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He +will always be considered the leader of the idealistic school in the +nineteenth century. It is now fifteen years since his death, and the +judgment of posterity is that he had a great imagination, linked to great +analytical power and insight; that his style is neat, pure, and fine, and +at the same time brilliant and concise. He unites suppleness with force, +he combines grace with vigor. + +Octave Feuillet was born at Saint-Lo (Manche), August 11, 1821, his +father occupying the post of Secretary-General of the Prefecture de la +Manche. Pupil at the Lycee Louis le Grand, he received many prizes, and +was entered for the law. But he became early attracted to literature, +and like many of the writers at that period attached himself to the +"romantic school." He collaborated with Alexander Dumas pere and with +Paul Bocage. It can not now be ascertained what share Feuillet may have +had in any of the countless tales of the elder Dumas. Under his own name +he published the novels 'Onesta' and 'Alix', in 1846, his first romances. +He then commenced writing for the stage. We mention 'Echec et Mat' +(Odeon, 1846); 'Palma, ou la Nuit du Vendredi-Saint' (Porte St. Martin, +1847); 'La Vieillesse de Richelieu' (Theatre Francais, 1848); 'York' +(Palais Royal, 1852). Some of them are written in collaboration with +Paul Bocage. They are dramas of the Dumas type, conventional, not +without cleverness, but making no lasting mark. + +Realizing this, Feuillet halted, pondered, abruptly changed front, and +began to follow in the footsteps of Alfred de Musset. 'La Grise' (1854), +'Le Village' (1856), 'Dalila' (1857), 'Le Cheveu Blanc', and other plays +obtained great success, partly in the Gymnase, partly in the Comedie +Francaise. In these works Feuillet revealed himself as an analyst of +feminine character, as one who had spied out all their secrets, and could +pour balm on all their wounds. 'Le Roman d'un Jeune Homme Pauvre' +(Vaudeville, 1858) is probably the best known of all his later dramas; +it was, of course, adapted for the stage from his romance, and is well +known to the American public through Lester Wallack and Pierrepont +Edwards. 'Tentation' was produced in the year 1860, also well known in +this country under the title 'Led Astray'; then followed 'Montjoye' +(1863), etc. The influence of Alfred de Musset is henceforth less +perceptible. Feuillet now became a follower of Dumas fils, especially so +in 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (Vaudeville, 1865); 'Le Cas de Conscience +(Theatre Francais, 1867); 'Julie' (Theatre Francais 1869). These met +with success, and are still in the repertoire of the Comedie Francaise. + +As a romancer, Feuillet occupies a high place. For thirty years he was +the representative of a noble and tender genre, and was preeminently the +favorite novelist of the brilliant society of the Second Empire. Women +literally devoured him, and his feminine public has always remained +faithful to him. He is the advocate of morality and of the aristocracy +of birth and feeling, though under this disguise he involves his heroes +and heroines in highly romantic complications, whose outcome is often for +a time in doubt. Yet as the accredited painter of the Faubourg Saint- +Germain he contributed an essential element to the development of +realistic fiction. No one has rendered so well as he the high-strung, +neuropathic women of the upper class, who neither understand themselves +nor are wholly comprehensible to others. In 'Monsieur de Camors', +crowned by the Academy, he has yielded to the demands of a stricter +realism. Especially after the fall of the Empire had removed a powerful +motive for gilding the vices of aristocratic society, he painted its hard +and selfish qualities as none of his contemporaries could have done. +Octave Feuillet was elected to the Academie Francaise in 1862 to succeed +Scribe. He died December 29, 1890. + MAXIME DU CAMP + de l'Acadamie Francaise. + + + + + +MONSIEUR DE CAMORS + + +BOOK 1. + + +CHAPTER I + +"THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH" + +Near eleven o'clock, one evening in the month of May, a man about fifty +years of age, well formed, and of noble carriage, stepped from a coupe in +the courtyard of a small hotel in the Rue Barbet-de-Jouy. He ascended, +with the walk of a master, the steps leading to the entrance, to the hall +where several servants awaited him. One of them followed him into an +elegant study on the first floor, which communicated with a handsome +bedroom, separated from it by a curtained arch. The valet arranged the +fire, raised the lamps in both rooms, and was about to retire, when his +master spoke: + +"Has my son returned home?" + +"No, Monsieur le Comte. Monsieur is not ill?" + +"Ill! Why?" + +"Because Monsieur le Comte is so pale." + +"Ah! It is only a slight cold I have taken this evening on the banks of +the lake." + +"Will Monsieur require anything?" + +"Nothing," replied the Count briefly, and the servant retired. Left +alone, his master approached a cabinet curiously carved in the Italian +style, and took from it a long flat ebony box. + +This contained two pistols. He loaded them with great care, adjusting +the caps by pressing them lightly to the nipple with his thumb. That +done, he lighted a cigar, and for half an hour the muffled beat of his +regular tread sounded on the carpet of the gallery. He finished his +cigar, paused a moment in deep thought, and then entered the adjoining +room, taking the pistols with him. + +This room, like the other, was furnished in a style of severe elegance, +relieved by tasteful ornament. It showed some pictures by famous +masters, statues, bronzes, and rare carvings in ivory. The Count threw a +glance of singular interest round the interior of this chamber, which was +his own--on the familiar objects--on the sombre hangings--on the bed, +prepared for sleep. Then he turned toward a table, placed in a recess of +the window, laid the pistols upon it, and dropping his head in his hands, +meditated deeply many minutes. Suddenly he raised his head, and wrote +rapidly as follows: + + "TO MY SON: + + "Life wearies me, my son, and I shall relinquish it. The true + superiority of man over the inert or passive creatures that surround + him, lies in his power to free himself, at will, from those, + pernicious servitudes which are termed the laws of nature. Man, + if he will it, need not grow old: the lion must. Reflect, my son, + upon this text, for all human power lies in it. + + "Science asserts and demonstrates it. Man, intelligent and free, + is an animal wholly unpremeditated upon this planet. Produced by + unexpected combinations and haphazard transformations, in the midst + of a general subordination of matter, he figures as a dissonance and + a revolt! + + "Nature has engendered without having conceived him. The result is + as if a turkey-hen had unconsciously hatched the egg of an eagle. + Terrified at the monster, she has sought to control it, and has + overloaded it with instincts, commonly called duties, and police + regulations known as religion. Each one of these shackles broken, + each one of these servitudes overthrown, marks a step toward the + thorough emancipation of humanity. + + "I must say to you, however, that I die in the faith of my century, + believing in matter uncreated, all-powerful, and eternal--the Nature + of the ancients. There have been in all ages philosophers who have + had conceptions of the truth. But ripe to-day, it has become the + common property of all who are strong enough to stand it--for, in + sooth, this latest religion of humanity is food fit only for the + strong. It carries sadness with it, for it isolates man; but it + also involves grandeur, making man absolutely free, or, as it were, + a very god. It leaves him no actual duties except to himself, and + it opens a superb field to one of brain and courage. + + "The masses still remain, and must ever remain, submissive under the + yoke of old, dead religions, and under the tyranny of instincts. + There will still be seen very much the same condition of things as + at present in Paris; a society the brain of which is atheistic, and + the heart religious. And at bottom there will be no more belief in + Christ than in Jupiter; nevertheless, churches will continue to be + built mechanically. There are no longer even Deists; for the old + chimera of a personal, moral God-witness, sanction, and judge,--is + virtually extinct; and yet hardly a word is said, or a line written, + or a gesture made, in public or private life, which does not ever + affirm that chimera. This may have its uses perchance, but it is + nevertheless despicable. Slip forth from the common herd, my son, + think for yourself, and write your own catechism upon a virgin page. + + "As for myself, my life has been a failure, because I was born many + years too soon. As yet the earth and the heavens were heaped up and + cumbered with ruins, and people did not see. Science, moreover, was + relatively still in its infancy. And, besides, I retained the + prejudices and the repugnance to the doctrines of the new world that + belonged to my name. I was unable to comprehend that there was + anything better to be done than childishly to pout at the conqueror; + that is, I could not recognize that his weapons were good, and that + I should seize and destroy him with them. In short, for want of a + definite principle of action I have drifted at random, my life + without plan--I have been a mere trivial man of pleasure. + + "Your life shall be more complete, if you will only follow my + advice. + + "What, indeed, may not a man of this age become if he have the good + sense and energy to conform his life rigidly to his belief! + + "I merely state the question, you must solve it; I can leave you + only some cursory ideas, which I am satisfied are just, and upon + which you may meditate at your leisure. Only for fools or the weak + does materialism become a debasing dogma; assuredly, in its code + there are none of those precepts of ordinary morals which our + fathers entitled virtue; but I do find there a grand word which may + well counterbalance many others, that is to say, Honor, self-esteem! + Unquestionably a materialist may not be a saint; but he can be a + gentleman, which is something. You have happy gifts, my son, and I + know of but one duty that you have in the world--that of developing + those gifts to the utmost, and through them to enjoy life + unsparingly. Therefore, without scruple, use woman for your + pleasure, man for your advancement; but under no circumstances do + anything ignoble. + + "In order that ennui shall not drive you, like myself, prematurely + from the world so soon as the season for pleasure shall have ended, + you should leave the emotions of ambition and of public life for the + gratification of your riper age. Do not enter into any engagements + with the reigning government, and reserve for yourself to hear its + eulogium made by those who will have subverted it. That is the + French fashion. Each generation must have its own prey. You will + soon feel the impulse of the coming generation. Prepare yourself, + from afar, to take the lead in it. + + "In politics, my son, you are not ignorant that we all take our + principles from our temperament. The bilious are demagogues, the + sanguine, democrats, the nervous, aristocrats. You are both + sanguine and nervous, an excellent constitution, for it gives you a + choice. You may, for example, be an aristocrat in regard to + yourself personally, and, at the same time, a democrat in relation + to others; and in that you will not be exceptional. + + "Make yourself master of every question likely to interest your + contemporaries, but do not become absorbed in any yourself. In + reality, all principles are indifferent--true or false according to + the hour and circumstance. Ideas are mere instruments with which + you should learn to play seasonably, so as to sway men. In that + path, likewise, you will have associates. + + "Know, my son, that having attained my age, weary of all else, you + will have need of strong sensations. The sanguinary diversions of + revolution will then be for you the same as a love-affair at twenty. + + "But I am fatigued, my son, and shall recapitulate. To be loved by + women, to be feared by men, to be as impassive and as imperturbable + as a god before the tears of the one and the blood of the other, and + to end in a whirlwind--such has been the lot in which I have failed, + but which, nevertheless, I bequeath to you. With your great + faculties you, however, are capable of accomplishing it, unless + indeed you should fail through some ingrained weakness of the heart + that I have noticed in you, and which, doubtless, you have imbibed + with your mother's milk. + + "So long as man shall be born of woman, there will be something + faulty and incomplete in his character. In fine, strive to relieve + yourself from all thraldom, from all natural instincts, affections, + and sympathies as from so many fetters upon your liberty, your + strength. + + "Do not marry unless some superior interest shall impel you to do + so. In that event, have no children. + + "Have no intimate friends. Caesar having grown old, had a friend. + It was Brutus! + + "Contempt for men is the beginning of wisdom. + + "Change somewhat your style of fencing, it is altogether too open, + my son. Do not get angry. Rarely laugh, and never weep. Adieu. + + "CAMORS." + + +The feeble rays of dawn had passed through the slats of the blinds. +The matin birds began their song in the chestnut-tree near the window. +M. de Camors raised his head and listened in an absent mood to the sound +which astonished him. Seeing that it was daybreak, he folded in some +haste the pages he had just finished, pressed his seal upon the envelope, +and addressed it, "For the Comte Louis de Camors." Then he rose. + +M. de Camors was a great lover of art, and had carefully preserved a +magnificent ivory carving of the sixteenth century, which had belonged to +his wife. It was a Christ the pallid white relieved by a medallion of +dark velvet. + +His eye, meeting this pale, sad image, was attracted to it for a moment +with strange fascination. Then he smiled bitterly, seized one of the +pistols with a firm hand and pressed it to his temple. + +A shot resounded through the house; the fall of a heavy body shook the +floor-fragments of brains strewed the carpet. The Comte de Camors had +plunged into eternity! + +His last will was clenched in his hand. + +To whom was this document addressed? Upon what kind of soil will these +seeds fall? + +At this time Louis de Camors was twenty-seven years old. His mother had +died young. It did not appear that she had been particularly happy with +her husband; and her son barely remembered her as a young woman, pretty +and pale, and frequently weeping, who used to sing him to sleep in a low, +sweet voice. He had been brought up chiefly by his father's mistress, +who was known as the Vicomtesse d'Oilly, a widow, and a rather good sort +of woman. Her natural sensibility, and the laxity of morals then +reigning at Paris, permitted her to occupy herself at the same time with +the happiness of the father and the education of the son. When the +father deserted her after a time, he left her the child, to comfort her +somewhat by this mark of confidence and affection. She took him out +three times a week; she dressed him and combed him; she fondled him and +took him with her to church, and made him play with a handsome Spaniard, +who had been for some time her secretary. Besides, she neglected no +opportunity of inculcating precepts of sound morality. Thus the child, +being surprised at seeing her one evening press a kiss upon the forehead +of her secretary, cried out, with the blunt candor of his age: + +"Why, Madame, do you kiss a gentleman who is not your husband?" + +"Because, my dear," replied the Countess, "our good Lord commands us to +be charitable and affectionate to the poor, the infirm, and the exile; +and Monsieur Perez is an exile." + +Louis de Camors merited better care, for he was a generous-hearted child; +and his comrades of the college of Louis-le-Grand always remembered the +warm-heartedness and natural grace which made them forgive his successes +during the week, and his varnished boots and lilac gloves on Sunday. +Toward the close of his college course, he became particularly attached +to a poor bursar, by name Lescande, who excelled in mathematics, +but who was very ungraceful, awkwardly shy and timid, with a painful +sensitiveness to the peculiarities of his person. He was nicknamed +"Wolfhead," from the refractory nature of his hair; but the elegant +Camors stopped the scoffers by protecting the young man with his +friendship. Lescande felt this deeply, and adored his friend, to whom he +opened the inmost recesses of his heart, letting out some important +secrets. + +He loved a very young girl who was his cousin, but was as poor as +himself. Still it was a providential thing for him that she was poor, +otherwise he never should have dared to aspire to her. It was a sad +occurrence that had first thrown Lescande with his cousin--the loss of +her father, who was chief of one of the Departments of State. + +After his death she lived with her mother in very straitened +circumstances; and Lescande, on occasion of his last visit, found her +with soiled cuffs. Immediately after he received the following note: + + "Pardon me, dear cousin! Pardon my not wearing white cuffs. But I + must tell you that we can change our cuffs--my mother and I--only + three times a week. As to her, one would never discover it. She is + neat as a bird. I also try to be; but, alas! when I practise the + piano, my cuffs rub. After this explanation, my good Theodore, I + hope you will love me as before. + "JULIETTE." + + +Lescande wept over this note. Luckily he had his prospects as an +architect; and Juliette had promised to wait for him ten years, by which +time he would either be dead, or living deliciously in a humble house +with his cousin. He showed the note, and unfolded his plans to Camors. +"This is the only ambition I have, or which I can have," added Lescande. +"You are different. You are born for great things." + +"Listen, my old Lescande," replied Camors, who had just passed his +rhetoric examination in triumph. "I do not know but that my destiny +may be ordinary; but I am sure my heart can never be. There I feel +transports--passions, which give me sometimes great joy, sometimes +inexpressible suffering. I burn to discover a world--to save a nation-- +to love a queen! I understand nothing but great ambitions and noble +alliances, and as for sentimental love, it troubles me but little. My +activity pants for a nobler and a wider field! + +"I intend to attach myself to one of the great social parties, political +or religious, that agitate the world at this era. Which one I know not +yet, for my opinions are not very fixed. But as soon as I leave college +I shall devote myself to seeking the truth. And truth is easily found. +I shall read all the newspapers. + +"Besides, Paris is an intellectual highway, so brilliantly lighted it is +only necessary to open one's eyes and have good faith and independence, +to find the true road. + +"And I am in excellent case for this, for though born a gentleman, I have +no prejudices. My father, who is himself very enlightened and very +liberal, leaves me free. I have an uncle who is a Republican; an aunt +who is a Legitimist--and what is still more, a saint; and another uncle +who is a Conservative. It is not vanity that leads me to speak of these +things; but only a desire to show you that, having a foot in all parties, +I am quite willing to compare them dispassionately and make a good +choice. Once master of the holy truth, you may be sure, dear old +Lescande, I shall serve it unto death--with my tongue, with my pen, and +with my sword!" + +Such sentiments as these, pronounced with sincere emotion and accompanied +by a warm clasp of the hand, drew tears from the old Lescande, otherwise +called Wolfhead. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRUIT FROM THE HOTBED OF PARIS + +Early one morning, about eight years after these high resolves, Louis de +Camors rode out from the 'porte-cochere' of the small hotel he had +occupied with his father. + +Nothing could be gayer than Paris was that morning, at that charming +golden hour of the day when the world seems peopled only with good and +generous spirits who love one another. Paris does not pique herself on +her generosity; but she still takes to herself at this charming hour an +air of innocence, cheerfulness, and amiable cordiality. + +The little carts with bells, that pass one another rapidly, make one +believe the country is covered with roses. The cries of old Paris cut +with their sharp notes the deep murmur of a great city just awaking. + +You see the jolly concierges sweeping the white footpaths; half-dressed +merchants taking down their shutters with great noise; and groups of +ostlers, in Scotch caps, smoking and fraternizing on the hotel steps. + +You hear the questions of the sociable neighborhood; the news proper to +awakening; speculations on the weather bandied across from door to door, +with much interest. + +Young milliners, a little late, walk briskly toward town with elastic +step, making now a short pause before a shop just opened; again taking +wing like a bee just scenting a flower. + +Even the dead in this gay Paris morning seem to go gayly to the cemetery, +with their jovial coachmen grinning and nodding as they pass. + +Superbly aloof from these agreeable impressions, Louis de Camors, +a little pale, with half-closed eyes and a cigar between his teeth, +rode into the Rue de Bourgogne at a walk, broke into a canter on the +Champs Elysees, and galloped thence to the Bois. After a brisk run, he +returned by chance through the Porte Maillot, then not nearly so thickly +inhabited as it is to-day. Already, however, a few pretty houses, with +green lawns in front, peeped out from the bushes of lilac and clematis. +Before the green railings of one of these a gentleman played hoop with a +very young, blond-haired child. His age belonged in that uncertain area +which may range from twenty-five to forty. He wore a white cravat, +spotless as snow; and two triangles of short, thick beard, cut like the +boxwood at Versailles, ornamented his cheeks. If Camors saw this +personage he did not honor him with the slightest notice. He was, +notwithstanding, his former comrade Lescande, who had been lost sight of +for several years by his warmest college friend. Lescande, however, +whose memory seemed better, felt his heart leap with joy at the majestic +appearance of the young cavalier who approached him. He made a movement +to rush forward; a smile covered his good-natured face, but it ended in +a grimace. Evidently he had been forgotten. Camors, now not more than +a couple of feet from him, was passing on, and his handsome countenance +gave not the slightest sign of emotion. Suddenly, without changing +a single line of his face, he drew rein, took the cigar from his lips, +and said, in a tranquil voice: + +"Hello! You have no longer a wolf head!" + +"Ha! Then you know me?" cried Lescande. + +"Know you? Why not?" + +"I thought--I was afraid--on account of my beard--" + +"Bah! your beard does not change you--except that it becomes you. +But what are you doing here?" + +"Doing here! Why, my dear friend, I am at home here. Dismount, I pray +you, and come into my house." + +"Well, why not?" replied Camors, with the same voice and manner of +supreme indifference; and, throwing his bridle to the servant who +followed him, he passed through the gardengate, led, supported, caressed +by the trembling hand of Lescande. + +The garden was small, but beautifully tended and full of rare plants. +At the end, a small villa, in the Italian style, showed its graceful +porch. + +"Ah, that is pretty!" exclaimed Camors, at last. + +"And you recognize my plan, Number Three, do you not?" asked Lescande, +eagerly. + +"Your plan Number Three? Ah, yes, perfectly," replied Camors, absently. +"And your pretty little cousin--is she within?" + +"She is there, my dear friend," answered Lescande, in a low voice--and he +pointed to the closed shutters of a large window of a balcony surmounting +the veranda. "She is there; and this is our son." + +Camors let his hand pass listlessly over the child's hair. "The deuce!" +he said; "but you have not wasted time. And you are happy, my good +fellow?" + +"So happy, my dear friend, that I am sometimes uneasy, for the good God +is too kind to me. It is true, though, I had to work very hard. For +instance, I passed two years in Spain--in the mountains of that infernal +country. There I built a fairy palace for the Marquis of Buena-Vista, +a great nobleman, who had seen my plan at the Exhibition and was +delighted with it. This was the beginning of my fortune; but you must +not imagine that my profession alone has enriched me so quickly. I made +some successful speculations--some unheard of chances in lands; and, I +beg you to believe, honestly, too. Still, I am not a millionaire; but +you know I had nothing, and my wife less; now, my house paid for, we have +ten thousand francs' income left. It is not a fortune for us, living in +this style; but I still work and keep good courage, and my Juliette is +happy in her paradise!" + +"She wears no more soiled cuffs, then?" said Camors. + +"I warrant she does not! Indeed, she has a slight tendency to luxury-- +like all women, you know. But I am delighted to see you remember so well +our college follies. I also, through all my distractions, never forgot +you a moment. I even had a foolish idea of asking you to my wedding, +only I did not dare. You are so brilliant, so petted, with your +establishment and your racers. My wife knows you very well; in fact, we +have talked of you a hundred thousand times. Since she patronizes the +turf and subscribes for 'The Sport', she says to me, 'Your friend's horse +has won again'; and in our family circle we rejoice over your triumphs." + +A flush tinged the cheek of Camors as he answered, quietly, "You are +really too good." + +They walked a moment in silence over the gravel path bordered by grass, +before Lescande spoke again. + +"And yourself, dear friend, I hope that you also are happy." + +"I--happy!" Camors seemed a little astonished. "My happiness is simple +enough, but I believe it is unclouded. I rise in the morning, ride to +the Bois, thence to the club, go to the Bois again, and then back to the +club. If there is a first representation at any theatre, I wish to see +it. Thus, last evening they gave a new piece which was really exquisite. +There was a song in it, beginning: + + 'He was a woodpecker, + A little woodpecker, + A young woodpecker--' + +and the chorus imitated the cry of the woodpecker! Well, it was +charming, and the whole of Paris will sing that song with delight for a +year. I also shall do like the whole of Paris, and I shall be happy." + +"Good heavens! my friend," laughed Lescande, "and that suffices you for +happiness?" + +"That and--the principles of 'eighty-nine," replied Camors, lighting a +fresh cigar from the old one. + +Here their dialogue was broken by the fresh voice of a woman calling from +the blinds of the balcony-- + +"Is that you, Theodore?" + +Camors raised his eyes and saw a white hand, resting on the slats of the +blind, bathed in sunlight. + +"That is my wife. Conceal yourself!" cried Lescande, briskly; and he +pushed Camors behind a clump of catalpas, as he turned to the balcony and +lightly answered: + +"Yes, my dear; do you wish anything?" + +"Maxime is with you?" + +"Yes, mother. I am here," cried the child. "It is a beautiful morning. +Are you quite well?" + +"I hardly know. I have slept too long, I believe." She opened the +shutters, and, shading her eyes from the glare with her hand, appeared on +the balcony. + +She was in the flower of youth, slight, supple, and graceful, and +appeared, in her ample morning-gown of blue cashmere, plumper and taller +than she really was. Bands of the same color interlaced, in the Greek +fashion, her chestnut hair--which nature, art, and the night had +dishevelled--waved and curled to admiration on her small head. + +She rested her elbows on the railing, yawned, showing her white teeth, +and looking at her husband, asked: + +"Why do you look so stupid?" + +At the instant she observed Camors--whom the interest of the moment had +withdrawn from his concealment--gave a startled cry, gathered up her +skirts, and retired within the room. + +Since leaving college up to this hour, Louis de Camors had never formed +any great opinion of the Juliet who had taken Lescande as her Romeo. He +experienced a flash of agreeable surprise on discovering that his friend +was more happy in that respect than he had supposed. + +"I am about to be scolded, my friend," said Lescande, with a hearty +laugh, "and you also must stay for your share. You will stay and +breakfast with us?" + +Camors hesitated; then said, hastily, "No, no! Impossible! I have an +engagement which I must keep." + +Notwithstanding Camors's unwillingness, Lescande detained him until he +had extorted a promise to come and dine with them--that is, with him, +his wife, and his mother-in-law, Madame Mursois--on the following +Tuesday. This acceptance left a cloud on the spirit of Camors until the +appointed day. Besides abhorring family dinners, he objected to being +reminded of the scene of the balcony. The indiscreet kindness of +Lescande both touched and irritated him; for he knew he should play but a +silly part near this pretty woman. He felt sure she was a coquette, +notwithstanding which, the recollections of his youth and the character +of her husband should make her sacred to him. So he was not in the most +agreeable frame of mind when he stepped out of his dog-cart, that Tuesday +evening, before the little villa of the Avenue Maillot. + +At his reception by Madame Lescande and her mother he took heart a +little. They appeared to him what they were, two honest-hearted women, +surrounded by luxury and elegance. The mother--an ex-beauty--had been +left a widow when very young, and to this time had avoided any stain on +her character. With them, innate delicacy held the place of those solid +principles so little tolerated by French society. Like a few other women +of society, Madame had the quality of virtue just as ermine has the +quality of whiteness. Vice was not so repugnant to her as an evil as it +was as a blemish. Her daughter had received from her those instincts of +chastity which are oftener than we imagine hidden under the appearance of +pride. But these amiable women had one unfortunate caprice, not uncommon +at this day among Parisians of their position. Although rather clever, +they bowed down, with the adoration of bourgeoises, before that +aristocracy, more or less pure, that paraded up and down the Champs +Elysees, in the theatres, at the race-course, and on the most frequented +promenades, its frivolous affairs and rival vanities. + +Virtuous themselves, they read with interest the daintiest bits of +scandal and the most equivocal adventures that took place among the +elite. It was their happiness and their glory to learn the smallest +details of the high life of Paris; to follow its feasts, speak in its +slang, copy its toilets, and read its favorite books. So that if not the +rose, they could at least be near the rose and become impregnated with +her colors and her perfumes. Such apparent familiarity heightened them +singularly in their own estimation and in that of their associates. + +Now, although Camors did not yet occupy that bright spot in the heaven of +fashion which was surely to be his one day, still he could here pass for +a demigod, and as such inspire Madame Lescande and her mother with a +sentiment of most violent curiosity. His early intimacy with Lescande +had always connected a peculiar interest with his name: and they knew the +names of his horses--most likely knew the names of his mistresses. + +So it required all their natural tact to conceal from their guest the +flutter of their nerves caused by his sacred presence; but they did +succeed, and so well that Camors was slightly piqued. If not a coxcomb, +he was at least young: he was accustomed to please: he knew the Princess +de Clam-Goritz had lately applied to him her learned definition of an +agreeable man--"He is charming, for one always feels in danger near him!" + +Consequently, it seemed a little strange to him that the simple mother of +the simple wife of simple Lescande should be able to bear his radiance +with such calmness; and this brought him out of his premeditated reserve. + +He took the trouble to be irresistible--not to Madame Lescande, to whom +he was studiously respectful--but to Madame Mursois. The whole evening +he scattered around the mother the social epigrams intended to dazzle the +daughter; Lescande meanwhile sitting with his mouth open, delighted with +the success of his old schoolfellow. + +Next afternoon, Camors, returning from his ride in the Bois, by chance +passed the Avenue Maillot. Madame Lescande was embroidering on the +balcony, by chance, and returned his salute over her tapestry. He +remarked, too, that she saluted very gracefully, by a slight inclination +of the head, followed by a slight movement of her symmetrical, sloping +shoulders. + +When he called upon her two or three days after--as was only his duty-- +Camors reflected on a strong resolution he had made to keep very cool, +and to expatiate to Madame Lescande only on her husband's virtues. This +pious resolve had an unfortunate effect; for Madame, whose virtue had +been piqued, had also reflected; and while an obtrusive devotion had not +failed to frighten her, this course only reassured her. So she gave up +without restraint to the pleasure of receiving in her boudoir one of the +brightest stars from the heaven of her dreams. + +It was now May, and at the races of La Marche--to take place the +following Sunday--Camors was to be one of the riders. Madame Mursois and +her daughter prevailed upon Lescande to take them, while Camors completed +their happiness by admitting them to the weighing-stand. Further, when +they walked past the judge's stand, Madame Mursois, to whom he gave his +arm, had the delight of being escorted in public by a cavalier in an +orange jacket and topboots. Lescande and his wife followed in the wake +of the radiant mother-in-law, partaking of her ecstasy. + +These agreeable relations continued for several weeks, without seeming to +change their character. One day Camors would seat himself by the lady, +before the palace of the Exhibition, and initiate her into the mysteries +of all the fashionables who passed before them. Another time he would +drop into their box at the opera, deign to remain there during an act or +two, and correct their as yet incomplete views of the morals of the +ballet. But in all these interviews he held toward Madame Lescande the +language and manner of a brother: perhaps because he secretly persisted +in his delicate resolve; perhaps because he was not ignorant that every +road leads to Rome--and one as surely as another. + +Madame Lescande reassured herself more and more; and feeling it +unnecessary to be on her guard, as at first, thought she might permit +herself a little levity. No woman is flattered at being loved only as +a sister. + +Camors, a little disquieted by the course things were taking, made some +slight effort to divert it. But, although men in fencing wish to spare +their adversaries, sometimes they find habit too strong for them, and +lunge home in spite of themselves. Besides, he began to be really +interested in Madame Lescande--in her coquettish ways, at once artful and +simple, provoking and timid, suggestive and reticent--in short, charming. + +The same evening that M. de Camors, the elder, returned to his home bent +on suicide, his son, passing up the Avenue Maillot, was stopped by +Lescande on the threshold of his villa. + +"My friend," said the latter, "as you are here you can do me a great +favor. A telegram calls me suddenly to Melun--I must go on the instant. +The ladies will be so lonely, pray stay and dine with them! I can't tell +what the deuce ails my wife. She has been weeping all day over her +tapestry; my mother-in-law has a headache. Your presence will cheer +them. So stay, I beg you." + +Camors refused, hesitated, made objections, and consented. He sent back +his horse, and his friend presented him to the ladies, whom the presence +of the unexpected guest seemed to cheer a little. Lescande stepped into +his carriage and departed, after receiving from his wife an embrace more +fervent than usual. + +The dinner was gay. In the atmosphere was that subtle suggestion of +coming danger of which both Camors and Madame Lescande felt the +exhilarating influence. Their excitement, as yet innocent, employed +itself in those lively sallies--those brilliant combats at the barriers +--that ever precede the more serious conflict. About nine o'clock the +headache of Madame Mursois--perhaps owing to the cigar they had allowed +Camors--became more violent. She declared she could endure it no longer, +and must retire to her chamber. Camors wished to withdraw, but his +carriage had not yet arrived and Madame Mursois insisted that he should +wait for it. + +"Let my daughter amuse you with a little music until then," she added. + +Left alone with her guest, the younger lady seemed embarrassed. "What +shall I play for you?" she asked, in a constrained voice, taking her +seat at the piano. + +"Oh! anything--play a waltz," answered Camors, absently. + +The waltz finished, an awkward silence ensued. To break it she arose +hesitatingly; then clasping her hands together exclaimed, "It seems to me +there is a storm. Do you not think so?" She approached the window, +opened it, and stepped out on the balcony. In a second Camors was at her +side. + +The night was beautifully clear. Before them stretched the sombre shadow +of the wood, while nearer trembling rays of moonlight slept upon the +lawn. + +How still all was! Their trembling hands met and for a moment did not +separate. + +"Juliette!" whispered the young man, in a low, broken voice. She +shuddered, repelled the arm that Camors passed round her, and hastily +reentered the room. + +"Leave me, I pray you!" she cried, with an impetuous gesture of her +hand, as she sank upon the sofa, and buried her face in her hands. + +Of course Camors did not obey. He seated himself by her. + +In a little while Juliette awoke from her trance; but she awoke a lost +woman! + +How bitter was that awakening! She measured at a first glance the depth +of the awful abyss into which she had suddenly plunged. Her husband, her +mother, her infant, whirled like spectres in the mad chaos of her brain. + +Sensible of the anguish of an irreparable wrong, she rose, passed her +hand vacantly across her brow, and muttering, "Oh, God! oh, God!" peered +vainly into the dark for light--hope--refuge! There was none! + +Her tortured soul cast herself utterly on that of her lover. She turned +her swimming eyes on him and said: + +"How you must despise me!" + +Camors, half kneeling on the carpet near her, kissed her hand +indifferently and half raised his shoulders in sign of denial. "Is it +not so?" she repeated. "Answer me, Louis." + +His face wore a strange, cruel smile--"Do not insist on an answer, I pray +you," he said. + +"Then I am right? You do despise me?" + +Camors turned himself abruptly full toward her, looked straight in her +face, and said, in a cold, hard voice, "I do!" + +To this cruel speech the poor child replied by a wild cry that seemed to +rend her, while her eyes dilated as if under the influence of strong +poison. Camors strode across the room, then returned and stood by her as +he said, in a quick, violent tone: + +"You think I am brutal? Perhaps I am, but that can matter little now. +After the irreparable wrong I have done you, there is one service--and +only one which I can now render you. I do it now, and tell you the +truth. Understand me clearly; women who fall do not judge themselves +more harshly than their accomplices judge them. For myself, what would +you have me think of you? + +"To his misfortune and my shame, I have known your husband since his +boyhood. There is not a drop of blood in his veins that does not throb +for you; there is not a thought of his day nor a dream of his night that +is not yours; your every comfort comes from his sacrifices--your every +joy from his exertion! See what he is to you! + +"You have only seen my name in the journals; you have seen me ride by +your window; I have talked a few times with you, and you yield to me in +one moment the whole of his life with your own--the whole of his +happiness with your own. + +"I tell you, woman, every man like me, who abuses your vanity and your +weakness and afterward tells you he esteems you--lies! And if after all +you still believe he loves you, you do yourself fresh injury. No: we +soon learn to hate those irksome ties that become duties where we only +sought pleasures; and the first effort after they are formed is to +shatter them. + +"As for the rest: women like you are not made for unholy love like ours. +Their charm is their purity, and losing that, they lose everything. But +it is a blessing to them to encounter one wretch, like myself, who cares +to say--Forget me, forever! Farewell!" + +He left her, passed from the room with rapid strides, and, slamming the +door behind him, disappeared. Madame Lescande, who had listened, +motionless, and pale as marble, remained in the same lifeless attitude, +her eyes fixed, her hands clenched--yearning from the depths of her heart +that death would summon her. Suddenly a singular noise, seeming to come +from the next room, struck her ear. It was only a convulsive sob, or +violent and smothered laughter. The wildest and most terrible ideas +crowded to the mind of the unhappy woman; the foremost of them, that her +husband had secretly returned, that he knew all--that his brain had given +way, and that the laughter was the gibbering of his madness. + +Feeling her own brain begin to reel, she sprang from the sofa, and +rushing to the door, threw it open. The next apartment was the dining- +room, dimly lighted by a hanging lamp. There she saw Camors, crouched +upon the floor, sobbing furiously and beating his forehead against a +chair which he strained in a convulsive embrace. Her tongue refused its +office; she could find no word, but seating herself near him, gave way to +her emotion, and wept silently. He dragged himself nearer, seized the +hem of her dress and covered it with kisses; his breast heaved +tumultuously, his lips trembled and he gasped the almost inarticulate +words, "Pardon! Oh, pardon me!" + +This was all. Then he rose suddenly, rushed from the house, and the +instant after she heard the rolling of the wheels as his carriage whirled +him away. + +If there were no morals and no remorse, French people would perhaps be +happier. But unfortunately it happens that a young woman, who believes +in little, like Madame Lescande, and a young man who believes in nothing, +like M. de Camors, can not have the pleasures of an independent code of +morals without suffering cruelly afterward. + +A thousand old prejudices, which they think long since buried, start up +suddenly in their consciences; and these revived scruples are nearly +fatal to them. + +Camors rushed toward Paris at the greatest speed of his thoroughbred, +Fitz-Aymon, awakening along the route, by his elegance and style, +sentiments of envy which would have changed to pity were the wounds of +the heart visible. Bitter weariness, disgust of life and disgust for +himself, were no new sensations to this young man; but he never had +experienced them in such poignant intensity as at this cursed hour, +when flying from the dishonored hearth of the friend of his boyhood. +No action of his life had ever thrown such a flood of light on the depths +of his infamy in doing such gross outrage to the friend of his purer +days, to the dear confidant of the generous thoughts and proud +aspirations of his youth. He knew he had trampled all these under foot. +Like Macbeth, he had not only murdered one asleep, but had murdered sleep +itself. + +His reflections became insupportable. He thought successively of +becoming a monk, of enlisting as a soldier, and of getting drunk--ere he +reached the corner of the Rue Royale and the Boulevard. Chance favored +his last design, for as he alighted in front of his club, he found +himself face to face with a pale young man, who smiled as he extended his +hand. Camors recognized the Prince d'Errol. + +"The deuce! You here, my Prince! I thought you in Cairo." + +"I arrived only this morning." + +"Ah, then you are better?--Your chest?" + +"So--so." + +"Bah! you look perfectly well. And isn't Cairo a strange place?" + +"Rather; but I really believe Providence has sent you to me." + +"You really think so, my Prince? But why?" + +"Because--pshaw! I'll tell you by-and-bye; but first I want to hear all +about your quarrel." + +"What quarrel?" + +"Your duel for Sarah." + +"That is to say, against Sarah!" + +"Well, tell me all that passed; I heard of it only vaguely while abroad." + +"Well, I only strove to do a good action, and, according to custom, I was +punished for it. I heard it said that that little imbecile La Brede +borrowed money from his little sister to lavish it upon that Sarah. +This was so unnatural that you may believe it first disgusted, and then +irritated me. One day at the club I could not resist saying, 'You are an +ass, La Bride, to ruin yourself--worse than that, to ruin your sister, +for the sake of a snail, as little sympathetic as Sarah, a girl who +always has a cold in her head, and who has already deceived you.' +'Deceived me!' cried La Brede, waving his long arms. 'Deceived me! +and with whom?'--'With me.' As he knew I never lied, he panted for my +life. Luckily my life is a tough one." + +"You put him in bed for three months, I hear." + +"Almost as long as that, yes. And now, my friend, do me a service. I am +a bear, a savage, a ghost! Assist me to return to life. Let us go and +sup with some sprightly people whose virtue is extraordinary." + +"Agreed! That is recommended by my physician." + +"From Cairo? Nothing could be better, my Prince." + +Half an hour later Louis de Camors, the Prince d'Errol, and a half-dozen +guests of both sexes, took possession of an apartment, the closed doors +of which we must respect. + +Next morning, at gray dawn, the party was about to disperse; and at the +moment a ragpicker, with a gray beard, was wandering up and down before +the restaurant, raking with his hook in the refuse that awaited the +public sweepers. In closing his purse, with an unsteady hand, Camors let +fall a shining louis d'or, which rolled into the mud on the sidewalk. +The ragpicker looked up with a timid smile. + +"Ah! Monsieur," he said, "what falls into the trench should belong to +the soldier." + +"Pick it up with your teeth, then," answered Camors, laughing, "and it is +yours." + +The man hesitated, flushed under his sunburned cheeks, and threw a look +of deadly hatred upon the laughing group round him. Then he knelt, +buried his chest in the mire, and sprang up next moment with the coin +clenched between his sharp white teeth. The spectators applauded. The +chiffonnier smiled a dark smile, and turned away. + +"Hello, my friend!" cried Camors, touching his arm, "would you like to +earn five Louis? If so, give me a knock-down blow. That will give you +pleasure and do me good." + +The man turned, looked him steadily in the eye, then suddenly dealt him +such a blow in the face that he reeled against the opposite wall. The +young men standing by made a movement to fall upon the graybeard. + +"Let no one harm him!" cried Camors. "Here, my man, are your hundred +francs." + +"Keep them," replied the other, "I am paid;" and walked away. + +"Bravo, Belisarius!" laughed Camors. "Faith, gentlemen, I do not know +whether you agree with me, but I am really charmed with this little +episode. I must go dream upon it. By-bye, young ladies! Good-day, +Prince!" + +An early cab was passing, he jumped in, and was driven rapidly to his +hotel, on the Rue Babet-de-Jouy. + +The door of the courtyard was open, but being still under the influence +of the wine he had drunk, he failed to notice a confused group of +servants and neighbors standing before the stable-doors. Upon seeing +him, these people became suddenly silent, and exchanged looks of sympathy +and compassion. Camors occupied the second floor of the hotel; and +ascending the stairs, found himself suddenly facing his father's valet. +The man was very pale, and held a sealed paper, which he extended with a +trembling hand. + +"What is it, Joseph?" asked Camors. + +"A letter which--which Monsieur le Comte wrote for you before he left." + +"Before he left! my father is gone, then? But--where--how? What, the +devil! why do you weep?" + +Unable to speak, the servant handed him the paper. Camors seized it and +tore it open. + +"Good God! there is blood! what is this!" He read the first words-- +"My son, life is a burden to me. I leave it--" and fell fainting to the +floor. + +The poor lad loved his father, notwithstanding the past. + +They carried him to his chamber. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +DEBRIS FROM THE REVOLUTION + +De Camors, on leaving college had entered upon life with a heart swelling +with the virtues of youth--confidence, enthusiasm, sympathy. The +horrible neglect of his early education had not corrupted in his veins +those germs of weakness which, as his father declared, his mother's milk +had deposited there; for that father, by shutting him up in a college to +get rid of him for twelve years, had rendered him the greatest service in +his power. + +Those classic prisons surely do good. The healthy discipline of the +school; the daily contact of young, fresh hearts; the long familiarity +with the best works, powerful intellects, and great souls of the +ancients--all these perhaps may not inspire a very rigid morality, but +they do inspire a certain sentimental ideal of life and of duty which has +its value. + +The vague heroism which Camors first conceived he brought away with him. +He demanded nothing, as you may remember, but the practical formula for +the time and country in which he was destined to live. He found, +doubtless, that the task he set himself was more difficult than he had +imagined; that the truth to which he would devote himself--but which he +must first draw from the bottom of its well--did not stand upon many +compliments. But he failed no preparation to serve her valiantly as a +man might, as soon as she answered his appeal. He had the advantage of +several years of opposing to the excitements of his age and of an opulent +life the austere meditations of the poor student. + +During that period of ardent, laborious youth, he faithfully shut himself +up in libraries, attended public lectures, and gave himself a solid +foundation of learning, which sometimes awakened surprise when discovered +under the elegant frivolity of the gay turfman. But while arming himself +for the battle of life, he lost, little by little, what was more +essential than the best weapons-true courage. + +In proportion as he followed Truth day by day, she flew before and eluded +him, taking, like an unpleasant vision, the form of the thousand-headed +Chimera. + +About the middle of the last century, Paris was so covered with political +and religious ruins, that the most piercing vision could scarcely +distinguish the outlines of the fresh structures of the future. +One could, see that everything was overthrown; but one could not see any +power that was to raise the ruins. Over the confused wrecks and remains +of the Past, the powerful intellectual life of the Present-Progress--the +collision of ideas--the flame of French wit, criticism and the sciences-- +threw a brilliant light, which, like the sun of earlier ages, illuminated +the chaos without making it productive. The phenomena of Life and of +Death were commingled in one huge fermentation, in which everything +decomposed and whence nothing seemed to spring up again. + +At no period of history, perhaps, has Truth been less simple, more +enveloped in complications; for it seemed that all essential notions of +humanity had been fused in a great furnace, and none had come out whole. + +The spectacle is grand; but it troubles profoundly all souls--or at least +those that interest and curiosity do not suffice to fill; which is to +say, nearly all. To disengage from this bubbling chaos one pure +religious moral, one positive social idea, one fixed political creed, +were an enterprise worthy of the most sincere. This should not be beyond +the strength of a man of good intentions; and Louis de Camors might have +accomplished the task had he been aided by better instruction and +guidance. + +It is the common misfortune of those just entering life to find in it +less than their ideal. But in this respect Camors was born under a +particularly unfortunate star, for he found in his surroundings--in his +own family even--only the worst side of human nature; and, in some +respects, of those very opinions to which he was tempted to adhere. + +The Camors were originally from Brittany, where they had held, in the +eighteenth century, large possessions, particularly some extensive +forests, which still bear their name. The grandfather of Louis, the +Comte Herve de Camors, had, on his return from the emigration, bought +back a small part of the hereditary demesne. There he established +himself in the old-fashioned style, and nourished until his death +incurable prejudices against the French Revolution and against Louis +XVIII. + +Count Herve had four children, two boys and two girls, and, feeling it +his duty to protest against the levelling influences of the Civil Code, +he established during his life, by a legal subterfuge, a sort of entail +in favor of his eldest son, Charles-Henri, to the prejudice of Robert- +Sosthene, Eleanore-Jeanne and Louise-Elizabeth, his other heirs. +Eleanore-Jeanne and Louise-Elizabeth accepted with apparent willingness +the act that benefited their brother at their expense--notwithstanding +which they never forgave him. But Robert-Sosthene, who, in his position +as representative of the younger branch, affected Liberal leanings and +was besides loaded with debt, rebelled against the paternal procedure. +He burned his visiting-cards, ornamented with the family crest and his +name "Chevalier Lange d'Ardennes"--and had others printed, simply +"Dardennes, junior (du Morbihan)." + +Of these he sent a specimen to his father, and from that hour became a +declared Republican. + +There are people who attach themselves to a party by their virtues; +others, again, by their vices. No recognized political party exists +which does not contain some true principle; which does not respond to +some legitimate aspiration of human society. At the same time, there is +not one which can not serve as a pretext, as a refuge, and as a hope, for +the basest passions of our nature. + +The most advanced portion of the Liberal party of France is composed of +generous spirits, ardent and absolute, who torture a really elevated +ideal; that of a society of manhood, constituted with a sort of +philosophic perfection; her own mistress each day and each hour; +delegating few of her powers, and yielding none; living, not without +laws, but without rulers; and, in short, developing her activity, her +well-being, her genius, with that fulness of justice, of independence, +and of dignity, which republicanism alone gives to all and to each one. + +Every other system appears to them to preserve some of the slaveries and +iniquities of former ages; and it also appears open to the suspicion of +generating diverse interests--and often hostile ones--between the +governors and the governed. They claim for all that political system +which, without doubt, holds humanity in the most esteem; and however one +may despise the practical working of their theory, the grandeur of its +principles can not be despised. + +They are in reality a proud race, great-hearted and high-spirited. They +have had in their age their heroes and their martyrs; but they have had, +on the other hand, their hypocrites, their adventurers, and their +radicals--their greatest enemies. + +Young Dardennes, to obtain grace for the equivocal origin of his +convictions, placed himself in the front rank of these last. + +Until he left college Louis de Camors never knew his uncle, who had +remained on bad terms with his father; but he entertained for him, in +secret; an enthusiastic admiration, attributing to him all the virtues of +that principle of which he seemed the exponent. + +The Republic of '48 soon died: his uncle was among the vanquished; and +this, to the young man, had but an additional attraction. Without his +father's knowledge, he went to see him, as if on a pilgrimage to a holy +shrine; and he was well received. + +He found his uncle exasperated--not so much against his enemies as +against his own party, to which he attributed all the disasters of the +cause. + +"They never can make revolutions with gloves on," he said in a solemn, +dogmatic tone. "The men of 'ninety-three did not wear them. You can not +make an omelette without first breaking the eggs. + +"The pioneers of the future should march on, axe in hand! + +"The chrysalis of the people is not hatched upon roses! + +"Liberty is a goddess who demands great holocausts. Had they made a +Reign of Terror in 'forty-eight, they would now be masters!" + +These high-flown maxims astonished Louis de Camors. In his youthful +simplicity he had an infinite respect for the men who had governed his +country in her darkest hour; not more that they had given up power as +poor as when they assumed it, than that they left it with their hands +unstained with blood: To this praise--which will be accorded them in +history, which redresses many contemporary injustices--he added a +reproach which he could not reconcile with the strange regrets of his +uncle. He reproached them with not having more boldly separated the New +Republic, in its management and minor details, from the memories of the +old one. Far from agreeing with his uncle that a revival of the horrors +of 'ninety-three would have assured the triumph of the New Republic, he +believed it had sunk under the bloody shadow of its predecessor. He +believed that, owing to this boasted Terror, France had been for +centuries the only country in which the dangers of liberty outweighed its +benefits. + +It is useless to dwell longer on the relations of Louis de Camors with +his uncle Dardennes. It is enough that he was doubtful and discouraged, +and made the error of holding the cause responsible for the violence of +its lesser apostles, and that he adopted the fatal error, too common in +France at that period, of confounding progress with discord, liberty with +license, and revolution with terrorism! + +The natural result of irritation and disenchantment on this ardent spirit +was to swing it rapidly around to the opposite pole of opinion. After +all, Camors argued, his birth, his name, his family ties all pointed out +his true course, which was to combat the cruel and despotic doctrines +which he believed he detected under these democratic theories. Another +thing in the habitual language of his uncle also shocked and repelled +him--the profession of an absolute atheism. He had within him, in +default of a formal creed, a fund of general belief and respect for holy +things--that kind of religious sensibility which was shocked by impious +cynicism. Further he could not comprehend then, or ever afterward, how +principles alone, without faith in some higher sanction, could sustain +themselves by their own strength in the human conscience. + +God--or no principles! This was the dilemma from which no German +philosophy could rescue him. + +This reaction in his mind drew him closer to those other branches of his +family which he had hitherto neglected. His two aunts, living at Paris, +had been compelled, in consequence of their small fortunes, to make some +sacrifices to enter into the blessed state of matrimony. The elder, +Eleanore-Jeanne, had married, during her father's life, the Comte de la +Roche-Jugan--a man long past fifty, but still well worthy of being loved. +Nevertheless, his wife did not love him. Their views on many essential +points differed widely. M. de la Roche-Jugan was one of those who had +served the Government of the Restoration with an unshaken but hopeless +devotion. In his youth he had been attached to the person and to the +ministry of the Duc de Richelieu; and he had preserved the memory of that +illustrious man--of the elevated moderation of his sentiments--of the +warmth of his patriotism and of his constancy. He saw the pitfalls +ahead, pointed them out to his prince--displeased him by so doing, but +still followed his fortunes. Once more retired to private life with but +small means, he guarded his political principles rather like a religion +than a hope. His hopes, his vivacity, his love of right--all these he +turned toward God. + +His piety, as enlightened as profound, ranked him among the choicest +spirits who then endeavored to reconcile the national faith of the past +with the inexorable liberty of thought of the present. Like his +colaborers in this work, he experienced only a mortal sadness under which +he sank. True, his wife contributed no little to hasten his end by the +intemperance of her zeal and the acrimony of her bigotry. + +She had little heart and great pride, and made her God subserve her +passions, as Dardennes made liberty subserve his malice. + +No sooner had she become a widow than she purified her salons. +Thenceforth figured there only parishioners more orthodox than their +bishops, French priests who denied Bossuet; consequently she believed +that religion was saved in France. Louis de Camors, admitted to this +choice circle by title both of relative and convert, found there the +devotion of Louis XI and the charity of Catherine de Medicis; and he +there lost very soon the little faith that remained to him. + +He asked himself sadly whether there was no middle ground between Terror +and Inquisition; whether in this world one must be a fanatic or nothing. +He sought a middle course, possessing the force and cohesion of a party; +but he sought in vain. It seemed to him that the whole world of politics +and religion rushed to extremes; and that what was not extreme was inert +and indifferent--dragging out, day by day, an existence without faith and +without principle. + +Thus at least appeared to him those whom the sad changes of his life +showed him as types of modern politics. + +His younger aunt, Louise-Elizabeth, who enjoyed to the full all the +pleasures of modern life, had already profited by her father's death to +make a rich misalliance. She married the Baron Tonnelier, whose father, +although the son of a miller, had shown ability and honesty enough to +fill high positions under the First Empire. + +The Baron Tonnelier had a large fortune, increasing every day by +successful speculation. In his youth he had been a good horseman, +a Voltairian, and a Liberal. + +In time--though he remained a Voltairian--he renounced horsemanship, +and Liberalism. Although he was a simple deputy, he had a twinge of +democracy now and then; but after he was invested with the peerage, he +felt sure from that moment that the human species had no more progress to +make. + +The French Revolution was ended; its giddiest height attained. No longer +could any one walk, talk, write, or rise. That perplexed him. Had he +been sincere, he would have avowed that he could not comprehend that +there could be storms, or thunder-clouds in the heavens--that the world +was not perfectly happy and tranquil, while he himself was so. When his +nephew was old enough to comprehend him, Baron Tonnelier was no longer +peer of France; but being one who does himself no hurt--and sometimes +much good by a fall, he filled a high office under the new government. +He endeavored to discharge its duties conscientiously, as he had those of +the preceding reign. + +He spoke with peculiar ease of suppressing this or that journal--such an +orator, such a book; of suppressing everything, in short, except himself. +In his view, France had been in the wrong road since 1789, and he sought +to lead her back from that fatal date. + +Nevertheless, he never spoke of returning, in his proper person, to his +grandfather's mill; which, to say the least, was inconsistent. Had +Liberty been mother to this old gentleman, and had he met her in a clump +of woods, he would have strangled her. We regret to add that he had the +habit of terming "old duffers" such ministers as he suspected of liberal +views, and especially such as were in favor of popular education. A more +hurtful counsellor never approached a throne; but luckily, while near it +in office, he was far from it in influence. + +He was still a charming man, gallant and fresh--more gallant, however, +than fresh. Consequently his habits were not too good, and he haunted +the greenroom of the opera. He had two daughters, recently married, +before whom he repeated the most piquant witticisms of Voltaire, and the +most improper stories of Tallemant de Reaux; and consequently both +promised to afford the scandalmongers a series of racy anecdotes, as +their mother had before them. + +While Louis de Camors was learning rapidly, by the association and +example of the collateral branches of his family, to defy equally all +principles and all convictions, his terrible father finished the task. + +Worldling to the last extreme, depraved to his very core; past-master in +the art of Parisian high life; an unbridled egotist, thinking himself +superior to everything because he abased everything to himself; and, +finally, flattering himself for despising all duties, which he had all +his life prided himself on dispensing with--such was his father. But for +all this, he was the pride of his circle, with a pleasing presence and an +indefinable charm of manner. + +The father and son saw little of each other. M. de Camors was too proud +to entangle his son in his own debaucheries; but the course of every-day +life sometimes brought them together at meal-time. He would then listen +with cool mockery to the enthusiastic or despondent speeches of the +youth. He never deigned to argue seriously, but responded in a few +bitter words, that fell like drops of sleet on the few sparks still +glowing in the son's heart. + +Becoming gradually discouraged, the latter lost all taste for work, and +gave himself up, more and more, to the idle pleasures of his position. +Abandoning himself wholly to these, he threw into them all the seductions +of his person, all the generosity of his character--but at the same time +a sadness always gloomy, sometimes desperate. + +The bitter malice he displayed, however, did not prevent his being loved +by women and renowned among men. And the latter imitated him. + +He aided materially in founding a charming school of youth without +smiles. His air of ennui and lassitude, which with him at least had the +excuse of a serious foundation, was servilely copied by the youth around +him, who never knew any greater distress than an overloaded stomach, but +whom it pleased, nevertheless, to appear faded in their flower and +contemptuous of human nature. + +We have seen Camors in this phase of his existence. But in reality +nothing was more foreign to him than the mask of careless disdain that +the young man assumed. Upon falling into the common ditch, he, perhaps, +had one advantage over his fellows: he did not make his bed with base +resignation; he tried persistently to raise himself from it by a violent +struggle, only to be hurled upon it once more. + +Strong souls do not sleep easily: indifference weighs them down. + +They demand a mission--a motive for action--and faith. + +Louis de Camors was yet to find his. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A NEW ACTRESS IN A NOVEL ROLE + +Louis de Camor's father had not I told him all in that last letter. + +Instead of leaving him a fortune, he left him only embarrassments, for he +was three fourths ruined. The disorder of his affairs had begun a long +time before, and it was to repair them that he had married; a process +that had not proved successful. A large inheritance on which he had +relied as coming to his wife went elsewhere--to endow a charity hospital. +The Comte de Camors began a suit to recover it before the tribunal of the +Council of State, but compromised it for an annuity of thirty thousand +francs. This stopped at his death. He enjoyed, besides, several fat +sinecures, which his name, his social rank, and his personal address +secured him from some of the great insurance companies. But these +resources did not survive him; he only rented the house he had occupied; +and the young Comte de Camors found himself suddenly reduced to the +provision of his mother's dowry--a bare pittance to a man of his habits +and rank. + +His father had often assured him he could leave him nothing, so the son +was accustomed to look forward to this situation. Therefore, when he +realized it, he was neither surprised nor revolted by the improvident +egotism of which he was the victim. His reverence for his father +continued unabated, and he did not read with the less respect or +confidence the singular missive which figures at the beginning of this +story. The moral theories which this letter advanced were not new to +him. They were a part of the very atmosphere around him; he had often +revolved them in his feverish brain; yet, never before had they appeared +to him in the condensed form of a dogma, with the clear precision of a +practical code; nor as now, with the authorization of such a voice and of +such an example. + +One incident gave powerful aid in confirming the impression of these last +pages on his mind. Eight days after his father's death, he was reclining +on the lounge in his smoking-room, his face dark as night and as his +thoughts, when a servant entered and handed him a card. He took it +listlessly, and read" Lescande, architect." Two red spots rose to his +pale cheeks--"I do not see any one," he said. + +"So I told this gentleman," replied the servant, "but he insists in such +an extraordinary manner--" + +"In an extraordinary manner?" + +"Yes, sir; as if he had something very serious to communicate." + +"Something serious--aha! Then let him in." Camors rose and paced the +chamber, a smile of bitter mockery wreathing his lips. "And must I now +kill him?" he muttered between his teeth. + +Lescande entered, and his first act dissipated the apprehension his +conduct had caused. He rushed to the young Count and seized him by both +hands, while Camors remarked that his face was troubled and his lips +trembled. "Sit down and be calm," he said. + +"My friend," said the other, after a pause, "I come late to see you, for +which I crave pardon; but--I am myself so miserable! See, I am in +mourning!" + +Camors felt a chill run to his very marrow. "In mourning! and why?" he +asked, mechanically. + +"Juliette is dead!" sobbed Lescande, and covered his eyes with his great +hands. + +"Great God!" cried Camors in a hollow voice. He listened a moment to +Lescande's bitter sobs, then made a movement to take his hand, but dared +not do it. "Great God! is it possible?" he repeated. + +"It was so sudden!" sobbed Lescande, brokenly. "It seems like a dream-- +a frightful dream! You know the last time you visited us she was not +well. You remember I told you she had wept all day. Poor child! The +morning of my return she was seized with congestion--of the lungs--of the +brain--I don't know!--but she is dead! And so good!--so gentle, so +loving! to the last moment! Oh, my friend! my friend! A few moments +before she died, she called me to her side. 'Oh, I love you so! I love +you so!' she said. 'I never loved any but you--you only! Pardon me!-- +oh, pardon me!' Pardon her, poor child! My God, for what? for dying? +--for she never gave me a moment's grief before in this world. Oh, God +of mercy!" + +"I beseech you, my friend--" + +"Yes, yes, I do wrong. You also have your griefs. + +"But we are all selfish, you know. However, it was not of that that I +came to speak. Tell me--I know not whether a report I hear is correct. +Pardon me if I mistake, for you know I never would dream of offending +you; but they say that you have been left in very bad circumstances. If +this is indeed so, my friend--" + +"It is not," interrupted Camors, abruptly. + +"Well, if it were--I do not intend keeping my little house. Why should +I, now? My little son can wait while I work for him. Then, after +selling my house, I shall have two hundred thousand francs. Half of this +is yours--return it when you can!" + +"I thank you, my unselfish friend," replied Camors, much moved, "but I +need nothing. My affairs are disordered, it is true; but I shall still +remain richer than you." + +"Yes, but with your tastes--" + +"Well?" + +"At all events, you know where to find me. I may count upon you--may I +not?" + +"You may." + +"Adieu, my friend! I can do you no good now; but I shall see you again +--shall I not?" + +"Yes--another time." + +Lescande departed, and the young Count remained immovable, with his +features convulsed and his eyes fixed on vacancy. + +This moment decided his whole future. + +Sometimes a man feels a sudden, unaccountable impulse to smother in +himself all human love and sympathy. + + +In the presence of this unhappy man, so unworthily treated, so broken- +spirited, so confiding, Camors--if there be any truth in old spiritual +laws--should have seen himself guilty of an atrocious act, which should +have condemned him to a remorse almost unbearable. + +But if it were true that the human herd was but the product of material +forces in nature, producing, haphazard, strong beings and weak ones-- +lambs and lions--he had played only the lion's part in destroying his +companion. He said to himself, with his father's letter beneath his +eyes, that this was the fact; and the reflection calmed him. + +The more he thought, that day and the next, in depth of the retreat in +which he had buried himself, the more was he persuaded that this doctrine +was that very truth which he had sought, and which his father had +bequeathed to him as the whole rule of his life. His cold and barren +heart opened with a voluptuous pleasure under this new flame that filled +and warmed it. + +From this moment he possessed a faith--a principle of action--a plan of +life--all that he needed; and was no longer oppressed by doubts, +agitation, and remorse. This doctrine, if not the most elevated, was at +least above the level of the most of mankind. It satisfied his pride and +justified his scorn. + +To preserve his self-esteem, it was only necessary for him to preserve +his honor, to do nothing low, as his father had said; and he determined +never to do anything which, in his eyes, partook of that character. +Moreover, were there not men he himself had met thoroughly steeped in +materialism, who were yet regarded as the most honorable men of their +day? + +Perhaps he might have asked himself whether this incontestable fact might +not, in part, have been attributed rather to the individual than to the +doctrine; and whether men's beliefs did not always influence their +actions. However that might have been, from the date of this crisis +Louis de Camors made his father's will the rule of his life. + +To develop in all their strength the physical and intellectual gifts +which he possessed; to make of himself the polished type of the +civilization of the times; to charm women and control men; to revel in +all the joys of intellect, of the senses, and of rank; to subdue as +servile instincts all natural sentiments; to scorn, as chimeras and +hypocrisies, all vulgar beliefs; to love nothing, fear nothing, respect +nothing, save honor--such, in fine, were the duties which he recognized, +and the rights which he arrogated to himself. + +It was with these redoubtable weapons, and strengthened by a keen +intelligence and vigorous will, that he would return to the world--his +brow calm and grave, his eye caressing while unyielding, a smile upon his +lips, as men had known him. + +From this moment there was no cloud either upon his mind or upon his +face, which wore the aspect of perpetual youth. He determined, above +all, not to retrench, but to preserve, despite the narrowness of his +present fortune, those habits of elegant luxury in which he still might +indulge for several years, by the expenditure of his principal. + +Both pride and policy gave him this council in an equal degree. He was +not ignorant that the world is as cold toward the needy as it is warm to +those not needing its countenance. Had he been thus ignorant, the +attitude of his family, just after the death of his father, would have +opened his eyes to the fact. + +His aunt de la Roche-Jugan and his uncle Tonnelier manifested toward him +the cold circumspection of people who suspected they were dealing with a +ruined man. They had even, for greater security, left Paris, and +neglected to notify the young Count in what retreat they had chosen to +hide their grief. Nevertheless he was soon to learn it, for while he was +busied in settling his father's affairs and organizing his own projects +of fortune and ambition, one fine morning in August he met with a lively +surprise. + +He counted among his relatives one of the richest landed proprietors of +France, General the Marquis de Campvallon d'Armignes, celebrated for his +fearful outbursts in the Corps Legislatif. He had a voice of thunder, +and when he rolled out, "Bah! Enough! Stop this order of the day!" the +senate trembled, and the government commissioners bounced on their +chairs. Yet he was the best fellow in the world, although he had killed +two fellow-creatures in duels--but then he had his reasons for that. + +Camors knew him but slightly, paid him the necessary respect that +politeness demanded toward a relative; met him sometimes at the club, +over a game of whist, and that was all. + +Two years before, the General had lost a nephew, the direct heir to his +name and fortune. Consequently he was hunted by an eager pack of cousins +and relatives; and Madame de la Roche-Jugan and the Baroness Tonnelier +gave tongue in their foremost rank. + +Camors was indifferent, and had, since that event, been particularly +reserved in his intercourse with the General. Therefore he was +considerably astonished when he received the following letter: + + "DEAR KINSMAN: + + "Your two aunts and their families are with me in the country. + When it is agreeable to you to join them, I shall always feel happy + to give a cordial greeting to the son of an old friend and + companion-in-arms. + + "I presented myself at your house before leaving Paris, but you were + not visible. + + "Believe me, I comprehend your grief: that you have experienced an + irreparable loss, in which I sympathize with you most sincerely. + + "Receive, my dear kinsman, the best wishes of + GENERAL, THE MARQUIS DE CAMPVALLON D'ARMIGNES. + + "CHATEAU DE CAMPVALLON, Voie de l'ouest. + + "P.S.--It is probable, my young cousin, that I may have something of + interest to communicate to you!" + + +This last sentence, and the exclamation mark that followed it, failed +not to shake slightly the impassive calm that Camors was at that moment +cultivating. He could not help seeing, as in a mirror, under the veil +of the mysterious postscript, the reflection of seven hundred thousand +francs of ground-rent which made the splendid income of the General. +He recalled that his father, who had served some time in Africa, had been +attached to the staff of M. de Campvallon as aide-de-camp, and that he +had besides rendered him a great service of a different nature. + +Notwithstanding that he felt the absurdity of these dreams, and wished to +keep his heart free from them, he left the next day for Campvallon. +After enjoying for seven or eight hours all the comforts and luxuries the +Western line is reputed to afford its guests, Camors arrived in the +evening at the station, where the General's carriage awaited him. The +seignorial pile of the Chateau Campvallon soon appeared to him on a +height, of which the sides were covered with magnificent woods, sloping +down nearly to the plain, there spreading out widely. + +It was almost the dinner-hour; and the young man, after arranging his +toilet, immediately descended to the drawing-room, where his presence +seemed to throw a wet blanket over the assembled circle. To make up for +this, the General gave him the warmest welcome; only--as he had a short +memory or little imagination--he found nothing better to say than to +repeat the expressions of his letter, while squeezing his hand almost to +the point of fracture. + +"The son of my old friend and companion-in-arms," he cried; and the words +rang out in such a sonorous voice they seemed to impress even himself-- +for it was noticeable that after a remark, the General always seemed +astonished, as if startled by the words that came out of his mouth--and +that seemed suddenly to expand the compass of his ideas and the depth of +his sentiments. + +To complete his portrait: he was of medium size, square, and stout; +panting when he ascended stairs, or even walking on level ground; a face +massive and broad as a mask, and reminding one of those fabled beings who +blew fire from their nostrils; a huge moustache, white and grizzly; small +gray eyes, always fixed, like those of a doll, but still terrible. He +marched toward a man slowly, imposingly, with eyes fixed, as if beginning +a duel to the death, and demanded of him imperatively--the time of day! + +Camors well knew this innocent weakness of his host, but, +notwithstanding, was its dupe for one instant during the evening. + +They had left the dining-table, and he was standing carelessly in the +alcove of a window, holding a cup of coffee, when the General approached +him from the extreme end of the room with a severe yet confidential +expression, which seemed to preface an announcement of the greatest +importance. + +The postscript rose before him. He felt he was to have an immediate +explanation. + +The General approached, seized him by the buttonhole, and withdrawing him +from the depth of the recess, looked into his eyes as if he wished to +penetrate his very soul. Suddenly he spoke, in his thunderous voice. +He said: + +"What do you take in the morning, young man?" + +"Tea, General." + +"Aha! Then give your orders to Pierre--just as if you were at home;" +and, turning on his heel and joining the ladies, he left Camors to digest +his little comedy as he might. + +Eight days passed. Twice the General made his guest the object of his +formidable advance. The first time, having put him out of countenance, +he contented himself with exclaiming: + +"Well, young man!" and turned on his heel. + +The next time he bore down upon Camors, he said not a word, and retired +in silence. + +Evidently the General had not the slightest recollection of the +postscript. Camors tried to be contented, but would continually ask +himself why he had come to Campvallon, in the midst of his family, +of whom he was not overfond, and in the depths of the country, which he +execrated. Luckily, the castle boasted a library well stocked with works +on civil and international law, jurisprudence, and political economy. +He took advantage of it; and, resuming the thread of those serious +studies which had been broken off during his period of hopelessness, +plunged into those recondite themes that pleased his active intelligence +and his awakened ambition. Thus he waited patiently until politeness +would permit him to bring to an explanation the former friend and +companion-in-arms of his father. In the morning he rode on horseback; +gave a lesson in fencing to his cousin Sigismund, the son of Madame de la +Roche-Jugan; then shut himself up in the library until the evening, which +he passed at bezique with the General. Meantime he viewed with the eye +of a philosopher the strife of the covetous relatives who hovered around +their rich prey. + +Madame de la Roche-Jugan had invented an original way of making herself +agreeable to the General, which was to persuade him he had disease of the +heart. She continually felt his pulse with her plump hand, sometimes +reassuring him, and at others inspiring him with a salutary terror, +although he denied it. + +"Good heavens! my dear cousin!" he would exclaim, "let me alone. I +know I am mortal like everybody else. What of that? But I see your aim- +it is to convert me! Ta-ta!" + +She not only wished to convert him, but to marry him, and bury him +besides. + +She based her hopes in this respect chiefly on her son Sigismund; knowing +that the General bitterly regretted having no one to inherit his name. +He had but to marry Madame de la Roche-Jugan and adopt her son to banish +this care. Without a single allusion to this fact, the Countess failed +not to turn the thoughts of the General toward it with all the tact of an +accomplished intrigante, with all the ardor of a mother, and with all the +piety of an unctuous devotee. + +Her sister, the Baroness Tonnelier, bitterly confessed her own +disadvantage. She was not a widow. And she had no son. But she had two +daughters, both of them graceful, very elegant and sparkling. One was +Madame Bacquiere, the wife of a broker; the other, Madame Van-Cuyp, wife +of a young Hollander, doing business at Paris. + +Both interpreted life and marriage gayly; both floated from one year into +another dancing, riding, hunting, coquetting, and singing recklessly the +most risque songs of the minor theatres. Formerly, Camors, in his +pensive mood, had taken an aversion to these little examples of modern +feminine frivolity. Since he had changed his views of life he did them +more justice. He said, calmly: + +"They are pretty little animals that follow their instincts." + +Mesdames Bacquiere and Van-Cuyp, instigated by their mother, applied +themselves assiduously to making the General feel all the sacred joys +that cluster round the domestic hearth. They enlivened his household, +exercised his horses, killed his game, and tortured his piano. They +seemed to think that the General, once accustomed to their sweetness and +animation, could not do without it, and that their society would become +indispensable to him. They mingled, too, with their adroit manoeuvres, +familiar and delicate attentions, likely to touch an old man. They sat +on his knees like children, played gently with his moustache, and +arranged in the latest style the military knot of his cravat. + +Madame de la Roche-Jugan never ceased to deplore confidentially to the +General the unfortunate education of her nieces; while the Baroness, on +her side, lost no opportunity of holding up in bold relief the emptiness, +impertinence, and sulkiness of young Count Sigismund. + +In the midst of these honorable conflicts one person, who took no part in +them, attracted the greatest share of Camors's interest; first for her +beauty and afterward for her qualities. This was an orphan of excellent +family, but very poor, of whom Madame de la Roche-Jugan and Madame +Tonnelier had taken joint charge. Mademoiselle Charlotte de Luc +d'Estrelles passed six months of each year with the Countess and six with +the Baroness. She was twenty-five years of age, tall and blonde, with +deep-set eyes under the shadow of sweeping, black lashes. Thick masses +of hair framed her sad but splendid brow; and she was badly, or rather +poorly dressed, never condescending to wear the cast-off clothes of her +relatives, but preferring gowns of simplest material made by her own +hands. These draperies gave her the appearance of an antique statue. + +Her Tonnelier cousins nicknamed her "the goddess." They hated her; she +despised them. The name they gave her, however, was marvellously +suitable. + +When she walked, you would have imagined she had descended from a +pedestal; the pose of her head was like that of the Greek Venus; her +delicate, dilating nostrils seemed carved by a cunning chisel from +transparent ivory. She had a startled, wild air, such as one sees in +pictures of huntress nymphs. She used a naturally fine voice with great +effect; and had already cultivated, so far as she could, a taste for art. + +She was naturally so taciturn one was compelled to guess her thoughts; +and long since Camors had reflected as to what was passing in that self- +centred soul. Inspired by his innate generosity, as well as his secret +admiration, he took pleasure in heaping upon this poor cousin the +attentions he might have paid a queen; but she always seemed as +indifferent to them as she was to the opposite course of her involuntary +benefactress. Her position at Campvallon was very odd. After Camors's +arrival, she was more taciturn than ever; absorbed, estranged, as if +meditating some deep design, she would suddenly raise the long lashes of +her blue eyes, dart a rapid glance here and there, and finally fix it on +Camors, who would feel himself tremble under it. + +One afternoon, when he was seated in the library, he heard a gentle tap +at the door, and Mademoiselle entered, looking very pale. Somewhat +astonished, he rose and saluted her. + +"I wish to speak with you, cousin," she said. The accent was pure and +grave, but slightly touched with evident emotion. Camors stared at her, +showed her to a divan, and took a chair facing her. + +"You know very little of me, cousin," she continued, "but I am frank and +courageous. I will come at once to the object that brings me here. Is +it true that you are ruined?" + +"Why do you ask, Mademoiselle?" + +"You always have been very good to me--you only. I am very grateful to +you; and I also--" She stopped, dropped her eyes, and a bright flush +suffused her cheeks. Then she bent her head, smiling like one who has +regained courage under difficulty. "Well, then," she resumed, "I am +ready to devote my life to you. You will deem me very romantic, but I +have wrought out of our united poverty a very charming picture, I +believe. I am sure I should make an excellent wife for the husband I +loved. If you must leave France, as they tell me you must, I will follow +you--I will be your brave and faithful helpmate. Pardon me, one word +more, Monsieur de Camors. My proposition would be immodest if it +concealed any afterthought. It conceals none. I am poor. I have but +fifteen hundred francs' income. If you are richer than I, consider I +have said nothing; for nothing in the world would then induce me to marry +you!" + +She paused; and with a manner of mingled yearning, candor, and anguish, +fixed on him her large eyes full of fire. + +There was a solemn pause. Between these strange natures, both high and +noble, a terrible destiny seemed pending at this moment, and both felt +it. + +At length Camors responded in a grave, calm voice: "It is impossible, +Mademoiselle, that you can appreciate the trial to which you expose me; +but I have searched my heart, and I there find nothing worthy of you. +Do me the justice to believe that my decision is based neither upon your +fortune nor upon my own: but I am resolved never to marry." She sighed +deeply, and rose. "Adieu, cousin," she said. + +"I beg--I pray you to remain one moment," cried the young man, reseating +her with gentle force upon the sofa. He walked half across the room to +repress his agitation; then leaning on a table near the young girl, said: + +"Mademoiselle Charlotte, you are unhappy; are you not?" + +"A little, perhaps," she answered. + +"I do not mean at this moment, but always?" + +"Always!" + +"Aunt de la Roche-Jugan treats you harshly?" + +"Undoubtedly; she dreads that I may entrap her son. Good heavens!" + +"The little Tonneliers are jealous of you, and Uncle Tonnelier torments +you?" + +"Basely!" she said; and two tears swam on her eyelashes, then glistened +like diamonds on her cheek. + +"And what do you believe of the religion of our aunt?" + +"What would you have me believe of religion that bestows no virtue-- +restrains no vice?" + +"Then you are a non-believer?" + +"One may believe in God and the Gospel without believing in the religion +of our aunt." + +"But she will drive you into a convent. Why, then, do you not enter +one?" + +"I love life," the girl said. + +He looked at her silently a moment, then continued "Yes, you love life-- +the sunlight, the thoughts, the arts, the luxuries--everything that is +beautiful, like yourself. Then, Mademoiselle Charlotte, all these are in +your hands; why do you not grasp them?" + +"How?" she queried, surprised and somewhat startled. + +"If you have, as I believe you have, as much strength of soul as +intelligence and beauty, you can escape at once and forever the miserable +servitude fate has imposed upon you. Richly endowed as you are, you +might become to-morrow a great artiste, independent, feted, rich, adored +--the mistress of Paris and of the world!" + +"And yours also?--No!" said this strange girl. + +"Pardon, Mademoiselle Charlotte. I did not suspect you of any improper +idea, when you offered to share my uncertain fortunes. Render me, I pray +you, the same justice at this moment. My moral principles are very lax, +it is true, but I am as proud as yourself. I never shall reach my aim by +any subterfuge. No; strive to study art. I find you beautiful and +seductive, but I am governed by sentiments superior to personal +interests. I was profoundly touched by your sympathetic leaning toward +me, and have sought to testify my gratitude by friendly counsel. Since, +however, you now suspect me of striving to corrupt you for my own ends, I +am silent, Mademoiselle, and permit you to depart." + +"Pray proceed, Monsieur de Camors." + +"You will then listen to me with confidence?" + +"I will do so." + +"Well, then, Mademoiselle, you have seen little of the world, but you +have seen enough to judge and to be certain of the value of its esteem. +The world! That is your family and mine: Monsieur and Madame Tonnelier, +Monsieur and Madame de la Roche-Jugan, and the little Sigismund!" + +"Well, then, Mademoiselle Charlotte, the day that you become a great +artiste, rich, triumphant, idolized, wealthy--drinking, in deep draughts, +all the joys of life--that day Uncle Tonnelier will invoke outraged +morals, our aunt will swoon with prudery in the arms of her old lovers, +and Madame de la Roche-Jugan will groan and turn her yellow eyes to +heaven! But what will all that matter to you?" + +"Then, Monsieur, you advise me to lead an immoral life." + +"By no manner of means. I only urge you, in defiance of public opinion, +to become an actress, as the only sure road to independence, fame, and +fortune. And besides, there is no law preventing an actress marrying and +being 'honorable,' as the world understands the word. You have heard of +more than one example of this." + +"Without mother, family, or protector, it would be an extraordinary thing +for me to do! I can not fail to see that sooner or later I should be a +lost girl." + +Camors remained silent. "Why do you not answer?" she asked. + +"Heavens! Mademoiselle, because this is so delicate a subject, and our +ideas are so different about it. I can not change mine; I must leave you +yours. As for me, I am a very pagan." + +"How? Are good and bad indifferent to you?" + +"No; but to me it seems bad to fear the opinion of people one despises, +to practise what one does not believe, and to yield before prejudices and +phantoms of which one knows the unreality. It is bad to be a slave or a +hypocrite, as are three fourths of the world. Evil is ugliness, +ignorance, folly, and baseness. Good is beauty, talent, ability, and +courage! That is all." + +"And God?" the girl cried. He did not reply. She looked fixedly at him +a moment without catching the eyes he kept turned from her. Her head +drooped heavily; then raising it suddenly, she said: "There are +sentiments men can not understand. In my bitter hours I have often +dreamed of this free life you now advise; but I have always recoiled +before one thought--only one." + +"And that?" + +"Perhaps the sentiment is not peculiar to me--perhaps it is excessive +pride, but I have a great regard for myself--my person is sacred to me. +Should I come to believe in nothing, like you--and I am far from that +yet, thank God!--I should even then remain honest and true--faithful to +one love, simply from pride. I should prefer," she added, in a voice +deep and sustained, but somewhat strained, "I should prefer to desecrate +an altar rather than myself!" + +Saying these words, she rose, made a haughty movement of the head in sign +of an adieu, and left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE COUNT LOSES A LADY AND FINDS A MISSION + +Camors sat for some time plunged in thought. + +He was astonished at the depths he had discovered in her character; he +was displeased with himself without well knowing why; and, above all, he +was much struck by his cousin. + +However, as he had but a slight opinion of the sincerity of women, he +persuaded himself that Mademoiselle de Luc d'Estrelles, when she came to +offer him her heart and hand, nevertheless knew he was not altogether a +despicable match for her. He said to himself that a few years back he +might have been duped by her apparent sincerity, and congratulated +himself on not having fallen into this attractive snare--on not having +listened to the first promptings of credulity and sincere emotion. + +He might have spared himself these compliments. Mademoiselle de Luc +d'Estrelles, as he was soon to discover, had been in that perfectly +frank, generous, and disinterested state of mind in which women sometimes +are. + +Only, would it happen to him to find her so in the future? That was +doubtful, thanks to M. de Camors. It often happens that by despising men +too much, we degrade them; in suspecting women too much, we lose them. + +About an hour passed; there was another rap at the library door. Camors +felt a slight palpitation and a secret wish that it should prove +Mademoiselle Charlotte. + +It was the General who entered. He advanced with measured stride, puffed +like some sea-monster, and seized Camors by the lapel of his coat. Then +he said, impressively: + +"Well, young gentleman!" + +"Well, General." + +"What are you doing in here?" + +"Oh, I am at work." + +"At work? Um! Sit down there--sit down, sit down!" He threw himself on +the sofa where Mademoiselle had been, which rather changed the +perspective for Camors. + +"Well, well!" he repeated, after a long pause. + +"But what then, General?" + +"What then? The deuce! Why, have you not noticed that I have been for +some days extraordinarily agitated?" + +"No, General, I have not noticed it." + +"You are not very observing! I am extraordinarily agitated--enough to +fatigue the eyes. So agitated, upon my word of honor, that there are +moments when I am tempted to believe your aunt is right: that I have +disease of the heart!" + +"Bah, General! My aunt is dreaming; you have the pulse of an infant." + +"You believe so, really? I do not fear death; but it is always annoying +to think of it. But I am too much agitated--it is necessary to put a +stop to it. You understand?" + +"Perfectly; but how can it concern me?" + +"Concern you? You are about to hear. You are my cousin, are you not?" + +"Truly, General, I have that honor." + +"But very distant, eh? I have thirty-six cousins as near as you, and-- +the devil! To speak plainly, I owe you nothing." + +"And I have never demanded payment even of that, General." + +"Ah, I know that! Well, you are my cousin, very far removed! But you +are more than that. Your father saved my life in the Atlas. He has +related it all to you--No? Well, that does not astonish me; for he was +no braggart, that father of yours; he was a man! Had he not quitted the +army, a brilliant career was before him. People talk a great deal of +Pelissier, of Canrobert, of MacMahon, and of others. I say nothing +against them; they are good men doubtless--at least I hear so; but your +father would have eclipsed them all had he taken the trouble. But he +didn't take the trouble! + +"Well, for the story: We were crossing a gorge of the Atlas; we were in +retreat; I had lost my command; I was following as a volunteer. It is +useless to weary you with details; we were in retreat; a shower of stones +and bullets poured upon us, as if from the moon. Our column was slightly +disordered; I was in the rearguard--whack! my horse was down, and I +under him! + +We were in a narrow gorge with sloping sides some fifteen feet high; five +dirty guerillas slid down the sides and fell upon me and on the beast-- +forty devils! I can see them now! Just here the gorge took a sudden +turn, so no one could see my trouble; or no one wished to see it, which +comes to the same thing. + +"I have told you things were in much disorder; and I beg you to remember +that with a dead horse and five live Arabs on top of me, I was not very +comfortable. I was suffocating; in fact, I was devilish far from +comfortable. + +"Just then your father ran to my assistance, like the noble fellow he +was! He drew me from under my horse; he fell upon the Arabs. When I was +up, I aided him a little--but that is nothing to the point--I never shall +forget him!" + +There was a pause, when the General added: + +"Let us understand each other, and speak plainly. Would it be very +repugnant to your feelings to have seven hundred thousand francs a year, +and to be called, after me, Marquis de Campvallon d'Armignes? Come, +speak up, and give me an answer." + +The young Count reddened slightly. + +"My name is Camors," he said, gently. + +"What! You would not wish me to adopt you? You refuse to become the +heir of my name and of my fortune?" + +"Yes, General." + +"Do you not wish time to reflect upon it?" + +"No, General. I am sincerely grateful for your goodness; your generous +intentions toward me touch me deeply, but in a question of honor I never +reflect or hesitate." + +The General puffed fiercely, like a locomotive blowing off steam. Then +he rose and took two or three turns up and down the gallery, shuffling +his feet, his chest heaving. Then he returned and reseated himself. + +"What are your plans for the future?" he asked, abruptly. + +"I shall try, in the first place, General, to repair my fortune, which is +much shattered. I am not so great a stranger to business as people +suppose, and my father's connections and my own will give me a footing in +some great financial or industrial enterprise. Once there, I shall +succeed by force of will and steady work. Besides, I shall fit myself +for public life, and aspire, when circumstances permit me, to become a +deputy." + +"Well, well, a man must do something. Idleness is the parent of all +vices. See; like yourself, I am fond of the horse--a noble animal. +I approve of racing; it improves the breed of horses, and aids in +mounting our cavalry efficiently. But sport should be an amusement, not +a profession. Hem! so you aspire to become a deputy?" + +"Assuredly." + +"Then I can help you in that, at least. When you are ready I will send +in my resignation, and recommend to my brave and faithful constituents +that you take my place. Will that suit you?" + +"Admirably, General; and I am truly grateful. But why should you +resign?" + +"Why? Well, to be useful to you in the first place; in the second, I am +sick of it. I shall not be sorry to give personally a little lesson to +the government, which I trust will profit by it. You know me--I am no +Jacobin; at first I thought that would succeed. But when I see what is +going on!" + +"What is going on, General?" + +"When I see a Tonnelier a great dignitary! It makes me long for the pen +of Tacitus, on my word. When I was retired in 'forty-eight, under a mean +and cruel injustice they did me, I had not reached the age of exemption. +I was still capable of good and loyal service; but probably I could have +waited until an amendment. I found it at least in the confidence of my +brave and faithful constituents. But, my young friend, one tires of +everything. The Assemblies at the Luxembourg--I mean the Palace of the +Bourbons--fatigue me. In short, whatever regret I may feel at parting +from my honorable colleagues, and from my faithful constituents, I shall +abdicate my functions whenever you are ready and willing to accept them. +Have you not some property in this district?" + +"Yes, General, a little property which belonged to my mother; a small +manor, with a little land round it, called Reuilly." + +"Reuilly! Not two steps from Des Rameures! Certainly--certainly! Well, +that is one foot in the stirrup." + +"But then there is one difficulty; I am obliged to sell it." + +"The devil! And why?" + +"It is all that is left to me, and it only brings me eleven thousand +francs a year; and to embark in business I need capital--a beginning. +I prefer not to borrow." + +The General rose, and once more his military tramp shook the gallery. +Then he threw himself back on the sofa. + +"You must not sell that property! I owe you nothing, 'tis true, but I +have an affection for you. You refuse to be my adopted son. Well, I +regret this, and must have recourse to other projects to aid you. I warn +you I shall try other projects. You must not sell your lands if you wish +to become a deputy, for the country people--especially those of Des +Rameures--will not hear of it. Meantime you will need funds. Permit me +to offer you three hundred thousand francs. You may return them when you +can, without interest, and if you never return them you will confer a +very great favor upon me." + +"But in truth, General--" + +"Come, come! Accept it as from a relative--from a friend--from your +father's friend--on any ground you please, so you accept. If not, you +will wound me seriously." + +Camors rose, took the General's hand, and pressing it with emotion, said, +briefly: + +"I accept, sir. I thank you!" + +The General sprang up at these words like a furious lion, his moustache +bristling, his nostrils dilating, his chest heaving. Staring at the +young Count with real ferocity, he suddenly drew him to his breast and +embraced him with great fervor. Then he strode to the door with his +usual solemnity, and quickly brushing a tear from his cheek, left the +room. + +The General was a good man; but, like many good people, he had not been +happy. You might smile at his oddities: you never could reproach him +with vices. + +He was a small man, but he had a great soul. Timid at heart, especially +with women, he was delicate, passionate, and chaste. He had loved but +little, and never had been loved at all. He declared that he had retired +from all friendship with women, because of a wrong that he had suffered. +At forty years of age he had married the daughter of a poor colonel who +had been killed by the enemy. Not long after, his wife had deceived him +with one of his aides-de-camp. + +The treachery was revealed to him by a rival, who played on this occasion +the infamous role of Iago. Campvallon laid aside his starred epaulettes, +and in two successive duels, still remembered in Africa, killed on two +successive days the guilty one and his betrayer. His wife died shortly +after, and he was left more lonely than ever. He was not the man to +console himself with venal love; a gross remark made him blush; the corps +de ballet inspired him with terror. He did not dare to avow it, but the +dream of his old age, with his fierce moustache and his grim countenance, +was the devoted love of some young girl, at whose feet he might pour out, +without shame, without distrust even, all the tenderness of his simple +and heroic heart. + +On the evening of the day which had been marked for Camors by these two +interesting episodes, Mademoiselle de Luc d'Estrelles did not come down +to dinner, but sent word she had a headache. This message was received +with a general murmur, and with some sharp remarks from Madame de la +Roche-Jugan, which implied Mademoiselle was not in a position which +justified her in having a headache. The dinner, however, was not less +gay than usual, thanks to Mesdames Bacquiere and Van-Cuyp, and to their +husbands, who had arrived from Paris to pass Sunday with them. + +To celebrate this happy meeting, they drank very freely of champagne, +talked slang, and imitated actors, causing much amusement to the +servants. Returning to the drawing-room, these innocent young things +thought it very funny to take their husbands' hats, put their feet in +them, and, thus shod, to run a steeplechase across the room. Meantime +Madame de la Roche-Jagan felt the General's pulse frequently, and found +it variable. + +Next morning at breakfast all the General's guests assembled, except +Mademoiselle d'Estrelles, whose headache apparently was no better. They +remarked also the absence of the General, who was the embodiment of +politeness and punctuality. A sense of uneasiness was beginning to creep +over all, when suddenly the door opened and the General appeared leading +Mademoiselle d'Estrelles by the hand. + +The young girl's eyes were red; her face was very pale. The General's +face was scarlet. He advanced a few steps, like an actor about to +address his audience; cast fierce glances on all sides of him, and +cleared his throat with a sound that echoed like the bass notes of a +grand piano. Then he spoke in a voice of thunder: + +"My dear guests and friends, permit me to present to you the Marquise de +Campvallon d'Armignes!" + +An iceberg at the North Pole is not colder than was the General's salon +at this announcement. + +He held the young lady by the hand, and retaining his position in the +centre of the room, launched out fierce glances. Then his eyes began to +wander and roll convulsively in their sockets, as if he was himself +astonished at the effect his announcement had produced. + +Camors was the first to come to the rescue, and taking his hand, said: +"Accept, my dear General, my congratulations. I am extremely happy, and +rejoice at your good fortune; the more so, as I feel the lady is so well +worthy of you." Then, bowing to Mademoiselle d'Estrelles with a grave +grace, he pressed her hand, and turning away, was struck dumb at seeing +Madame de la Roche-Jugan in the arms of the General. She passed from his +into those of Mademoiselle d'Estrelles, who feared at first, from the +violence of the caresses, that there was a secret design to strangle her. + +"General," said Madame de la Roche-Jugan in a plaintive voice, "you +remember I always recommended her to you. I always spoke well of her. +She is my daughter--my second child. Sigismund, embrace your sister! +You permit it, General? Ah, we never know how much we love these +children until we lose them! I always spoke well of her; did I not--Ge-- +General?" And here Madame de la Roche-Jugan burst into tears. + +The General, who began to entertain a high opinion of the Countess's +heart, declared that Mademoiselle d'Estrelles would find in him a friend +and father. After which flattering assurance, Madame de la Roche-Jugan +seated herself in a solitary corner, behind a curtain, whence they heard +sobs and moans issue for a whole hour. She could not even breakfast; +happiness had taken away her appetite. + +The ice once broken, all tried to make themselves agreeable. The +Tonneliers did not behave, however, with the same warmth as the tender +Countess, and it was easy to see that Mesdames Bacquiere and VanCuyp +could not picture to themselves, without envy, the shower of gold and +diamonds about to fall into the lap of their cousin. Messrs. Bacquiere +and Van-Cuyp were naturally the first sufferers, and their charming wives +made them understand, at intervals during the day, that they thoroughly +despised them. It was a bitter Sunday for those poor fellows. The +Tonnelier family also felt that little more was to be done there, and +left the next morning with a very cold adieu. + +The conduct of the Countess was more noble. She declared she would wait +upon her dearly beloved Charlotte from the altar to the very threshold of +the nuptial chamber; that she would arrange her trousseau, and that the +marriage should take place from her house. + +"Deuce take me, my dear Countess!" cried the General, "I must declare +one thing--you astonish me. I was unjust, cruelly unjust, toward you. +I reproach myself, on my faith! I believed you worldly, interested, not +open-hearted. But you are none of these; you are an excellent woman-- +a heart of gold--a noble soul! My dear friend, you have found the best +way to convert me. I have always believed the religion of honor was +sufficient for a man--eh, Camors? But I am not an unbeliever, my dear +Countess, and, on my sacred word, when I see a perfect creature like you, +I desire to believe everything she believes, if only to be pleasant to +her!" + +When Camors, who was not quite so innocent, asked himself what was the +secret of his aunt's politic conduct, but little effort was necessary to +understand it. + +Madame de la Roche-Jugan, who had finally convinced herself that the +General had an aneurism, flattered herself that the cares of matrimony +would hasten the doom of her old friend. In any event, he was past +seventy years of age. But Charlotte was young, and so also was +Sigismund. Sigismund could become tender; if necessary, could quietly +court the young Marquise until the day when he could marry her, with all +her appurtenances, over the mausoleum of the General. It was for this +that Madame de la Roche-Jugan, crushed for a moment under the unexpected +blow that ruined her hopes, had modified her tactics and drawn her +batteries, so to speak, under cover of the enemy. This was what she was +contriving while she was weeping behind the curtain. + +Camors's personal feelings at the announcement of this marriage were not +of the most agreeable description. First, he was obliged to acknowledge +that he had unjustly judged Mademoiselle d'Estrelles, and that at the +moment of his accusing her of speculating on his small fortune, she was +offering to sacrifice for him the annual seven hundred thousand francs of +the General. + +He felt his vanity injured, that he had not had the best part of this +affair. Besides, he felt obliged to stifle from this moment the secret +passion with which the beautiful and singular girl had inspired him. +Wife or widow of the General, it was clear that Mademoiselle d'Estrelles +had forever escaped him. To seduce the wife of this good old man from +whom he accepted such favors, or even to marry her, widowed and rich, +after refusing her when poor, were equal unworthiness and baseness that +honor forbade in the same degree and with the same rigor as if this +honor, which he made the only law of his life, were not a mockery and an +empty word. + +Camors, however, did not fail to comprehend the position in this light, +and he resigned himself to it. + +During the four or five days he remained at Campvallon his conduct was +perfect. The delicate and reserved attentions with which he surrounded +Mademoiselle d'Estrelles were tinged with a melancholy that showed her at +the same time his gratitude, his respect, and his regrets. + +M. de Campvallon had not less reason to congratulate himself on the +conduct of the young Count. He entered into the folly of his host with +affectionate grace. He spoke to him little of the beauty of his fiancee: +much of her high moral qualities; and let him see his most flattering +confidence in the future of this union. + +On the eve of his departure Camors was summoned into the General's study. +Handing his young relative a check for three hundred thousand francs, the +General said: + +"My dear young friend, I ought to tell you, for the peace of your +conscience, that I have informed Mademoiselle d'Estrelles of this little +service I render you. She has a great deal of love and affection for +you, my dear young friend; be sure of that. + +"She therefore received my communication with sincere pleasure. I also +informed her that I did not intend taking any receipt for this sum, and +that no reclamation of it should be made at any time, on any account. + +"Now, my dear Camors, do me one favor. To tell you my inmost thought, I +shall be most happy to see you carry into execution your project of +laudable ambition. My own new position, my age, my tastes, and those I +perceive in the Marquise, claim all my leisure--all my liberty of action. +Consequently, I desire as soon as possible to present you to my generous +and faithful constituents, as well for the Corps Legislatif as for the +General Council. You had better make your preliminary arrangements as +soon as possible. Why should you defer it? You are very well +cultivated--very capable. Well, let us go ahead--let us begin at once. +What do you say?" + +"I should prefer, General, to be more mature; but it would be both folly +and ingratitude in me not to accede to your kind wish. What shall I do +first?" + +"Well, my young friend, instead of leaving tomorrow for Paris, you must +go to your estate at Reuilly: go there and conquer Des Rameures." + +"And who are the Des Rameures, General?" + +"You do not know the Des Rameures? The deuce! no; you can not know +them! That is unfortunate, too. + +"Des Rameures is a clever fellow, a very clever fellow, and all-powerful +in his neighborhood. He is an original, as you will see; and with him +lives his niece, a charming woman. I tell you, my boy, you must please +them, for Des Rameures is the master of the county. He protects me, or +else, upon my honor, I should be stopped on the road!" + +"But, General, what shall I do to please this Des Rameures?" + +"You will see him. He is, as I tell you, a great oddity. He has not +been in Paris since 1825; he has a horror of Paris and Parisians. Very +well, it only needs a little tact to flatter his views on that point. We +always need a little tact in this world, young man." + +"But his niece, General?" + +"Ah, the deuce! You must please the niece also. He adores her, and she +manages him completely, although he grumbles a little sometimes." + +"And what sort of woman is she?" + +"Oh, a respectable woman--a perfectly respectable woman. A widow; +somewhat a devotee, but very well informed. A woman of great merit." + +"But what course must I take to please this lady?" + +"What course? By my faith, young man, you ask a great many questions. +I never yet learned to please a woman. I am green as a goose with them +always. It is a thing I can not understand; but as for you, my young +comrade, you have little need to be instructed in that matter. You can't +fail to please her; you have only to make yourself agreeable. But you +will know how to do it--you will conduct yourself like an angel, I am +sure." + +"Captivate Des Rameures and his niece--this is your advice!" + +Early next morning Camors left the Chateau de Campvallon, armed with +these imperfect instructions; and, further, with a letter from the +General to Des Rameures. + +He went in a hired carriage to his own domain of Reuilly, which lay ten +leagues off. While making this transit he reflected that the path of +ambition was not one of roses; and that it was hard for him, at the +outset of his enterprise, to by compelled to encounter two faces likely +to be as disquieting as those of Des Rameures and his niece. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE OLD DOMAIN OF REUILLY + +The domain of Reuilly consisted of two farms and of a house of some +pretension, inhabited formerly by the maternal family of M. de Camors. +He had never before seen this property when he reached it on the evening +of a beautiful summer day. A long and gloomy avenue of elms, interlacing +their thick branches, led to the dwelling-house, which was quite unequal +to the imposing approach to it; for it was but an inferior construction +of the past century, ornamented simply by a gable and a bull's-eye, but +flanked by a lordly dovecote. + +It derived a certain air of dignity from two small terraces, one above +the other, in front of it, while the triple flight of steps was supported +by balusters of granite. Two animals, which had once, perhaps, resembled +lions, were placed one upon each side of the balustrade at the platform +of the highest terrace; and they had been staring there for more than a +hundred and fifty years. Behind the house stretched the garden; and in +its midst, mounted on a stone arch, stood a dismal sun-dial with hearts +and spades painted between its figures; while the trees around it were +trimmed into the shapes of confessionals and chess-pawns. To the right, +a labyrinth of young trees, similarly clipped in the fashion of the time, +led by a thousand devious turns to a mysterious valley, where one heard +continually a low, sad murmur. This proceeded from a nymph in terra- +cotta, from whose urn dripped, day and night, a thin rill of water into a +small fishpond, bordered by grand old poplars, whose shadows threw upon +its surface, even at mid-day, the blackness of Acheron. + +Camors's first reflection at viewing this prospect was an exceedingly +painful one; and the second was even more so. + +At another time he would doubtless have taken an interest in searching +through these souvenirs of the past for traces of an infant nurtured +there, who had a mother, and who had perhaps loved these old relics. But +his system did not admit of sentiment, so he crushed the ideas that +crowded to his mind, and, after a rapid glance around him, called for his +dinner. + +The old steward and his wife--who for thirty years had been the sole +inhabitants of Reuilly--had been informed of his coming. They had spent +the day in cleaning and airing the house; an operation which added to the +discomfort they sought to remove, and irritated the old residents of the +walls, while it disturbed the sleep of hoary spiders in their dusty webs. +A mixed odor of the cellar, of the sepulchre, and of an old coach, struck +Camors when he penetrated into the principal room, where his dinner was +to be served. + +Taking up one or two flickering candles, the like of which he had never +seen before, Camors proceeded to inspect the quaint portraits of his +ancestors, who seemed to stare at him in great surprise from their +cracked canvases. They were a dilapidated set of old nobles, one having +lost a nose, another an arm, others again sections of their faces. One +of them--a chevalier of St. Louis--had received a bayonet thrust through +the centre in the riotous times of the Revolution; but he still smiled at +Camors, and sniffed at a flower, despite the daylight shining through +him. + +Camors finished his inspection, thinking to himself they were a highly +respectable set of ancestors, but not worth fifteen francs apiece. The +housekeeper had passed half the previous night in slaughtering various +dwellers in the poultry-yard; and the results of the sacrifice now +successively appeared, swimming in butter. Happily, however, the +fatherly kindness of the General had despatched a hamper of provisions +from Campvallon, and a few slices of pate, accompanied by sundry glasses +of Chateau-Yquem helped the Count to combat the dreary sadness with which +his change of residence, solitude, the night, and the smoke of his +candles, all conspired to oppress him. + +Regaining his usual good spirits, which had deserted him for a moment, he +tried to draw out the old steward, who was waiting on him. He strove to +glean from him some information of the Des Rameures; but the old servant, +like every Norman peasant, held it as a tenet of faith that he who gave a +plain answer to any question was a dishonored man. With all possible +respect he let Camors understand plainly that he was not to be deceived +by his affected ignorance into any belief that M. le Comte did not know a +great deal better than he who and what M. des Rameures was--where he +lived, and what he did; that M. le Comte was his master, and as such was +entitled to his respect, but that he was nevertheless a Parisian, and-- +as M. des Rameures said--all Parisians were jesters. + +Camors, who had taken an oath never to get angry, kept it now; drew from +the General's old cognac a fresh supply of patience, lighted a cigar, and +left the room. + +For a few moments he leaned over the balustrade of the terrace and looked +around. The night, clear and beautiful, enveloped in its shadowy veil +the widestretching fields, and a solemn stillness, strange to Parisian +ears, reigned around him, broken only at intervals by the distant bay of +a hound, rising suddenly, and dying into peace again. His eyes becoming +accustomed to the darkness, Camors descended the terrace stairs and +passed into the old avenue, which was darker and more solemn than a +cathedral-aisle at midnight, and thence into an open road into which it +led by chance. + +Strictly speaking, Camors had never, until now, been out of Paris; for +wherever he had previously gone, he had carried its bustle, worldly and +artificial life, play, and the races with him; and the watering-places +and the seaside had never shown him true country, or provincial life. +It gave him a sensation for the first time; but the sensation was an +odious one. + +As he advanced up this silent road, without houses or lights, it seemed +to him he was wandering amid the desolation of some lunar region. This +part of Normandy recalled to him the least cultivated parts of Brittany. +It was rustic and savage, with its dense shrubbery, tufted grass, dark +valleys, and rough roads. + +Some dreamers love this sweet but severe nature, even at night; they love +the very things that grated most upon the pampered senses of Camors, who +strode on in deep disgust, flattering himself, however, that he should +soon reach the Boulevard de Madeleine. But he found, instead, peasants' +huts scattered along the side of the road, their low, mossy roofs seeming +to spring from the rich soil like an enormous fungus growth. Two or +three of the dwellers in these huts were taking the fresh evening air on +their thresholds, and Camors could distinguish through the gloom their +heavy figures and limbs, roughened by coarse toil in the fields, as they +stood mute, motionless, and ruminating in the darkness like tired beasts. + +Camors, like all men possessed by a dominant idea, had, ever since he +adopted the religion of his father as his rule of life, taken the pains +to analyze every impression and every thought. He now said to himself, +that between these countrymen and a refined man like himself there was +doubtless a greater difference than between them and their beasts of +burden; and this reflection was as balm to the scornful aristocracy that +was the cornerstone of his theory. Wandering on to an eminence, his +discouraged eye swept but a fresh horizon of apple-trees and heads of +barley, and he was about to turn back when a strange sound suddenly +arrested his steps. It was a concert of voice and instruments, which in +this lost solitude seemed to him like a dream, or a miracle. The music +was good-even excellent. He recognized a prelude of Bach, arranged by +Gounod. Robinson Crusoe, on discovering the footprint in the sand, was +not more astonished than Camors at finding in this desert so lively a +symptom of civilization. + +Filled with curiosity, and led by the melody he heard, he descended +cautiously the little hill, like a king's son in search of the enchanted +princess. The palace he found in the middle of the path, in the shape of +the high back wall of a dwelling, fronting on another road. One of the +upper windows on this side, however, was open; a bright light streamed +from it, and thence he doubted not the sweet sounds came. + +To an accompaniment of the piano and stringed instruments rose a fresh, +flexible woman's voice, chanting the mystic words of the master with such +expression and power as would have given even him delight. Camors, +himself a musician, was capable of appreciating the masterly execution of +the piece; and was so much struck by it that he felt an irresistible +desire to see the performers, especially the singer. With this impulse +he climbed the little hedge bordering the road, placed himself on the +top, and found himself several feet above the level of the lighted +window. He did not hesitate to use his skill as a gymnast to raise +himself to one of the branches of an old oak stretching across the lawn; +but during the ascent he could not disguise from himself that his was +scarcely a dignified position for the future deputy of the district. He +almost laughed aloud at the idea of being surprised in this position by +the terrible Des Rameures, or his niece. + +He established himself on a large, leafy branch, directly in front of the +interesting window; and notwithstanding that he was at a respectful +distance, his glance could readily penetrate into the chamber where the +concert was taking place. A dozen persons, as he judged, were there +assembled; several women, of different ages, were seated at a table +working; a young man appeared to be drawing; while other persons lounged +on comfortable seats around the room. Around the piano was a group which +chiefly attracted the attention of the young Count. At the instrument +was seated a grave young girl of about twelve years; immediately behind +her stood an old man, remarkable for his great height, his head bald, +with a crown of white hair, and his bushy black eyebrows. He played the +violin with priestly dignity. Seated near him was a man of about fifty, +in the dress of an ecclesiastic, and wearing a huge pair of silver-rimmed +spectacles, who played the violincello with great apparent gusto. + +Between them stood the singer. She was a pale brunette, slight and +graceful, and apparently not more than twenty-five years of age. The +somewhat severe oval of her face was relieved by a pair of bright black +eyes that seemed to grow larger as she sang. One hand rested gently on +the shoulder of the girl at the piano, and with this she seemed to keep +time, pressing gently on the shoulder of the performer to stimulate her +zeal. And that hand was delicious! + +A hymn by Palestrina had succeeded the Bach prelude. It was a quartette, +to which two new voices lent their aid. The old priest laid aside his +violoncello, stood up, took off his spectacles, and his deep bass +completed the full measure of the melody. + +After the quartette followed a few moments of general conversation, +during which--after embracing the child pianist, who immediately left the +room--the songstress walked to the window. She leaned out as if to +breathe the fresh air, and her profile was sharply relieved against the +bright light behind her, in which the others formed a group around the +priest, who once more donned his spectacles, and drew from his pocket a +paper that appeared to be a manuscript. + +The lady leaned from the window, gently fanning herself, as she looked +now at the sky, now at the dark landscape. Camors imagined he could +distinguish her gentle breathing above the sound of the fan; and leaning +eagerly forward for a better view, he caused the leaves to rustle +slightly. She started at the sound, then remained immovable, and the +fixed position of her head showed that her gaze was fastened upon the oak +in which he was concealed. + +He felt the awkwardness of his position, but could not judge whether or +not he was visible to her; but, under the danger of her fixed regard, he +passed the most painful moments of his life. + +She turned into the room and said, in a calm voice, a few words which +brought three or four of her friends to the window; and among them Camors +recognized the old man with the violin. + +The moment was a trying one. He could do nothing but lie still in his +leafy retreat--silent and immovable as a statue. The conduct of those at +the window went far to reassure him, for their eyes wandered over the +gloom with evident uncertainty, convincing him that his presence was only +suspected, not discovered. But they exchanged animated observations, to +which the hidden Count lent an attentive ear. Suddenly a strong voice-- +which he recognized as belonging to him of the violin-rose over them all +in the pleasing order: "Loose the dog!" + +This was sufficient for Camors. He was not a coward; he would not have +budged an inch before an enraged tiger; but he would have travelled a +hundred miles on foot to avoid the shadow of ridicule. Profiting by the +warning and a moment when he seemed unobserved, he slid from the tree, +jumped into the next field, and entered the wood at a point somewhat +farther down than the spot where he had scaled the hedge. This done, he +resumed his walk with the assured tread of a man who had a right to be +there. He had gone but a few steps, when he heard behind him the wild +barking of the dog, which proved his retreat had been opportune. + +Some of the peasants he had noticed as he passed before, were still +standing at their doors. Stopping before one of them he asked: + +"My friend, to whom does that large house below there, facing the other +road, belong? and whence comes that music?" + +"You probably know that as well as I," replied the man, stolidly. + +"Had I known, I should hardly have asked you," said Camors. + +The peasant did not deign further reply. His wife stood near him; and +Camors had remarked that in all classes of society women have more wit +and goodhumor than their husbands. Therefore he turned to her and said: + +"You see, my good woman, I am a stranger here. To whom does that house +belong? Probably to Monsieur des Rameures?" + +"No, no," replied the woman, "Monsieur des Rameures lives much farther +on." + +"Ah! Then who lives here?" + +"Why, Monsieur de Tecle, of course!" + +"Ah, Monsieur de Tecle! But tell me, he does not live alone? There is a +lady who sings--his wife?--his sister? Who is she?" + +"Ah, that is his daughter-in-law, Madame de Tecle Madame Elise, who--" + +"Ah! thank you, thank you, my good woman! You have children? Buy them +sabots with this," and drop ping a gold piece in the lap of the obliging +peasant, Camors walked rapidly away. Returning home the road seemed less +gloomy and far shorter than when he came. As he strode on, humming the +Bach prelude, the moon rose, the country looked more beautiful, and, in +short, when he perceived, at the end of its gloomy avenue, his chateau +bathed in the white light, he found the spectacle rather enjoyable than +otherwise. And when he had once more ensconced himself in the maternal +domicile, and inhaled the odor of damp paper and mouldy trees that +constituted its atmosphere, he found great consolation in the reflection +that there existed not very far away from him a young woman who possessed +a charming face, a delicious voice, and a pretty name. + +Next morning, after plunging into a cold bath, to the profound +astonishment of the old steward and his wife, the Comte de Camors went to +inspect his farms. He found the buildings very similar in construction +to the dams of beavers, though far less comfortable; but he was amazed to +hear his farmers arguing, in their patois, on the various modes of +culture and crops, like men who were no strangers to all modern +improvements in agriculture. The name of Des Rameures frequently +occurred in the conversation as confirmation of their own theories, or +experiments. M. des Rameures gave preference to this manure, to this +machine for winnowing; this breed of animals was introduced by him. M. +des Rameures did this, M. des Rameures did that, and the farmers did like +him, and found it to their advantage. Camors found the General had not +exaggerated the local importance of this personage, and that it was most +essential to conciliate him. Resolving therefore to call on him during +the day, he went to breakfast. + +This duty toward himself fulfilled, the young Count lounged on the +terrace, as he had the evening before, and smoked his cigar. Though it +was near midday, it was doubtful to him whether the solitude and silence +appeared less complete and oppressive than on the preceding night. A +hushed cackling of fowls, the drowsy hum of bees, and the muffled chime +of a distant bell--these were all the sounds to be heard. + +Camors lounged on the terrace, dreaming of his club, of the noisy Paris +crowd, of the rumbling omnibuses, of the playbill of the little kiosk, +of the scent of heated asphalt--and the memory of the least of these +enchantments brought infinite peace to his soul. The inhabitant of Paris +has one great blessing, which he does not take into account until he +suffers from its loss--one great half of his existence is filled up +without the least trouble to himself. The all-potent vitality which +ceaselessly envelops him takes away from him in a vast degree the +exertion of amusing himself. The roar of the city, rising like a great +bass around him, fills up the gaps in his thoughts, and never leaves that +disagreeable sensation--a void. + +There is no Parisian who is not happy in the belief that he makes all the +noise he hears, writes all the books he reads, edits all the journals on +which he breakfasts, writes all the vaudevilles on which he sups, and +invents all the 'bon mots' he repeats. + +But this flattering allusion vanishes the moment chance takes him a mile +away from the Rue Vivienne. The proof confounds him, for he is bored +terribly, and becomes sick of himself. Perhaps his secret soul, weakened +and unnerved, may even be assailed by the suspicion that he is a feeble +human creature after all! But no! He returns to Paris; the collective +electricity again inspires him; he rebounds; he recovers; he is busy, +keen to discern, active, and recognizes once more, to his intense +satisfaction, that he is after all one of the elect of God's creatures-- +momentarily degraded, it may be, by contact with the inferior beings who +people the departments. + +Camors had within himself more resources than most men to conquer the +blue-devils; but in these early hours of his experience in country life, +deprived of his club, his horses, and his cook, banished from all his old +haunts and habits, he began to feel terribly the weight of time. He, +therefore, experienced a delicious sensation when suddenly he heard that +regular beat of hoofs upon the road which to his trained ear announced +the approach of several riding-horses. The next moment he saw advancing +up his shaded avenue two ladies on horseback, followed by a groom with a +black cockade. + +Though quite amazed at this charming spectacle, Camors remembered his +duty as a gentleman and descended the steps of the terrace. But the two +ladies, at sight of him, appeared as surprised as himself, suddenly drew +rein and conferred hastily. Then, recovering, they continued their way, +traversed the lower court below the terraces, and disappeared in the +direction of the lake. + +As they passed the lower balustrade Camors bowed low, and they returned +his salutation by a slight inclination; but he was quite sure, in spite +of the veils that floated from their riding-hats, that he recognized the +black-eyed singer and the young pianist. After a moment he called to his +old steward + +"Monsieur Leonard," he said, "is this a public way?" + +"It certainly is not a public way, Monsieur le Comte," replied Leonard. + +"Then what do these ladies mean by using this road?" + +"Bless me, Monsieur le Comte, it is so long since any of the owners have +been at Reuilly! These ladies mean no harm by passing through your +woods; and sometimes they even stop at the chateau while my wife gives +them fresh milk. Shall I tell them that this displeases Monsieur le +Comte?" + +"My good Leonard, why the deuce do you suppose it displeases me? I only +asked for information. And now who are the ladies?" + +"Oh! Monsieur, they are quite respectable ladies; Madame de Tecle, and +her daughter, Mademoiselle Marie." + +"So? And the husband of Madame, Monsieur de Tecle, never rides out with +them?" + +"Heavens! no, Monsieur. He never rides with them." And the old steward +smiled a dry smile. "He has been among the dead men for a long time, as +Monsieur le Comte well knows." + +"Granting that I know it, Monsieur Leonard, I wish it understood these +ladies are not to be interfered with. You comprehend?" + +Leonard seemed pleased that he was not to be the bearer of any +disagreeable message; and Camors, suddenly conceiving that his stay at +Reuilly might be prolonged for some time, reentered the chateau and +examined the different rooms, arranging with the steward the best plan of +making the house habitable. The little town of I------, but two leagues +distant, afforded all the means, and M. Leonard proposed going there at +once to confer with the architect. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ELISE DE TECLE + +Meantime Camors directed his steps toward the residence of M. des +Rameures, of which he at last obtained correct information. He took the +same road as the preceding evening, passed the monastic-looking building +that held Madame de Tecle, glanced at the old oak that had served him for +an observatory, and about a mile farther on he discovered the small house +with towers that he sought. + +It could only be compared to those imaginary edifices of which we have +all read in childhood's happy days in taking text, under an attractive +picture: "The castle of M. de Valmont was agreeably situated at the +summit of a pretty hill." It had a really picturesque surrounding of +fields sloping away, green as emerald, dotted here and there with great +bouquets of trees, or cut by walks adorned with huge roses or white +bridges thrown over rivulets. Cattle and sheep were resting here and +there, which might have figured at the Opera Comique, so shining were the +skins of the cows and so white the wool of the sheep. Camors swung open +the gate, took the first road he saw, and reached the top of the hill +amid trees and flowers. An old servant slept on a bench before the door, +smiling in his dreams. + +Camors waked him, inquired for the master of the house, and was ushered +into a vestibule. Thence he entered a charming apartment, where a young +lady in a short skirt and round hat was arranging bouquets in Chinese +vases. + +She turned at the noise of the opening door, and Camors saw--Madame de +Tecle! + +As he saluted her with an air of astonishment and doubt, she looked +fixedly at him with her large eyes. He spoke first, with more of +hesitation than usual. + +"Pardon me, Madame, but I inquired for Monsieur des Rameures." + +"He is at the farm, but will soon return. Be kind enough to wait." + +She pointed to a chair, and seated herself, pushing away with her foot +the branches that strewed the floor. + +"But, Madame, in the absence of Monsieur des Rameures may I have the +honor of speaking with his niece?" + +The shadow of a smile flitted over Madame de Tecle's brown but charming +face. "His niece?" she said: "I am his niece." + +"You I Pardon me, Madame, but I thought--they said--I expected to find an +elderly--a--person--that is, a respectable" he hesitated, then added +simply" and I find I am in error." + +Madame de Tecle seemed completely unmoved by this compliment. + +"Will you be kind enough, Monsieur," she said, "to let me know whom I +have the honor of receiving?" + +"I am Monsieur de Camors." + +"Ah! Then I have excuses also to make. It was probably you whom we saw +this morning. We have been very rude--my daughter and I--but we were +ignorant of your arrival; and Reuilly has been so long deserted." + +"I sincerely hope, Madame, that your daughter and yourself will make no +change in your rides." + +Madame de Tecle replied by a movement of the hand that implied certainly +she appreciated the offer, and certainly she should not accept it. Then +there was a pause long enough to embarrass Camors, during which his eye +fell upon the piano, and his lips almost formed the original remark-- +"You are a musician, Madame." Suddenly recollecting his tree, however, +he feared to betray himself by the allusion, and was silent. + +"You come from Paris, Monsieur de Camors?" Madame de Tecle at length +asked. + +"No, Madame, I have been passing several weeks with my kinsman, General +de Campvallon, who has also the honor, I believe, to be a friend of +yours; and who has requested me to call upon you." + +"We are delighted that you have done so; and what an excellent man the +General is!" + +"Excellent indeed, Madame." There was another pause. + +"If you do not object to a short walk in the sun," said Madame de Tecle +at length, "let us walk to meet my uncle. We are almost sure to meet +him." Camors bowed. Madame de Tecle rose and rang the bell: "Ask +Mademoiselle Marie," she said to the servant, "to be kind enough to put +on her hat and join us." + +A moment after, Mademoiselle Marie entered, cast on the stranger the +steady, frank look of an inquisitive child, bowed slightly to him, and +they all left the room by a door opening on the lawn. + +Madame de Tecle, while responding courteously to the graceful speeches of +Camors, walked on with a light and rapid step, her fairy-like little +shoes leaving their impression on the smooth fine sand of the path. + +She walked with indescribable, unconscious grace; with that supple, +elastic undulation which would have been coquettish had it not been +undeniably natural. Reaching the wall that enclosed the right side of +the park, she opened a wicket that led into a narrow path through a large +field of ripe corn. She passed into this path, followed in single file +by Mademoiselle Marie and by Camors. Until now the child had been very +quiet, but the rich golden corn-tassels, entangled with bright daisies, +red poppies, and hollyhocks, and the humming concert of myriads of flies- +blue, yellow, and reddishbrownwhich sported amid the sweets, excited her +beyond self-control. Stopping here and there to pluck a flower, she +would turn and cry, "Pardon, Monsieur;" until, at length, on an apple- +tree growing near the path she descried on a low branch a green apple, no +larger than her finger. This temptation proved irresistible, and with +one spring into the midst of the corn, she essayed to reach the prize, if +Providence would permit. Madame de Tecle, however, would not permit. +She seemed much displeased, and said, sharply: + +"Marie, my child! In the midst of the corn! Are you crazy!" + +The child returned promptly to the path, but unable to conquer her wish +for the apple, turned an imploring eye to Camors and said, softly: +"Pardon, Monsieur, but that apple would make my bouquet complete." + +Camors had only to reach up, stretch out his hand, and detach the branch +from the tree. + +"A thousand thanks!" cried the child, and adding this crowning glory to +her bouquet, she placed the whole inside the ribbon around her hat and +walked on with an air of proud satisfaction. + +As they approached the fence running across the end of the field, Madame +de Tecle suddenly said: "My uncle, Monsieur;" and Camors, raising his +head, saw a very tall man looking at them over the fence and shading his +eyes with his hand. His robust limbs were clad in gaiters of yellow +leather with steel buttons, and he wore a loose coat of maroon velvet and +a soft felt hat. Camors immediately recognized the white hair and heavy +black eyebrows as the same he had seen bending over the violin the night +before. + +"Uncle," said Madame de Tecle, introducing the young Count by a wave of +the hand: "This is Monsieur de Camors." + +"Monsieur de Camors," repeated the old man, in a deep and sonorous voice, +"you are most welcome;" and opening the gate he gave his guest a soft, +brown hand, as he continued: "I knew your mother intimately, and am +charmed to have her son under my roof. Your mother was a most amiable +person, Monsieur, and certainly merited--" The old man hesitated, and +finished his sentence by a sonorous "Hem!" that resounded and rumbled +in his chest as if in the vault of a church. + +Then he took the letter Camors handed to him, held it a long distance +from his eyes, and began reading it. The General had told the Count it +would be impolite to break suddenly to M. des Rameures the plan they had +concocted. The latter, therefore, found the note only a very warm +introduction of Camors. The postscript gave him the announcement of the +marriage. + +"The devil!" he cried. "Did you know this, Elise? Campvallon is to be +married!" + +All women, widows, matrons, or maids, are deeply interested in matters +pertaining to marriage. + +"What, uncle! The General! Can it be? Are you sure?" + +"Um--rather. He writes the news himself. Do you know the lady, Monsieur +le Comte?" + +"Mademoiselle de Luc d'Estrelles is my cousin," Camors replied. + +"Ah! That is right; and she is of a certain age?" + +"She is about twenty-five." + +M. des Rameures received this intelligence with one of the resonant +coughs peculiar to him. + +"May I ask, without indiscretion, whether she is endowed with a pleasing +person?" + +"She is exceedingly beautiful," was the reply. + +"Hem! So much the better. It seems to me the General is a little old +for her: but every one is the best judge of his own affairs: Hem! the +best judge of his own affairs. Elise, my dear, whenever you are ready we +will follow you. Pardon me, Monsieur le Comte, for receiving you in this +rustic attire, but I am a laborer. Agricola--a mere herdsman--'custos +gregis', as the poet says. Walk before me, Monsieur le Comte, I beg you. +Marie, child, respect my corn! + +"And can we hope, Monsieur de Camors, that you have the happy idea of +quitting the great Babylon to install yourself among your rural +possessions? It will be a good example, Monsieur--an excellent example! +For unhappily today more than ever we can say with the poet: + + 'Non ullus aratro + + Dignus honos; squalent abductis arva colonis, + Et--et--' + +"And, by gracious! I've forgotten the rest--poor memory! Ah, young sir, +never grow old-never grow old!" + + "'Et curvae rigidum falces conflantur in ensem,"' + +said Camors, continuing the broken quotation. + +"Ah! you quote Virgil. You read the classics. I am charmed, really +charmed. That is not the characteristic of our rising generation, for +modern youth has an idea it is bad taste to quote the ancients. But that +is not my idea, young sir--not in the least. Our fathers quoted freely +because they were familiar with them. And Virgil is my poet. Not that I +approve of all his theories of cultivation. With all the respect I +accord him, there is a great deal to be said on that point; and his plan +of breeding in particular will never do--never do! Still, he is +delicious, eh? Very well, Monsieur Camors, now you see my little domain +--'mea paupera regna'--the retreat of the sage. Here I live, and live +happily, like an old shepherd in the golden age--loved by my neighbors, +which is not easy; and venerating the gods, which is perhaps easier. Ah, +young sir, as you read Virgil, you will excuse me once more. It was for +me he wrote: + + 'Fortunate senex, hic inter flumina nota, + Et fontes sacros frigus captabis opacum.' + +And this as well: + + 'Fortunatus et ille deos qui novit agrestes, + Panaque, Silvanumque senem!'" + +"Nymphasque sorores!" finished Camors, smiling and moving his head +slightly in the direction of Madame de Tecle and her daughter, who +preceded them. + +"Quite to the point. That is pure truth!" cried M. des Rameures, gayly. +"Did you hear that, niece?" + +"Yes, uncle." + +"And did you understand it, niece?" + +"No, uncle." + +"I do not believe you, my dear! I do not believe you!" The old man +laughed heartily. "Do not believe her, Monsieur de Camors; women have +the faculty of understanding compliments in every language." + +This conversation brought them to the chateau, where they sat down on a +bench before the drawing-room windows to enjoy the view. + +Camors praised judiciously the well-kept park, accepted an invitation to +dinner the next week, and then discreetly retired, flattering himself +that his introduction had made a favorable impression upon M. des +Rameures, but regretting his apparent want of progress with the fairy- +footed niece. + +He was in error. + +"This youth," said M. des Rameures, when he was left alone with Madame de +Tecle, "has some touch of the ancients, which is something; but he still +resembles his father, who was vicious as sin itself. His eyes and his +smile recall some traits of his admirable mother; but positively, my dear +Elise, he is the portrait of his father, whose manners and whose +principles they say he has inherited." + +"Who says so, uncle?" + +"Current rumor, niece." + +"Current rumor, my dear uncle, is often mistaken, and always exaggerates. +For my part, I like the young man, who seems thoroughly refined and at +his ease." + +"Bah! I suppose because he compared you to a nymph in the fable." + +"If he compared me to a nymph in the fable he was wrong; but he never +addressed to me a word in French that was not in good taste. Before we +condemn him, uncle, let us see for ourselves. It is a habit you have +always recommended to me, you know." + +"You can not deny, niece," said the old man with irritation, "that he +exhales the most decided and disagreeable odor of Paris! He is too +polite--too studied! Not a shadow of enthusiasm--no fire of youth! +He never laughs as I should wish to see a man of his age laugh; a young +man should roar to split his waistband!" + +"What! you would see him merry so soon after losing his father in such a +tragic manner, and he himself nearly ruined! Why, uncle, what can you +mean?" + +"Well, well, perhaps you are right. I retract all I have said against +him. If he be half ruined I will offer him my advice--and my purse if he +need it--for the sake of the memory of his mother, whom you resemble. +Ah, 'tis thus we end all our disputes, naughty child! I grumble; I am +passionate; I act like a Tartar. Then you speak with your good sense and +sweetness, my darling, and the tiger becomes a lamb. All unhappy beings +whom you approach in the same way submit to your subtle charm. And that +is the reason why my old friend, La Fontaine, said of you: + + 'Sur differentes fleurs l'abeille se repose, + Et fait du miel de toute chose!'" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A DISH OF POLITICS + +Elise de Tecle was thirty years of age, but appeared much younger. At +seventeen she had married, under peculiar conditions, her cousin Roland +de Tecle. She had been left an orphan at an early age and educated by +her mother's brother, M. des Rameures. Roland lived very near her +Everything brought them together--the wishes of the family, compatibility +of fortune, their relations as neighbors, and a personal sympathy. They +were both charming; they were destined for each other from infancy, and +the time fixed for their marriage was the nineteenth birthday of Elise. +In anticipation of this happy event the. Comte de Tecle rebuilt almost +entirely one wing of his castle for the exclusive use of the young pair. +Roland was continually present, superintending and urging on the work +with all the ardor of a lover. + +One morning loud and alarming cries from the new wing roused all the +inhabitants of the castle; the Count burned to the spot, and found his +son stunned and bleeding in the arms of one of the workmen. He had +fallen from a high scaffolding to the pavement. For several months the +unfortunate young man hovered between life and death; but in the +paroxysms of fever he never ceased calling for his cousin--his betrothed; +and they were obliged to admit the young girl to his bedside. Slowly he +recovered, but was ever after disfigured and lame; and the first time +they allowed him to look in a glass he had a fainting-fit that proved +almost fatal. + +But he was a youth of high principle and true courage. On recovering +from his swoon he wept a flood of bitter tears, which would not, however, +wash the scars from his disfigured face. He prayed long and earnestly; +then shut himself up with his father. Each wrote a letter, the one to M. +des Rameures, the other to Elise. M. des Rameures and his niece were +then in Germany. The excitement and fatigue consequent upon nursing her +cousin had so broken her health that the physicians urged a trial of the +baths of Ems. There she received these letters; they released her from +her engagement and gave her absolute liberty. + +Roland and his father implored her not to return in haste; explained that +their intention was to leave the country in a few weeks' time and +establish themselves at Paris; and added that they expected no answer, +and that their resolution--impelled by simple justice to her--was +irrevocable. + +Their wishes were complied with. No answer came. + +Roland, his sacrifice once made, seemed calm and resigned; but he fell +into a sort of languor, which made fearful progress and hinted at a +speedy and fatal termination, for which in fact he seemed to long. One +evening they had taken him to the lime-tree terrace at the foot of the +garden. He gazed with absent eye on the tints with which the setting sun +purpled the glades of the wood, while his father paced the terrace with +long strides-smiling as he passed him and hastily brushing away a tear as +he turned his back. + +Suddenly Elise de Tecle appeared before them, like an angel dropped from +heaven. She knelt before the crippled youth, kissed his hand, and, +brightening him with the rays of her beautiful eyes, told him she never +had loved him half so well before. He felt she spoke truly; he accepted +her devotion, and they were married soon after. + +Madame de Tecle was happy--but she alone was so. Her husband, +notwithstanding the tenderness with which she treated him-- +notwithstanding the happiness which he could not fail to read in her +tranquil glance--notwithstanding the birth of a daughter--seemed never to +console himself. Even with her he was always possessed by a cold +constraint; some secret sorrow consumed him, of which they found the key +only on the day of his death. + +"My darling," he then said to his young wife--"my darling, may God reward +you for your infinite goodness! Pardon me, if I never have told you how +entirely I love you. With a face like mine, how could I speak of love to +one like you! But my poor heart has been brimming over with it all the +while. Oh, Elise! how I have suffered when I thought of what I was +before--how much more worthy of you! But we shall be reunited, dearest-- +shall we not?--where I shall be as perfect as you, and where I may tell +you how much I adore you! Do not weep for me, my own Elise! I am happy +now, for the first time, for I have dared to open my heart to you. Dying +men do not fear ridicule. Farewell, Elise--darling-wife! I love you!" +These tender words were his last. + +After her husband's death, Madame de Tecle lived with her father-in-law, +but passed much of her time with her uncle. She busied herself with the +greatest solicitude in the education of her daughter, and kept house for +both the old men, by both of whom she was equally idolized. + +From the lips of the priest at Reuilly, whom he called on next day, +Camors learned some of these details, while the old man practiced the +violoncello with his heavy spectacles on his nose. Despite his fixed +resolution of preserving universal scorn, Camors could not resist a vague +feeling of respect for Madame de Tecle; but it did not entirely eradicate +the impure sentiment he was disposed to dedicate to her. Fully +determined to make her, if not his victim, at least his ally, he felt +that this enterprise was one of unusual difficulty. But he was +energetic, and did not object to difficulties--especially when they took +such charming shape as in the present instance. + +His meditations on this theme occupied him agreeably the rest of that +week, during which time he overlooked his workmen and conferred with his +architect. Besides, his horses, his books, his domestics, and his +journals arrived successively to dispel ennui. Therefore he looked +remarkably well when he jumped out of his dog-cart the ensuing Monday in +front of M. des Rameures's door under the eyes of Madame de Tecle. As +the latter gently stroked with her white hand the black and smoking +shoulder of the thoroughbred Fitz-Aymon, Camors was for the first time +presented to the Comte de Tecle, a quiet, sad, and taciturn old +gentleman. The cure, the subprefect of the district and his wife, the +tax-collector, the family physician, and the tutor completed, as the +journals say, the list of the guests. + +During dinner Camors, secretly excited by the immediate vicinity of +Madame de Tecle, essayed to triumph over that hostility that the presence +of a stranger invariably excites in the midst of intimacies which it +disturbs. His calm superiority asserted itself so mildly it was pardoned +for its grace. Without a gayety unbecoming his mourning, he nevertheless +made such lively sallies and such amusing jokes about his first mishaps +at Reuilly as to break up the stiffness of the party. He conversed +pleasantly with each one in turn, and, seeming to take the deepest +interest in his affairs, put him at once at his ease. + +He skilfully gave M. des Rameures the opportunity for several happy +quotations; spoke naturally to him of artificial pastures, and +artificially of natural pastures; of breeding and of non-breeding cows; +of Dishley sheep--and of a hundred other matters he had that morning +crammed from an old encyclopaedia and a county almanac. + +To Madame de Tecle directly he spoke little, but he did not speak one +word during the dinner that was not meant for her; and his manner to +women was so caressing, yet so chivalric, as to persuade them, even while +pouring out their wine, that he was ready to die for them. The dear +charmers thought him a good, simple fellow, while he was the exact +reverse. + +On leaving the table they went out of doors to enjoy the starlight +evening, and M. des Rameures--whose natural hospitality was somewhat +heightened by a goblet of his own excellent wine--said to Camors: + +"My dear Count, you eat honestly, you talk admirably, you drink like a +man. On my word, I am disposed to regard you as perfection--as a paragon +of neighbors--if in addition to all the rest you add the crowning one. +Do you love music?" + +"Passionately!" answered Camors, with effusion. + +"Passionately? Bravo! That is the way one should love everything that +is worth loving. I am delighted, for we make here a troupe of fanatical +melomaniacs, as you will presently perceive. As for myself, I scrape +wildly on the violin, as a simple country amateur--'Orpheus in silvis'. +Do not imagine, however, Monsieur le Comte, that we let the worship of +this sweet art absorb all our faculties--all our time-certainly not. +When you take part in our little reunions, which of course you will do, +you will find we disdain no pursuit worthy of thinking beings. We pass +from music to literature--to science--even to philosophy; but we do this +--I pray you to believe--without pedantry and without leaving the tone of +familiar converse. Sometimes we read verses, but we never make them; we +love the ancients and do not fear the moderns: we only fear those who +would lower the mind and debase the heart. We love the past while we +render justice to the present; and flatter ourselves at not seeing many +things that to you appear beautiful, useful, and true. + +"Such are we, my young friend. We call ourselves the 'Colony of +Enthusiasts,' but our malicious neighbors call us the 'Hotel de +Rambouillet.' Envy, you know, is a plant that does not flourish in the +country; but here, by way of exception, we have a few jealous people-- +rather bad for them, but of no consequence to us. + +"We are an odd set, with the most opposite opinions. For me, I am a +Legitimist; then there is Durocher, my physician and friend, who is a +rabid Republican; Hedouin, the tutor, is a parliamentarian; while +Monsieur our sub-prefect is a devotee to the government, as it is his +duty to be. Our cure is a little Roman--I am Gallican--'et sic ceteris'. +Very well--we all agree wonderfully for two reasons: first, because we +are sincere, which is a very rare thing; and then because all opinions +contain at bottom some truth, and because, with some slight mutual +concessions, all really honest people come very near having the same +opinions. + +"Such, my dear Count, are the views that hold in my drawing-room, or +rather in the drawing-room of my niece; for if you would see the divinity +who makes all our happiness--look at her! It is in deference to her good +taste, her good sense, and her moderation, that each of us avoids that +violence and that passion which warps the best intentions. In one word, +to speak truly, it is love that makes our common tie and our mutual +protection. We are all in love with my niece--myself first, of course; +next Durocher, for thirty years; then the subprefect and all the rest of +them. + +"You, too, Cure! you know that you are in love with Elise, in all honor +and all good faith, as we all are, and as Monsieur de Camors shall soon +be, if he is not so already--eh, Monsieur le Comte?" + +Camors protested, with a sinister smile, that he felt very much inclined +to fulfil the prophecy of his host; and they reentered the dining-room to +find the circle increased by the arrival of several visitors. Some of +these rode, others came on foot from the country-seats around. + +M. des Rameures soon seized his violin; while he tuned it, little Marie +seated herself at the piano, and her mother, coming behind her, rested +her hand lightly on her shoulder, as if to beat the measure. + +"The music will be nothing new to you," Camors's host said to him. "It +is simply Schubert's Serenade, which we have arranged, or deranged, after +our own fancy; of which you shall judge. My niece sings, and the curate +and I--'Arcades ambo'--respond successively--he on the bass-viol and I on +my Stradivarius. Come, my dear Cure, let us begin--'incipe, Mopse, +prior." + +In spite of the masterly execution of the old gentleman and of the +delicate science of the cure, it was Madame de Tecle who appeared to +Camors the most remarkable of the three virtuosi. The calm repose of her +features, and the gentle dignity of her attitude, contrasting with the +passionate swell of her voice, he found most attractive. + +In his turn he seated himself at the piano, and played a difficult +accompaniment with real taste; and having a good tenor voice, and a +thorough knowledge of its powers, he exerted them so effectually as to +produce a profound sensation. During the rest of the evening he kept +much in the background in order to observe the company, and was much +astonished thereby. The tone of this little society, as much removed +from vulgar gossip as from affected pedantry, was truly elevated. There +was nothing to remind him of a porter's lodge, as in most provincial +salons; or of the greenroom of a theatre, as in many salons of Paris; nor +yet, as he had feared, of a lecture-room. + +There were five or six women--some pretty, all well bred--who, in +adopting the habit of thinking, had not lost the habit of laughing, nor +the desire to please. But they all seemed subject to the same charm; and +that charm was sovereign. Madame de Tecle, half hidden on her sofa, and +seemingly busied with her embroidery, animated all by a glance, softened +all by a word. The glance was inspiring; the word always appropriate. +Her decision on all points they regarded as final--as that of a judge who +sentences, or of a woman who is beloved. + +No verses were read that evening, and Camors was not bored. In the +intervals of the music, the conversation touched on the new comedy by +Augier; the last work of Madame Sand; the latest poem of Tennyson; or the +news from America. + +"My dear Mopsus," M. des Rameures said to the cure, "you were about to +read us your sermon on superstition last Thursday, when you were +interrupted by that joker who climbed the tree in order to hear you +better. Now is the time to recompense us. Take this seat and we will +all listen to you." + +The worthy cure took the seat, unfolded his manuscript, and began his +discourse, which we shall not here report: profiting by the example of +our friend Sterne, not to mingle the sacred with the profane. + +The sermon met with general approval, though some persons, M. des +Rameures among them, thought it above the comprehension of the humble +class for whom it was intended. M. de Tecle, however, backed by +republican Durocher, insisted that the intelligence of the people was +underrated; that they were frequently debased by those who pretended to +speak only up to their level--and the passages in dispute were retained. + +How they passed from the sermon on superstition to the approaching +marriage of the General, I can not say; but it was only natural after +all, for the whole country, for twenty miles around, was ringing with it. +This theme excited Camors's attention at once, especially when the sub- +prefect intimated with much reserve that the General, busied with his new +surroundings, would probably resign his office as deputy. + +"But that would be embarrassing," exclaimed Des Rameures. "Who the deuce +would replace him? I give you warning, Monsieur Prefect, if you intend +imposing on us some Parisian with a flower in his buttonhole, I shall +pack him back to his club--him, his flower, and his buttonhole! You may +set that down for a sure thing--" + +"Dear uncle!" said Madame de Tecle, indicating Camors with a glance. + +"I understand you, Elise," laughingly rejoined M. des Rameures, "but I +must beg Monsieur de Camors to believe that I do not in any case intend +to offend him. I shall also beg him to tolerate the monomania of an old +man, and some freedom of language with regard to the only subject which +makes him lose his sang froid." + +"And what is that subject, Monsieur?" said Camors, with his habitual +captivating grace of manner. + +"That subject, Monsieur, is the arrogant supremacy assumed by Paris over +all the rest of France. I have not put my foot in the place since 1825, +in order to testify the abhorrence with which it inspires me. You are an +educated, sensible young man, and, I trust, a good Frenchman. Very well! +Is it right, I ask, that Paris shall every morning send out to us our +ideas ready-made, and that all France shall become a mere humble, servile +faubourg to the capital? Do me the favor, I pray you, Monsieur, to +answer that?" + +"There is doubtless, my dear sir," replied Camors, "some excess in this +extreme centralization of France; but all civilized countries must have +their capitals, and a head is just as necessary to a nation as to an +individual." + +"Taking your own image, Monsieur, I shall turn it against you. Yes, +doubtless a head is as necessary to a nation as to an individual; if, +however, the head becomes monstrous and deformed, the seat of +intelligence will be turned into that of idiocy, and in place of a man of +intellect, you have a hydrocephalus. Pray give heed to what Monsieur the +Sub-prefect, may say in answer to what I shall ask him. Now, my dear +Sub-prefect, be frank. If tomorrow, the deputation of this district +should become vacant, can you find within its broad limits, or indeed +within the district, a man likely to fill all functions, good and bad?" + +"Upon my word," answered the official, "if you continue to refuse the +office, I really know of no one else fit for it." + +"I shall persist all my life, Monsieur, for at my age assuredly I shall +not expose myself to the buffoonery of your Parisian jesters." + +"Very well! In that event you will be obliged to take some stranger-- +perhaps, even one of those Parisian jesters." + +"You have heard him, Monsieur de Camors," said M. des Rameures, with +exultation. "This district numbers six hundred thousand souls, and yet +does not contain within it the material for one deputy. There is no +other civilized country, I submit, in which we can find a similar +instance so scandalous. For the people of France this shame is reserved +exclusively, and it is your Paris that has brought it upon us. Paris, +absorbing all the blood, life, thought, and action of the country, has +left a mere geographical skeleton in place of a nation! These are the +benefits of your centralization, since you have pronounced that word, +which is quite as barbarous as the thing itself." + +"But pardon me, uncle," said Madame de Tecle, quietly plying her needle, +"I know nothing of these matters, but it seems to me that I have heard +you say this centralization was the work of the Revolution and of the +First Consul. Why, therefore, do you call Monsieur de Camors to account +for it? That certainly does not seem to me just." + +"Nor does it seem so to me," said Camors, bowing to Madame de Tecle. + +"Nor to me either," rejoined M. des Rameures, smiling. + +"However, Madame," resumed Camors, "I may to some extent be held +responsible in this matter, for though, as you justly suggest, I have not +brought about this centralization, yet I confess I strongly approve the +course of those who did." + +"Bravo! So much the better, Monsieur. I like that. One should have his +own positive opinions, and defend them." + +"Monsieur," said Camors, "I shall make an exception in your honor, for +when I dine out, and especially when I dine well, I always have the same +opinion with my host; but I respect you too highly not to dare to differ +with you. Well, then, I think the revolutionary Assembly, and +subsequently the First Consul, were happily inspired in imposing a +vigorous centralized political administration upon France. I believe, +indeed, that it was indispensable at the time, in order to mold and +harden our social body in its new form, to adjust it in its position, and +fix it firmly under the new laws--that is, to establish and maintain this +powerful French unity which has become our national peculiarity, our +genius and our strength." + +"You speak rightly, sir," exclaimed Durocher. + +"Parbleu I unquestionably you are right," warmly rejoined M. des +Rameures. "Yes, that is quite true. The excessive centralization of +which I complain has had its hour of utility, nay, even of necessity, +I will admit; but, Monsieur, in what human institution do you pretend to +implant the absolute, the eternal? Feudalism, also, my dear sir, was a +benefit and a progress in its day, but that which was a benefit yesterday +may it not become an evil to-morrow--a danger? That which is progress +to-day, may it not one hundred years hence have become mere routine, and +a downright trammel? Is not that the history of the world? And if you +wish to know, Monsieur, by what sign we may recognize the fact that a +social or political system has attained its end, I will tell you: it is +when it is manifest only in its inconveniences and abuses. Then the +machine has finished its work, and should be replaced. Indeed, I declare +that French centralization has reached its critical term, that fatal +point at which, after protecting, it oppresses; at which, after +vivifying, it paralyzes; at which, having saved France, it crushes her." + +"Dear uncle, you are carried away by your subject," said Madame de Tecle. + +"Yes, Elise, I am carried away, I admit, but I am right. Everything +justifies me--the past and the present, I am sure; and so will the +future, I fear. Did I say the past? Be assured, Monsieur de Camors, +I am not a narrow-minded admirer of the past. Though a Legitimist from +personal affections, I am a downright Liberal in principles. You know +that, Durocher? Well, then, in short, formerly between the Alps, the +Rhine, and the Pyrenees, was a great country which lived, thought, and +acted, not exclusively through its capital, but for itself. It had a +head, assuredly; but it had also a heart, muscles, nerves, and veins with +blood in them, and yet the head lost nothing by that. There was then a +France, Monsieur. The province had an existence, subordinate doubtless, +but real, active, and independent. Each government, each office, each +parliamentary centre was a living intellectual focus. The great +provincial institutions and local liberties exercised the intellect on +all sides, tempered the character, and developed men. And now note well, +Durocher! If France had been centralized formerly as to-day, your dear +Revolution never would have occurred--do you understand? Never! because +there would have been no men to make it. For may I not ask, whence came +that prodigious concourse of intelligences all fully armed, and with +heroic hearts, which the great social movement of '78 suddenly brought +upon the scene? Please recall to mind the most illustrious men of that +era--lawyers, orators, soldiers. How many were from Paris? All came +from the provinces, the fruitful womb of France! But to-day we have +simply need of a deputy, peaceful times; and yet, out of six hundred +thousand souls, as we have seen, we can not find one suitable man. Why +is this the case, gentlemen? Because upon the soil of uncentralized +France men grew, while only functionaries germinate in the soil of +centralized France." + +"God bless you, Monsieur!" said the Sub-prefect, with a smile. + +"Pardon me, my dear Sub-prefect, but you, too, should understand that I +really plead your cause as well as my own, when I claim for the +provinces, and for all the functions of provincial life, more +independence, dignity, and grandeur. In the state to which these +functions are reduced at present, the administration and the judiciary +are equally stripped of power, prestige, and patronage. You smile, +Monsieur, but no longer, as formerly, are they the centres of life, of +emulation, and of light, civic schools and manly gymnasiums; they have +become merely simple, passive clockwork; and that is the case with the +rest, Monsieur de Camors. Our municipal institutions are a mere farce, +our provincial assemblies only a name, our local liberties naught! +Consequently, we have not now a man for a deputy. But why should we +complain? Does not Paris undertake to live, to think for us? Does she +not deign to cast to us, as of yore the Roman Senate cast to the suburban +plebeians, our food for the day-bread and vaudevilles--'panem et +circenses'. Yes, Monsieur, let us turn from the past to the present-- +to France of to-day! A nation of forty millions of people who await each +morning from Paris the signal to know whether it is day or night, or +whether, indeed, they shall laugh or weep! A great people, once the +noblest, the cleverest in the world, repeating the same day, at the same +hour, in all the salons, and at all the crossways in the empire, the same +imbecile gabble engendered the evening before in the mire of the +boulevards. I tell you? Monsieur, it is humiliating that all Europe, +once jealous of us, should now shrug her shoulders in our faces.-- +Besides, it is fatal even for Paris, which, permit me to add, drunk with +prosperity in its haughty isolation and self-fetishism, not a little +resembles the Chinese Empire-a focus of warmed-over, corrupt, and +frivolous civilization! As for the future, my dear sir, may God preserve +me from despair, since it concerns my country! This age has already seen +great things, great marvels, in fact; for I beg you to remember I am by +no means an enemy to my time. I approve the Revolution, liberty, +equality, the press, railways, and the telegraph; and as I often say to +Monsieur le Cure, every cause that would live must accommodate itself +cheerfully to the progress of its epoch, and study how to serve itself +by it. Every cause that is in antagonism with its age commits suicide. +Indeed, Monsieur, I trust this century will see one more great event, +the end of this Parisian tyranny, and the resuscitation of provincial +life; for I must repeat, my dear sir, that your centralization, which was +once an excellent remedy, is a detestable regimen! It is a horrible +instrument of oppression and tyranny, ready-made for all hands, suitable +for every despotism, and under it France stifles and wastes away. You +must agree with me yourself, Durocher; in this sense the Revolution +overshot its mark, and placed in jeopardy even its purposes; for you, who +love liberty, and do not wish it merely for yourself alone, as some of +your friends do, but for all the world, surely you can not admire +centralization, which proscribes liberty as manifestly as night obscures +the day. As for my part, gentlemen, there are two things which I love +equally--liberty and France. Well, then, as I believe in God, do I +believe that both must perish in the throes of some convulsive +catastrophe if all the life of the nation shall continue to be +concentrated in the brain, and the great reform for which I call is not +made: if a vast system of local franchise, if provincial institutions, +largely independent and conformable to the modern spirit, are not soon +established to yield fresh blood for our exhausted veins, and to +fertilize our impoverished soil. Undoubtedly the work will be difficult +and complicated; it will demand a firm resolute hand, but the hand that +may accomplish it will have achieved the most patriotic work of the +century. Tell that to your sovereign, Monsieur Sub-prefect; say to him +that if he do that, there is one old French heart that will bless him. +Tell him, also, that he will encounter much passion, much derision, much +danger, peradventure; but that he will have a commensurate recompense +when he shall see France, like Lazarus, delivered from its swathings and +its shroud, rise again, sound and whole, to salute him!" + +These last words the old gentleman had pronounced with fire, emotion, and +extraordinary dignity; and the silence and respect with which he had been +listened to were prolonged after he had ceased to speak. This appeared +to embarrass him, but taking the arm of Camors he said, with a smile, +"'Semel insanivimus omnes.' My dear sir, every one has his madness. I +trust that mine has not offended you. Well, then, prove it to me by +accompanying me on the piano in this song of the sixteenth century." + +Camors complied with his usual good taste; and the song of the sixteenth +century terminated the evening's entertainment; but the young Count, +before leaving, found the means of causing Madame de Tecle the most +profound astonishment. He asked her, in a low voice, and with peculiar +emphasis, whether she would be kind enough, at her leisure, to grant him +the honor of a moment's private conversation. + +Madame de Tecle opened still wider those large eyes of hers, blushed +slightly, and replied that she would be at home the next afternoon at +four o'clock. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Bad to fear the opinion of people one despises +Camors refused, hesitated, made objections, and consented +Confounding progress with discord, liberty with license +Contempt for men is the beginning of wisdom +Cried out, with the blunt candor of his age +Dangers of liberty outweighed its benefits +Demanded of him imperatively--the time of day +Do not get angry. Rarely laugh, and never weep +Every cause that is in antagonism with its age commits suicide +Every one is the best judge of his own affairs +Every road leads to Rome--and one as surely as another +God--or no principles! +He is charming, for one always feels in danger near him +Intemperance of her zeal and the acrimony of her bigotry +Man, if he will it, need not grow old: the lion must +Never can make revolutions with gloves on +Once an excellent remedy, is a detestable regimen +Pleasures of an independent code of morals +Police regulations known as religion +Principles alone, without faith in some higher sanction +Property of all who are strong enough to stand it +Semel insanivimus omnes.' (every one has his madness) +Slip forth from the common herd, my son, think for yourself +Suspicion that he is a feeble human creature after all! +There will be no more belief in Christ than in Jupiter +Ties that become duties where we only sought pleasures +Truth is easily found. I shall read all the newspapers +Whether in this world one must be a fanatic or nothing +Whole world of politics and religion rushed to extremes +With the habit of thinking, had not lost the habit of laughing +You can not make an omelette without first breaking the eggs + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Monsieur de Camors, v1 +by Octave Feuillet + + + + + + +MONSIEUR DE CAMORS + +By OCTAVE FEUILLET + + + +BOOK 2. + + +CHAPTER IX + +LOVE CONQUERS PHILOSOPHY + +To M. de Camors, in principle it was a matter of perfect indifference +whether France was centralized or decentralized. But his Parisian +instinct induced him to prefer the former. In spite of this preference, +he would not have scrupled to adopt the opinions of M. des Rameures, had +not his own fine tact shown him that the proud old gentleman was not to +be won by submission. + +He therefore reserved for him the triumph of his gradual conversion. +Be that as it might, it was neither of centralization nor of +decentralization that the young Count proposed to speak to Madame de +Tecle, when, at the appointed hour, he presented himself before her. +He found her in the garden, which, like the house, was of an ancient, +severe, and monastic style. A terrace planted with limetrees extended on +one side of the garden. It was at this spot that Madame de Tecle was +seated under a group of lime-trees, forming a rustic bower. + +She was fond of this place, because it recalled to her that evening when +her unexpected apparition had suddenly inspired with a celestial joy the +pale, disfigured face of her betrothed. + +She was seated on a low chair beside a small rustic table, covered with +pieces of wool and silk; her feet rested on a stool, and she worked on a +piece of tapestry, apparently with great tranquillity. + +M. de Camors, an expert in all the niceties and exquisite devices of the +feminine mind, smiled to himself at this audience in the open air. He +thought he fathomed its meaning. Madame de Tecle desired to deprive this +interview of the confidential character which closed doors would have +given it. + +It was the simple truth. This young woman, who was one of the noblest of +her sex, was not at all simple. She had not passed ten years of her +youth, her beauty, and her widowhood without receiving, under forms more +or less direct, dozens of declarations that had inspired her with +impressions, which, although just, were not always too flattering to the +delicacy and discretion of the opposite sex. Like all women of her age, +she knew her danger, and, unlike most of them, she did not love it. +She had invariably turned into the broad road of friendship all those she +had surprised rambling within the prohibited limits of love. The request +of M. de Camors for a private interview had seriously preoccupied her +since the previous evening. What could be the object of this mysterious +interview? She puzzled her brain to imagine, but could not divine. + +It was not probable that M. de Camors, at the beginning of their +acquaintance, would feel himself entitled to declare a passion. However +vividly the famed gallantry of the young Count rose to her memory, she +thought so noted a ladykiller as he might adopt unusual methods, and +might think himself entitled to dispense with much ceremony in dealing +with an humble provincial. + +Animated by these ideas, she resolved to receive him in the garden, +having remarked, during her short experience, that open air and a wide, +open space were not favorable to bold wooers. + +M. de Camors bowed to Madame de Tecle as an Englishman would have bowed +to his queen; then seating himself, drew his chair nearer to hers, +mischievously perhaps, and lowering his voice into a confidential tone, +said: "Madame, will you permit me to confide a secret to you, and to ask +your counsel?" + +She raised her graceful head, fixed upon the Count her soft, bright gaze, +smiled vaguely, and by a slight movement of the hand intimated to him, +"You surprise me; but I will listen to you." + +"This is my first secret, Madame--I desire to become deputy for this +district." + +At this unexpected declaration, Madame de Tecle looked at him, breathed a +slight sigh of relief, and gravely awaited what he had to say. + +"The General de Campvallon, Madame," continued the young man, "has +manifested a father's kindness to me. He intends to resign in my favor, +and has not concealed from me that the support of your uncle is +indispensable to my success as a candidate. I have therefore come here, +by the General's advice, in the hope of obtaining this support, but the +ideas and opinions expressed yesterday by your uncle appear to me so +directly opposed to my pretensions that I feel truly discouraged. To be +brief, Madame, in my perplexity I conceived the idea--indiscreet +doubtless--to appeal to your kindness, and ask your advice--which I am +determined to follow, whatever it may be." + +"But, Monsieur! you embarrass me greatly," said the young woman, whose +pretty face, at first clouded, brightened up immediately with a frank +smile. + +"I have no special claims on your kindness--on the contrary perhaps--but +I am a human being, and you are charitable. Well, in truth, Madame, this +matter seriously concerns my fortune, my future, and my whole destiny. +This opportunity which now presents itself for me to enter public life so +young is exceptional. I should regret very much to lose it; would you +therefore be so kind as to aid me?" + +"But how can I?" replied Madame de Tecle. "I never interfere in +politics, and that is precisely what you ask me." + +"Nevertheless, Madame, I pray you not to oppose me." + +"Why should I oppose you?" + +"Ah, Madame! You have a right more than any other person to be severe. +My youth was a little dissipated. My reputation, in some respects, is +not over-good, I know, and I doubt not you may have heard so, and I can +not help fearing it has inspired you with some dislike to me." + +"Monsieur, we lived a retired life here. We know nothing of what passes +in Paris. If we did, this would not prevent my assisting you, if I knew +how, for I think that serious and elevated labors could not fail happily +to change your ordinary habits." + +"It is truly a delicious thing," thought the young Count, "to mystify so +spiritual a person." + +"Madame," he continued, with his quiet grace, "I join in your hopes, and +as you deign to encourage my ambition, I believe I shall succeed in +obtaining your uncle's support. You know him well. What shall I do to +conciliate him? What course shall I adopt?--because I can not do without +his assistance. Were I to renounce that, I should be compelled to +renounce my projects." + +"It is truly difficult," said Madame de Tecle, with a reflective air-- +"very difficult!" + +"Is it not, Madame?" + +Camors's voice expressed such confidence and submission that Madame de +Tecle was quite touched, and even the devil himself would have been +charmed by it, had he heard it in Gehenna. + +"Let me reflect on this a little," she said, and she placed her elbows on +the table, leaned her head on her hands, her fingers, like a fan, half +shading her eyes, while sparks of fire from her rings glittered in the +sunshine, and her ivory nails shone against her smooth brow. M. de +Camors continued to regard her with the same submissive and candid air. + +"Well, Monsieur," she said at last, smiling, "I think you can do nothing +better than keep on." + +"Pardon me, but how?" + +"By persevering in the same system you have already adopted with my +uncle! Say nothing to him for the present. Beg the General also to be +silent. Wait quietly until intimacy, time, and your own good qualities +have sufficiently prepared my uncle for your nomination. My role is very +simple. I cannot, at this moment, aid you, without betraying you. My +assistance would only injure you, until a change comes in the aspect of +affairs. You must conciliate him." + +"You overpower me," said Camors, "in taking you for my confidante in my +ambitious projects, I have committed a blunder and an impertinence, which +a slight contempt from you has mildly punished. But speaking seriously, +Madame, I thank you with all my heart. I feared to find in you a +powerful enemy, and I find in you a strong neutral, almost an ally." + +"Oh! altogether an ally, however secret," responded Madame de Tecle, +laughing. "I am glad to be useful to you; as I love General Campvallon +very much, I am happy to enter into his views. Come here, Marie?" These +last words were addressed to her daughter, who appeared on the steps of +the terrace, her cheeks scarlet, and her hair dishevelled, holding a card +in her hand. She immediately approached her mother, giving M. de Camors +one of those awkward salutations peculiar to young, growing girls. + +"Will you permit me," said Madame de Tecle, "to give to my daughter a few +orders in English, which we are translating? You are too warm--do not +run any more. Tell Rosa to prepare my bodice with the small buttons. +While I am dressing, you may say your catechism to me." + +"Yes, mother." + +"Have you written your exercise?" + +"Yes, mother. How do you say 'joli' in English for a man?" asked the +little girl. + +"Why?" + +"That question is in my exercise, to be said of a man who is 'beau, joli, +distingue.'" + +"Handsome, nice, and charming," replied her mother. + +"Very well, mother, this gentleman, our neighbor, is altogether handsome, +nice, and charming." + +"Silly child!" exclaimed Madame de Tecle, while the little girl rushed +down the steps. + +M. de Camors, who had listened to this dialogue with cool calmness, rose. +"I thank you again, Madame," he said; "and will you now excuse me? You +will allow me, from time to time, to confide in you my political hopes +and fears?" + +"Certainly, Monsieur." + +He bowed and retired. As he was crossing the courtyard, he found himself +face to face with Mademoiselle Marie. He gave her a most respectful bow. +"Another time, Miss Mary, be more careful. I understand English +perfectly well!" + +Mademoiselle Marie remained in the same attitude, blushed up to the roots +of her hair, and cast on M. de Camors a startled look of mingled shame +and anger. + +"You are not satisfied, Miss Mary," continued Camors. + +"Not at all," said the child, quickly, her strong voice somewhat husky. + +M. Camors laughed, bowed again, and departed, leaving Mademoiselle Marie +in the midst of the court, transfixed with indignation. + +A few moments later Marie threw herself into the arms of her mother, +weeping bitterly, and told her, through her tears, of her cruel mishap. + +Madame de Tecle, in using this opportunity of giving her daughter a +lesson on reserve and on convenance, avoided treating the matter too +seriously and even seemed to laugh heartily at it, although she had +little inclination to do so, and the child finished by laughing with her. + +Camors, meanwhile, remained at home, congratulating himself on his +campaign, which seemed to him, not without reason, to have been a +masterpiece of stratagem. By a clever mingling of frankness and cunning +he had quickly enlisted Madame de Tecle in his interest. From that +moment the realization of his ambitious dreams seemed assured, for he was +not ignorant of the incomparable value of woman's assistance, and knew +all the power of that secret and continued labor, of those small but +cumulative efforts, and of those subterranean movements which assimilate +feminine influence with the secret and irresistible forces of nature. +Another point gained-he had established a secret between that pretty +woman and himself, and had placed himself on a confidential footing with +her. He had gained the right to keep secret their clandestine words and +private conversation, and such a situation, cleverly managed, might aid +him to pass very agreeably the period occupied in his political canvass. + +Camors on entering the house sat down to write the General, to inform him +of the opening of his operations, and admonish him to have patience. +From that day he turned his attention to following up the two persons who +could control his election. + +His policy as regarded M. des Rameures was as simple as it was clever. +It has already been clearly indicated, and further details would be +unnecessary. Profiting by his growing familiarity as neighbor, he went +to school, as it were, at the model farm of the gentleman-farmer, and +submitted to him the direction of his own domain. By this quiet +compliment, enhanced by his captivating courtesy, he advanced insensibly +in the good graces of the old man. But every day, as he grew to know +M. de Rameures better, and as he felt more the strength of his character, +he began to fear that on essential points he was quite inflexible. + +After some weeks of almost daily intercourse, M. des Rameures graciously +praised his young neighbor as a charming fellow, an excellent musician, +an amiable associate; but, regarding him as a possible deputy, he saw +some things which might disqualify him. Madame de Tecle feared this, and +did not hide it from M. de Camors. The young Count did not preoccupy +himself so much on this subject as might be supposed, for his second +ambition had superseded his first; in other words his fancy for Madame de +Tecle had become more ardent and more pressing than his desire for the +deputyship. We are compelled to admit, not to his credit, that he first +proposed to himself, to ensnare his charming neighbor as a simple +pastime, as an interesting adventure, and, above all, as a work of art, +which was extremely difficult and would greatly redound to his honor. +Although he had met few women of her merit, he judged her correctly. He +believed Madame de Tecle was not virtuous simply from force of habit or +duty. She had passion. She was not a prude, but was chaste. She was +not a devotee, but was pious. He discerned in her at the same time a +spirit elevated, yet not narrow; lofty and dignified sentiments, and +deeply rooted principles; virtue without rigor, pure and lambent as +flame. + +Nevertheless he did not despair, trusting to his own principles, to the +fascinations of his manner and his previous successes. Instinctively, +he knew that the ordinary forms of gallantry would not answer with her. +All his art was to surround her with absolute respect, and to leave the +rest to time and to the growing intimacy of each day. + +There was something very touching to Madame de Tecle in the reserved and +timid manner of this 'mauvais sujet', in her presence--the homage of a +fallen spirit, as if ashamed of being such, in presence of a spirit of +light. + +Never, either in public or when tete-a-tete, was there a jest, a word, or +a look which the most sensitive virtue could fear. + +This young man, ironical with all the rest of the world, was serious with +her. From the moment he turned toward her, his voice, face, and +conversation became as serious as if he had entered a church. He had a +great deal of wit, and he used and abused it beyond measure in +conversations in the presence of Madame de Tecle, as if he were making a +display of fireworks in her honor. But on coming to her this was +suddenly extinguished, and he became all submission and respect. + +Not every woman who receives from a superior man such delicate flattery +as this necessarily loves him, but she does like him. In the shadow of +the perfect security in which M. de Camors had placed her, Madame de +Tecle could not but be pleased in the company of the most distinguished +man she had ever met, who had, like herself, a taste for art, music, and +for high culture. + +Thus these innocent relations with a young man whose reputation was +rather equivocal could not but awaken in the heart of Madame de Tecle a +sentiment, or rather an illusion, which the most prudish could not +condemn. + +Libertines offer to vulgar women an attraction which surprises, but which +springs from a reprehensible curiosity. To a woman of society they offer +another, more noble yet not less dangerous--the attraction of reforming +them. It is rare that virtuous women do not fall into the error of +believing that it is for virtue's sake alone such men love them. These, +in brief, were the secret sympathies whose slight tendrils intertwined, +blossomed, and flowered little by little in this soul, as tender as it +was pure. + +M. de Camors had vaguely foreseen all this: that which he had not +foreseen was that he himself would be caught in his own snare, and would +be sincere in the role which he had so judiciously adopted. From the +first, Madame de Tecle had captivated him. Her very puritanism, united +with her native grace and worldly elegance, composed a kind of daily +charm which piqued the imagination of the cold young man. If it was a +powerful temptation for the angels to save the tempted, the tempted could +not harbor with more delight the thought of destroying the angels. They +dream, like the reckless Epicureans of the Bible, of mingling, in a new +intoxication, the earth with heaven. To these sombre instincts of +depravity were soon united in the feelings of Camors a sentiment more +worthy of her. Seeing her every day with that childlike intimacy which +the country encourages--enhancing the graceful movements of this +accomplished person, ever self-possessed and equally prepared for duty or +for pleasure--as animated as passion, yet as severe as virtue--he +conceived for her a genuine worship. It was not respect, for that +requires the effort of believing in such merits, and he did not wish to +believe. He thought Madame de Tecle was born so. He admired her as he +would admire a rare plant, a beautiful object, an exquisite work, in +which nature had combined physical and moral grace with perfect +proportion and harmony. His deportment as her slave when near her was +not long a mere bit of acting. Our fair readers have doubtless remarked +an odd fact: that where a reciprocal sentiment of two feeble human beings +has reached a certain point of maturity, chance never fails to furnish a +fatal occasion which betrays the secret of the two hearts, and suddenly +launches the thunderbolt which has been gradually gathering in the +clouds. This is the crisis of all love. This occasion presented itself +to Madame de Tecle and M. de Camors in the form of an unpoetic incident. + +It occurred at the end of October. Camors had gone out after dinner to +take a ride in the neighborhood. Night had already fallen, clear and +cold; but as the Count could not see Madame de Tecle that evening, he +began only to think of being near her, and felt that unwillingness to +work common to lovers--striving, if possible, to kill time, which hung +heavy on his hands. + +He hoped also that violent exercise might calm his spirit, which never +had been more profoundly agitated. Still young and unpractised in his +pitiless system, he was troubled at the thought of a victim so pure as +Madame de Tecle. To trample on the life, the repose, and the heart of +such a woman, as the horse tramples on the grass of the road, with as +little care or pity, was hard for a novice. + +Strange as it may appear, the idea of marrying her had occurred to him. +Then he said to himself that this weakness was in direct contradiction to +his principles, and that she would cause him to lose forever his mastery +over himself, and throw him back into the nothingness of his past life. +Yet with the corrupt inspirations of his depraved soul he foresaw that +the moment he touched her hands with the lips of a lover a new sentiment +would spring up in her soul. As he abandoned himself to these passionate +imaginings, the recollection of young Madame Lescande came back suddenly +to his memory. He grew pale in the darkness. At this moment he was +passing the edge of a little wood belonging to the Comte de Tecle, of +which a portion had recently been cleared. It was not chance alone that +had directed the Count's ride to this point. Madame de Tecle loved this +spot, and had frequently taken him there, and on the preceding evening, +accompanied by her daughter and her father-in-law, had visited it with +him. + +The site was a peculiar one. Although not far from houses, the wood was +very wild, as if a thousand miles distant from any inhabited place. + +You would have said it was a virgin forest, untouched by the axe of the +pioneer. Enormous stumps without bark, trunks of gigantic trees, covered +the declivity of the hill, and barricaded, here and there, in a +picturesque manner, the current of the brook which ran into the valley. +A little farther up the dense wood of tufted trees contributed to diffuse +that religious light half over the rocks, the brushwood and the fertile +soil, and on the limpid water, which is at once the charm and the horror +of old neglected woods. In this solitude, and on a space of cleared +ground, rose a sort of rude hut, constructed by a poor devil who was a +sabot-maker by trade, and who had been allowed to establish himself there +by the Comte de Tecle, and to use the beech-trees to gain his humble +living. This Bohemian interested Madame de Tecle, probably because, like +M. de Camors, he had a bad reputation. He lived in his cabin with a +woman who was still pretty under her rags, and with two little boys with +golden curls. + +He was a stranger in the neighborhood, and the woman was said not to be +his wife. He was very taciturn, and his features seemed fine and +determined under his thick, black beard. + +Madame de Tecle amused herself seeing him make his sabots. She loved the +children, who, though dirty, were beautiful as angels; and she pitied the +woman. She had a secret project to marry her to the man, in case she had +not yet been married, which seemed probable. + +Camors walked his horse slowly over the rocky and winding path on the +slope of the hillock. This was the moment when the ghost of Madame +Lescande had risen before him, and he believed he could almost hear her +weep. Suddenly this illusion gave place to a strange reality. The voice +of a woman plainly called him by name, in accents of distress--"Monsieur +de Camors!" + +Stopping his horse on the instant, he felt an icy shudder pass through +his frame. The same voice rose higher and called him again. He +recognized it as the voice of Madame de Tecle. Looking around him in the +obscure light with a rapid glance, he saw a light shining through the +foliage in the direction of the cottage of the sabot-maker. Guided by +this, he put spurs to his horse, crossed the cleared ground up the +hillside, and found himself face to face with Madame de Tecle. She was +standing at the threshold of the hut, her head bare, and her beautiful +hair dishevelled under a long, black lace veil. She was giving a servant +some hasty orders. When she saw Camors approach, she came toward him. + +"Pardon me," she said, "but I thought I recognized you, and I called you. +I am so much distressed--so distressed! The two children of this man are +dying! What is to be done? Come in--come in, I beg of you!" + +He leaped to the ground, threw the reins to his servant, and followed +Madame de Tekle into the interior of the cabin. + +The two children with the golden hair were lying side by side on a little +bed, immovable, rigid, their eyes open and the pupils strangely dilated-- +their faces red, and agitated by slight convulsions. They seemed to be +in the agony of death. The old doctor, Du Rocher, was leaning over them, +looking at them with a fixed, anxious, and despairing eye. The mother +was on her knees, her head clasped in her hands, and weeping bitterly. +At the foot of the bed stood the father, with his savage mien--his arms +crossed, and his eyes dry. He shuddered at intervals, and murmured, in a +hoarse, hollow voice: "Both of them! Both of them!" Then he relapsed +into his mournful attitude. M. Durocher, approached Camors quickly. +"Monsieur," said he, "what can this be? I believe it to be poisoning, +but can detect no definite symptoms: otherwise, the parents should know-- +but they know nothing! A sunstroke, perhaps; but as both were struck at +the same time--and then at this season--ah! our profession is quite +useless sometimes." + +Camors made rapid inquiries. They had sought M. Durocher, who was dining +with Madame de Tecle an hour before. He had hastened, and found the +children already speechless, in a state of fearful congestion. It +appeared they had fallen into this state when first attacked, and had +become delirious. + +Camors conceived an idea. He asked to see the clothes the children had +worn during the day. The mother gave them to him. He examined them with +care, and pointed out to the doctor several red stains on the poor rags. +The doctor touched his forehead, and turned over with a feverish hand the +small linen--the rough waistcoat--searched the pockets, and found dozens +of a small fruit-like cherries, half crushed. "Belladonna!" he +exclaimed. "That idea struck me several times, but how could I be sure? +You can not find it within twenty miles of this place, except in this +cursed wood--of that I am sure." + +"Do you think there is yet time?" asked the young Count, in a low voice. +"The children seem to me to be very ill." + +"Lost, I fear; but everything depends on the time that has passed, the +quantity they have taken, and the remedies I can procure." + +The old man consulted quickly with Madame de Tecle, who found she had not +in her country pharmacy the necessary remedies, or counter-irritants, +which the urgency of the case demanded. The doctor was obliged to +content himself with the essence of coffee, which the servant was ordered +to prepare in haste, and to send to the village for the other things +needed. + +"To the village!" cried Madame de Tecle. "Good heavens! it is four +leagues--it is night, and we shall have to wait probably three or four +hours!" + +Camors heard this: "Doctor, write your prescription," he said: "Trilby is +at the door, and with him I can do the four leagues in an hour--in one +hour I promise to return here." + +"Oh! thank you, Monsieur!" said Madame de Tecle. + +He took the prescription which Dr. Durocher had rapidly traced on a leaf +of his pocketbook, mounted his horse, and departed. + +The highroad was fortunately not far distant. When he reached it he rode +like the phantom horseman. + +It was nine o'clock when Madame de Tecle witnessed his departure--it was +a few moments after ten when she heard the tramp of his horse at the foot +of the hill and ran to the door of the hut. The condition of the two +children seemed to have grown worse in the interval, but the old doctor +had great hopes in the remedies which Camors was to bring. She waited +with impatience, and received him like the dawn of the last hope. She +contented herself with pressing his hand, when, breathless, he descended +from his horse. But this adorable creature threw herself on Trilby, who +was covered with foam and steaming like a furnace. + +"Poor Trilby," she said, embracing him in her two arms, "dear Trilby-- +good Trilby! you are half dead, are you not? But I love you well. Go +quickly, Monsieur de Camors, I will attend to Trilby"--and while the +young man entered the cabin, she confided Trilby to the charge of her +servant, with orders to take him to the stable, and a thousand minute +directions to take good care of him after his noble conduct. +Dr. Durocher had to obtain the aid of Camors to pass the new medicine +through the clenched teeth of the unfortunate children. While both were +engaged in this work, Madame de Tecle was sitting on a stool with her +head resting against the cabin wall. Durocher suddenly raised his eyes +and fixed them on her. + +"My dear Madame," he said, "you are ill. You have had too much +excitement, and the odors here are insupportable. You must go home." + +"I really do not feel very well," she murmured. + +"You must go at once. We shall send you the news. One of your servants +will take you home." + +She raised herself, trembling; but one look from the young wife of the +sabot-maker arrested her. To this poor woman, it seemed that Providence +deserted her with Madame de Tecle. + +"No!" she said with a divine sweetness; "I will not go. I shall only +breathe a little fresh air. I will remain until they are safe, I promise +you;" and she left the room smiling upon the poor woman. After a few +minutes, Durocher said to M. de Camors: + +"My dear sir, I thank you--but I really have no further need of your +services; so you too may go and rest yourself, for you also are growing +pale." + +Camors, exhausted by his long ride, felt suffocated by the atmosphere of +the hut, and consented to the suggestion of the old man, saying that he +would not go far. + +As he put his foot outside of the cottage, Madame de Tecle, who was +sitting before the door, quickly rose and threw over his shoulders a +cloak which they had brought for her. She then reseated herself without +speaking. + +"But you can not remain here all night," he said. + +"I should be too uneasy at home." + +"But the night is very cold--shall I make you a fire?" + +"If you wish," she said. + +"Let us see where we can make this little fire. In the midst of this +wood it is impossible--we should have a conflagration to finish the +picture. Can you walk? + +"Then take my arm, and we shall go and search for a place for our +encampment." + +She leaned lightly on his arm, and took a few steps with him toward the +forest. + +"Do you think they are saved?" she asked. + +"I hope so," he replied. "The face of Doctor Durocher is more cheerful." + +"Oh! how glad I am!" + +Both of them stumbled over a root, and laughed like two children for +several minutes. + +"We shall soon be in the woods," said Madame de Tecle, "and I declare I +can go no farther: good or bad, I choose this spot." + +They were still quite close to the hut, but the branches of the old trees +which had been spared by the axe spread like a sombre dome over their +heads. Near by was a large rock, slightly covered with moss, and a +number of old trunks of trees, on which Madame de Tecle took her seat. + +"Nothing could be better," said Camors, gayly. "I must collect my +materials." + +A moment after he reappeared, bringing in his arms brushwood, and also a +travelling-rug which his servant had brought him. + +He got on his knees in front of the rock, prepared the fagots, and +lighted them with a match. When the flame began to flicker on the rustic +hearth Madame de Tecle trembled with joy, and held out both hands to the +blaze. + +"Ah! how nice that is!" she said; "and then it is so amusing; one would +say we had been shipwrecked. + +"Now, Monsieur, if you would be perfect go and see what Durocher reports." + +He ran to the hut. When he returned he could not avoid stopping half way +to admire the elegant and simple silhouette of the young woman, defined +sharply against the blackness of the wood, her fine countenance slightly. +illuminated by the firelight. The moment she saw him: + +"Well!" she cried. + +"A great deal of hope." + +"Oh! what happiness, Monsieur!" She pressed his hand. + +"Sit down there," she said. + +He sat down on a rock contiguous to hers, and replied to her eager +questions. He repeated, in detail, his conversation with the doctor, and +explained at length the properties of belladonna. She listened at first +with interest, but little by little, with her head wrapped in her veil +and resting on the boughs interlaced behind her, she seemed to be +uncomfortably resting from fatigue. + +"You are likely to fall asleep there," he said, laughing. + +"Perhaps!" she murmured--smiled, and went to sleep. + +Her sleep resembled death, it was so profound, and so calm was the +beating of her heart, so light her breathing. + +Camors knelt down again by the fire, to listen breathlessly and to gaze +upon her. From time to time he seemed to meditate, and the solitude was +disturbed only by the rustling of the leaves. His eyes followed the +flickering of the flame, sometimes resting on the white cheek, sometimes +on the grove, sometimes on the arches of the high trees, as if he wished +to fix in his memory all the details of this sweet scene. Then his gaze +rested again on the young woman, clothed in her beauty, grace, and +confiding repose. + +What heavenly thoughts descended at that moment on this sombre soul--what +hesitation, what doubt assailed it! What images of peace, truth, virtue, +and happiness passed into that brain full of storm, and chased away the +phantoms of the sophistries he cherished! He himself knew, but never +told. + +The brisk crackling of the wood awakened her. She opened her eyes in +surprise, and as soon as she saw the young man kneeling before her, +addressed him: + +"How are they now, Monsieur?" + +He did not know how to tell her that for the last hour he had had but one +thought, and that was of her. Durocher appeared suddenly before them. + +"They are saved, Madame," said the old man, brusquely; "come quickly, +embrace them, and return home, or we shall have to treat you to-morrow. +You are very imprudent to have remained in this damp wood, and it was +absurd of Monsieur to let you do so." + +She took the arm of the old doctor, smiling, and reentered the hut. The +two children, now roused from the dangerous torpor, but who seemed still +terrified by the threatened death, raised their little round heads. She +made them a sign to keep quiet, and leaned over their pillow smiling upon +them, and imprinted two kisses on their golden curls. + +"To-morrow, my angels," she said. But the mother, half laughing, half +crying, followed Madame de Tecle step by step, speaking to her, and +kissing her garments. + +"Let her alone," cried the old doctor, querulously. "Go home, Madame. +Monsieur de Camors, take her home." + +She was going out, when the man, who had not before spoken, and who was +sitting in the corner of his but as if stupefied, rose suddenly, seized +the arm of Madame de Tecle, who, slightly terrified, turned round, for +the gesture of the man was so violent as to seem menacing; his eyes, hard +and dry, were fixed upon her, and he continued to press her arm with a +contracted hand. + +"My friend!" she said, although rather uncertain. + +"Yes, your friend," muttered the man with a hollow voice; "yes, your +friend." + +He could not continue, his mouth worked as if in a convulsion, suppressed +weeping shook his frame; he then threw himself on his knees, and they saw +a shower of tears force themselves through the hands clasped over his +face. + +"Take her away, Monsieur," said the old doctor. + +Camors gently pushed her out of the but and followed her. She took his +arm and descended the rugged path which led to her home. + +It was a walk of twenty minutes from the wood. Half the distance was +passed without interchanging a word. Once or twice, when the rays of the +moon pierced through the clouds, Camors thought he saw her wipe away a +tear with the end of her glove. He guided her cautiously in the +darkness, although the light step of the young woman was little slower in +the obscurity. Her springy step pressed noiselessly the fallen leaves-- +avoided without assistance the ruts and marshes, as if she had been +endowed with a magical clairvoyance. When they reached a crossroad, and +Camors seemed uncertain, she indicated the way by a slight pressure of +the arm. Both were no doubt embarrassed by the long silence--it was +Madame de Tecle who first broke it. + +"You have been very good this evening, Monsieur," she said in a low and +slightly agitated voice. + +"I love you so much!" said the young man. + +He pronounced these simple words in such a deep impassioned tone that +Madame de Tecle trembled and stood still in the road. + +"Monsieur de Camors!" + +"What, Madame?" he demanded, in a strange tone. + +"Heavens!--in fact-nothing!" said she, "for this is a declaration of +friendship, I suppose--and your friendship gives me much pleasure." + +He let go her arm at once, and in a hoarse and angry voice said-- +"I am not your friend!" + +"What are you then, Monsieur?" + +Her voice was calm, but she recoiled a few steps, and leaned against one +of the trees which bordered the road. The explosion so long pent up +burst forth, and a flood of words poured from the young man's lips with +inexpressible impetuosity. + +"What I am I know not! I no longer know whether I am myself--if I am +dead or alive--if I am good or bad--whether I am dreaming or waking. Oh, +Madame, what I wish is that the day may never rise again--that this night +would never finish--that I should wish to feel always--always--in my +head, my heart, my entire being--that which I now feel, near you--of you +--for you! I should wish to be stricken with some sudden illness, +without hope, in order to be watched and wept for by you, like those +children--and to be embalmed in your tears; and to see you bowed down in +terror before me is horrible to me! By the name of your God, whom you +have made me respect, I swear you are sacred to me--the child in the arms +of its mother is not more so!" + +"I have no fear," she murmured. + +"Oh, no!--have no fear!" he repeated in a tone of voice infinitely +softened and tender. "It is I who am afraid--it is I who tremble--you +see it; for since I have spoken, all is finished. I expect nothing more +--I hope for nothing--this night has no possible tomorrow. I know it. +Your husband I dare not be--your lover I should not wish to be. I ask +nothing of you--understand well! I should like to burn my heart at your +feet, as on an altar--this is all. Do you believe me? Answer! Are you +tranquil? Are you confident? Will you hear me? May I tell you what +image I carry of you in the secret recesses of my heart? Dear creature +that you are, you do not--ah, you do not know how great is your worth; +and I fear to tell you; so much am I afraid of stripping you of your +charms, or of one of your virtues. If you had been proud of yourself, +as you have a right to be, you would be less perfect, and I should love +you less. But I wish to tell you how lovable and how charming you are. +You alone do not know it. You alone do not see the soft flame of your +large eyes--the reflection of your heroic soul on your young but serene +brow. Your charm is over everything you do--your slightest gesture is +engraven on my heart. Into the most ordinary duties of every-day life +you carry a peculiar grace, like a young priestess who recites her daily +devotions. Your hand, your touch, your breath purifies everything--even +the most humble and the most wicked beings--and myself first of all! + +"I am astonished at the words which I dare to pronounce, and the +sentiments which animate me, to whom you have made clear new truths. +Yes, all the rhapsodies of the poets, all the loves of the martyrs, +I comprehend in your presence. This is truth itself. I understand those +who died for their faith by the torture--because I should like to suffer +for you--because I believe in you--because I respect you--I cherish you-- +I adore you!" + +He stopped, shivering, and half prostrating himself before her, seized +the end of her veil and kissed it. + +"Now," he continued, with a kind of grave sadness, "go, Madame, I have +forgotten too long that you require repose. Pardon me--proceed. I shall +follow you at a distance, until you reach your home, to protect you--but +fear nothing from me." + +Madame de Tecle had listened, without once interrupting him even by a +sigh. Words would only excite the young man more. Probably she +understood, for the first time in her life, one of those songs of love-- +one of those hymns alive with passion, which every woman wishes to hear +before she dies. Should she die because she had heard it? She remained +without speaking, as if just awakening from a dream, and said quite +simply, in a voice as soft and feeble as a sigh, "My God!" After another +pause she advanced a few steps on the road. + +"Give me your arm as far as my house, Monsieur," she said. + +He obeyed her, and they continued their walk toward the house, the lights +of which they soon saw. They did not exchange a word--only as they +reached the gate, Madame de Tecle turned and made him a slight gesture +with her hand, in sign of adieu. In return, M. de Camors bowed low, and +withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE PROLOGUE TO THE TRAGEDY + +The Comte de Camors had been sincere. When true passion surprises the +human soul, it breaks down all resolves, sweeps away all logic, and +crushes all calculations. + +In this lies its grandeur, and also its danger. It suddenly seizes on +you, as the ancient god inspired the priestess on her tripod--speaks +through your lips, utters words you hardly comprehend, falsifies your +thoughts, confounds your reason, and betrays your secrets. When this +sublime madness possesses you, it elevates you--it transfigures you. +It can suddenly convert a common man into a poet, a coward into a hero, +an egotist into a martyr, and Don Juan himself into an angel of purity. + +With women--and it is to their honor--this metamorphosis can be durable, +but it is rarely so with men. Once transported to this stormy sky, women +frankly accept it as their proper home, and the vicinity of the thunder +does not disquiet them. + +Passion is their element--they feel at home there. There are few women +worthy of the name who are not ready to put in action all the words which +passion has caused to bubble from their lips. If they speak of flight, +they are ready for exile. If they talk of dying, they are ready for +death. Men are far less consistent with their ideas. + +It was not until late the next morning that Camors regretted his outbreak +of sincerity; for, during the remainder of the night, still filled with +his excitement, agitated and shaken by the passage of the god, sunk into +a confused and feverish reverie, he was incapable of reflection. But +when, on awakening, he surveyed the situation calmly and by the plain +light of day, and thought over the preceding evening and its events, he +could not fail to recognize the fact that he had been cruelly duped by +his own nervous system. To love Madame de Tecle was perfectly proper, +and he loved her still--for she was a person to be loved and desired-- +but to elevate that love or any other as the master of his life, instead +of its plaything, was one of those weaknesses interdicted by his system +more than any other. In fact, he felt that he had spoken and acted like +a school-boy on a holiday. He had uttered words, made promises, and +taken engagements on himself which no one demanded of him. No conduct +could have been more ridiculous. Happily, nothing was lost. He had yet +time to give his love that subordinate place which this sort of fantasy +should occupy in the life of man. He had been imprudent; but this very +imprudence might finally prove of service to him. All that remained of +this scene was a declaration--gracefully made, spontaneous, natural-- +which subjected Madame de Tecle to the double charm of a mystic idolatry +which pleased her sex, and to a manly ardor which could not displease +her. + +He had, therefore, nothing to regret--although he certainly would have +preferred, from the point of view of his principles, to have displayed a +somewhat less childish weakness. + +But what course should he now adopt? Nothing could be more simple. He +would go to Madame de Tecle--implore her forgiveness--throw himself again +at her feet, promising eternal respect, and succeed. Consequently, about +ten o'clock, M. de Camors wrote the following note: + + "MADAME + + "I can not leave without bidding you adieu, and once more demanding + your forgiveness. + + "Will you permit me? + + "CAMORS." + +This letter he was about despatching, when he received one containing the +following words: + + "I shall be happy, Monsieur, if you will call upon me to-day, about + four o'clock. + "ELISE DE TECLE." + +Upon which M. de Camors threw his own note in the fire, as entirely +superfluous. + +No matter what interpretation he put upon this note, it was an evident +sign that love had triumphed and that virtue was defeated; for, after +what had passed the previous evening between Madame de Tecle and himself, +there was only one course for a virtuous woman to take; and that was +never to see him again. To see him was to pardon him; to pardon him was +to surrender herself to him, with or without circumlocution. Camors did +not allow himself to deplore any further an adventure which had so +suddenly lost its gravity. He soliloquized on the weakness of women. +He thought it bad taste in Madame de Tecle not to have maintained longer +the high ideal his innocence had created for her. Anticipating the +disenchantment which follows possession, he already saw her deprived of +all her prestige, and ticketed in the museum of his amorous souvenirs. + +Nevertheless, when he approached her house, and had the feeling of her +near presence, he was troubled. Doubt--and anxiety assailed him. When +he saw through the trees the window of her room, his heart throbbed so +violently that he had to sit down on the root of a tree for a moment. + +"I love her like a madman!" he murmured; then leaping up suddenly he +exclaimed, "But she is only a woman, after all--I shall go on!" + +For the first time Madame de Tecle received him in her own apartment. +This room M. de Camors had never seen. It was a large and lofty +apartment, draped and furnished in sombre tints. + +It contained gilded mirrors, bronzes, engravings, and old family jewelry +lying on tables--the whole presenting the appearance of the ornamentation +of a church. + +In this severe and almost religious interior, however rich, reigned a +vague odor of flowers; and there were also to be seen boxes of lace, +drawers of perfumed linen, and that dainty atmosphere which ever +accompanies refined women. + +But every one has her personal individuality, and forms her own +atmosphere which fascinates her lover. Madame de Tecle, finding herself +almost lost in this very large room, had so arranged some pieces of +furniture as to make herself a little private nook near the chimneypiece, +which her daughter called, "My mother's chapel." It was there Camors now +perceived her, by the soft light of a lamp, sitting in an armchair, and, +contrary to her custom, having no work in her hands. She appeared calm, +though two dark circles surrounded her eyes. She had evidently suffered +much, and wept much. + +On seeing that dear face, worn and haggard with grief, Camors forgot the +neat phrases he had prepared for his entrance. He forgot all except that +he really adored her. + +He advanced hastily toward her, seized in his two hands those of the +young woman and, without speaking, interrogated her eyes with tenderness +and profound pity. + +"It is nothing," she said, withdrawing her hand and bending her pale face +gently; "I am better; I may even be very happy, if you wish it." + +There was in the smile, the look, and the accent of Madame de Tecle +something indefinable, which froze the blood of Camors. + +He felt confusedly that she loved him, and yet was lost to him; that he +had before him a species of being he did not understand, and that this +woman, saddened, broken, and lost by love, yet loved something else in +this world better even than that love. + +She made him a slight sign, which he obeyed like a child, and he sat down +beside her. + +"Monsieur," she said to him, in a voice tremulous at first, but which +grew stronger as she proceeded, "I heard you last night perhaps with a +little too much patience. I shall now, in return, ask from you the same +kindness. You have told me that you love me, Monsieur; and I avow +frankly that I entertain a lively affection for you. Such being the +case, we must either separate forever, or unite ourselves by the only tie +worthy of us both. To part:--that will afflict me much, and I also +believe it would occasion much grief to you. To unite ourselves:--for my +own part, Monsieur, I should be willing to give you my life; but I can +not do it, I can not wed you without manifest folly. You are younger +than I; and as good and generous as I believe you to be, simple reason +tells me that by so doing I should bring bitter repentance on myself. +But there is yet another reason. I do not belong to myself, I belong to +my daughter, to my family, to my past. In giving up my name for yours I +should wound, I should cruelly afflict, all the friends who surround me, +and, I believe, some who exist no longer. Well, Monsieur," she +continued, with a smile of celestial grace and resignation, "I have +discovered a way by which we yet can avoid breaking off an intimacy so +sweet to both of us--in fact, to make it closer and more dear. My +proposal may surprise you, but have the kindness to think over it, +and do not say no, at once." + +She glanced at him, and was terrified at the pallor which overspread his +face. She gently took his hand, and said: + +"Have patience!" + +"Speak on!" he muttered, hoarsely. + +"Monsieur," she continued, with her smile of angelic charity, "God be +praised, you are quite young; in our society men situated as you are do +not marry early, and I think they are right. Well, then, this is what I +wish to do, if you will allow me to tell you. I wish to blend in one +affection the two strongest sentiments of my heart! I wish to +concentrate all my care, all my tenderness, all my joy on forming a wife +worthy of you--a young soul who will make you happy, a cultivated +intellect of which you can be proud. I will promise you, Monsieur, I +will swear to you, to consecrate to you this sweet duty, and to +consecrate to it all that is best in myself. I shall devote to it all my +time, every instant of my life, as to the holy work of a saint. I swear +to you that I shall be very happy if you will only tell me that you will +consent to this." + +His answer was an impatient exclamation of irony and anger: then he +spoke: + +"You will pardon me, Madame," he said, "if so sudden a change in my +sentiments can not be as prompt as you wish." + +She blushed slightly. + +"Yes," she said, with a faint smile; "I can understand that the idea of +my being your mother-in-law may seem strange to you; but in some years, +even in a very few years' time, I shall be an old woman, and then it will +seem to you very natural." + +To consummate her mournful sacrifice, the poor woman did not shrink from +covering herself, even in the presence of the man she loved, with the +mantle of old age. + +The soul of Camors was perverted, but not base, and it was suddenly +touched at this simple heroism. He rendered it the greatest homage he +could pay, for his eyes suddenly filled with tears. She observed it, +for she watched with an anxious eye the slightest impression she produced +upon him. So she continued more cheerfully: + +"And see, Monsieur, how this will settle everything. In this way we can +continue to see each other without danger, because your little affianced +wife will be always between us. Our sentiments will soon be in harmony +with our new thoughts. Even your future prospects, which are now also +mine, will encounter fewer obstacles, because I shall push them more +openly, without revealing to my uncle what ought to remain a secret +between us two. I can let him suspect my hopes, and that will enlist him +in your service. Above all, I repeat to you that this will insure my +happiness. Will you thus accept my maternal affection?" + +M. de Camors, by a powerful effort of will, had recovered his self- +control. + +"Pardon me, Madame," he said, with a faint smile, "but I should wish at +least to preserve honor. What do you ask of me? Do you yourself fully +comprehend? Have you reflected well on this? Can either of us contract, +without imprudence, an engagement of so delicate a nature for so long a +time?" + +"I demand no engagement of you," she replied, "for I feel that would be +unreasonable. I only pledge myself as far as I can, without compromising +the future fate of my daughter. I shall educate her for you. I shall, +in my secret heart, destine her for you, and it is in this light I shall +think of you for the future. Grant me this. Accept it like an honest +man, and remain single. This is probably a folly, but I risk my repose +upon it. I will run all the risk, because I shall have all the joy. +I have already had a thousand thoughts on this subject, which I can not +yet tell you, but which I shall confess to God this night. I believe-- +I am convinced that my daughter, when I have done all that I can for her, +will make an excellent wife for you. She will benefit you, and be an +honor to you, and will, I hope, one day thank me with all her heart; for +I perceive already what she wishes, and what she loves. You can not +know, you can not even suspect--but I--I know it. There is already a +woman in that child, and a very charming woman--much more charming than +her mother, Monsieur, I assure you." + +Madame de Tecle stopped suddenly, the door opened, and Mademoiselle Marie +entered the room brusquely, holding in each hand a gigantic doll. + +M. Camors rose, bowed gravely to her, and bit his lip to avoid smiling, +which did not altogether escape Madame de Tecle. + +"Marie!" she cried out, "really you are absurd with your dolls!" + +"My dolls! I adore them!" replied Mademoiselle Marie. + +"You are absurd! Go away with your dolls," said her mother. + +"Not without embracing you," said the child. + +She laid her dolls on the carpet, sprang on her mother's neck, and kissed +her on both cheeks passionately, after which she took up her dolls, +saying to them: + +"Come, my little dears!" and left the room. + +"Good heavens!" said Madame de Tecle, laughing, "this is an unfortunate +incident; but I still insist, and I implore you to take my word. She +will have sense, courage, and goodness. Now," she continued in a more +serious tone, "take time to think over it, and return to give me your +decision, should it be favorable. If not, we must bid each other adieu." + +"Madame," said Camors, rising and standing before her, "I will promise +never to address a word to you which a son might not utter to his mother. +Is it not this which you demand?" + +Madame de Tecle fixed upon him for an instant her beautiful eyes, full of +joy and gratitude, then suddenly covered her face with her two hands. + +"I thank you!" she murmured, "I am very happy!" She extended her hand, +wet with her tears, which he took and pressed to his lips, bowed low, and +left the room. + +If there ever was a moment in his fatal career when the young man was +really worthy of admiration, it was this. His love for Madame de Tecle, +however unworthy of her it might be, was nevertheless great. It was the +only true passion he had ever felt. At the moment when he saw this love, +the triumph of which he thought certain, escape him forever, he was not +only wounded in his pride but was crushed in his heart. + +Yet he took the stroke like a gentleman. His agony was well borne. His +first bitter words, checked at once, alone betrayed what he suffered. + +He was as pitiless for his own sorrows as he sought to be for those of +others. He indulged in none of the common injustice habitual to +discarded lovers. + +He recognized the decision of Madame de Tecle as true and final, and was +not tempted for a moment to mistake it for one of those equivocal +arrangements by which women sometimes deceive themselves, and of which +men always take advantage. He realized that the refuge she had sought +was inviolable. He neither argued nor protested against her resolve. +He submitted to it, and nobly kissed the noble hand which smote him. +As to the miracle of courage, chastity, and faith by which Madame de +Tecle had transformed and purified her love, he cared not to dwell upon +it. This example, which opened to his view a divine soul, naked, so to +speak, destroyed his theories. One word which escaped him, while passing +to his own house, proved the judgment which he passed upon it, from his +own point of view. "Very childish," he muttered, "but sublime!" + +On returning home Camors found a letter from General Campvallon, +notifying him that his marriage with Mademoiselle d'Estrelles would take +place in a few days, and inviting him to be present. The marriage was to +be strictly private, with only the family to assist at it. + +Camors did not regret this invitation, as it gave him the excuse for some +diversion in his thoughts, of which he felt the need. He was greatly +tempted to go away at once to diminish his sufferings, but conquered this +weakness. The next evening he passed at the chateau of M. des Rameures; +and though his heart was bleeding, he piqued himself on presenting an +unclouded brow and an inscrutable smile to Madame de Tecle. He announced +the brief absence he intended, and explained the reason. + +"You will present my best wishes to the General," said M. des Rameures. +"I hope he may be happy, but I confess I doubt it devilishly." + +"I shall bear your good wishes to the General, Monsieur." + +"The deuce you will! 'Exceptis excipiendis', I hope," responded the old +gentleman, laughing. + +As for Madame de Tecle, to tell of all the tender attentions and +exquisite delicacies, that a sweet womanly nature knows so well how to +apply to heal the wounds it has inflicted--how graciously she glided into +her maternal relation with Camors--to tell all this would require a pen +wielded by her own soft hands. + +Two days later M. de Camors left Reuilly for Paris. The morning after +his arrival, he repaired at an early hour to the General's house, a +magnificent hotel in the Rue Vanneau. The marriage contract was to be +signed that evening, and the civil and religious ceremonies were to take +place next morning. + +Camors found the General in a state of extraordinary agitation, pacing up +and down the three salons which formed the ground floor of the hotel. +The moment he perceived the young man entering--" Ah, it is you!" he +cried, darting a ferocious glance upon him. "By my faith, your arrival +is fortunate." + +"But, General!" + +"Well, what! Why do you not embrace me?" + +"Certainly, General!" + +"Very well! It is for to-morrow, you know!" + +"Yes, General." + +"Sacrebleu! You are very cool! Have you seen her?" + +"Not yet, General. I have just arrived." + +"You must go and see her this morning. You owe her this mark of +interest; and if you discover anything, you must tell me." + +"But what should I discover, General?" + +"How do I know? But you understand women much better than I! Does she +love me, or does she not love me? You understand, I make no pretensions +of turning her head, but still I do not wish to be an object of repulsion +to her. Nothing has given me reason to suppose so, but the girl is so +reserved, so impenetrable." + +"Mademoiselle d'Estrelles is naturally cold," said Camors. + +"Yes," responded the General. "Yes, and in some respects I--but really +now, should you discover anything, I rely on your communicating it to me. +And stop!--when you have seen her, have the kindness to return here, for +a few moments--will you? You will greatly oblige me!" + +"Certainly, General, I shall do so." + +"For my part, I love her like a fool." + +"That is only right, General!" + +"Hum--and what of Des Rameures?" + +"I think we shall agree, General!" + +"Bravo! we shall talk more of this later. Go and see her, my dear +child!" + +Camors proceeded to the Rue St. Dominique, where Madame de la Roche-Jugan +resided. + +"Is my aunt in, Joseph?" he inquired of the servant whom he found in the +antechamber, very busy in the preparations which the occasion demanded. + +"Yes, Monsieur le Comte, Madame la Comtesse is in and will see you." + +"Very well," said Camors; and directed his steps toward his aunt's +chamber. But this chamber was no longer hers. This worthy woman had +insisted on giving it up to Mademoiselle Charlotte, for whom she +manifested, since she had become the betrothed of the seven hundred +thousand francs' income of the General, the most humble deference. +Mademoiselle d'Estrelles had accepted this change with a disdainful +indifference. Camors, who was ignorant of this change, knocked therefore +most innocently at the door. Obtaining no answer, he entered without +hesitation, lifted the curtain which hung in the doorway, and was +immediately arrested by a strange spectacle. At the other extremity of +the room, facing him, was a large mirror, before which stood Mademoiselle +d'Estrelles. Her back was turned to him. + +She was dressed, or rather draped, in a sort of dressing-gown of white +cashmere, without sleeves, which left her arms and shoulders bare. Her +auburn hair was unbound and floating, and fell in heavy masses almost to +her feet. One hand rested lightly on the toilet-table, the other held +together, over her bust, the folds of her dressing-gown. + +She was gazing at herself in the glass, and weeping bitterly. + +The tears fell drop by drop on her white, fresh bosom, and glittered +there like the drops of dew which one sees shining in the morning on the +shoulders of the marble nymphs in the gardens. + +Then Camors noiselessly dropped the portiere and noiselessly retired, +taking with him, nevertheless, an eternal souvenir of this stolen visit. +He made inquiries; and finally received the embraces of his aunt, who had +taken refuge in the chamber of her son, whom she had put in the little +chamber formerly occupied by Mademoiselle d'Estrelles. His aunt, after +the first greetings, introduced her nephew into the salon, where were +displayed all the pomps of the trousseau. Cashmeres, laces, velvets, +silks of the finest quality, covered the chairs. On the chimneypiece, +the tables, and the consoles, were strewn the jewel-cases. + +While Madame de la Roche-Jugan was exhibiting to Camors these magnificent +things--of which she failed not to give him the prices--Charlotte, +who had been notified of the Count's presence, entered the salon. + +Her face was not only serene--it was joyous. "Good morning, cousin!" +she said gayly, extending her hand to Camors. "How very kind of you to +come! Well, you see how the General spoils me?" + +"This is the trousseau of a princess, Mademoiselle!" + +"And if you knew, Louis," said Madame de la Roche, "how well all this +suits her! Dear child! you would suppose she had been born to a throne. +However, you know she is descended from the kings of Spain." + +"Dear aunt!" said Mademoiselle, kissing her on the forehead. + +"You know, Louis, that I wish her to call me aunt now?" said the +Countess, affecting the plaintive tone, which she thought the highest +expression of human tenderness. + +"Ah, indeed!" said Camors. + +"Let us see, little one! Only try on your coronet before your cousin." + +"I should like to see it on your brow," said Camors. + +"Your slightest wishes are commands," replied Charlotte, in a voice +harmonious and grave, but not untouched with irony. + +In the midst of the jewelry which encumbered the salon was a full +marquise's coronet set in precious stones and pearls. The young girl +adjusted it on her head before the glass, and then stood near Camors with +majestic composure. + +"Look!" she said; and he gazed at her bewildered, for she looked +wonderfully beautiful and proud under her coronet. + +Suddenly she darted a glance full into the eyes of the young man, and +lowering her voice to a tone of inexpressible bitterness, said: + +"At least I sell myself dearly, do I not?" Then turning her back to him +she laughed, and took off her coronet. + +After some further conversation Camors left, saying to himself that this +adorable person promised to become very dangerous; but not admitting that +he might profit by it. + +In conformity with his promise he returned immediately to the General, +who continued to pace the three rooms, and cried out as he saw him: + +"Eh, well?" + +"Very well indeed, General, perfect--everything goes well." + +"You have seen her?" + +"Yes, certainly." + +"And she said to you--" + +"Not much; but she seemed enchanted." + +"Seriously, you did not remark anything strange?" + +"I remarked she was very lovely!" + +"Parbleu! and you think she loves me a little?" + +"Assuredly, after her way--as much as she can love, for she has naturally +a very cold disposition." + +"Ah! as to that I console myself. All that I demand is not to be +disagreeable to her. Is it not so? Very well, you give me great +pleasure. Now, go where you please, my dear boy, until this evening." + +"Adieu until this evening, General!" + +The signing of the contract was marked by no special incident; only when +the notary, with a low, modest voice read the clause by which the General +made Mademoiselle d'Estrelles heiress to all his fortune, Camors was +amused to remark the superb indifference of Mademoiselle Charlotte, the +smiling exasperation of Mesdames Bacquiere and Van-Cuyp, and the amorous +regard which Madame de la Roche-Jugan threw at the same time on +Charlotte, her son, and the notary. Then the eye of the Countess rested +with a lively interest on the General, and seemed to say that it detected +with pleasure in him an unhealthy appearance. + +The next morning, on leaving the Church of St. Thomas daikon, the young +Marquise only exchanged her wedding-gown for a travelling-costume, and +departed with her husband for Campvallon, bathed in the tears of Madame +de la Roche-Jugan, whose lacrimal glands were remarkably tender. + +Eight days later M. de Camors returned to Reuilly. Paris had revived +him, his nerves were strong again. + +As a practical man he took a more healthy view of his adventure with +Madame de Tecle, and began to congratulate himself on its denouement. +Had things taken a different turn, his future destiny would have been +compromised and deranged for him. His political future especially would +have been lost, or indefinitely postponed, for his liaison with Madame de +Tecle would have been discovered some day, and would have forever +alienated the friendly feelings of M. des Rameures. + +On this point he did not deceive himself. Madame de Tecle, in the first +conversation she had with him, confided to him that her uncle seemed much +pleased when she laughingly let him see her idea of marrying her daughter +some day to M. de Camors. + +Camors seized this occasion to remind Madame de Tecle, that while +respecting her projects for the future, which she did him the honor to +form, he had not pledged himself to their realization; and that both +reason and honor compelled him in this matter to preserve his absolute +independence. + +She assented to this with her habitual sweetness. From this moment, +without ceasing to exhibit toward him every mark of affectionate +preference, she never allowed herself the slightest allusion to the dear +dream she cherished. Only her tenderness for her daughter seemed to +increase, and she devoted herself to the care of her education with +redoubled fervor. All this would have touched the heart of M. de Camors, +if the heart of M. de Camors had not lost, in its last effort at virtue, +the last trace of humanity. + +His honor set at rest by his frank avowals to Madame de Tecle, he did not +hesitate to profit by the advantages of the situation. He allowed her to +serve him as much as she desired, and she desired it passionately. +Little by little she had persuaded her uncle that M. de Camors was +destined by his character and talents for a great future, and that he +would, one day, be an excellent match for Marie; that he was becoming +daily more attached to agriculture, which turned toward decentralization, +and that he should be attached by firmer bonds to a province which he +would honor. While this was going on General Campvallon brought the +Marquise to present her to Madame de Tecle; and in a confidential +interview with M. des Rameures unmasked his batteries. He was going to +Italy to remain some time, but desired first to tender his resignation, +and to recommend Camors to his faithful electors. + +M. des Rameures, gained over beforehand, promised his aid; and that aid +was equivalent to success. Camors had only to make some personal visits +to the more influential electors; but his appearance was as seductive as +it was striking, and he was one of those fortunate men who can win a +heart or a vote by a smile. Finally, to comply with the requisitions, +he established himself for several weeks in the chief town of the +department. He made his court to the wife of the prefect, sufficiently +to flatter the functionary without disquieting the husband. The prefect +informed the minister that the claims of the Comte de Camors were pressed +upon the department by an irresistible influence; that the politics of +the young Count appeared undecided and a little suspicious, but that the +administration, finding it useless to oppose, thought it more politic to +sustain him. + +The minister, not less politic than the prefect, was of the same opinion. + +In consequence of this combination of circumstances, M. de Camors, toward +the end of his twenty-eighth year, was elected, at intervals of a few +days, member of the Council-General, and deputy to the Corps Legislatif. + +"You have desired it, my dear Elise," said M. des Rameures, on learning +this double result "you have desired it, and I have supported this young +Parisian with all my influence. But I must say, he does not possess my +confidence. May we never regret our triumph. May we never have to say +with the poet: 'Vita Dais oxidated Malians.'"--[The evil gods have heard +our vows.] + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NEW MAN OF THE NEW EMPIRE + +It was now five years since the electors of Reuilly had sent the Comte de +Camors to the Corps Legislatif, and they had seen no cause to regret +their choice. He understood marvellously well their little local +interests, and neglected no occasion of forwarding them. Furthermore, +if any of his constituents, passing through Paris, presented themselves +at his small hotel on the Rue de l'Imperatrice--it had been built by an +architect named Lescande, as a compliment from the deputy to his old +friend--they were received with a winning affability that sent them back +to the province with softened hearts. M. de Camors would condescend to +inquire whether their wives or their daughters had borne them company; +he would place at their disposal tickets for the theatres and passes into +the Legislative Chamber; and would show them his pictures and his +stables. He also trotted out his horses in the court under their eyes. +They found him much improved in personal appearance, and even reported +affectionately that his face was fuller and had lost the melancholy cast +it used to wear. His manner, once reserved, was now warmer, without any +loss of dignity; his expression, once morose, was now marked by a +serenity at once pleasing and grave. His politeness was almost a royal +grace; for he showed to women--young or old, rich or poor, virtuous or +otherwise--the famous suavity of Louis the Fourteenth. + +To his equals, as to his inferiors, his urbanity was perfection; for he +cultivated in the depths of his soul--for women, for his inferiors, for +his equals, and for his constituents--the same contempt. + +He loved, esteemed, and respected only himself; but that self he loved, +esteemed, and respected as a god! In fact, he had now, realized as +completely as possible, in his own person, that almost superhuman ideal +he had conceived in the most critical hour of his life. + +When he surveyed himself from head to foot in the mental mirror before +him, he was content! He was truly that which he wished to be. The +programme of his life, as he had laid it down, was faithfully carried +out. + +By a powerful effort of his mighty will, he succeeded in himself +adopting, rather than disdaining in others, all those animal instincts +that govern the vulgar. These he believed fetters which bound the +feeble, but which the strong could use. He applied himself ceaselessly +to the development and perfection of his rare physical and intellectual +gifts, only that he might, during the short passage from the cradle to +the tomb, extract from them the greatest amount of pleasure. Fully +convinced that a thorough knowledge of the world, delicacy of taste and +elegance, refinement and the point of honor constituted a sort of moral +whole which formed the true gentleman, he strove to adorn his person with +the graver as well as the lighter graces. He was like a conscientious +artist, who would leave no smallest detail incomplete. The result of his +labor was so satisfactory, that M. de Camors, at the moment we rejoin +him, was not perhaps one of the best men in the world, but he was beyond +doubt one of the happiest and most amiable. Like all men who have +determined to cultivate ability rather than scrupulousness, he saw all +things developing to his satisfaction. Confident of his future, he +discounted it boldly, and lived as if very opulent. His rapid elevation +was explained by his unfailing audacity, by his cool judgment and neat +finesse, by his great connection and by his moral independence. He had a +hard theory, which he continually expounded with all imaginable grace: +"Humanity," he would say, "is composed of speculators!" + +Thoroughly imbued with this axiom, he had taken his degree in the grand +lodge of financiers. There he at once made himself an authority by his +manner and address; and he knew well how to use his name, his political +influence, and his reputation for integrity. Employing all these, yet +never compromising one of them, he influenced men by their virtues, or +their vices, with equal indifference. He was incapable of meanness; he +never wilfully entrapped a friend, or even an enemy, into a disastrous +speculation; only, if the venture proved unsuccessful, he happened to get +out and leave the others in it. But in financial speculations, as in +battles, there must be what is called "food for powder;" and if one be +too solicitous about this worthless pabulum, nothing great can be +accomplished. So Camors passed as one of the most scrupulous of this +goodly company; and his word was as potential in the region of "the +rings," as it was in the more elevated sphere of the clubs and of the +turf. + +Nor was he less esteemed in the Corps Legislatif, where he assumed the +curious role of a working member until committees fought for him. It +surprised his colleagues to see this elegant young man, with such fine +abilities, so modest and so laborious--to see him ready on the dryest +subjects and with the most tedious reports. Ponderous laws of local +interest neither frightened nor mystified him. He seldom spoke in the +public debates, except as a reporter; but in the committee he spoke +often, and there his manner was noted for its grave precision, tinged +with irony. No one doubted that he was one of the statesmen of the +future; but it could be seen he was biding his time. + +The exact shade of his politics was entirely unknown. He sat in the +"centre left;" polite to every one, but reserved with all. Persuaded, +like his father, that the rising generation was preparing, after a time, +to pass from theories to revolution--and calculating with pleasure that +the development of this periodical catastrophe would probably coincide +with his fortieth year, and open to his blase maturity a source of new +emotions--he determined to wait and mold his political opinions according +to circumstances. + +His life, nevertheless, had sufficient of the agreeable to permit him to +wait the hour of ambition. Men respected, feared, and envied him. Women +adored him. + +His presence, of which he was not prodigal, adorned an entertainment: his +intrigues could not be gossiped about, being at the same time choice, +numerous, and most discreetly conducted. + +Passions purely animal never endure long, and his were most ephemeral; +but he thought it due to himself to pay the last honors to his victims, +and to inter them delicately under the flowers of his friendship. He had +in this way made many friends among the Parisian women--a few only of +whom detested him. As for the husbands--they were universally fond of +him. + +To these elegant pleasures he sometimes added a furious debauch, when his +imagination was for the moment maddened by champagne. But low company +disgusted him, and he shunned it; he was not a man for frequent orgies, +and economized his health, his energies, and his strength. His tastes +were as thoroughly elevated as could be those of a being who strove to +repress his soul. Refined intrigues, luxury in music, paintings, books, +and horses--these constituted all the joy of his soul, of his sense, and +of his pride. He hovered over the flowers of Parisian elegance; as a bee +in the bosom of a rose, he drank in its essence and revelled in its +beauty. + +It is easy to understand that M. de Camors, relishing this prosperity, +attached himself more and more to the moral and religious creed that +assured it to him; that he became each day more and more confirmed in the +belief that the testament of his father and his own reflection had +revealed to him the true evangel of men superior to their species. He +was less and less tempted to violate the rules of the game of life; but +among all the useless cards, to hold which might disturb his system, the +first he discarded was the thought of marriage. He pitied himself too +tenderly at the idea of losing the liberty of which he made such +agreeable use; at the idea of taking on himself gratuitously the +restraints, the tedium, the ridicule, and even the danger of a household. +He shuddered at the bare thought of a community of goods and interest; +and of possible paternity. + +With such views he was therefore but little disposed to encourage the +natural hopes in which Madame de Tecle had entombed her love. He +determined so to conduct himself toward her as to leave no ground for the +growth of her illusion. He ceased to visit Reuilly, remaining there but +two or three weeks in each year, as such time as the session of the +Council-General summoned him to the province. + +It is true that during these rare visits Camors piqued himself on +rendering Madame de Tecle and M. des Rameures all the duties of +respectful gratitude. Yet avoiding all allusion to the past, guarding +himself scrupulously from confidential converse, and observing a frigid +politeness to Mademoiselle Marie, there remained doubt in his mind that, +the fickleness of the fair sex aiding him, the young mother of the girl +would renounce her chimerical project. His error was great: and it may +be here remarked that a hard and scornful scepticism may in this world +engender as many false judgments and erroneous calculations as candor or +even inexperience can. He believed too much in what had been written of +female fickleness; in deceived lovers, who truly deserved to be such; +and in what disappointed men had judged of them. + +The truth is, women are generally remarkable for the tenacity of their +ideas and for fidelity to their sentiments. Inconstancy of heart is the +special attribute of man; but he deems it his privilege as well, and when +woman disputes the palm with him on this ground, he cries aloud as if the +victim of a robber. + +Rest assured this theory is no paradox; as proven by the prodigies of +patient devotion--tenacious, inviolable--every day displayed by women of +the lower classes, whose natures, if gross, retain their primitive +sincerity. Even with women of the world, depraved though they be by the +temptations that assail them, nature asserts herself; and it is no rarity +to see them devote an entire life to one idea, one thought, or one +affection! Their lives do not know the thousand distractions which at +once disturb and console men; and any idea that takes hold upon them +easily becomes fixed. They dwell upon it in the crowd and in solitude; +when they read and while they sew; in their dreams and in their prayers. +In it they live--for it they die. + +It was thus that Madame de Tecle had dwelt year after year on the project +of this alliance with unalterable fervor, and had blended the two pure +affections that shared her heart in this union of her daughter with +Camors, and in thus securing the happiness of both. Ever since she had +conceived this desire--which could only have had its birth in a soul as +pure as it was tender--the education of her child had become the sweet +romance of her life. She dreamed of it always, and of nothing else. + +Without knowing or even suspecting the evil traits lurking in the +character of Camors, she still understood that, like the great majority +of the young men of his day, the young Count was not overburdened with +principle. But she held that one of the privileges of woman, in our +social system, was the elevation of their husbands by connection with a +pure soul, by family affections, and by the sweet religion of the heart. +Seeking, therefore, by making her daughter an amiable and lovable woman, +to prepare her for the high mission for which she was destined, she +omitted nothing which could improve her. What success rewarded her care +the sequel of this narrative will show. It will suffice, for the +present, to inform the reader that Mademoiselle de Tecle was a young girl +of pleasing countenance, whose short neck was placed on shoulders a +little too high. She was not beautiful, but extremely pretty, well +educated, and much more vivacious than her mother. + +Mademoiselle Marie was so quick-witted that her mother often suspected +she knew the secret which concerned herself. Sometimes she talked too +much of M. de Camors; sometimes she talked too little, and assumed a +mysterious air when others spoke of him. + +Madame de Tecle was a little disturbed by these eccentricities. The +conduct of M. de Camors, and his more than reserved bearing, annoyed her +occasionally; but when we love any one we are likely to interpret +favorably all that he does, or all that he omits to do. Madame de Tecle +readily attributed the equivocal conduct of the Count to the inspiration +of a chivalric loyalty. As she believed she knew him thoroughly, she +thought he wished to avoid committing himself, or awakening public +observation, before he had made up his mind. + +He acted thus to avoid disturbing the repose of both mother and daughter. +Perhaps also the large fortune which seemed destined for Mademoiselle de +Tecle might add to his scruples by rousing his pride. + +His not marrying was in itself a good augury, and his little fiancee was +reaching a marriageable age. She therefore did not despair that some day +M. de Camors would throw himself at her feet, and say, "Give her to met!" + +If God did not intend that this delicious page should ever be written in +the book of her destiny, and she was forced to marry her daughter to +another, the poor woman consoled herself with the thought that all the +cares she lavished upon her would not be lost, and that her dear child +would thus be rendered better and happier. + +The long months which intervened between the annual apparition of Camors +at Reuilly, filled up by Madame de Tecle with a single idea and by the +sweet monotony of a regular life, passed more rapidly than the Count +could have imagined. His own life, so active and so occupied, placed +ages and abysses between each of his periodical voyages. But Madame de +Tecle, after five years, was always only a day removed from the cherished +and fatal night on which her dream had begun. Since that period there +had been no break in her thoughts, no void in her heart, no wrinkle on +her forehead. Her dream continued young, like herself. But in spite of +the peaceful and rapid succession of her days, it was not without anxiety +that she saw the approach of the season which always heralded the return +of Camors. + +As her daughter matured, she preoccupied herself with the impression she +would make on the mind of the Count, and felt more sensibly the solemnity +of the matter. + +Mademoiselle Marie, as we have already stated, was a cunning little puss, +and had not failed to perceive that her tender mother chose habitually +the season of the convocation of the Councils-General to try a new style +of hair-dressing for her. The same year on which we have resumed our +recital there passed, on one occasion, a little scene which rather +annoyed Madame de Tecle. She was trying a new coiffure on Mademoiselle +Marie, whose hair was very pretty and very black; some stray and +rebellious portions had frustrated her mother's efforts. + +There was one lock in particular, which in spite of all combing and +brushing would break away from the rest, and fall in careless curls. +Madame de Tecle finally, by the aid of some ribbons, fastened down the +rebellious curl: + +"Now I think it will do," she said sighing, and stepping back to admire +the effect of her work. + +"Don't believe it," said Marie, who was laughing and mocking. "I do not +think so. I see exactly what will happen: the bell rings--I run out-- +my net gives way--Monsieur de Camors walks in--my mother is annoyed-- +tableau!" + +"I should like to know what Monsieur de Camors has to do with it?" said +Madame de Tecle. + +Her daughter threw her arms around her neck--"Nothing!" she said. + +Another time Madame de Tecle detected her speaking of M. de Camors in a +tone of bitter irony. He was "the great man"--"the mysterious +personage"--"the star of the neighborhood"--"the phoenix of guests in +their woods"--or simply "the Prince!" + +Such symptoms were of so serious a nature as not to escape Madame de +Tecle. + +In presence of "the Prince," it is true, the young girl lost her gayety; +but this was another cross. Her mother found her cold, awkward, and +silent--brief, and slightly caustic in her replies. She feared M. de +Camors would misjudge her from such appearances. + +But Camors formed no judgment, good or bad; Mademoiselle de Tecle was for +him only an insignificant little girl, whom he never thought of for a +moment in the year. + +There was, however, at this time in society a person who did interest him +very much, and the more because against his will. This was the Marquise +de Campvallon, nee de Luc d'Estrelles. + +The General, after making the tour of Europe with his young wife, had +taken possession of his hotel in the Rue Vanneau, where he lived in great +splendor. They resided at Paris during the winter and spring, but in +July returned to their chateau at Campvallon, where they entertained in +great state until the autumn. The General invited Madame de Tecle and +her daughter, every year, to pass some weeks at Campvallon, rightly +judging that he could not give his young wife better companions. Madame +de Tecle accepted these invitations cheerfully, because it gave her an +opportunity of seeing the elite of the Parisian world, from whom the +whims of her uncle had always isolated her. For her own part, she did +not much enjoy it; but her daughter, by moving in the midst of such +fashion and elegance could thus efface some provincialisms of toilet or +of language; perfect her taste in the delicate and fleeting changes of +the prevailing modes, and acquire some additional graces. The young +Marquise, who reigned and scintillated like a bright star in these high +regions of social life, lent herself to the designs of her neighbor. +She seemed to take a kind of maternal interest in Mademoiselle de Tecle, +and frequently added her advice to her example. She assisted at her +toilet and gave the final touches with her own dainty hands; and the +young girl, in return, loved, admired, and confided in her. + +Camors also enjoyed the hospitalities of the General once every season, +but was not his guest as often as he wished. He seldom remained at +Campvallon longer than a week. Since the return of the Marquise to +France he had resumed the relations of a kinsman and friend with her +husband and herself; but, while trying to adopt the most natural manner, +he treated them both with a certain reserve, which astonished the +General. It will not surprise the reader, who recollects the secret and +powerful reasons which justified this circumspection. + +For Camors, in renouncing the greater part of the restraints which +control and bind men in their relations with one another, had religiously +intended to preserve one--the sentiment of honor. Many times, in the +course of this life, he had felt himself embarrassed to limit and fix +with certainty the boundaries of the only moral law he wished to respect. + +It is easy to know exactly what is in the Bible; it is not easy to know +exactly what the code of honor commands. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +CIRCE + +But there exists, nevertheless, in this code one article, as to which M. +de Camors could not deceive himself, and it was that which forbade his +attempting to assail the honor of the General under penalty of being in +his own eyes, as a gentleman, a felon and foresworn. He had accepted +from this old man confidence, affection, services, benefits--everything +which could bind one man inviolably to another man--if there be beneath +the heavens anything called honor. He felt this profoundly. + +His conduct toward Madame de Campvallon had been irreproachable; and all +the more so, because the only woman he was interdicted from loving was +the only woman in Paris, or in the universe, who naturally pleased him +most. He entertained for her, at once, the interest which attaches to +forbidden fruit, to the attraction of strange beauty, and to the mystery +of an impenetrable sphinx. She was, at this time, more goddess-like than +ever. The immense fortune of her husband, and the adulation which it +brought her, had placed her on a golden car. On this she seated herself +with a gracious and native majesty, as if in her proper place. + +The luxury of her toilet, of her jewels, of her house and of her +equipages, was of regal magnificence. She blended the taste of an artist +with that of a patrician. Her person appeared really to be made divine +by the rays of this splendor. Large, blonde, graceful, the eyes blue and +unfathomable, the forehead grave, the mouth pure and proud it was +impossible to see her enter a salon with her light, gliding step, or to +see her reclining in her carriage, her hands folded serenely, without +dreaming of the young immortals whose love brought death. + +She had even those traits of physiognomy, stern and wild, which the +antique sculptors doubtless had surprised in supernatural visitations, +and which they have stamped on the eyes and the lips of their marble +gods. Her arms and shoulders, perfect in form, seemed models, in the +midst of the rosy and virgin snow which covered the neighboring +mountains. She was truly superb and bewitching. The Parisian world +respected as much as it admired her, for she played her difficult part of +young bride to an old man so perfectly as to avoid scandal. Without any +pretence of extraordinary devotion, she knew how to join to her worldly +pomps the exercise of charity, and all the other practices of an elegant +piety. Madame de la Roche-Jugan, who watched her closely, as one +watching a prey, testified, herself, in her favor; and judged her more +and more worthy of her son. And Camors, who observed her, in spite of +himself, with an eager curiosity, was finally induced to believe, as did +his aunt and all the world, that she conscientiously performed her +difficult duties, and that she found in the eclat of her life and the +gratification of her pride a sufficient compensation for the sacrifice of +her youth, her heart, and her beauty; but certain souvenirs of the past, +joined to certain peculiarities, which he fancied he remarked in the +Marquise, induced him to distrust. + +There were times, when recalling all that he had once witnessed--the +abysses and the flame at the bottom of that heart--he was tempted to +suspect the existence of many storms under all this calm exterior, and +perhaps some wickedness. It is true she never was with him precisely as +she was before the world. The character of their relations was marked by +a peculiar tone. It was precisely that tone of covert irony adopted by +two persons who desired neither to remember nor to forget. This tone, +softened in the language of Camors by his worldly tact and his respect, +was much more pointed, and had much more of bitterness on the side of the +young woman. + +He even fancied, at times, that he discovered a shade of coquetry under +this treatment; and this provocation, vague as it was, coming from this +beautiful, cold, and inscrutable creature, seemed to him a game fearfully +mysterious, that at once attracted and disturbed him. + +This was the state of things when the Count came, according to custom, +to pass the first days of September at the chateau of Campvallon, and met +there Madame de Tecle and her daughter. The visit was a painful one, +this year, for Madame de Tecle. Her confidence deserted her, and serious +concern took its place. She had, it is true, fixed in her mind, as the +last point of her hopes, the moment when her daughter should have reached +twenty years of age; and Marie was only eighteen. + +But she already had had several offers, and several times public rumor +had already declared her to be betrothed. + +Now, Camors could not have been ignorant of the rumors circulating in the +neighborhood, and yet he did not speak. His countenance did not change. +He was coldly affectionate to Madame de Tecle, but toward Marie, in spite +of her beautiful blue eyes, like her mother's, and her curly hair, +he preserved a frozen indifference. For Camors had other anxieties, +of which Madame de Tecle knew nothing. The manner of Madame Campvallon +toward him had assumed a more marked character of aggressive raillery. +A defensive attitude is never agreeable to a man, and Camors felt it more +disagreeable than most men--being so little accustomed to it. + +He resolved promptly to shorten his visit at Campvallon. + +On the eve of his departure, about five o'clock in the afternoon, he was +standing at his window, looking beyond the trees at the great black +clouds sailing over the valley, when he heard the sound of a voice that +had power to move him deeply--"Monsieur de Camors!" He saw the Marquise +standing under his window. + +"Will you walk with me?" she added. + +He bowed and descended immediately. At the moment he reached her: + +"It is suffocating," she said. "I wish to walk round the park and will +take you with me." + +He muttered a few polite phrases, and they began walking, side by side, +through the alleys of the park. + +She moved at a rapid pace, with her majestic motion, her body swaying, +her head erect. One would have looked for a page behind her, but she had +none, and her long blue robe--she rarely wore short skirts--trailed on +the sand and over the dry leaves with the soft rustle of silk. + +"I have disturbed you, probably?" she said, after a moment's pause. +"What were you dreaming of up there?" + +"Nothing--only watching the coming storm." + +"Are you becoming poetical, cousin?" + +"There is no necessity for becoming, for I already am infinitely so!" + +"I do not think so. Shall you leave to-morrow?" + +"I shall." + +"Why so soon?" + +"I have business elsewhere." + +"Very well. But Vau--Vautrot--is he not there?" + +Vautrot was the secretary of M. de Camors. + +"Vautrot can not do everything," he replied. + +"By the way, I do not like your Vautrot." + +"Nor I. But he was recommended to me by my old friend, Madame d'Oilly, +as a freethinker, and at the same time by my aunt, Madame de la Roche- +Jugan, as a religious man!" + +"How amusing!" + +"Nevertheless," said Camors, "he is intelligent and witty, and writes a +fine hand." + +"And you?" + +"How? What of me?" + +"Do you also write a good hand?" + +"I will show you, whenever you wish!" + +"Ah! and will you write to me?" + +It is difficult to imagine the tone of supreme indifference and haughty +persiflage with which the Marquise sustained this dialogue, without once +slackening her pace, or glancing at her companion, or changing the proud +and erect pose of her head. + +"I will write you either prose or verse, as you wish," said Camors. + +"Ah! you know how to compose verses?" + +"When I am inspired!" + +"And when are you inspired?" + +"Usually in the morning." + +"And we are now in the evening. That is not complimentary to me." + +"But you, Madame, had no desire to inspire me, I think." + +"Why not, then? I should be happy and proud to do so. Do you know what +I should like to put there?" and she stopped suddenly before a rustic +bridge, which spanned a murmuring rivulet. + +"I do not know!" + +"You can not even guess? I should like to put an artificial rock there." + +"Why not a natural one? In your place I should put a natural one!" + +"That is an idea," said the Marquise, and walking on she crossed the +bridge. + +"But it really thunders. I like to hear thunder in the country. Do +you?" + +"I prefer to hear it thunder at Paris." + +"Why?" + +"Because then I should not hear it." + +"You have no imagination." + +"I have; but I smother it." + +"Possibly. I have suspected you of hiding your merits, and particularly +from me." + +"Why should I conceal my merits from you?" + +"'Why should I conceal my merits' is good!" said the Marquise, +ironically. "Why? Out of charity, Monsieur, not to dazzle me, and in +regard for my repose! You are really too good, I assure you. Here comes +the rain." + +Large drops of rain began to fall on the dry leaves, and on the yellow +sand of the alley. The day was dying, and the sudden shower bent the +boughs of the trees. + +"We must return," said the young woman; "this begins to get serious." + +She took, in haste, the path which led to the chateau; but after a few +steps a bright flash broke over her head, the noise of the thunder +resounded, and a deluge of rain fell upon the fields. + +There was fortunately, near by, a shelter in which the Marquise and her +companion could take refuge. It was a ruin, preserved as an ornament to +the park, which had formerly been the chapel of the ancient chateau. +It was almost as large as the village chapel--the broken walls half +concealed under a thick mantle of ivy. Its branches had pushed through +the roof and mingled with the boughs of the old trees which surrounded +and shaded it. The timbers had disappeared. The extremity of the choir, +and the spot formerly occupied by the altar, were alone covered by the +remains of the roof. Wheelbarrows, rakes, spades, and other garden tools +were piled there. + +The Marquise had to take refuge in the midst of this rubbish, in the +narrow space, and her companion followed her. + +The storm, in the mean time, increased in violence. The rain fell in +torrents through the old walls, inundating the soil in the ancient nave. +The lightning flashed incessantly. Every now and then fragments of earth +and stone detached themselves from the roof, and fell into the choir. + +"I find this magnificent!" said Madame de Campvallon. + +"I also," said Camors, raising his eyes to the crumbling roof which half +protected them; "but I do not know whether we are safe here!" + +"If you fear, you would better go!" said the Marquise. + +"I fear for you." + +"You are too good, I assure you." + +She took off her cap and brushed it with her glove, to remove the drops +of rain which had fallen upon it. After a slight pause, she suddenly +raised her uncovered head and cast on Camors one of those searching looks +which prepares a man for an important question. + +"Cousin!" she said, "if you were sure that one of these flashes of +lightning would kill you in a quarter of an hour, what would you do?" + +"Why, cousin, naturally I should take a last farewell of you." + +"How?" + +He regarded her steadily, in his turn. "Do you know," he said, "there +are moments when I am tempted to think you a devil?" + +"Truly! Well, there are times when I am tempted to think so myself--for +example, at this moment. Do you know what I should wish? I wish I could +control the lightning, and in two seconds you would cease to exist." + +"For what reason?" + +"Because I recollect there was a man to whom I offered myself, and who +refused me, and that this man still lives. And this displeases me a +little--a great deal--passionately." + +"Are you serious, Madame?" replied Camors. + +She laughed. + +"I hope you did not think so. I am not so wicked. It was a joke--and in +bad taste, I admit. But seriously now, cousin, what is your opinion of +me? What kind of woman has time made me?" + +"I swear to you I am entirely ignorant." + +"Admitting I had become, as you did me the honor to suppose, a diabolical +person, do you think you had nothing to do with it? Tell me! Do you not +believe that there is in the life of a woman a decisive hour, when the +evil seed which is cast upon her soul may produce a terrible harvest? +Do you not believe this? Answer me! And should I not be excusable if I +entertained toward you the sentiment of an exterminating angel; and have +I not some merit in being what I am--a good woman, who loves you well-- +with a little rancor, but not much--and who wishes you all sorts of +prosperity in this world and the next? Do not answer me: it might +embarrass you, and it would be useless." + +She left her shelter, and turned her face toward the lowering sky to see +whether the storm was over. + +"It has stopped raining," she said, "let us go." + +She then perceived that the lower part of the nave had been transformed +into a lake of mud and water. She stopped at its brink, and uttered a +little cry: + +"What shall I do?" she said, looking at her light shoes. Then, turning +toward Camors, she added, laughing: + +"Monsieur, will you get me a boat?" + +Camors, himself, recoiled from stepping into the greasy mud and stagnant +water which filled the whole space of the nave. + +"If you will wait a little," he said, "I shall find you some boots or +sabots, no matter what." + +"It will be much easier," she said abruptly, "for you to carry me to the +door;" and without waiting for the young man's reply, she tucked up her +skirts carefully, and when she had finished, she said, "Carry me!" + +He looked at her with astonishment, and thought for a moment she was +jesting; but soon saw she was perfectly serious. + +"Of what are you afraid?" she asked. + +"I am not at all afraid," he answered. + +"Is it that you are not strong enough?" + +"Mon Dieu! I should think I was." + +He took her in his arms, as in a cradle, while she held up her skirts +with both hands. He then descended the steps and moved toward the door +with his strange burden. He was obliged to be very careful not to slip +on the wet earth, and this absorbed him during the first few steps; but +when he found his footing more sure, he felt a natural curiosity to +observe the countenance of the Marquise. + +The uncovered head of the young woman rested a little on the arm with +which he held her. Her lips were slightly parted with a half-wicked +smile that showed her fine white teeth; the same expression of +ungovernable malice burned in her dark eyes, which she riveted for some +seconds on those of Camors with persistent penetration--then suddenly +veiled them under the fringe of her dark lashes. This glance sent a +thrill like lightning to his very marrow. + +"Do you wish to drive me mad?" he murmured. + +"Who knows?" she replied. + +The same moment she disengaged herself from his arms, and placing her +foot on the ground again, left the ruin. + +They reached the chateau without exchanging a word. Just before entering +the house the young Marquise turned toward Camors and said to him: + +"Be sure that at heart I am very good, really." + +Notwithstanding this assertion, Camors was yet more determined to leave +the next morning, as he had previously decided. He carried away the most +painful impression of the scene of that evening. + +She had wounded his pride, inflamed his hopeless passion, and disquieted +his honor. + +"What is this woman, and what does she want of me? Is it love or +vengeance that inspires her with this fiendish coquetry?" he asked +himself. Whatever it was, Camors was not such a novice in similar +adventures as not to perceive clearly the yawning abyss under the broken +ice. He resolved sincerely to close it again between them, and forever. +The best way to succeed in this, avowedly, was to cease all intercourse +with the Marquise. But how could such conduct be explained to the +General, without awakening his suspicion and lowering his wife in his +esteem? That plan was impossible. He armed himself with all his +courage, and resigned himself to endure with resolute soul all the trials +which the love, real or pretended, of the Marquise reserved for him. + +He had at this time a singular idea. He was a member of several of the +most aristocratic clubs. He organized a chosen group of men from the +elite of his companions, and formed with them a secret association, of +which the object was to fix and maintain among its members the principles +and points of honor in their strictest form. This society, which had +only been vaguely spoken of in public under the name of "Societe des +Raffines," and also as "The Templars" which latter was its true name-- +had nothing in common with "The Devourers," illustrated by Balzac. +It had nothing in it of a romantic or dramatic character. Those who +composed this club did not, in any way, defy ordinary morals, nor set +themselves above the laws of their country. They did not bind themselves +by any vows of mutual aid in extremity. They bound themselves simply by +their word of honor to observe, in their reciprocal relations, the rules +of purest honor. + +These rules were specified in their code. The text it is difficult to +give; but it was based entirely on the point of honor, and regulated the +affairs of the club, such as the card-table, the turf, duelling, and +gallantry. For example, any member was disqualified from belonging to +this association who either insulted or interfered with the wife or +relative of one of his colleagues. The only penalty was exclusion: but +the consequences of this exclusion were grave; for all the members ceased +thereafter to associate with, recognize, or even bow to the offender. +The Templars found in this secret society many advantages. It was a +great security in their intercourse with one another, and in the +different circumstances of daily life, where they met continually either +at the opera, in salons, or on the turf. + +Camors was an exception among his companions and rivals in Parisian life +by the systematic decision of his doctrine. It was not so much an +embodiment of absolute scepticism and practical materialism; but the want +of a moral law is so natural to man, and obedience to higher laws so +sweet to him, that the chosen adepts to whom the project of Camors was +submitted accepted it with enthusiasm. They were happy in being able to +substitute a sort of positive and formal religion for restraints so +limited as their own confused and floating notions of honor. For Camors +himself, as is easily understood, it was a new barrier which he wished to +erect between himself and the passion which fascinated him. He attached +himself to this with redoubled force, as the only moral bond yet left +him. He completed his work by making the General accept the title of +President of the Association. The General, to whom Honor was a sort of +mysterious but real goddess, was delighted to preside over the worship of +his idol. He felt flattered by his young friend's selection, and +esteemed him the more. + +It was the middle of winter. The Marquise Campvallon had resumed for +some time her usual course of life, which was at the same time strict but +elegant. Punctual at church every morning, at the Bois and at charity +bazaars during the day, at the opera or the theatres in the evening, she +had received M. de Camors without the shadow of apparent emotion. She +even treated him more simply and more naturally than ever, with no +recurrence to the past, no allusion to the scene in the park during the +storm; as if she had, on that day, disclosed everything that had lain +hidden in her heart. This conduct so much resembled indifference, that +Camors should have been delighted; but he was not--on the contrary he was +annoyed by it. A cruel but powerful interest, already too dear to his +blase soul, was disappearing thus from his life. He was inclined to +believe that Madame de Campvallon possessed a much less complicated +character than he had fancied; and that little by little absorbed in +daily trifles, she had become in reality what she pretended to be--a good +woman, inoffensive, and contented with her lot. + +He was one evening in his orchestra-stall at the opera. They were +singing The Huguenots. The Marquise occupied her box between the +columns. The numerous acquaintances Camors met in the passages during +the first entr'acte prevented his going as soon as usual to pay his +respects to his cousin. At last, after the fourth act, he went to visit +her in her box, where he found her alone, the General having descended to +the parterre for a few moments. He was astonished, on entering, to find +traces of tears on the young woman's cheeks. Her eyes were even moist. +She seemed displeased at being surprised in the very act of +sentimentality. + +"Music always excites my nerves," she said. + +"Indeed!" said Camors. "You, who always reproach me with hiding my +merits, why do you hide yours? If you are still capable of weeping, so +much the better." + +"No! I claim no merit for that. Oh, heavens! If you only knew! It is +quite the contrary." + +"What a mystery you are!" + +"Are you very curious to fathom this mystery? Only that? Very well--be +happy! It is time to put an end to this." + +She drew her chair from the front of the box out of public view, and, +turning toward Camors, continued: "You wish to know what I am, what I +feel, and what I think; or rather, you wish to know simply whether I +dream of love? Very well, I dream only of that! Have I lovers, or have +I not? I have none, and never shall have, but that will not be because +of my virtue. I believe in nothing, except my own self-esteem and my +contempt of others. The little intrigues, the petty passions, which I +see in the world, make me indignant to the bottom of my soul. It seems +to me that women who give themselves for so little must be base +creatures. As for myself, I remember having said to you one day--it is a +million years since then!--that my person is sacred to me; and to commit +a sacrilege I should wish, like the vestals of Rome, a love as great as +my crime, and as terrible as death. I wept just now during that +magnificent fourth act. It was not because I listened to the most +marvellous music ever heard on this earth; it was because I admire and +envy passionately the superb and profound love of that time. And it is +ever thus--when I read the history of the glorious sixteenth century, I +am in ecstacies. How well those people knew how to love and how to die! +One night of love--then death. That is delightful. Now, cousin, you +must leave me. We are observed. They will believe we love each other, +and as we have not that pleasure, it is useless to incur the penalties. +Since I am still in the midst of the court of Charles Tenth, I pity you, +with your black coat and round hat. Good-night." + +"I thank you very much," replied Camors, taking the hand she extended to +him coldly, and left the box. He met M. de Campvallon in the passage. + +"Parbleu! my dear friend," said the General, seizing him by the arm. +"I must communicate to you an idea which has been in my brain all the +evening." + +"What idea, General?" + +"Well, there are here this evening a number of charming young girls. +This set me to thinking of you, and I even said to my wife that we must +marry you to one of these young women!" + +"Oh, General!" + +"Well, why not?" + +"That is a very serious thing--if one makes a mistake in his choice--that +is everything." + +"Bah! it is not so difficult a thing. Take a wife like mine, who has a +great deal of religion, not much imagination, and no fancies. That is +the whole secret. I tell you this in confidence, my dear fellow!" + +"Well, General, I will think of it." + +"Do think of it," said the General, in a serious tone; and went to join +his young wife, whom he understood so well. + +As to her, she thoroughly understood herself, and analyzed her own +character with surprising truth. + +Madame de Campvallon was just as little what her manner indicated as was +M. de Camors on his side. Both were altogether exceptional in French +society. Equally endowed by nature with energetic souls and enlightened +minds, both carried innate depravity to a high degree. The artificial +atmosphere of high Parisian civilization destroys in women the sentiment +and the taste for duty, and leaves them, nothing but the sentiment and +the taste for pleasure. They lose in the midst of this enchanted and +false life, like theatrical fairyland, the true idea of life in general, +and Christian life in particular. And we can confidently affirm that all +those who do not make for themselves, apart from the crowd, a kind of +Thebaid--and there are such--are pagans. They are pagans, because the +pleasures of the senses and of the mind alone interest them, and they +have not once, during the year, an impression of the moral law, unless +the sentiment, which some of them detest, recalls it to them. They are +pagans, like the beautiful, worldly Catholics of the fifteenth century-- +loving luxury, rich stuffs, precious furniture, literature, art, +themselves, and love. They were charming pagans, like Marie Stuart, +and capable, like her, of remaining true Catholics even under the axe. + +We are speaking, let it be understood, of the best of the elite--of those +that read, and of those that dream. As to the rest, those who +participate in the Parisian life on its lighter side, in its childish +whirl, and the trifling follies it entails, who make rendezvous, waste +their time, who dress and are busy day and night doing nothing, who dance +frantically in the rays of the Parisian sun, without thought, without +passion, without virtue, and even without vice--we must own it is +impossible to imagine anything more contemptible. + +The Marquise de Campvallon was then--as she truly said to the man she +resembled--a great pagan; and, as she also said to herself in one of her +serious moments when a woman's destiny is decided by the influence of +those they love, Camors had sown in her heart a seed which had +marvellously fructified. + +Camors dreamed little of reproaching himself for it, but struck with all +the harmony that surrounded the Marquise, he regretted more bitterly than +ever the fatality which separated them. + +He felt, however, more sure of himself, since he had bound himself by the +strictest obligations of honor. He abandoned himself from this moment +with less scruple to the emotions, and to the danger against which he +believed himself invincibly protected. He did not fear to seek often the +society of his beautiful cousin, and even contracted the habit of +repairing to her house two or three times a week, after leaving the +Chamber of Deputies. Whenever he found her alone, their conversation +invariably assumed a tone of irony and of raillery, in which both +excelled. He had not forgotten her reckless confidences at the opera, +and recalled it to her, asking her whether she had yet discovered that +hero of love for whom she was looking, who should be, according to her +ideas, a villain like Bothwell, or a musician like Rizzio. + +"There are," she replied, "villains who are also musicians; but that is +imagination. Sing me, then, something apropos." + +It was near the close of winter. The Marquise gave a ball. Her fetes +were justly renowned for their magnificence and good taste. She did the +honors with the grace of a queen. This evening she wore a very simple +costume, as was becoming in the courteous hostess. It was a gown of dark +velvet, with a train; her arms were bare, without jewels; a necklace of +large pearls lay on her rose-tinted bosom, and the heraldic coronet +sparkled on her fair hair. + +Camors caught her eye as he entered, as if she were watching for him. +He had seen her the previous evening, and they had had a more lively +skirmish than usual. He was struck by her brilliancy--her beauty +heightened, without doubt, by the secret ardor of the quarrel, as if +illuminated by an interior flame, with all the clear, soft splendor of a +transparent alabaster vase. + +When he advanced to join her and salute her, yielding, against his will, +to an involuntary movement of passionate admiration, he said: + +"You are truly beautiful this evening. Enough so to make one commit a +crime." + +She looked fixedly in his eyes, and replied: + +"I should like to see that," and then left him, with superb nonchalance. + +The General approached, and tapping the Count on the shoulder, said: + +"Camors! you do not dance, as usual. Let us play a game of piquet." + +"Willingly, General;" and traversing two or three salons they reached the +private boudoir of the Marquise. It was a small oval room, very lofty, +hung with thick red silk tapestry, covered with black and white flowers. +As the doors were removed, two heavy curtains isolated the room +completely from the neighboring gallery. It was there that the General +usually played cards and slept during his fetes. A small card-table was +placed before a divan. Except this addition, the boudoir preserved its +every-day aspect. Woman's work, half finished, books, journals, and +reviews were strewn upon the furniture. They played two or three games, +which the General won, as Camors was very abstracted. + +"I reproach myself, young man," said the former, "in having kept you so +long away from the ladies. I give you back your liberty--I shall cast my +eye on the journals." + +"There is nothing new in them, I think," said Camors, rising. He took up +a newspaper himself, and placing his back against the mantelpiece, warmed +his feet, one after the other. The General threw himself on the divan, +ran his eye over the 'Moniteur de l'Armee', approving of some military +promotions, and criticising others; and, little by little, he fell into a +doze, his head resting on his chest. + +But Camors was not reading. He listened vaguely to the music of the +orchestra, and fell into a reverie. Through these harmonies, through the +murmurs and warm perfume of the ball, he followed, in thought, all the +evolutions of her who was mistress and queen of all. He saw her proud +and supple step--he heard her grave and musical voice--he felt her +breath. + +This young man had exhausted everything. Love and pleasure had no longer +for him secrets or temptations; but his imagination, cold and blase, had +arisen all inflamed before this beautiful, living, palpitating statue. +She was really for him more than a woman--more than a mortal. +The antique fables of amorous goddesses and drunken Bacchantes--the +superhuman voluptuousness unknown in terrestrial pleasures--were in reach +of his hand, separated from him only by the shadow of this sleeping old +man. But a shadow was ever between them--it was honor. + +His eyes, as if lost in thought, were fixed straight before him on the +curtain opposite the chimney. Suddenly this curtain was noiselessly +raised, and the young Marquise appeared, her brow surmounted by her +coronet. She threw a rapid glance over the boudoir, and after a moment's +pause, let the curtain fall gently, and advanced directly toward Camors, +who stood dazzled and immovable. She took both his hands, without +speaking, looked at his steadily--throwing a rapid glance at her husband, +who still slept--and, standing on tiptoe, offered her lips to the young +man. + +Bewildered, and forgetting all else, he bent, and imprinted a kiss on her +lips. + +At that very moment, the General made a sudden movement and woke up; but +the same instant the Marquise was standing before him, her hands resting +on the card-table; and smiling upon him, she said, "Good-morning, my +General!" + +The General murmured a few words of apology, but she laughingly pushed +him back on his divan. + +"Continue your nap," she said; "I have come in search of my cousin, for +the last cotillon." The General obeyed. + +She passed out by the gallery. The young man; pale as a spectre, +followed her. + +Passing under the curtain, she turned toward him with a wild light +burning in her eyes. Then, before she was lost in the throng, she +whispered, in a low, thrilling voice: + +"There is the crime!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE FIRST ACT OF THE TRAGEDY + +Camors did not attempt to rejoin the Marquise, and it seemed to him that +she also avoided him. A quarter of an hour later, he left the Hotel +Campvallon. + +He returned immediately home. A lamp was burning in his chamber. When +he saw himself in the mirror, his own face terrified him. This exciting +scene had shaken his nerves. + +He could no longer control himself. His pupil had become his master. +The fact itself did not surprise him. Woman is more exalted than man in +morality. There is no virtue, no devotion, no heroism in which she does +not surpass him; but once impelled to the verge of the abyss, she falls +faster and lower than man. This is attributable to two causes: she has +more passion, and she has no honor. For honor is a reality and must not +be underrated. It is a noble, delicate, and salutary quality. It +elevates manly attributes; in fact, it constitutes the modesty of man. +It is sometimes a force, and always a grace. But to think that honor is +all-sufficient; that in the face of great interests, great passions, +great trials in life, it is a support and an infallible defence; that it +can enforce the precepts which come from God--in fact that it can replace +God--this is a terrible mistake. It exposes one in a fatal moment to the +loss of one's self-esteem, and to fall suddenly and forever into that +dismal ocean of bitterness where Camors at that instant was struggling in +despair, like a drowning man in the darkness of midnight. + +He abandoned himself, on this evil night, to a final conflict full of +agony; and he was beaten. + +The next evening at six o'clock he was at the house of the Marquise. He +found her in her boudoir, surrounded by all her regal luxury. She was +half buried in a fauteuil in the chimney-corner, looking a little pale +and fatigued. She received him with her usual coldness and self- +possession. + +"Good-day," she said. "How are you?" + +"Not very well," replied Camors. + +"What is the matter?" + +"I fancy that you know." + +She opened her large eyes wide with surprise, but did not reply. + +"I entreat you, Madame," continued Camors, smiling--" no more music, the +curtain is raised, and the drama has begun." + +"Ah! we shall see." + +"Do you love me?" he continued; "or were you simply acting, to try me, +last night? Can you, or will you, tell me?" + +"I certainly could, but I do not wish to do so." + +"I had thought you more frank." + +"I have my hours." + +"Well, then," said Camors, "if your hours of frankness have passed, mine +have begun." + +"That would be compensation," she replied. + +"And I will prove it to you," continued Camors. + +"I shall make a fete of it," said the Marquise, throwing herself back on +the sofa, as if to make herself comfortable in order to enjoy an +agreeable conversation. + +"I love you, Madame; and as you wish to be loved. I love you devotedly +and unto death--enough to kill myself, or you!" + +"That is well," said the Marquise, softly. + +"But," he continued in a hoarse and constrained tone, "in loving you, in +telling you of it, in trying to make you share my love, I violate basely +the obligations of honor of which you know, and others of which you know +not. It is a crime, as you have said. I do not try to extenuate my +offence. I see it, I judge it, and I accept it. I break the last moral +tie that is left me; I leave the ranks of men of honor, and I leave also +the ranks of humanity. I have nothing human left except my love, nothing +sacred but you; but my crime elevates itself by its magnitude. Well, I +interpret it thus: I imagine two beings, equally free and strong, loving +and valuing each other beyond all else, having no affection, no loyalty, +no devotion, no honor, except toward each other--but possessing all for +each other in a supreme degree. + +"I give and consecrate absolutely to you, my person, all that I can be, +or may become, on condition of an equal return, still preserving the same +social conventionalities, without which we should both be miserable. + +"Secretly united, and secretly isolated; though in the midst of the human +herd, governing and despising it; uniting our gifts, our faculties, and +our powers, our two Parisian royalties--yours, which can not be greater, +and mine, which shall become greater if you love me and living thus, one +for the other, until death. You have dreamed, you told me, of strange +and almost sacrilegious love. Here it is; only before accepting it, +reflect well, for I assure you it is a serious thing. My love for you is +boundless. I love you enough to disdain and trample under foot that +which the meanest human being still respects. I love you enough to find +in you alone, in your single esteem, and in your sole tenderness, in the +pride and madness of being yours, oblivion and consolation for friendship +outraged, faith betrayed, and honor lost. But, Madame, this is a +sentiment which you will do well not to trifle with. You should +thoroughly understand this. If you desire my love, if you consent to +this alliance, opposed to all human laws, but grand and singular also, +deign to tell me so, and I shall fall at your feet. If you do not wish +it, if it terrifies you, if you are not prepared for the double +obligation it involves, tell me so, and fear not a word of reproach. +Whatever it might cost me--I would ruin my life, I would leave you +forever, and that which passed yesterday should be eternally forgotten." + +He ceased, and remained with his eyes fixed on the young woman with a +burning anxiety. As he went on speaking her air became more grave; she +listened to him, her head a little inclined toward him in an attitude of +overpowering interest, throwing upon him at intervals a glance full of +gloomy fire. A slight but rapid palpitation of the bosom, a scarcely +perceptible quivering of the nostrils, alone betrayed the storm raging +within her. + +"This," she said, after a moment's silence, "becomes really interesting; +but you do not intend to leave this evening, I suppose?" + +"No," said Camors. + +"Very well," she replied, inclining her head in sign of dismissal, +without offering her hand; "we shall see each other again." + +"But when?" + +"At an early day." + +He thought she required time for reflection, a little terrified doubtless +by the monster she had evoked; he saluted her gravely and departed. + +The next day, and on the two succeeding days, he vainly presented himself +at her door. + +The Marquise was either dining out or dressing. + +It was for Camors a whole century of torment. One thought which often +disquieted him revisited him with double poignancy. The Marquise did not +love him. She only wished to revenge herself for the past, and after +disgracing him would laugh at him. She had made him sign the contract, +and then had escaped him. In the midst of these tortures of his pride, +his passion, instead of weakening, increased. + +The fourth day after their interview he did not go to her house. He +hoped to meet her in the evening at the Viscountess d'Oilly's, where he +usually saw her every Friday. This lady had been formerly the most +tender friend of the Count's father. It was to her the Count had thought +proper to confide the education of his son. + +Camors had preserved for her a kind of affection. She was an amiable +woman, whom he liked and laughed at. + +No longer young, she had been compelled to renounce gallantry, which had +been the chief occupation of her youth, and never having had much taste +for devotion, she conceived the idea of having a salon. She received +there some distinguished men, savants and artists, who piqued themselves +on being free-thinkers. + +The Viscountess, in order to fit herself for her new position, resolved +to enlighten herself. She attended public lectures and conferences, +which began to be fashionable. She spoke easily about spontaneous +generation. She manifested a lively surprise when Camors, who delighted +in tormenting her, deigned to inform her that men were descended from +monkeys. + +"Now, my friend," she said to him, "I can not really admit that. How can +you think your grandfather was a monkey, you who are so handsome?" + +She reasoned on everything with the same force. + +Although she boasted of being a sceptic, sometimes in the morning she +went out, concealed by a thick veil, and entered St. Sulpice, where she +confessed and put herself on good terms with God, in case He should +exist. She was rich and well connected, and in spite of the +irregularities of her youth, the best people visited her house. + +Madame de Campvallon permitted herself to be introduced by M. de Camors. +Madame de la Roche-Jugan followed her there, because she followed her +everywhere, and took her son Sigismund. On this evening the reunion was +small. M. de Camors had only been there a few moments, when he had the +satisfaction of seeing the General and the Marquise enter. She +tranquilly expressed to him her regret at not having been at home the +preceding day; but it was impossible to hope for a more decided +explanation in a circle so small, and under the vigilant eye of Madame de +la Roche-Jugan. Camors interrogated vainly the face of his young cousin. +It was as beautiful and cold as usual. His anxiety increased; he would +have given his life at that moment to hear her say one word of love. + +The Viscountess liked the play of wit, as she had little herself. They +played at her house such little games as were then fashionable. Those +little games are not always innocent, as we shall see. + +They had distributed pencils, pens, and packages of paper--some of the +players sitting around large tables, and some in separate chairs--and +scratched mysteriously, in turn, questions and answers. During this time +the General played whist with Madame de la Roche-Jugan. Madame +Campvallon did not usually take part in these games, as they fatigued +her. Camors was therefore astonished to see her accept the pencil and +paper offered her. + +This singularity awakened his attention and put him on his guard. He +himself joined in the game, contrary to his custom, and even charged +himself with collecting in the basket the small notes as they were +written. + +An hour passed without any special incident. The treasures of wit were +dispensed. The most delicate and unexpected questions--such as, "What is +love?" "Do you think that friendship can exist between the sexes?" +"Is it sweeter to love or to beloved?"--succeeded each other with +corresponding replies. All at once the Marquise gave a slight scream, +and they saw a drop of blood trickle down her forehead. She laughed, and +showed her little silver pencil-case, which had a pen at one end, with +which she had scratched her forehead in her abstraction. + +The attention of Camors was redoubled from this moment--the more so from +a rapid and significant glance from the Marquise, which seemed to warn +him of an approaching event. She was sitting a little in shadow in one +corner, in order to meditate more at ease on questions and answers. An +instant later Camors was passing around the room collecting notes. She +deposited one in the basket, slipping another into his hand with the cat- +like dexterity of her sex. In the midst of these papers, which each +person amused himself with reading, Camors found no difficulty in +retaining without remark the clandestine note of the Marquise. It was +written in red ink, a little pale, but very legible, and contained these +words: + + "I belong, soul, body, honor, riches, to my best-beloved cousin, + Louis de Camors, from this moment and forever. + + "Written and signed with the pure blood of my veins, March 5, 185-. + + "CHARLOTTE DE LUC. D'ESTRELLES." + + +All the blood of Camors surged to his brain--a cloud came over his eyes +--he rested his hand on the marble table, then suddenly his face was +covered with a mortal paleness. These symptoms did not arise from +remorse or fear; his passion overshadowed all. He felt a boundless joy. +He saw the world at his feet. + +It was by this act of frankness and of extraordinary audacity, seasoned +by the bloody mysticism so familiar to the sixteenth century, which she +adored, that the Marquise de Campvallon surrendered herself to her lover +and sealed their fatal union. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN ANONYMOUS LETTER + +Nearly six weeks had passed after this last episode. It was five o'clock +in the afternoon and the Marquise awaited Camors, who was to come after +the session of the Corps Legislatif. There was a sudden knock at one of +the doors of her room, which communicated with her husband's apartment. +It was the General. She remarked with surprise, and even with fear, that +his countenance was agitated. + +"What is the matter with you, my dear?" she said. "Are you ill?" + +"No," replied the General, "not at all." + +He placed himself before her, and looked at her some moments before +speaking, his eyes rolling wildly. + +"Charlotte!" he said at last, with a painful smile, "I must own to you +my folly. I am almost mad since morning--I have received such a singular +letter. Would you like to see it?" + +"If you wish," she replied. + +He took a letter from his pocket, and gave it to her. The writing was +evidently carefully disguised, and it was not signed. + +"An anonymous letter?" said the Marquise, whose eyebrows were slightly +raised, with an expression of disdain; then she read the letter, which +was as follows: + + "A true friend, General, feels indignant at seeing your confidence + and your loyalty abused. You are deceived by those whom you love + most. + + "A man who is covered with your favors and a woman who owes + everything to you are united by a secret intimacy which outrages + you. They are impatient for the hour when they can divide your + spoils. + + "He who regards it as a pious duty to warn you does not desire to + calumniate any one. He is sure that your honor is respected by her + to whom you have confided it, and that she is still worthy of your + confidence and esteem. She wrongs you in allowing herself to count + upon the future, which your best friend dates from your death. He + seeks your widow and your estate. + + "The poor woman submits against her will to the fascinations of a + man too celebrated for his successful affairs of the heart. But + this man, your friend--almost your son--how can he excuse his + conduct? Every honest person must be shocked by such behavior, and + particularly he whom a chance conversation informed of the fact, and + who obeys his conscience in giving you this information." + +The Marquise, after reading it, returned the letter coldly to the +General. + +"Sign it Eleanore-Jeanne de la Roche-Jugan!" she said. + +"Do you think so?" asked the General. + +"It is as clear as day," replied the Marquise. "These expressions betray +her--'a pious duty to warn you--'celebrated for his successful affairs of +the heart'--'every honest person.' She can disguise her writing, but not +her style. But what is still more conclusive is that which she +attributes to Monsieur de Camors--for I suppose it alludes to him--and to +his private prospects and calculations. This can not have failed to +strike you, as it has me, I suppose?" + +"If I thought this vile letter was her work," cried the General, "I never +would see her again during my life." + +"Why not? It is better to laugh at it!" + +The General began one of his solemn promenades across the room. The +Marquise looked uneasily at the clock. Her husband, intercepting one of +these glances, suddenly stopped. + +"Do you expect Camors to-day?" he inquired. + +"Yes; I think he will call after the session." + +"I think he will," responded the General, with a convulsive smile. "And +do you know, my dear," he added, "the absurd idea which has haunted me +since I received this infamous letter?--for I believe that infamy is +contagious." + +"You have conceived the idea of observing our interview?" said the +Marquise, in a tone of indolent raillery. + +"Yes," said the General, "there--behind that curtain--as in a theatre; +but, thank God! I have been able to resist this base intention. If ever +I allow myself to play so mean a part, I should wish at least to do it +with your knowledge and consent." + +"And do you ask me to consent to it?" asked the Marquise. + +"My poor Charlotte!" said the General, in a sad and almost supplicating +tone, "I am an old fool--an overgrown child--but I feel that this +miserable letter will poison my life. I shall have no more an hour of +peace and confidence. What can you expect? I was so cruelly deceived +before. I am an honorable man, but I have been taught that all men are +not like myself. There are some things which to me seem as impossible as +walking on my head, yet I see others doing these things every day. What +can I say to you? After reading this perfidious letter, I could not help +recollecting that your intimacy with Camors has greatly increased of +late!" + +"Without doubt," said the Marquise, "I am very fond of him!" + +"I remembered also your tete-a-tete with him, the other night, in the +boudoir, during the ball. When I awoke you had both an air of mystery. +What mysteries could there be between you two?" + +"Ah, what indeed!" said the Marquise, smiling. + +"And will you not tell me?" + +"You shall know it at the proper time." + +"Finally, I swear to you that I suspect neither of you--I neither suspect +you of wronging me--of disgracing me--nor of soiling my name . . . God +help me! + +"But if you two should love each other, even while respecting my honor: +if you love each other and confess it--if you two, even at my side, in my +heart--if you, my two children, should be calculating with impatient eyes +the progress of my old age--planning your projects for the future, and +smiling at my approaching death--postponing your happiness only for my +tomb you may think yourselves guiltless, but no, I tell you it would be +shameful!" + +Under the empire of the passion which controlled him, the voice of the +General became louder. His common features assumed an air of sombre +dignity and imposing grandeur. A slight shade of paleness passed over +the lovely face of the young woman and a slight frown contracted her +forehead. + +By an effort, which in a better cause would have been sublime, she +quickly mastered her weakness, and, coldly pointing out to her husband +the draped door by which he had entered, said: + +"Very well, conceal yourself there!" + +"You will never forgive me?" + +"You know little of women, my friend, if you do not know that jealousy is +one of the crimes they not only pardon but love." + +"My God, I am not jealous!" + +"Call it yourself what you will, but station yourself there!" + +"And you are sincere in wishing me to do so?" + +"I pray you to do so! Retire in the interval, leave the door open, and +when you hear Monsieur de Camors enter the court of the hotel, return." + +"No!" said the General, after a moment's hesitation; "since I have gone +so far"--and he sighed deeply "I do not wish to leave myself the least +pretext for distrust. If I leave you before he comes, I am capable of +fancying--" + +"That I might secretly warn him? Nothing more natural. Remain here, +then. Only take a book; for our conversation, under such circumstances, +can not be lively." + +He sat down. + +"But," he said, "what mystery can there be between you two?" + +"You shall hear!" she said, with her sphinx-like smile. + +The General mechanically took up a book. She stirred the fire, and +reflected. As she liked terror, danger, and dramatic incidents to blend +with her intrigues, she should have been content; for at that moment +shame, ruin, and death were at her door. But, to tell the truth, it was +too much for her; and when she looked, in the midst of the silence which +surrounded her, at the true character and scope of the perils which +surrounded her, she thought her brain would fail and her heart break. + +She was not mistaken as to the origin of the letter. This shameful work +had indeed been planned by Madame de la Roche-Jugan. To do her justice, +she had not suspected the force of the blow she was dealing. She still +believed in the virtue of the Marquise; but during the perpetual +surveillance she had never relaxed, she could not fail to see the changed +nature of the intercourse between Camors and the Marquise. It must not +be forgotten that she dreamed of securing for her son Sigismund the +succession to her old friend; and she foresaw a dangerous rivalry--the +germ of which she sought to destroy. To awaken the distrust of the +General toward Camors, so as to cause his doors to be closed against him, +was all she meditated. But her anonymous letter, like most villainies of +this kind, was a more fatal and murderous weapon than its base author +imagined. + +The young Marquise, then, mused while stirring the fire, casting, from +time to time, a furtive glance at the clock. + +M. de Camors would soon arrive--how could she warn him? In the present +state of their relations it was not impossible that the very first words +of. Camors might immediately divulge their secret: and once betrayed, +there was not only for her personal dishonor, a scandalous fall, poverty, +a convent--but for her husband or her lover--perhaps for both--death! + +When the bell in the lower court sounded, announcing the Count's +approach, these thoughts crowded into the brain of the Marquise like a +legion of phantoms. But she rallied her courage by a desperate effort +and strained all her faculties to the execution of the plan she had +hastily conceived, which was her last hope. And one word, one gesture, +one mistake, or one carelessness of her lover, might overthrow it in a +second. A moment later the door was opened by a servant, announcing M. +de Camors. Without speaking, she signed to her husband to gain his +hiding-place. The General, who had risen at the sound of the bell, +seemed still to hesitate, but shrugging his shoulders, as if in disdain +of himself, retired behind the curtain which faced the door. + +M. de Camors entered the room carelessly, and advanced toward the +fireplace where sat the Marquise; his smiling lips half opened to speak, +when he was struck by the peculiar expression on the face of the +Marquise, and the words were frozen on his lips. This look, fixed upon +him from his entrance, had a strange, weird intensity, which, without +expressing anything, made him fear everything. But he was accustomed to +trying situations, and as wary and prudent as he was intrepid. He ceased +to smile and did not speak, but waited. + +She gave him her hand without ceasing to look at him with the same +alarming intensity. + +"Either she is mad," he said to himself, "or there is some great peril!" + +With the rapid perception of her genius and of her love, she felt he +understood her; and not leaving him time to speak and compromise her, +instantly said: + +"It is very kind of you to keep your promise." + +"Not at all," said Camors, seating himself. + +"Yes! For you know you come here to be tormented." There was a pause. + +"Have you at last become a convert to my fixed idea?" she added after a +second. + +"What fixed idea? It seems to me you have a great many!" + +"Yes! But I speak of a good one--my best one, at least--of your +marriage!" + +"What! again, cousin?" said Camors, who, now assured of his danger and +its nature, marched with a firmer foot over the burning soil. + +"Yes, again, cousin; and I will tell you another thing--I have found the +person." + +"Ah! Then I shall run away!" + +She met his smile with an imperious glance. + +"Then you still adhere to that plan?" said Camors, laughing. + +"Most firmly! I need not repeat to you my reasons--having preached about +it all winter--in fact so much so as to disturb the General, who suspects +some mystery between us." + +"The General? Indeed!" + +"Oh, nothing serious, you must understand. Well, let us resume the +subject. Miss Campbell will not do--she is too blonde--an odd objection +for me to make by the way; not Mademoiselle de Silas--too thin; not +Mademoiselle Rolet, in spite of her millions; not Mademoiselle +d'Esgrigny--too much like the Bacquieres and Van-Cuyps. All this is a +little discouraging, you will admit; but finally everything clears up. +I tell you I have discovered the right one--a marvel!" + +"Her name?" said Camors. + +"Marie de Tecle!" + +There was silence. + +"Well, you say nothing," resumed the Marquise, "because you can have +nothing to say! Because she unites everything--personal beauty, family, +fortune, everything--almost like a dream. Then, too, your properties +join. You see how I have thought of everything, my friend! I can not +imagine how we never came to think of this before!" + +M. de Camors did not reply, and the Marquise began to be surprised at his +silence. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed; "you may look a long time--there can not be a +single objection--you are caught this time. Come, my friend, say yes, I +implore you!" And while her lips said "I implore you," in a tone of +gracious entreaty, her look said, with terrible emphasis, "You must!" + +"Will you allow me to reflect upon it, Madame?" he said at last. + +"No, my friend!" + +"But really," said Camors, who was very pale, "it seems to me you dispose +of the hand of Mademoiselle de Tecle very readily. Mademoiselle de Tecle +is rich and courted on all sides--also, her great-uncle has ideas of the +province, and her mother, ideas of religion, which might well--" + +"I charge myself with all that," interrupted the Marquise. + +"What a mania you have for marrying people!" + +"Women who do not make love, cousin, always have a mania for +matchmaking." + +"But seriously, you will give me a few days for reflection?" + +"To reflect about what? Have you not always told me you intended +marrying and have been only waiting the chance? Well, you never can find +a better one than this; and if you let it slip, you will repent the rest +of your life." + +"But give me time to consult my family!" + +"Your family--what a joke! It seems to me you have reached full age; and +then--what family? Your aunt, Madame de la Roche-Jugan?" + +"Doubtless! I do not wish to offend her:" + +"Ah, my dear cousin, don't be uneasy; suppress this uneasiness; I assure +you she will be delighted!" + +"Why should she?" + +"I have my reasons for thinking so;" and the young woman in uttering +these words was seized with a fit of sardonic laughter which came near +convulsion, so shaken were her nerves by the terrible tension. + +Camors, to whom little by little the light fell stronger on the more +obscure points of the terrible enigma proposed to him, saw the necessity +of shortening a scene which had overtasked her faculties to an almost +insupportable degree. He rose: + +"I am compelled to leave you," he said; "for I am not dining at home. +But I will come to-morrow, if you will permit me." + +"Certainly. You authorize me to speak to the General?" + +"Well, yes, for I really can see no reasonable objection." + +"Very good. I adore you!" said the Marquise. She gave him her hand, +which he kissed and immediately departed. + +It would have required a much keener vision than that of M. de Campvallon +to detect any break, or any discordance, in the audacious comedy which +had just been played before him by these two great artists. + +The mute play of their eyes alone could have betrayed them; and that he +could not see. + +As to their tranquil, easy, natural dialogue there was not in it a word +which he could seize upon, and which did not remove all his disquietude, +and confound all his suspicions. From this moment, and ever afterward, +every shadow was effaced from his mind; for the ability to imagine such +a plot as that in which his wife in her despair had sought refuge, or to +comprehend such depth of perversity, was not in the General's pure and +simple spirit. + +When he reappeared before his wife, on leaving his concealment, he was +constrained and awkward. With a gesture of confusion and humility he +took her hand, and smiled upon her with all the goodness and tenderness +of his soul beaming from his face. + +At this moment the Marquise, by a new reaction of her nervous system, +broke into weeping and sobbing; and this completed the General's despair. + +Out of respect to this worthy man, we shall pass over a scene the +interest of which otherwise is not sufficient to warrant the unpleasant +effect it would produce on all honest people. We shall equally pass over +without record the conversation which took place the next day between the +Marquise and M. de Camors. + +Camors had experienced, as we have observed, a sentiment of repulsion at +hearing the name of Mademoiselle de Tecle appear in the midst of this +intrigue. It amounted almost to horror, and he could not control the +manifestation of it. How could he conquer this supreme revolt of his +conscience to the point of submitting to the expedient which would make +his intrigue safe? By what detestable sophistries he dared persuade +himself that he owed everything to his accomplice--even this, we shall +not attempt to explain. To explain would be to extenuate, and that we +wish not to do. We shall only say that he resigned himself to this +marriage. On the path which he had entered a man can check himself as +little as he can check a flash of lightning. + +As to the Marquise, one must have formed no conception of this depraved +though haughty spirit, if astonished at her persistence, in cold blood, +and after reflection, in the perfidious plot which the imminence of her +danger had suggested to her. She saw that the suspicions of the General +might be reawakened another day in a more dangerous manner, if this +marriage proved only a farce. She loved Camors passionately; and she +loved scarcely less the dramatic mystery of their liaison. She had also +felt a frantic terror at the thought of losing the great fortune which +she regarded as her own; for the disinterestedness of her early youth had +long vanished, and the idea of sinking miserably in the Parisian world, +where she had long reigned by her luxury as well as her beauty, was +insupportable to her. + +Love, mystery, fortune-she wished to preserve them all at any price; and +the more she reflected, the more the marriage of Camors appeared to her +the surest safeguard. + +It was true, it would give her a sort of rival. But she had too high an +opinion of herself to fear anything; and she preferred Mademoiselle de +Tecle to any other, because she knew her, and regarded her as an inferior +in everything. + +About fifteen days after, the General called on Madame de Tecle one +morning, and demanded for M. de Camors her daughter's hand. It would be +painful to dwell on the joy which Madame de Tecle felt; and her only +surprise was that Camors had not come in person to press his suit. But +Camors had not the heart to do so. He had been at Reuilly since that +morning, and called on Madame de Tecle, where he learned his overture was +accepted. Once having resolved on this monstrous action, he was +determined to carry it through in the most correct manner, and we know he +was master of all social arts. + +In the evening Madame de Tecle and her daughter, left alone, walked +together a long time on their dear terrace, by the soft light of the +stars--the daughter blessing her mother, and the mother thanking God-- +both mingling their hearts, their dreams, their kisses, and their tears +--happier, poor women, than is permitted long to human beings. The +marriage took place the ensuing month. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A defensive attitude is never agreeable to a man +Believing that it is for virtue's sake alone such men love them +Determined to cultivate ability rather than scrupulousness +Disenchantment which follows possession +Have not that pleasure, it is useless to incur the penalties +Inconstancy of heart is the special attribute of man +Knew her danger, and, unlike most of them, she did not love it +Put herself on good terms with God, in case He should exist +Two persons who desired neither to remember nor to forget + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Monsieur de Camors, v2 +by Octave Feuillet + + + + + + +MONSIEUR DE CAMORS + +By OCTAVE FEUILLET + + + +BOOK 3. + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE COUNTESS DE CAMORS + +After passing the few weeks of the honeymoon at Reuilly, the Comte and +Comtesse de Camors returned to Paris and established themselves at their +hotel in the Rue de l'Imperatrice. From this moment, and during the +months that followed, the young wife kept up an active correspondence +with her mother; and we here transcribe some of the letters, which will +make us more intimately acquainted with the character of the young woman. + + + Madame de Camors to Madame de Tecle. + "October. + + "Am I happy? No, my dearest mother! No--not happy! I have only + wings and soar to heaven like a bird! I feel the sunshine in my + head, in my eyes, in my heart. + + "It blinds me, it enchants me, it causes me to shed delicious tears! + Happy? No, my tender mother; that is not possible, when I think + that I am his wife! The wife--understand me--of him who has reigned + in my poor thoughts since I was able to think--of him whom I should + have chosen out of the whole universe! When I remember that I am + his wife, that we are united forever, how I love life! how I love + you! how I love God! + + "The Bois and the lake are within a few steps of us, as you know. + We ride thither nearly every morning, my husband and I!--I repeat, + I and my husband! We go there, my husband and I--I and my husband! + + "I know not how it is, but it is always delicious weather to me, + even when it rains--as it does furiously to-day; for we have just + come in, driven home by the storm. + + "During our ride to-day, I took occasion to question him quietly as + to some points of our history which puzzled me. First, why had he + married me? + + "'Because you pleased me apparently, Miss Mary.' He likes to give me + this name, which recalls to him I know not what episode of my + untamed youth--untamed still to him. + + "'If I pleased you, why did I see you so seldom?' + + "'Because I did not wish to court you until I had decided on + marrying.' + + "'How could I have pleased you, not being at all beautiful?' + + "'You are not beautiful, it is true,' replies this cruel young man, + 'but you are very pretty; and above all you are grace itself, like + your mother.' + + "All these obscure points being cleared up to the complete + satisfaction of Miss Mary, Miss Mary took to fast galloping; not + because it was raining, but because she became suddenly--we do not + know the reason why--as red as a poppy. + + "Oh, beloved mother! how sweet it is to be loved by him we adore, + and to be loved precisely as we wish--as we have dreamed--according + to the exact programme of our young, romantic hearts! + + "Did you ever believe I had ideas on such a delicate subject? Yes, + dear mother, I had them. Thus, it seemed to me there were many + different styles of loving--some vulgar, some pretentious, some + foolish, and others, again, excessively comic. None of these seemed + suited to the Prince, our neighbor. I ever felt he should love, + like the Prince he is, with grace and dignity; with serious + tenderness, a little stern perhaps; with amiability, but almost with + condescension--as a lover, but as a master, too--in fine, like my + husband! + + "Dear angel, who art my mother! be happy in my happiness, which was + your sole work. I kiss your hands--I kiss your wings! + + "I thank you! I bless you! I adore you! + + "If you were near me, it would be too much happiness! I should die, + I think. Nevertheless, come to us very soon. Your chamber awaits + you. It is as blue as the heavens in which I float. I have already + told you this, but I repeat it. + + "Good-by, mother of the happiest woman in the world! + + "MISS MARY, + + "Comtesse de Camors." + + ............................... + + "November. + + "MY MOTHER: + + "You made me weep--I who await you every morning. I will say + nothing to you, however; I will not beg you. If the health of my + grandfather seems to you so feeble as to demand your presence, I + know no prayer would take you away from your duty. Nor would I make + the prayer, my angel mother! + + "But exaggerate nothing, I pray you, and think your little Marie can + not pass by the blue chamber without feeling a swelling of the + heart. Apart from this grief which you cause her, she continues to + be as happy as even you could wish. + + "Her charming Prince is ever charming and ever her Prince! He takes + her to see the monuments, the museums, the theatres, like the poor + little provincial that she is. Is it not touching on the part of so + great a personage? + + "He is amused at my ecstasies--for I have ecstasies. Do not breathe + it to my Uncle Des Rameures, but Paris is superb! The days here + count double our own for thought and life. + + "My husband took me to Versailles yesterday. I suspect that this, + in the eyes of the people here, is rather a ridiculous episode; for + I notice the Count did not boast of it. Versailles corresponds + entirely with the impressions you had given me of it; for there is + not the slightest change since you visited it with my grandfather. + + "It is grand, solemn, and cold. There is, though, a new and very + curious museum in the upper story of the palace, consisting chiefly + of original portraits of the famous men of history. Nothing pleases + me more than to see these heroes of my memory passing before me in + grand procession--from Charles the Bold to George Washington. Those + faces my imagination has so often tried to evoke, that it seems to + me we are in the Elysian Fields, and hold converse with the dead: + + "You must know, my mother, I was familiar with many things that + surprised M. de Camors very much. He was greatly struck by my + knowledge of science and my genius. I did no more, as you may + imagine, than respond to his questions; but it seemed to astonish + him that I could respond at all. + + "Why should he ask me these things? If he did not know how to + distinguish the different Princesses of Conti, the answer is simple. + + "But I knew, because my mother taught me. That is simple enough + too. + + "We dined afterward, at my suggestion, at a restaurant. Oh, my + mother! this was the happiest moment of my life! To dine at a + restaurant with my husband was the most delightful of all + dissipations! + + "I have said he seemed astonished at my learning. I ought to add in + general, he seemed astonished whenever I opened my lips. Did he + imagine me a mute? I speak little, I acknowledge, however, for he + inspires me with a ceaseless fear: I am afraid of displeasing him, + of appearing silly before him, or pretentious, or pedantic. The day + when I shall be at ease with him, and when I can show him my good + sense and gratitude--if that day ever comes--I shall be relieved of + a great weight on my mind, for truly I sometimes fear he looks on me + as a child. + + "The other day I stopped before a toy-shop on the Boulevard. What a + blunder! And as he saw my eye fixed on a magnificent squadron of + dolls-- + + "'Do you wish one, Miss Mary?' he said. + + "Was not this horrible, my mother--from him who knows everything + except the Princesses of Conti? He explained everything to me; but + briefly in a word, as if to a person he despaired of ever making + understand him. And I understand so well all the time, my poor + little mother! + + "But so much the better, say I; for if he loves me while thinking me + silly, what will it be later! + + "With fond love, your + + "MARIE." + + ............................. + + "December. + + "All Paris has returned once more, my dear mother, and for fifteen + days I have been occupied with visits. The men here do not usually + visit; but my husband is obliged to present me for the first time to + the persons I ought to know. He accompanies me there, which is much + more agreeable to me than to him, I believe. + + "He is more serious than usual. Is not this the only form in which + amiable men show their bad humor? The people we visit look on me + with a certain interest. The woman whom this great lord has honored + with his choice is evidently an object of great curiosity. This + flatters and intimidates me; I blush and feel constrained; I appear + awkward. When they find me awkward and insignificant, they stare. + They believe he married me for my fortune: then I wish to cry. We + reenter the carriage, he smiles upon me, and I am in heaven! Such + are our visits. + + "You must know, my mother, that to me Madame Campvallon is divine. + She often takes me to her box at the Italiens, as mine will not be + vacant until January. Yesterday she gave a little fete for me in + her beautiful salon: the General opened the ball with me. + + "Oh! my mother, what a wonderfully clever man the General is! And I + admire him because he admires you! + + "The Marquise presented to me all the best dancers. They were young + gentlemen, with their necks so uncovered it almost gave me a chill. + I never before had seen men bare-necked and the fashion is not + becoming. It was very evident, however, that they considered + themselves indispensable and charming. Their deportment was + insolent and self-sufficient; their eyes were disdainful and all- + conquering. + + "Their mouths ever open to breathe freer, their coat-tails flapping + like wings, they take one by the waist--as one takes his own + property. Informing you by a look that they are about to do you the + honor of removing you, they whirl you away; then, panting for + breath, inform you by another look that they will do themselves the + pleasure of stopping--and they stop. Then they rest a moment, + panting, laughing, showing their teeth; another look--and they + repeat the same performance. They are wonderful! + + "Louis waltzed with me and seemed satisfied. I saw him for the + first time waltz with the Marquise. Oh, my mother, it was the dance + of the stars! + + "One thing which struck me this evening, as always, was the manifest + idolatry with which the women regard my husband. This, my tender + mother, terrifies me. Why--I ask myself--why did he choose me? + How can I please him? How can I succeed? + + "Behold the result of all my meditations! A folly perhaps, but of + which the effect is to reassure me: + + "Portrait of the Comtesse de Camors, drawn by herself. + + "The Comtesse de Camors, formerly Marie de Tecle, is a personage + who, having reached her twentieth year, looks older. She is not + beautiful, as her husband is the first person to confess. He says + she is pretty; but she doubts even this. Let us see. She has very + long limbs, a fault which she shares with Diana, the Huntress, and + which probably gives to the gait of the Countess a lightness it + might not otherwise possess. Her body is naturally short, and on + horseback appears to best advantage. She is plump without being + gross. + + "Her features are irregular; the mouth being too large and the lips + too thick, with--alas! the shade of a moustache; white teeth, a + little too small; a commonplace nose, a slightly pug; and her + mother's eyes--her best feature. She has the eyebrows of her Uncle + Des Rameures, which gives an air of severity to the face and + neutralizes the good-natured expression-a reflex from the softness + of her heart. + + "She has the dark complexion of her mother, which is more becoming + to her mother than to her. Add to all this, blue-black hair in + great silky masses. On the whole, one knows not what to pronounce + her. + + "There, my mother, is my portrait! Intended to reassure me, it has + hardly done so; for it seems to me to be that of an ugly little + woman! + + "I wish to be the most lively of women; I wish to be one of the most + distinguished. I wish to be one of the most captivating! But, oh, + my mother! if I please him I am still more enchanted! On the + whole, thank God! he finds me perhaps much better than I am: for + men have not the same taste in these matters that we have. + + "But what I really can not comprehend, is why he has so little + admiration for the Marquise de Campvallon. His manner is very cold + to her. Were I a man, I should be wildly in love with that superb + woman! Good-night, most beloved of mothers! + + .......................... + + "January. + + "You complain of me, my cherished one! The tone of my letters + wounds you! You can not comprehend how this matter of my personal + appearance haunts me. I scrutinize it; I compare it with that of + others. There is something of levity in that which hurts you? You + ask how can I think a man attaches himself to these things, while + the merits of mind and soul go for nothing? + + "But, my dearest mother, how will these merits of mind and of soul + --supposing your daughter to possess them--serve her, unless she + possesses the courage or has the opportunity to display them? And + when I summon up the courage, it seems to me the occasion never + comes. + + "For I must confess to you that this delicious Paris is not perfect; + and I discover, little by little, the spots upon the sun. + + "Paris is the most charming place! The only pity is that it has + inhabitants! Not but that they are agreeable, for they are only too + much so; only they are also very careless, and appear to my view to + live and die without reflecting much on what they are doing. It is + not their fault; they have no time. + + "Without leaving Paris, they are incessant travellers, eternally + distracted by motion and novelty. Other travellers, when they have + visited some distant corner--forgetting for a while their families, + their duties, and their homes--return and settle down again. But + these Parisians never do. Their life is an endless voyage; they + have no home. That which elsewhere is the great aim of life is + secondary here. One has here, as elsewhere, an establishment--a + house, a private chamber. One must have. Here one is wife or + mother, husband or father, just as elsewhere; but, my poor mother, + they are these things just as little as possible. The whole + interest centres not in the homes; but in the streets, the museums, + the salons, the theatres, and the clubs. It radiates to the immense + outside life, which in all its forms night and day agitates Paris, + attracts, excites, and enervates you; steals your time, your mind, + your soul--and devours them all! + + "Paris is the most delicious of places to visit--the worst of places + to live in. + + "Understand well, my mother, that in seeking by what qualifies I can + best attract my husband--who is the best of men, doubtless, but of + Parisian men nevertheless--I have continually reflected on merits + which may be seen at once, which do not require time to be + appreciated. + + "Finally, I do not deny that all this is miserable cynicism, + unworthy of you and of myself; for you know I am not at heart a bad + little woman. Certainly, if I could keep Monsieur de Camors for a + year or two at an old chateau in the midst of a solitary wood, I + should like it much. I could then see him more frequently, I could + then become familiar with his august person, and could develop my + little talents under his charmed eyes. But then this might weary + him and would be too easy. Life and happiness, I know, are not so + easily managed. All is difficulty, peril, and conflict. + + "What joy, then, to conquer! And I swear to you, my mother, that I + will conquer! I will force him to know me as you know me; to love + me, not as he now does, but as you do, for many good reasons of + which he does not yet dream. + + "Not that he believes me absolutely a fool; I think he has abandoned + that idea for at least two days past. + + "How he came thus to think, my next letter shall explain. + + "Your own + "MARIE." + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE REPTILE STRIVES TO CLIMB + + "March. + + "You will remember, my mother, that the Count has as secretary a man + named Vautrot. The name is a bad one; but the man himself is a good + enough creature, except that I somewhat dislike his catlike style of + looking at one. + + "Well, Monsieur de Vautrot lives in the house with us. He comes + early in the morning, breakfasts at some neighboring cafe, passes + the day in the Count's study, and often remains to dine with us, if + he has work to finish in the evening. + + "He is an educated man, and knows a little of everything; and he has + undertaken many occupations before he accepted the subordinate + though lucrative post he now occupies with my husband. He loves + literature; but not that of his time and of his country, perhaps + because he himself has failed in this. He prefers foreign writers + and poets, whom he quotes with some taste, though with too much + declamation. + + "Most probably his early education was defective; for on all + occasions, when speaking with us, he says, 'Yes, Monsieur le Comte!' + or 'Certainly, Madame la Comtesse!' as if he were a servant. Yet + withal, he has a peculiar pride, or perhaps I should say + insufferable vanity. But his great fault, in my eyes, is the + scoffing tone he adopts, when the subject is religion or morals. + + "Two days ago, while we were dining, Vautrot allowed himself to + indulge in a rather violent tirade of this description. It was + certainly contrary to all good taste. + + "'My dear Vautrot,' my husband said quietly to him, 'to me these + pleasantries of yours are indifferent; but pray remember, that while + you are a strong-minded man, my wife is a weak-minded woman; and + strength, you know, should respect weakness.' + + "Monsieur Vautrot first grew white, then red, and finally green. He + rose, bowed awkwardly, and immediately afterward left the table. + Since that time I have remarked his manner has been more reserved. + The moment I was alone with Louis, I said: + + "'You may think me indiscreet, but pray let me ask you a question. + How can you confide all your affairs and all your secrets to a man + who professes to have no principles?' + + "Monsieur de Camors laughed. + + "'Oh, he talks thus out of bravado,' he answered. 'He thinks to + make himself more interesting in your eyes by these Mephistophelian + airs. At bottom he is a good fellow.' + + "'But,' I answered, 'he has faith in nothing.' + + "'Not in much, I believe. Yet he has never deceived me. He is an + honorable man.' + + "I opened my eyes wide at this. + + "'Well,' he said, with an amused look, 'what is the matter, Miss + Mary?' + + "'What is this honor you speak of?' + + "'Let me ask your definition of it, Miss Mary,' he replied. + + "'Mon Dieu!' I cried, blushing deeply, 'I know but little of it, but + it seems to me that honor separated from morality is no great thing; + and morality without religion is nothing. They all constitute a + chain. Honor hangs to the last link, like a flower; but if the + chain be broken, honor falls with the rest.' He looked at me with + strange eyes, as if he were not only confounded but disquieted by my + philosophy. Then he gave a deep sigh, and rising said: + + "'Very neat, that definition-very neat.' + + "That night, at the opera, he plied me with bonbons and orange ices. + Madame de Campvallon accompanied us; and at parting, I begged her to + call for me next day on her way to the Bois, for she is my idol. + She is so lovely and so distinguished--and she I knows it well. I + love to be with her. On our return home, Louis remained silent, + contrary to his custom. Suddenly he said, brusquely: + + "'Marie, do you go with the Marquise to the Bois to-morrow?' + + "'Yes.' + + "'But you see her often, it seems to me-morning and evening. You + are always with her.' + + "'Heavens! I do it to be agreeable to you. Is not Madame de + Campvallon a good associate?' + + "'Excellent; only in general I do not admire female friendships. + But I did wrong to speak to you on this subject. You have wit and + discretion enough to preserve the proper limits.' + + "This, my mother, was what he said to me. I embrace you. + + Ever your + "MARIE." + + ............................ + + "March. + + "I hope, my own mother, not to bore you this year with a catalogue + of fetes and festivals, lamps and girandoles; for Lent is coming. + To-day is Ash-Wednesday. Well, we dance to-morrow evening at Madame + d'Oilly's. I had hoped not to go, but I saw Louis was disappointed, + and I feared to offend Madame d'Oilly, who has acted a mother's part + to my husband. Lent here is only an empty name. I sigh to myself: + 'Will they never stop! Great heavens! will they never cease + amusing themselves?' + + "I must confess to you, my darling mother, I amuse myself too much + to be happy. I depended on Lent for some time to myself, and see + how they efface the calendar! + + "This dear Lent! What a sweet, honest, pious invention it is, + notwithstanding. How sensible is our religion! How well it + understands human weakness and folly! How far-seeing in its + regulations! How indulgent also! for to limit pleasure is to + pardon it. + + "I also love pleasure--the beautiful toilets that make us resemble + flowers, the lighted salons, the music, the gay voices and the + dance. Yes, I love all these things; I experience their charming + confusion; I palpitate, I inhale their intoxication. But always-- + always! at Paris in the winter--at the springs in summer--ever this + crowd, ever this whirl, this intoxication of pleasure! All become + like savages, like negroes, and--dare I say so?--bestial! Alas for + Lent! + + "HE foresaw it. HE told us, as the priest told me this morning: + 'Remember you have a soul: Remember you have duties!--a husband + --a child--a mother--a God!' + + "Then, my mother, we should retire within ourselves; should pass the + time in grave thought between the church and our homes; should + converse on solemn and serious subjects; and should dwell in the + moral world to gain a foothold in heaven! This season is intended + as a wholesome interval to prevent our running frivolity into + dissipation, and pleasure into convulsion; to prevent our winter's + mask from becoming our permanent visage. This is entirely the + opinion of Madame Jaubert. + + "Who is this Madame Jaubert? you will ask. She is a little + Parisian angel whom my mother would dearly love! I met her almost + everywhere--but chiefly at St. Phillipe de Roule--for several months + without being aware that she is our neighbor, that her hotel adjoins + ours. Such is Paris! + + "She is a graceful person, with a soft and tender, but decided air. + We sat near each other at church; we gave each other side-glances; + we pushed our chairs to let each other pass; and in our softest + voices would say, 'Excuse me, Madame!' 'Oh, Madame!' My glove would + fall, she would pick it up; I would offer her the holy water, and + receive a sweet smile, with 'Dear Madame!' Once at a concert at the + Tuileries we observed each other at a distance, and smiled + recognition; when any part of the music pleased us particularly we + glanced smilingly at each other. Judge of my surprise next morning + when I saw my affinity enter the little Italian house next ours--and + enter it, too, as if it were her home. On inquiry I found she was + Madame Jaubert, the wife of a tall, fair young man who is a civil + engineer. + + "I was seized with a desire to call upon my neighbor. I spoke of it + to Louis, blushing slightly, for I remembered he did not approve of + intimacies between women. But above all, he loves me! + + "Notwithstanding he slightly shrugged his shoulders--'Permit me at + least, Miss Mary, to make some inquiries about these people.' + + "A few days afterward he had made them, for he said: 'Miss Mary, you + may visit Madame Jaubert; she is a perfectly proper person.' + + "I first flew to my husband's neck, and thence went to call upon + Madame Jaubert. + + "'It is I, Madame!' + + "'Oh, Madame, permit me!' + + "And we embraced each other and were good friends immediately. + + "Her husband is a civil engineer, as I have said. He was once + occupied with great inventions and with great industrial works; but + that was only for a short time. Having inherited a large estate, he + abandoned his studies and did nothing--at least nothing but + mischief. When he married to increase his fortune, his pretty + little wife had a sad surprise. He was never seen at home; always + at the club--always behind the scenes at the opera--always going to + the devil! He gambled, he had mistresses and shameful affairs. But + worse than all, he drank--he came to his wife drunk. One incident, + which my pen almost refuses to write, will give you an idea. Think + of it! He conceived the idea of sleeping in his boots! There, my + mother, is the pretty fellow my sweet little friend transformed, + little by little, into a decent man, a man of merit, and an + excellent husband! + + "And she did it all by gentleness, firmness, and sagacity. Now is + not this encouraging?--for, God knows, my task is less difficult. + + "Their household charms me; for it proves that one may build for + one's self, even in the midst of this Paris, a little nest such as + one dreams of. These dear neighbors are inhabitants of Paris--not + its prey. They have their fireside; they own it, and it belongs to + them. Paris is at their door--so much the better. They have ever a + relish for refined amusement; 'they drink at the fountain,' but do + not drown themselves in it. Their habits are the same, passing + their evenings in conversation, reading, or music; stirring the fire + and listening to the wind and rain without, as if they were in a + forest. + + "Life slips gently through their fingers, thread by thread, as in + our dear old country evenings. + + "My mother, they are happy! + + "Here, then, is my dream--here is my plan. + + "My husband has no vices, as Monsieur Jaubert had. He has only the + habits of all the brilliant men of his Paris-world. It is + necessary, my own mother, gradually to reform him; to suggest + insensibly to him the new idea that one may pass one evening at home + in company with a beloved and loving wife, without dying suddenly of + consumption. + + "The rest will follow. + + "What is this rest? It is the taste for a quiet life, for the + serious sweetness of the domestic hearth--the family taste--the idea + of seclusion--the recovered soul! + + "Is it not so, my good angel? Then trust me. I am more than ever + full of ardor, courage, and confidence. For he loves me with all + his heart, with more levity, perhaps, than I deserve; but still--he + loves me! + + "He loves me; he spoils me; he heaps presents upon me. There is no + pleasure he does not offer me, except, be it understood, the + pleasure of passing one evening at home together. + + "But he loves me! That is the great point--he loves me! + + "Now, dearest mother, let me whisper one final word-a word that + makes me laugh and cry at the same time. It seems to me that for + some time past I have had two hearts--a large one of my own, and-- + another--smaller! + + "Oh, my mother! I see you in tears. But it is a great mystery + this. It is a dream of heaven; but perhaps only a dream, which I + have not yet told even to my husband--only to my adorable mother! + Do not weep, for it is not yet quite certain. + + "Your naughty + Miss MARY." + + +In reply to this letter Madame de Camors received one three mornings +after, announcing to her the death of her grandfather. The Comte de +Tecle had died of apoplexy, of which his state of health had long given +warning. Madame de Tecle foresaw that the first impulse of her daughter +would be to join her to share her sad bereavement. She advised her +strongly against undertaking the fatigue of the journey, and promised to +visit her in Paris, as soon as she conveniently could. The mourning in +the family heightened in the heart of the Countess the uneasy feeling and +vague sadness her last letters had indicated. + +She was much less happy than she told her mother; for the first +enthusiasm and first illusions of marriage could not long deceive a +spirit so quick and acute as hers. + +A young girl who marries is easily deceived by the show of an affection +of which she is the object. It is rare that she does not adore her +husband and believe she is adored by him, simply because he has married +her. + +The young heart opens spontaneously and diffuses its delicate perfume of +love and its songs of tenderness; and enveloped in this heavenly cloud +all seems love around it. But, little by little, it frees itself; and, +too often, recognizes that this delicious harmony and intoxicating +atmosphere which charmed it came only from itself. + +Thus was it with the Countess; so far as the pen can render the shadows +of a feminine soul. Such were the impressions which, day by day, +penetrated the very soul of our poor "Miss Mary." + +It was nothing more than this; but this was everything to her! + +The idea of being betrayed by her husband--and that, too, with cruel +premeditation--never had arisen to torture her soul. But, beyond those +delicate attentions to her which she never exaggerated in her letters to +her mother, she felt herself disdained and slighted. Marriage had not +changed Camors's habits: he dined at home, instead of at his club, that +was all. She believed herself loved, however, but with a lightness that +was almost offensive. Yet, though she was sometimes sad and nearly in +tears, she did not despair; this valiant little heart attached itself +with intrepid confidence to all the happy chances the future might have +in store for it. + +M. de Camors continued very indifferent--as one may readily comprehend-- +to the agitation which tormented this young heart, but which never +occurred to him for a moment. For himself, strange as it may appear, +he was happy enough. This marriage had been a painful step to take; +but, once confirmed in his sin, he became reconciled to it. But his +conscience, seared as it was, had some living fibres in it; and he would +not have failed in the duty he thought he owed to his wife. These +sentiments were composed of a sort of indifference, blended with pity. +He was vaguely sorry for this child, whose existence was absorbed and +destroyed between those of two beings of nature superior to her own; +and he hoped she would always remain ignorant of the fate to which she +was condemned. He resolved never to neglect anything that might +extenuate its rigor; but he belonged, nevertheless, more than ever solely +to the passion which was the supreme crime of his life. For his intrigue +with Madame de Campvallon, continually excited by mystery and danger--and +conducted with profound address by a woman whose cunning was equal to her +beauty--continued as strong, after years of enjoyment, as at first. + +The gracious courtesy of M. de Camors, on which he piqued himself, as +regarded his wife, had its limits; as the young Countess perceived +whenever she attempted to abuse it. Thus, on several occasions she +declined receiving guests on the ground of indisposition, hoping her +husband would not abandon her to her solitude. She was in error. + +The Count gave her in reality, under these circumstances, a tete-a-tete +of a few minutes after dinner; but near nine o'clock he would leave her +with perfect tranquillity. Perhaps an hour later she would receive a +little packet of bonbons, or a pretty basket of choice fruit, that would +permit her to pass the evening as she might. These little gifts she +sometimes divided with her neighbor, Madame Jaubert; sometimes with +M. de Vautrot, secretary to her husband. + +This M. de Vautrot, for whom she had at first conceived an aversion, was +gradually getting into her good graces. In the absence of her husband +she always found him at hand; and referred to him for many little +details, such as addresses, invitations, the selection of books and the +purchase of furniture. From this came a certain familiarity; she began +to call him Vautrot, or "My good Vautrot," while he zealously performed +all her little commissions. He manifested for her a great deal of +respectful attention, and even refrained from indulging in the sceptical +sneers which he knew displeased her. Happy to witness this reform and to +testify her gratitude, she invited him to remain on two or three evenings +when he came to take his leave, and talked with him of books and the +theatres. + +When her mourning kept her at home, M. de Camors passed the two first +evenings with her until ten o'clock. But this effort fatigued him, and +the poor young woman, who had already erected an edifice for the future +on this frail basis, had the mortification of observing that on the third +evening he had resumed his bachelor habits. + +This was a great blow to her, and her sadness became greater than it had +been up to that time; so much so in fact, that solitude was almost +unbearable. She had hardly been long enough in Paris to form intimacies. +Madame Jaubert came to her friend as often as she could; but in the +intervals the Countess adopted the habit of retaining Vautrot, or even of +sending for him. Camors himself, three fourths of the time, would bring +him in before going out in the evening. + +"I bring you Vautrot, my dear," he would say, "and Shakespeare. You can +read him together." + +Vautrot read well; and though his heavy declamatory style frequently +annoyed the Countess, she thus managed to kill many a long evening, while +waiting the expected visit of Madame de Tecle. But Vautrot, whenever he +looked at her, wore such a sympathetic air and seemed so mortified when +she did not invite him to stay, that, even when wearied of him, she +frequently did so. + +About the end of the month of April, M. Vautrot was alone with the +Countess de Camors about ten o'clock in the evening. They were reading +Goethe's Faust, which she had never before heard. This reading seemed to +interest the young woman more than usual, and with her eyes fixed on the +reader, she listened to it with rapt attention. She was not alone +fascinated by the work, but--as is frequently the case-she traced her own +thoughts and her own history in the fiction of the poet. + +We all know with what strange clairvoyance a mind possessed with a fixed +idea discovers resemblances and allusions in accidental description. +Madame de Camors perceived without doubt some remote connection between +her husband and Faust--between herself and Marguerite; for she could not +help showing that she was strangely agitated. She could not restrain the +violence of her emotion, when Marguerite in prison cries out, in her +agony and madness: + + Marguerite. + +Who has given you, headsman, this power over me? You come to me while it +is yet midnight. Be merciful and let me live. + +Is not to-morrow morning soon enough? + +I am yet so young--so young! and am to die already! I was fair, too; +that was my undoing. My true love was near, now he is far away. + +Torn lies my garland; scattered the flowers. Don't take hold of me so +roughly! spare me! spare me. What have I done to you? Let me not +implore you in vain! I never saw you before in all my life; you know. + + + Faust. + +Can I endure this misery? + + + Marguerite. + +I am now entirely in thy power. Only let me give suck to the child. +I pressed it this whole night to my heart. They took it away to vex me, +and now say I killed it, and I shall never be happy again. They sing +songs upon me! It is wicked of the people. An old tale ends so--who +bids them apply it? + + + Faust. + +A lover lies at thy feet, to unloose the bonds of wickedness. + + +What a blending of confused sentiments, of powerful sympathies, of vague +apprehensions, suddenly seized on the breast of the young Countess! One +can hardly imagine their force--to the very verge of distracting her. +She turned on her fauteuil and closed her beautiful eyes, as if to keep +back the tears which rolled under the fringe of the long lashes. + +At this moment Vautrot ceased to read, dropped his book, sighed +profoundly, and stared a moment. + +Then he knelt at the feet of the Comtesse de Camors! He took her hand; +he said, with a tragic sigh, "Poor angel!" + +It will be difficult to understand this incident and the unfortunately +grave results that followed it, without having the moral and physical +portrait of its principal actor. + +M. Hippolyte Vautrot was a handsome man and knew it perfectly. He even +flattered himself on a certain resemblance to his patron, the Comte de +Camors. Partly from nature and partly from continual imitation, this +idea had some foundation; for he resembled the Count as much as a vulgar +man can resemble one of the highest polish. + +He was the son of a small confectioner in the provinces; had received +from his father an honestly acquired fortune, and had dissipated it in +the varied enterprises of his adventurous life. The influence of his +college, however, obtained for him a place in the Seminary. He left it +to come to Paris and study law; placed himself with an attorney; +attempted literature without success; gambled on the Bourse and lost +there. + +He had successively knocked with feverish hand at all the doors of +Fortune, and none had opened to him, because, though his ambition was +great, his capacity was limited. Subordinate positions, for which alone +he was fit, he did not want. He would have made a good tutor: he sighed +to be a poet. He would have been a respectable cure in the country: he +pined to be a bishop. Fitted for an excellent secretary, he aspired to +be a minister. In fine, he wished to be a great man, and consequently +was a failure as a little one. + +But he made himself a hypocrite; and that he found much easier. He +supported himself on the one hand by the philosophic society to be met at +Madame d'Oilly's; on the other, by the orthodox reunions of Madame de la +Roche-Jugan. + +By these influences he contrived to secure the secretaryship to the Comte +de Camors, who, in his general contempt of the human species, judged +Vautrot to be as good as any other. Now, familiarity with M. de Camors +was, morally, fearfully prejudicial to the secretary. It had, it is +true, the effect of stripping off his devout mask, which he seldom put on +before his patron; but it terribly increased in venom the depravity which +disappointment and wounded pride had secreted in his ulcerated heart. + +Of course no one will imagine that M. de Camors had the bad taste to +undertake deliberately the demoralization of his secretary; but contact, +intimacy, and example sufficed fully to do this. A secretary is always +more or less a confidant. He divines that which is not revealed to him; +and Vautrot could not be long in discovering that his patron's success +did not arise, morally, from too much principle--in politics, from excess +of conviction--in business, from a mania for scruples! The intellectual +superiority of Camors, refined and insolent as it was, aided to blind +Vautrot, showing him evil which was not only prosperous, but was also +radiant in grace and prestige. For these reasons he most profoundly +admired his master--admired, imitated, and execrated him! + +Camors professed for him and for his solemn airs an utter contempt, which +he did not always take the trouble to conceal; and Vautrot trembled when +some burning sarcasm fell from such a height on the old wound of his +vanity--that wound which was ever sore within him. What he hated most in +Camors was his easy and insolent triumph--his rapid and unmerited +fortune--all those enjoyments which life yielded him without pain, +without toil, without conscience--peacefully tasted! But what he hated +above all, was that this man had thus obtained these things while he had +vainly striven for them. + +Assuredly, in this Vautrot was not an exception. The same example +presented to a healthier mind would not have been much more salutary, +for we must tell those who, like M. de Camors, trample under foot all +principles of right, and nevertheless imagine that their secretaries, +their servants, their wives and their children, may remain virtuous-- +we must tell these that while they wrong others they deceive themselves! +And this was the case with Hippolyte Vautrot. + +He was about forty years of age--a period of life when men often become +very vicious, even when they have been passably virtuous up to that time. +He affected an austere and puritanical air; was the great man of the cafe +he frequented; and there passed judgment on his contemporaries and +pronounced them all inferior. He was difficult to please--in point of +virtue demanding heroism; in talent, genius; in art, perfection. + +His political opinions were those of Erostratus, with this difference-- +always in favor of the ancient--that Vautrot, after setting fire to the +temple, would have robbed it also. In short, he was a fool, but a +vicious fool as well. + +If M. de Camors, at the moment of leaving his luxurious study that +evening, had had the bad taste to turn and apply his eye to the keyhole, +he would have seen something greatly to astonish even him. + +He would have seen this "honorable man" approach a beautiful Italian +cabinet inlaid with ivory, turn over the papers in the drawers, and +finally open in the most natural manner a very complicated lock, the +key of which the Count at that moment had in his pocket. + +It was after this search that M. Vautrot repaired with his volume of +Faust to the boudoir of the young Countess, at whose feet we have already +left him too long. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +LIGHTNING FROM A CLEAR SKY + +Madame de Camors had closed her eyes to conceal her tears. She opened +them at the instant Vautrot seized her hand and called her "Poor angel!" + +Seeing the man on his knees, she could not comprehend it, and only +exclaimed, simply: + +"Are you mad, Vautrot?" + +"Yes, I am mad!" Vautrot threw his hair back with a romantic gesture +common to him, and, as he believed, to the poets-"Yes, I am mad with love +and with pity, for I see your sufferings, pure and noble victim!" + +The Countess only stared in blank astonishment. + +"Repose yourself with confidence," he continued, "on a heart that will be +devoted to you until death--a heart into which your tears now penetrate +to its most sacred depths!" + +The Countess did not wish her tears to penetrate to such a distance, so +she dried them. + +A man on his knees before a woman he adores must appear to her either +sublime or ridiculous. Unfortunately, the attitude of Vautrot, at once +theatrical and awkward, did not seem sublime to the Countess. To her +lively imagination it was irresistibly ludicrous. A bright gleam of +amusement illumined her charming countenance; she bit her lip to conceal +it, but it shone out of her eyes nevertheless. + +A man never should kneel unless sure of rising a conqueror. Otherwise, +like Vautrot, he exposes himself to be laughed at. + +"Rise, my good Vautrot," the Countess said, gravely. "This book has +evidently bewildered you. Go and take some rest and we will forget this; +only you must never forget yourself again in this manner." + +Vautrot rose. He was livid. + +"Madame la Comtesse," he said, bitterly, "the love of a great heart never +can be an offence. Mine at least would have been sincere; mine would +have been faithful: mine would not have been an infamous snare!" + +The emphasis of these words displayed so evident an intention, the +countenance of the young woman changed immediately. She moved uneasily +on her fauteuil. + +"What do you mean, Monsieur Vautrot?" + +"Nothing, Madame, which you do not know, I think," he replied, meaningly. + +She rose. + +"You shall explain your meaning immediately to me, Monsieur!" she +exclaimed; "or later, to my husband." + +"But your sadness, your tears," cried the secretary, in a tone of +admirable sincerity--"these made me sure you were not ignorant of it!" + +"Of what? You hesitate! Speak, man!" + +"I am not a wretch! I love you and pity you!--that is all;" and Vautrot +sighed deeply. + +"And why do you pity me?" She spoke haughtily; and though Vautrot had +never suspected this imperiousness of manner or of language, he reflected +hurriedly on the point at which he had arrived. More sure than ever of +success, after a moment he took from his pocket a folded letter. It was +one with which he had provided himself to confirm the suspicions of the +Countess, now awakened for the first time. + +In profound silence he unfolded and handed it to her. She hesitated a +moment, then seized it. A single glance recognized the writing, for she +had often exchanged notes with the Marquise de Campvallon. + +Words of the most burning passion terminated thus: + +"--Always a little jealous of Mary; half vexed at having given her to +you. For--she is pretty and--but I! I am beautiful, am I not, my +beloved?--and, above all, I adore you!" + +At the first word the Countess became fearfully pale. Finishing, she +uttered a deep groan; then she reread the letter and returned it to +Vautrot, as if unconscious of what she was doing. + +For a few seconds she remained motionless--petrified--her eyes fixed on +vacancy. A world seemed rolling down and crushing her heart. + +Suddenly she turned, passed with rapid steps into her boudoir; and +Vautrot heard the sound of opening and shutting drawers. A moment after +she reappeared with bonnet and cloak, and crossed the boudoir with the +same strong and rapid step. + +Vautrot, greatly terrified, rushed to stop her. + +"Madame!" he cried, throwing himself before her. + +She waved him aside with an imperious gesture of her hand; he trembled +and obeyed, and she left the boudoir. A moment later she was in the +Avenue des Champs Elysees, going toward Paris. + +It was now near midnight; cold, damp April weather, with the rain falling +in great drops. The few pedestrians still on the broad pavement turned +to follow with their eyes this majestic young woman, whose gait seemed +hastened by some errand of life or death. + +But in Paris nothing is surprising, for people witness all manner of +things there. Therefore the strange appearance of Madame de Camors did +not excite any extraordinary attention. A few men smiled and nodded; +others threw a few words of raillery at her--both were unheeded alike. +She traversed the Place de la Concorde with the same convulsive haste, +and passed toward the bridge. Arriving on it, the sound of the swollen +Seine rushing under the arches and against the pillars, caught her ear; +she stopped, leaned against the parapet, and gazed into the angry water; +then bowing her head she uttered a deep sigh, and resumed her rapid walk. + +In the Rue Vanneau she stopped before a brilliantly lighted mansion, +isolated from the adjoining houses by a garden wall. It was the dwelling +of the Marquise de Campvallon: Arrived there, the unfortunate child knew +not what to do, nor even why she had come. She had some vague design of +assuring herself palpably of her misfortune; to touch it with her finger; +or perhaps to find some reason, some pretext to doubt it. + +She dropped down on a stone bench against the garden wall, and hid her +face in both her hands, vainly striving to think. It was past midnight. +The streets were deserted: a shower of rain was falling over Paris, and +she was chilled to numbness. + +A sergent-de-ville passed, enveloped in his cape. He turned and stared +at the young woman; then took her roughly by the arm. + +"What are you doing here?" he said, brutally. + +She looked up at him with wondering eyes. + +"I do not know myself," she answered. + +The man looked more closely at her, discovered through all her confusion +a nameless refinement and the subtle perfume of purity. He took pity on +her. + +"But, Madame, you can not stay here," he rejoined in a softer voice. + +"No?" + +"You must have some great sorrow?" + +"Very great." + +"What is your name?" + +"The Comtesse de Camors," she said, simply. + +The man looked bewildered. + +"Will you tell me where you live, Madame?" + +She gave the address with perfect simplicity and perfect indifference. +She seemed to be thinking nothing of what she was saying. The man took a +few steps, then stopped and listened to the sound of wheels approaching. +The carriage was empty. He stopped it, opened the door, and requested +the Countess to get in. She did so quietly, and he placed himself beside +the driver. + +The Comte de Camors had just reached his house and heard with surprise, +from the lips of his wife's maid, the details of the Countess's +mysterious disappearance, when the bell rang violently. + +He rushed out and met his wife on the stairs. She had somewhat recovered +her calmness on the road, and as he interrogated her with a searching +glance, she made a ghastly effort to smile. + +"I was slightly ill and went out a little," she said. "I do not know the +streets and lost my way." + +Notwithstanding the improbability of the explanation, he did not +hesitate. He murmured a few soft words of reproach and placed her in the +hands of her maid, who removed her wet garments. + +During that time he called the sergent-de-ville, who remained in the +vestibule, and closely interrogated him. On learning in what street and +what precise spot he had found the Countess, her husband knew at once and +fully the whole truth. + +He went directly to his wife. She had retired and was trembling in every +limb. One of her hands was resting outside the coverlet. He rushed to +take it, but she withdrew it gently, with sad and resolute dignity. + +The simple gesture told him they were separated forever. + +By a tacit agreement, arranged by her and as tacitly accepted by him, +Madame de Camors became virtually a widow. + +He remained for some seconds immovable, his expression lost in the shadow +of the bed-hangings; then walked slowly across the chamber. The idea of +lying to defend himself never occurred to him. + +His line of conduct was already arranged--calmly, methodically. But two +blue circles had sunk around his eyes, and his face wore a waxen pallor. +His hands, joined behind his back, were clenched; and the ring he wore +sparkled with their tremulous movement. At intervals he seemed to cease +breathing, as he listened to the chattering teeth of his young wife. + +After half an hour he approached the bed. + +"Marie!" he said in a low voice. She turned upon him her eyes gleaming +with fever. + +"Marie, I am ignorant of what you know, and I shall not ask," he +continued. "I have been very criminal toward you, but perhaps less so +than you think. Terrible circumstances bound me with iron bands. Fate +ruled me! But I seek no palliation. Judge me as severely as you wish; +but I beg of you to calm yourself--preserve yourself! You spoke to me +this morning of your presentiments--of your maternal hopes. Attach +yourself to those thoughts, and you will always be mistress of your life. +As for myself, I shall be whatever you will--a stranger or a friend. But +now I feel that my presence makes you ill. I would leave you for the +present, but not alone. Do you wish Madame Jaubert to come to you +tonight?" + +"Yes!" she murmured, faintly. + +"I shall go for her; but it is not necessary to tell you that there are +confidences one must reserve even from one's dearest friends." + +"Except a mother?" She murmured the question with a supplicating agony +very painful to see. + +He grew still paler. After an instant, "Except a mother!" he said. +"Be it so!" + +She turned her face and buried it in the pillow. + +"Your mother arrives to-morrow, does she not?" She made an affirmative +motion of her head. "You can make your arrangements with her. I shall +accept everything." + +"Thank you," she replied, feebly. + +He left the room and went to find Madame Jaubert, whom he awakened, and +briefly told her that his wife had been seized with a severe nervous +attack--the effect of a chill. The amiable little woman ran hastily to +her friend and spent the night with her. + +But she was not the dupe of the explanation Camors had given her. Women +quickly understand one another in their grief. Nevertheless she asked no +confidences and received none; but her tenderness to her friend +redoubled. During the silence of that terrible night, the only service +she could render her was to make her weep. + +Nor did those laggard hours pass less bitterly for M. de Camors. He +tried to take no rest, but walked up and down his apartment until +daylight in a sort of frenzy. The distress of this poor child wounded +him to the heart. The souvenirs of the past rose before him and passed +in sad procession. Then the morrow would show him the crushed daughter +with her mother--and such a mother! Mortally stricken in all her best +illusions, in all her dearest beliefs, in all connected with the +happiness of life! + +He found that he still had in his heart lively feelings of pity; still +some remorse in his conscience. + +This weakness irritated him, and he denounced it to himself. Who had +betrayed him? This question agitated him to an equal degree; but from +the first instant he had not been deceived in this matter. + +The sudden grief and half-crazed conviction of his wife, her despairing +attitude and her silence, could only be explained by strong assurance and +certain revelation. After turning the matter over and over in his own +mind, he arrived at the conclusion that nothing could have thrown such +clear light into his life save the letters of Madame de Campvallon. + +He never wrote the Marquise, but could not prevent her writing to him; +for to her, as to all women, love without letters was incomplete. + +But the fault of the Count--inexcusable in a man of his tact--was in +preserving these letters. No one, however, is perfect, and he was an +artist. He delighted in these the 'chefs-d'oeuvre' of passionate +eloquence, was proud of inspiring them, and could not make up his mind to +burn or destroy them. He examined at once the secret drawer where he had +concealed them and, by certain signs, discovered the lock had been +tampered with. Nevertheless no letter was missing; the arrangement of +them alone had been disturbed. + +His suspicions at once reverted to Vautrot, whose scruples he suspected +were slight; and in the morning they were confirmed beyond doubt by a +letter from the secretary. In fact Vautrot, after passing on his part a +most wretched night, did not feel his nerves equal in the morning to +meeting the reception the Count possibly had in waiting for him. His +letter was skilfully penned to put suspicion to sleep if it had not been +fully roused, and if the Countess had not betrayed him. + +It announced his acceptance of a lucrative situation suddenly offered him +in a commercial house in London. He was obliged to decide at once, and +to sail that same morning for fear of losing an opportunity which could +not occur again. It concluded with expressions of the liveliest +gratitude and regret. + +Camors could not reach his secretary to strangle him; so he resolved to +pay him. He not only sent him all arrears of salary, but a large sum in +addition as a testimonial of his sympathy and good wishes. + +This, however, was a simple precaution; for the Count apprehended nothing +more from the venomous reptile so far beneath him, after he had once +shaken it off. Seeing him deprived of the only weapon he could use +against him, he felt safe. Besides, he had lost the only interest he +could desire to subserve, for he knew M. Vautrot had done him the +compliment of courting his Wife. + +And he really esteemed him a little less low, after discovering this +gentlemanly taste! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ONE GLEAM OF HOPE + +It required on the part of M. de Camors, this morning, an exertion of all +his courage to perform his duty as a gentleman in going to receive Madame +de Tecle at the station. But courage had been for some time past his +sole remaining virtue; and this at least he sought never to lose. He +received, then, most gracefully his mother-in-law, robed in her mourning +attire. She was surprised at not seeing her daughter with him. He +informed her that she had been a little indisposed since the preceding +evening. Notwithstanding the precautions he took in his language and by +his smile, he could not prevent Madame de Tecle from feeling a lively +alarm. + +He did not pretend, however, entirely to reassure her. Under his +reserved and measured replies, she felt the presentiment of some +disaster. After first pressing him with many questions, she kept silent +during the rest of the drive. + +The young Countess, to spare her mother the first shock, had quitted her +bed; and the poor child had even put a little rouge on her pale cheeks. +M. de Camors himself opened for Madame de Tecle the door of her +daughter's chamber, and then withdrew. + +The young woman raised herself with difficulty from her couch, and her +mother took her in her arms. + +All that passed between them at first was a silent interchange of mutual +caresses. Then the mother seated herself near her daughter, drew her +head on her bosom, and looked into the depths of her eyes. + +"What is the matter?" she said, sadly. + +"Oh, nothing--nothing hopeless! only you must love your little Mary more +than ever. Will you not?" + +"Yes; but why?" + +"I must not worry you; and I must not wrong myself either--you know why!" + +"Yes; but I implore you, my darling, to tell me." + +"Very well; I will tell you everything; but, mother, you must be brave as +I am." + +She buried her head lower still on her mother's breast, and recounted to +her, in a low voice, without looking up once, the terrible revelation +which had been made to her, and which her husband's avowal had confirmed. + +Madame de Tecle did not once interrupt her during this cruel recital. +She only imprinted a kiss on her hair from time to time. The young +Countess, who did not dare to raise her eyes to her, as if she were +ashamed of another's crime, might have imagined that she had exaggerated +the gravity of her misfortune, since her mother had received the +confidence with so much calmness. But the calmness of Madame de Tecle at +this terrible moment was that of the martyrs; for all that could have +been suffered by the Christians under the claws of the tiger, or on the +rack of the torturer, this mother was suffering at the hands of her best- +beloved daughter. Her beautiful pale face--her large eyes upturned to +heaven, like those that artists give to the pure victims kneeling in the +Roman circus--seemed to ask God whether He really had any consolation for +such torture. + +When she had heard all, she summoned strength to smile at her daughter, +who at last looked up to her with an expression of timid uncertainty-- +embracing her more tightly still. + +"Well, my darling," said she, at last, "it is a great affliction, it is +true. You are right, notwithstanding; there is nothing to despair of." + +"Do you really believe so?" + +"Certainly. There is some inconceivable mystery under all this; but be +assured that the evil is not so terrible as it appears." + +"My poor mother! but he has acknowledged it?" + +"I am better pleased that he has acknowledged it. That proves he has yet +some pride, and that some good is left in his soul. Then, too, he feels +very much afflicted--he suffers as much as we. Think of that. Let us +think of the future, my darling." + +They clasped each other's hands, and smiled at each other to restrain the +tears which filled the eyes of both. After a few minutes--"I wish much, +my child," said Madame de Tecle, "to repose for half an hour; and then +also I wish to arrange my toilet." + +"I will conduct you to your chamber. Oh, I can walk! I feel a great +deal better." + +Madame de Camors took her mother's arm and conducted her as far as the +door of the chamber prepared for her. On the threshold she left her. + +"Be sensible," said Madame de Tecle, turning and giving her another +smile. + +"And you also," said the young woman, whose voice failed her. + +Madame de Tecle, as soon as the door was closed, raised her clasped hands +toward heaven; then, falling on her knees before the bed, she buried her +head in it, and wept despairingly. + +The library of M. de Camors was contiguous to this chamber. He had been +walking with long strides up and down this corridor, expecting every +moment to see Madame de Tecle enter. As the time passed, he sat himself +down and tried to read, but his thoughts wandered. His ear eagerly +caught, against his will, the slightest sounds in the house. If a foot +seemed approaching him, he rose suddenly and tried to compose his +countenance. When the door of the neighboring chamber was opened, his +agony was redoubled. He distinguished the whispering of the two voices; +then, an instant after, the dull fall of Madame de Tecle upon the carpet; +then her despairing sobs. M. de Camors threw from him violently the book +which he was forcing himself to read, and, placing his elbows on the +bureau which was before him, held, for a long time, his pale brow +tightened in his contracted hands. When the sound of sobs abated little +by little, and then ceased, he breathed freer. About midday he received +this note: + + "If you will permit me to take my daughter to the country for a few + days, I shall be grateful to you. + + "ELISE DE TECLE." + + +He returned immediately this simple reply: + + "You can do nothing of which I do not approve to-day and always. + CAMORS." + +Madame de Tecle, in fact, having consulted the inclination and the +strength of her daughter, had determined to remove her without delay, +if possible, from the impressions of the spot where she had suffered so +severely from the presence of her husband, and from the unfortunate +embarrassment of their situation. She desired also to meditate in +solitude, in order to decide what course to take under such unexampled +circumstances. Finally, she had not the courage to see M. de Camors +again--if she ever could see him again--until some time had elapsed. +It was not without anxiety that she awaited the reply of the Count to the +request she had addressed him. + +In the midst of the troubled confusion of her ideas, she believed him +capable of almost anything; and she feared everything from him. The +Count's note reassured her. She hastened to read it to her daughter; +and both of them, like two poor lost creatures who cling to the smallest +twig, remarked with pleasure the tone of respectful abandonment with +which he had reposed their destinies in their own hands. He spent his +whole day at the session of the Corps Legislatif; and when he returned, +they had departed. + +Madame de Camors woke up the next morning in the chamber where her +girlhood had passed. The birds of spring were singing under her windows +in the old ancestral gardens. As she recognized these friendly voices, +so familiar to her infancy, her heart melted; but several hours' sleep +had restored to her her natural courage. She banished the thoughts which +had weakened her, rose, and went to surprise her mother at her first +waking. Soon after, both of them were walking together on the terrace of +lime-trees. It was near the end of April; the young, scented verdure +spread itself out beneath the sunbeams; buzzing flies already swarmed in +the half-opened roses, in the blue pyramids of lilacs, and in the +clusters of pink clover. After a few turns made in silence in the midst +of this fresh and enchanting scene, the young Countess, seeing her mother +absorbed in reverie, took her hand. + +"Mother," she said, "do not be sad. Here we are as formerly--both of us +in our little nook. We shall be happy." + +The mother looked at her, took her head and kissed her fervently on the +forehead. + +"You are an angel!" she said. + +It must be confessed that their uncle, Des Rameures, notwithstanding the +tender affection he showed them, was rather in the way. He never had +liked Camors; he had accepted him as a nephew as he had accepted him for +a deputy--with more of resignation than enthusiasm. His antipathy was +only too well justified by the event; but it was necessary to keep him in +ignorance of it. He was an excellent man; but rough and blunt. The +conduct of Camors, if he had but suspected it, would surely have urged +him to some irreparable quarrel. Therefore Madame de Tecle and her +daughter, in his presence, were compelled to make only half utterances, +and maintain great reserve--as much as if he had been a stranger. This +painful restraint would have become insupportable had not the young +Countess's health, day by day, assumed a less doubtful character, and +furnished them with excuses for their preoccupation, their disquiet, and +their retired life. + +Madame de Tecle, who reproached herself with the misfortunes of her +daughter, as her own work, and who condemned herself with an unspeakable +bitterness, did not cease to search, in the midst of those ruins of the +past and of the present, some reparation, some refuge for the future. +The first idea which presented itself to her imagination had been to +separate absolutely, and at any cost, the Countess from her husband. +Under the first shock of fright which the duplicity of Camors had +inflicted upon her, she could not dwell without horror on the thought of +replacing her child at the side of such a man. But this separation- +supposing they could obtain it, through the consent of M. de Camors, or +the authority of the law--would give to the public a secret scandal, and +might entail redoubled catastrophes. Were it not for these consequences +she would, at least, have dug between Madame de Camors and her husband an +eternal abyss. Madame de Tecle did not desire this. By force of +reflection she had finally seen through the character of M. de Camors in +one day--not probably more favorably, but more truly. Madame de Tecle, +although a stranger to all wickedness, knew the world and knew life, and +her penetrating intelligence divined yet more than she knew certainly. +She then very nearly understood what species of moral monster M. de +Camors was. Such as she understood him, she hoped something from him +still. However, the condition of the Countess offered her some +consolation in the future, which she ought not to risk depriving herself +of; and God might permit that this pledge of this unfortunate union might +some day reunite the severed ties. + +Madame de Tecle, in communicating her reflections, her hopes, and her +fears to her daughter, added: "My poor child, I have almost lost the +right to give you counsel; but I tell you, were it myself I should act +thus." + +"Very well, mother, I shall do so," replied the young woman. + +"Reflect well on it first, for the situation which you are about to +accept will have much bitterness in it; but we have only a choice of +evils." + +At the close of this conversation, and eight days after their arrival in +the country, Madame de Tecle wrote M. de Camors a letter, which she read +to her daughter, who approved it. + + "I understood you to say, that you would restore to your wife her + liberty if she wished to resume it. She neither wishes, nor could + she accept it. Her first duty is to the child which will bear your + name. It does not depend on her to keep this name stainless. She + prays you, then, to reserve for her a place in your house. You need + not fear any trouble or any reproach from her. She and I know how + to suffer in silence. Nevertheless, I supplicate you to be true to + her--to spare her. Will you leave her yet a few days in peace, then + recall, or come for her?" + +This letter touched M. de Camors deeply. Impassive as he was, it can +easily be imagined that after the departure of his wife he had not +enjoyed perfect ease of mind. Uncertainty is the worst of all evils, +because everything may be apprehended. Deprived entirely of all news for +eight days, there was no possible catastrophe he did not fancy floating +over his head. He had the haughty courage to conceal from Madame de +Campvallon the event that had occurred in his house, and to leave her +undisturbed while he himself was sleepless for many nights. It was by +such efforts of energy and of indomitable pride that this strange man +preserved within his own consciousness a proud self-esteem. The letter +of Madame de Tecle came to him like a deliverance. He sent the following +brief reply: + + "I accept your decision with gratitude and respect. The resolution + of your daughter is generous. I have yet enough of generosity left + myself to comprehend this. I am forever, whether you wish it or + not, her friend and yours. + + "CAMORS." + +A week later, having taken the precaution of announcing his intention, he +arrived one evening at Madame de Tecle's. + +His young wife kept her chamber. They had taken care to have no +witnesses, but their meeting was less painful and less embarrassing than +they apprehended. + +Madame de Tecle and her daughter found in his courteous reply a gleam of +nobleness which inspired them with a shadow of confidence. Above all, +they were proud, and more averse to noisy scenes than women usually are. +They received him coldly, then, but calmly. On his part, he displayed +toward them in his looks and language a subdued seriousness and sadness, +which did not lack either dignity or grace. + +The conversation having dwelt for some time on the health of the +Countess, turned on current news, on local incidents, and took, little by +little, an easy and ordinary tone. M. de Camors, under the pretext of +slight fatigue, retired as he had entered--saluting both the ladies, but +without attempting to take their hands. Thus was inaugurated, between +Madame de Camors and her husband, the new, singular relation which should +hereafter be the only tie in their common life. + +The world might easily be silenced, because M. de Camors never had been +very demonstrative in public toward his wife, and his courteous but +reserved manner toward her did not vary from his habitual demeanor. He +remained two days at Reuilly. + +Madame de Tecle vainly waited for these two days for a slight +explanation, which she did not wish to demand, but which she hoped for. + +What were the terrible circumstances which had overruled the will of M. +de Camors, to the point of making him forget the most sacred sentiments? +When her thoughts plunged into this dread mystery, they never approached +the truth. M. de Camors might have committed this base action under the +menace of some great danger to save the fortune, the honor, probably the +life of Madame de Campvallon. This, though a poor excuse in the mother's +eyes, still was an extenuation. Probably also he had in his heart, while +marrying her daughter, the resolution to break off this fatal liaison, +which he had again resumed against his will, as often happens. On all +these painful points she dwelt after the departure of M. de Camors, as +she had previous to his arrival; confined to her own conjectures, when +she suggested to her daughter the most consolatory appearances. It was +agreed upon that Madame de Camors should remain in the country until her +health was reestablished: only her husband expressed the desire that she +should reside ordinarily on his estate at Reuilly, the chateau on which +had recently been restored with the greatest taste. + +Madame de Tecle felt the propriety of this arrangement. She herself +abandoned the old habitation of the Comte de Tecle, to install herself +near her daughter in the modest chateau which belonged to the maternal +ancestors of M. de Camors, and which we have already described in another +place, with its solemn avenue, its balustrades of granite, its labyrinths +of hornbeams and the black fishpond, shaded with poplars. + +Both dwelt there in the midst of their sweetest and most pleasant +souvenirs; for this little chateau, so long deserted--the neglected woods +which surrounded it the melancholy piece of water--the solitary nymph all +this had been their particular domain, the favorite framework of their +reveries, the legend of their infancy, the poetry of their youth. It was +doubtless a great grief to revisit again, with tearful eyes and wounded +hearts and heads bowed by the storms of life, the familiar paths where +they once knew happiness and peace. But, nevertheless, all these dear +confidants of past joys, of blasted hopes, of vanished dreams--if they +are mournful witnesses they are also friends. We love them; and they +seem to love us. Thus these two poor women, straying amid these woods, +these waters, these solitudes, bearing with them their incurable wounds, +fancied they heard voices which pitied them and breathed a healing +sympathy. The most cruel trial reserved to Madame de Camors in the life +which she had the courage and judgment to adopt, was assuredly the duty +of again seeing the Marquise de Campvallon, and preserving with her such +relations as might blind the eyes of the General and of the world. + +She resigned herself even to this; but she desired to defer as long as +possible the pain of such a meeting. Her health supplied her with a +natural excuse for not going, during that summer, to Campvallon, and also +for keeping herself confined to her own room the day the Marquise visited +Reuilly, accompanied by the General. + +Madame de Tecle received her with her usual kindness. Madame de +Campvallon, whom M. de Camors had already warned, did not trouble herself +much; for the best women, like the worst, excel in comedy, and everything +passed off without the General having conceived the shadow of a +suspicion. + +The fine season had passed. M. de Camors had visited the country several +times, strengthening at every interview the new tone of his relations +with his wife. He remained at Reuilly, as was his custom, during the +month of August; and under the pretext of the health of the Countess, did +not multiply his visits that year to Campvallon. On his return to Paris, +he resumed his old habits, and also his careless egotism, for he +recovered little by little from the blow he had received. He began to +forget his sufferings and those of his wife; and even to felicitate +himself secretly on the turn that chance had given to her situation. He +had obtained the advantage and had no longer any annoyance. His wife had +been enlightened, and he no longer deceived her--which was a comfortable +thing for him. As for her, she would soon be a mother, she would have a +plaything, a consolation; and he designed redoubling his attentions and +regards to her. + +She would be happy, or nearly so; as much so as two thirds of the women +in the world. + +Everything was for the best. He gave anew the reins to his car and +launched himself afresh on his brilliant career-proud of his royal +mistress, and foreseeing in the distance, to crown his life, the triumphs +of ambition and power. Pleading various doubtful engagements, he went to +Reuilly only once during the autumn; but he wrote frequently, and Madame +de Tecle sent him in return brief accounts of his wife's health. + +One morning toward the close of November, he received a despatch which +made him understand, in telegraphic style, that his presence was +immediately required at Reuilly, if he wished to be present at the birth +of his son. + +Whenever social duties or courtesy were required of M. de Camors, he +never hesitated. Seeing he had not a moment to spare if he wished to +catch the train which left that morning, he jumped into a cab and drove +to the station. His servant would join him the next morning. + +The station at Reuilly was several miles distant from the house. +In the confusion no arrangement had been made to receive him on his +arrival, and he was obliged to content himself with making the +intermediate journey in a heavy country-wagon. The bad condition of the +roads was a new obstacle, and it was three o'clock in the morning when +the Count, impatient and travel-worn, jumped out of the little cart +before the railings of his avenue. He strode toward the house under the +dark and silent dome of the tufted elms. He was in the middle of the +avenue when a sharp cry rent the air. His heart bounded in his breast: +he suddenly stopped and listened attentively. The cry echoed through the +stillness of the night. One would have deemed it the despairing shriek +of a human being under the knife of a murderer. + +These dolorous sounds gradually ceasing, he continued his walk with +greater haste, and only heard the hollow and muffled sound of his own +beating heart. At the moment he saw the lights of the chateau, another +agonized cry, more shrill and alarming than the first, arose. + +This time Camors stopped. Notwithstanding that the natural explanation +of these agonized cries presented itself to his mind, he was troubled. + +It is not unusual that men like him, accustomed to a purely artificial +life, feel a strange surprise when one of the simplest laws of nature +presents itself all at once before them with a violence as imperious and +irresistible as a divine law. Camors soon reached the house, and +receiving some information from the servants, notified Madame de Tecle of +his arrival. Madame de Tecle immediately descended from her daughter's +room. On seeing her convulsed features and streaming eyes, "Are you +alarmed?" Camors asked, quickly. + +"Alarmed? No," she replied; "but she suffers much, and it is very long." + +"Can I see her?" + +There was a moment's silence. + +Madame de Tecle, whose forehead was contracted, lowered her eyes, then +raised them. "If you insist on it," she said. + +"I insist on nothing! If you believe my presence would do her harm--" +The voice of Camors was not as steady as usual. + +"I am afraid," replied Madame de Tecle, "that it would agitate her +greatly; and if you will have confidence in me, I shall be much obliged +to you." + +"But at least," said Camors, "she might probably be glad to know that I +have come, and that I am here--that I have not abandoned her." + +"I shall tell her." + +"It is well." He saluted Madame de Tecle with a slight movement of his +head, and turned away immediately. + +He entered the garden at the back of the house, and walked abstractedly +from alley to alley. We know that generally the role of men in the +situation in which M. de Camors at this moment was placed is not very +easy or very glorious; but the common annoyance of this position was +particularly aggravated to him by painful reflections. Not only was his +assistance not needed, but it was repelled; not only was he far from a +support on the contrary, he was but an additional danger and sorrow. +In this thought was a bitterness which he keenly felt. His native +generosity, his humanity, shuddered as he heard the terrible cries and +accents of distress which succeeded each other without intermission. +He passed some heavy hours in the damp garden this cold night, and the +chilly morning which succeeded it. Madame de Tecle came frequently to +give him the news. Near eight o'clock he saw her approach him with a +grave and tranquil air. + +"Monsieur," she said, "it is a boy." + +"I thank you. How is she?" + +"Well. I shall request you to go and see her shortly." + +Half an hour later she reappeared on the threshold of the vestibule, and +called: + +"Monsieur de Camors!" and when he approached her, she added, with an +emotion which made her lips tremble: + +"She has been uneasy for some time past. She is afraid that you have +kept terms with her in order to take the child. If ever you have such a +thought--not now, Monsieur. Have you?" + +"You are severe, Madame," he replied in a hoarse voice. + +She breathed a sigh. + +"Come!" she said, and led the way upstairs. She opened the door of the +chamber and permitted him to enter it alone. + +His first glance caught the eyes of his young wife fixed upon him. She +was half sitting up in bed, supported by pillows, and whiter than the +curtains whose shadow enveloped her. She held clasped to her breast her +sleeping infant, which was already covered, like its mother, with lace +and pink ribbons. From the depths of this nest she fixed on her husband +her large eyes, sparkling with a kind of savage light--an expression in +which the sentiment of triumph was blended with one of profound terror. +He stopped within a few feet of the bed, and saluted her with his most +winning smile. + +"I have pitied you very much, Marie," he said. + +"I thank you!" she replied, in a voice as feeble as a sigh. + +She continued to regard him with the same suppliant and affrighted air. + +"Are you a little happier now?" he continued. + +The glittering eye of the young woman was fastened on the calm face of +her infant. Then turning toward Camors: + +"You will not take him from me?" + +"Never!" he replied. + +As he pronounced these words his eyes were suddenly dimmed, and he was +astonished himself to feel a tear trickling down his cheek. He +experienced a singular feeling, he bent over, seized the folds of the +sheet, raised them to his lips, rose immediately and left the room. + +In this terrible struggle, too often victorious against nature and truth, +the man was for once vanquished. But it would be idle to imagine that a +character of this temperament and of this obduracy could transform +itself, or could be materially modified under the stroke of a few +transitory emotions, or of a few nervous shocks. M. de Camors rallied +quickly from his weakness, if even he did not repent it. He spent eight +days at Reuilly, remarking in the countenance of Madame de Tecle and in +her manner toward him, more ease than formerly. + +On his return to Paris, with thoughtful care he made some changes in the +interior arrangement of his mansion. This was to prepare for the +Countess and her son, who were to join him a few weeks later, larger and +more comfortable apartments, in which they were to be installed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE REPTILE TURNS TO STING + +When Madame de Camors came to Paris and entered the home of her husband, +she there experienced the painful impressions of the past, and the sombre +preoccupations of the future; but she brought with her, although in a +fragile form, a powerful consolation. + +Assailed by grief, and ever menaced by new emotion she was obliged to +renounce the nursing of her child; but, nevertheless, she never left him, +for she was jealous even of his nurse. She at least wished to be loved +by him. She loved him with an infinite passion. She loved him because +he was her own son and of her blood. He was the price of her misfortune +--of her pain. She loved him because he was her only hope of human +happiness hereafter. She loved him because she found him as beautiful as +the day. And it was true he was so; for he resembled his father--and she +loved him also on that account. She tried to concentrate her heart and +all her thoughts on this dear creature, and at first she thought she had +succeeded. She was surprised at herself, at her own tranquillity, when +she saw Madame de Campvallon; for her lively imagination had exhausted, +in advance, all the sadness which her new existence could contain; but +when she had lost the kind of torpor into which excessive suffering had +plunged her--when her maternal sensations were a little quieted by +custom, her woman's heart recovered itself in the mother's. She could +not prevent herself from renewing her passionate interest in her graceful +though terrible husband. + +Madame de Tecle went to pass two months with her daughter in Paris, and +then returned to the country. + +Madame de Camors wrote to her, in the beginning of the following spring, +a letter which gave her an exact idea of the sentiments of the young +woman at the time, and of the turn her domestic life had taken. After a +long and touching detail of the health and beauty of her son Robert, she +added: + + "His father is always to me what you have seen him. He spares me + everything he can spare me, but evidently the fatality he has obeyed + continues under the same form. Notwithstanding, I do not despair of + the future, my beloved mother. Since I saw that tear in his eye, + confidence has entered my poor heart. Be assured, my adored mother, + that he will love me one day, if it is only through our child, whom + he begins quietly to love without himself perceiving it. At first, + as you remember, this infant was no more to him than I was. When he + surprised him on my knee, he would give him a cold kiss, say, ' + Good-morning, Monsieur,' and withdraw. It is just one month--I have + forgotten the date--it was, 'Good-morning, my son--how pretty you + are!' You see the progress; and do you know, finally, what passed + yesterday? I entered Robert's room noiselessly; the door was open-- + what did I behold, my mother! Monsieur de Camors, with his head + resting on the pillow of the cradle, and laughing at this little + creature, who smiled back at him! I assure you, he blushed and + excused himself: 'The door was open,' he said, 'and I came in.' + I assured him that he had done nothing wrong. + + "Monsieur de Camors is very odd sometimes. He occasionally passes + the limits which were agreed upon as necessary. He is not only + polite, but takes great trouble. Alas! once these courtesies would + have fallen upon my heart like roses from heaven--now they annoy me + a little. Last evening, for example, I sat down, as is my custom, + at my piano after dinner, he reading a journal at the chimney- + corner--his usual hour for going out passed. Behold me, much + surprised. I threw a furtive glance, between two bars of music, + at him: he was not reading, he was not sleeping--he was dreaming. + 'Is there anything new in the Journal?'--'No, no; nothing at all.' + Another two or three bars of music, and I entered my son's room. + He was in bed and asleep. I devoured him with kisses and returned-- + Monsieur de Camors was still there. And now, surprise after + surprise: 'Have you heard from your mother? What does she say? + Have you seen Madame Jaubert? Have you read this review?' Just + like one who sought to open a conversation. Once I would willingly + have paid with my blood for one of these evenings, and now he offers + them to me, when I know not what to do with them. Notwithstanding I + remember the advice of my mother, I do not wish to discourage these + symptoms. I adopt a festive manner. I light four extra waxlights. + I try to be amiable without being coquettish; for coquetry here + would be shameful--would it not, my dear mother? Finally, we + chatted together; he sang two airs to the piano; I played two + others; he painted the design of a little Russian costume for Robert + to wear next year; then talked politics to me. This enchanted me. + He explained to me his situation in the Chamber. Midnight arrived; + I became remarkably silent; he rose: 'May I press your hand in + friendship?'--' Mon Dieu! yes.'--'Good-night, Marie.'--' + Goodnight.' Yes, my mother, I read your thoughts. There is danger + here! but you have shown it to me; and I believe also, I should + have perceived it by myself. Do not fear, then. I shall be happy + at his good inclinations, and shall encourage them to the best of my + power; but I shall not be in haste to perceive a return, on his + part, toward virtue and myself. I see here in society arrangements + which revolt me. In the midst of my misfortune I remain pure and + proud; but I should fall into the deepest contempt of myself if I + should ever permit myself to be a plaything for Monsieur de Camors. + A man so fallen does not raise himself in a day. If ever he really + returns to me, it will be necessary for me to have much proof. I + never have ceased to love him, and probably he doubts it: but he + will learn that if this sad love can break my heart it can never + abase it; and it is unnecessary to tell my mother that I shall live + and die courageously in my widow's robe. + + "There are other symptoms which also strike me. He is more + attentive to me when she is present. This may probably be arranged + between them, but I doubt it. The other evening we were at the + General's. She was waltzing, and Monsieur de Camors, as a rare + favor, came and seated himself at your daughter's side. In passing + before us she threw him a look--a flash. I felt the flame. Her + blue eyes glared ferociously. He perceived it. I have not + assuredly much tenderness for her. She is my most cruel enemy; but + if ever she suffers what she has made me suffer-yes, I believe I + shall pity her. My mother, I embrace you. I embrace our dear lime- + trees. I taste their young leaves as in olden times. Scold me as + in old times, and love, above all things, as in old times, your + MARIE." + +This wise young woman, matured by misfortune, observed everything saw +everything--and exaggerated nothing. She touched, in this letter, on the +most delicate points in the household of M. de Camors--and even of his +secret thoughts--with accurate justice. For Camors was not at all +converted, nor near being so; but it would be belying human nature to +attribute to his heart, or that of any other human being, a supernatural +impassibility. If the dark and implacable theories which M. de Camors +had made the law of his existence could triumph absolutely, this would be +true. The trials he had passed through did not reform him, they only +staggered him. He did not pursue his paths with the same firmness; he +strayed from his programme. He pitied one of his victims, and, as one +wrong always entails another, after pitying his wife, he came near loving +his child. These two weaknesses had glided into his petrified soul as +into a marble fount, and there took root-two imperceptible roots, +however. The child occupied him not more than a few moments every day. +He thought of him, however, and would return home a little earlier than +usual each day than was his habit, secretly attracted by the smile of +that fresh face. The mother was for him something more. Her sufferings, +her youthful heroism had touched him. She became somebody in his eyes. +He discovered many merits in her. He perceived she was remarkably well- +informed for a woman, and prodigiously so for a French woman. She +understood half a word--knew a great deal--and guessed at the remainder. +She had, in short, that blending of grace and solidity which gives to the +conversation of a woman of cultivated mind an incomparable charm. +Habituated from infancy to her mental superiority as to her pretty face, +she carried the one as unconsciously as the other. She devoted herself +to the care of his household as if she had no idea beyond it. There were +domestic details which she would not confide to servants. She followed +them into her salons, into her boudoirs, a blue feather-brush in hand, +lightly dusting the 'etageres', the 'jardinieres', the 'consoles'. She +arranged one piece of furniture and removed another, put flowers in a +vase-gliding about and singing like a bird in a cage. + +Her husband sometimes amused himself in following her with his eye in +these household occupations. She reminded him of the princesses one sees +in the ballet of the opera, reduced by some change of fortune to a +temporary servitude, who dance while putting the house in order. + +"How you love order, Marie!" said he to her one day. + +"Order" she said, gravely, "is the moral beauty of things." + +She emphasized the word things--and, fearing she might be considered +pretentious, she blushed. + +She was a lovable creature, and it can be understood that she might have +many attractions, even for her husband. Yet though he had not for one +instant the idea of sacrificing to her the passion that ruled his life, +it is certain, however, that his wife pleased him as a charming friend, +which she was, and probably as a charming forbidden fruit, which she also +was. Two or three years passed without making any sensible change in the +relations of the different persons in this history. This was the most +brilliant phase and probably the happiest in the life of M. de Camors. + +His marriage had doubled his fortune, and his clever speculations +augmented it every day. He had increased the retinue of his house in +proportion to his new resources. In the region of elegant high life he +decidedly held the sceptre. His horses, his equipages, his artistic +tastes, even his toilet, set the law. + +His liaison with Madame de Campvallon, without being proclaimed, was +suspected, and completed his prestige. At the same time his capacity as +a political man began to be acknowledged. He had spoken in some recent +debate, and his maiden speech was a triumph. His prosperity was great. +It was nevertheless true that M. de Camors did not enjoy it without +trouble. Two black spots darkened the sky above his head, and might +contain destroying thunder. His life was eternally suspended on a +thread. + +Any day General Campvallon might be informed of the intrigue which +dishonored him, either through some selfish treason, or through some +public rumor, which might begin to spread. Should this ever happen, he +knew the General never would submit to it; and he had determined never to +defend his life against his outraged friend. + +This resolve, firmly decided upon in his secret soul, gave him the last +solace to his conscience. All his future destiny was thus at the mercy +of an accident most likely to happen. The second cause of his +disquietude was the jealous hatred of Madame Campvallon toward the young +rival she had herself selected. After jesting freely on this subject at +first, the Marquise had, little by little, ceased even to allude to it. + +M. de Camors could not misunderstand certain mute symptoms, and was +sometimes alarmed at this silent jealousy. Fearing to exasperate this +most violent feminine sentiment in so strong a soul, he was compelled day +by day to resort to tricks which wounded his pride, and probably his +heart also; for his wife, to whom his new conduct was inexplicable, +suffered intensely, and he saw it. + +One evening in the month of May, 1860, there was a reception at the Hotel +Campvallon. The Marquise, before leaving for the country, was making her +adieus to a choice group of her friends. Although this fete professed to +be but an informal gathering, she had organized it with her usual +elegance and taste. A kind of gallery, composed of verdure and of +flowers, connected the salon with the conservatory at the other end of +the garden. + +This evening proved a very painful one to the Comtesse de Camors. Her +husband's neglect of her was so marked, his assiduities to the Marquise +so persistent, their mutual understanding so apparent, that the young +wife felt the pain of her desertion to an almost insupportable degree. +She took refuge in the conservatory, and finding herself alone there, she +wept. + +A few moments later, M. de Camors, not seeing her in the salon, became +uneasy. She saw him, as he entered the conservatory, in one of those +instantaneous glances by which women contrive to see without looking. +She pretended to be examining the flowers, and by a strong effort of will +dried her tears. Her husband advanced slowly toward her. + +"What a magnificent camellia!" he said to her. "Do you know this +variety?" + +"Very well," she replied; "this is the camellia that weeps." + +He broke off the flowers. + +"Marie," he said, "I never have been much addicted to sentimentality, but +this flower I shall keep." + +She turned upon him her astonished eyes. + +"Because I love it," he added. + +The noise of a step made them both turn. It was Madame de Campvallon, +who was crossing the conservatory on the arm of a foreign diplomat. + +"Pardon me," she said, smiling; "I have disturbed you! How awkward of +me!" and she passed out. + +Madame de Camors suddenly grew very red, and her husband very pale. The +diplomat alone did not change color, for he comprehended nothing. The +young Countess, under pretext of a headache, which her face did not +belie, returned home immediately, promising her husband to send back the +carriage for him. Shortly after, the Marquise de Campvallon, obeying a +secret sign from M. de Camors, rejoined him in the retired boudoir, which +recalled to them both the most culpable incident of their lives. She sat +down beside him on the divan with a haughty nonchalance. + +"What is it?" she said. + +"Why do you watch me?" asked Camors. "It is unworthy of you!" + +"Ah! an explanation? a disagreeable thing. It is the first between us-- +at least let us be quick and complete." + +She spoke in a voice of restrained passion--her eyes fixed on her foot, +which she twisted in her satin shoe. + +"Well, tell the truth," she said. "You are in love with your wife." + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Unworthy of you, I repeat." + +"What, then, mean these delicate attentions to her?" + +"You ordered me to marry her, but not to kill her, I suppose?" + +She made a strange movement of her eyebrows, which he did not see, for +neither of them looked at the other. After a pause she said: + +"She has her son! She has her mother! I have no one but you. Hear me, +my friend; do not make me jealous, for when I am so, ideas torment me +which terrify even myself. Wait an instant. Since we are on this +subject, if you love her, tell me so. You know me--you know I am not +fond of petty artifices. Well, I fear so much the sufferings and +humiliations of which I have a presentiment, I am so much afraid of +myself, that I offer you, and give you, your liberty. I prefer this +horrible grief, for it is at least open and noble! It is no snare that I +set for you, believe me! Look at me. I seldom weep." The dark blue of +her eyes was bathed in tears. "Yes, I am sincere; and I beg of you, if +it is so, profit by this moment, for if you let it escape, you never will +find it again." + +M. de Camors was little prepared for this decided proposal. The idea of +breaking off his liaison with the Marquise never had entered his mind. +This liaison seemed to him very reconcilable with the sentiments with +which his wife could inspire him. + +It was at the same time the greatest wickedness and the perpetual danger +of his life, but it was also the excitement, the pride, and the +magnificent voluptuousness of it. He shuddered. The idea of losing the +love which had cost him so dear exasperated him. He cast a burning +glance on this beautiful face, refined and exalted as that of a warring +archangel. + +"My life is yours," he said. "How could you have dreamed of breaking +ties like ours? How could you have alarmed yourself, or even thought of +my feelings toward another? I do what honor and humanity command me-- +nothing more. As for you--I love you--understand that." + +"Is it true?" she asked. "It is true! I believe you!" + +She took his hand, and gazed at him a moment without speaking--her eye +dimmed, her bosom palpitating; then suddenly rising, she said, "My +friend, you know I have guests!" and saluting him with a smile, left the +boudoir. + +This scene, however, left a disagreeable impression on the mind of +Camors. He thought of it impatiently the next morning, while trying a +horse on the Champs Elysees--when he suddenly found himself face to face +with his former secretary, Vautrot. He had never seen this person since +the day he had thought proper to give himself his own dismissal. + +The Champs Elysees was deserted at this hour. Vautrot could not avoid, +as he had probably done more than once, encountering Camors. + +Seeing himself recognized he saluted him and stopped, with an uneasy +smile on his lips. His worn black coat and doubtful linen showed a +poverty unacknowledged but profound. M. de Camors did not notice these +details, or his natural generosity would have awakened, and curbed the +sudden indignation that took possession of him. + +He reined in his horse sharply. + +"Ah, is it you, Monsieur Vautrot?" he said. "You have left England +then! What are you doing now?" + +"I am looking for a situation, Monsieur de Camors," said Vautrot, humbly, +who knew his old patron too well not to read clearly in the curl of his +moustache the warning of a storm. + +"And why," said Camors, "do you not return to your trade of locksmith? +You were so skilful at it! The most complicated locks had no secrets for +you." + +"I do not understand your meaning," murmured Vautrot. + +"Droll fellow!" and throwing out these words with an accent of withering +scorn, M. de Camors struck Vautrot's shoulder lightly with the end of his +riding-whip, and tranquilly passed on at a walk. + +Vautrot was truly in search of a place, had he consented to accept one +fitted to his talents; but he was, as will be remembered, one of those +whose vanity was greater than his merit, and one who loved an office +better than work. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE SECOND ACT OF THE TRAGEDY + +Vautrot had at this time fallen into the depth of want and distress, +which, if aggravated, would prompt him to evil and even to crime. There +are many examples of the extremes to which this kind of intelligence, at +once ambitious, grasping, yet impotent, can transport its possessor. +Vautrot, in awaiting better times, had relapsed into his old role of +hypocrite, in which he had formerly succeeded so well. Only the evening +before he had returned to the house of Madame de la Roche-Jugan, and made +honorable amends for his philosophical heresies; for he was like the +Saxons in the time of Charlemagne, who asked to be baptized every time +they wanted new tunics. Madame de la Roche-Jugan had given a kind +reception to this sad prodigal son, but she chilled perceptibly on seeing +him more discreet than she desired on certain subjects, the mystery of +which she had set her heart upon unravelling. + +She was now more preoccupied than ever about the relations which she +suspected to exist between M. de Camors and Madame de Campvallon. These +relations could not but prove fatal to the hopes she had so long founded +on the widowhood of the Marquise and the heritage of the General. The +marriage of M. de Camors had for the moment deceived her, but she was one +of those pious persons who always think evil, and whose suspicions are +soon reawakened. She tried to obtain from Vautrot, who had so long been +intimate with her nephew, some explanation of the mystery; but as Vautrot +was too prudent to enlighten her, she turned him out of doors. + +After his encounter with M. de Camors, he immediately turned his steps +toward the Rue St. Dominique, and an hour later Madame de la Roche-Jugan +had the pleasure of knowing all that he knew of the liaison between the +Count and the Marquise. But we remember that he knew everything. These +revelations, though not unexpected, terrified Madame de la Roche-Jugan, +who saw her maternal projects destroyed forever. To her bitter feeling +at this deception was immediately joined, in this base soul, a sudden +thirst for revenge. It was true she had been badly recompensed for her +anonymous letter, by which she had previously attempted to open the eyes +of the unfortunate General; for from that moment the General, the +Marquise, and M. de Camors himself, without an open rupture, let her feel +their marks of contempt, which embittered her heart. She never would +again expose herself to a similar slight of this kind; but she must +assuredly, in the cause of good morals, at once confront the blind with +the culpable, and this time with such proofs as would make the blow +irresistible. By the mere thought, Madame de la Roche-Jugan had +persuaded herself that the new turn events were taking might become +favorable to the expectations which had become the fixed idea of her +life. + +Madame de Campvallon destroyed, M. de Camors set aside, the General would +be alone in the world; and it was natural to suppose he would turn to his +young relative Sigismund, if only to recognize the far-sighted affection +and wounded heart of Madame de la Roche-Jugan. + +The General, in fact, had by his marriage contract settled all his +property on his wife; but Madame de la Roche-Jugan, who had consulted a +lawyer on this question, knew that he had the power of alienating his +fortune during life, and of stripping his unworthy wife and transferring +it to Sigismund. + +Madame de la Roche-Jugan did not shrink from the probability--which was +most likely--of an encounter between the General and Camors. Every one +knows the disdainful intrepidity of women in the matter of duels. She +had no scruple, therefore, in engaging Vautrot in the meritorious work +she meditated. She secured him by some immediate advantages and by +promises; she made him believe the General would recompense him largely. +Vautrot, smarting still from the cut of Camors's whip on his shoulder, +and ready to kill him with his own hand had he dared, hardly required the +additional stimulus of gain to aid his protectress in her vengeance by +acting as her instrument. + +He resolved, however, since he had the opportunity, to put himself, once +for all, beyond misery and want, by cleverly speculating, through the +secret he held, on the great fortune of the General. This secret he had +already given to Madame de Camors under the inspiration of another +sentiment, but he had then in his hands the proofs, which he now was +without. + +It was necessary, then, for him to arm himself with new and infallible +proofs; but if the intrigue he was required to unmask still existed, he +did not despair of detecting something certain, aided by the general +knowledge he had of the private habits and ways of Camors. This was the +task to which he applied himself from this moment, day and night, with an +evil ardor of hate and jealousy. The absolute confidence which the +General reposed in his wife and Camors after the latter's marriage with +Marie de Tecle, had doubtless allowed them to dispense with much of the +mystery and adventure of their intrigue; but that which was ardent, +poetic, and theatrical to the Marquise's imagination had not been lost. +Love alone was not sufficient for her. She needed danger, scenic effect, +and pleasure heightened by terror. Once or twice, in the early time, she +was reckless enough to leave her house during the night and to return +before day. But she was obliged to renounce these audacious flights, +finding them too perilous. + +These nocturnal interviews with M. de Camors were rare, and she had +usually received him at home. This was their arrangement: An open space, +sometimes used as a woodyard, was next the garden of the Hotel +Campvallon. The General had purchased a portion of it and had had a +cottage erected in the midst of a kitchen-garden, and had placed in it, +with his usual kind-heartedness, an old 'sous-officier', named Mesnil, +who had served under him in the artillery. This Mesnil enjoyed his +master's confidence. He was a kind of forester on the property; he lived +in Paris in the winter, but occasionally passed two or three days in the +country whenever the General wished to obtain information about the +crops. Madame de Campvallon and M. de Camors chose the time of these +absences for their dangerous interviews at night. Camors, apprised from +within by some understood signal, entered the enclosure surrounding the +cottage of Mesnil, and thence proceeded to the garden belonging to the +house. Madame de Campvallon always charged herself with the peril that +charmed her--with keeping open one of the windows on the ground floor. +The Parisian custom of lodging the domestics in the attics gave to this +hardihood a sort of security, notwithstanding its being always hazardous. +Near the end of May, one of these occasions, always impatiently awaited +on both sides, presented itself, and M. de Camors at midnight penetrated +into the little garden of the old 'sous-officier'. At the moment when he +turned the key in the gate of the enclosure, he thought he heard a slight +sound behind him. He turned, cast a rapid glance over the dark space +that surrounded him, and thinking himself mistaken, entered. An instant +after, the shadow of a man appeared at the angle of a pile of lumber, +which was scattered over the carpenter's yard. This shadow remained for +some time immovable in front of the windows of the hotel and then plunged +again into the darkness. + +The following week M. de Camors was at the club one evening, playing +whist with the General. He remarked that the General was not playing his +usual game, and saw also imprinted on his features a painful +preoccupation. + +"Are you in pain, General?" said he, after they had finished their game. + +"No, no!" said the General; "I am only annoyed--a tiresome affair +between two of my people in the country. I sent Mesnil away this morning +to examine into it." + +The General took a few steps, then returned to Camors and took him aside: +"My friend," he said, "I deceived you, just now; I have something on my +mind--something very serious. I am even very unhappy!" + +"What is the matter?" said Camors, whose heart sank. + +"I shall tell you that probably to-morrow. Come, in any case, to see me +to-morrow morning. Won't you?" + +"Yes, certainly." + +"Thanks! Now I shall go--for I am really not well." + +He clasped his hand more affectionately than usual. + +"Adieu, my dear child," he added, and turned around brusquely to hide the +tears which suddenly filled his eyes. M. de Camors experienced for some +moments a lively disquietude, but the friendly and tender adieus of the +General reassured him that it did not relate to himself. Still he +continued astonished and even affected by the emotion of the old man. + +Was it not strange? If there was one man in the world whom he loved, or +to whom he would have devoted himself, it was this one whom he had +mortally wronged. + +He had, however, good reason to be uneasy; and was wrong in reassuring +himself; for the General in the course of that evening had been informed +of the treachery of his wife--at least he had been prepared for it. Only +he was still ignorant of the name of her accomplice. + +Those who informed him were afraid of encountering the blind and +obstinate faith of the General, had they named Camors. + +It was probable, also, after what had already occurred, that had they +again pronounced that name, the General would have repelled the suspicion +as a monstrous impossibility, regretting even the thought. + +M. de Camors remained until one o'clock at the club and then went to the +Rue Vanneau. He was introduced into the Hotel Campvallon with the +customary precautions; and this time we shall follow him there. In +traversing the garden, he raised his eyes to the General's window, and +saw the soft light of the night-lamp burning behind the blinds. + +The Marquise awaited him at the door of her boudoir, which opened on a +rotunda at an elevation of a few feet. He kissed her hand, and told her +in few words of the General's sadness. + +She replied that she had been very uneasy about his health for some days. +This explanation seemed natural to M. de Camors, and he followed the +Marquise through the dark and silent salon. She held in her hand a +candle, the feeble light of which threw on her delicate features a +strange pallor. When they passed up the long, echoing staircase, the +rustling of her skirt on the steps was the only sound that betrayed her +light movement. + +She stopped from time to time, shivering--as if better to taste the +dramatic solemnity that surrounded them--turned her blonde head a little +to look at Camors; then cast on him her inspiring smile, placed her hand +on her heart, as if to say, "I am fearful," and went on. They reached +her chamber, where a dim lamp faintly illumined the sombre magnificence, +the sculptured wainscotings, and the heavy draperies. + +The flame on the hearth which flickered up at intervals, threw a bright +gleam on two or three pictures of the Spanish school, which were the only +decorations of this sumptuous, but stern-looking apartment. + +The Marquise sank as if terrified on a divan near the chimney, and pushed +with her feet two cushions before her, on which Camors half reclined; she +then thrust back the thick braids of her hair, and leaned toward her +lover. + +"Do you love me to-day?" she asked. + +The soft breath of her voice was passing over the face of Camors, when +the door suddenly opened before them. The General entered. The Marquise +and Camors instantly rose to their feet, and standing side by side, +motionless, gazed upon him. The General paused near the door. As he saw +them a shudder passed over his frame, and his face assumed a livid +pallor. For an instant his eye rested on Camors with a stupefied +surprise and almost bewilderment; then he raised his arms over his head, +and his hands struck together with a sharp sound. At this terrible +moment Madame de Campvallon seized the arm of Camors, and threw him a +look so profound, supplicating, and tragic, that it alarmed him. + +He roughly pushed her from him, crossed his arms, and waited the result. + +The General walked slowly toward him. Suddenly his face became inflamed +with a purple hue; his lips half opened, as if about to deliver some +deadly insult. He advanced rapidly, his hand raised; but after a few +steps the old man suddenly stopped, beat the air with both hands, as if +seeking some support, then staggered and fell forward, striking his head +against the marble mantelpiece, rolled on the carpet, and remained +motionless. There was an ominous silence. A stifled cry from M. de +Camors broke it. At the same time he threw himself on his knees by the +side of the motionless old man, touched first his hand, then his heart. +He saw that he was dead. A thin thread of blood trickled down his pale +forehead where it had struck the marble; but this was only a slight +wound. It was not that which had killed him. It was the treachery of +those two beings whom he had loved, and who, he believed, loved him. His +heart had been broken by the violence of the surprise, the grief, and the +horror. + +One look of Camors told Madame de Campvallon she was a widow. She threw +herself on the divan, buried her face in the cushions and sobbed aloud. +Camors still stood, his back against the mantelpiece, his eyes fixed, +wrapped in his own thoughts. He wished in all sincerity of heart that he +could have awakened the dead and restored him to life. He had sworn to +deliver himself up to him without defence, if ever the old man demanded +it of him for forgotten favors, betrayed friendship, and violated honor. +Now he had killed him. If he had not slain him with his own hand, the +crime was still there, in its most hideous form. He saw it before him, +he inhaled its odor--he breathed its blood. An uneasy glance of the +Marquise recalled him to himself and he approached her. They then +conversed together in whispers, and he hastily explained to her the line +of conduct she should adopt. + +She must summon the servants, say the General had been taken suddenly +ill, and that on entering her room he had been seized by an apoplectic +stroke. + +It was with some effort that she understood she was to wait long enough +before giving the alarm to give Camors sufficient time to escape; and +until then she was to remain in this frightful tete-a-tete, alone with +the dead. + +He pitied her, and decided on leaving the hotel by the apartment of M. de +Campvallon, which had a private entrance on the street. + +The Marquise immediately rang violently several times, and Camors did not +retire till he heard the sound of hastening feet on the stairs. The +apartment of the General communicated with that of his wife by a short +gallery. There was a suite of apartments--first a study, then his +sleeping-room. M. de Camors traversed this room with feelings we shall +not attempt to describe and gained the street. The surgeon testified +that the General had died from the rupture of a vessel in the heart. +Two days after the interment took place, at which M. de Camors attended. +The same evening he left Paris to join his wife, who had gone to Reuilly +the preceding week. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE FEATHER IN THE BALANCE + +One of the sweetest sensations in the world is that of a man who has just +escaped the fantastic terrors of night mare; and who, awaking, his fore +head bathed with icy sweat, says to himself, "It was only a dream!" This +was, in some degree, the impression which Camors felt on awaking, the +morning after his arrival at Reuilly, when his first glance fell on the +sunlight streaming over the foliage, and when he heard beneath his window +the joyous laugh of his little son. He, however, was not dreaming; but +his soul, crushed by the horrible tension of recent emotions, had a +moment's respite, and drank in, almost without alloy, the new calm that +surrounded him. He hastily dressed himself and descended to the garden, +where his son ran to meet him. + +M. de Camors embraced the child with tenderness; and leaning toward him, +spoke to him in a low voice, and asked after his mother and about his +amusements, with a singularly soft and sad manner. Then he let him go, +and walked with a slow step, breathing the fresh morning air, examining +the leaves and the flowers with extraordinary interest. From time to +time a deep, sad sigh broke from his oppressed chest; he passed his hand +over his brow as if to efface the importunate images. He sat down amid +the quaintly clipped boxwood which ornamented the garden in the antique +fashion, called his son again to him, held him between his knees, +interrogating him again, in a low voice, as he had done before; then drew +him toward him and clasped him tightly for a long time, as if to draw +into his own heart the innocence and peace of the child's. Madame de +Camors surprised him in this gush of feeling, and remained mute with +astonishment. He rose immediately and took her hand. + +"How well you bring him up!" he said. "I thank you for it. He will be +worthy of you and of your mother." + +She was so surprised at the soft, sad tone of his voice, that she +replied, stammering with embarrassment, "And worthy of you also, I hope." + +"Of me?" said Camors, whose lips were slightly tremulous. "Poor child, +I hope not!" and rapidly withdrew. + +Madame de Camors and Madame de Tecle had learned, the previous morning, +of the death of the General. The evening of the Count's arrival they did +not speak to him on the subject, and were cautious not to make any +allusion to it. The next day, and the succeeding ones, they practised +the same reserve, though very far from suspecting the fatal circumstances +which rendered this souvenir so painful to M. de Camors. They thought it +only natural he should be pained at so sudden a catastrophe, and that his +conscience should be disturbed; but they were astonished when this +impression prolonged itself from day to day, until it took the appearance +of a lasting sentiment. + +They began to believe that there had arisen between Madame de Campvallon +and himself, probably occasioned by the General's death, some quarrel +which had weakened the tie between them. + +A journey of twenty-four hours, which he made fifteen days after his +arrival, was to them a confirmation of the truth they before suspected; +but his prompt return, his new tastes, which kept him at Reuilly during +the summer, seemed to them favorable symptoms. + +He was singularly sad, pensive, and more inactive than usual in his +habits. He took long walks alone. Sometimes he took his son with him, +as if by chance. He sometimes attempted a little timid tenderness with +his wife; and this awkwardness, on his part, was quite touching. + +"Marie," he said to her one day, "you, who are a fairy, wave your wand +over Reuilly and make of it an island in mid-ocean." + +"You say that because you know how to swim," said she, laughing and +shaking her head; but the heart of the young woman was joyful. + +"You embrace me now every moment, my little one," said Madame de Tecle to +her. "Is this really all intended for me?" + +"My adorable mother," while embracing her again, "I assure you he is +really courting me again. Why, I am ignorant; but he is courting me and +you also, my mother. Observe it!" + +Madame de Tecle did observe it. In his conversation with her, M. de +Camors sought, under every pretext, to recall the souvenirs of the past, +common to them both. It seemed he wished to link the past with his new +life; to forget the rest, and pray of them to forget it also. + +It was not without fear that these two charming women abandoned +themselves to their hopes. They remembered they were in the presence of +an uncertain person; they little trusted a change so sudden, the reason +of which they could not comprehend. They feared it was some passing +caprice, which would return to them, if they were its dupes, all their +misfortunes, without the dignity which had hitherto attended them. + +They were not the only ones struck by this transformation. M. des +Rameures remarked it to them. The neighboring country people felt in the +Count's language something new--as it were, a tender humility; they said +that in other years he had been polite, but this year he was angelic. +Even the inanimate things, the woods, the trees, the heavens, should have +borne the same testimony, for he looked at and studied them with a +benevolent curiosity with which he had never before honored them. + +In truth, a profound trouble had invaded him and would not leave him. +More than once, before this epoch, his soul, his philosophy, his pride, +had received a rude shock, but he had no less pursued his path, rising +after every blow, like a lion wounded, but unconquered. In trampling +under his feet all moral belief which binds the vulgar, he had reserved +honor as an inviolable limit. Then, under the empire of his passions, +he said to himself that, after all, honor, like all the rest, was +conventional. Then he encountered crime--he touched it with his hand-- +horror seized him--and he recoiled. He rejected with disgust the +principle which had conducted him there--asked himself what would become +of human society if it had no other. + +The simple truths which he had misunderstood now appeared to him in their +tranquil splendor. He could not yet distinguish them clearly; he did not +try to give them a name, but he plunged with a secret delight into their +shadows and their peace. He sought them in the pure heart of his child, +in the pure love of his young wife, in the daily miracles of nature, in +the harmonies of the heavens, and probably already in the depths of his +thoughts--in God. In the midst of this approach toward a new life he +hesitated. Madame de Campvallon was there. He still loved her vaguely. +Above all, he could not abandon her without being guilty of a kind of +baseness. Terrible struggles agitated him. Having done so much evil, +would he now be permitted to do good, and gracefully partake of the joys +he foresaw? These ties with the past, his fortune dishonestly acquired, +his fatal mistress--the spectre of that old man would they permit it? + +And we may add, would Providence suffer it? Not that we should lightly +use this word Providence, and suspend over M. de Camors a menace of +supernatural chastisement. Providence does not intervene in human events +except through the logic of her eternal laws. She has only the sanction +of these laws; and it is for this reason she is feared. At the end of +August M. de Camors repaired to the principal town in the district, to +perform his duties in the Council-General. The session finished, he paid +a visit to Madame de Campvallon before returning to Reuilly. He had +neglected her a little in the course of the summer, and had only visited +Campvallon at long intervals, as politeness compelled him. The Marquise +wished to keep him for dinner, as she had no guests with her. She +pressed him so warmly that, reproaching himself all the time, he +consented. He never saw her without pain. She always brought back to +him those terrible memories, but also that terrible intoxication. She +had never been more beautiful. Her deep mourning embellished yet more +her languishing and regal grace; it made her pale complexion yet more +fair, and it heightened the brilliancy of her look. She had the air of a +young tragic queen, or of an allegory of Night. In the evening an hour +arrived when the reserve which for some time had marked their relations +was forgotten. M. de Camors found himself, as in olden time, at the feet +of the young Marquise--his eyes gazing into hers, and covering with +kisses her lovely hands. She was strange that evening. She looked at +him with a wild tenderness, instilling, at pleasure, into his veins the +poison of burning passion then escaping him, the tears gathering in her +eyes. Suddenly, by one of those magical movements of hers, she enveloped +with her hands the head of her lover, and spoke to him quite low beneath +the shadow of this perfumed veil. + +"We might be so happy!" she said. + +"Are we not so?" said Camors. + +"No! I at least am not, for you are not all mine, as I am yours. This +appears harder, now that I am free. If you had remained free--when I +think of it! or if you could become so, it would be heaven!" + +"You know that I am not so! Why speak of it?" + +She drew nearer to him, and with her breath, more than with her voice, +answered: + +"Is it impossible? Tell me!" + +"How?" he demanded. + +She did not reply, but her fixed look, caressing and cruel, answered him. + +"Speak, then, I beg of you!" murmured Camors. + +"Have you not told me--I have not forgotten it--that we are united by +ties stronger than all others; that the world and its laws exist no +longer for us; that there is no other good, no other bad for us, but our +happiness or our unhappiness? Well, we are not happy, and if we could be +so--listen, I have thought well over it!" + +Her lips touched the cheek of Camors, and the murmur of her last words +was lost in her kisses. + +Camors roughly repelled her, sprang up, and stood before her. + +"Charlotte," he said, sternly, "this is only a trial, I hope; but, trial +or no, never repeat it--never! Remember!" + +She also quickly drew herself up. + +"Ah! how you love her!" she cried. "Yes, you love her, it is she you +love-I know it, I feel it, and I-I am only the wretched object of your +pity, or of your caprice. Very well, go back to her--go and protect her, +for I swear to you she is in peril!" + +He smiled with his haughty irony. + +"Let us see your plot," he said. "So you intend to kill her?" + +"If I can!" she said; and her superb arm was stretched out as if to +seize a weapon. + +"What! with your own hand?" + +"The hand shall be found." + +"You are so beautiful at this moment!" said Camors; "I am dying with the +desire to fall at your feet. Acknowledge only that you wished to try me, +or that you were mad for a moment." + +She gave a savage smile. + +"Oh! you fear, my friend," she said, coldly; then raising again her +voice, which assumed a malignant tone, "You are right, I am not mad, I +did not wish to try you; I am jealous, I am betrayed, and I shall revenge +myself--no matter what it costs me--for I care for nothing more in this +world!--Go, and guard her!" + +"Be it so; I go," said Camors. He immediately left the salon and the +chateau; he reached the railway station on foot, and that evening arrived +at Reuilly. + +Something terrible there awaited him. + +During his absence, Madame de Camors, accompanied by her mother, had gone +to Paris to make some purchases. She remained there three days. She had +returned only that morning. He himself arrived late in the evening. He +thought he observed some constraint in their reception of him, but he did +not dwell upon it in the state of mind in which he was. + +This is what had occurred: Madame de Camors, during her stay in Paris, +had gone, as was her custom, to visit her aunt, Madame de la Roche-Jugan. +Their intercourse had always been very constrained. Neither their +characters nor their religion coincided. Madame de Camors contented +herself with not liking her aunt, but Madame de la Roche-Jugan hated her +niece. She found a good occasion to prove this, and did not lose it. +They had not seen each other since the General's death. This event, +which should have caused Madame de la Roche-Jugan to reproach herself, +had simply exasperated her. Her bad action had recoiled upon herself. +The death of M. Campvallon had finally destroyed her last hopes, which +she had believed she could have founded on the anger and desperation of +the old man. Since that time she was animated against her nephew and the +Marquise with the rage of one of the Furies. She learned through Vautrot +that M. de Camors had been in the chamber of Madame de Campvallon the +night of the General's death. On this foundation of truth she did not +fear to frame the most odious suspicions; and Vautrot, baffled like her +in his vengeance and in his envy, had aided her. A few sinister rumors, +escaping apparently from this source, had even crept at this time into +Parisian society. + +M. de Camors and Madame de Campvallon, suspecting that they had been +betrayed a second time by Madame de la Roche-Jugan, had broken with her; +and she could presume that, should she present herself at the door of the +Marquise, orders would have been given not to admit her. This affront +made her angrier still. She was still a prey to the violence of her +wrath when she received a visit from Madame de Camors. She affected to +make the General's death the theme of conversation, shed a few tears over +her old friend, and kissed the hand of her niece with a burst of +tenderness. + +"My poor little thing!" she said to her; "it is for you also I weep--for +you will yet be more unhappy than heretofore, if that can be possible." + +"I do not understand you, Madame," answered the young woman, coldly. + +"If you do not understand me, so much the better," replied Madame de la +Roche-Jugan, with a shade of bitterness; then, after a moment's pause--" +Listen, my dear! this is a duty of conscience which I comply with. You +see, an honest creature like you merits a better fate; and your mother +too, who is also a dupe. That man would deceive the good God. In the +name of my family, I feel bound to ask your pardon for both of them." + +"I repeat, Madame, that I do not understand you." + +"But it is impossible, my child--come!--it is impossible that all this +time you have suspected nothing." + +"I suspect nothing, Madame," said Madame de Camors, "because I know all." + +"Ah!" continued Madame de la Roche-Jugan, dryly; "if this be so, I have +nothing to say. But there are persons, in that case, who can accommodate +their consciences to very strange things." + +"That is what I thought a moment ago, Madame," said the young woman, +rising. + +"As you wish, my dear; but I speak in your own interest, and I shall +reproach myself for not having spoken to you more clearly. I know my +nephew better than you will ever know him; and the other also. +Notwithstanding you say so, you do not know all; let me tell you. The +General died very suddenly; and after him, it is your turn! Be very +careful, my poor child!" + +"Oh, Madame!" cried the young woman, becoming ghastly pale; "I shall +never see you again while I live!" She left on the instant-ran home, and +there found her mother. She repeated to her the terrible words she had +just heard, and her mother tried to calm her; but she herself was +disturbed. She went immediately to Madame de la Roche-Jugan, and +supplicated her to have pity on them and to retract the abominable +innuendo she had thrown out, or to explain it more fully. She made her +understand that she would inform M. de Camors of the affair in case of +need, and that he would hold his cousin Sigismund responsible. Terrified +in her turn, Madame de la Roche-Jugan judged the best method was to +destroy M. de Camors in the estimation of Madame de Tecle. She related +what had been told her by Vautrot, being careful not to compromise +herself in the recital. She informed her of the presence of M. de Camors +at the General's house the night of his death. She told her of the +reports that were circulated, and mingling calumny with truth, redoubling +at the same time her affection, her caresses, and her tears, she +succeeded in giving Madame de Tecle such an estimate of the character of +M. de Camors, that there were no suspicions or apprehensions which the +poor woman, from that moment, did not consider legitimate as connected +with him. + +Madame de la Roche-Jugan finally offered to send Vautrot to her, that she +might herself interrogate him. Madame de Tecle, affecting an incredulity +and a tranquillity she did not feel, refused and withdrew. + +On her returning to her daughter, she forced herself to deceive her as +to the impressions she had received, but she did not succeed; for her +anxious face belied her reassuring words. They separated the following +night, mutually concealing the trouble and distress of their souls; but +accustomed so long to think, feel, and suffer together, they met, so to +speak, in the same reflections, the same reasonings, and in the same +terrors. They went over, in their memories, all the incidents of the +life of Camors--all his faults; and, under the shadow of the monstrous +action imputed to him, his faults took a criminal character which they +were surprised they had not seen before. They discovered a series and a +sequence in his designs, all of which were imputed to him as crimes--even +his good actions. Thus his conduct during the last few months, his +strange ways, his fancy for his child and for his wife, his assiduous +tenderness toward her, were nothing more than the hypocritical meditation +of a new crime--a mask which he was preparing in advance. + +What was to be done? What kind of life was it possible to live in +common, under the weight of such thoughts? What present--what future? +These thoughts bewildered them. Next day Camors could not fail remarking +the singular change in their countenances in his presence; but he knew +that his servant, without thinking of harm, had spoken of his visit to +Madame de Campvallon, and he attributed the coldness and embarrassment of +the two women to this fact. He was less disquieted at this, because he +was resolved to keep them entirely safe. As a result of his reflections +during the night, he had determined to break off forever his intrigue +with Madame de Campvallon. For this rupture, which he had made it a +point of honor not to provoke, Madame de Campvallon had herself furnished +him a sufficient pretext. + +The criminal thought she had suggested was, he knew, only a feint to test +him, but it was enough to justify his abandonment of her. As to the +violent and menacing words the Marquise had used, he held them of little +value, though at times the remembrance of them troubled him. +Nevertheless, for many years he had not felt his heart so light. This +wicked tie once broken, it seemed as if he had resumed, with his liberty, +his youth and virtue. He walked and played a part of the day with his +little son. After dinner, just as night fell, clear and pure, he +proposed to Madame de Camors a tete-a-tete excursion in the woods. He +spoke to her of a view which had struck him shortly before on such a +night, and which would please, he said laughingly, her romantic taste. + +He would not permit himself to be surprised at the disinclination she +manifested, at the disquietude which her face indicated, or at the rapid +glance she exchanged with her mother. + +The same thought, and that a most fearful one; entered the minds of both +these unfortunate women at the same moment. + +They were still under the impression of the shock which had so weakened +their nerves, and the brusque proposition of M. de Camors, so contrary to +his usual habits-the hour, the night, and the solitary walk--had suddenly +awakened in their brains the sinister images which Madame de la Roche- +Jugan had laid there. Madame de Camors, however, with an air of +resolution the circumstances did not seem entitled to demand, prepared +immediately to go out, then followed her husband from the house, leaving +her little son in charge of her mother. They had only to cross the +garden to find themselves on the edge of the wood which almost touched +their dwelling, and which stretched to the old fields inherited from the +Comte de Tecle. The intention of Camors in seeking this tete-a-tete was +to confide to his wife the decisive determination he had taken of +delivering up to her absolutely and without reserve his heart and life, +and to enjoy in these solitudes his first taste of true happiness. +Surprised at the cold distraction with which his young wife replied to +the affectionate gayety of his language, he redoubled his efforts to +bring their conversation to a tone of more intimacy and confidence. +While stopping at intervals to point out to her some effects of light and +shadow in their walk, he began to question her on her recent trip to +Paris, and on the persons she had seen there. She named Madame Jaubert +and a few others; then, lowering her voice against her will, mentioned +Madame de la Roche-Jugan. + +"That one," said Camors, "you could very well have dispensed with. I +forgot to warn you that I no longer recognize her." + +"Why?" asked she, timidly. + +"Because she is a bad woman," said Camors. "When we are a little more +intimate with each other, you and I," he added, laughing, "I shall edify +you on this character, I shall tell you all--all, understand." + +There was so much of nature, and even of goodness in the accent with +which he pronounced these words, that the Countess felt her heart half +comforted from the oppression which had weighed it down. She gave +herself up with more abandon to the gracious advances of her husband and +to the slight incidents of her walk. + +The phantoms disappeared little by little from her mind, and she began to +say to herself that she had been the sport of a bad dream, and of a true +madness, when a singular change in her husband's face renewed all her +terrors. M. de Camors, in his turn, had become absent and visibly +preoccupied with some grave care. He spoke with an effort, made half +replies, meditated; then stopped quickly to look around him, like a +frightened child. These strange ways, so different from his former +temper, alarmed the young woman, the more so as she just then found +herself in the most distant part of the wood. + +There was an extraordinary similarity in the thoughts which occupied them +both. At the moment when Madame Camors was trembling for fear near her +husband, he was trembling for her. + +He thought he detected that they were followed; at different times he +thought he heard in the thicket the cracking of branches, rattling of +leaves, and finally the sound of stealthy steps. These noises always +ceased on his stopping, and began again the moment he resumed his walk. +He thought, a moment later, he saw the shadow of a man pass rapidly among +the underwood behind them. The idea of some woodman came first to his +mind, but he could not reconcile this with the persistence with which +they were followed. + +He finally had no doubt that they were dogged--but by whom? The repeated +menaces of Madame de Campvallon against the life of Madame de Camors, the +passionate and unbridled character of this woman, soon presented itself +to his thoughts, suggested this mysterious pursuit, and awakened these +frightful suspicions. + +He did not imagine for a moment that the Marquise would charge herself +personally with the infliction of her vengeance; but she had said--he +then remembered--that the hand would be found. She was rich enough to +find it, and this hand might now be here. + +He did not wish to alarm his wife by calling her attention to this +spectre, which he believed at her side, but he could not hide from her +his agitation, which every movement of his caused her to construe as +falsely as cruelly. + +"Marie," he said, "let us walk a little faster, I beg of you! I am +cold." + +He quickened his steps, resolved to return to the chateau by the public +road, which was bordered with houses. + +When he reached the border of the woods, although he thought he still +heard at intervals the sound which had alarmed him, he reassured himself +and resumed his flow of spirits as if a little ashamed even of his panic. +He stopped the Countess to look at the pretext of this excursion. This +was the rocky wall of the deep excavation of a marl-pit, long since +abandoned. The arbutus-trees of fantastic shape which covered the summit +of these rocks, the pendant vines, the sombre ivy which carpeted the +cliffs, the gleaming white stones, the vague reflections in the stagnant +pool at the bottom of the pit, the mysterious light of the moon, made a +scene of wild beauty. + +The ground in the neighborhood of the marl-pit was so irregular, and the +thorny underbrush so thick, that when pedestrians wished to reach the +nearest highway they, were compelled either to make a long detour or to +cross the deepest part of the excavation by means of the trunks of two +great trees, which had been cut in half, lashed together, and thrown +across the chasm. Thus they formed a crude bridge, affording a passage +across the deep hollow and adding to the picturesque aspect of this +romantic spot. + +Madame de Camors never had seen anything like this peculiar bridge, which +had been laid recently at her husband's orders. After they had gazed in +silence a moment into the depths of the marl-pit, Camors called his +wife's attention to the unique construction. + +"Do you intend to cross that?" she asked, briefly. + +"Yes, if you are not afraid," said Camors; "I shall be close beside you, +you know." + +He saw that she hesitated, and, looking at her closely in the moonlight, +he thought her face was strangely pale, and could not refrain from +saying: + +"I believed that you had more courage." + +She hesitated no longer, but stepped upon the dangerous bridge. In spite +of herself, she turned her head half around, in a backward glance, and +her steady step faltered. Suddenly she tottered. M. de Camors sprang +forward, and, in the agitation of the moment, seized her in an almost +violent grasp. The unhappy woman uttered a piercing shriek, made a +gesture as if to defend herself, repelling his touch; then, running +wildly across the bridge, she rushed into the woods. M. de Camors, +astounded, alarmed, not knowing how to interpret his wife's strange +conduct, immediately followed her. He found her a short distance beyond +the bridge, leaning against the first tree she had been able to reach. +She turned to face. him, with an expression of mingled terror and +menace, and as he approached, she shot forth the single word: + +"Coward!" + +He stared at her in sheer amazement. At that moment there was a sound of +hurried footsteps; a shadowy form glided toward them from the depth of +the thicket, and the next instant Camors recognized Madame de Tecle. She +ran, dishevelled and breathless, toward her daughter, seized her by the +hand and, drawing herself up, said to Camors: + +"If you kill one of us, kill both!" + +He understood the mystery in a flash. A stifled cry escaped him; for an +instant he buried his face in his hands; then; flinging out his arms in a +gesture of despair, he said: + +"So you took me for a murderer!" + +There was a moment of dead silence. + +"Well!" he cried, stamping his foot with sudden violence, "why do you +stay here, then? Run! Fly! Save yourselves from me!" + +Overcome with terror, the two women fled, the mother dragging her +daughter. The next moment they had disappeared in the darkness of the +woods. + +Camors remained in that lonely spot many hours, without being aware of +the passage of time. At intervals he paced feverishly to and fro along +the narrow strip of land between the woods and the bridge; then, stopping +short, with fixed eyes, he became lost in thought, and stood as +motionless as the trunk of the tree against which he leaned. If, as we +hope, there is a Divine hand which measures justly our sorrows according +to our sins, the unhappy man, in this dark hour, must have rendered his +account. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CURTAIN FALLS + +The next morning the Marquise de Campvallon was strolling beside a large +circular sheet of water which ornamented the lower part of her park, the +metallic gleam of the rippling waves being discernible from afar through +the branches of the surrounding trees. + +She walked slowly along the bank of the lake, her head bowed, and the +long skirt of her mourning-robe sweeping the grass. Two large and +dazzlingly white swans, watching their mistress eagerly, in expectation +of receiving their usual titbits from her hands, swam close to the bank, +following her steps as if escorting her. + +Suddenly the Comte de Camors appeared before her. She had believed that +she never should see him again. She raised her head quickly and pressed +one hand to her heart. + +"Yes, it is I!" said Camors. "Give me your hand." + +She gave it to him. + +"You were right, Charlotte," he said, after a moment of silence. "Ties +like ours can not be broken. I have reflected on everything. I was +seized with a momentary cowardice, for which I have reproached myself +bitterly, and for which, moreover, I have been sufficiently punished. +But I come to you to ask your forgiveness." + +The Marquise led him tenderly into the deep shadow of the great plane- +trees that surrounded the lake; she knelt before him with theatric grace, +and fixed on him her swimming eyes. She covered his head with kisses. +He raised her and pressed her to his heart. + +"But you do not wish that crime to be committed?" he said in a low +voice. + +She bent her head with mournful indecision. + +"For that matter," he added, bitterly, "it would only make us worthier of +each other; for, as to myself, they have already believed me capable of +it." + +He took her arm and recounted to her briefly the scene of the night +before. + +He told her he had not returned home, and never should. This was the +result of his mournful meditations. To attempt an explanation with those +who had so mortally outraged him--to open to them the depth of his heart +--to allude to the criminal thought they had accused him of--he had +repelled with horror, the evening before, when proposed by another. He +thought of all this; but this humiliation--if he could have so abased +himself--would have been useless. How could he hope to conquer by these +words the distrust capable of creating such suspicions? + +He confusedly divined the origin, and understood that this distrust, +envenomed by remembrance of the past, was incurable. + +The sentiment of the irreparable, of revolted pride, indignation, and +even injustice, had shown him but one refuge, and it was this to which he +had fled. + +The Comtesse de Camors and Madame de Tecle learned only through their +servants and the public of the removal of the Count to a country-house he +had rented near the Chateau Campvallon. After writing ten letters--all +of which he had burned--he had decided to maintain an absolute silence. +They sometimes trembled at the thought he might take away his son. He +thought of it; but it was a kind of vengeance that he disdained. + +This move, which publicly proclaimed the relations existing between M. de +Camors and the Marquise, made a sensation in the Parisian world, where it +was soon known. It revived again the strange recollections and rumors +that all remembered. Camors heard of them, but despised them. + +His pride, which was then exasperated by a savage irritation, was +gratified at defying public opinion, which had been so easily duped +before. He knew there was no situation one could not impose upon the +world providing one had wealth and audacity. From this day he resumed +energetically the love of his life, his habits, his labors, and his +thoughts for the future. Madame de Campvallon was the confidante of all +his projects, and added her own care to them; and both occupied +themselves in organizing in advance their mutual existence, hereafter +blended forever. The personal fortune of M. de Camors, united to that of +the Marquise, left no limits to the fancies which their imagination could +devise. They arranged to live separately at Paris, though the Marquise's +salon should be common to both; but their double influence would shine at +the same time, and they would be the social centre of a sovereign +influence. The Marquise would reign by the splendor of her person over +the society of letters, art, and politics. Camors would there find the +means of action which could not fail to accomplish the high destiny to +which his talent and his ambition called him. + +This was the life that had appeared to them in the origin of their +liaison as a sort of ideal of human happiness--that of two superior +beings, who proudly shared, above the masses, all the pleasures of earth, +the intoxication of passion, the enjoyment of intellectual strength, the +satisfaction of pride, and the emotions of power. The eclat of such a +life would constitute the vengeance of Camors, and force to repent +bitterly those who had dared to misunderstand him. The recent mourning +of the Marquise commanded them, notwithstanding, to adjourn the +realization of their dream, if they did not wish to wound the conscience +of the public. They felt it, and resolved to travel for a few months +before settling in Paris. The time that passed in their preparations for +the future, and in arrangements for this voyage, was to Madame de +Campvallon the sweetest period of her life. She finally tasted to the +full an intimacy, so long troubled, of which the charm, in truth, was +very great; for her lover, as if to make her forget his momentary +desertion, was prodigal in the effusion of his tenderness. He brought to +private studies, as well as to their common schemes, an ardor, a fire, +which displayed itself in his face, in his eyes, and which seemed yet +more to heighten his manly beauty. It often happened, after quitting the +Marquise in the evening, that he worked very late at home, sometimes +until morning. One night, shortly before the day fixed for their +departure, a private servant of the Count, who slept in the room above +his master's, heard a noise which alarmed him. + +He went down in great haste, and found M. de Camors stretched apparently +lifeless on the floor at the foot of his desk. The servant, whose name +was Daniel, had all his master's confidence, and he loved him with that +singular affection which strong natures often inspire in their inferiors. + +He sent for Madame de Campvallon, who soon came. M. de Camors, +recovering from his fainting-fit, was very pale, and was walking across +the room when she entered. He seemed irritated at seeing her, and +rebuked his servant sharply for his ill-advised zeal. + +He said he had only had a touch of vertigo, to which he was subject. +Madame de Campvallon soon retired, having first supplicated him not to +overwork himself again. When he came to her next day, she could not help +being surprised at the dejection stamped on his face, which she +attributed to the attack he had had the night before. But when she spoke +of their approaching departure, she was astonished, and even alarmed by +his reply: + +"Let us defer it a little, I beg of you," he said. "I do not feel in a +state fit for travelling." + +Days passed; he made no further allusion to the voyage. He was serious, +silent, and cold. The active ardor, almost feverish, which had animated +until then his life, his speech, his eyes, was suddenly quenched. One +symptom which disquieted the Marquise above all was the absolute idleness +to which he now abandoned himself. + +He left her in the evening at an early hour. Daniel told the Marquise +that the Count worked no longer; that he heard him pacing up and down the +greater part of the night. At the same time his health failed visibly. +The Marquise ventured once to interrogate him. As they were both walking +one day in the park, she said: + +"You are hiding something from me. You suffer, my friend. What is the +cause?" + +"There is nothing." + +"I pray you tell me!" + +"Nothing is the matter with me," he replied, petulantly. + +"Is it your son that you regret?" + +"I regret nothing." After a few steps taken in silence--" When I think," +he said, quickly, "that there is one person in the world who considers me +a coward--for I hear always that word in my ear--and who treated me like +a coward, and who believed it when it was said, and believes it still! +If it had been a man, it would be easy, but it was a woman." + +After this sudden explosion he was silent. + +"Very well; what do you desire?" said the Marquise, with vexation. "Do +you wish that I should go and tell her the truth--tell her that you were +ready to defend her against me--that you love her, and hate me? If it be +that you wish, say so. I believe if this life continues I shall be +capable of doing anything!" + +"Do not you also outrage me! Dismiss me, if that will give you pleasure; +but I love you only. My pride bleeds, that is all; and I give you my +word of honor that if you ever affront me by going to justify me, I shall +never in my life see you or her. Embrace me!" and he pressed her to his +heart. + +She was calm for a few hours. + +The house he occupied was about to be taken again by its proprietor. The +middle of September approached, and it was the time when the Marquise was +in the habit of returning to Paris. She proposed to M. de Camors to +occupy the chateau during the few days he purposed passing in the +country. He accepted; but whenever she spoke of returning to Paris: + +"Why so soon?" he would say; "are we not very well here?" + +A little later she reminded him that the session of the Chamber was about +to open. He made his health a pretext for delay, saying that he felt +weak and wished to send in his resignation as deputy. She induced him +only by her urgent prayer to content himself with asking leave of +absence. + +"But you, my beloved!" he said, "I am condemning you to a sad +existence!" + +"With you," she replied, "I am happy everywhere and always!" + +It was not true that she was happy, but it was true that she loved him +and was devoted to him. There was no suffering she would not have +resigned herself to, no sacrifice she would not make, were it for him. + +From this moment the prospect of worldly sovereignty, which she thought +she had touched with her hand, escaped her. She had a presentiment of a +melancholy future of solitude, of renunciation, of secret tears; but near +him grief became a fete. One knows with what rapidity life passes with +those who busy themselves without distraction in some profound grief--the +days themselves are long, but the succession of them is rapid and +imperceptible. It was thus that the months and then the seasons +succeeded one another, for Camors and the Marquise, with a monotony that +left hardly any trace on their thoughts. Their daily relations were +marked, on the part of the Count with an invariably cold and distant +courtesy, and very often silence; on the part of the Marquise by an +attentive tenderness and a constrained grief. Every day they rode out on +horseback, both clad in black, sympathetic by their beauty and their +sadness, and surrounded in the country by distant respect. About the +beginning of the ensuing winter Madame de Campvallon experienced a +serious disquietude. Although M. de Camors never complained, it was +evident his health was gradually failing. A dark and almost clayey tint +covered his thin cheeks, and spread nearly to the whites of his eyes. +The Marquise showed some emotion on perceiving it, and persuaded him to +consult a physician. The physician perceived symptoms of chronic +debility. He did not think it dangerous, but recommended a season at +Vichy, a few hygienic precautions, and absolute repose of mind and body. + +When the Marquise proposed to Camors this visit to Vichy, he only +shrugged his shoulders without reply. + +A few days after, Madame de Campvallon on entering the stable one +morning, saw Medjid, the favorite mare of Camors, white with foam, +panting and exhausted. The groom explained, with some awkwardness, +the condition of the animal, by a ride the Count had taken that morning. +The Marquise had recourse to Daniel, of whom she made a confidant, +and having questioned him, drew out the acknowledgment that for some time +his master had been in the habit of going out in the evening and not +returning until morning. Daniel was in despair with these nightly +wanderings, which he said greatly fatigued his master. He ended by +confessing to Madame de Campvallon the goal of his excursions. + +The Comtesse de Camors, yielding to considerations the details of which +would not be interesting, had continued to live at Reuilly since her +husband had abandoned her. Reuilly was distant twelve leagues from +Campvallon, which could be made shorter by a crosscut. M. de Camors did +not hesitate to pass over this distance twice in the same night, to give +himself the emotion of breathing for a few minutes the same air with his +wife and child. + +Daniel had accompanied him two or three times, but the Count generally +went alone. He left his horse in the wood, and approached as near as he +could without risking discovery; and, hiding himself like a malefactor +behind the shadows of the trees, he watched the windows, the lights, the +house, the least signs of those dear beings, from whom an eternal abyss +had divided him. + +The Marquise, half frightened, half irritated, by an oddity which seemed +to border on madness, pretended to be ignorant of it. But these two +spirits were too accustomed to each other, day by day, to be able to hide +anything. He knew she was aware of his weakness, and seemed no longer to +care to make a mystery of it. + +One evening in the month of July, he left on horseback in the afternoon, +and did not return for dinner. He arrived at the woods of Reuilly at the +close of the day, as he had premeditated. He entered the garden with his +usual precaution, and, thanks to his knowledge of the habits of the +household, he could approach, without being noticed, the pavilion where +the Countess's chamber was situated, and which was also that of his son. +This chamber, by a particular arrangement of the house, was elevated at +the side of the court by the height of an entresol, but was level with +the garden. One of the windows was open, owing to the heat of the +evening. Camors hid himself behind the shutters, which were half closed, +and gazed eagerly into the chamber. + +He had not seen for two years either his wife, his child, or Madame de +Tecle. He now saw all three there. Madame de Tecle was working near the +chimney. Her face was unchanged. She had the same youthful look, but +her hair was as white, as snow. Madame de Camors was sitting on a couch +nearly in front of the window and undressing her son, at the same time +talking to and caressing him. + +The child, at a sign, knelt down at his mother's feet in his light night- +garments, and while she held his joined hands in her own, he began in a +loud voice his evening prayers. She whispered him from time to time a +word that escaped him. This prayer, composed of a number of phrases +adapted to a youthful mind, terminated with these words: "O God! be good +and merciful to my mother, my grandmother, to me--and above all, O God, +to my unfortunate father." He pronounced these words with childish +haste, but under a serious look from his mother, he repeated them +immediately, with some emotion, as a child who repeats the inflection of +a voice which has been taught him. + +Camors turned suddenly and retired noiselessly, leaving the garden by the +nearest gate. A fixed idea tortured him. He wished to see his son--to +speak to him--to embrace him, and to press him to his heart. After that, +he cared for little. + +He remembered they had formerly the habit of taking the child to the +dairy every morning to give him a cup of milk. He hoped they had +continued this custom. Morning arrived, and soon came the hour for which +he waited. He hid himself in the walk which led to the farm. He heard +the noise of feet, of laughter, and of joyous cries, and his son suddenly +appeared running in advance. He was a charming little boy of five or six +years, of a graceful and proud mien. On perceiving M. de Camors in the +middle of the walk he stopped, he hesitated at this unknown or half- +forgotten face; but the tender and half-supplicating smile of Camors +reassured him. + +"Monsieur!" he said, doubtfully. + +Camors opened his arms and bent as if to kneel before him. + +"Come and embrace me, I beg of you," he murmured. + +The child had already advanced smiling, when the woman who was following +him, who was his old nurse, suddenly appeared. 'She made a gesture of +fright: + +"Your father!" she said, in a stifled voice. + +At these words the child uttered a cry of terror, rushed back to the +nurse, pressed against her, and regarded his father with frightened eyes. + +The nurse took him by the arm, and earned him off in great haste. + +M. de Camors did not weep. A frightful contraction distorted the corners +of his mouth, and exaggerated the thinness of his cheeks. He had two or +three shudderings as if seized with sudden fever. He slowly passed his +hand over his forehead, sighed profoundly, and departed. + +Madame de Campvallon knew nothing of this sad scene, but she saw its +consequences; and she herself felt them bitterly. The character of M. de +Camors, already so changed, became after this unrecognizable. He showed +her no longer even the cold politeness he had manifested for her up to +that period. He exhibited a strange antipathy toward her. He fled from +her. She perceived he avoided even touching her hand. + +They saw each other rarely now. The health of Camors did not admit of +his taking regular meals. These two desolate existences offered then, +in the midst of the almost royal state which surrounded them, a spectacle +of pity. + +In this magnificent park--across these beautiful gardens, with great +vases of marble--under long arcades of verdure peopled with more statues- +both wandered separately, like two sad shadows, meeting sometimes but +never speaking. + +One day, near the end of September, Camors did not descend from his +apartment. Daniel told the Marquise he had given orders to let no one +enter. + +"Not even me?" she said. He bent his head mournfully. She insisted. + +"Madame, I should lose my place!" + +The Count persisted in this mania of absolute seclusion. She was +compelled from this moment to content herself with the news she obtained +from his servant. M. de Camors was not bedridden. He passed his time in +a sad reverie, lying on his divan. He got up at intervals, wrote a few +lines, then lay down again. His weakness appeared great, though he did +not complain of any suffering. + +After two or three weeks, the Marquise read in the features of Daniel a +more marked disquietude than usual. He supplicated her to call in the +country physician who had once before seen him. It was so decided. +The unfortunate woman, when the physician was shown into the Count's +apartment, leaned against the door listening in agony. She thought she +heard the voice of Camors loudly raised, then the noise ceased. + +The doctor, when departing, simply said to her: "Madame, his sad case +appears to me serious--but not hopeless. I did not wish to press him +to-day, but he allows me to return tomorrow." + +In the night which followed, at two o'clock, Madame de Campvallon heard +some one calling her, and recognized the voice of Daniel. She rose +immediately, threw a mantle around her, and admitted him. + +"Madame," he said, "Monsieur le Comte asks for you," and burst into +tears. + +"Mon Dieu! what is the matter?" + +"Come, Madame--you must hasten!" + +She accompanied him immediately. From the moment she put her foot in the +chamber, she could not deceive herself--Death was there. Crushed by +sorrow, this existence, so full, so proud, so powerful, was about to +terminate. The head of Camors, turned on the pillow, seemed already to +have assumed a death-like immobility. His beautiful features, sharpened +by suffering, took the rigid outline of sculpture; his eye alone yet +lived and looked at her. + +She approached him hastily and wished to seize the hand resting on the +sheet. + +He withdrew it. She gave a despairing groan. He continued to look +fixedly at her. She thought he was trying to speak, but could not; but +his eyes spoke. They addressed to her some request, at the same time +with an imperious though supplicating expression, which she doubtless +understood; for she said aloud, with an accent full of sadness and +tenderness: + +"I promise it to you." + +He appeared to make a painful effort, and his look indicated a large +sealed letter lying on the bed. She took it, and read on the envelope- +"To my son." + +"I promise you," she said, again, falling on her knees, and moistening +the sheet with her tears. + +He extended his hand toward her. "Thanks!" was all he said. Her tears +flowed faster. She set her lips on this hand already cold. When she +raised her head, she saw at the same instant the eyes of Camors slightly +moist, rolling wildly--then extinguished! She uttered a cry, threw +herself on the bed, and kissed madly those eyes still open--yet void of +light forever! + +Thus ended Camors, who was a great sinner, but nevertheless a MAN! + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A man never should kneel unless sure of rising a conqueror +One of those pious persons who always think evil + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Monsieur de Camors, v3 +by Octave Feuillet + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A man never should kneel unless sure of rising a conqueror +A defensive attitude is never agreeable to a man +Bad to fear the opinion of people one despises +Believing that it is for virtue's sake alone such men love them +Camors refused, hesitated, made objections, and consented +Confounding progress with discord, liberty with license +Contempt for men is the beginning of wisdom +Cried out, with the blunt candor of his age +Dangers of liberty outweighed its benefits +Demanded of him imperatively--the time of day +Determined to cultivate ability rather than scrupulousness +Disenchantment which follows possession +Do not get angry. Rarely laugh, and never weep +Every one is the best judge of his own affairs +Every road leads to Rome--and one as surely as another +Every cause that is in antagonism with its age commits suicide +God--or no principles! +Have not that pleasure, it is useless to incur the penalties +He is charming, for one always feels in danger near him +Inconstancy of heart is the special attribute of man +Intemperance of her zeal and the acrimony of her bigotry +Knew her danger, and, unlike most of them, she did not love it +Man, if he will it, need not grow old: the lion must +Never can make revolutions with gloves on +Once an excellent remedy, is a detestable regimen +One of those pious persons who always think evil +Pleasures of an independent code of morals +Police regulations known as religion +Principles alone, without faith in some higher sanction +Property of all who are strong enough to stand it +Put herself on good terms with God, in case He should exist +Semel insanivimus omnes.' (every one has his madness) +Slip forth from the common herd, my son, think for yourself +Suspicion that he is a feeble human creature after all! +There will be no more belief in Christ than in Jupiter +Ties that become duties where we only sought pleasures +Truth is easily found. I shall read all the newspapers +Two persons who desired neither to remember nor to forget +Whether in this world one must be a fanatic or nothing +Whole world of politics and religion rushed to extremes +With the habit of thinking, had not lost the habit of laughing +You can not make an omelette without first breaking the eggs + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Monsieur de Camors, entire +by Octave Feuillet + diff --git a/old/im33b10.zip b/old/im33b10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..99a6fd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/im33b10.zip |