cortez--had they not taken riches from the Indians, in exchange for the +civilization which they brought them? He (Herzog) had, in making a +railway in Morocco, given the natives the means of civilizing themselves. +It was only fair that it should cost them something. + +Herzog uttered his tirade with all the charm of which he was capable; +he looked to the right and to the left to notice the effect. He saw +nothing but constrained faces. It seemed as if they were expecting some +one or something. Time was passing; ten o'clock had just struck. +From the little boudoir sounds of music were occasionally heard, when +Micheline's nervous hand struck a louder chord on her piano. She was +there, anxiously awaiting some one or something. Jeanne de Cernay, +stretched in an easy-chair, her head leaning on her hand, was dreaming. + +During the past three weeks the young girl had changed. Her bright wit +no longer enlivened Micheline's indolent calmness; her brilliant eyes +were surrounded by blue rings, which denoted nights passed without sleep. +The change coincided strangely with Prince Panine's departure for +England, and the sending of the letter which recalled Pierre to Paris. +Had the inhabitants of the mansion been less occupied with their own +troubles, they would no doubt have noticed this sudden change, and have +sought to know the reason. But the attention of all was concentrated on +the events which had already troubled them, and which would no doubt be +yet more serious to the house, until lately so quiet. + +The visitors' bell sounded, and caused Micheline to rise. The blood +rushed to her cheeks. She whispered, "It is he!" and, hesitating, she +remained a moment leaning on the piano, listening vaguely to the sounds +in the drawing-room. The footman's voice announcing the visitor reached +the young girls: + +"Prince Panine." + +Jeanne also rose then, and if Micheline had turned round she would have +been frightened at the pallor of her companion. But Mademoiselle +Desvarennes was not thinking of Mademoiselle de Cernay; she had just +raised the heavy door curtain, and calling to Jeanne, "Are you coming?" +passed into the drawing-room: + +It was indeed Prince Serge, who was expected by Cayrol with impatience, +by Madame Desvarennes with silent irritation, by Pierre with deep +anguish. The handsome prince, calm and smiling, with white cravat and +elegantly fitting dress-coat which showed off his fine figure, advanced +toward Madame Desvarennes before whom he bowed. He seemed only to have +seen Micheline's mother. Not a look for the two young girls or the men +who were around him. The rest of the universe did not seem to count. +He bent as if before a queen, with a dash of respectful adoration. +He seemed to be saying: + +"Here I am at your feet; my life depends on you; make a sign and I shall +be the happiest of men or the most miserable." + +Micheline followed him with eyes full of pride; she admired his haughty +grace and his caressing humility. It was by these contrasts that Serge +had attracted the young girl's notice. She felt herself face to face +with a strange nature, different from men around her, and had become +interested in him. Then he had spoken to her, and his sweet penetrating +voice had touched her heart. + +What he had achieved with Micheline he longed to achieve with her mother. +After placing himself at the feet of the mother of her whom he loved, +he sought the road to her heart. He took his place beside the mistress +and spoke. He hoped that Madame Desvarennes would excuse the haste of +his visit. The obedience which he had shown in going away must be a +proof to her of his submission to her wishes. He was her most devoted +and respectful servant. He resigned himself to anything she might exact +of him. + +Madame Desvarennes listened to that sweet voice; she had never heard it +so full of charm. She understood what influence this sweetness had +exercised over Micheline; she repented not having watched over her more +carefully, and cursed the hour that had brought all this evil upon them. +She was obliged, however, to answer him. The mistress went straight to +the point. She was not one to beat about the bush when once her mind was +made up. + +"You come, no doubt, sir, to receive an answer to the request you +addressed to me before your departure for England!" + +The Prince turned slightly pale. The words which Madame Desvarennes was +about to pronounce were of such importance to him that he could not help +feeling moved. He answered, in a suppressed tone: + +"I would not have dared to speak to you on the subject, Madame, +especially in public; but since you anticipate my desire, I admit I am +waiting with deep anxiety for one word from you which will decide my +fate." + +He continued bent before Madame Desvarennes like a culprit before his +judge. The mistress was silent for a moment, as if hesitating before +answering, and then said, gravely: + +"That word I hesitated to pronounce, but some one in whom I have great +confidence has advised me to receive you favorably." + +"He, Madame, whoever he may be, has gained my everlasting gratitude." + +"Show it to him," said Madame Desvarennes; "he is the companion of +Micheline's young days, almost a son to me." + +And turning toward Pierre, she pointed him out to Panine. + +Serge took three rapid strides toward Pierre, but quick as he had been +Micheline was before him. Each of the lovers seized a hand of Pierre, +and pressed it with tender effusion. Panine, with his Polish +impetuosity, was making the most ardent protestations to Pierre--he would +be indebted to him for life. + +Micheline's late betrothed, with despair in his heart, allowed his hands +to be pressed and wrung in silence. The voice of her whom he loved +brought tears to his eyes. + +"How generous and good you are!" said the young girl, "how nobly you +have sacrificed yourself!" + +"Don't thank me," replied Pierre; "I have no merit in accomplishing what +you admire. I am weak, you see, and I could not bear to see you suffer." + +There was a great commotion in the drawing-room. Cayrol was explaining +to Herzog, who was listening with great attention, what was taking place. +Serge Panine was to be Madame Desvarennes's son-in-law. It was a great +event. + +"Certainly," said the German; "Madame Desvarennes's son-in-law will +become a financial power. And a Prince, too. What a fine name for a +board of directors!" + +The two financiers looked at each other for a moment; the same thought +had struck them. + +"Yes, but," replied Cayrol, "Madame Desvarennes will never allow Panine +to take part in business." + +"Who knows?" said Herzog. "We shall see how the marriage settlements +are drawn up." + +"But," cried Cayrol, "I would not have it said that I was leading Madame +Desvarennes's son-in-law into speculations." + +"Who is speaking of that?" replied Herzog, coldly. "Am I seeking +shareholders? I have more money than I want; I refuse millions every +day." + +"Oh, I know capitalists run after you," said Cayrol, laughingly; "and to +welcome them you affect the scruples of a pretty woman. But let us go +and congratulate the Prince." + +While Cayrol and Herzog were exchanging those few words which had such a +considerable influence on the future of Serge Panine--a scene, terrible +in its simplicity, was going on without being noticed. Micheline had +thrown herself with a burst of tenderness into her mother's arms. +Serge was deeply affected by the young girl's affection for him, when a +trembling hand touched his arm. He turned round. Jeanne de Cernay was +before him, pale and wan; her eyes sunken into her head like two black +nails, and her lips tightened by a violent contraction. The Prince stood +thunderstruck at the sight of her. He looked around him. Nobody was +observing him. Pierre was beside Marechal, who was whispering those +words which only true friends can find in the sad hours of life. Madame +Desvarennes was holding Micheline in her arms. Serge approached +Mademoiselle de Cernay. Jeanne still fixed on him the same menacing +look. He was afraid. + +"Take care!" he said. + +"Of what?" asked the young girl, with a troubled voice. "What have I to +fear now?" + +"What do you wish?" resumed Panine, with old firmness, and with a +gesture of impatience. + +"I wish to speak with you immediately." + +"You see that is impossible." + +"I must." + +Cayrol and Herzog approached. Serge smiled at Jeanne with a sign of the +head which meant "Yes." The young girl turned away in silence, awaiting +the fulfilment of the promise made. + +Cayrol took her by the hand with tender familiarity. + +"What were you saying to the happy man who has gained the object of his +dreams, Mademoiselle? It is not to him you must speak, but to me, to +give me hope. The moment is propitious; it is the day for betrothals. +You know how much I love you; do me the favor of no longer repulsing me +as you have done hitherto! If you would be kind, how charming it would +be to celebrate the two weddings on the same day. One church, one +ceremony, one splendid feast would unite two happy couples. Is there +nothing in this picture to entice you?" + +"I am not easily enticed, as you know," said Jeanne, in a firm voice, +trying to smile. + +Micheline and Madame Desvarennes had drawn near. + +"Come, Cayrol," said Serge, in a tone of command; "I am happy to-day; +perhaps I may succeed in your behalf as I have done in my own. Let me +plead your cause with Mademoiselle de Cernay?" + +"With all my heart. I need an eloquent pleader," sighed the banker, +shaking his head sadly. + +"And you, Mademoiselle, will you submit to the trial?" asked the Prince, +turning toward Jeanne. "We have always been good friends, and I shall be +almost a brother to you. This gives me some right over your mind and +heart, it seems to me. Do you authorize me to exercise it?" + +"As you like, sir," answered Jeanne, coldly. "The attempt is novel. Who +knows? Perhaps it will succeed!" + +"May Heaven grant it," said Cayrol. Then, approaching Panine: + +"Ah! dear Prince, what gratitude I shall owe you! You know," added he +in a whisper, "if you need a few thousand louis for wedding presents--" + +"Go, go, corrupter!" replied Serge, with the same forced gayety; "you +are flashing your money in front of us. You see it is not invincible, +as you are obliged to have recourse to my feeble talents. But know that +I am working for glory." + +And turning toward Madame Desvarennes he added: "I only ask a quarter of +an hour." + +"Don't defend yourself too much," said Micheline in her companion's ear, +and giving her a tender kiss which the latter did not return. + +"Come with me," said Micheline to Pierre, offering him her arm; "I want +to belong to you alone while Serge is pleading with Jeanne. I will be +your sister as formerly. If you only knew how I love you!" + +The large French window which led to the garden had just been opened by +Marechal, and the mild odors of a lovely spring night perfumed the +drawing-room. They all went out on the lawn. Thousands of stars were +twinkling in the sky, and the eyes of Micheline and Pierre were lifted +toward the dark blue heavens seeking vaguely for the star which presided +over their destiny. She, to know whether her life would be the long poem +of love of which she dreamed; he, to ask whether glory, that exacting +mistress for whom he had made so many sacrifices, would at least comfort +him for his lost love. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A man weeps with difficulty before a woman +Antagonism to plutocracy and hatred of aristocrats +Enough to be nobody's unless I belong to him +Even those who do not love her desire to know her +Flayed and roasted alive by the critics +Hard workers are pitiful lovers +He lost his time, his money, his hair, his illusions +He was very unhappy at being misunderstood +I thought the best means of being loved were to deserve it +Men of pleasure remain all their lives mediocre workers +My aunt is jealous of me because I am a man of ideas +Negroes, all but monkeys! +Patience, should he encounter a dull page here or there +Romanticism still ferments beneath the varnish of Naturalism +Sacrifice his artistic leanings to popular caprice +Unqualified for happiness +You are talking too much about it to be sincere + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Serge Panine, V1 +by Georges Ohnet + diff --git a/3914.zip b/3914.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9586a6f --- /dev/null +++ b/3914.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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