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diff --git a/41105-8.txt b/41105-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0f59638..0000000 --- a/41105-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5351 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Secret of Charlotte Brontë, by Frederika -Macdonald - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - - - - -Title: The Secret of Charlotte Brontë - Followed by Some Reminiscences of the Real Monsieur and Madame Heger - - -Author: Frederika Macdonald - - - -Release Date: October 18, 2012 [eBook #41105] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET OF CHARLOTTE BRONTë*** - - -E-text prepared by Clare Graham & Laura McDonald -(http://www.girlebooks.com) and Marc D'Hooghe -(http://www.freeliterature.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 41105-h.htm or 41105-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41105/41105-h/41105-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41105/41105-h.zip) - - - - - -THE SECRET OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË - -Followed by Some Reminiscences of the Real -Monsieur and Madame Heger - -by - -FREDERIKA MACDONALD, D.LITT. - -Authoress of 'Xavier and I,' 'The Iliad of the East,' -'A New Criticism of J.-J. Rousseau,' 'The Flower -and The Spirit,' 'The Humane Philosophy -of Rousseau,' etc. - - - - - - - -London: T.C. & E.C. Jack -67 Long Acre, W.C. -and Edinburgh -1914 - - - -[Illustration: Portrait by Richmond] - - - 'And now I will rehearse the tale of Love, which I heard - from Diotima of Mantineia, a woman wise in this, and many - other kinds of knowledge.... - - '... "What then is Love," I asked: "Is he mortal?" "He is - neither mortal nor immortal, but in a mean between the two," - she replied. "He is a great Spirit, and, like all spirits, - an intermediate between the divine and the mortal." "And - what," I said, "is his power?" "He interprets," she replied, - "between gods and men; conveying to the gods the prayers and - sacrifices of men; and to men the commands and replies of - the gods." "And who," I said, "is his father? and who is his - mother?" "His father," she replied, "was Plenty (Poros), and - his mother Poverty (Penia), and as his parentage is, so are - his fortunes. He is always poor, and has no shoes, nor a - house to dwell in; on the bare earth exposed he lies under - the open heaven, in the streets, or at the doors of houses, - taking his rest, and like his mother he is always in - distress. Like his father, too, he is bold, enterprising,--a - philosopher at all times, terrible as an enchanter, - sorcerer, sophist. As he is neither mortal nor immortal, he - is alive and flourishing one moment, and dead another - moment; and again alive, by reason of his father's nature."' - - (_Symposium_. Plato's _Dialogues_. Translator, Jowett, vol. - ii. pp. 54, 55.) - -[Illustration: THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL (RUE D'ISABELLE), -WHICH REMAINED UNALTERED UNTIL 1909] - - - -CONTENTS - -PART I - -CHARLOTTE BRONTË'S LETTERS TO M. HEGER -_(These Letters supply the Key to the Secret of Charlotte Brontë)_ - -CHAPTER I -THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF CHARLOTTE -BRONTË, CREATED BY A FALSE CRITICAL -METHOD - -CHAPTER II -THE KEY TO THE PROBLEM - -CHAPTER III -CHARLOTTE'S LAST YEAR AT BRUXELLES, 1842-43 - -CHAPTER IV -THE CONFESSION AT STE. GUDULE - -CHAPTER V -THE LEAVE-TAKING--THE SCENE IN THE CLASS-ROOM ---'MY HEART WILL BREAK' - -CHAPTER VI -THE LOVE-LETTERS OF A ROMANTIC - -PART II - -SOME REMINISCENCES OF THE REAL -MONSIEUR AND MADAME HEGER - -CHAPTER I -THE HISTORICAL DIFFICULTY: TO DISENTANGLE -FACT FROM FICTION - -CHAPTER II -MY FIRST INTRODUCTION TO CHARLOTTE -BRONTË'S PROFESSOR - -CHAPTER III -MONSIEUR AND MADAME HEGER AS I SAW THEM: -AND BELGIAN SCHOOLGIRLS AS I KNEW -THEM - -CHAPTER IV -MY SECOND INTERVIEW WITH M. HEGER. THE -WASHING OF 'PEPPER.' THE LESSON IN -ARITHMETIC - -CHAPTER V -THE STORY OF A CHAPEAU D'UNIFORME - -CHAPTER VI -MADAME HEGER'S SENTIMENT OF THE JUSTICE -OF RESIGNATION TO INJUSTICE - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - CHARLOTTE BRONTË .... _Frontispiece_ - THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL IN THE RUE D'ISABELLE - M. HEGER AT SIXTY - DRAWING BY CHARLOTTE BRONTË OF ASHBURNHAM CHURCH - (_Copyright of Author_) - MADAME HEGER AT SIXTY - (_Copyright of Author_) - THE ALLÉE DÉFENDUE - (_Copyright of Author_) - THE GALERIE AND GARDEN IN WINTER - (_Copyright of Author_) - - - -THE SECRET OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË - -PART I - -CHAPTER I - -THE 'PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM' OF CHARLOTTE -BRONTË, CREATED BY A FALSE -CRITICAL METHOD - - -We live in an epoch when impressionist methods of criticism, admissible, -and often illuminative, in the domains of art and of imaginative -literature, have invaded the once jealously guarded paths of historical -criticism, to the detriment of correct standards of judgment. Leading -critics, whose literary accomplishments, powers of persuasive argument, -and unquestionable good faith, lend great influence to their decisions, -show no sort of hesitation in undertaking to interpret the characters -and careers of famous men and women, independently of any examination -of evidence, by purely psychological methods. I am not denying that, as -literary exercises, some of these impressionist portraits of men and -women of genius, seen through the temperament of writers who are, -_sometimes_, endowed with genius themselves, are very interesting. But -what has to be remembered (and what is constantly forgotten) is, that if -these psychological interpretations of people who once really existed -are to be accorded any authority as historical judgments, they must have -been preceded by an attentive enquiry, enabling the future interpreter, -before he begins to employ psychology, to feel perfectly certain that he -has clearly in view the particular Soul he is undertaking to penetrate, -with its own special qualities, and placed amongst, and acted upon by, -the real circumstances of its earthly career. Where the preliminary -precaution of this enquiry, into the true facts that have to be -penetrated, and explained, has been neglected, no psychological -subtlety, no pathological science, no sympathetic insight, can protect -the most accomplished literary impressionist from forming, and -fostering, false opinions about the historical personages he is judging -from a standpoint of assumptions that do not allow him to exercise the -true function of criticism, defined by Matthew Arnold as: 'an impartial -endeavour to see the thing as in itself it really is.' - -In the case of Charlotte Brontë, her first, and, still, classical -biographer, Mrs. Gaskell, carried through, now fifty-seven years ago, -with great literary skill, and also with historical exactitude, the -study of her parentage and youth; of her experiences in England as a -governess; of her family trials and losses; of the sudden development of -her talent, or rather, of her genius as a writer, that, at one bound, -after the publication of her first novel, made her famous throughout -England; and soon famous throughout Europe: and that proved her (since -Charlotte has been 'dead'--as people use the phrase--more than half a -century, and since her books are still living spirits, we may be allowed -to affirm this) one of the immortals. - -But now whilst all these epochs in Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of Charlotte -Brontë_ were studied by exact historical methods, there was one epoch in -her heroine's career that this, elsewhere, conscientious biographer -neglected to study at all: in the sense, of subjecting facts and events -and personages, belonging to its history, to careful examination. Here, -on the contrary, we find that Mrs. Gaskell left exact methods of enquiry -behind her; and adopted arbitrary psychological methods, of arguments, -and assumptions, where, not only no effort was made to consult the -testimony of facts, but where this testimony was ignored, or -contradicted, when it stood in the way, of preconceived theories. And -this period, thus inadequately, or, rather, thus mischievously, dealt -with, happened to be precisely the one where the key must be found to -the right interpretations of Charlotte's personality; and of the -emotions and experiences she had undergone and that called her genius -forth to life: and stamped it with the seal and quality that made her, -amongst our great English Novelists, the only representative -prose-writer in our literature of the European literary movement that -French critics praise, and attack, under the name of _le Romantisme_. - -The period in Charlotte's life that I am speaking of is, of course, the -interval of two years (from Feb. 1842 to Jan. 1844) that she spent at -Bruxelles, in the school in the Rue d'Isabelle, whose Director and -Directress, Monsieur and Madame Heger, are supposed to have been painted -in the characters of 'Paul Emanuel' and of 'Madame Beck,' in the famous -novel of _Villette_. - -How far that supposition is justified, and to what extent _Villette_ is -an autobiographical reminiscence, thinly disguised as a novel, can be -now, but has never been up to this date, satisfactorily decided, by an -attentive historical enquiry. What is established securely to-day, and -cannot be removed from the foundation of documentary evidence that -serves as the basis upon which all future theories must rest, is, that -it is in this period that Charlotte Brontë--not as an enthusiastic and -half-formed school-girl, as some reckless modern impressionist critics, -careless of the evidence of facts, would have us believe, but as a -woman, profoundly sincere, impassioned, exalted, unstained, and -unstainable, who, between twenty-six and twenty-eight years of age, had -long left girlish extravagance behind her--underwent experiences and -emotions, that were not transient feelings, nor sensational excitements. -But they were transforming and formative spiritual influences--causing, -no doubt, bitter anguish, and intolerable regrets, that 'broke her -heart,' in the sense that they destroyed personal hope or belief in -happiness, and even the personal capacity for happiness: yet that from -this grave of buried hope, called her genius forth to life; and stamped -and sealed it, with its special quality and gift:--the gift that made -her a 'Romantic.' So that at this hour one has not to deplore any -longer, for Charlotte's sake, this tragical sentiment, of predestined, -hopeless, and unrequited love, that broke her heart, but that gave her -immortality. For, whilst the broken heart is healed now, or, at any -rate, has slept in peace for more than half a century, the genius, born -from its sorrow, is still a living spirit; and will probably continue -to live on, from age to age, whilst the English tongue endures. - -At the present hour all this can be positively affirmed. But even before -the final settlement, for every critic who respects historical evidence, -of the now incontrovertible fact, Mrs. Gaskell's method of dealing with -this momentous period could not satisfy an attentive student who -compared her account with Charlotte's correspondence: and also with -eloquent impassioned passages in _Villette_ and the _Professor_, where -the authoress is plainly painting emotions and impressions she has -herself undergone. And the effect that was left upon thoughtful readers -of the _Life of Charlotte Brontë_' was that the biographer was, not -negligently, but _deliberately_, altering the true significance, by -underrating the importance, of Charlotte's experiences in Bruxelles, and -of her relationships with Monsieur and Madame Heger. - -This biographer's theory was (and the doctrine has been vehemently -defended by a certain clique of devotees of Charlotte Brontë down to -the present day) that Charlotte obtained, certainly, great intellectual -stimulus, as well as literary culture, from the lessons of M. Heger, as -an accomplished Professor; but that, outside of these influences, her -relationships with M. Heger were of an entirely ordinary and tranquil -character, and that she carried back with her to Haworth, after her two -years' residence in Bruxelles, no other sentiments than those of the -grateful regard and esteem a good pupil necessarily retains for a -Professor whose lessons she has turned to excellent account. - -How far Mrs. Gaskell did believe, or was able to make herself believe, -what she professed, it is difficult to determine now. My own opinion is -she did _not_ believe it; but that she esteemed it a duty to respect the -secret _that had not been confided to her_: and to pass by in silence, -and with averted eyes, the place where, forsaken by hope, Charlotte had -fought out bravely and all alone this battle, with a hopeless passion -(that, after all, when it comes across any woman's path, she _must_ -fight out _alone_, because nowhere, outside of her own soul, is there -any help), and then, having won her battle, had gone on, leaving her -broken heart buried in that silent, secret place, to face her altered -destiny. And to write stories as a method of salvation from despair. But -to return, now and again, to visit that silent, secret grave: and to -gather the magical flowers that grew there, and breathe their bitter, -sweet perfume. And to take large handfuls of these flowers home with -her, and, in the air saturated with the bitter-sweet perfume of these -magical flowers, to write her stories. So that the stories themselves -come to us, not like other stories, but steeped in this strange perfume -thrilled through with the magical life belonging to flowers of -remembrance, gathered from the grave of a tragical romance. And this -explains why the stories are themselves romantic: and why, as Harriet -Martineau complained, _Villette_, especially, has this quality, which, -to the authoress of _Illustrations in Political Economy_, appeared a -defect, that '_all events and personages are regarded through the medium -of one passion only--the passion of unrequited love._' - -To return to Mrs. Gaskell and her criticism of Charlotte Brontë. The -question of whether she, like Harriet Martineau, committed a critical -blunder, as a result of studying Charlotte's character and genius by -wrong methods, or whether out of loyalty she endeavoured to cover in her -friend's life the secret romance that Charlotte herself never revealed, -does not need to trouble us much, because the answer does not greatly -matter. However laudatory Mrs. Gaskell's motive may have been, the fact -remains, that, as a result of her endeavour rather to turn attention -away from, than to examine, the true circumstances of Charlotte's -relationships with Monsieur and Madame Heger, an inadequate, or else a -false, criticism was inaugurated by her influence of the most popular in -Europe of our distinguished women novelists, and who, outside of -England, is judged by right standards as a 'Romantic,' but who, in her -own country, has been criticised from 1857 down to 1913, in the light of -one of two contradictory impressions--both of which we now know were -historical mistakes. - -The first of these impressions is that Charlotte Brontë has painted, not -only her own emotions, but her own actual experiences, in _Villette_; -and that Lucy Snowe, Paul Emanuel, and Madame Beck, are pseudonyms, -under which we ought to recognise Charlotte herself, and the Director -and Directress of the Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle. - -The second, and almost equally mischievous impression is that no -romantic nor tragical sentiment whatever characterises the relationships -between Charlotte Brontë and her Bruxelles Professor in literature; and -that she derived her inspirations as a writer solely from the drab -dreariness and the desolation of disease and death, of her life in the -shadow of Haworth churchyard. It is impossible from the standpoint of -either of these impressions to form right opinions about Charlotte -Brontë, either as a distinguished personality, or as a writer of genius, -whose place in English literature is that amongst our prose writers she -is the representative 'Romantic' who counts with George Sand; but -differs from her, as an English and not a French exponent of the -sentiment of romantic love. - -Judged both as a distinguished personality and as a writer of genius -from the standpoint of the impression that _Villette_ is an -autobiographical story, Charlotte Brontë suffers injustice, both as a -woman of fine character, and as an imaginative painter of emotions -rather than an observer of events, or a critic of manners. Accepted as a -realistic picture of her own adventures in Brussels, the book does not -testify to her accuracy or skill in portraiture, from the purely -literary point of view. And from the moral and personal standpoint, she -remains convicted (if she be held to be telling her own story) of the -baseness of a half-confession;--and _of a dishonourable and a -successful_, not a _romantic and tragical_, love for a married man. And -of the treacherous wrong done a sister-woman, who threw open her home to -her, when she was a friendless alien in a foreign city. And, if this -were so, this traitress would have further aggravated the dishonest -betrayal of her protectress, by holding up the woman she had wronged to -the world's detestation, either as the contemptible and scheming Mlle. -Zoraïde Reuter, of the _Professor_:--or the less contemptible but more -hateful Madame Beck, in _Villette_. - -If, then, Charlotte did mean, or even suppose, that others could be -induced to believe that she meant, to paint her own relationships to -Monsieur and Madame Heger in the story, she would stand convicted, not -only as a woman of bad character, but as one who had a wicked and -vindictive heart. - -Nor yet does the second impression, patronised by devotees of Charlotte -Brontë (who seem to imagine that the revelation of an entirely innocent -and indeed beautiful, though tragical, romantic attachment in the life -of this romantic writer, is the disclosure of a sin), help us to find -any solution of the 'problem' as psychological critics present it to us, -of the 'dissonance' between her personality and dull existence, and her -literary distinction, as our chief English Romantic, and the authoress -of those amazing masterpieces _Jane Eyre_ and _Villette._ What a -contrast, in effect, between the characteristics of these masterpieces -and the characteristics of her circumstances at Haworth and of the -circle of her familiar acquaintances! The characteristics of Charlotte's -books are--emotional force, the exaltation of passion over all the -commonplace proprieties, the low-toned feelings, the semi-educated -pedantries that are the characteristics of the people who surround -Charlotte; who are her correspondents and her friends; and whose -mediocrity weighs on the poor original woman's spirit (and even on her -literary style) like lead:--so that the letters she writes to them are, -really, nearly as dull as the letters they write to her; and one finds -it hard to believe that some of the letters, to Ellen Nussey, for -instance, come from the same pen that wrote _Villette_: or even that -wrote from Bruxelles some of her letters to Emily. - -And again, if we leave out of account the tragical romantic sentiment -for M. Heger, how are we to solve the problem as these psychologists -present it to us, and that states itself in this conviction: that the -creator of 'Rochester' and 'Paul Emanuel' found her _own_ romance, only -at forty years of age, in her marriage with the Rev. A.B. Nicholls, an -event she announces thus:--'_I trust the demands of both feeling and -duty will be in some measure reconciled by the step in contemplation_'; -adding on to this the following description of the future bridegroom: -'_Mr Nicholls is a kind, considerate fellow: with all his masculine -faults, he enters into my wishes about having the thing done quietly_'? - -From the standpoint of the impression that the romance in Charlotte's -life, was the marriage she speaks of as '_the thing_,' that she wishes -'_may be done quietly_,'--and that the highest pitch of personal emotion -she attained to, is expressed by her in the temperate confidence that by -'the step in contemplation'--'_the demands of both feeling and duty may -in some measure be reconciled_,' (--only _in some measure_? Poor -Charlotte!--But she died within a year)--from this standpoint, I say, -one really cannot solve the problem of the 'dissonance' between -Charlotte's personality and her books. - -But there is one conclusion we are bound to reach. The influences of -Haworth, no doubt--the drab dreariness of everything; and then the -desolation after Bramwell's death, and Emily's death, and Anne's -death--and the father threatened with blindness--and also the mediocrity -of all those dull, dull people, who represented her familiar friends and -correspondents, so satisfied with themselves, all of them; so -dissatisfied with life, and who saw it through the medium not of a -romantic tragical sentiment, not of one great passion, but through the -medium of small grievances of superior nursery governesses: the sort of -people who dislike children, and want overdriven mothers to be always -occupied with their governesses' sentiments, instead of with the baby -who is cutting its teeth. No doubt the influences of Haworth and of -Charlotte Brontë's 'Circle' there, before she became famous, _did_ help -to plant in her the immense depression and fatigue of a spirit that had -known the stress of great emotions, and _could bear no more_,--expressed -in the letter announcing her decision to marry one of the curates she -had laughed at in _Shirley_--who _with all his masculine faults_,' she -says, 'is a _kind, considerate fellow_,' who doesn't expect her to -pretend she thinks this marriage ('_the thing_')--a Festival. Well, but -the conclusion we must form is this, that if it be at Haworth, and after -1846, that we must find the causes of the depression that brought about -Charlotte's marriage with Mr. Nicholl, it is _not_ here that we must -seek the '_Secret of Charlotte Brontë_';--the romance that broke her -heart, true--but made her an immortal, whose claim to live for ever is -based upon no moderate well-balanced sentiment, where 'the demands of -both feeling and duty will be in some measure reconciled'--but upon -passionate emotions, compelling expression, and forming a new language -almost; as M. Jules Lemaître has said 'introducing new ways of feeling, -and as it were a new vibration into literature.' - -And in the place where the romance in Charlotte's life is found must we -seek, also, the source of this power of emotion: creating powers of -expression to which much more accomplished literary artists than -Charlotte (Jane Austen and Mrs. Gaskell, for instance) never reached; -and to an intimate knowledge of moods and ecstasies and raptures, that -rule and torture and exalt human souls, that much more subtle and -scientific psychologists than herself (George Eliot, for instance, and -Mrs. Humphry Ward) never discovered. - -The supreme gift of the authoress of _Villette_ and _Jane Eyre_, as a -painter of emotions, an interpreter of intimate moods, a witness in the -cause of ideal sentiments, an incessant rebel against vulgarity and -common worldliness, and the stupid tyranny of custom, an upholder of the -sovereignty of romance, cannot be weighed against, nor judged by, the -same standards as the accomplished literary gift of such finished -artists as the authors of _Pride and Prejudice_ and _Cranford_, such -subtle students of character as the authors of _Middlemarch_ and _Robert -Elsmere_, such vigorous fighters for intellectual and moral ends as are -represented by the author of the _Illustrations upon Political Economy_, -and the _Atkinson Letters_. And it is because, as a result of judging -her genius and her personality from the standpoint of false -impressions, Charlotte Brontë has not been recognised in England as a -painter of personal emotions, a Romantic in short, but has been judged -as the advocate of a general doctrine--(one very agreeable to the -convictions of the average man, but especially exasperating to the -aspirations and principles of the superior woman)--I mean, the doctrine -that _to obtain the love of a man whom she feels to be, and rejoices to -recognise as, her 'Master,'--is the supreme desire and dream of every -truly feminine heart_; it is because, I say, of this mistake, that -Charlotte has become the idol of a class of critics least qualified -perhaps to appreciate the merits of a romantic rebel against -conventional domesticity; whilst amongst more naturally sympathetic -judges, the peculiar perfume and power of these novels, steeped in and -saturated with the passionate essence of a personal romance, has not -been recognised either for what it really is,--the 'magic' of Charlotte -Brontë; the special quality in her work that gives it originality and -distinction; but this very quality--'the personal note' that makes her -our only English Romantic Novelist, has been signalised by many sincere -admirers of her books as a defect! - -I have already mentioned the judgment passed upon _Villette_ by an -admirable woman of letters, Charlotte Brontë's personal friend, and a -critic whose good faith, and honest desire to serve the interests of -this sister-authoress with whom she found fault it is quite impossible -to doubt. - -When _Villette_ appeared, Charlotte Brontë had been for some little time -on very friendly terms with Harriet Martineau: and she did not fear to -incur the risk--always a perilous one to friendship--of asking Harriet -to tell her, quite frankly, what she thought of her book. Harriet -responded with perfect frankness to the invitation; and the almost -inevitable result followed. The event wrecked their friendship. And no -one was to blame: Harriet Martineau, without disguise, but without -malice, said what she thought was true. But neither was Charlotte in the -wrong, for she felt herself unjustly judged; and her feeling was right, -because Harriet used false standards. - -'As for the matter which you so desire to know,' wrote the frank -Harriet; 'I have but one thing to say: but it is not a small one. I do -not like the love--either the kind or the degree of it--and its -prevalence in the book, and effect on the action of it, help to explain -the passages in the reviews which you consulted me about, and seem to -afford some foundation for the criticism they afford.' - -Charlotte was deeply offended: 'I protest against this passage,' she -wrote; 'I know what _love_ is as I understand it, and if man or woman -should be ashamed of feeling such love, then there is nothing right, -noble, faithful, truthful, unselfish in this earth, as I comprehend -rectitude, nobleness, fidelity, truth and disinterestedness.' - -Here spoke the Romantic. But Harriet Martineau was _not_ a Romantic but -an Intellectual, and she judged Charlotte's books and her genius through -her own temperament, and by intellectual standards. She followed up the -private rebuke to her friend for making too much of love, in a review of -_Villette_, contributed to the _Daily News._ - -'All the female characters,' she wrote, 'in all their thoughts and -lives, are full of one thing, or are regarded in the light of that one -thought, love! It begins with the child of six years old, of the opening -(a charming picture), and closes with it at the last page. And so -dominant is this idea, so incessant is the writer's tendency to describe -_the need of being loved_, that the heroine, who tells her own story, -leaves the reader at last under the uncomfortable impression of her -having either entertained a double love, or allowed one to supersede -another, without notification of the transition. It is not thus in real -life. There are substantial, heartfelt interests for women of all ages, -and, under ordinary circumstances, quite apart from love; there is an -absence of introspection, an unconsciousness, a repose, in women's -lives, unless under peculiarly unfortunate circumstances, of which we -find no admission in this book; and to the absence of it may be -attributed some of the criticism which the book will meet with from -readers who are no prudes, but whose reason and taste will regret the -assumption that events and characters are to be regarded through the -medium of one passion only.' - -The critical blunder in this judgment is that here the authoress of the -_Illustrations in Political Economy_ and of the _Atkinson Letters_ sees -the authoress of _Villette_ through her own temperament, as an -intellectual like herself:--a humane sociologist, and a philosophical -freethinker, _whose literary purpose is to use her talent as a writer in -the service of her ideas and principles_. Judging _Villette_ and its -authoress from this point of view and by these standards, Harriet -Martineau decides that _because_ 'all events and characters in _Villette -are_ regarded through the medium of one passion, love,' _therefore_ the -literary motive and purpose of the authoress must have been to deny--or -at any rate to ignore--that '_there are substantial heartfelt interests -for women of all ages, and in ordinary circumstances, quite apart from -love._' - -The mistake lay in assuming that Charlotte Brontë was an intellectual, -instead of an imaginative genius; and that her literary purpose was to -affirm, or deny, or ignore deliberately, any principle; or in any way -to make her genius the servant of her intellect; whereas her -intelligence was so coloured by her imagination, so subservient to her -genius, that if one were to measure her by intellectual standards--with -Harriet Martineau, for instance--she would remain as vastly Harriet's -inferior in enthusiasm of humanity, in practical benevolence and warm -interest in social reform, and in emancipations from prejudice and -insularity and bigotry, as she was Harriet's superior in power of -passionate feeling, in wealth of imagination, and in superb gift of -expression. But any such comparison would be out of place. Let us admit -that Charlotte's thoughts and aspirations, as we find them scattered -through her writings, express the ordinary vigorous prejudices of an -English gentlewoman of her period, brought up under the influences of a -father who was a good sort of Tory clergyman; that her attitude of -condescension toward, rather than of sympathy with, the 'common people,' -regarded as the 'lower orders,' who should be kindly treated of course, -but kept in their place, and taught to 'order themselves lowly and -reverently to their betters,' indicates a defective humanitarianism; -that her almost rabid patriotism--her conviction that not to be English -is a misfortune, and a stamp of inferiority that weighs heavily as an -impediment to nobility and virtue, upon every member of every other -foreign race, is distinctly narrow; and that her staunch and straitened -protestantism, leaves her as far away as the 'idolatrous priests' she -denounced, from any claim to enlightened tolerance. - -Yet this lack of any particular height or breadth or distinction in -Charlotte Brontë's social, political, critical, or even religious views, -does not in any way detract from the height, depth and distinction of -her powers of noble emotion and splendid expression; nor from the rare -gift of translating words into feelings that quicken her readers' -sensibility to a finer perception of the ideal beauty that lies at the -heart of common things. - -Here is the gift by which we have to judge, or, to speak more -becomingly, for which we have to praise and thank, our only English -'Romantic' novelist, who stands in rank with George Sand, and who has -been studied in comparison with her by Swinburne. And we have to praise, -and thank our Charlotte all the more, because she has a national as well -as a personal note: and brings to this European literary movement the -characteristic qualities of imagination and sentiment that belong to our -English literary temperament, and that do us honour, as a romantic -people who are romantic in our own, and nobody else's way. - -But now if we want to appreciate the 'magic' of Charlotte Brontë as a -Romantic we must not look for the sources of her inspiration at Haworth; -nor in the circle of dull people, to whom she wrote, brilliant writer as -she was, dull letters, because their mediocrity weighed upon her spirit -like lead. - -Twenty years ago, now, I attempted (but was not especially successful in -the task) to establish upon the personal knowledge that my own residence -as a pupil in the historical Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle, at -Bruxelles gave me of the facts of Charlotte Brontë's relationships to -Monsieur and Madame Heger, right impressions about the experiences and -emotions she underwent between 1842 and 1846, and that supply the key -and clue to the right interpretation of her genius. Every opinion I then -ventured to state, not upon the authority of any special power of -divination or of psychological insight of my own, but solely upon the -authority of this personal knowledge of Monsieur and Madame Heger in my -early girlhood, and also of the information I owed to the friendship and -kind assistance given me, in my endeavour to rectify false judgments, by -the Heger family, has quite recently, not only been confirmed, but -established upon entirely incontrovertible evidence, by the generous -gift made to English readers throughout the world of the key needed to -unlock once and for ever the tragical but romantic 'Secret' of Charlotte -Brontë. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE KEY TO THE PROBLEM - - -The common saying, that 'people must be just before they are generous,' -becomes at once less common and more correct when it is formulated -differently. '_One needs to be very generous before one can be really -just_' is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's way of stating the proposition. And -one calls this sentence to remembrance when recognising how much -generosity is revealed in the act of justice recently performed by Dr. -Paul Heger in his gift to the British Museum (that is to say to English -readers throughout the world) of the four tragical, but incomparably -beautiful, Letters written by Charlotte Brontë to his father, the late -Professor Constantin Heger, within two years of her return to England. - -No doubt this gift _was_ an act of justice. Without the conclusive -evidence these Letters afford, there would have been no means of -rectifying the arbitrary, false, and inadequate criticism of the -personality, and thus, indirectly, of the writings, of a great novelist -misjudged especially in her own country. - -But whilst, for these reasons, the publication of these Letters was a -duty to English literature, the son of the late Director and Directress -of the Bruxelles Pensionnat--unwarrantably supposed to have their -literal counterparts in the interesting Professor Paul Emanuel, and in -the abominable Madame Beck--might well, in view of the unintelligent and -ungenerous criticism of his parents by English readers, have refused to -recognise any obligation on his side to concern himself with the -rectification of the dull laudatory, or the malicious condemnatory, -judgments passed, from a false standpoint, on the authoress of -_Villette._ - -We find Dr. Paul Heger able to rise entirely above all personal rancour, -and to recognise that Charlotte Brontë herself is not to be made -responsible because a good many of her critics have blundered. Indeed, -the conduct of the whole Heger family since the publication of -_Villette_, and the death of Charlotte Brontë, has been distinguished by -this fine spirit of disinterestedness; and by a dignified indifference -to undeserved reproaches. The answer to all charges, of unkindness to -Charlotte on Madame Heger's part, or of injudicious kindness first, -followed by heartless indifference, on M. Heger's side, was in their -hands; and they had only to publish the present Letters to establish the -facts as they really were. But this could not have been done in the time -when _Villette_ appeared, nor even immediately after Charlotte's death, -without wounding others. _Villette_ appeared in 1853. In 1854 Charlotte, -then in her fortieth year, married the Rev. A.B. Nicholls; and she died -less than a year after this marriage. Mr. Nicholls survived her more -than forty years. No doubt he would have been wounded in his -sensibilities by the disclosure of his late wife's entirely honourable, -but very romantic and passionate earlier attachment to somebody else. -Intimate personal friends of Charlotte, also, would have been afflicted, -not by her revelations, but by the commentaries upon them that a -certain type of critic would have infallibly indulged in. Whilst these -conditions lasted, the Heger family scrupulously refrained from -publishing these documents. Twenty years ago, when I was collecting the -materials for my article published in the _Woman at Home_, and when, in -the light of my own recollection of M. and Madame Heger, as their former -pupil, I endeavoured to rectify, what _I knew to be_, false impressions -about their relationships with Charlotte Brontë, I was told by my -honoured and dearly loved friend, Mademoiselle Louise Heger, about the -existence of these Letters; _but they were not shown me._ And I was -further assured that, whilst they would be carefully preserved, they -would not be published, until every one had disappeared who could in any -way be offended by their disclosure. After the lapse of more than half a -century since Charlotte's death, these conditions have now been reached. -And in his admirable Letter to the Principal Librarian of the British -Museum, Dr. Paul Heger explains his reasons for making this present to -the English people of documents entirely honourable to the character of -one of our great writers, and that explain the emotions and experiences -that formed her genius: - -'Sir,--In the name of my sisters and myself' (thus runs the opening -sentence of the Letter reprinted in the _Times_), 'as the -representatives of the late M. Constantin Heger, I beg leave to offer to -the British Museum, as the official custodian on behalf of the British -People, the Letters of Charlotte Brontë, which the great Novelist -addressed to our Father. These four important Letters, which have been -religiously preserved, may be accepted as revealing the soul of the -gifted author whose genius is the pride of England. We have hesitated -long as to whether these documents, so private, so intimate, should be -scanned by the public eye. We have been deterred from offering them -sooner, by the thought that, perhaps, the publicity involved in the gift -might be considered incompatible with the sensitive nature of the artist -herself. But we offer them the more readily, as they lay open the true -significance of what has hitherto been spoken of as the "Secret of -Charlotte Brontë," and show how groundless is the suspicion which has -resulted from the natural speculations of critics and biographers; to -the disadvantage of both parties to the one-sided correspondence. We -then, admirers of her genius and personality, venture to propose that we -may have the honour of placing these Letters in your hands; making only -the condition that they may be preserved for the use of the nation.' - -'Doubtless,' continues Dr. Paul Heger, when dealing with the actual -relations between Charlotte and the Director and Directress of the -school in the Rue d'Isabelle, 'Doubtless, my parents played an important -part in the life of Charlotte Brontë: but she did not enter into their -lives as one would imagine from what passes current to-day. That is -evident enough from the very circumstances of life, so different for -her, and for them. There is nothing in these Letters that is not -entirely honourable to their author, as to him to whom they are -addressed. It is better to lay bare the very innocent mystery, than to -let it be supposed that there is anything to hide. I hope that the -publication of these Letters will bring to an end a legend which has -never had any real existence in fact. I hope so: _but legends are more -tenacious of life than sober reality_.' - -The last observation shows that Dr. Paul Heger, an experienced -_littérateur_, foresaw what has actually happened, and that the -defenders of the two 'legends' of Charlotte Brontë, patronised by -writers who derive the authority for their opinions about her, not from -the study of the facts of her life and character, but from their own -impressions and convictions, are not going to admit that the legends are -overthrown, simply because it has been proved that they are founded upon -mistakes. At the same time, no statement can be more true than that -'facts are stubborn things,' and that, when these 'stubborn things' are -found arrayed in stern and uncompromising opposition to the impressions -and convictions of the most accomplished psychological theorists--well, -it is the psychological theorists who must give way. - -And this is the situation that has to be faced to-day by critics of -Charlotte Brontë, who have either formed their opinions about her in the -light of their impression that _Villette_ represents an autobiographical -study, or else who have founded their judgments of her personality and -genius as a writer upon their conviction that it is a '_silly and -offensive imputation_' to suppose that her sentiment for M. Heger was a -warmer feeling than the esteem and gratitude a clever pupil owes an -accomplished professor. - -In connection with the tenacity of life of this last theory (after the -publication of the evidence which proves it is a mistake), we have to -consider with serious attention the account rendered in the _Times_ of -the 30th July 1913, of an interview with Mr. Clement Shorter, known to -be the most distinguished supporter, in the past, of the doctrine that -Charlotte's sentiment for Professor Heger was 'literary enthusiasm,' and -nothing more. And this serious attention is needed, because, in Mr. -Clement Shorter's case, it is not allowable to dismiss lightly the -judgment of a critic who (after Mrs. Gaskell) has done more than -any one else to throw light upon the family history of the Brontës, -and also upon and around those three interesting and touching -personalities--Emily, Anne, and, the greatest of them all, Charlotte, -amongst the familiar scenes and personages of their environment at -Haworth, both before and after they had conquered their unique place in -English literature. One cannot for a moment suppose that Mr. Clement -Shorter wilfully refuses to see things as they really are, simply -because it pleases him to see them differently? No! One realises -perfectly that, as with Mrs. Gaskell fifty-seven years ago, _so_ with -this modern conscientious and generous critic to-day there exists an -entirely noble, and, _from a given point of view_, justifiable reason, -for refusing to handle or examine a matter with which (so it is alleged) -historical and literary criticism has no concern--a purely personal, and -intimate secret sorrow, in the life of an admirable woman of genius; the -sanctuary of whose inner feelings it is by no means necessary to -explore: and still less necessary to throw open to the vulgar curiosity -and malevolent insinuations of a generation of critics, infected with -hero-phobia, and the unwholesome delight of discovering '_a good deal to -reprobate and even more to laugh at_,' in the sensibility of men and -women of genius, who have honoured the human race, and enriched the -world, _because_ they have possessed through power of feeling, power -also of doing fine work, that the critics who find much in them 'to -reprobate and more to laugh at' have not the power even to appreciate. -Now, _if_ the point of view of Mrs. Gaskell and Mr. Clement Shorter were -a correct one, with all my heart and soul I, for my part, should approve -of their action in slamming the door in the face of invading facts that -threatened to leave the way open for scandal-hunters and hero-phobists -to enter with them, and to deal with the honoured reputation of -Charlotte Brontë in the same way that--more to the discredit of English -letters than to that of two French writers of genius--recent critics -have dealt with the love-letters of Madame de Staël and George Sand. - -This point of view, however, is a mistaken one in the present case, -because, to commence with, Charlotte Brontë's romantic love for M. Heger -affords no game to the scandal-hunter; but, on the contrary, it is -serviceable to the just appreciation of her character, as well as of her -genius, that her true sentiment for her Professor--_that explains her -attitude of mind when writing 'Villette'_--should be rightly understood. -Then also, whilst Madame de Staël's infatuation for Benjamin Constant -neither adds to nor diminishes her claims, as the authoress of _Corinne_ -and _de l'Allemagne_, to the rank of a fine writer and a great critic, -and while George Sand's tormenting and tormented love for the ill-fated, -irresistible, unstable 'child of his century,' de Musset, is a poignant -revelation of the passing weakness (through immense tenderness) of a -splendidly strong and independent spirit, that one is almost ashamed to -be made the spectator of, Charlotte Brontë's valorous martyrdom, -undergone secretly and silently, and 'rewarded openly,' fills one with -an extraordinary sentiment of respect for her: and justifies Mr. Clement -Shorter's own fine and generous utterances upon the impression that the -Letters that betray the anguish she endured, and overcame, alone, -produces upon him. - -'_Charlotte Brontë_,' said Mr. Clement Shorter, by the report of an -interviewer who recorded his opinions in the _Times_, 30th July, -immediately after the publication of these Letters, '_is one of the -noblest figures in life as well as in literature; and these Letters -place her on a higher pedestal than ever_.' - -Let me quote from the same report in the _Times_ the further statement -of his opinions given by this well-known critic, as to the sentiments -revealed in these Letters: - - 'Mr. Shorter,' affirmed the interviewer, 'welcomed the - publication of the letters in the _Times_ "as giving the - last and final word on an old and needless controversy." - "Personally," he said, "I have always held the view that - those letters were actuated only by the immense enthusiasm - of a woman desiring comradeship and sympathy with a man of - the character of Professor Heger. There was no sort of - great sorrow on her part because Professor Heger was a - married man, and it is plain in her letters that she merely - desired comradeship with a great man. When Charlotte Brontë - made her name famous with her best-known novel, she - experienced much the same adulation from admirers of both - sexes as she had already poured upon her teacher. She found - that literary comradeship she desired in half a dozen male - correspondents to whom she addressed letters in every way as - interesting as those written by her to Professor Heger. - There is nothing in those letters of hers, published now for - the first time, that any enthusiastic woman might not write - to a man double her age, who was a married man with a - family, and who had been her teacher. When one considers - that half a dozen writers have, in the past, declared that - Charlotte Brontë was in love with Professor Heger, it is a - surprising thing that Dr. Heger did not years ago publish - the letters. They are a complete vindication both of her and - of his father, and, as such, I welcome them, as I am sure - must all lovers of the Brontës."' - -In his first contention Mr. Clement Shorter is undeniably right: it _is_ -quite true that '_the publication of these Letters places Charlotte -Brontë on a higher pedestal than ever_.' But why is this true? _Because -these are love-letters of a very rare and wonderful character_; because -the passionate tragical emotion that throbs through them is a love that, -recognised as hopeless, as unrequited, makes only one claim; that, -_precisely because it makes no other_, it has a right to be accepted and -to live. Now this sort of love is a _very rare and wonderful emotion, -that only a noble being can feel; and that although it is hopeless, -tragical, is nevertheless a splendid fact, that renders it absurd to -deny that sublime unselfishness is a capacity of human nature_. And, -again, these letters place Charlotte Brontë 'on a higher pedestal than -ever,' because in them her vocation and gift of expressing her own -emotions in a way that makes them 'vibrate' in us like living feelings -is here carried to its height. So that these personal letters, more even -than the pictured emotions of Lucy Snowe, stand out as a record of -romantic love that (in so far as I know) has never before been rivalled. -It is true we have the romantic love-letters of Abelard and Héloïse, and -the letters in the _New Héloïse_ of Saint-Preux to Julie, and of Julie -to Saint-Preux, after their separation, as beautiful examples of love -surviving hope of happiness; and Sainte-Beuve has quoted, as examples of -the tragical disinterested passion of a love that claims no return, but -only the right to exist, the letters of some eighteenth-century women: -Mademoiselle de l'Espinasse, Madame de la Popelinière, and Mademoiselle -d'Aissé. But in none of these historic love-letters (so, at least, it -seems to me) does one feel, with the same truth and strength as in these -recently published letters of Charlotte Brontë to M. Heger, the -'vibration' of this tragical, hopeless, romantic love, that asks for -nothing but acceptance, that does not 'seek its own'--the love that only -asks to give, compared with which all other sorts of love, that _do_ -seek their own and claim return, are as sounding brass and a tinkling -cymbal. - -But now, if we were to accept the view of these letters, that they do -not express love at all, but merely the writer's '_desire of comradeship -with a great man_': and that '_after she had become famous "she found -that literary comradeship she desired, in half a dozen male -correspondents, to whom she addressed letters in every way as -interesting as those written by her to M. Heger_"'; and that '_there is -nothing in these letters that any enthusiastic woman might not write to -a man double her age, who was a married man with a family, and who had -been her teacher_'--if we could accept all these views, could we _then_ -hold the opinion that 'the publication of these letters places Charlotte -on a higher pedestal than ever'? - -It seems to me, on the contrary, that _then_ we should find ourselves -compelled to admit that Charlotte Brontë had fallen very much in our -esteem as a result of the publication of these Letters. For whilst -romantic love is a noble sentiment that does honour to the heart that -feels it, an '_immense enthusiasm for literary comradeship with great -men_' is not _necessarily_, nor generally even, a commendable sentiment. -It is very often merely a rather vulgar and selfish persistency in -claiming the time and attention of busy people who don't want the -comradeship; and I suppose there are very few people in the least degree -famous who have not been rightly harassed by the 'enthusiasm' of -professing admirers who have nothing to do themselves, and who want -busy men or women of letters to correspond with them. And if a desire of -comradeship with M. Heger had really been the sentiment and motive of -Charlotte's letters to him, after she left Bruxelles, then the fact that -she continued to write to him although he did not answer her letters -would prove that she was insisting upon being the 'comrade' of some one -who did not want her. Again, if the tone and terms of these Letters to -M. Heger in 1845 were the same that she employed with '_half a dozen -other male correspondents_,' after she became a famous writer, well -Charlotte _would_ fall in our estimation, both as a writer, who ought to -know how to avoid extravagant language, and as a self-respecting woman -who should not have allowed her enthusiasm for literary comradeship to -induce her to repeat experiences that, without loss of dignity, one -cannot pass through more than once in a lifetime. - -Happily, however, attention to facts proves that none of the conditions -that, if they had existed, would have rendered the writing of these -Letters discreditable to Charlotte's reputation, can be accepted as in -the least credible. It is not credible that her sentiment for M. Heger -was that of intellectual enthusiasm for a great man double her age; -because, to begin with, M, Heger was _not_ double Charlotte Brontë's -age, but only seven years her senior. About this question there can be -no dispute. M. Heger was born in 1809; and Charlotte Brontë in 1816. In -1844 Charlotte then was twenty-eight, and M. Heger thirty-five years of -age, and given the fact that women lose their youth first, M. Heger had -precisely the age that would render him most sympathetic to a woman who -was still young but who had left girlhood behind her. Again, M. Heger -was not a '_Great Man_,' in the sense of being either a celebrity, or an -original genius with gifts or qualities of an order calculated to kindle -intellectual hero-worship; and he was further a dictatorial and -ingrained Professor, the very last person on earth to offer literary -comradeship to a former pupil. The Director of the Pensionnat in the Rue -d'Isabelle, and the former _Préfet des Études_ at the Brussels -_Athénée_ (who had resigned this post when religious instruction, made a -free subject, was excluded, as a compulsory Catholic training from the -college curriculum) was a man of talent, who had weight in Catholic -circles, and was recognised in his character of a Professor as one with -an admirable gift for teaching, even by the enemies of his religious -convictions; but he was not in any way, save as a teacher, a -distinguished or famous personage; and in all probability if this -English writer of genius had not immortalised him in the character of -'Paul Emanuel,' M. Heger would not have outlived the affectionate and -respectful remembrance of his family and personal friends. - -The method of testing the question of whether intellectual enthusiasm, -or tragical romantic love is the sentiment revealed in these Letters is -_to read the Letters themselves--in the light of a true impression of -the real relationships (when they were written) between Charlotte Brontë -and M. Heger_, that is to say in the first twelve months that followed -Charlotte's farewell to the Director and the Directress of the -Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle, in January 1844. And to obtain this -right impression, we have to see what had taken place, to alter the -original entirely friendly terms between Madame Heger and the English -under-mistress, who during the first year of her stay in Brussels had -been a parlour-boarder:--for the story told in _Villette_ of Lucy -Snowe's arrival at the Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle late at night, -and with no place of shelter, having lost her box and been robbed of her -purse on the voyage, is, to start with, an incident that has no place in -the true history. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CHARLOTTE'S LAST YEAR AT BRUSSELS - -1842-43 - - -What were Charlotte Brontë's real relationships with Monsieur and Madame -Heger when, in January 1844, she bade them, what was to prove, a final -farewell? This is what has to be understood before we can read with a -full sense of their true meaning the tragical impassioned Letters to M. -Heger, written within the first two years of Charlotte's return to -England, Letters that not only place the authoress of _Jane Eyre_ and -_Villette_ (as a devotee, and an exponent of Romantic love) on a 'higher -pedestal than ever,' but that, also, explain at what cost of personal -anguish she attained as a writer her extraordinary power of translating -emotions into words, that, by the impression they produce retranslate -themselves to her readers' imagination and sensibilities as feelings. - -We have always to remember that the relationships between Charlotte and -her former Professor were not those that existed between Lucy Snowe and -her 'Master.' Paul Emanuel was unmarried, and in love with Lucy, -although Madame Beck and the Jesuit, Père Silas,--and in the end -Destiny--prevented the love-story from reaching a happy ending. - -Nor were these relationships, as the facts of the case reveal them, -those imagined by Mr. Clement Shorter; where '_it was no cause of grief -to Charlotte that M. Heger was married_,' because her enthusiasm for him -was that of simple hero-worship for a great man. Nor yet were these -relationships, when she left Bruxelles in 1844 (nor had they been for -some ten months before that date), the same relationships (of trustful -friendship on the one hand and sympathetic interest on the other) that -had existed between Charlotte and the Director and Directress of the -Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle when, a year earlier (in January 1843), -Charlotte had returned to Bruxelles alone, _in response to Madame's as -well as Monsieur's invitation_, to perfect her own French, and to -receive a small salary as English Mistress. These first relationships -had continued untroubled for the first few months after Charlotte's -return. Thus, in March 1843, writing to her friend Ellen Nussey, she -qualifies her complaints of loneliness in the Pensionnat (without the -companionship she had enjoyed the previous year of her dearly loved -sister Emily) by reference to the kindness of Madame, as well as of -Monsieur Heger. - -'As I told you before,' she writes, 'M. and Madame Heger are the only -two persons in the house for whom I really experience regard and esteem; -and of course I cannot be always with them, nor even very often. They -told me, when I first returned, that I was to consider their -sitting-room my sitting-room, and to go there whenever I was not engaged -in the schoolroom. This, however, I cannot do. In the daytime it is a -public room, where music-masters and mistresses are constantly passing -in and out; and in the evening I will not, and ought not, to intrude on -M. and Madame Heger and their children. Thus I am a good deal by -myself; but that does not signify. I now regularly give English lessons -to M. Heger and his brother-in-law. They get on with wonderful rapidity, -especially the first.[1] - -So that, up to this date, no cloud is visible. But by May 29 there is a -cloud above the horizon. It is no bigger than 'a man's hand' as yet: but -it is charged with electricity, and one knows the storm is gathering. -This time Charlotte is writing to Emily, _who never liked M. Heger for -her part_. 'Things wag on much as usual here, only Mlle. Blanche and -Mlle. Haussé are at present on a system of war without quarter. They -hate each other like two cats. Mlle. Blanche frightens Mlle. Haussé by -her white passions, for they quarrel venomously; Mlle. Haussé complains -that when Mlle. Blanche is in a fury "_elle n'a pas de lèvres_." I find -also that Mlle. Sophie dislikes Mlle. Blanche extremely. She says she is -heartless, insincere and vindictive, which epithets, I assure you, are -richly deserved. _Also I find she is the regular spy of Madame Heger, -to whom she reports everything. Also she invents, which I should not -have thought_. I am [not] richly off for companionship in these parts. -_Of late days, M. and Madame Heger rarely speak to me; and I really -don't pretend to care a fig for anybody else in the establishment_. You -are not to suppose by that expression that I am under the influence of -_warm_ affection for Madame Heger. _I am convinced she does not like me: -why, I can't tell_. (O Charlotte!) _Nor do I think she herself has any -definite reason for this aversion_.(!) But for one thing, she cannot -understand why I do not make intimate friends of Mesdames Blanche, -Sophie and Haussé. M. Heger is wondrously influenced by Madame: and I -should not wonder if he disapproves very much of my unamiable want of -sociability. He has already given me a brief lecture on universal -_bienveillance_; and perceiving that I don't improve in consequence, I -fancy he has taken to considering me as a person to be let alone, left -to the error of her ways, and consequently he has, in a great measure, -withdrawn the light of his countenance; and I get on from day to day, -in a Robinson Crusoe like condition, very lonely. That does not signify; -in other respects I have nothing substantial to complain of, nor is even -this a cause of complaint. _Except for the loss of M. Heger's goodwill -(if I have lost it,) I care for none of 'em_.'[2] - -Let us see what this letter, written eight months before Charlotte left -Bruxelles, tells us about the altered facts of the relationships between -herself and the Directress and Director of the School. First, it is no -longer Monsieur and Madame Heger who are the only people Charlotte cares -about in the establishment, _but it is only the goodwill of M. Heger -that she would grieve to lose_. And Madame Heger, who so kindly invited -her to consider the family sitting-room hers, now takes no notice of -her, and, Charlotte knows it, has taken an aversion to her. And when M. -Heger says, 'Don't you think, "Mees Charlotte," who is lonely without -her sister Emily, should be taken more notice of?' Madame Heger replies -coldly: '_If "Mees" is lonely, it is her own fault. Why does she not -make friends with her compeers, Mesdemoiselles Blanche, Sophie and -Haussé?_ They are of her rank; they follow the same profession; no, this -young Englishwoman is full of the pride and narrowness of her race! She -is without _bienveillance_: she esteems herself better than others, she -makes her own unhappiness; _and it is not for her good to single her out -amongst the other excellent under-mistresses as we have done_. Let her -make herself friends amongst them: _let her learn to be amiable_.' And -M. Heger, who thinks there is something true in this, because his -unalterable opinion is that it belongs to the English character, and to -the Protestant creed, to be proud, narrow, unamiable and without -benevolence, lectures Charlotte in this sense. Here are the facts of the -situation in May 1843. - -Now what has happened in these few months to so change the relationships -between Charlotte and Madame Heger, and to render Monsieur Heger--_under -Madame's influence_--less friendly and helpful than he had formerly -been, in his efforts to encourage the studies, and brighten by gifts of -books, and talks about them, the solitude of the English teacher? It is -not very difficult to discover the cause of the change, if only critics -with psychological insight would employ this quality, not to fabricate -problems out of false impressions, but to penetrate the true -significance of the evidence that lies open to one, of the actual -circumstances and facts. - -The circumstance that explains the fact of Madame Heger's altered -conduct and feeling towards the English under-mistress whom only a few -months earlier she had invited to use her own sitting-room, and to -regard herself as a member of the family, and whom _now_ she scarcely -speaks to, and thinks should find companions with the other -under-mistresses, is a discovery that Madame probably made, before even -Charlotte herself had fully recognised what had happened. This discovery -is that a change has taken place in Charlotte's sentiment towards her -'Master in literature'; a sentiment that at first had not transgressed -the limits of a cordial and affectionate appreciation of his kindness -and of his talent and charm and power as a teacher--approved of by -Madame Heger as a becoming sentiment in this young person, convenient, -'convenable.' But as Charlotte's exclusive pleasure in M. Heger's -society and conversation increases, with her distaste for the society -and conversation of every one else with whom she is now in daily -contact, and as the charm of his original personality grows, with her -sense of the natural disparity between herself and the self-controlled -Directress, whose rule of life is respect for what is _convenient,_ in -the French sense of _la convenance_ (_i.e._ what is _becoming_) and of -revolt against the vulgarity and profligacy she finds as the -distinguishing characteristics of her fellow-governesses, this sentiment -becomes transformed (insensibly and fatally, without her knowledge or -will) into a passionate personal devotion--in other words, into a -sentiment that does transgress very seriously indeed the limits of the -sort of feeling that Madame Heger, in her double character of directress -of a highly esteemed Pensionnat de Demoiselles, and of the wife of -Monsieur Heger--esteems 'convenient,' in the case of an under-mistress -in her establishment. It was not a question of ordinary jealousy at all. -Madame Heger, a much more attractive woman than Charlotte Brontë in so -far as her personal appearance was concerned, was absolutely convinced -of the affection and fidelity of her husband, and of the entirely and -exclusively professorial interest he took in assisting this clever and -zealous and meritorious daughter of an evangelical Pastor, to qualify -herself for a schoolmistress in her own country. It was entirely a -question of the '_inconvenience_'--the unbecoming character of this -unfortunate infatuation, that renders it entirely intolerable; something -that must be got rid of at once; but as quietly as possible, without -exciting remark, and with as much consideration for this imprudent, -unhappy 'Mees Charlotte' as possible. The whole affair is a misfortune, -of course, 'un malheur': but what one has to do, now it _has_ arrived, -is to guard against even greater 'malheurs' for everybody concerned. For -'Mees Charlotte' herself, first of all--what a 'malheur' should this -'infatuation,' involuntary and blameless in intention, no doubt, but so -utterly inconvenient, betray itself in some regrettable exhibition of -feeling, most humiliating to herself, and most distressing to her only -parent, the respectable widowed evangelical Pastor in Yorkshire! And -then for the Pensionnat, what a 'malheur' should any gossip arise: and -what sort of an effect would it produce upon the mind of parents of -pupils, who most naturally would object to the knowledge of the -existence even of a sentiment so inconvenient as this being brought to -the knowledge of their young daughters? And confronted with these -perils, Madame Heger's conclusion upon the only way of avoiding them, is -really not a very unreasonable nor unkind one. It is that the sooner -'Mees Brontë' returns to her home in Yorkshire, the better for herself, -and for the interests and the tranquillity of the Director and the -Directress of the Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle: who wish to sever -their relationships with her on friendly terms; who, in the future, -when she has cured herself of this unhappy extravagance (as no doubt her -good sense and excellent upbringing will assist her to do) hope to renew -their intercourse with her; but who, in the circumstances that have -arisen, think it better all intimacy should be suspended. - -Nor, having formed this conclusion, was Madame Heger's method of -endeavouring to force Charlotte to adopt it also, either wilfully unkind -or inconsiderate. Her method was to convey forcibly to Charlotte's -knowledge _without any needless humiliating explanations_, that she, the -Directress of the Pensionnat where Charlotte was under-mistress, has -penetrated the secret of her feelings towards M. Heger, and consequently -that the old terms between herself and Charlotte have become impossible, -and that the necessity has arisen to assert her claims and to establish -the rules that must be observed in the ordering of the Pensionnat and of -the staff of teachers for which she is responsible. Without discussions -or recriminations in connection with the reasons for this decision, -these mere reasons, well known to Miss Brontë herself, convince her -that it is not convenient 'Mees' should continue a teacher, or even an -inmate, in her school any more; and surely this circumstance alone -should point out to 'Mees' herself, what she ought to do? Let her do -this, let her take the opportunity offered her of relieving Madame Heger -of the painful necessity of touching upon distressing subjects, and the -secret they share shall never be made known to any one, _not even to M. -Heger himself_, who is entirely unconscious of it. An explanation could -easily be found by 'Mees' for the necessity of her return to -England:--her aged father's infirmities, the establishment of the school -that she is now qualified to manage, etc.--and all this matter will -arrange itself quietly. _To bring Charlotte to dismiss herself_ was -Madame Heger's purpose: but in view of the slowness and reluctance of -this obstinate Englishwoman to recognise what was 'becoming,' and -expected from her, the immediate object became to guard against any -self-betrayal by Charlotte of her state of feeling to other members of -the establishment, _and especially to M. Heger,_ whom Madame knew to be -entirely innocent of any warm feeling resembling romantic sentiment for -the homely but intelligent and zealous Englishwoman, whose progress -under his instruction and capacity for appreciating good literature made -her interesting to him as a pupil, whilst her meritorious courage in -working to qualify herself to earn her own bread as an instructress -herself claimed his approval--but whom he had not as yet suspected of a -tragical passion for him. _And Madame Heger esteemed it most undesirable -he should ever make the discovery._ And _therefore_ her immediate care -was to guard against the occasion of such a revelation being given: and -_therefore_ she endeavours to stop private lessons given by M. Heger to -Charlotte, or English lessons given by her in return; _therefore_ too, -she works to prevent any intercourse or meetings between the Professor -and this particular pupil, outside of the presence of spectators and -listeners, whose unsympathetic but attentive eyes and ears will impose -restraint upon this extravagant Charlotte; so little under the control -of good sense and respect for what is becoming. - -But now these tactics followed by Madame Heger, although from her own -point of view they were as considerate and judicious as the interests of -Charlotte, the Pensionnat, and 'convenience' permitted, and although no -personal jealousy, vindictiveness nor malice entered into them, -nevertheless _from Charlotte's point of view_ were intolerable and -cruel; and the torments they inflicted upon her during the long seven -months she lived through this incessant conflict with Madame Heger, -under cover of an outer show of politeness on both sides, were precisely -the same torments of cheated expectancy, suspense, thwarted hope, -disappointments, that she has painted in _Villette_, and the -_Professor_, as inflicted upon the hapless governesses Lucy Snowe and -Frances Henri, by those two cruel, pitiless head-mistresses Madame Beck -and Mlle. Zoraïde Reuter. Yes:--but there was all the difference in the -world between the circumstances arranged by the authoress in her two -novels, and the circumstances as a mischievous destiny had entangled -them in the true history. - -In the stories made to please her fancy by Charlotte, we have in -_Villette_ Paul Emanuel unmarried--and in love with Lucy Snowe; but by -the base contrivances of Madame Beck, a Jesuit priest, Père Silas, has -been called in, to stir up superstitious dread of allying himself with a -heretic in the mind of the good Catholic that Paul was, and so prevent -him from carrying through certain tentative indications of the state of -his affections that have awakened and justified the passionate but timid -and self-despising Lucy Snowe. Nothing then can be more plain than the -position here--Paul Emanuel and Lucy Snowe are being divided, and -trouble is being created, by a horrid, jealous, mischievous Madame Beck, -who wants Paul Emanuel to marry her, although she knows he loves Lucy, -and that Lucy is in love with him, but too little self-confident, too -feeble, in her dependent position, to assert her claims. In the -_Professor_ it is much the same case, only Mlle. Zoraïde Reuter is more -of a cat than Madame Beck, and less an evil genius, who demands -admiration for her cleverness whilst Mlle. Zoraïde, who makes coarse -love to the Professor, provokes contempt. - -Well but now here is the real case. Madame Heger knows that here is the -English daughter of an Evangelical Pastor, who (although she is old -enough to look after herself), is nevertheless under her (Madame's) -protection, and behold this young woman has taken it into her head to -conceive a most inconvenient infatuation for her husband, M. Heger! Now -how is one to meet this situation in the best way for everybody? Happily -the secret lies between herself and Mees Charlotte: it rests with Mees -to take herself out of harm's way: and all is safe. But that is what she -will not do. So here you have the position: this grown-up, obstinate -Englishwoman, with her 'inconvenient' passion, always on the verge of -exhibiting her sentiments in a way that may inform M. Heger--who is the -best of men; most honourable, but still a man--who may or may not see -how serious this is: who may tell one, 'Let _me_ talk reason to her,' -which is the last course to take! It is true, Madame will have said to -herself, 'I might take matters into my hands; and since she has no sense -of 'convenience' herself, I might say: 'Mees, I exact this of you: -_immediately_ you make up your trunks, and return to Yorkshire; you -start to-morrow.' Yes, but what happens then? There are -observations,--indignation is excited. M. Heger will say to me, 'What -now is this sudden attitude you take up towards Mees? it is not just.' -And if I explain, he may say: 'You imagine things; you women are not -good to each other.' Or he may say: 'Let _me talk to Mees Charlotte_,' -and then there will be _attaques de nerfs_--who can say? No, there is -only one thing to do: as this Englishwoman has not herself any sense of -'convenience.' We must be patient until the end of the year, when her -term is finished. _Then she goes_, arrive what may. And, meanwhile, one -must support it; only she must not meet M. Heger alone: and one must -constantly take precautions, in this sense, against scenes.' - -Well, was there anything very cruel, or hard-hearted, or vindictive, in -Madame Heger's conduct? If you are a psychologist, put yourself in her -place. What could she have done with this entanglement of circumstances, -all menacing what she most valued, a watchful preservation of -'convenience,' most necessary in a Pensionnat de _Jeunes Filles_ of high -repute? If any one will suggest a plan that would have been more -considerate to Charlotte than the one she took, I should very much like -to hear what plan? Even then, in the light of what I know of Madame -Heger's incapability of a deliberate desire to torture, or inflict -severe punishment on any pupil, or teacher, or living thing, I should -still protest confidently that in all she did--that sweet and kind old -schoolmistress of mine--in the days when she was twenty years younger -than when I knew her--she _meant_ to be considerate and kind. - -Without attempting to decide who, between Charlotte and Madame Heger, -was to blame, or whether either of them were to blame, here, at any -rate, we have the conditions of feeling between these two women: each -exasperated against the other, under the strain of a forced politeness, -during the last seven months of Charlotte's residence in Bruxelles. No -doubt, for both of them the strain was great. All this time (without -saying it out aloud) Madame Heger was forcing upon Charlotte's -attention, the '_inconvenience_' of her presence in the Pensionnat; the -necessity for her return to England. All this time Charlotte--outwardly -compliant with all the demands made upon her, that keep her writing -letters at Madame's dictation (_in the hours when Monsieur is giving his -lessons in class_), that send her upon messages to the other end of -Bruxelles (_upon holidays when Monsieur's habit is to trim the vine -above the Berceau in the garden_)--all this time, Charlotte's bitter -protest spoke out in the gaze she fastened on the Directress: 'Merciless -woman that you are! _you_ who have everything; who are his wife, the -mother of his children, whom he loves; who will enjoy his conversation -and his society, and the pleasant home you share with him, all your -life; and who grudge me--I, who have nothing of all this, but who love -him more--I, who in a few months must go out into the dark world, -without the light his presence is to me; without the music his voice -makes for me; without the delight his conversation is to my mind, and -the complete satisfaction his society brings to my whole nature--and you -grudge me these few months of happiness? Rich and cruel woman, who, in -your selfish life possess all this, you are more cruel than Dives was to -Lazarus; you grudge me even the crumbs that fall from your table.' - - -[1] _Life of C.B._, p. 254. - -[2] _Life_, p. 258. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE CONFESSIONS AT ST. GUDULE - - -We are now in a position to realise the emotions and experiences that -lasted up to the eve of Charlotte's return to England. But there are two -events that vary the incessant conflict with Madame Heger; and that help -to form the basis of real experiences, expressed in the portraits (that -are not historical pictures) of Zoraïde Reuter and of Madame Beck. These -two events also re-appear, as scenes in _Villette, that did not take -place in the way the authoress relates_ them; but that put us in -possession of the parallel facts in Charlotte's true career: where she -felt the very same emotions she describes in the novel. The first event -gives us the actual, the original history, of what in _Villette_ -reappears in the imaginary account of Lucy Snowe's Confession: and -serves there to introduce us to the Jesuit who is half a spy and half a -saint--Père Silas. In Charlotte's life the event, as it is related by -her in a letter to Emily, took place during that long and solitary -vacation in the empty Pensionnat, where, from August to October 1843, -Charlotte was left to face the position now made for her by Madame -Heger's discovery of the Secret that, possessed by her enemy, could not -remain hidden from Charlotte herself. - -Charlotte's letter to Emily begins by describing the desolation of this -large house, with its deserted class-rooms, and silent garden, and -galérie, and for her solitary companion only the repulsive-minded and -malicious Mademoiselle Blanche, whom she has described in an earlier -letter as a spy of Madame Heger's. - -'I should inevitably,' she writes, 'fall into the gulf of low spirits if -I stayed always by myself.... Yesterday I went on a pilgrimage to the -cemetery, and far beyond it, on to a hill where there was nothing but -fields as far as the horizon. When I came back it was evening, but I had -such a repugnance to return to the house which contained nothing that I -cared for, that I kept treading the narrow streets in the neighbourhood -of the Rue d'Isabelle, and avoiding it. I found myself opposite to _Ste. -Gudule_; and the bell, whose voice you know, began to toll for evening -_salût_. I went in quite alone (which procedure you will say is not much -like me), wandered about the aisles (where a few old women were saying -their prayers), till vespers. I stayed till they were over. Still I -could not leave the church nor force myself to go home--to school, I -mean. _An odd whim_ came into my head. In a solitary part of the -cathedral six or seven people still remained, kneeling by the -Confessionals. In two Confessionals I saw a Priest. I felt as if I did -not care what I did, provided it was not absolutely wrong, and that it -served to vary my life and yield a moment's interest. I took a fancy to -change myself into a Catholic, and go and make _a real Confession_ to -see what it was like. Knowing me as you do, you will think this odd, -_but when people are by themselves they have singular fancies_. A -penitent was occupied in confessing. They do not go into the sort of pew -or cloister the priest occupies, but kneel down on the steps and -confess through a grating. Both the confessor and the penitent whisper -very low: you can hardly hear their voices. After I had watched two or -three penitents go, and return, I approached at last, and knelt down in -a niche which was just vacated. I had to kneel there ten minutes -waiting, for on the other side was another penitent, invisible to me. At -last that one went away, and a little wooden door inside the grating -opened and I saw the Priest leaning his ear toward me. I was obliged to -begin, and yet I did not know a word of the formula with which they -always commence their confessions!... I began by saying I was a -foreigner and had been brought up as a Protestant. The Priest asked if I -was a Protestant then. I somehow could not tell a lie, and said yes. He -replied that in that case I could not "_jouir du bonheur de la -confesse_," but _I was determined to confess_, and at last he said he -would allow me, because it might be the first step towards returning -towards the true Church. _I actually did confess--a real Confession_. -When I had done he told me his address, and said that every morning I -was to go to the Rue du Parc to his house, and he would reason with me -and try to convince me of the error and enormity of being a Protestant. -I promised faithfully. Of course, however, the adventure stops here: and -_I hope I shall never see the Priest again_. I think you had better not -tell Papa this. He will not understand that it was _only a freak_, and -will perhaps think I am going to turn Catholic.' - -Only 'a freak'?--an 'odd whim'? Even without the knowledge of the -special facts we now possess, could any serious student of Charlotte -Brontë believe it? Given what we know of her seriousness, of her -religious temper, that cannot take spiritual things lightly, of her -rational Protestant piety, of her antipathy to Catholic formulas--given -all this as characteristic of her aspirations,--and as characteristics -of her personality, shyness, and reserve carried almost to -morbidness--can any one believe that mere _ennui_, a craving for -variety, excitement, flung this normally shamefaced, timid Englishwoman -down on her knees, on the stone steps of the Sainte Gudule -Confessional; inspired her with the determination needed to withstand -the Priest's objections to allow her, as a Protestant, _de jouir du -bonheur de la confesse_; compelled her to insist upon her claim, by -virtue of her dire need of this '_happiness_' (or at any rate of this -_relief_) of unburthening her soul by a 'real Confession'? A _real_ -Confession--of _what_? What crime has this poor innocent Charlotte on -her conscience that stands in such need of confession? No crime, we may -be sure. Only the weight, the misery of this tragic 'Secret'; too -intimate, too sacred to be confided even to those nearest to her,--even -to Emily. But now that her 'enemy' holds it, too grievous a secret to -remain unshared with Some One, who is not an enemy, nor yet a friend--a -stranger, who will not blush nor tremble for her, will not see her -whilst she whispers through the grating: whom she will not see, or meet -again;--Some One, who by profession, is God's Delegate of Mercy to -deliver the unwilling offender, who repents him of his secret sins, -Some One who is pledged, when he has given pardon and consolation, -_never to betray what he has heard--to forget it even_. Some One who, -experienced in offering counsel and consolation, may (who can say?) -offer some comfort or advice, assisting her to extricate herself from -the snare into which she has fallen, and to recover safety. - -Does one not know what the 'Confession,' whispered through the grating, -really was? Or can one doubt what the Priest's advice was? Was it not -necessarily the same advice so urgently forced upon her by Madame Heger? -She must escape from the peril of temptation: she must not show this -tragic passion any mercy: she must break this spell: she must go back to -England. She felt she could not do this thing of herself without 'God's -special grace preventing her'? Therefore she must diligently seek to -obtain this grace _by the aid of the Holy Catholic Church_--and she must -call in the Rue du Parc--next morning. In so far as the last -recommendation went, we know Charlotte did not follow it. _The -adventure_--as she says herself, _stopped there_. Nor is there anything -in her own story to indicate the existence of any real Jesuit, taking -the place of the mischief-making Saint, Père Silas, familiar to readers -of _Villette_. The Priest of Ste. Gudule comes to us as a more -impressive personage just because Charlotte _never met him again._ - -But his advice remained vividly present to her recollection we may feel -sure. On the 23rd October, about a month after this event, she writes -once more to Ellen Nussey:-- - -'It is a curious position to be so utterly solitary in the midst of -numbers. One day lately I felt as if I could bear it no longer _and I -went to Madame Heger and gave her notice. If it had depended upon her I -should certainly have soon been at liberty. But M. Heger having heard of -what was in agitation, sent for me the day after and pronounced with -vehemence his decision that I could not leave. I could not at that time -have persevered in my intentions without exciting him to anger; and -promised to stay a little while longer._' - -And so what had to be done in the end was postponed: and the old hidden -enmity between Charlotte and Madame Heger went on for another three -months. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE LEAVE-TAKING--THE SCENE IN THE -CLASS-ROOM--CHARLOTTE LEAVES BRUSSELS - - -Two other events that we know must have happened within a few days of -Charlotte's departure from Brussels, 2nd January 1844, are lit up by the -emotions painted in _Villette._ We cannot doubt that these emotions were -suffered by the woman of genius who describes them, because it is, not -imagination, but remembrance, that has given these pages the magical -touch of life, the 'vibration' that translates words 'into feelings,' so -that we are not readers, but witnesses, of what this tormented heart -endures. - -Anguish of suspense; heart-sickness of hope deferred; despair, following -on repeated disappointment; rage and indignation at the cruelty and -injustice of this outrage done to a Love, that has wronged no one, -robbed no one, that has no desire to inflict injury on others; yet that -is refused the right that even the condemned criminal is _not_ -refused,--to bid farewell to what he holds most dear on earth before he -goes forth to execution--all these feelings are painted in the wonderful -pages, where the circumstances of the story nevertheless are legendary, -and belong to the parable of Lucy Snowe: but where the sufferings Lucy -endures on the eve of her separation from Paul Emanuel were facts stored -up in the experiences of Charlotte Brontë. - -Like the incident of Lucy Snowe's 'Confession,' the passages that in -_Villette_ describe the efforts made by Madame Beck and the Jesuit, Père -Silas, to prevent Paul Emanuel from bidding Lucy farewell, before he -starts for his voyage to Basseterres in Guadeloupe, are pages from the -spiritual life of Charlotte Brontë--taken out of their proper frame of -circumstances, and altered in some important details. But outside of -these alterations, one recognises their truthfulness, in the vivid light -they throw upon the facts told us in Charlotte's correspondence. - -In the novel, Paul Emanuel is expected to visit the class-room at a -certain hour and to take farewell of his pupils. In connection with the -real events, it has to be remembered that Charlotte left Bruxelles on -the 2nd January, that is to say, in a period when, from Christmas day to -perhaps the 7th January, there would be holidays, and the Bruxelles -pupils would have gone to their homes. It is probable then that the -English teacher, before the breaking-up, would have taken her farewell -of her pupils in the class-rooms--this was the usual practice when a -teacher was leaving for good--and that M. Heger, whom she hoped to have -seen upon this occasion, would have been absent. - -There would have been also a last lesson in class given by M. Heger -before the breaking-up for these short Christmas holidays--the last -lesson of his, that Charlotte, before she quitted the Pensionnat for -ever, would have had the chance of attending. But, _like Madame Beck_, -Madame Heger would have kept her English teacher employed in writing -letters at her dictation, in her private sitting-room, whilst this -class was going on. Like Lucy, Charlotte would have broken away at the -end, when she heard the sound of moving forms, and shutting desks, -proving the lesson ended. But here also Madame Heger would have followed -her (even as Madame Beck followed Lucy Snowe)--have kept the -under-mistress in the background, and then have taken possession of M. -Heger, on the plea of some business matter demanding his attention. - -Certainly also (it seems to me) we may believe in the incident of the -scrap of paper, handed by one of the smallest girls in the school, to -Charlotte, after these two exploits of Madame Heger's diplomacy, -intended to avoid the danger--_and was not the danger real?_--of an -emotional scene of leave-taking, that might thwart her endeavour to get -Charlotte safely out of the house, without any 'inconvenient' -revelations. M. Heger may, or may not, have been as ignorant of all that -was going on between his wife and 'Mees Charlotte' as Madame Heger -desired him to be. But it would have been entirely like him, whether he -knew what was happening or not, to wish for an emotional leave-taking -with his English pupil. M. Heger liked to foster a certain amount of -sensibility in his relationships with his pupils--it did not amount to -more than a taste for dramatic situations where he had an interesting -part to play that gave his histrionic talents a good field of exercise. -But the message warning Charlotte '_that he must see her at leisure, -before she left, and talk with her at length_,' appears to me just the -sort of message M. Heger would have sent. And more especially he would -have acted thus if _in reality he had forgotten all about Charlotte's -near time of departure_ and then had suddenly remembered it, and that -'Mees' would feel hurt, and think he had behaved coldly to her. In this -case he would have tried to put himself right and to persuade her that -he had not forgotten at all, but had arranged a special opportunity for -a long talk, etc. And Charlotte believing it all, upon the strength of -this note, would have lingered on in his class-room, expecting M. -Heger,--who never appeared. - - -[Illustration: M. HEGER AT SIXTY (He was born in 1809: hence -thirty-four, in 1843, when Charlotte bade him farewell)] - - -It seems to me that, whilst it is _possible_ that Madame Heger _may_ -have prevented her husband from keeping the appointment, it is also -quite _possible_ that M. Heger may have again forgotten all about it? -That would have been like him too,--as I shall show by and by. - -But what I believe to have _certainly happened is that the scene between -Madame Heger and Charlotte took place just as the authoress of -'Villette' described_. That interview wears, to my mind, the stamp of -truth. - - The last day broke. Now would he visit us. Now would he come - and speak his farewell, or he would vanish mute, and be seen - by us nevermore. - - This alternative seemed to be present in the mind of not a - living creature in that school. All rose at the usual hour; - all breakfasted as usual; all, without reference to, or - apparent thought of, their late professor, betook themselves - with wonted phlegm to their ordinary duties. - - So oblivious was the house, so tame, so trained its - proceedings, so inexpectant its aspect, I scarce knew how to - breathe in an atmosphere thus stagnant, thus smothering. - Would no one lend me a voice? Had no one a wish, no one a - word, no one a prayer to which I could say Amen? - - I had seen them unanimous in demand for the merest trifle--a - treat, a holiday, a lesson's remission; they could not, they - _would_ not now band to besiege Madame Beck, and insist on a - last interview with a master who had certainly been loved, - at least by some--loved as _they_ could love; but, oh! what - _is_ the love of the multitude? - - I knew where he lived; I knew where he was to be heard of or - communicated with. The distance was scarce a stone's-throw. - Had it been in the next room, unsummoned I could make no use - of my knowledge. To follow, to seek out, to remind, to - recall--for these things I had no faculty. - - M. Emanuel might have passed within reach of my arm. Had he - passed silent and unnoticing, silent and stirless should I - have suffered him to go by. - - Morning wasted. Afternoon came, and I thought all was over. - My heart trembled in its place. My blood was troubled in its - current. I was quite sick, and hardly knew how to keep at my - post or do my work. Yet the little world round me plodded on - indifferent; all seemed jocund, free of care, or fear, or - thought. The very pupils who, seven days since, had wept - hysterically at a startling piece of news, appeared quite to - have forgotten the news, its import, and their emotion. - - A little before five o'clock, the hour of dismissal, Madame - Beck sent for me to her chamber, to read over and translate - some English letter she had received, and to write for her - the answer. Before settling to this work, I observed that - she softly closed the two doors of her chamber; she even - shut and fastened the casement, though it was a hot day, and - free circulation of air was usually regarded by her as - indispensable. Why this precaution? A keen suspicion, an - almost fierce distrust, suggested such question. Did she - want to exclude sound? What sound? - - I listened as I had never listened before; I listened like - the evening and winter wolf, snuffing the snow, scenting - prey, and hearing far off the traveller's tramp. Yet I could - both listen and write. About the middle of the letter I - heard what checked my pen--a tread in the vestibule. No - door-bell had rung; Rosine--acting doubtless by orders--had - anticipated such reveille. Madame saw me halt. She coughed, - made a bustle, spoke louder. The tread had passed on to the - _classes_. - - 'Proceed,' said Madame; but my hand was fettered, my ear - enchained, my thoughts were carried off captive. - - The _classes_ formed another building; the hall parted them - from the dwelling-house. Despite distance and partition, I - heard the sudden stir of numbers, a whole division rising at - once. - - 'They are putting away work,' said madame. - - It was indeed the hour to put away work, but why that sudden - hush, that instant quell of the tumult? - - 'Wait, madam; I will see what it is.' - - And I put down my pen and left her. Left her? No. She would - not be left. Powerless to detain me, she rose and followed, - close as my shadow. I turned on the last step of the stair. - - 'Are you coming too?' I asked. - - 'Yes,' she said, meeting my glance with a peculiar aspect--a - look clouded, yet resolute. We proceeded then, not together, - but she walked in my steps. - - He was come. Entering the first _classe_, I saw him. There - once more appeared the form most familiar. I doubt not they - had tried to keep him away, but he was come. - - The girls stood in a semicircle; he was passing round, - giving his farewells, pressing each hand, touching with his - lips each cheek. This last ceremony foreign custom permitted - at such a parting--so solemn, to last so long. - - I felt it hard that Madame Beck should dog me thus, - following and watching me close. My neck and shoulder shrank - in fever under her breath; I became terribly goaded. - - He was approaching; the semicircle was almost travelled - round; he came to the last pupil; he turned. But Madame was - before me; she had stepped out suddenly; she seemed to - magnify her proportions and amplify her drapery; she - eclipsed me; I was hid. She knew my weakness and deficiency; - she could calculate the degree of moral paralysis, the total - default of self-assertion, with which, in a crisis, I could - be struck. She hastened to her kinsman, she broke upon him - volubly, she mastered his attention, she hurried him to the - door--the glass door opening on the garden. I think he - looked round. Could I but have caught his eye, courage, I - think, would have rushed in to aid feeling, and there would - have been a charge, and, perhaps, a rescue; but already the - room was all confusion, the semicircle broken into groups, - my figure was lost among thirty more conspicuous. Madame had - her will. Yes, she got him away, and he had not seen me. He - thought me absent. Five o'clock struck, the loud dismissal - bell rang, the school separated, the room emptied. - - There seems, to my memory, an entire darkness and - distraction in some certain minutes I then passed alone--a - grief inexpressible over a loss unendurable. _What_ should I - do--oh! _what_ should I do--when all my life's hope was thus - torn by the roots out of my riven, outraged heart? - - What I _should_ have done I know not, when a little - child--the least child in the school--broke with its - simplicity and its unconsciousness into the raging yet - silent centre of that inward conflict. - - 'Mademoiselle,' lisped the treble voice, 'I am to give you - that. M. Paul said I was to seek you all over the house, - from the _grenier_ to the cellar, and when I found you to - give you that.' - - And the child delivered a note. The little dove dropped on - my knee, its olive leaf plucked off. I found neither address - nor name, only these words,-- - - 'It was not my intention to take leave of you when I said - good-bye to the rest, but I hoped to see you in _classe_. I - was disappointed. The interview is deferred. Be ready for - me. Ere I sail, I must see you at leisure, and speak with - you at length. Be ready. My moments are numbered, and, just - now, monopolized; besides, I have a private business on hand - which I will not share with any, nor communicate, even to - you.--Paul.' - - 'Be ready!' Then it must be this evening. Was he not to go - on the morrow? Yes; of that point I was certain. I had seen - the date of his vessel's departure advertised. Oh! _I_ would - be ready. But could that longed-for meeting really be - achieved? The time was so short, the schemers seemed so - watchful, so active, so hostile. The way of access appeared - strait as a gully, deep as a chasm; Apollyon straddled - across it, breathing flames. Could my Greatheart overcome? - Could my guide reach me? - - Who might tell? Yet I began to take some courage, some - comfort. It seemed to me that I felt a pulse of his heart - beating yet true to the whole throb of mine. - - I waited my champion. Apollyon came trailing his hell behind - him. I think if eternity held torment, its form would not be - fiery rack, nor its nature despair. I think that on a - certain day amongst those days which never dawned, and will - not set, an angel entered Hades, stood, shone, smiled, - delivered a prophecy of conditional pardon, kindled a - doubtful hope of bliss to come, not now, but at a day and - hour unlooked for, revealed in his own glory and grandeur - the height and compass of his promise--spoke thus, then - towering, became a star, and vanished into his own heaven. - His legacy was suspense--a worse born than despair. - - All that evening I waited, trusting in the dove-sent olive - leaf, yet in the midst of my trust terribly fearing. My fear - pressed heavy. Cold and peculiar, I knew it for the partner - of a rarely-belied presentiment. The first hours seemed long - and slow; in spirit I clung to the flying skirts of the - last. They passed like drift cloud--like the rack scudding - before a storm. - - Prayers were over; it was bed-time; my co-inmates were all - retired. I still remained in the gloomy first _classe_, - forgetting, or at least disregarding, rules I had never - forgotten or disregarded before. - - How long I paced that _classe_, I cannot tell; I must have - been afoot many hours. Mechanically had I moved aside - benches and desks, and had made for myself a path down its - length. There I walked, and there, when certain that the - whole household were abed and quite out of hearing, there I - at last wept. Reliant on night, confiding in solitude, I - kept my tears sealed, my sobs chained, no longer. They - heaved my heart; they tore their way. In this house, what - grief could be sacred! - - Soon after eleven o'clock--a very late hour in the Rue - Fossette--the door unclosed, quietly, but not stealthily; a - lamp's flame invaded the moonlight. Madame Beck entered, - with the same composed air as if coming on an ordinary - occasion, at an ordinary season. Instead of at once - addressing me, she went to her desk, took her keys, and - seemed to seek something. She loitered over this feigned - search long, too long. She was calm, too calm. My mood - scarce endured the pretence. Driven beyond common rage, two - hours since I had left behind me wonted respects and fears. - Led by a touch and ruled by a word under usual - circumstances, no yoke could now be borne, no curb obeyed. - - 'It is more than time for retirement,' said madame. 'The - rule of the house has already been transgressed too long.' - - Madame met no answer. I did not check my walk. When she came - in my way I put her out of it. - - 'Let me persuade you to calm, Meess; let me lead you to your - chamber,' said she, trying to speak softly. - - 'No!' I said. 'Neither you nor another shall persuade or - lead me.' - - 'Your bed shall be warmed. Goton is sitting up still. She - shall make you comfortable. She shall give you a sedative.' - - 'Madame,' I broke out, 'you are a sensualist. Under all your - serenity, your peace, and your decorum, you are an undenied - sensualist. Make your own bed warm and soft; take sedatives - and meats, and drinks spiced and sweet, as much as you will. - If you have any sorrow or disappointment (and perhaps you - have--nay, I _know_ you have) seek your own palliatives in - your own chosen resources. Leave me, however. _Leave me_, I - say!' - - 'I must send another to watch you, Meess; I must send - Goton.' - - 'I forbid it. Let me alone. Keep your hand off me, and my - life, and my troubles. O madame! in _your_ hand there is - both chill and poison. You envenom and you paralyse.' - - 'What have I done, Meess? You must not marry Paul. He cannot - marry.' - - 'Dog in the manger!' I said, for I knew she secretly wanted - him, and had always wanted him. She called him - 'insupportable'; she railed at him for a 'devot.' She did - not love; but she wanted to marry that she might bind him to - her interest. Deep into some of madame's secrets I had - entered, I know not how--by an intuition or an inspiration - which came to me, I know not whence. In the course of living - with her, too, I had slowly learned that, unless with an - inferior, she must ever be a rival. She was _my_ rival, - heart and soul, though secretly, under the smoothest - bearing, and utterly unknown to all save her and myself. - - Two minutes I stood over madame, feeling that the whole - woman was in my power, because in some moods, such as the - present, in some stimulated states of perception, like that - of this instant, her habitual disguise, her mask, and her - domino were to me a mere network reticulated with holes; and - I saw underneath a being heartless, self-indulgent, and - ignoble. She quietly retreated from me. Meek and - self-possessed, though very uneasy, she said, 'If I would - not be persuaded to take rest, she must reluctantly leave - me.' Which she did incontinent, perhaps even more glad to - get away than I was to see her vanish. - - This was the sole flash-eliciting, truth-extorting rencontre - which ever occurred between me and Madame Beck; this short - night scene was never repeated. It did not one whit change - her manner to me. I do not know that she revenged it. I do - not know that she hated me the worse for my fell candour. I - think she bucklered herself with the secret philosophy of - her strong mind, and resolved to forget what it irked her to - remember. I know that to the end of our mutual lives there - occurred no repetition of, no allusion to, that fiery - passage. - - -Is it possible to doubt that this 'fiery passage,'--or one strangely -like it--went to the building up of the impressions and emotions that -transformed the early memories of Madame Heger, of whom Charlotte once -spoke so kindly in her letters, as a generous friend who had offered her -a post in her school more from a kind wish to help her than from selfish -motives? - -We have another scene of which again, it seems to me, we cannot doubt -the autobiographical reality. If one need proof of this, it may be -found in the admirable criticism of _Villette_ by Mrs. Humphry Ward, who -judges the book exclusively as the author's _literary masterpiece_. In -this masterpiece, Mrs. Humphry Ward finds one notable flaw:--_it is this -very passage_--which the critic affirms (and no doubt she is quite -right) does not strike her as a convincing nor even as a credible -account of the sentiments or behaviour that could have belonged to Lucy -Snowe, the heroine in _Villette._ 'Lucy Snowe,' this critic complains, -'could never have broken down, never have appealed for mercy, never have -cried "_My heart will break_" before her treacherous rival Madame Beck -in Paul Emanuel's presence! A reader by virtue of the very force of the -effect produced upon him by the whole creation has a right to protest, -incredible. No woman, least of all Lucy Snowe, could have so understood -her own cause, could have so fought her own battle.' - -I am ready to accept this sentence as an entirely authoritative literary -sentence, first of all on account of the unquestionable claims of the -critic who utters it to pronounce judgment on these matters; and then -because I feel myself entirely unable, by reason of my personal -acquaintanceships with the real people dressed up in strange disguises -in this book, and placed in positions that the real people never -occupied, to judge this particular novel, _Villette_, from a purely -literary standpoint. Thus I agree that Mrs. Humphry Ward is right when -she says that Lucy Snowe, _by virtue of the very force of the effect -produced by this creation_, could not have said, '_My heart will break,' -before her treacherous rival Madame Beck, in Paul Emanuel's presence_. I -admit this, because Lucy Snowe, Madame Beck and Paul Emanuel, if not -absolutely 'creations,' in the sense of being imaginary characters, are -nevertheless different people from Charlotte Brontë, Madame Heger and -Monsieur Heger, and their relationships to each other are different. -Thus, in the novel Lucy Snowe is not only in love with Paul Emanuel, but -she has a perfect right to be in love with him, not only because he is -unmarried, but also because he has given her very good reason to -believe he is in love with her: and Madame Beck has no sort of right to -interfere with the lover of her English governess, and her cousin the -Professor; and all her schemes to keep these two sympathetic creatures -apart are absolutely unjustifiable, and the results of jealousy and -selfishness. In other words, Lucy has the _beau rôle_ in the piece,--she -has no reason to say, 'My heart will break,' because Madame Beck -intrudes upon her interview with Paul Emanuel. - -But Charlotte had not the _beau rôle_, but the tragic one, in the real -drama. The Directress, who stands between her and the beloved Professor, -is not her rival, but the Professor's wife. And the _beau rôle_, in the -sense of having the right to stand in the way, and also in being the -woman preferred by the man whom both women love, is Madame Heger's in -every way, for Madame Heger is charming to look at, and Charlotte plain. -Therefore it is not in the least incredible, but it seems so natural as -to be almost inevitably true, that when in the very moment that poor -Charlotte has obtained, after so much suspense and waiting, and as the -result of a heaven-sent accident, the almost despaired of chance of a -personal interview with her loved Professor, before she loses sight of -him, perhaps for ever, and when in this moment, and just when he has -taken her hand in his,... Madame Heger enters, and thrusts herself -between them, and commands her husband, _'Come, Constantin_,' and -Charlotte believes he will obey, it seems to me so eminently credible as -to be almost inevitably true, that what Charlotte describes happened, -and that _then_, in dread of this new frustration of the hope so long -deferred, an anguish that 'defied suppression' rang out in the cry 'My -heart will break!' Put oneself in Charlotte's place, and it seems to me -the emotion startled to expression by this new shock, expresses just -what one knows she felt. And, therefore, I find it myself impossible to -doubt that this account is literally true, and may and should be studied -in the light of the assurance that we have here the faithful description -of what really took place, upon the very day, perhaps, when Charlotte -left Bruxelles. - -Let us leave Lucy Snowe's love-story on one side, and judge this page as -one torn out of Charlotte's life--and then decide whether it rings true. - - Shall I yet see him before he goes? Will he bear me in mind? - Does he purpose to come? Will this day--will the next hour - bring him? or must I again essay that corroding pain of long - attent, that rude agony of rupture at the close, that mute, - mortal wrench, which, in at once uprooting hope and doubt, - shakes life, while the hand that does the violence cannot be - caressed to pity, because absence interposes her barrier. - - It was the _Feast of the Assumption_[1]; no school was held. - The boarders and teachers, after attending mass in the - morning, were gone a long walk into the country to take - their _goûter_, or afternoon meal, at some farmhouse. I did - not go with them, for now but two days remained ere the - _Paul et Virginie_ must sail, and I was clinging to my last - chance, as the living waif of a wreck clings to his last - raft or cable. - - There was some joiner-work to do in the first _classe_, some - bench or desk to repair. Holidays were often turned to - account for the performance of these operations, which - could not be executed when the rooms were filled with - pupils. As I sat solitary, purposing to adjourn to the - garden and leave the coast clear, but too listless to fulfil - my own intent, I heard the workmen coming. - - Foreign artisans and servants do everything by couples. I - believe it would take two Labassecourian carpenters to drive - a nail. While tying on my bonnet, which had hitherto hung by - its ribbons from my idle hand, I vaguely and momentarily - wondered to hear the step of but one _ouvrier_. I noted, - too--as captives in dungeons find sometimes dreary leisure - to note the merest trifles--that this man wore shoes, and - not sabots. I concluded that it must be the master-carpenter - coming to inspect before he sent his journeymen. I threw - round me my scarf. He advanced; he opened the door. My back - was towards it. I felt a little thrill, a curious sensation, - too quick and transient to be analysed. I turned, I stood in - the supposed master-artisan's presence. Looking towards the - doorway I saw it filled with a figure, and my eyes printed - upon my brain the picture of M. Paul. - - Hundreds of the prayers with which we weary Heaven bring to - the suppliant no fulfilment. Once haply in life one golden - gift falls prone in the lap--one boon full and bright, - perfect from Fruition's mint. - - M. Emanuel wore the dress in which he probably purposed to - travel--a surtout, guarded with velvet. I thought him - prepared for instant departure, and yet I had understood - that two days were yet to run before the ship sailed. He - looked well and cheerful. He looked kind and benign. He came - in with eagerness; he was close to me in one second; he was - all amity. It might be his bridegroom-mood which thus - brightened him. Whatever the cause, I could not meet his - sunshine with cloud. If this were my last moment with him, I - would not waste it in forced, unnatural distance. I loved - him well--too well not to smite out of my path even Jealousy - herself, when she would have obstructed a kind farewell. A - cordial word from his lips, or a gentle look from his eyes, - would do me good for all the span of life that remained to - me. It would be comfort in the last strait of loneliness. I - would take it--I would taste the elixir, and pride should - not spill the cup. - - The interview would be short, of course. He would say to me - just what he had said to each of the assembled pupils. He - would take and hold my hand two minutes. He would touch my - cheek with his lips for the first, last, only time, and - then--no more. Then, indeed, the final parting, then the - wide separation, the great gulf I could not pass to go to - him, across which, haply, he would not glance to remember - me. - - He took my hand in one of his; with the other he put back my - bonnet. He looked into my face, his luminous smile went out, - his lips expressed something almost like the wordless - language of a mother who finds a child greatly and - unexpectedly changed, broken with illness, or worn out by - want. A check supervened. - - 'Paul, Paul!' said a woman's hurried voice behind--'Paul, - come into the _salon_. I have yet a great many things to say - to you--conversation for the whole day--and so has Victor; - and Josef is here. Come, Paul--come to your friends.' - - Madame Beck, brought to the spot by vigilance or an - inscrutable instinct, pressed so near she almost thrust - herself between me and M. Emanuel. 'Come, Paul!' she - reiterated, her eye grazing me with its hard ray like a - steel stylet. She pushed against her kinsman. I thought he - receded; I thought he would go. Pierced deeper than I could - endure, made now to feel what defied suppression, I cried,-- - - 'My heart will break!' - - What I felt seemed literal heartbreak; but the seal of - another fountain yielded under the strain. One breath from - M. Paul, the whisper, 'Trust me!' lifted a load, opened an - outlet. With many a deep sob, with thrilling, with icy - shiver, with strong trembling, and yet with relief, I wept. - - 'Leave her to me; it is a crisis. I will give her a cordial, - and it will pass,' said the calm Madame Beck. - - To be left to her and her cordial seemed to me something - like being left to the poisoner and her bowl. When M. Paul - answered deeply, harshly, and briefly, 'Laissez-moi!' in the - grim sound I felt a music strange, strong, but life-giving. - - 'Laissez-moi!' he repeated, his nostrils opening, and his - facial muscles all quivering as he spoke. - - 'But this will never do,' said madame with sternness. - - More sternly rejoined her kinsman,-- - - 'Sortez d'ici!' - - 'I will send for Père Silas; on the spot I will send for - him,' she threatened pertinaciously. - - 'Femme!' cried the professor, not now in his deep tones, but - in his highest and most excited key--'femme! sortez à - l'instant!' - - He was roused, and I loved him in his wrath with a passion - beyond what I had yet felt. - - 'What you do is wrong,' pursued madame; 'it is an act - characteristic of men of your unreliable, imaginative - temperament--a step impulsive, injudicious, inconsistent--a - proceeding vexatious, and not estimable in the view of - persons of steadier and more resolute character.' - - 'You know not what I have of steady and resolute in me,' - said he, 'but you shall see; the event shall teach you. - Modeste,' he continued, less fiercely, 'be gentle, be - pitying, be a woman. Look at this poor face, and relent. You - know I am your friend and the friend of your friends; in - spite of your taunts you well and deeply know I may be - trusted. Of sacrificing myself I made no difficulty, but my - heart is pained by what I see. It _must_ have and give - solace. _Leave me!_' - - This time, in the '_leave me_' there was an intonation so - bitter and so imperative, I wondered that even Madame Beck - herself could for one moment delay obedience. But she stood - firm; she gazed upon him dauntless; she met his eyes, - forbidding and fixed as stone. She was opening her lips to - retort. I saw over all M. Paul's face a quick rising light - and fire. I can hardly tell how he managed the movement. It - did not seem violent; it kept the form of courtesy. He gave - his hand; it scarce touched her, I thought; she ran, she - whirled from the room; she was gone, and the door shut, in - one second. - - The flash of passion was all over very soon. He smiled as he - told me to wipe my eyes; he waited quietly till I was calm, - dropping from time to time a stilling, solacing word. Ere - long I sat beside him once more myself--reassured, not - desperate, nor yet desolate; not friendless, not hopeless, - not sick of life and seeking death. - - 'It made you very sad, then, to lose your friend?' said he. - - 'It kills me to be forgotten, monsieur,' I said. 'All these - weary days I have not heard from you one word, and I was - crushed with the possibility, growing to certainty, that you - would depart without saying farewell.' - - 'Must I tell you what I told Modeste Beck--that you do not - know me? Must I show and teach you my character? You _will_ - have proof that I can be a firm friend? Without clear proof - this hand will not lie still in mine, it will not trust my - shoulder as a safe stay? Good. The proof is ready. I come to - justify myself.' - - 'Say anything, teach anything, prove anything, monsieur; I - can listen now.' - -After this, in _Villette_, the story drifts away from the real -experience of Charlotte herself, not only in the circumstances related, -but even in the emotions pictured, now painted, not from what she has -felt herself, but from what she imagines for her heroine, that other -happier self, lifted up into the heaven of romance, who, assured of Paul -Emanuel's love, and his betrothed, waits and works in the school where -he has appointed her Directress; in patient expectation of his -return,--_that never comes to pass!_ For (why or wherefore, no literary -critic of _Villette_ who measures the book by simply artistic standards -can find any reason to explain) Charlotte won't let Lucy Snowe, the -heroine, who is her other self, find happiness at last with Paul -Emanuel: or even find him again, after that cruel separation, all due to -the wicked craft and selfish jealousy of Madame Beck. Destiny -interferes; a storm; a shipwreck--one is not told _what_ has happened: -one is made to hear wailing winds and moaning ocean, that is all; we -know nothing further than this: _Lucy Snowe waited and hoped; hoped and -waited; but Paul Emanuel never came back._ - -But, at any rate, before he sailed on that last fatal voyage, all -misunderstandings, all doubts had been swept away. He had driven Madame -Beck from the room, and shown her his contempt and indignation. He had, -with tenderness and passion, declared his love for Lucy; and had asked -her to be his wife. This is what had followed after those scenes -between Lucy and Madame Beck in the late night scene in the class-rooms -and between Lucy and Paul Emanuel, when Madame Beck is put out of the -room by Paul Emanuel, who insists upon saying good-bye to Lucy. - -All that we know of what followed these scenes, enacted under different -circumstances, in Charlotte's life, must be gathered, not by a quite -literal acceptance, but by an intelligent and impartial weighing, of her -statements, contained in a letter written on the 23rd January 1844, -three weeks after her return to Haworth. - -'I suffered much before I left Brussels. I think, however long I live, I -shall not forget what the parting with M. Heger cost me: it grieved me -so much to grieve him, who had been so true, kind and disinterested a -friend. At parting, he gave me a kind of diploma certifying my abilities -as a teacher sealed with the seal of the Athenée Royal of which he is a -professor.... I do not know whether you feel as I do, but there are -times when it appears to me as if all my ideas and feelings, except a -few friendships and affections, are changed from what they used to be. -Something in me which used to be enthusiasm is tamed down and broken. I -no longer regard myself as young--indeed I shall soon be -twenty-eight--and it seems as if I ought to be working and having the -rough realities of the world as other people do.'[2] - - -[1] New Year's Day, perhaps? Charlotte left Bruxelles 2nd January 1843. - -[2] _Life_, p. 273. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE LOVE-LETTERS OF A ROMANTIC[1] - - -Taking up the study of Charlotte's letters written to M. Heger after her -return to Haworth, and reading them in the light of what we know of the -circumstances and emotions that have formed the feelings, and decided -the tone and attitude of the writer, what do we find to be the sentiment -they reveal to us? - -Is it the 'enthusiasm for a great man,' and the desire (for the sake of -vanity, or of amusement) to keep up a correspondence with him? - -Or is it the intellectual need of this teacher's instructions and -advice, as a means of mental improvement? - -Or is it the want of a companion to exchange ideas with, who is a -brighter and more cultivated being than the Nusseys, Taylors, Woolers, -and the others? - -Or is it the pleasure of having a man friend, in the case of a woman who -is neither pretty, nor young, nor silly, enough to indulge in an -ordinary flirtation? - -Or is it none amongst these several forms of desire, or want, that seeks -its own good? - -Is it love?--a love so exalted, so passionate, so personal, so distinct -from any other instinct or interest, physical, social or intellectual, -that this sentiment stands out, in the order of human feelings, as -honourable not only to the heart that feels it, but to human nature: so -that brought into touch with it, one's own heart is uplifted above the -common world, and gladdened '_by the sense_,' as Byron said,[2] '_of the -existence of Love in its most extended and sublime capacity and of our -own participation of its good and of its glory._[3] - -My contention is that it _is_ this romantic Love that reveals itself in -Charlotte's letters to M. Heger. And for this reason, I agree with Mr. -Clement Shorter that they put her upon a higher pedestal than ever. For -to have a heart capable of this great and glorious, albeit often -tragical, romantic Love, that 'seeketh not its own,' and compared with -which all other sorts of love, that _do_ seek their own, are as sounding -brass and a tinkling cymbal is, _independently of deeds or works_, -greatly to serve mankind. For it is to stand as a witness, amongst the -meannesses of mortal and worldly things, to the existence of Something -personal and immortal in the soul and heart of man, helping him '_to -gild his dross thereby_.'[4] Something sovereign, that, quite -independently of forms of belief, or fashions of opinion, '_rules by -every school, till love and longing die_.' Something indestructible, -confined to no epoch, ancient, mediæval or modern, but, '_that was, or -yet the lights were set, a whisper in the void; that will be sung in -planets young when this is clean destroyed_.' In other words, I esteem -human nature honoured in Charlotte Brontë, and Charlotte Brontë honoured -in these Letters, _because they are love-letters of a rare and wonderful -sort amongst the most beautiful, although they are the most sad ever -written_. If they were _not_ love-letters, but expressed the enthusiasm -of a woman wanting comradeship with a great man, I should esteem them -discreditable to any hero-worshipper. Because one should not pester -one's hero with letters, nor conceive the conceit of comradeship with an -object of worship. And it is not true that Charlotte's letters to -Thackeray, George Henry Lewes and other men of letters after she became -famous, had the same character as these love-letters written to M. -Heger before her name was known; because in her letters to different -celebrated writers, Charlotte talked about books or the criticism of -books. But to M. Heger she throws open the secret chamber of her heart: -she pours out its treasures of passionate feelings (as pure as they were -passionate) at the feet of the man she loves; all she asks for from him -in return is not to reprove her, nor refuse the offering; not to -withdraw himself from her life altogether. To let her hear from him -sometimes: not to leave her utterly alone, in the darkness, without any -knowledge of what good or evil may befall one so dear to her. - -Unfortunately we do not possess the first Letters of this -correspondence. The four Letters given by Dr. Paul Heger to the British -Museum all belong to a period when the Professor, who had answered (one -does not know precisely in what way) Charlotte's first epistles, had -left off replying to her; and the consistent motive of these four -appeals is for some tidings of him, some proof that the 'estrangement -from her Master,' to which she says she will never 'voluntarily' -consent, has not, in spite of her own unaltered devotion, irrevocably -taken place. - -'Tell me about anything you like, my Master,' she writes, 'only tell me -something! No doubt, to write to a former under-mistress (no, I will not -remember my employment as under-mistress, I refuse to recall it), but to -write to an old pupil, cannot be, for you, an interesting occupation. I -realise this; but for _me_, it is life. Your last letter served to keep -me alive, to nourish me during six months. Now I must have another one; -and you will give me one. Not because you bear me friendship (you cannot -bear me much!), but because you have a compassionate soul, and because -you would not condemn any one to slow suffering, simply to spare -yourself a few moments of fatigue! To forbid me to write to you, to -refuse to reply to me, would be to tear from me the only joy that I have -in the world; to deprive me of my last privilege, a privilege which I -will never _voluntarily_ renounce. Believe me, my Master! by writing to -me, you do a good action--so long as I can believe you are not angry -with me, so long as the hope is left me of news of you, I can be -tranquil, and not too sad. But when a gloomy and prolonged silence warns -me of the estrangement from me of my Master, when from day to day I -expect a letter, and when, day after day, comes disappointment, to -plunge me in overwhelming grief; and when the sweet and dear consolation -of seeing your handwriting, of reading your counsels, fades from me like -a vain vision,--then fever attacks me, appetite and sleep fail: I feel -that life wastes away.'[5] - -This passage is quoted from the Letter dated by Charlotte 18_th -November_, without any indication of the year. Mr. Spielmann (who is -responsible for the order given the Letters in the _Times_) esteems this -one to be the last of the series; that is to say, to have been written -ten months after the Letter dated by Charlotte 8 January, supposed by -him to belong to the year 1845. With Dr. Paul Heger, I believe, on the -contrary, that the Letter of the 18th November is the first of the -series: and that it belongs to the year 1844; that is to say, was -written ten months after Charlotte's return to England. This opinion -seems to me established by the contents of the Letter, and by the -account it gives of the conditions of affairs at Haworth, which were -those that we find (if we consult Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of Charlotte -Brontë_) did prevail in November 1844, but not in November 1845, and -still less in November 1846. - - My father (she writes) is in good health, but his eyesight - is all but gone; he can no longer either read or write: and - yet the doctors advise waiting some months longer before - attempting any operation. This winter will be for him one - long night. He rarely complains: and I admire his patience. - If Providence has the same calamity in reserve for me, may - it grant me the same patience to endure it. It seems to me, - Monsieur, that what is most bitter in severe physical - afflictions, is that they compel us to share our sufferings - with those who surround us. One can hide the maladies of the - soul; but those that attack the body and enfeeble our - faculties cannot be hidden. My father now allows me to read - to and to write for him. He shows much more confidence in me - than he has ever done before; and this is a great - consolation to me. - -Charlotte's account in this Letter of her father's patient resignation -and increased confidence in her under the trial, to a man of his -independent and somewhat domineering temper, of compulsory reliance on -the assistance of a daughter from whom he had exacted complete -submission heretofore and from her childhood upwards, is confirmed in -Mrs. Gaskell's biography by the testimony of other letters belonging to -the first year of her return from Belgium. But by November 1845 Mr. -Brontë's philosophy, before his own unmerited misfortune, had been -troubled and transformed into acute misery and anxious forebodings by -the downfall, both moral and physical, of his favourite amongst his -children, Bramwell, the unhappy son--the only one--in this family of -gifted daughters, whose perversion seems also to have had something of -the irresponsibility of genius about it. Writing on the 4th November -1845 to Ellen Nussey,[6] Charlotte says:-- - - I hoped to be able to ask you to come to Haworth. It almost - seemed as if Bramwell had a chance of getting employment; - and I waited to know the results of his efforts, in order to - say 'Dear Ellen, come and see us.' But the place is given to - another person. Bramwell still remains at home, and whilst - _he_ is here, _you_ shall not come.' - -Here is Mrs. Gaskell's account of Mr. Brontë's experiences in this -period, that are not to be reconciled with the account given of his good -health and philosophical patience and resignation to dependence upon -Charlotte given by her a year earlier: - - For the last three years of his life, Bramwell took opium - habitually, by way of stunning conscience: he drank, - moreover, whenever he could get the opportunity.... He slept - in his father's room; and he would sometimes declare that - either he or his father would be dead before the morning! - The trembling sisters, sick with fright, would implore their - father not to expose himself to this danger. But Mr. Brontë - was no timid man; and perhaps he felt that he could possibly - influence his son to some self-restraint more by showing - trust in him than by showing fear. The sisters often - listened for the report of a pistol in the dead of night, - till watchful eye and hearkening ear grew heavy and dull - with the perpetual strain upon their nerves. In the - mornings, young Brontë would saunter out saying, with a - drunkard's incontinence of speech, 'The poor old man and I - have had a terrible night of it; he does his best, the poor - old man, but it's all over with me.' - -One may safely affirm that if Charlotte had been writing in November -1845 it would not have been only his patience under the trial of loss of -sight that she would have found to admire in her father. In November -1846 Mr. Brontë had successfully undergone the operation for cataract -that saved him from blindness: and Charlotte herself, ten months after -the overwhelming evidence of her 'master's estrangement,' given in his -silence after her Letter of the 8th January, had saved her own soul -from the malady she had endured without sharing her sufferings with any -one; and was already writing _Jane Eyre_ ... so that the conclusion is -surely forced upon us that the Letter of the 18th November belongs to -the year 1844, and written ten months after her return to Haworth, 2nd -January 1844, and represents the first, and not the last of these four -Letters. - - -[Illustration: REDUCED FROM A DRAWING BY CHARLOTTE BRONTË OF ASHBURNHAM -CHURCH SENT TO M. HEGER. The drawing showing the date 1846 was given to -the author by Mlle. Louise Heger] - - -It is important to establish this, because one has to read these Letters -in their right order before one can understand the story they disclose -of the long training in deferred hope, in expectation, crowned with -disappointment, in vain pursuit of shadows that eluded her grasp, and of -illusions that reveal themselves as forms of self-deceit only in the -very hour when they have conquered belief; in other words, of the long -training in personal suffering it took to create and fashion the genius -of a writer whose magical gift was to be the power of transforming words -into feelings. - -Carrying through the examination of these documents by the rule that -recognises the Letter of the 18th November as written ten months after -Charlotte's return to England, we discover in the opening sentence the -fact that the last letter Charlotte had received from her Professor must -have been in May of this same year; that is to say, four months after -the sentimental leave-taking with her Professor, which sent Charlotte -home to England with illusions about the extent to which her own -passionate grief at their separation was shared by M. Heger. By November -these illusions have been dispelled; Charlotte understands perfectly now -(although this does not make her any more just to Madame Heger) that the -'grief' of her 'Master,' that she had said she would 'never forget, -never mind how long she might live,' was a very short-lived affair on -his side; merely the transient regret of a teacher who will miss a -favourite pupil from his class. - -'_Que ne puis-je avoir pour vous juste autant d'amitié que vous avez -pour moi_,' she writes to him, '_ni plus, ni moins? Je serais alors si -tranquille, si libre: je pourrais garder le silence pendant six mois -sans effort_.' - -There is a note of bitterness in this. In what precedes it there is no -bitterness, but we have one of the passages in these wonderful letters -that seem to me to place them above all the other love-letters preserved -in the world, as immortal records of the Romantic Love that honours -human nature in the hearts that cherish it. - -'The six months of silence are over: we are now at the 18th of -November,' she writes:-- - - I may, then, write to you, without breaking my promise. The - summer and winter have seemed very long to me: in truth, it - has cost me painful efforts to endure up to now the - privation I have imposed upon myself. You, for your part, - cannot understand this! But, Monsieur, try to imagine, for - one moment, that one of your children is a hundred and sixty - leagues away from you; and that you are condemned to remain - for six months, without writing to him; without receiving - any news from him; without hearing anything about him; - without knowing how he is;--well, then you may be able to - understand, perhaps, how hard is such an obligation imposed - upon me. - -In connection with the opening phrase, we must recognise in it the -confirmation of an assertion made in my article in the _Woman at Home_ -published twenty years before these Letters were published, but which -had for its authority the information given me by Dr. Paul Heger upon -the occasion of a conversation, when he very kindly talked over with me -the questions connected with events in his parents' life that, inasmuch -as they happened before his birth, he knew as family traditions -chiefly--but still as traditions derived from the only authentic sources -of information that exist: Dr. Paul Heger's theory was that until -Charlotte had left Bruxelles and commenced to write to his father -letters in a tone of exaltation that announced an exaggerated -attachment, Monsieur Heger himself had never suspected the existence of -any such sentiment; and that he, and Madame Heger (?)--were disposed to -regard it as an attack of morbid regret for the more animated life she -had led in Bruxelles, and the dulness of her home surroundings. And -that, acting upon this supposition, they had thought it advisable (and -this in Charlotte's own interests chiefly) to let her know that they -were both of them distressed and displeased by the tone of her letters; -and that if she wished to keep up the correspondence, she must become -more reasonable and temperate in her way of expressing herself; and -that, as the exchange of letters between busy people became onerous, -there must be only two letters every year at intervals of six months. We -find Charlotte acknowledging this condition, as one that she had -accepted, but that she complained of as a great 'privation': and she -then goes on to explain (as only one taught by romantic, that is to say -by unselfish, and unsensual, love, that 'does not seek its own,' could -explain it) in what this 'privation' consists. - -Did any woman, neglected by the man she loves, ever discover a device, -at once so passionate, and so poetically pure as Charlotte's, who makes -the man who does not love her, but whom she knows is an adoring father, -try to realise what she feels, so far away from him, and left without -tidings _by asking him to picture what he would feel if separated by a -hundred and sixty leagues from his little child, he were left without -news of him?_ - -But now if we consult honestly our own impressions, does this letter -reveal that '_it is no cause of grief to Charlotte that M. Heger is -married_'? Is it true that _there 'is nothing in it that any -enthusiastic woman might not write to a married man with a family who -had been her teacher_'? - -What the letter does reveal (thus it seems to me at least) is one -supreme thing before all others: that the writer of it is past saving, -by this time, from the destiny she prophesied for herself ten months ago -in Bruxelles. '_My heart will break_,' Charlotte said then: when fate -(in the garb of Madame Heger) thrust herself between her and her beloved -Professor. - -And now, touching and eloquent as it all is, what escape is there from -the conclusion that the writer of this letter _must_ break her heart? - -What else can happen? Let us recognise her plight. Here one has an -entirely honourable, passionately tender, tenderly passionate, very -serious woman, her mind dominated (as she says herself) by one -tyrannical fixed idea; let us rather say by one tragical passion; and -who sees her own life, and her claims upon the man she loves through the -medium of this tragical passion: _and who gives her life an impossible -purpose; and who makes impossible claims_. They are very small claims, -she pleads. And so they are, very small in comparison with what she -gives, her whole life's devotion poured out at the feet of her 'Master,' -from whom she only asks in return that he will not forbid her worship; -that, now and again, he will give her the joy of seeing his handwriting, -and of knowing that he is well. But small as these claims are, they are -unreasonable:--'_to the last degree "inconvenient" and impossible_,' as -Madame would have said,--in the particular case of this 'Master'; a -married man and an attached husband with five children, the Director of -a Pensionnat de Jeunes Filles who has need to be especially circumspect; -and who cannot discreetly, nor even honourably, allow a former -under-mistress to address him passionate, romantic love-letters, even -every six months. Nor can this loyal husband and self-respecting -Catholic and Professor undertake to appear to sanction this -indiscretion, by keeping her informed of his health and welfare at -regular intervals. So that, building her heart's desires upon false -hopes, that, from day to day, wear themselves out in disappointment, and -looking for consolation to things necessarily withdrawn; and that she -pursues in vain like 'fading visions,'--how is our poor Charlotte to -find any escape from the heart-break that is the natural term of the -path along which this Love, that has become her destiny, leads her? No -way of escape is there for Charlotte: not in heaven above, nor on the -earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth. For no miracle can -give her love a happy ending; say that even a thunderbolt fell from -heaven to remove Madame Heger,--it would be extremely unjust--but admit -that a murderous miracle be granted--even so, it would not alter the -fact that M. Heger is not in love with Charlotte. And no earthly scheme -either can bridge the separation--wider than the 160 leagues between -Yorkshire and Brussels--that now severs Charlotte, breaking her heart in -Yorkshire, from her Master in literature, carrying on, as stormily and -triumphantly as when she assisted at them, his lessons in the -class-rooms in the Rue d'Isabelle: those memory-haunted class-rooms she -will never see again; because although we find her in these Letters -speaking of projects of earning money that she may return to Bruxelles, -if only to see her professor once again, one knows that there would be -Madame to count with; and even Monsieur Heger's obstinate neglect to -reply to these appealing Letters does not indicate any answering wish on -his side to see his former pupil again. Nor yet does there exist in the -waters under the earth any pool of magical power of healing sufficient -to soothe these bitter regrets and reproaches; nor any well deep enough -to drown rebellious desires and memories: for Charlotte has too splendid -a soul to think of suicide; or to quench anguish by drugs. So that one -knows that Charlotte's fate is sealed: and that we must follow her -through these last steps to the end, with pity and admiration and love -for her--but still not with injustice to others. Because no one outside -of herself, not Madame Heger, nor Monsieur Heger, is responsible for -what has happened, and what is going to happen; but only the Love that -has Charlotte's soul in thrall, the Love that 'seeketh not its -own,'--romantic, or if it be preferred, Platonic Love; who as the wise -woman, Diotima, told Socrates, is 'not a god, but an immortal spirit, -who spans the gulf between heaven and earth, carrying to the gods the -prayers of men, and to the earth the commands of the gods.' Love, who is -'the child of plenty and of poverty, often, like his mother, without -house or home to cover him' (and who consequently is not highly esteemed -by respectable householders). Love, the 'instinct of immortality in a -mortal creature,' leading him amongst mortal conditions to where -Charlotte is being led to,--the grave of hope,--_but not leaving hope -there entombed, but raising it, not clogged with the pollution of -mortality._ - -All this, that the wise Diotima related, is a true parable of Charlotte -Brontë. And the proof that Diotima was a good psychologist, and had -based her opinions upon the study of facts, is found in the assertion -that Love, although an immortal spirit, is _not a god_. Because a god -sees clearly, and does not make mistakes: whereas Love, as every one -knows, is often blind, and never very clear-sighted; and _is_ liable to -make mistakes, and to be unjust even: and to attribute his own errors to -other people. Thus Charlotte, under the dominion of Love, was unjust, -and made mistakes: she attributed to Madame Heger disappointments and -misadventures and pangs, that were not of Madame Heger's preparation at -all, but were simply the imprudences of this 'Child of plenty and -poverty,' who inherits from both parents and is so often extravagant and -houseless, and consequently in bad odour with householders and the -worshippers of 'convenience,' because 'he has no home to cover him.' -Charlotte should not have attributed, for instance, malevolence or -jealousy or the cruel pleasure of tantalising and torturing her in -Bruxelles to Madame Heger, simply because, as the Directress of a -Pensionnat de Jeunes Filles and wife of M. Heger, she did not want to -take in Romantic Love as a boarder; nor to permit this 'Child of plenty -and poverty' to disorganise the well-balanced domestic and conjugal -relationships between herself and M. Heger. In all this Madame Heger was -not persecuting Charlotte, but protecting her own rights. And if we -examine the circumstances even in the narrative of the scene in the -class-room between the Directress and her English teacher, and the scene -of the farewell interview between the Professor and his pupil, where the -Directress of the Pensionnat is put out of the room because she objects -to this sentimental leave-taking, we shall find that recognising the -true relationships between these three people, if Madame Heger behaved -exactly as Madame Beck is said to have done, then there is not any fault -whatever to be found with Madame Heger. Nay, one does not see how she -could have been more considerate. Another false impression of -Charlotte's--that Madame Heger intercepted her letters, and that M. -Heger did not answer because he did not receive them--has no evidence to -support it. Nor is this all; there is undeniable proof that the letter -we have just considered (_which M. Heger did not answer_) _was_ -received by him: and that he was not very much affected by the -passionate homage of his worshipper. 'On the edge of this letter he has -made some commonplace notes in pencil;--one of them is the name and -address of a shoemaker,' Mr. Spielmann tells us. - -There is a natural feeling of indignation against this masculine -insensibility to a woman's tragical passion, even though one recognises -that honour stood in the way of any responsive sentiment. But one must -not forget M. Heger's special vocation and his daily occupations and -preoccupations. Here you have a Professor of literature in a Pensionnat -de Jeunes Filles who spends, week by week, several days in correcting -and improving 'compositions' and exercises in 'style' of numberless -schoolgirls, full of the eloquent sentimentality that belongs to young -writers between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. Monsieur Heger had -been Charlotte's master in literature, remember: and there is another -fact to be realised also, one that upon the authority of my own -knowledge of him, in the character of my own Professor, I am allowed to -testify to: _he was before all things a born teacher, and one who saw -the world as his class-room, and his fellow-creatures in the light of -pupils_. Applying this knowledge of him to the criticism of what we know -about his relations with Charlotte Brontë, we arrive at entirely -different opinions to those formed by people who either see M. Heger -through the medium of Charlotte's passion for him and as she painted him -in _Villette_; or outside of any personal knowledge of him at all, as he -appears to them judged in the light of the impression that he played -with Charlotte's feelings: first of all encouraging by sentimental -flattery her affection for him, and then, when he found that she had -become inconveniently fond of him, behaving with cruel indifference. -None of these decisions is based on a correct knowledge of M. Heger, nor -of his true behaviour and character. The true M. Heger was not the Paul -Emanuel who was _the lover of Lucy Snowe_, because he is very truthfully -and admirably painted in the domineering but interesting, -terror-striking but captivating, masterful and masterly Professor of -literature, so full of talent, and fiery captivating ardour for -beautiful thoughts nobly expressed. The real Professor was _not_ -tender-hearted; nor very tender in manner; nor even very pleasant and -considerate; nor even kind, outside of his professorial character: and -he had no sympathy whatever to spare for people who were not his pupils. -And his sympathy for his pupils, _as his pupils_, led him to work upon -their sympathies, as a way of inducing a frame of mind in them and an -emotional state of feeling, rendering them susceptible to literary -impressions, and putting them in key with himself, in this very fine -enthusiasm of his, not only for enjoying literature himself, but for -throwing open to others, and to young votaries especially, the worship -of beautiful literature--as the record of the best that has been thought -and said in the world. - -But the very exclusive literary temperament of M. Heger left him rather -cold-blooded than particularly warm-hearted, where his pupils' feelings -interfered with their good style in writing; or good accent when -speaking; or with their sense of the first importance of a warm -appreciation of the beauties of literature. If one reversed directly the -description of Charlotte Brontë herself, as a writer whose _words became -feelings_, one might justly say of M. Heger that for him, feelings were -chiefly good with reference to their effects upon words, and the -creation of beautiful language--so that Charlotte's love-letters to him -would be no more than the '_Devoirs de Style_' of a former pupil sent -him for criticism. The shoemaker's address may have been jotted down by -accident, when he was running his eye down the page? If the further -notes signified by Mr. Spielmann on this page, where poor Charlotte's -heart's Secret lay exposed and quivering, had been '_Bon--mais un peu -trop d'exaltation--la Ponctuation n'est pas soignée_,' no one who knew -M. Heger would blame him for _voluntary_ unkindness. But upon this -matter no more must be said at present: we have to return to Charlotte, -and her Letters. - -The second in the order in which I am studying them (that seems to me -unmistakably indicated by the context) would have been written--if we -take the year 1845 as the date--eight, instead of six, months after the -one, dated November, that refers to a preceding letter in the May of the -same year--when Charlotte would have accepted the obligation laid upon -her not to write again for six months. This Letter, dated 24th July, -indicates by the opening sentence, not that she is writing outside of -the appointed time, but _outside of her turn_: that is to say, it shows -that M. Heger had not answered her November Letter; that she had waited -for his reply, but could not wait longer, and so wrote a second letter, -before M. Heger's reply to the first. The custom shows us that poor -Charlotte is uneasily conscious that her former one in November may have -given offence. She apologises for it, as we shall see; and works hard to -write with cheerfulness in a more temperate tone:-- - - Ah, Monsieur! I know I once wrote you a letter that was not - a reasonable one, because my heart was choked with grief; - but I will not do it again! I will try not to be selfish; - although I cannot but feel your letters the greatest - happiness I know. I will wait patiently to receive one, - until it pleases you, and it is convenient to write one. At - the same time, I may write you a little letter from time to - time; you authorised me to do that. - -The effort she is putting upon herself in this Letter is evident. She -has become reasonable; she does not reproach him for not writing, but -only asks him to remember how much she desires it. She tells him of her -plans, as she was recommended to do, instead of dwelling on her -feelings. She humours and flatters his vanity and taste by her -acknowledgment of all she owes him; and of her unfailing gratitude and -wish to dedicate a book to him--she even sends a message to Madame!-- - - _Please present to Madame the assurance of my esteem_. I - fear that Maria, Louise and Claire will have forgotten me. - Prospère and Victorine never knew me, but I remember all - five of them, and especially Louise. There was so much - character, so much naïveté expressed in her little face. - Farewell, Monsieur--Your grateful pupil, - - C. Brontë. - - - _July_ 24.--I have not begged you to write to me soon, - because I am afraid of troubling you, but you are too kind - to forget how much I desire it. Yes! I do desire it so much. - But that is enough. After all, do as you like, Monsieur, for - if I received a letter from you and I thought you wrote it - out of pity, it would hurt me very much.... Oh I shall - certainly see you some day. It must come to pass. Because as - soon as I earn any money, I shall go to Bruxelles--and I - shall see you again, if only for a moment. - -It is all of no avail! No answer does M. Heger vouchsafe. October comes -round, and she writes again. This time she imagines that she has found a -means of making her Letter reach its destination. In other words, she is -convinced, or tries to be convinced, that it is all Madame Heger's fault -again; she it is who will not allow her husband to receive Charlotte's -Letters. - - _October_ 24.--Monsieur--I am quite joyous to-day. A thing - that has not often happened during the last two years.[7] - The reason is that a gentleman amongst my friends is - passing through Bruxelles, and he has offered to take charge - of a letter for you, and to give this same letter into your - hands; or else his sister will do this, so that I shall be - quite certain that you receive it. - -Now comes the final blow to this faithful worshipper. Up to this hour, -she has hoped and waited, waited and hoped. But all this time there has -been the suspicion of Madame Heger--that has kept alive in her the -belief in M. Heger's friendship, who (perhaps?) writes, although his -letters never arrive: who (perhaps?) never receives her letters, -although whenever she dares, and even in defiance of the terms laid down -for her, she writes him letters where the vibration of her passionate -attachment is felt. Now, however, he _has_ received her letter placed in -his own hand. Had he written she would now have held in her turn the -talisman of the beloved handwriting her eyes were weary with waiting to -see again. But he remained obdurate and silent. - - Mr. Taylor has returned (she writes): I asked him if he had - no letter for me. 'No: nothing.' Be patient, I told myself: - soon his sister will return. Miss Taylor came back: 'I have - nothing for you from Monsieur Heger,' she said; 'neither - letter, nor any message.' - - Understanding only too well what this meant, I told myself - just what I should have told any one else in the same - circumstances: Resign yourself to what you cannot alter, and - before all things do not grieve for a misfortune that you - have not deserved. I would not allow myself to weep nor - complain. But when one refuses to oneself the right to tears - and lamentations in certain cases, one is a tyrant; and - natural faculties revolt; so that one buys outward calm at - the price of an inner conflict that cannot be subdued. - - Neither by day, nor by night can I find rest nor peace: even - if I sleep, I have tormenting dreams, where I see you, - always severe, gloomy, angry with me. Forgive me, Monsieur, - if I am driven to take the course of writing to you once - more. How can I endure my life, if I am forbidden to make - any effort to alleviate my sufferings? - -She continues in this piteous strain. She pleads with him not to reprove -her again as she has been reproved before, for exaggeration, morbidness, -sentimentality. She tells him all this may be true--she is not going to -defend herself--but the case is as she states it. She _cannot_ resign -herself to the loss of her master's friendship without one last effort -to preserve it. - - I submit to all the reproaches you may make against me; if - my master withdraws his friendship from me entirely, I shall - remain without hope; if he keeps a little for me (never mind - though it be _very_ little) I shall have some motive for - living, for working. - - Monsieur (she continues), the poor do not need much to keep - them alive; they ask only for the crumbs that fall from the - rich man's table, but if these crumbs are refused them, - _then_ they die of hunger! For me too, I make no claim - either to great affection from those I love; I should hardly - know how to understand an exclusive and perfect friendship, - I have so little experience of it! But once upon a time, at - Bruxelles, when I was your pupil, you _did_ show me a little - interest: and just this small amount of interest you gave me - then, I hold to and I care for and prize, as I hold to and - care for life itself.... - - ... I will not re-read this letter, I must send it as it is - written. And yet I know, by some secret instinct, that - certain absolutely reasonable and cool-headed people reading - it through will say:--'She appears to have gone mad.' By - way of revenge on such judges, all I would wish them is that - they too might endure, _for one day only_, the sufferings I - have borne for eight months--then, one would see, if they - too did not 'appear to have gone mad.' - - One endures in silence whilst one has his strength to do it. - But when this strength fails one, one speaks without - weighing one's words. I wish Monsieur all happiness and - prosperity. - - Haworth, Bradford, Yorkshire, 8_th January_. - -The Letter obtained no answer. And thus the end was reached. We now know -where in Charlotte Brontë's life lay her experiences that formed her -genius and made her the great Romantic--whose quality was that she saw -all events and personages through the medium of one passion--the passion -of a predestined tragical and unrequited love. - - -END OF PART I. - - - -[1] I have to thank Mr. Clement Shorter, who has purchased the copyright -of Charlotte Brontë's manuscripts, for his generous permission to quote -from these letters freely for the purposes of my criticism.--(F.M.) - -[2] _Childe Harold_, note 9 to canto iii. - -[3] The author of _Childe Harold_ adds on this note as a comment upon -what he has said of 'Love' as the inspiration of the greatest of all -Romantics, J.-J. Rousseau:-- - - 'His love was passion's essence--as a tree - On fire by lightning; with ethereal flame - Kindled he was, and blasted; for to be - Thus, and enamour'd, were in him the same. - But his was not the love of living dame, - Nor of the dead who rise upon our dreams, - But of Ideal beauty, which became - In him existence and o'erflowing teems - Along his burning page, distemper'd tho' it seems. - - This breathed itself to life in Julie, this - Invested her with all that's wild and sweet; - This hallow'd too the memorable kiss - Which every morn his fever'd lip would greet, - From hers, who but with friendship his would meet: - But to that gentle touch, thro' brain and breast - Flash'd the thrill'd spirit's love-devouring heat; - In that absorbing sigh perchance more blest - Than vulgar minds may be with all they seek possest.' - - -[4] Rudyard Kipling. - -[5] See Letter, 18 Nov. I am giving my own translation from the French -of Charlotte's Letters in these extracts, not certainly on account of -any dissatisfaction with Mr. Spielmann's English versions of them, but -in order to avoid the risk of any infringement of Mr. Spielmann's -copyright in his Introduction. - -[6] Mrs. Gaskell's _Life, p._ 290. - -[7] Charlotte had been a year and ten months in England in October 1845. -This phrase, however, proves that the Letter belongs to this year and -not to 1844, and consequently that the Letter that follows it, January -8, is 1846. - - - - -PART II - -SOME REMINISCENCES OF THE - -REAL MONSIEUR AND MADAME HEGER - - -THIS SECOND PART IS - -DEDICATED TO - -MY BROTHER - -THE LATE ABBÉ AUSTIN RICHARDSON - -WHO DIED SUDDENLY, 20TH AUG. 1913 - - - Dearest, before you went away - And left me here behind you, - How often would you talk to me, - And I, too, would remind you - Of stories in this book retold, - That for us two could ne'er grow old; - Of scenes that we could live through yet, - Just you and I,--and not forget: - And now I feel, since you are gone, - I wrote this book for you alone. - - - - -PART II - -CHAPTER I - -THE HISTORICAL DIFFICULTY: TO DISENTANGLE - -FACT FROM FICTION - - -The purpose of the First Part of this study was to show that with the -knowledge of the Secret of Charlotte Brontë, brought to us by Dr. Paul -Heger's generous gift of these pathetic and beautiful Love-letters, the -'Problem of Charlotte Brontë,' as so many very clever but inattentive -psychological critics have stated it, has lost all claim to serious -attention. - -The basis of the 'Problem' was the alleged 'dissonance' between -Charlotte's personality and her genius--between her dreary, desolate, -dull, well-tamed existence, uncoloured, untroubled by romance (as Mrs. -Gaskell painted it), and the passionate atmosphere of her novels, where -all events and personages are seen through the medium of one -sentiment--tragical romantic love. - -We now know that the dissonance did not exist; that from her -twenty-sixth year downwards, Charlotte's life was, not only coloured, -but governed by a tragical romantic love: that, in its first stage, -threw her into a hopeless conflict against the force of things and broke -her heart: but that, because the battle was fought in the force, and in -the cause, of noble emotions, saved her soul alive; and called her -genius forth to life: so that it rose as an immortal spirit from the -grave of personal hopes. - -Understanding this, we know that there is no 'Problem' of Charlotte -Brontë: but that her personality and her genius and her life and her -books were all those of a Romantic. But although there is no -psychological Problem, a difficulty that concerns the historical -criticism of Charlotte's life and her books does remain. And this -difficulty has to be faced and conquered, not by speculations nor -arguments, but by methods of enquiry. - -When we study Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece _Villette_ in comparison -with what we now know about the romance in her own life, we recognise -two facts: the first is that, _in this work especially_, she has painted -with such power the emotions she has undergone that her words become -feelings that lift and ennoble the reader's sensibility: and thus serve -him--in the way that it belongs to Romantics to serve mankind. - -But the second fact we discover is that,--again, _in this book -particularly_,--historical personages and real events are used as the -materials for an imaginary story, in a way that has produced critical -confusion: and what is graver still--has caused false and injurious -opinions to be formed about historical people. And the difficulty we -have to face is, not what amount of blame belongs to Charlotte for -misrepresenting historical facts, nor even need we ask ourselves what -reason she had for thus misrepresenting them. Because the reason becomes -plain when we take the trouble to realise that the motive the writer of -this work of genius had in view was one that concerned her own personal -liberation from haunting memories, rather than any motive concerning -the impressions she might produce. - -There can be no doubt that Charlotte's motive in _Villette_, judged as a -method of personal salvation, was not only a permissible, but a noble -one. It is the one that Pater attributed to Michael Angelo: '_the effort -of a strong nature to attune itself to tranquillise vehement emotions by -withdrawing them into the region of ideal sentiments':--'an effort to -throw off the clutch of cruel and humiliating facts by translating them -into the imaginative realm, where the artist, the author, the dreamer -even, has things as he wills, because the hold of outward things_' (such -a stern and merciless one in the case of Charlotte Brontë!) '_is thrown -off at pleasure_.' - -But, judged as a literary and historical method, was Charlotte Brontë's -manner of treating the real Director and Directress of the Pensionnat in -the Rue d'Isabelle a justifiable or fair one? Can she be held without -fault in this; that in Paul Emanuel and in Madame Beck she painted -Monsieur and Madame Heger in a way that rendered them visible to every -one who knew them; and then placed them in fictitious circumstances -that altered the character of their actions and feelings, in such a way -as to misrepresent their true behaviour? It seems to me that we must -admit that the authoress of the _Professor_ and of _Villette_ adopted an -unjust literary and historical method in so far as these real people are -concerned: and that in the case of Madame Heger especially, passion and -prejudice betrayed her: and rendered her guilty of a fault that must be -recognised as a very grave one. But when this fault has been recognised -and admitted, it seems to me a conscientious critic's duty does not -compel him to scold this woman of genius for having the passions of her -kind. A great Romantic is not an angel: and in this case the main facts -about Charlotte are not her shortcomings as a celestial being, but her -transcendent merits as an interpreter of the human heart. For my own -part, I confess that after reading Charlotte's Love-letters, I am in no -mood to look for faults in her, nor even to lend much attention to some -faults that, without looking for them, one is bound to recognise. For -what a thankless and unseemly, as well as what an unprofitable, sort of -criticism is that represented in ancient days by the youngest amongst -Job's Friends, who had such a delightfully expressive name, Elihu, the -son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram! Elihu's criticism of -Job (the man of genius, plunged into dire misfortune, not by any fault -or folly of his own, but by the will of the Higher Powers, who desired -to prove his virtue and to call forth his genius), is exactly the same -method of criticising men and women of genius in the same case as Job, -practised by Elihu's intellectual descendents, Buzites of the kindred of -Ram, in all countries and in every age, down to England in the twentieth -century. The fundamental doctrine of this critical method was, and is, -that '_great men are not always wise_,' and that it is the vocation of -smaller men to teach them wisdom, without 'respecting their persons or -giving them flattering titles' (truly, as a matter of fact, by calling -them names--knaves, hypocrites, sentimental cads, blackguards, etc.). In -other words, the rule with these Buzites is that the main purpose of -criticising great people is _to find fault with them_; to surprise them -in their 'unwise' moments, to concentrate attention upon the faults they -may, or may not, have committed in these moments; and to build upon -these occasional real, or imaginary, faults, psychological and -pathological theories about the madness, wickedness, or folly of people -capable of them. And to conclude that there is 'very much to reprobate -and a great deal to laugh at' in these men and women of genius--and that -the fact that they had genius, and that as witnesses to the 'instinct of -immortality in mortal creatures' they have served and honoured mankind, -and also have bequeathed to us treasures of ideal beauty, is a mere -accident, and may be left unnoticed. - -But let not _my_ portion ever be with these fault-finders, who '_darken -counsel by words without knowledge_,' as the original Elihu was told, -'out of the Whirlwind,' by the Supreme Critic; 'in whose stead' the son -of Barachel had arrogated to himself the right to scold and scoff at -Job; and to tell him that his misfortunes were all the result of his -bad character and of his uncontrolled emotions. I refuse, then, to -recognise as a question of vital importance Charlotte's forgetfulness of -historical exactitude in _Villette_; and I do not myself understand how -any one (except a Buzite) who has read these Letters given to us by Dr. -Paul Heger, and especially the last one, that received no answer, can -help feeling that the suffering the writer of the Letters must have -undergone, in the unbroken silent solitude that followed her unanswered -appeal, must have made the hold upon her memory of 'outward things' so -hard to bear, that to break that hold, to live in the realm of -imagination free from it, _having things as she would_, justified almost -any method of self-liberation. - -Still the fact of the critical confusion of the personages in the novel -with the historical Director and Directress of the Pensionnat in the Rue -d'Isabelle does create difficulties in the way of forming right -opinions. And to remove them, we have to follow the plan already -recommended,--to make sure of our facts, before calling in the aid of -psychological arguments. And in this case, to see the position clearly, -we must disentangle from the imaginary story in _Villette_ the real -personages and events woven into the fabric of a parable where, as I -have said, they appear amongst fictitious circumstances and produce -consequently false impressions. In other words, we have to recover a -clear knowledge of the true Monsieur Heger before we can determine where -'Paul Emanuel' resembles, and where he differs from, the Professor, -_whom Charlotte loved: but who never showed any particle of love for -Charlotte, such as Paul Emanuel bestowed on Lucy Snowe_. And then we -have to re-establish in her true place, as Monsieur Heger's wife and the -mother of his five children, the true Directress of the Pensionnat in -the Rue d'Isabelle--who must be contrasted, rather than compared, with -the crafty, jealous and pitiless Madame Beck of the novel, selfishly and -cruelly interfering with the true course of an entirely legitimate and -romantic attachment between her English teacher and her cousin, the -Professor of literature. And the relative positions of these two -Directresses clearly seen, we have to ask ourselves, Whether the real -Madame Heger is proved to have had the base and detestable character of -the hateful Madame Beck? and whether she really _was_, in any voluntary -or even involuntary, way, the direct cause of poor Charlotte's anguish, -suspense and final heart-break? And whether, given the positions and the -different views of life and sense of duty of the different people whose -destinies become entangled in this tragical romance, we can find fault -with any person concerned in these events,--unless, indeed, we follow -Greek methods, and drag in the Eumenides? Or, else, suppose it a -parallel case with Job's: and decide that it was the will of the Higher -Powers to prove Charlotte's virtue and to call forth her genius? But in -so far as mere mortals are concerned, we have to see whether anything -else could have happened, and whether poor Charlotte was not bound to -break her heart? - -So that the purpose of the Second Part of this study of the 'Secret of -Charlotte Brontë' really lies outside of the 'Secret' itself, and -becomes an effort to know 'as in themselves they really were,' and -independently of their relationships with Charlotte, the Professor whom -she loved (probably much more than he deserved), and the Directress of -the Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle--whom she certainly hated, without -any reasonable cause for this hatred, although this hatred had a natural -cause--that if only we will use psychology for the purpose of -penetrating facts, and not for playing with such fictions as that _it -was 'no serious grief to Charlotte that Monsieur Heger was married'_ we -may easily discover. After all, one must not ask for entire -'reasonableness' from Romantics, who see personages and events through -the medium of one great Passion. And one must not demand from them -absolute impartiality, when judging the impediment that divides them -from the object of this passion. - -We are not judges then in this case, but enquirers into the facts of the -personality and true characters of the Director and Directress of the -Bruxelles school and of their environment, as the influences that so -largely created the Romantic atmosphere where Charlotte's genius lived -and moved and had its being. And, by the special circumstances of my own -life, I am able to assist in a way that is not (so I am tempted to -believe) possible to any other living critic. The difficulty that stands -in the way of most modern investigators is that long ago the historical -people with their environment 'have become ghostly.' Long ago, for most -readers of _Villette_, the once famous Pensionnat de Jeunes Filles in -the Rue d'Isabelle, with its memory-haunted class-rooms, with its -high-walled garden in the heart of a city whose voices reached one, as -from a world far away, and 'down whose peaceful alleys it was pleasant -to stray and hear the bells of St Jean Baptiste peal out with their -sweet, soft, exalted sound,' have vanished out of life. _Yes--but out of -my life they have not vanished!_ For me--the historical Monsieur and -Madame Heger exist quite independently of all associations with the -imaginary personages Paul Emanuel and Madame Beck. For me--the old -school, the class-rooms, the walled garden, with its ancient pear-trees -that still 'faithfully renewed their perfumed snow in spring and -honey-sweet pendants in autumn,' remain--as they were planted vivid -images and visions in my memory half a century ago, when, as a -schoolgirl, I knew nothing about Charlotte Brontë nor _Villette_: but -when I sat, twenty years after Charlotte, in the class-rooms where she -had waited for M. Heger, on the eve of her departure from Bruxelles, -myself an attentive pupil of her Professor, and a witness, half -terrified, and half exasperated, of his varying moods. And when, too, I -saw, rather than heard, Madame Heger, moving noiselessly, where M. -Heger's movements were always attended with shock and excitement; only -to me, Madame Heger appeared always a friendly rather than an adverse -presence--an abiding influence of serenity that reassured one, after -sudden recurrent gusts of nerve-disturbing storms. - -And I would point out that the value of my testimony about the personal -impressions I derived, quite independently of any knowledge of Charlotte -Brontë's residence in what was for me _my_ school, and of her -enthusiasm for _my_ Professor, or her dislike of _my_ schoolmistress, is -enhanced both by the resemblances and by the differences of our several -points of view. Thus--like Charlotte--I was an English pupil and a -Protestant in this Belgian and Catholic school. Like her--my vocation -was to be that of a woman of letters. And although, when she was brought -under M. Heger's influence, she was a woman of genius, already well -acquainted with good literature, and not without experience as a writer, -whereas I was only an unformed girl, with very little reading and no -culture: and merely by force of an inborn desire to follow a certain -purpose in life that filled me with happiness, even in anticipation, -justified in supposing that I had a literary vocation at all, and -although no doubt I have not turned my advantages to account as -Charlotte did, yet I myself owe to M. Heger, not only admirable rules -for criticism and practice, that have always claimed and still claim my -absolute belief, but also I owe to him, as she did, a full enjoyment of -beautiful thoughts, beautifully expressed, and of treasures of the mind -and of the imagination, that, lying outside of the recognised paths of -English study, I might never have found, nor even have recognised as -treasures, had I not been cured of insularity of taste by M. Heger. - -So that upon this point I am able to say of M. Heger what Charlotte -said: he was the only master in literature I ever had; and up to the -present hour I esteem him, in this domain of literary composition, the -only master whose rules I trust. - -But if my judgment of M. Heger, as a Professor, coincides with -Charlotte's, my judgment of him, outside of this capacity, does not show -him to me at all as the model of the man from whom she painted Paul -Emanuel. In other words, I never found nor saw in the real Monsieur -Heger the lovableness under the outward harshness,--the depths of -tenderness under the very apparent severity and irritability,--the -concealed consideration for the feelings of others, under the outer -indifference to the feelings of any one who ruffled his temper; nor yet -did I ever discover meekness and modesty in him, under the dogmatic and -imperious manner that swept aside all opposition. In fact, I never found -out that M. Heger wore a mask. But, irritable, imperious, harsh, not -_unkind_, but certainly the reverse of tender, and without any -consideration for any one's feelings, or any respect for any one's -opinions, thus, _just as he seemed to be, so in reality, in my opinion, -M. Heger actually was_. And what one must remember is that Charlotte's -point of view, from which she formed the opinion that M. Heger _was_ -tender-hearted, and modest and meek, was the point of view of a woman in -love; and this standpoint is not one that ensures impartiality. - -My own point of view, between 1859 and 1861, was that of an English -schoolgirl, under sixteen, of a Belgian schoolmaster, over fifty, who in -his capacity of a literary Professor, was almost a deity to her; but -who, outside of this capacity, was not a lovable, but a formidable man: -a 'Terror,' in the sense children and nursery-maids give the term; that -is to say, some one who is sure to appear upon the scene when one is -least prepared to face him, and who is constantly finding fault with -one. Now a 'Terror,' in this popular sense of the term, although he is -not a lovable, is not necessarily a hateful personage. There may belong -to him an interest of excitement, and even a secret admiration for his -cleverness in fulfilling his role of taking one unawares and finding -something in one to quarrel about. And most certainly this interest of -excitement, and even of a sense of amusement, entered into my sentiment -for M. Heger, whom I recognised as a double-being, an admirable literary -Professor, but an alarming and irritating personality. But although I -never hated him, I yet had some special grievances against this -'Terror,' not only because he had a trick of surprising me in weak -moments, and of finding out my worst sides, but also because he was -really, in my own particular case, unjust; and full of prejudice and -impatience against my nationality, and personal idiosyncrasies that were -not faults; and that I couldn't help. Thus he stirred up in me -rebellious protests, that could not be uttered; because how was an -English schoolgirl of fifteen to protest against the injustice of a -Belgian 'Master,' in his own country, and his own school: who was a man -past fifty, too; and what was more, in his capacity of literary -Professor, if not quite a deity, at least, in my own opinion, the keeper -of the keys of palaces where dwelt the Immortals? - -And that my opinion of M. Heger's personality, as that of a 'Terror' (in -the childish and popular sense) did really show me the man apart from -the Professor very much as he really was, is confirmed by the first -impression he made upon Charlotte herself before the glamour of romantic -love had interfered with her critical perspicacity. Here is the original -description of M. Heger, in the early days of her residence in -Bruxelles: - -'There is one individual of whom I have not yet spoken,' she wrote to -Ellen Nussey, 'M. Heger, the husband of Madame. He is Professor of -rhetoric: a man of power as to mind, but very choleric and irritable in -temperament, a little black being, with a face that varies in -expression. Sometimes he borrows the lineaments of a tom-cat: sometimes -those of a delirious hyena: occasionally, but very seldom, he discards -these perilous attractions and assumes an air not above one hundred -degrees removed from mild and gentleman-like. He is very angry with me -just now, because I have written a translation which he stigmatises as -_peu correct_. He did not tell me so, but wrote the word on the margin -of my book and asked me, in very stern _phrase_, how it happened that my -compositions were always better than my translations, adding that the -thing seemed to him inexplicable. The fact is that three weeks ago in a -high-flown humour he forbade me to use either dictionary or grammar when -translating the most difficult English composition into French. This -makes the task rather arduous, and compels me every now and then to -introduce an English word, which nearly plucks the eyes out of his head -when he sees it. Emily and he don't draw well together at all.' - -I am quoting this view of M. Heger's personality, taken by Charlotte -Brontë before she became a partial witness, because, by and by, when I -am giving my own reminiscences, it will be found that in 1842 M. Heger -was very much the same Professor whom I knew in 1861. - -And Madame Heger? Here too my impressions are obtained from a point of -view unquestionably more impartial than Charlotte Brontë's. And it will -be found that, when the alteration of clear power of vision that -personal prejudices make has been realised, my opposite judgment of the -Directress of the Pensionnat to the judgment of the authoress of -_Villette_, is not the result of any difference in the _facts_ of Madame -Heger's characteristics and behaviour, but in the difference between the -standpoints from which we severally judge them. - -Charlotte's standpoint was the one of the devotee, of the great spirit -who is neither a god nor a mortal, but the 'Child of plenty and poverty, -who is often houseless and homeless'--and who cannot well see 'as in -herself she really is,' the Mistress of the house; who prudently, _not -necessarily with cruelty_, closes the doors of her home against -intruders--that standpoint also is not one conducive to impartial -judgments. - -My own point of view was that of a girl on the threshold of womanhood, -who saw in Madame Heger an embodiment of two qualities especially, that, -perhaps because I did not possess them and could never possess them -(passionate as I was by nature and with strong personal likings and -dislikings), inspired me with a sentiment of reverence and wonder, as -for a remote perfection, that, though unattainable, it did one good to -know existed somewhere; just as it does one good, with feet planted on -the earth, to see the stars. The qualities I saw in Madame Heger were -serene sweetness, a kindness without preferences, covering her little -world of pupils and teachers with a watchful care. _Tranquillité, -Douceur, Bonté:_ the French words express better than English ones the -commingled qualities I felt existed in Madame Heger as she moved -noiselessly (as Charlotte Brontë has described), whilst the more -brilliant and gifted Professor's movements were always stormy. - -When relating these reminiscences of Monsieur and Madame Heger and of -the old school and garden, as I myself treasure them, and quite -independently of their associations with Charlotte Brontë, I shall not -be losing sight of the purpose that justifies this record (as an -endeavour to disentangle fact from fiction) if, in so far as the facts -that concern my own experiences are concerned, I ask now to be allowed -to relate them in a different tone--that is to say, not any longer in -the tone of a literary critic, nor as one supporting any thesis or -argument, but simply as a story-teller 'who has been young and now is -old.' And who, before the darkening day has turned to night, calls to -remembrance scenes and personages long since vanished out of the world, -but still alive for me, bathed in the light that shines upon the -undimmed visions of my youth--although to almost every one else now -alive these scenes have become 'as it were a tale that is told.' - - - - -CHAPTER II - -MY FIRST INTRODUCTION TO CHARLOTTE -BRONTË'S PROFESSOR[1] - -'Madame,--quelquefois, donner, c'est semer'--_Speech -made to my Mother by M. Heger_. - - -In 1859 this memorable thing happened:--I was introduced by my mother to -M. Heger as his future pupil. I was fourteen years of age: but I -remember everything in connection with this event as though it had -happened yesterday. We were staying at Ostend, where my mother had taken -my brother and myself for a long summer holiday, because she believed we -had been previously overworked at our former schools, from which she had -removed us. She was convinced that we both of us stood in need of -sea-air, exercise and healthy recreation, before we could take up our -studies again, after the strain we had undergone. Upon this point my -brother and I were entirely of one mind with our mother. - -But after a holiday of three months, we had also begun to feel, with -her, that this state of things could not go on for ever, and that--as -she expressed it--'something had to be done with us.' What was done with -us was the result of circumstances that I cannot but regard as -fortunate, in my own case at any rate. They brought into my life, at a -very impressionable age, influences and memories that have always been, -and that are still, after more than half a century, extraordinarily -serviceable and sweet to me. - -The first of these fortunate circumstances was the renewal (due to an -accidental meeting at Ostend) of my mother's friendship with a relative -whom she had lost sight of for a great many years; who had married a -Dutch lady and settled in Holland. The eldest daughter of these -re-discovered cousins was an exceptionally charming girl of nineteen; -and upon enquiry my mother found out that she had been educated at a -school in Brussels, _situated in the Rue d'Isabelle, and kept by a -certain Madame Heger_. How it came to pass that, only four years after -the publication of _Villette_, and two years after Mrs. Gaskell's _Life -of Charlotte Brontë_, it did not occur to my mother to identify this -particular Brussels school with the one where the Director was the fiery -and perilously attractive 'Professor Paul Emanuel' and where the -Directress was painted as the crafty and treacherous 'Madame Beck,' I -really cannot say; but, so it was. There can be no doubt that it was -solely because the account rendered by her delightful young kinswoman of -the school where she had spent three years was thoroughly satisfactory -to my mother, and because the unaffected and accomplished girl herself -was an excellent proof of the happy results of the education she had -received, that my mother made up her mind that the best thing that could -be 'done with me,' was to send me to Madame Heger's school. She had -entered into correspondence with this lady, and the plan had developed -into a further arrangement, that my brother was to be placed with a -French tutor recommended by Madame Heger, and who was the Professor of -History at her establishment. All these conditions were very nearly -settled, when M. Heger came to visit my mother at Ostend; to talk -matters over and to make final arrangements. - -Of course from the point of view of my own humble interest I recognised -that the visit of this Brussels Professor was an event of great -importance. I was fully conscious of this, because my cousin had told me -a great deal about M. Heger, explaining that _he_ was the ruling spirit -in the Pensionnat; that he was rather a terrible personage; and that _if -he took a dislike to one,--well, he could be very disagreeable_. I had -received so much advice upon this particular subject from my cousin that -I had talked the matter over very seriously with my brother afterwards, -and asked him what he thought I ought to do in order to avoid the -misfortune of offending M. Heger. My brother's advice was -sound:--'Don't let the man see you are afraid of him,' he said, 'and -then, whatever you do, don't show off.' - -Keeping these counsels in mind, after M. Heger's arrival, I sat upon the -extreme edge of the rickety sofa that filled the darkest corner in the -little salle-à-manger of our Ostend apartments over the Patissier's shop -in the Rue de la Chapelle--I remember the very name of the Patissier; it -was Dubois--watching and listening eagerly to the conversation of the -Professor with my mother, who, strange to say, did not seem to be in the -least afraid of him; nor to recognise that he was in any way different -to ordinary mortals! And I must say, looking back to that September -afternoon to-day, and realising our attitude of mind, my mother's and -mine, towards this interesting personage to us, but interesting solely -in his character of _my_ future teacher, there does seem to me something -amazing--so amazing as to be almost amusing--in our total -unconsciousness of his already well-established real, or rather ideal -claims as a personage immortalised in English literature, by an -illustrious writer who, four years before my birth, had been his pupil; -and whose romantic love for him, whilst it had broken her heart, had -served as the inspiration of her genius; so that her literary -masterpiece was precisely a book where the very school I was going to -inhabit was painted, with extraordinary veracity, in so far as outward -and local points of resemblance were concerned. - -As for my own ignorance of all these circumstances there is nothing -strange in that. Fifty-four years ago a schoolgirl of my age was not -very likely to have read _Villette_. But what one may pause to inquire -is whether if by any accident the book _had_ come into my hands, and -thus revealed to me my true position, should I have gone down on -my bended knees to my mother, or to express the case more exactly, -should I have flung my arms round her dear neck, and prayed, '_Don't -send me to this school; I am afraid of Professor Paul Emanuel; I -loathe Madame Beck; I shall never make friends with these horrid -Lesbassecouriennes?_' Well, really, I don't think I should have done -anything of the sort! At fourteen one adores an adventure. It seems to -me probable that the excitement of going to the same school, and -learning my lessons in the same class-rooms, and treading the paths of -the same garden, and being instructed by the same teachers as a writer -of genius, who had left these scenes haunted by romance, would have made -me hold under all apprehensions of the Lesbassecouriennes as -school-fellows, of the perfidious Directress with her stealthy methods -of espionage, of the explosive, nerve-wrecking Professor, always -breaking in upon one like a clap of thunder. Yes; but though held under, -the apprehension would have troubled my inner soul a good deal all the -same; and this would have been a pity. Because, in so far as the real -Directress and real Belgian schoolgirls whom I was going to know in the -Rue d'Isabelle went, these apprehensions would have been superfluous and -misleading. - -But now if there were no danger of my finding in the real Pensionnat any -spiritual counterparts of either the fictitious Madame Beck, or of the -perverted Lesbassecouriennes pupils, was it equally certain that, if I -had read _Villette_, I should not have recognised and been justified in -recognising in Monsieur Heger the original model and living image of -that immortal figure in English fiction, '_the magnificent-minded, -grand-hearted, dear, faulty little man_'--Professor Paul Emanuel? - -We shall perhaps be able to decide this question better at the end of -these reminiscences than here. But what must be realised is, that the -very fact that lends some general interest to my mother's first -impressions and my own about M. Heger is chiefly this: that it expresses -observations made from a purely personal standpoint; out of sight of any -literary views about 'Paul Emanuel,' or historical judgments upon his -relations with Charlotte Brontë. The perfectly simple purpose we had in -view was to see clearly what sort of a Professor M. Heger was going to -prove, and whether I was going to do well as his pupil, and get on -satisfactorily, amongst these foreign surroundings. - -My mother formed a most favourable opinion of our visitor, and decided -that I was fortunate in obtaining such a Professor. What had especially -impressed her was a sentence delivered by M. Heger, with a masterly -little gesture, that, as she herself said, entirely won her over to his -opinions upon a question where elaborate arguments might have left her -unconvinced. And I may observe here, that this belonged to M. Heger's -methods, not so much of arguing, as of dispensing with arguments. His -mind was made up upon most subjects, and as he had got into the habit of -regarding the world as his class-room, and his fellow-creatures as -pupils, he did not argue; he told people what they ought to think about -things. And in order to make this method of settling questions not only -convincing, but stimulating, to his most intelligent pupils, he held in -reserve a store of these really luminous phrases, that he would use as -little Lanterns, flashing them, now in this direction, now in that, but -always with a special and appropriate direction given to the -illuminative phrase, so that it lit up the point of view upon which he -desired to fix attention. The particular sentence that conquered my -mother's admiration and acquiescence in M. Heger's point of view was the -one I have made the heading of this chapter. Here was how he contrived -to introduce it. After discussing the plan of _my_ studies, and the -arrangements for my being taken to the English church by my brother -every Sunday, and allowed to take walks with him upon half-holidays (to -all of which of course I listened with passionate attention), they -passed on to discuss the terms asked by the tutor whom the Hegers had -recommended. My mother had been told by her Dutch cousin that they were -exorbitant terms; and, as a matter of fact, I believe they were exactly -twice the amount charged by the Hegers themselves: '_I am not a rich -woman_,' my mother had said, apologetically, '_and I have put aside a -fixed sum for my children's education; I doubt if I can give this_.' ... -Then did the Professor see, and seize, his opportunity: '_Madame,'_ he -said, with a gesture, '_quelquefois, donner, c'est semer_.' My mother, -dazzled with this prophetic utterance, remained speechless and -vanquished. In the evening of the same day I heard her quote to the -Dutch cousin, who did not approve of her consent to these charges, -'_what that clever man, Professor Heger) said so well_,' as though it -had been unanswerable. In the course of the next two years I often heard -the same luminous phrase used, with equal appropriateness, to light up -other propositions. (I have heard M. Heger use it in a sense where it -became a different formula for expressing a fundamental doctrine of -Rousseau, thus, '_Instruire, ce n'est pas donner, c'est semer_,' but I -never heard the words without going back to the first impression, and to -the vision it called up. I would see again the little _salle-à-manger_ -in the Rue de la Chapelle at Ostend, I would watch the masterly gesture -of the Professor's hand when he delivered his triumphant sentence, that -is not an argument, but is worth more; I would see the look of -admiration and sudden conviction come into my dear mother's face; I -would feel myself sitting upon the little rickety sofa in the dark -corner, _and I would shudder with the foreknowledge of what was coming_, -for, woebetide me that I should have to tell it, this first interview -_did not leave with me the same impression of confidence in M. Heger as -my future teacher and guardian that it did with my mother;_ it left with -me, on the contrary, the miserable conviction that the very worst thing -that could have happened had happened; that M. Heger had taken a -vehement dislike to me, and consequently that all hope of happiness for -me in the Pensionnat in the Rue d'Isabelle was over and done with. - -And the worst of it was, that it was all my own fault; or rather, to be -just, it was my misfortune. - -For I had had a really very bad time of it, sitting on that rickety -little sofa. My mother, who had only too flattering an opinion of me in -every way, had meant to say the kindest things about me to M. Heger, and -I knew this perfectly. But unfortunately, although she spoke French with -the greatest fluency and self-confidence (because as she was a very -charming woman, and as Frenchmen are always polite in their criticism of -the French of charming English women, she had been very often -complimented upon her command of the language),--unfortunately, I say, -her French was really English, literally translated; and every one who -has experience of what false meanings can be conveyed by this sort of -French will realise what I had suffered, because, though I only spoke -French badly at this time, I understood the language better than my -mother. And this is how I had heard myself described to my future -Professor. My mother had _wished_ to say that I was more fond of study -and of reading than was good for the health of a girl of my age; but -what she _actually_ said was that I was fond of reading things that were -not healthy or suitable (_convenable_) for a young girl. Again, she had -_meant_ to say that as I had worked too hard, she had let me run wild a -little; and that consequently I might find it difficult to get into -working habits again; but that as I had a capital head of my own, and -plenty of courage, I should, no doubt, soon get into good ways again. -But instead of all these flattering things (that might have been rather -irritating too, only a Professor of experience knows how to forgive a -parent's partiality), I had heard this fond mother of mine say that her -daughter had recently contracted the habits of a little savage; and that -it would require courageous discipline, as she was very headstrong, to -bring her into the right way again. It will be understood that to sit -and listen to all this about oneself was anguish. But, carefully -watching M. Heger's face, I had a notion that he had found out there was -some mistake. Still I was depressed and bewildered; and in dread of what -I was going to say, when the time came, as I knew it must, when he would -say something to me, and I should have a chance of answering for myself. -And the misfortune was, that _when_ the critical moment came, I wasn't -expecting it; because, here, at least, what the author of _Villette_ -says of Professor Paul Emanuel was true of M. Heger--everything he did -was sudden; and he always contrived to take one by surprise. - -It was immediately after he had won his triumph over my mother, and in -the moment when I myself was under the spell of admiration for his -talent, that he turned upon me, in a sort of flash, smiling down upon me -(very red and startled to find him so near), and nodding his head with -an irritating look of amusement as his penetrating eyes searched my -doleful face. '_Aa-ah_,' he said, in a half-playful, but as it sounded -to me, more mocking, than kindly tone, '_Aa-ah_' (another nod of the -head), 'so this is the little Savage I have to discipline and vanquish, -is it? And she is headstrong (_têtue_). Tell me, Mees, am I to be too -indulgent? or too severe? (_Dois-je être trop indulgent? ou trop -sévère?_') Now, if only I had made the natural reply, the one obviously -expected from me--the one any girl in my position would have made, and -which I myself should have made if I hadn't been addressed as 'a little -savage,' and if I hadn't been smarting under the sense that he must have -the worst possible opinion of me, and that I ought to vindicate my -honour in some way,--if only, in short, I had remembered my brother's -wholesome advice, '_Don't show off_,' that is to say, if only I had -said, amiably and nicely, with a timid little smile, '_Trop indulgent, -s'il vous plait, Monsieur_,' THEN all would have been well with me; M. -Heger would have continued to smile; we should have exchanged amiable -glances and parted the best of friends.... But of what use are these -speculations? What I _did_ reply to his question of whether he was to be -too indulgent or too severe was--'_Ni l'un ni l'autre, Monsieur; soyez -juste, celà suffit_' ... and I listened to the broadness of my own -British accent, whilst I said it, in despairing wonder! M. Heger's -smiles vanished; there came what I took to be a 'look of undying hatred' -into his face--it was not perhaps so bad as all that, but ... well, I -certainly hadn't conquered his favour. He said something disagreeable -about Les Anglaises being over wise, too philosophical for him, which my -mother thought was a compliment to my cleverness. But I knew what I had -done, and that it could never be undone, henceforth ... - -Well, but the case really was not quite so desperate perhaps? - - -[1] This chapter is reproduced from the _Cornhill_ by the kind -permission of Messrs. Smith, Elder and Co. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -MONSIEUR AND MADAME HEGER AS I SAW -THEM; AND BELGIAN SCHOOLGIRLS AS I -KNEW THEM - - -Let me give here my mother's, and my own, account of the impressions -made upon us by M. Heger's personal appearance at this time. - -'He is very like one of those selected Roman Catholic Priests,' my -mother told her Dutch relatives, 'who go into society and look after the -eldest sons of Catholic noblemen. He has too good a nose for a Belgian -and, I should say, he has Italian blood in him.' - -My own report, to my brother, who made anxious inquiries of me, was less -flattering perhaps, but it was not intended to be disrespectful. I -always see M. Heger as I saw him then: as too interesting to be -alarming; but too alarming to be lovable. - -'He is rather like Punch,' I said, 'but better looking of course; and -not so good-tempered.' - -Let me justify these two descriptions by showing that both of them were -based upon an accurate observation of the man himself. - -M. Heger, as I remember him, was no longer what Charlotte called him, -angrily, in her letter to Ellen Nussey, a _little Black Being_, and, -affectionately, under the disguise of Paul Emanuel, '_a spare, alert -man, showing the velvet blackness of a close-shorn head, and the sallow -ivory of his brow beneath_.' M. Heger in 1859 was still alert, but he -was not spare, he was inclining towards stoutness. His hair was not -velvet black, but grizzled, and he was bald on the crown of his head, in -a way that might have been mistaken for a tonsure; and this no doubt -added to the resemblance my mother saw in him to a Priest. He did not -look in the least old, however. His brow, not sallow but bronzed, was -unwrinkled; his eyes were still clear and penetrating (Charlotte said -they were violet blue; and certainly she ought to have known. Still, _do -violet eyes penetrate one's soul like points of steel?_) The Roman -nose, that my mother thought too good a nose to be Belgian, and that -reminded me of Punch (but a good-looking Punch) was a commanding -feature. And the curved chin (also suggesting a good-looking Punch, to a -young and irreverent observer), although it indicated humour, meant -sarcasm, rather than a sense of fun. But Monsieur Heger had one really -beautiful feature, that I remember often watching with extreme pleasure -when he recited fine poetry or read noble prose:--his mouth, when -uttering words that moved him, had a delightful smile, not in the least -tender towards ordinary mortals, but almost tender in its homage to the -excellence of writers of genius. - -In brief, what M. Heger's face revealed when studied as the index of his -natural qualities, was intellectual superiority, an imperious temper, a -good deal of impatience against stupidity, and very little patience with -his fellow-creatures generally; it revealed too a good deal of humour; -and a very little kind-heartedness, to be weighed against any amount of -irritability. It was a sort of face bound to interest one; but not, so -it seems to me, to conquer affection. For with all these qualities of -intellect, power, humour, and a little kind-heartedness, one quality was -totally lacking: there was no love in M. Heger's face, nor in his -character, as I recall it; and, oddly enough, looking back now to him as -one of the personages in my own past to whom I owe most, and whose mind -I most admire, I have to recognise that in my sentiment towards M. Heger -to-day even, made up as it is half of admiration and half of amusement, -there is not one particle of love. - -I have said--in connection with my first impression, that 'undying hate' -was the sentiment that M. Heger had conceived for me--that really 'it -was not so bad as all that.' Still, what happened at this first -interview, if it did not determine any deep-rooted antipathy to me, -planted from this moment in M. Heger's breast, did indicate, to a -certain extent, what the character of our future relationships was to -be--_out of lesson-hours._ In these hours, our relationships of -Professor and pupil were ideal. Seldom did an occasional -misunderstanding trouble them. Certainly, in my own day, no other pupil -entered with so much sympathetic admiration into the spirit of M. -Heger's teaching as I did. He saw and felt this; and here I, too, was -for him, and _as a pupil_, sympathetic. But in our personal -relationships, there were certain things in me that were antipathetic to -M. Heger, and that rubbed him so much the wrong way, that he was -constantly (so it still seems to me) unjust to what were not faults, but -idiosyncrasies, that belonged to my nationality and my character. First -of all, there was my English accent: and here this singular remark has -to be made: I never spoke such purely British French to any one as to M. -Heger; and this was the result of my constant endeavour to be very -careful to avoid the accent he disliked, when speaking to him. The -second cause of offence in me was also due to my nationality, or rather -to my upbringing. Like all English children of my generation, I had been -brought up to esteem it undignified, and even a breach of good manners, -to cry in public: and although I was tender-hearted and emotional, I was -not in the least hysterical; and except under the stress of extreme -distress, it cost me very little self-control not to weep, as my Belgian -schoolfellows did, very often, at the smallest scolding; or even without -a scolding, and simply because they were bored--'_ennuyée_.' I remember -now my surprise, at first hearing the reply to my question to a sobbing -schoolfellow: '_Pourquoi pleures-tu?_ '_Parce que je m'ennuie._' 'Why?' -'_Mais je te le dis parce que je m'ennuie_.' Well, but M. Heger liked -his pupils to cry, when he said disagreeable things: or, in any case, he -became gentle, and melted, when they wept, and was amiable at once. But -when one did not weep, but appeared either unmoved, or indignant, he -became more and more disagreeable: and, at length, exasperated. A third -idiosyncrasy in me that he disliked was not national, but personal. It -was due to a sort of incipient Rousseau-ism,--that must have been -inborn, because I was never taught it, even in England. And yet there -it was, implanted in me as a sentiment, long before I recognised it as -an opinion or conviction, that I could express in words! This natural -sentiment, or principle, was the belief that '_I was born free: that my -soul was my own: and that there was no virtue, wisdom, nor happiness -possible for me outside of the laws of my own constitution_.' -Unformulated, but inherent in me, this fundamental belief in myself as a -law to myself, no doubt betrayed itself in a sort of independence of -mind and manner very aggravating to my elders and betters, and to those -put in authority over me. And especially aggravating to an authoritative -Professor, who was, in all domains, opposed to individualism, and the -doctrine of personal rights and liberty. Thus in literature M. Heger was -a classic; in religion he was a dogmatic Catholic; in politics he was an -anti-democrat, a lover of vigorous kings; and by constitution he was a -king in his own right: a masterful man, not only a law to himself, but a -lord, by virtue of his sense of superiority, to everyone else. - -For these reasons, M. Heger and myself--on ideal terms as Professor -and pupil--were on bad terms outside of lesson-hours. We could not quite -dislike each other; but our relationships were stormy. There were, -however, intervals of calm. - -I have said that with a good deal of admiration, gratitude, and some -amusement, there is no _love_ for M. Heger intermingled with my -remembrances of him. - -There is, on the contrary, a good deal of love in the sentiment I retain -for Madame Heger,--although, as a matter of fact, in the days when I was -her pupil I never remember any strong or warm feeling of personal -affection for her; nor have I any distinct personal obligation to her, -as to one who, like M. Heger, rendered me direct services by her -instructions or counsels. Nor yet again had Madame Heger any strong -personal liking for me; nor did she show me any special kindness. But -her kindness was of an all-embracing character. And so was her liking -for, or rather love of, all the inhabitants of the little world she -governed: a world that extended beyond the boundaries of the actual -walls of the Pensionnat, in any stated year; a world, made up of all -the girls who, before that year, and afterwards, through several -generations, had been and ever would be, her 'dear pupils'; '_mes chères -élèves_';--terms that, uttered by her, were no mere formula, but -expressed a true sentiment, and a serious and, so it seems to me, a -beautiful and sweet idealism. This idealism in Madame Heger, this -constant love and care and watchfulness for the community of girls, who, -passing out of her hands, were to go out into the world by and by, to -fulfil there what Madame Heger saw to be the kind and sweet and -tranquil, and sometimes self-sacrificing and sorrowful, mission of -womanhood, enveloped the ideal school-mistress with a sort of unfailing -benevolence, that became a pervading influence in the Pensionnat, -singling out no particular pupils, and withdrawn from none of them. - -Here, it seems to me, and not at all in the reasons imagined by -Charlotte in the case of Madame Beck, we have the secret of Madame -Heger's system of government. I really am not, at this distance of time, -able to say positively whether there was, or was not, a surveillance -that might be called a system of _espionage_ carried on, keeping the -head-mistress informed of the conversation and behaviour of this large -number of girls, amongst whom one or two black sheep might have sufficed -to contaminate the flock. I was not a faultless, nor a model girl by any -means: but I was a simple sort of young creature with nothing of the -black sheep in me; and I never remember in my own case having my desk -explored, nor my pockets turned inside out. But if even this had been -done, it would not have gravely affected me; because neither in my -pockets nor in my desk, would anything have been found of a mysterious -or interesting character. But I should think it very probable that, in -this very large school, a watchful surveillance _was_ kept up; and that -if any of these schoolgirls, most of them under sixteen, had attempted, -after their return from the monthly holiday, to bring back to school -illegal stores of sweets, or a naughty story book, and had concealed -such things in their school desks, well, I admit, I think it possible, -that the sweets or naughty book _might_ have been missing from the desk -next day. And also that, in the course of the afternoon, a not entirely -welcome invitation would have been received by the imprudent smuggler of -forbidden goods to pay Madame Heger a visit in the Salon? These things -took place occasionally I know: and naturally, amongst the girls public -sympathy was with the smuggler. But I am not sure, if one takes the -point of view of a Directress, if a large girls' school could be carried -on successfully, were it made a point of honour that there should be no -surveillance, and that pupils might use their lockers as cupboards for -sweets, or as hiding-places for light literature. - -But, apart from the fact that Madame Heger was, no doubt, both watchful -and uncompromising in her surveillance, based upon a firm resolution -that nothing 'inconvenient' must be smuggled in, or hidden out of sight, -as a source of mischief in the school, there was in her no resemblance -to the odious Madame Beck; that is to say, no _moral_ resemblance. In -physical appearance, the author of _Villette_ did use Madame Heger -evidently as the model for the picture of an entirely different moral -person. '_Her complexion was fresh and sanguine, her eye blue and -serene. Her face offered contrasts--its features were by no means such -as are usually seen in conjunction with a complexion of such blended -freshness and repose; their outline was stern; her forehead was high, -but narrow; it expressed capacity and some benevolence, but no -expanse.... I know not what of harmony pervaded her whole person._'[1] - -Taking this portrait from _Villette_, as it is given of Madame Beck, and -comparing it with my own recollections, and also with the photograph I -am fortunate enough to possess of Madame Heger at the age of sixty, it -seems to me that this _is_ a very accurate physical description of the -real Directress of the school in the Rue d'Isabelle; who morally was as -unlike the fictitious Madame Beck as truth is unlike falsehood. About -the physical resemblance, I may say that, if I had trusted to my own -impressions, I should have rejected the assertion that the 'outline -of her features was stern.' I never remember associating sternness -with Madame Heger; though her supreme quality of serenity imposed a sort -of respect that had a little touch of fear in it. Upon re-examining the -photograph attentively, however, I find that it is true that the outline -of the features _is_ stern; but I do not think that this impression was -conveyed by the younger face, remembered with softened colouring; and -lit up, as a characteristic expression, by a normal expression of -serenity and of kindliness. '_I know not what of harmony pervaded her -whole person_': that sentence of Charlotte's (used by her of the -unspeakable Madame Beck) exactly expresses the impression I still retain -of the very estimable and, by myself, affectionately remembered, Madame -Heger. - - -[Illustration: MADAME HEGER AT SIXTY. (She was thirty years younger when -Charlotte knew her) From a portrait given to the author by Madame -Heger's daughter (Author's _Copyright_)] - - -In the same way, as I have said, the apprehensions as to my future -companions in this foreign school, that would infallibly have been -awakened in me if I had read, before meeting them, the account given by -the author of _Villette_ of Belgian schoolgirls, as differing, not only -in nationality, but in human nature, from English schoolgirls, would -have been groundless. When I call up around me to-day the recollections -of my Bruxelles schoolfellows, amongst whom I was the only English girl -and the only Protestant, there does not come back to me any painful -remembrance that I ever felt myself an alien amongst them. On the -contrary, I remember privileges granted me as 'la petite Anglaise,' who -was further away than others from home, and must be treated with special -kindness. I see around me in this large company of girls, no 'perverted' -nor precociously formed young women, _whose 'eyes are full of an -insolent light, and their brows hard and unblushing as marble_.' In -brief, I see no '_swinish multitude_'--such as insular prejudice, and a -disturbed imagination, showed Charlotte; but I see very much the same -mixed crowd of youthful faces, fair and dark, pretty and plain, smiling -and serious, stupid and intelligent, coarse and fine, sympathetic and -unlikeable, that one would get in such a large collection of English -schoolgirls; but in all this crowd of my Belgian schoolfellows just what -my memory does _not_ show me anywhere, are the '_eyes full of an -insolent light, and the brow hard and unblushing as marble_,'[2]--that -are not characteristics of the schoolgirl in any nation or country I -have ever known; and I have been a traveller in my time, and enjoyed -opportunities of observing different national peculiarities, that never -fell in the way of Charlotte, who spent two years in Bruxelles; but -lived the rest of her life in Yorkshire. - -As for the hundred (or more perhaps than a hundred) schoolgirls that -made up in my day the little world ruled by Madame Heger as the -administrator of a system based on the authority of _Douceur, Bonté_, -and _les Convenances_ (in the sense of what was seemly, and opposed to -violence and ugliness), amongst them were many girls whom I only knew by -name and sight; many of whom I knew slightly better, and whom I rather -liked than disliked; a few whom I disliked heartily (very few of -these)--and a few whom I loved dearly (very few again)--but amongst -these friends, chosen because their hearts were in tune with my own, -the difference of nationality and creed did not stand in the way of -mutual affection. In some cases, it is true, life, with its exacting -claims of duties and occupations and cares, rushed in to divide me -afterwards from these companions of my best years; when everything that -I am glad, and not sorry, to have been, and to have done, in a long -life, was prepared and made possible for me--but at least one of these -friendships formed with a Belgian schoolgirl in those days, I may -describe as a life-long friendship: because it remains an unaltered -sentiment that lives in me to-day, unquenched by the fact that, only a -few years ago--after half a century had passed since we met--my girl -friend that had been then, a white-haired woman now, died; in the same -year, as it strangely happened, that our old school (transformed into a -boys' college during the last twenty years of its existence), that had -stood in the Rue d'Isabelle until 1909, was swept away, with its -beautiful old walled garden and time-honoured pear-trees, that to the -end of their lives 'renewed their perfumed snowy blossom every spring.' - -I am told a handsome building now replaces the long, plain straggling -façade of the historic school--but I have no wish to see it. - - -[1] _Villette_, chapter viii. - -[2] See _Villette_, chapter viii. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -MY SECOND INTERVIEW WITH M. HEGER. -THE WASHING OF 'PEPPER.' THE -LESSON IN ARITHMETIC - - -I had been an inmate of the school in the Rue d'Isabelle a fortnight. In -this interval I had lived through a great deal. Thanks to attentive -self-doctoring and a strict _régime_, where no luxuries in the way of -private crying were allowed, I had pulled myself through the first acute -stage of the sort of sickness that attacks every 'new' girl, as the -result of being plunged into the cold atmosphere of a strange, and -especially of a foreign, school. Now I was out of danger of the peril -that had threatened me during about a week, the possible disaster of -some sudden access of violent weeping over my sense of desolation, in -the sight of these foreign teachers and pupils, that would have seemed -to me profoundly humiliating, on patriotic, as well as upon private -grounds. For, as the one English girl in this Belgian school, was not -the honour of my country, or, at any rate, of the girls of my country, -at stake? And then I realised, also, that politeness to the foreigner, -as well as duty to myself and my country, forbade any exhibition of -vehement home-sickness. Thus, might not these Belgian teachers and girls -reasonably take offence, and say, 'Why do you come to school in our -country if you don't like it? We didn't ask you to come here. Why don't -you go home?' - -By these methods, then, of what it pleased me to regard as a sort of -philosophy of my own, I had lived through the worst, and if I was not -entirely cured of occasional inward sinkings of the heart and the -feeling of desolation, I felt I had mastered the temptation to make any -public display of them. And having reached this point by my own effort, -now help came to me in the shape of a friendly tribute and encouragement -from a girl who was a sort of philosopher, also by a rule of her own, -which she kindly explained to me, and which I entirely approved of. -This girl was fair and small, and had broad brows and clear green eyes -under them. Her name was Marie Hazard. She had not spoken to me before, -but on several occasions had shown me little kindnesses, and given me -nice smiles and nods of greeting. Finally she came up to me in the -garden and took my arm:-- - -'Do you know why I have a friendship for you?' she asked. - -'No,' I answered. 'But have you _really_? I _am_ so glad.' - -'Yes,' she proceeded to explain; 'I like you, because you are -reasonable, and don't sit down and cry, as, of course, you _could_ if -you liked. I have as much heart as another; but it irritates me, and -does not touch me one bit, to see some of the pupils here, the big ones -too, crying and crying, and _why? because they have come back to school, -and would rather be at home!_ Evidently that is the case with all of us. -And evidently, what is more, it's going to be the case for ten months. -But for some insignificant holidays at the New Year, from now until -August, thus it will be with us. We shall be all of us in this school, -and we would all of us prefer to be in our homes. But why cry, then? or -if one begins to cry, why leave off? Is one, then, to cry for ten -months? And what eyes will one have at the end? And what good is it?' - -I laughed, not only because she seemed to me to put it humorously, but -because I was full of happiness that I had found a friend. - -'Yes,' she said, 'you laugh, and that is well, too. It's the thing to -do. Now, if _you_ cried there might be an excuse; you are farther away -from your people than we are. But you ask yourself, What is the good? -And you say to yourself, No, I won't discourage the others. And that is -English. And that is why I like the English; they are at least -reasonable.' - -This was balm to me. The sense of desolation had vanished. Here was the -proof that I had been a good witness, and served to uphold the good name -of England, and also that I had conquered a friend. - -I think it was the same afternoon, because there were Catechism classes, -from which, as a Protestant, I was exempted, that I was sent out into -the garden, for the first time, at an hour when no other pupils were -there. Later on this privilege was very often accorded me, for the same -reason; so that, in my own day at any rate, no one else in the school -had the opportunity I had given me, and that I used, of taking -possession of the enchanted place and making it my very own. And this -was so because there was no knowledge in my mind at the time that Some -One had been beforehand with me here; and that although for my inner -self it became (and must always be for me exclusively) my own beautiful, -well-enclosed, flower-scented, turf-carpeted, Eden where the spirit of -my youth had its home before any worldly influences, or any knowledge of -evil, had come between it and the poetry of its aspirations and its -dreams, yet for every one _but_ myself, it is Charlotte Brontë's Garden -of Imagination, where _she_ used to '_stray down the pleasant alleys and -hear the bells of St. Jean Baptiste peal out with their sweet, soft, -exalted sound._[1] - -And although no angel with a flaming sword--no, nor yet any Belgian -architects and masons, who have broken down the walls and uprooted the -old trees, and made the old historical garden in the Rue d'Isabelle a -place of stones--can drive me out of _my_ garden of memories where still -(and more often than before as the day darkens) I walk 'in the cool of -the evening' with the spirit of my youth; yet, for English readers, it -is not I, but Charlotte Brontë who must describe, what I could never -dare nor desire to paint after her, the famous _Allée défendue_ that -holds such a romantic place in her novel of Lucy Snowe, and that was -also the scene of my second meeting with M. Heger. - -'In the garden there _was a large berceau_,' wrote the author of -_Villette_, '_above which spread the shade of an acacia; there was a -smaller, more sequestered bower, nestled in the vines which ran along a -high and grey wall and gathered their tendrils in a knot of beauty; and -hung their clusters in loving profusion about the favoured spot, where -jasmine and ivy met and married them ... this alley, which ran parallel -with the very high wall on that side of the garden, was forbidden to be -entered by the pupils; it was called indeed l'Allée défendue._' - -In my day there was no prohibition of the _Allée défendue_, although the -name survived. It was only forbidden to play noisy or disturbing games -there; as it was to be reserved for studious pupils, or for the -mistresses who wished to read or converse there in quietude. - - -[Illustration: THE "ALLÉE DÉFENDUE"] - - -If I had a lesson to learn, it was to the _Allée défendue_ that I took -my book; and in this _allée_ I had already discovered and appropriated a -sheltered nook, at the furthest end of the _berceau_, where one was -nearly hidden oneself in the vine's curtain, but had a delightful view -of the garden. Before reaching this low bench, I had noticed, when -entering the _berceau_, that a ladder stood in the centre; and that, out -of view in so far as his head went, a man, in his shirt sleeves, was -clipping and thinning the vines. I took it for granted he was a -gardener, and paid no attention to him; but, in a quite happy frame of -mind, sat down to learn some poetry by heart. My impression is that it -was Lamartine's _Chûte des Feuilles_. Shutting my eyes, whilst repeating -the verses out aloud (a trick I had), I opened them, _to see M. Heger_. -He it was who had been thinning the vine; it was a favourite occupation -of his (had I read _Villette_ I should have known it).[2] Once again he -took me by surprise, and I was full of anxiety as to what might come of -it. Since I entered the school I had, indeed, caught distant views of -him, hurrying through the class-rooms to or from his lessons in the -First and Second divisions. But until my French had improved I was -placed in the Third division, where M. Heger only taught occasionally, -so that I had not yet received any lesson from him. - -It was a relief to see that he looked amiable, and even friendly; if -only I didn't lose my head and say the wrong thing again! One thing I -kept steadily in view; nothing must induce me to forget my brother's -advice this time; there must be no attempt at fine phrases, this time -nothing that could possibly appear like showing off.... But all my -anxieties upon this occasion were dispelled by the purpose of my -Professor's disturbance of my studies. He invited me to assist him in -washing a very stout but very affectionate white dog, to whom I was told -I owed this service as he was a compatriot of mine, an English dog, with -an English name: a very inappropriate one, for he was sweet-tempered and -white, and the name was Pepper. For this operation of washing Pepper, I -was invited upstairs into M. Heger's library, which was, in this -beautifully clean and orderly house, a model of disorder; clouded as to -air, and soaked as to scent, with the smoke of living and the -accumulated ashes of dead cigars. But the shelves laden from floor to -ceiling with books made a delightful spectacle. - -Upon the occasion of this first visit to his library, M. Heger made me -the present of a book that marked a new epoch in my life, because, -before I was fifteen, it put before me in a vivid and amusing way the -problem of personality, _Le Voyage autour de ma Chambre_ of Xavier de -Maistre, was my introduction to thoughts and speculations that led me to -a later interest in Oriental philosophy, and especially in Buddhism. I -must not forget another present in the form of one more of those -luminous little sentences that, as I have said, he used as Lanterns, -turning them to send light in different directions. I had confided to -him, not my own methods of philosophy--I did not dare incur the -risk--but my newly found friend's methods of helping herself to be -'reasonable.' M. Heger showed no enthusiasm, nor even approval: and I -found out that he had a strong dislike to my elected friend. Personally -he would have preferred and recommended _Religious_ methods of prayer, -and docile submission to spiritual direction, to any philosophy, -especially in the case of women. But he quoted to me and wrote down for -me, and exhorted me to learn by heart and repeat aloud (as I actually -did), a definition of the philosophy of life of an Eighteenth-century -Woman, as '_Une façon de tirer parti de sa raison pour son bonheur_.' I -discovered this sentence a great many years afterwards in a book of the -de Goncourts. But M. Heger first gave it to me in my girlhood. - -Although it was, of course, as Professor of Literature that M. Heger -excelled, he was in other domains--in every domain he entered--an -original and an effective teacher. Let me give the history of a famous -Lesson in Arithmetic by M. Heger that took place, I am not quite sure -why, in the large central hall, or _Galerie_ as it was called, that -flanked the square, enclosing the court or playground of daily boarders, -whilst the _Galerie_ divided the court from the garden. For some special -reason, all the classes attended this particular lesson; where the -subject was the _Different effects upon value, of multiplication and -division in the several cases of fractions and integers_. Madame Heger -and the Mesdemoiselles Heger, and all the governesses were there. I had -been promoted into the first class (passing the second class over -altogether) before this, so that I was a regular pupil of M. Heger's in -literature, and certainly in this class, a favourite. But I was a -complete dunce at arithmetic, and it was a settled conviction in my mind -that my stupidity was written against me in the book of destiny; and I -admit that, as it did not seem of any use for me to try to do anything -in this field, I had given up trying, and when arithmetic lessons were -being given I employed my thoughts elsewhere. But a lesson from M. Heger -was another thing; even a lesson in arithmetic by him might be worth -while. So that I really did, with all the power of brain that was in me, -try to apply myself to the understanding of his lesson. But it was of no -use; after about five minutes, the usual arithmetic brain-symptoms -began; words ceased to mean anything at all intelligible. It was really -a sort of madness; and therefore in self-defence I left the thing alone -and looked out of the window, whilst the lesson lasted. It never entered -my head that _I_ was in any danger of being questioned: no one ever took -any notice of me at the arithmetic lessons. It was recognised that, -here, I was no good; and as I was good elsewhere, they left me alone. -Yes, but M. Heger wasn't going to leave me alone. Evidently he had taken -a great deal of trouble, and wanted the lesson to be a success. And it -had not succeeded. He was dissatisfied with all the answers he received. -He ran about on the _estrade_ getting angrier and angrier. And then at -last, to my horror, he called upon _me_; and what cut me to the soul, I -saw that there was a look of confidence in his face, as if to say 'Here -is some one who will have understood!' - -... Well of course the thing was hopeless. I had a sort of mad notion -that a miracle might happen, and that Providence might interfere, and -that if by accident I repeated some words I had heard him say there -might be some sense in them--but, as Matthew Arnold said, miracles don't -happen. It was deplorable. I saw him turn to Madame Heger with a shrug -of the shoulders: and that he must have said of the whole English race -abominable things, and of this English girl in particular, may be taken -for granted; because Madame Heger hardly ever spoke a word when he was -angry. But now she said something soothing about the English nation, and -in my praise. Well, my case being settled, M. Heger began: and he did -not leave off until the whole Galerie was a house of mourning. In the -whole place, the only dry eyes were mine, and here I had to exercise no -self-control; for although at first I had been sorry for him, now I was -really so angry with him for attacking these harmless girls, and -attributing to them abominable heartlessness, although the place rang -with their sobs, that I don't think I should have minded a slight attack -of apoplexy--only I shouldn't have liked him to have died. - -It was really a bewildering and almost maddening thing, because on both -sides it was so absurd. First of all, what had all these weeping girls -done to deserve the reproaches the Professor heaped upon them? 'They -said to themselves,' he told them: '"What does this old Papa-Heger -matter? Let him sit up at night, let him get up early, let him spend all -his days in thinking how he can serve _us_, make difficulties light, -and dark things clear to _us. We_ are not going to take any trouble on -our side, not we! why should we? Indeed, it amuses us to see him -_navré_--for us, it is a good farce."' - -The wail rose up--'_Mais non, Monsieur, ce n'est pas vrai, cela ne nous -amuse pas; nous sommes tristes, nous pleurons, voyez._' - -The Professor took no heed; he continued. 'They said to themselves "Ah! -the old man, _le pauvre vieux_, takes an interest in us, he loves us; it -pleases him to think when he is dead, and has disappeared, these little -pupils whom he has tried to render intelligent, and well instructed, and -adorned with gifts of the mind, will think of his lessons, and wish they -had been more attentive. Foolish old thing! not at all," they say, "as -if _we_ had any care for him or his lessons."' - -The wail rose up--'_Ce n'est pas gentil ce que vous dites là, Monsieur: -nous avons beaucoup de respect pour vous, nous aimons vos leçons; oui, -nous travaillerons bien, vous allez voir, pardonnez-nous_.' - -'Frankly, now, does that touch you?' I heard behind me. 'It is not -reasonable! I find it even stupid (_je le trouve même bête_).' Marie -Hazard, of course. I made a mistake when I said _my_ eyes were the only -dry ones. Here was my philosopher-friend, amongst the pupils in the -Galerie, and her eyes were quite as dry as mine. - -But the story of the Lesson in Arithmetic does not finish here; and -nothing would be more ungrateful were I to hide the ending: by which I -was the person to benefit most. To my alarm, in the recreation hour next -day, M. Heger came up to me, still with a frowning brow and a strong -look of dislike, and told me he wished to prove to himself whether I was -negligent or incapable. Because if I was incapable, it was idle to waste -time on me--so much the worse for my poor mother, who deceived herself! -On the other hand, if I was negligent, it was high time I should correct -myself. This was what had to be seen. I followed him up to his library, -not joyously like the willing assistant in the washing of Pepper, but -like a trembling criminal led to execution. I felt he was going again -over 'fractions' and the 'integers.' I knew I shouldn't understand -them; and that he wouldn't understand that I was 'incapable,' that when -arithmetic began my brain was sure to go! - -The funny and pleasant thing about M. Heger was that he was so fond of -teaching, and so truly in his element when he began it, that his temper -became sweet at once; and I loved his face when it got the look upon it -that came in lesson-hours: so that, whereas we were hating each other -when we crossed the threshold of the door, we liked each other very much -when we sat down to the table; and I had an excited feeling that he was -going to make me understand. _It took him rather less than a quarter of -an hour._ - -On the table before us he had a bag of macaroon biscuits, and half a -Brioche cake. He presented me with a macaroon. There you have one whole -macaroon (_intègre_): well, but let us be generous. Suppose I multiply -my gift, by eight: now you have eight whole macaroons and _are eight -times richer_, hein? But that's too many; _eight_ whole macaroons! I -divide them between you and me. As the result, you have half the eight. -But now for our _half-Brioche_; we have one piece only: and we are _two -people_, so we multiply the pieces. But _each is smaller_, the more -pieces, the smaller slice of cake; here are eight pieces; they are -really too small for anything, we will divide this collection of pieces -into two parts. Now does not this division make you better off, hein? -Then he folded his arms across his chest in a Napoleonic attitude, and -nodding his head at me, asked, '_Que c'est difficile,--n'est-ce pas_?' - -Of course in this, and indeed in all his personal and special methods, -M. Heger followed Rousseau faithfully. But, then, where is the modern -educationalist since 1762 who does _not_ found himself upon Rousseau? - -It was not, however, in rescuing one from the slough of despond, where -natural defects would have left one without his aid, that M. Heger -excelled--it was rather in calling out one's best faculties; in -stimulating one's natural gifts; in lifting one above satisfaction with -mediocrity; in fastening one's attention on models of perfection; in -inspiring one with a sense of reverence and love for them, that M. -Heger's peculiar talent lay. - -I may attempt only to sum up a _few_ maxims of his, that have constantly -lived in my own mind: but I feel painfully my inability to convey the -impression they produced when given by this incomparable Professor; -whose power belonged to his personality; and was consequently a power -that cannot be reproduced, nor continued by any disciple. The Teacher of -genius is born and not made. - -The first of these maxims was that, before entering upon the study of -any noble or high order of thoughts, one had to follow the methods -symbolised by the Eastern practice of leaving one's shoes outside of the -Mosque doors. There were any number of ways of 'putting off the shoes' -of vulgarity, suggested to one's choice by M. Heger: the reading of some -beautiful passage in a favourite book; the repetition of a familiar -verse: attention to some very beautiful object: the deliberate -recollection of some heroic action, _etc._ With different temperaments -different plans might be followed:--what was necessary was that one did -not enter the sacred place without some _deliberate_ renunciation of -vulgarity and earthliness: by _some_ mental act, or process, one must -have 'put off one's shoes.' There is here a strange circumstance that I -was too young to feel the true importance of at the time, but that I -have often wondered over since then. There can be no doubt of M. Heger's -rigid orthodoxy as a Catholic. Yet whilst the recitation of the Rosary -inaugurated the daily lessons, M, Heger had a special invocation[3] of -'the Spirits of _Wisdom_, _Truth_, _Justice_, _and Equanimity_,' that -was recited by some chosen pupil; who had to come out of her place in -class and stand near him; and who was not allowed by him to gabble. And -this was the invariable introduction to _his_ lesson. I can't feel it -was an orthodox proceeding: _There was not a Saint's name anywhere!_ But -I feel the infallible impression it produced upon me now. One effect, in -the sense of 'putting off one's shoes,' that it had for myself was that -the Professor of Literature appeared to me without any of the dislikable -qualities of the everyday M. Heger. - -Another maxim of M. Heger's was certainly borrowed from Voltaire: That -one must give one's soul as many forms as possible. _Il faut donner à -son âme toutes les formes possibles_. Again, that every sort of -literature and literary style has its merits, _except the literature -that is not literary and the style that is bad:_ here again, one has, of -course, Voltaire's well-known phrases: _J'admets tous les genres, hors -le genre ennuyeux_.' - -A third maxim was that one must never employ, nor tolerate the -employment of, a literary image as _an argument_. The purpose of a -literary image is to illuminate as a vision, and to interpret as a -parable. An image that does not serve both these purposes is a fault in -style. - -_A fourth maxim_ is that one must never neglect the warning one's ear -gives one of a _fault_ in style; and never trust one's ear exclusively -about the merits of a literary style. - -_A fifth rule_:--One must not fight with a difficult sentence; but take -it for a walk with one; or sleep with the thought of it present in one's -mind; and let the difficulty arrange itself whilst one looks on. - -_A sixth rule_:--One must not read, before sitting down to write, a -great stylist with a marked manner of his own; unless this manner -happens to resemble one's own. - -Now I shall be told that these rules and maxims, whether true or false, -are 'known to nearly every one,' and are of assistance to no one; -because people who can write do not obey rules: and people who can't -write are not taught to do so by rules. If this were literally true then -there would be no room in the world for a Professor of Literature. My -own opinion is that there are very few good writers who do not obey -rules; and that these rules are, if contracted in youth, of great use as -a discipline that saves original writers from the defect of their -quality of originality, in a proneness to mannerisms and whims. - -In connection with the possible complaint that I am putting forward as -M. Heger's maxims, sentences that were not originally invented nor -uttered by him, my reply is that I do not affirm that he invented his -own maxims, but simply that he chose them from an enormous store he had -collected by study and fine taste and by a sound critical judgment, the -result of an extensive acquaintanceship with the best that has been said -and thought in the world by philosophers, poets, and literary artists -and connoisseurs. In his character of a Professor of literature I find -it hard to imagine that any gift of original thought, or personal power -of expressing his own thoughts, could have placed M. Heger's pupils -under the same obligations as did his knowledge of beautiful ideas, -beautifully expressed, gathered from north, south, east and west, in -classical, mediæval and modern times. To be given these precious and -luminous thoughts in one's youth, when they have a special power to -'rouse, incite and gladden one,' is a supreme boon:--and in my own case -my gratitude to M. Heger has never been in the least disturbed by the -discovery that he was not the inventor of the maxims that have -constantly been a light to my feet and a lantern to my path during the -half-century that has elapsed since I received them from him in the -historical Pensionnat, that stood for many years, after Monsieur Heger -himself had vanished out of life, but that stands no longer in the Rue -d'Isabelle. - - -[1] From Mlle. Louise Heger I have this note: '_Les cloches de St. -Jacques et non pas St. Jean Baptiste, église qui se trouve à l'autre -côté de la ville près du canal: quartier du Père Silas dans -"Villette."_' - -[2] _Villette_, chapter xii. - -[3] Esprit de Sagesse, conduisez-nous: - Esprit de Vérité, enseignez-nous: - Esprit de Charité, vivifiez-nous: - Esprit de Prudence, préservez-nous: - Esprit de Force, défendez-nous: - Esprit de Justice, éclairez-nous: - Esprit Consolateur, apaisez-nous. - -Here is the invocation, sent me by Mlle. Heger; who has, with extreme -kindness, endeavoured to recover it for me. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE STORY OF A CHAPEAU D'UNIFORME - - -In connection with the particular Belgian schoolgirls whom I knew, who -still, in 1860, learnt their lessons in the class-rooms where Charlotte -Brontë once taught, and who were still taught by M. Heger, and still -surrounded with the benign and serene influences of Madame Heger, let me -prove that these schoolgirls had not the characteristics of the -_Lesbassecouriennes_; and that Charlotte Brontë displayed insular -prejudice, as well as an imagination coloured by the distress of an -unhappy passion, when she said of them, '_The Continental female is -quite a different being to the insular female of the same age and -class._'[1] - -Inasmuch as the story I have to tell is the story of a Bonnet, it will -be recognised as one that is calculated to display the qualities and -intimate and essential peculiarities of the 'Continental female' (under -sixteen) in a light, and under the stress and strain of passions and -interests, too serious to permit of any tampering with, or disguise of, -nature. One has to realise, also, that the question is not merely of a -bonnet, but of a Best Bonnet, a Sunday Bonnet. For, in the remote days -of which I am now writing modern young people should realise even -schoolgirls of ten or twelve wore bonnets on Sunday, and even upon -week-days, when they went beyond the borders of their garden: a hat was -thought indecorous on the head of any girl in her 'teens--a form of -undress rather than of dress. To wear a hat was like wearing a -pinafore--a confession that one had not forgotten the nursery. To save -one's best Sunday Bonnet, in the garden, one might go about in a hat, -and in the bosom of one's family wear a pinafore to save a new dress; -but in the same way that one did not go into the drawing-room with a -pinafore on, one did not, in those days, pay visits in a hat: and to go -to church in one would have been thought irreverent. So that a Sunday -Bonnet meant that childish ways were done with, and that one had -attained the age of reason. Like a barrister's wig it imposed -seriousness on the wearer, who had to live up to it. Madame Heger, when -establishing the rules for the uniform that was worn by all the pupils -of the school in the Rue d'Isabelle, paid great attention to the Sunday -Bonnet. Following the sense she lent to the law of her system of -government, the love of dress was not to be allowed amongst her pupils -to become an encouragement to vanity and rivalship, and hence one -uniform, for rich and poor alike, avoided any chance of vain, unkind, -and envious feelings; but at the same time the love of dress was not to -be discouraged altogether; because it was serviceable to taste, and the -care for appearance, without which a young person remains deficient in -femininity. Therefore although every boarder wore the same uniform, what -this uniform was to be was made quite an important question: and the -girls were invited to choose a committee to decide it, in consultation -with their head-mistress. And to this consultation Madame Heger brought -a large spirit of indulgence, especially where the Sunday Bonnet was -concerned. The Sunday Dress had to be black silk--about the _façon_ -there might be discussion, but not about the colour or material. On the -other hand, about the Bonnet, everything was left an open question. It -might be fashionable: it might be becoming: and even serviceableness was -not made a too stringent obligation. Indeed in the first year of my -school career the Sunday Bonnet selected for the summer months was the -reverse of serviceable. It was white chip; it was decorated with pink -rosebuds, where blonde and tulle mingled with the rosebuds; it had broad -white ribands edged with black velvet--in short, a very charming Bonnet: -but sown with perils. Everything about it could get easily soiled; and -nothing about it would stand exposure to rain. - -Madame Heger, recognising these material inconveniences, had -nevertheless seen that, on the educational side, there were compensating -advantages--the cultivation of neatness and order. She had not then -discouraged the white chip, rosebuds and the rest; at the same time, -she had stated the case for a yellow straw, with a plaid-ribbon that -would not easily soil. - -'On the one hand,' she had said, 'you may, with merely simple -precautions, carry your Bonnet through the summer to the big holidays, -without anxiety. On the other hand, no doubt there will be anxiety: the -white chip is extremely pretty, but do not forget that it will require -almost incessant care. Never must this Bonnet be put on one side without -a clean white handkerchief to cover it. Not only so, one storm, if you -have no umbrella, will suffice; everything will need renewal. And I warn -you, my children, that if this misfortune arrive, it is not I, but -_you_, who will have to ask your good mammas for another Bonnet. _I_ ask -from your parents a _chapeau d'uniforme_, and one only, each term: no -more. So now decide as you please.' - -_The decision had been for the white chip, arrive what may_. My own -point of view, whilst the subject was being discussed around me, was -that nothing could interest me less. Fancy troubling one's head about a -Bonnet! I did not say it, because I had no wish to make myself -unpopular, but the interest in the affair appeared to me puerile. -Happily these trifling matters had no importance for me; it did not -matter to me at all what sort of _chapeau d'uniforme_ they chose. - -How wrong I was! It mattered to me more than to any one else in the -whole school, because no one wore their _chapeau d'uniforme_ so much, -and no one took the poor thing out so frequently into storm and rain. -All the other boarders attended early mass on Sunday mornings in a -convent chapel, within five minutes' walk of the school. The other -occasions when they wore the fragile white chip _chapeau_ were safe -occasions, when, if it rained, they took shelter in their own homes on -the monthly holidays, or were sent back to school in a _fiacre_. My case -was different. Every Sunday morning, in accordance with the arrangement -made by my mother, my brother called at the Rue d'Isabelle to take me to -the English Church, which in those days was a sort of hall, known as the -'_Temple Anglican_,' situated in a passage near the Bruxelles Museum. -The service was generally over by noon; but it was too late for me to -return to school in time for the déjeuner at mid-day, and this -authorised the custom of my taking lunch with my brother and enjoying a -short walk afterwards; so that I was taken back by him to the Rue -d'Isabelle before four o'clock. Now it will be easily understood that -this agreeable arrangement had temptations: and that _sometimes_, on -_very_ fine days, there would occur forgetfulness of the 'Temple -Anglican' altogether; and the whole of these four or five hours would be -spent in our favourite haunt, the Bois de la Cambre, where we would -picnic, on cakes and fruit, when there was pocket-money enough, or on -two halfpenny 'pistolets,' when, as often happened, ten centimes, that -ought to have gone into the plate at the Temple, was all we had. And -whether the lunch was of cakes, or of dry bread, it did not alter the -fact that we talked of home incessantly; and were supremely happy. Yes; -but no doubt our conduct was reprehensible, and did not deserve the -favour of Heaven. And my recollection is that almost invariably these -picnics in the Bois de la Cambre, to which an exceptionally fine day had -tempted us, ended in a downpour of rain. And how it rains at Brussels, -when it does rain! So now, think of the state of the white chip Bonnet, -and of the bunch of rosebuds, interwoven with blonde, and of the white -silk ribbon edged with black velvet, that I took back with me to the Rue -d'Isabelle. - -And it is here where the beautiful nature of Belgian schoolgirls, or of -these particular Belgian schoolgirls who were my companions and -contemporaries, stands revealed. For upon one particular Sunday, having -hastily and silently fled to the dormitory upon my return, and being -discovered there, in dismayed contemplation of the lamentable saturated -mixture of mashed up tinted pulp and wires, that had once been rosebuds -and blonde, my depths of despondency moved these sympathetic young -hearts to compassion. As it was Sunday afternoon, one was allowed to -loiter over getting ready for dinner; a circle of consolers gathered -round me, and from it, forth stepped two rival aspirants to the honour -of sacrificing themselves on the altar of friendship. The first said: -'Now nothing is more simple: we shall wrap up this unhappy rag in my -handkerchief as you see;_--You shall have my chapeau d'uniforme_, and I -shall tell Maman everything--she interests herself in you; for when she -was young, she was at school in England. She will send me another -_chapeau d'uniforme_, and all is said.' - -The other girl, whose name was Henriette--I forget her surname--said, -'My plan is easier: for here is an accident,--as though it were done on -purpose. Now what do you say: I have two _chapeaux d'uniforme_, if you -please! The first my mother sent me as a model to show Madame Heger, and -from this model she chose it. But now Madame had ordered mine with the -others: and when I told my mother, she said, 'Say nothing: an accident -may happen, the Bonnet will not support rain, you will have this one at -hand if a misfortune arrive. Well, and here is the misfortune: there's -no difficulty at all.' - -Both of these girls had their homes in Brussels, and both of them I knew -had everything their own way with two fondly indulgent mammas. I had no -scruple in accepting their generous sacrifice, and I hugged them both, -and was really (I who despised tears) on the verge of crying. Between -the two, I hardly knew which offer to take, but it seemed to me that as -Henriette had two Bonnets, it was most reasonable to take hers. And we -all went down to dinner happily. And the 'Unhappy rag' '_cette -malheureuse loque_,' was buried in the _hangar_, the wood-house at the -bottom of the garden. - -But under cloudless skies one is prone to forget the lessons of -misfortune. It took some time--but the Sunday came when, once again, it -seemed 'almost wrong' to waste summer hours in the Temple Anglican, when -one felt so good under the beautiful trees in the Bois de la Cambre. And -then there was pocket-money in hand, and a lunch of cakes, and not -halfpenny pistolets, could be obtained. - -'I suppose you don't think it will rain?' I suggested. - -'Rain!' My brother said with scorn. 'Look at that sky! How could it -rain?' - -It managed to do it. True, it was only a brief shower: but the water -came down in sheets. In despair I took off the _chapeau d'uniforme_, and -my brother, who wore an Inverness cape, sheltered it under the flap. I -stood to hold the cape at a right angle, so that the precious object -might not be crushed, and we were watching it under this sheltering -wing, and my brother was assuring me it was all right when,--as I stood -there bareheaded and rain-beaten, beneath a tree by the side of the -broad path near the entrance to the wood--a short, stoutish man, -buttoned up to the chin in his greatcoat, and holding his umbrella -tightly, walked by us at a great pace, without (so at least it seemed) -looking at us at all. And that man was M. Heger. We gasped, and looked -at each other. - -'He didn't see us,' said my brother cheerily. 'What a bit of luck!' - -'You may be quite sure he did see us,' I answered. 'Well, I wonder what -will happen now?' - -With this new anxiety on our hands, even the precious _chapeau -d'uniforme_ became a secondary consideration. But the shower having -passed, we examined it carefully. There was no disaster this time. The -rosebuds were still rosebuds and the blonde still blonde. It is true -that a splash had fallen on the white chip crown, but my brother was -always ready with comfort. - - -[Illustration: THE GALERIE AND GARDEN IN WINTER (The Allée Defendue is -on the left. The old pear-tree, whose lower branches still blossomed in -spring, is on the right)] - - -'When it's dry,' he told me, 'you'll easily get that off with a bit of -bread.' - -This consoled me for the time being: but he was wrong as to the question -of facts. Bread had no effect upon that blot. It remained an island, or, -to speak more correctly, a coast-line, on the white chip, to the end of -that _chapeau d'uniforme_'s existence. But one dusted the stain over -with white powder before putting on one's Bonnet, and hoped no one -noticed it? So far as I know, no one did. But let it not be supposed -that I escaped moral punishment: I, who had once boasted in my pride -that nothing was less indifferent to me than my Sunday Bonnet, wore this -one uneasily to the end of the term, always conscious that the tell-tale -stain was there, and might suggest questions as to its origin. - -Nor did I escape scot-free from M. Heger's hands, although he did behave -with a certain generosity, for he kept the secret. But he used his own -method of punishment. - -Happy in the confidence given me by my brother's assurance that I should -easily get rid of the rain-blot, I went back to the Rue d'Isabelle, in -some anxiety about M. Heger, but _nearly_ persuaded that, after all, -perhaps, with his umbrella to think of and grasp, and the hurry he was -in, he _very likely_ hadn't seen us. But when the pupil's door was -opened in answer to my ring, and I was hoping to hurry through the -corridor to the staircase leading to the dormitories, I found M. Heger -waiting for me. He barred my path and looked down at me with his -penetrating, mocking eyes,--that, although I do not like to contradict -Charlotte, I still think had more green and steel, than violet-blue, -colour in them. - -'A-ah,' he said with his long-drawn sigh, 'you are attentive at my -lessons, Mees; do you now listen with the same attention to the sermon -of the Minister at your Temple?' - -Here was my opportunity; of course I ought to have said, '_No, -Monsieur, I don't listen to any one with so much attention as I do to -you: no one interests me so much_.' When I had got upstairs and had -taken off the _chapeau d'uniforme_, I realised that this was what any -rational being would have said. But it was too late then--all I did say -was, '_Je ne sais pas, Monsieur_' (a bad French accent too). - -'A-ah,' he repeated, tightening his mouth, 'now I should like to see -whether you profit by the instructions of your Minister: Thus I shall be -glad if you will write me a _résumé_ in French of the sermon you heard -to-day at the Temple. It will be a good exercise for you in the French -language. And also I shall enjoy the happiness of knowing this wise -Minister's advice. It is understood, you will give me the _résumé_ of -this sermon to-morrow.' - -'_Oui, Monsieur_.' - -All through the evening recreation hours, and at night when I fought -against sleepiness in my bed, I worked over the composition of that -sermon. It is true that I did fall asleep in the middle of it myself; -but that does not prove it was a dull sermon, for I took it up again in -the morning with renewed zest. I gave up my whole recreation hour after -_déjeuner_ to writing it out. And I believed it to be as good a sermon -as was ever preached. And there was no vanity in this belief: because it -was not my own sermon, but one I had originally heard preached in my -childhood in an old village church, and the arguments in favour of being -good and simple had taken hold of my imagination, partly on account of -the associations with the place where I heard it. Well, but now, can my -readers deny that when I say M. Heger was a more irritating than lovable -man, I have sound reasons for my statement? _After ordering me to write -that sermon, and when I had stolen several hours from my sleep, and -given up two recreations to obey him, he never asked for it!_ And when I -told him I had written the sermon and that it was ready for him, he -merely looked down upon me with a strange twinkle in his eyes, and said, -'_A-ah, c'est bien. Vous l'avez donc bien retenu, ce fameux sermon? tant -mieux, tant mieux_.' - - -[1] _Villette_, chapter viii. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -MADAME HEGER'S SENTIMENT OF THE JUSTICE -OF RESIGNATION TO INJUSTICE - - -At the end of these reminiscences I have now to relate the incident that -stands out in my memory as, not only the most bitter experience I had -ever, up to this date, undergone of personal injustice in my brief life -of fifteen years, not only, what was of great moral importance to me, my -first lesson in the philosophy of refusing to torment oneself in order -to punish one's tormentors, but also the incident that revealed to me a -secret sorrow hidden away under Madame Heger's serenity; and that -convinces me, now, that the tragical romance of Charlotte Brontë was not -to her, as it must have been to M. Heger, misunderstood, and regarded as -an event of small importance; but that it 'entered into her life,' and -was to her a very serious trouble. - -One day in June, I am not able to remember now upon what especial -occasion, nor in honour of what event, all the school was given an -entire holiday: and, for its better enjoyment, the girls were invited by -a former pupil in the Rue d'Isabelle, who had married and possessed a -fine château and a large garden within walking distance of Bruxelles, to -spend the whole day in her house and garden, where a mid-day collation -was prepared for them. I remember very little about the day's -enjoyments--the cruel impressions that followed the pleasant holiday -have effaced from my memory almost everything that preceded them. I -know, however, that all was sunshine and good humour: that my companions -whom I had trusted as friends were as friendly to me as ever; and that -with my two chosen companions, the philosopher Marie Hazard and the -other still dearer friend, who was a philosopher in a different sense, -as a profound Nature-worshipper,--where _I_ was supposed to be a -philosopher in a sense of my own as a worshipper of ideas--talked -'philosophy' wisely and well--in our own estimation, and ate red -gooseberries. As we talked other girls discovered these -gooseberry-bushes also, and came in flocks: so we three withdrew, and -sat down under some shady tree, and were very happy and at peace. Near -us, on a low cane chair, sat one of the under-mistresses, a Frenchwoman, -whom I liked extremely, and who also liked me: her name was Mlle. -Zélie--she was too young to have been one of the mistresses known to -Charlotte Brontë twenty years before. She may have been twenty-six: or -she may have been thirty. - -As she sat there, doing embroidery, and watching all the time a swarm of -girls picking gooseberries,--we three, who had left off picking them, -were at rest upon the grass,--there came, suddenly, a servant in great -haste sent from the Rue d'Isabelle by Madame Heger, with a letter: -neither Monsieur nor Madame had arrived yet, they were to be there in -time for the collation in the afternoon. The letter was an urgent order -to Mlle. Zélie that the girls were not to _touch the fruit in the -kitchen garden_--this stipulation had been made by the generous hostess, -who had invited all this company to a feast of cakes and cream and good -things of every description, but who wanted her gooseberries and -currants for jam. Here of course was cause of great dismay: although the -bushes had not been entirely stripped, yet certainly thirty or forty -girls amongst the gooseberry-bushes alone had made their mark. We three -philosophers had trifled with one bush perhaps; but our share in the -depredation was comparatively slight. A bell was rung, and the message -read aloud. I am convinced from that moment onwards no one touched any -fruit:--still the mischief had been done; it was obvious to the naked -eye that the gooseberry-bushes had been attacked. - -The person who seemed most distressed was poor Mlle. Zélie: she blamed -no one, but repeated constantly, 'Why then did not Madame warn me? Never -should I have permitted it, had I not supposed that it was understood -that these gooseberries, without value for that matter, were intended -to be eaten. It seemed to me, in the absence of instructions, so -natural.' - -And a chorus of girls answered: 'We thought it too, Mademoiselle: never -would we have touched a gooseberry had we understood.' - -There the matter remained. We were not particularly unhappy: as a matter -of fact all the gooseberries in the garden could have been purchased for -five francs in Bruxelles. No harm had been done the bushes: it was a -_mal entendu_--what would you have? The only person who seemed to take -it to heart was poor Mlle. Zélie. - -'Quel malheur,' she kept repeating. 'Quel malheur! mais aussi, pourquoi -Madame ne m'a-t-elle rien dit?' - -We continued, Marie Hazard and myself, sitting under our shady tree; our -third philosopher, the Nature-worshipper, always good at decoration, had -been called off to assist at laying out the tables, and arranging -flowers; groups of other girls were sitting in circles on the grass or -walking about arm in arm, when--suddenly arrived upon the scene M. -Heger. He came up with an amiable expression: but in a moment the look -changed to one black as night: he had seen the tell-tale signs of the -depredations inflicted on the gooseberry-bushes. - -'Who is responsible for this?' he asked, '_c'est une bassesse!_ Mlle. -Zélie, what does this signify? Were you not told the fruit was to be -respected?' - -Poor Mlle. Zélie stood there quivering with terror. - -'Unhappily,' she said, 'Madame's letter arrived too late: without bad -intention, these young girls imagined themselves free to eat -gooseberries: from the moment it was known that it was forbidden, I am -sure there was no infraction of the rule: but alas! what was done, was -done. I regret it profoundly: and so I am sure do you, is it not so, my -children?' she asked, turning to Marie Hazard and myself:--there was a -clear and empty space around us--every other girl had somehow vanished. - -'Yes, Mademoiselle, we are very sorry,' both of us answered at once. - -M. Heger swooped round upon us in his wrath. - -'And so,' he said, 'it is _you_, is it; you two who have so much pride, -both of you; who are so little sensitive to the counsels of your -teachers, you, who are so superior in your own esteem, who are the -guilty ones? It is you two, and you alone in the entire Pension, who -have been capable of this indignity? And see what ruin you have made! -Are you not ashamed--what gluttony!' - -'Mais non, Monsieur, non,' pleaded Mademoiselle Zélie, 'these young -girls are not alone responsible; many others also took the fruit; you -must not blame them for everything.' - -'Is that so, Mademoiselle Hazard? Is that so, Mees?' - -'Il ne faut pas nous demander cela,' said I, with my usual bad accent in -agitated moments. 'C'est aux autres qu'il faut le demander.' - -'Mais oui,' he said, 'and this is what I intend to do; Mlle. Zélie, do -me this pleasure: fetch me the _élèves_ who were here just now: call -them together. I must get to the bottom of this. Je dois approfondir -cela.' - -Mlle. Zélie was some time about it: but in the end, she returned with a -good company of girls, forty or fifty at least; amongst them nearly all -of those who had been most busy amongst the gooseberry bushes. They -stood round us in a sort of circle; Marie Hazard, myself, and M. Heger. - -M. Heger delivered a little speech: he explained, and enlarged upon, the -confidence that our kind hostess had placed in us; she had thrown open -her garden to us; she had prepared a feast for us; she had made only one -condition--respect my gooseberry-bushes. Was it possible, could one -suppose it possible, that any one could be found base enough, greedy -enough, to ignore her wishes? - -'We were not told,' said Marie Hazard; 'This is not reasonable--one -would not have touched a gooseberry had one known. Is one a child of six -then, to love gooseberries to this extent?' - -'Mlle. Hazard, it is not to _you_ I address myself,' said M. Heger. 'I -have no question to ask you. You admit, and indeed it is not possible -for you to deny, that you have committed this act of -gluttony--inexcusable in a child of six. It is to you all, my dear -pupils, outside of these two, who I know are guilty, that I ask it, and -with confidence--amongst you all, have any of you been guilty of this -indignity?' - -Dead silence. Mlle. Zélie was fidgeting about, snapping her fingers -nervously. But she said nothing. - -M. Heger again addressed the girls round him, and there was a note of -triumph in his voice:-- - -'Cela suffit,' he affirmed, 'I shall ask no more. If any of you are -guilty, you know it in your consciences: you know now what it remains -for you to do. For me, I believe, and I love to believe, that the only -pupil in this school capable of this unworthy conduct is a foreigner.' - -'Pardon, Monsieur,' said a voice at my elbow, 'je suis Belge; et moi -aussi j'ai mangé des groseilles.' - -M. Heger bowed towards her profoundly. - -_Je fais une exception en votre faveur_, _Mademoiselle Hazard_,' he -said: and then he walked away. - -I remained at first almost stupefied: the first shock rendered me unable -to distinguish between reality and fiction. I began to doubt my senses: -was I really, were Marie Hazard and myself, the only girls in the school -who had rifled the gooseberry-bushes? Did it mean that, if not -deliberately base, in some way there was a peculiar deficiency in -delicacy and honour in my constitution, rendering me capable of doing -base things without knowing it? Was it true that in this foreign country -I had disgraced my own? This was my first impression, confusion of mind; -because up to this date I had never known nor suffered from real -injustice. Here was an entirely new experience. And at first it baffled -me. I suppose I must have shown this desperation in my face: for M. -Heger was no sooner out of sight than attempts were made to console me: -but I was beyond consolation. Mlle. Zélie came first; she laid a -soothing hand on my shoulder. - -'Do not afflict yourself, my child,' she said. 'This is a -misunderstanding: I shall explain everything to Madame Heger.' - -Then several girls came bustling up, rather shamefacedly, assuring me -that it was nothing: '_Quelle affaire_,' they ejaculated. '_Et tout cela -à propos de quelques groseilles!_' - -'It has nothing to do with the gooseberries,' I said; 'you are all -cowards, and I detest you; why couldn't you say you took them too?' - -'What good would it have been, with M. Heger? We shall all go to Madame -and tell her everything. She will see how it is at once. _Voyons, Chou: -ne pleures pas_.' - -'_Je ne pleure pas; vous mentez_:' and this was both impolite and -incorrect: I _was_ crying, but not ordinary tears, because they scalded -one. - -What happens invariably with people who insist upon their own private -grievances too much, and too long, happened in my case that afternoon: -at first I had been an object of sympathy, but when I refused it, and -was ungracious, I became a bore. The case was stated to me in reasonable -terms: - -'Say that we should have done differently and were cowardly. It was not -out of ill-will to you, but because we were afraid of M. Heger, with -whom one must not reason when he is in a bad humour, as every one knows. -You and Marie Hazard, for instance, who must always be in the right with -him, in what way does it serve you? Voyons: be frank; at least: _cela -vous réussit-il?_ Listen then: we will make it all plain with Madame -Heger. Mlle. Zélie will tell her we knew nothing when we ate those -gooseberries; we thought they were there for us--that it belonged to the -feast to eat this fruit: they were not so very good, these gooseberries -after all: it was a politeness on our part, not greediness. Every one -nearly ate gooseberries. When we were told it was a mistake, we ate no -more gooseberries, and were sorry. La petite Anglaise and Marie Hazard -did as the others did: and here is the whole history. Now all this is -known already to almost every one. It will be known to Madame Heger -before we go home to-night. What then do you want? Look at Marie Hazard: -she is in the same case as you are, and does not afflict herself.' - -'Marie Hazard is at home here, and I am not at home. I am English; and I -am told by M. Heger before you all, that because I am English I am -capable of baseness.' - -'And what does that do to you?' asked Marie Hazard, herself, turning -upon me with her cruel reasonableness. 'English or Belgian, one is not -capable of baseness, and one has not deserved any blame: that is what is -serious; the rest signifies nothing. One must not be a patriot to this -extent. It is not reasonable. If even you had been in the wrong about -those gooseberries, do you truly imagine to yourself that the honour of -England would have been affected by it?' - -Just _because_ this was so reasonable and true, it stung me to the soul. -'_Ma chère et bonne amie_,' wrote Rousseau to Madame d'Epinay in the -days of their friendship, when explaining why he had burnt a letter to -her that seemed to him more reasonable than kind: '_Pythagore disait -qu'il ne faut jamais attiser le feu avec une épée. Cette sentence me -paraît être la plus importante et la plus sacrée des lois de l'amitié_.' -I knew nothing about the sayings of Pythagoras, nor the writings of -Rousseau in those days. But it did seem to me opposed to the sacred laws -of friendship, to remind me, in this moment, that it was absurd in me to -drag patriotism into this question. - -'Leave me alone,' I said, turning my back upon them, 'you tire me, all -of you; none of you understand me.' - -Although I sulked the whole afternoon, and was, as I deserved to be, -left to sulk, as 'insupportable,' I yet came round to the conviction -before we returned, that everything had been explained, and that even M. -Heger understood that an injustice had been done me; and that although, -of course, no apology could be looked for from such an obstinate man, -still _he knew he had been in the wrong_ and was secretly repentant. But -I was to be undeceived. After our return to the Rue d'Isabelle, the -lecture du soir in the refectory was given, as was the usual plan on -holidays, by M. Heger, seated at the head of the room, with Madame Heger -on his right hand, and a table before them, placed between the two long -lines of tables with benches stretching the length of the room against -the walls, and two ranges of chairs on the opposite side of the tables -facing the benches, where sat all the pupils. Having finished the -'reading,' M. Heger summed up in a few words the sentiments that 'he was -sure all there must feel of gratitude to their hostess, once an inmate -of this school; and who had contrived this little fête for her -successors. He asked their consent to a message of thanks that was to be -sent her; and he wound up his expression of confidence in the enjoyment -every one had derived from this holiday, by stating the satisfaction of -Madame Heger and himself at the good conduct of every one; and then came -this sentence:--There was only one regrettable exception to be made to -the perfect behaviour and sense of respect due to the lady who had -thrown open her house and garden to them, and this exception, he was, at -any rate, pleased to recognise, was not amongst those brought up in the -sentiments of religion and convenience cherished by almost all of them: -and hence though one had to deplore the fault, in the case of a -foreigner (_une étrangère_) one was more disposed to regard it with -indulgence.' - -Marie Hazard rose from her seat:--but there really was no time for any -protest or objection. There was a shuffling of chairs, a movement of -benches. Monsieur and Madame Heger walked out of the Refectory by a -folding door behind them that opened into a passage leading to their own -part of the house; and the pupils filed out, under the surveillance of -the mistress in charge, by the opposite door towards the staircase -leading to the Oratory, for evening prayers. I alone remained sitting on -my bench, in my usual place in the Refectory, about half-way down the -right-hand line of tables. No one paid any attention to me, until the -room was nearly empty, and then the mistress at the door looked round, -and seeing me sitting there, said, 'Make haste, Mees; you will be late -for prayers: what _are_ you doing?' - -I remained sitting there. She looked at me a moment; evidently didn't -like my looks; shrugged her shoulders, agitated her hands, said-- - -'One cannot wait for you any longer mademoiselle, _vous êtes notée_,' -and vanished. - -I do not know now, and I hardly think I knew then, what I meant by the -resolution that was the only one firmly present to me, that no one, -nothing, should move me from the place where I was sitting in the -Refectory: that there I was going to remain all night, and for ever if -necessary, until this wrong was redressed, and until just excuses were -made to me. What had at first been a new and astonishing discovery to -me, that injustice could be done, and that people whom I respected and -even loved, could be unjust to me, had now become a well-established and -common fact, and I saw injustice everywhere and felt no use in living at -all, because I had become convinced that people would always be unjust -to me, _always_; it was the common rule of the world evidently. What was -I to do then? Resist, perish in resisting? Very possibly, but not -submit. - -There I sat at fifteen years of age, on the bench, with my elbows -planted on the Refectory table, and my burning, throbbing head between -my hands, _in the frame of mind in which Anarchists are made._ - -But the influence was already approaching that was to transform anarchy -into the ideal socialism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, where the bitter -bitter rage of rebelliousness against the wrong done oneself becomes the -generous sympathy with all injustice throughout the world: '_Ce premier -sentiment de l'injustice est resté si profondément gravé dans mon âme, -que toutes les idées qui s'y rapportent me rendent ma première émotion; -et ce sentiment, relatif à moi dans son origine, a pris une telle -consistance en lui-même, et s'est si bien détaché de tout intérêt -personnel, que mon coeur s'enflamme au spectacle ou au récit de toute -action injuste, quel qu'en soit l'objet, et en quelque lieu qu'elle se -commette, comme si l'effet en retomboit sur moi_.' - -The lesson that the author of the _Confessions_ learnt at an even -earlier age than I did was taught me by a Victim of injustice who -continued throughout her life so courageously undisturbed by it in -kindness and consideration for others, that her sensibility to it became -a less powerful feeling in her than her compassion for the suffering -and passionate woman who had wronged her. - -I cannot say how long I had sat in the Refectory, when I saw the folding -doors at the head of the room open, and quietly and composedly as usual, -Madame Heger entered and approached me. She sat down on the chair -opposite my bench on the opposite side of the table. - -'My child,' she said, 'you are wrong to take so seriously the reproach -addressed to you by M. Heger as the result of a mistake. Mlle. Zélie has -explained to M. Heger and to me the accident. It was a pity, no doubt, -that this happened: but you have not any more blame than the others. All -is forgotten and forgiven. But you, my child, are wrong in this. Why do -you remain here, when prayers are already over, and without permission? -You know well it is forbidden.' - -I broke out passionately complaining that I could not be expected to -obey rules when I was unjustly treated: I could bear anything else, but -I could not support injustice. - -'Pas l'injustice,' I protested, 'j'obéirais a tout, je supporterais -tout: mais, pas l'injustice, non, madame, non, je ne saurais supporter -l'injustice.' - -'Cependant, mon enfant, il faut savoir la supporter. Que faire? -_Seriez-vous la seule personne au monde qui ne connaîtrait pas -l'injustice?_' - -I shook my head obstinately: I made a show of resistance: but I was -already under Madame Heger's influence. A tremendous change had taken -place in me. I was no longer an Anarchist. It had already come to me as -a conviction that there was nothing grand, but rather something mean, in -refusing to bear anything that my other fellow-creatures had to bear, -that better and nobler people than I had borne. - -'It saddens me,' continued Madame Heger--'(_Cela m'attriste_) to see a -young girl like you, who soon must enter life, and who takes the habit -of saying, "I cannot support this, everything else you like, _but not -this_": or "I will renounce everything else, _but not that_." It does -not depend upon us, my child, what we must support, nor what we may, -because _les convenances_ or the interests of others demand it, have to -renounce. Amongst the many pupils I have known, there have been some -passionate like yourself and exalted, who have said like you to-day, I -cannot support injustice, who have seen injustice, where there was no -intention to be unjust; who have refused counsel with anger and -impatience, and who in their refusal to bow to necessary obligations -have been themselves unjust. And they have been unhappy in their lives; -most unhappy. _Dominated by some fixed idea, the slave of some desire -that cannot be accomplished,_ they have seen enemies in those who would -have been their friends. They have created for themselves a sad fate; -and I know one of them who died of it (_j'en connais une qui en est -morte_).' - -Something in Madame Heger's voice surprised me, for her even tones -quavered and broke. I looked up suddenly, her face was ashen white and -her lips blue. I was struck to the heart. I knew not why, but in some -way I instinctively felt that, through my fault, she was in pain: I was -full of remorse. The table was between us, or I should have thrown -myself upon my knees before her. My emotion had the usual effect upon my -French accent. 'Forgive me, oh forgive me,' I wanted to say, 'I am -ashamed of myself.' I said, 'Pardong, O pardong, j'ai honte de moi.' - -As it happened, nothing could have been better timed than my relapse -into English barbarism. In a moment Madame's unusual emotion was under -control: the soft colour returned to her cheek and lips, she shook her -head gently, and said in her ordinary voice-- - -'You _must_ take care of your accent, my child. One says "pardon," not -"pardong "; and one does not say "J'ai honte de moi," but one says "Je -suis honteuse," or "J'ai honte." - -'But I see you are now in a good disposition,' she went on, 'and I am -pleased to see it. Thus then, go quietly to bed without disturbing your -companions, and I will send Clothilde to you with some flower-of-orange -water that will tranquillise this hot head. Good night, and be very wise -in the future: and all will be well.' - -Ever since I have known the story of Charlotte Brontë I have had the -firm conviction of what was in Madame Heger's mind when she spoke to me -of one who had imagined enemies in friends, and who, complaining of -injustice, had been unjust. But since I have read Charlotte's Letters, -the unmistakable proof is that Madame Heger, so far as my memory serves -me after all these years, actually quoted the very words of one of these -letters, about one dominated by a fixed idea, and the slave of vain -desires. - -So then we may decide finally, that Madame Heger was not Madame Beck. -And of M. Heger we may decide that he was not Paul Emanuel either; for -Paul Emanuel having learnt that he had committed an injustice, would -have called his whole school together, and in full class-room repaired -his involuntary fault. But the real M. Heger did nothing of the sort. -For a time there was a great coldness towards him in my heart. But in -the hours of his lessons he remained, as ever, the 'Professor' of -unrivalled merit. - -Summing up what may be gathered from these reminiscences, I think the -facts that can be affirmed are these:-- - -No moral likeness, but a physical resemblance, between Madame Heger and -the portrait of Madame Beck. A strong and lifelike resemblance, between -Paul Emanuel and M. Heger, up to the point when the Professor Paul falls -in love with Lucy Snowe. After this event, a dwindling resemblance -between the Professor in _Villette_, and the real Professor in the Rue -d'Isabelle, who was never in love with Charlotte Brontë, and who was the -lawful and attached husband of the Directress of the Pensionnat. - -But when Professor Paul Emanuel becomes the docile disciple of Père -Silas, when he is caught in the 'Jesuitical cobwebs of mother Church,' -then he ceases to resemble the real man in the very least. M. Heger's -role in life was not that of a disciple but of a Master of other people, -and a very arbitrary and domineering Master too, for whom the world was -his class-room. He was under the thumb of no priest, nor spiritual -director. As for Jesuitical 'cobwebs,' the notion of M. Heger caught in -any cobweb is absurd! - -Every one knows what happens when a bumble-bee in its courses comes in -contact with a cobweb. It is a mere incident in the career of the -bumble-bee--but it is a disaster for the cobweb. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECRET OF CHARLOTTE BRONTë*** - - -******* This file should be named 41105-8.txt or 41105-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/1/1/0/41105 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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