NormalizeHEADmain

1 files changed, 0 insertions, 17083 deletions

diff --git a/old/54687-0.txt b/old/54687-0.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index fa1cbea..0000000
--- a/old/54687-0.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17083 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Ladies’ Paradise, by Émile Zola
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: The Ladies’ Paradise
-       A Realistic Novel, The Sequel to “Piping Hot!”
-
-Author: Émile Zola
-
-Release Date: May 8, 2017 [eBook #54687]
-[Most recently updated: August 15, 2021]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: David Widger
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADIES’ PARADISE ***
-
-
-
-
-THE LADIES' PARADISE
-
-(The Sequel To “Piping Hot!”)
-
-A Realistic Novel
-
-By Émile Zola
-
-Translated without Abridgment from the 80th French Edition
-
-London: Vizetelly And Company
-
-1886.
-
-
-[Illustration: 0011]
-
-
-[Illustration: 0012]
-
-
-[Illustration: 0014]
-
-
-
-
-THE LADIES' PARADISE
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-DENISE had walked from the Saint-Lazare railway station, where a
-Cherbourg train had landed her and her two brothers, after a night
-passed on the hard seat of a third-class carriage. She was leading Pépé
-by the hand, and Jean was following her, all three fatigued after the
-journey, frightened and lost in this vast Paris, their eyes on every
-street name, asking at every corner the way to the Rue de la Michodière,
-where their uncle Baudu lived. But on arriving in the Place Gaillon, the
-young girl stopped short, astonished.
-
-“Oh! look there, Jean,” said she; and they stood still, nestling close
-to one another, all dressed in black, wearing the old mourning bought
-at their father's death. She, rather puny for her twenty years, was
-carrying a small parcel; on the other side, her little brother, five
-years old, was clinging to her arm; while behind her, the big brother, a
-strapping youth of sixteen, was standing empty-handed.
-
-“Well,” said she, after a pause, “that _is_ a shop!”
-
-They were at the corner of the Rue de la Michodière and the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, in front of a draper's shop, which displayed a
-wealth of colour in the soft October light. Eight o'clock was striking
-at the church of Saint-Roch; not many people were about, only a few
-clerks on their way to business, and housewives doing their morning
-shopping. Before the door, two shopmen, mounted on a step-ladder,
-were hanging up some woollen goods, whilst in a window in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin another young man, kneeling with his back to the
-pavement, was delicately plaiting a piece of blue silk. In the shop,
-where there were as yet no customers, there was a buzz as of a swarm of
-bees at work.
-
-“By Jove!” said Jean, “this beats Valognes. Yours wasn't such a fine
-shop.”
-
-Denise shook her head. She had spent two years there, at Cornaille's,
-the principal draper's in the town, and this shop, encountered so
-suddenly--this, to her, enormous place, made her heart swell, and kept
-her excited, interested, and oblivious of everything else. The high
-plate-glass door, facing the Place Gaillon, reached the first storey,
-amidst a complication of ornaments covered with gilding. Two allegorical
-figures, representing two laughing, bare-breasted women, unrolled the
-scroll bearing the sign, “The Ladies' Paradise.” The establishment
-extended along the Rue de la Michodière and the Rue Neuve-Saint
-Augustin, and comprised, beside the corner house, four others--two on
-the right and two on the left, bought and fitted up recently. It seemed
-to her an endless extension, with its display on the ground floor, and
-the plate-glass windows, through which could be seen the whole length of
-the counters. Upstairs a young lady, dressed all in silk, was sharpening
-a pencil, while two others, beside her, were unfolding some velvet
-mantles.
-
-“The Ladies' Paradise,” read Jean, with the tender laugh of a handsome
-youth who had already had an adventure with a woman. “That must draw the
-customers--eh?”
-
-But Denise was absorbed by the display at the principal entrance. There
-she saw, in the open street, on the very pavement, a mountain of cheap
-goods--bargains, placed there to tempt the passers-by, and attract
-attention. Hanging from above were pieces of woollen and cloth goods,
-merinoes, cheviots, and tweeds, floating like flags; the neutral, slate,
-navy-blue, and olive-green tints being relieved by the large white
-price-tickets. Close by, round the doorway, were hanging strips of fur,
-narrow bands for dress trimmings, fine Siberian squirrel-skin, spotless
-snowy swansdown, rabbit-skin imitation ermine and imitation sable.
-Below, on shelves and on tables, amidst a pile of remnants, appeared an
-immense quantity of hosiery almost given away; knitted woollen gloves,
-neckerchiefs, women's hoods, waistcoats, a winter show in all colours,
-striped, dyed, and variegated, with here and there a flaming patch of
-red. Denise saw some tartan at nine sous, some strips of American vison
-at a franc, and some mittens at five sous. There appeared to be an
-immense clearance sale going on; the establishment seemed bursting with
-goods, blocking up the pavement with the surplus.
-
-Uncle Baudu was forgotten. Pépé himself, clinging tightly to his
-sister's hand, opened his big eyes in wonder. A vehicle coming
-up, forced them to quit the road-way, and they turned up the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin mechanically, following the shop windows and
-stopping at each fresh display. At first they were captivated by a
-complicated arrangement: above, a number of umbrellas, laid obliquely,
-seemed to form a rustic roof; beneath these a quantity of silk
-stockings, hung on rods, showed the roundness of the calves, some
-covered with rosebuds, others of all colours, black open-worked, red
-with embroidered corners, and flesh colour, the silky grain of which
-made them look as soft as a fair woman's skin; and at the bottom of
-all, a symmetrical array of gloves, with their taper fingers and narrow
-palms, and that rigid virgin grace which characterises such feminine
-articles before they are worn. But the last window especially attracted
-their attention. It was an exhibition of silks, satins, and velvets,
-arranged so as to produce, by a skilful artistic arrangement of colours,
-the most delicious shades imaginable. At the top were the velvets,
-from a deep black to a milky white: lower down, the satins--pink, blue,
-fading away into shades of a wondrous delicacy; still lower down were
-the silks, of all the colours of the rainbow, pieces set up in the form
-of shells, others folded as if round a pretty figure, arranged in a
-life-like natural manner by the clever fingers of the window dressers.
-Between each motive, between each coloured phrase of the display, ran a
-discreet accompaniment, a slight puffy ring of cream-coloured silk. At
-each end were piled up enormous bales of the silk of which the house
-had made a specialty, the “Paris Paradise” and the “Golden Grain,” two
-exceptional articles destined to work a revolution in that branch of
-commerce.
-
-“Oh, that silk at five francs twelve sous!” murmured Denise, astonished
-at the “Paris Paradise.”
-
-Jean began to get tired. He stopped a passer-by. “Which is the Rue de la
-Michodière, please, sir?”
-
-On hearing that it was the first on the right they all turned back,
-making the tour of the establishment. But just as she was entering the
-street, Denise was attracted by a window in which ladies' dresses were
-displayed. At Cornaille's that was her department, but she had
-never seen anything like this, and remained rooted to the spot with
-admiration. At the back a large sash of Bruges lace, of considerable
-value, was spread out like an altar-veil, with its two white wings
-extended; there were flounces of Alençon point, grouped in garlands;
-then from the top to the bottom fluttered, like a fall of snow, a cloud
-of lace of every description--Malines, Honiton, Valenciennes, Brussels,
-and Venetian-point. On each side the heavy columns were draped with
-cloth, making the background appear still more distant And the dresses
-were in this sort of chapel raised to the worship of woman's beauty and
-grace. Occupying the centre was a magnificent article, a velvet mantle,
-trimmed with silver fox; on one side a silk cape lined with miniver, on
-the other a cloth cloak edged with cocks' plumes; and last of all,
-opera cloaks in white cashmere and white silk trimmed with swansdown or
-chenille. There was something for all tastes, from the opera cloaks at
-twenty-nine francs to the velvet mantle marked up at eighteen hundred.
-The well-rounded neck and graceful figures of the dummies exaggerated
-the slimness of the waist, the absent head being replaced by a large
-price-ticket pinned on the neck; whilst the mirrors, cleverly arranged
-on each side of the window, reflected and multiplied the forms without
-end, peopling the street with these beautiful women for sale, each
-bearing a price in big figures in the place of a head.
-
-“How stunning they are!” murmured Jean, finding no other words to
-express his emotion.
-
-This time he himself had become motionless, his mouth open. All this
-female luxury turned him rosy with pleasure. He had a girl's beauty--a
-beauty he seemed to have stolen from his sister--a lovely skin, curly
-hair, lips and eyes overflowing with tenderness. By his side Denise, in
-her astonishment, appeared thinner still, with her rather long face and
-large mouth, fading complexion, and light hair. Pépé, also fair, in the
-way of most children, clung closer to her, as if wanting to be caressed,
-troubled and delighted at the sight of the beautiful ladies in the
-window. They looked so strange, so charming, on the pavement, those
-three fair ones, poorly dressed in black--the sad-looking young girl
-between the pretty child and the handsome youth--that the passers-by
-looked back smilingly.
-
-For several minutes a stout man with grey hair and a large yellow
-face, standing at a shop-door on the other side of the street, had
-been looking at them. He was standing there with bloodshot eyes and
-contracted mouth, beside himself with rage at the display made by The
-Ladies' Paradise, when the sight of the young girl and her brothers
-completed his exasperation. What were those three simpletons doing
-there, gaping in front of the cheap-jack's parade?
-
-“What about uncle?” asked Denise, suddenly, as if just waking up.
-
-“We are in the Rue de la Michodière,” said Jean. “He must live somewhere
-about here.”
-
-They raised their heads and looked round. Just in front of them, above
-the stout man, they perceived a green sign-board bearing in yellow
-letters, discoloured by the rain: “The Old Elbeuf. Cloths, Flannels.
-Baudu, late Hauchecorne.” The house, coated with an ancient rusty
-white-wash, quite flat and unadorned, amidst the mansions in the Louis
-XIV. style which surrounded it, had only three front windows, and these
-windows, square, without shutters, were simply ornamented by a handrail
-and two iron bars in the form of a cross. But amidst all this nudity,
-what struck Denise the most, her eyes full of the light airy windows at
-The Ladies' Paradise, was the ground-floor shop, crushed by the ceiling,
-surmounted by a very low storey with half-moon windows, of a prison-like
-appearance. The wainscoting, of a bottle-green hue, which time had
-tinted with ochre and bitumen, encircled, right and left, two deep
-windows, black and dusty, in which the heaped-up goods could hardly be
-seen. The open door seemed to lead into the darkness and dampness of a
-cellar.
-
-[Illustration: 0021]
-
-“That's the house,” said Jean.
-
-“Well, we must go in,” declared Denise. “Come on, Pepé.”
-
-They appeared, however, somewhat troubled, as if seized with fear. When
-their father died, carried off by the same fever which had, a month
-previous, killed their mother, their uncle Baudu, in the emotion which
-followed this double mourning, had written to Denise, assuring her there
-would always be a place for her in his house whenever she would like to
-come to Paris. But this was nearly a year ago, and the young girl was
-now sorry to have left Valognes in a moment of temper without informing
-her uncle. The latter did not know them, never having set foot in
-Valognes since the day he left, as a boy, to enter as junior in the
-drapery establishment kept by Hauchecorne, whose daughter he afterwards
-married.
-
-“Monsieur Baudu?” asked Denise, deciding at last to speak to the stout
-man who was still eyeing them, surprised at their appearance.
-
-“That's me,” replied he.
-
-Denise blushed and stammered out: “Oh, I'm so pleased! I am Denise. This
-is Jean, and this is Pépé. You see we have come, uncle.”
-
-Baudu seemed amazed. His big eyes rolled in his yellow face; he spoke
-slowly and with difficulty. He was evidently far from thinking of this
-family which suddenly dropped down on him.
-
-“What--what, you here?” repeated he several times. “But you were at
-Valognes. Why aren't you at Valognes?”
-
-With her sweet but rather faltering voice she then explained that since
-the death of her father, who had spent everything in his dye-works, she
-had acted as a mother to the two children, but the little she earned at
-Cornaille's did not suffice to keep the three of them. Jean worked at
-a cabinetmaker's, a repairer of old furniture, but didn't earn a sou.
-However, he had got to like the business, and had learned to carve
-in wood very well. One day, having found a piece of ivory, he amused
-himself by carving a head, which a gentleman staying in the town had
-seen and admired, and it was this gentleman who had persuaded them to
-leave Valognes, promising to find a place in Paris for Jean with an
-ivory-carver.
-
-“So you see, uncle,” continued Denise, “Jean will commence his
-apprenticeship at his new master's to-morrow. They ask no premium, and
-will board and lodge him. I felt sure Pépé and I could manage very well.
-We can't be worse off than we were at Valognes.”
-
-She said nothing about Jean's love affair, of certain letters written to
-the daughter of a nobleman living in the town, of kisses exchanged over
-a wall--in fact, quite a scandal which had determined her leaving. And
-she was especially anxious to be in Paris, to be able to look after
-her brother, feeling quite a mother's tender anxiety for this gay and
-handsome youth, whom all the women adored. Uncle Baudu couldn't get over
-it, and continued his questions. However, when he heard her speaking of
-her brothers in this way he became much kinder.
-
-“So your father has left you nothing,” said he. “I certainly thought
-there was still something left. Ah! how many times did I write advising
-him not to take that dye-work! A good-hearted fellow, but no head for
-business! And you've been obliged to keep and look after these two
-youngsters since?”
-
-His bilious face had become clearer, his eyes were not so bloodshot as
-when he was glaring at The Ladies' Paradise. Suddenly he noticed that he
-was blocking up the doorway.
-
-“Well,” said he, “come in, now you're here. Come in, no use hanging
-about gaping at a parcel of rubbish.”
-
-And after having darted a last look of anger at The Ladies' Paradise, he
-made way for the children by entering the shop and calling his wife and
-daughter. .
-
-“Elizabeth, Geneviève, come down; here's company for you!”
-
-But Denise and the two boys hesitated before the darkness of the shop.
-Blinded by the clear light of the street, they could hardly see. Feeling
-their way with their feet with an instinctive fear of encountering some
-treacherous step, and clinging still closer together from this vague
-fear, the child continuing to hold the young girl's skirts, and the big
-boy behind, they made their entry with a smiling, anxious grace.
-The clear morning light described the dark profile of their mourning
-clothes; an oblique ray of sunshine gilded their fair hair.
-
-“Come in, come in,” repeated Baudu.
-
-In a few brief sentences he explained the matter to his wife and
-daughter. The first was a little woman, eaten up with anaemia, quite
-white--white hair, white eyes, white lips. Geneviève, in whom her
-mother's degenerateness appeared stronger still, had the debilitated,
-colourless appearance of a plant reared in the shade. However, her
-magnificent black hair, thick and heavy, marvellously vigorous for such
-a weak, poor soil, gave her a sad charm.
-
-“Come in,” said both the women in their turn; “you are welcome.”
-
-And they made Denise sit down behind a counter. Pépé immediately jumped
-up on his sister's lap, whilst Jean leant against some wood-work beside
-her. Looking round the shop the new-comers began to take courage, their
-eyes getting used to the obscurity. Now they could see it, with its low
-and smoky ceiling, oaken counters bright with use, and old-fashioned
-drawers with strong iron fittings. Bales of goods reached to the
-beams above; the smell of linen and dyed stuffs--a sharp chemical
-smell--seemed intensified by the humidity of the floor. At the further
-end two young men and a young woman were putting away pieces of white
-flannel.
-
-“Perhaps this young gentleman would like to take something?” said Madame
-Baudu, smiling at Pépé.
-
-“No, thanks,” replied Denise, “we had a cup of milk in a café opposite
-the station.” And as Geneviève looked at the small parcel she had laid
-down, she added: “I left our box there too.”
-
-She blushed, feeling that she ought not to have dropped down on her
-friends in this way. Even as she was leaving Valognes, she had been full
-of regrets and fears; that was why she had left the box, and given the
-children their breakfast.
-
-“Come, come,” said Baudu suddenly, “let's come to an understanding.
-'Tis true I wrote to you, but that's a year ago, and since then
-business hasn't been flourishing, I can assure you, my girl.”
-
-He stopped, choked with an emotion he did not wish to show. Madame Baudu
-and Geneviève, with a resigned look, had cast their eyes down.
-
-“Oh,” continued he, “it's a crisis which will pass, no doubt, but I have
-reduced my staff; there are only three here now, and this is not the
-moment to engage a fourth. In short, my dear girl, I cannot take you as
-I promised.”
-
-Denise listened, and turned very pale. He dwelt upon the subject,
-adding: “It would do no good, either to you or to me.
-
-“All right, uncle,” replied she with a painful effort, “I'll try and
-manage all the same.”
-
-The Baudus were not bad sort of people. But they complained of never
-having had any luck. When their business was flourishing, they had had
-to bring up five sons, of whom three had died before attaining the age
-of twenty; the fourth had gone wrong, and the fifth had just left for
-Mexico, as a captain. Geneviève was the only one left at home. But this
-large family had cost a great deal of money, and Baudu had made things
-worse by buying a great lumbering country house, at Rambouillet, near
-his wife's father's place. Thus, a sharp, sour feeling was springing up
-in the honest old tradesman's breast.
-
-“You might have warned us,” resumed he, gradually getting angry at his
-own harshness. “You could have written; I should have told you to stay
-at Valognes. When I heard of your father's death I said what is right on
-such occasions, but you drop down on us without a word of warning. It's
-very awkward.”
-
-He raised his voice, and that relieved him. His wife and daughter still
-kept their eyes on the ground, like submissive persons who would never
-think of interfering. However, whilst Jean had turned pale, Denise
-had hugged the terrified Pépé to her bosom. She dropped hot tears of
-disappointment.
-
-“All right, uncle,” she said, “we'll go away.”
-
-At that he stopped, an awkward silence ensued. Then he resumed in a
-harsh tone: “I don't mean to turn you out. As you are here you must stay
-the night; to-morrow we will see.”
-
-Then Madame Baudu and Geneviève understood they were free to arrange
-matters. There was no need to trouble about Jean, as he was to commence
-his apprenticeship the next day. As for Pépé, he would be well looked
-after by Madame Gras, an old lady living in the Rue des Orties, who
-boarded and lodged young children for forty francs a month. Denise said
-she had sufficient to pay for the first month, and as for herself they
-could soon find her a situation in the neighbourhood, no doubt.
-
-“Wasn't Vinçard wanting a saleswoman?” asked Geneviève.
-
-“Of course!” cried Baudu; “we'll go and see him after lunch. Nothing
-like striking the iron while it's hot.”
-
-Not a customer had been in to interrupt this family discussion; the shop
-remained dark and empty. At the other end, the two young men and the
-young women were still working, talking in a low hissing tone amongst
-themselves. However, three ladies arrived, and Denise was left alone for
-a moment. She kissed Pépé with a swelling heart, at the thought of their
-approaching separation. The child, affectionate as a kitten, hid his
-head without saying a word. When Madame Baudu and Geneviève returned,
-they remarked how quiet he was. Denise assured them he never made any
-more noise than that, remaining for days together without speaking,
-living on kisses and caresses. Until lunch-time the three women sat
-and talked about children, housekeeping, life in Paris and life in
-the country, in short, vague sentences, like relations feeling rather
-awkward through not knowing one another very well. Jean had gone to the
-shop-door, and stood there watching the passing crowd and smiling at the
-pretty girls. At ten o'clock a servant appeared. As a rule the cloth was
-laid for Baudu, Geneviève, and the first-hand. A second lunch was served
-at eleven o'clock for Madame Baudu, the other young man, and the young
-woman.
-
-“Come to lunch!” called out the draper, turning towards his niece. .
-
-And as all sat ready in the narrow dining-room behind the shop, he
-called the first-hand who had not come.
-
-“Colomban!”
-
-The young man apologised, having wished to finish arranging the
-flannels. He was a big, stout fellow of twenty-five, heavy and freckled,
-with an honest face, large weak mouth, and cunning eyes.
-
-“There's a time for everything,” said Baudu, solidly seated before
-a piece of cold veal, which he was carving with a master's skill and
-prudence, weighing each piece at a glance to within an ounce.
-
-He served everybody, and even cut up the bread. Denise had placed Pépé
-near her to see that he ate properly. But the dark close room made
-her feel uncomfortable. She thought it so small, after the large
-well-lighted rooms she had been accustomed to in the country. A single
-window opened on a small back-yard, which communicated with the street
-by a dark alley along the side of the house. And this yard, sodden and
-filthy, was like the bottom of a well into which a glimmer of light had
-fallen. In the winter they were obliged to keep the gas burning all
-day long. When the weather enabled them to do without gas it was duller
-still. Denise was several seconds before her eyes got sufficiently used
-to the light to distinguish the food on her plate.
-
-“That young chap has a good appetite,” remarked Baudu, observing that
-Jean had finished his veal. “If he works as well as he eats, he'll make
-a fine fellow. But you, my girl, you don't eat. And, I say, now we can
-talk a bit, tell us why you didn't get married at Valognes?”
-
-Denise almost dropped the glass she had in her hand. “Oh! uncle--get
-married! How can you think of it? And the little ones!”
-
-She was forced to laugh, it seemed to her such a strange idea. Besides,
-what man would care to have her--a girl without a sou, no fatter than
-a lath, and not at all pretty? No, no, she would never marry, she had
-quite enough children with her two brothers.
-
-“You are wrong,” said her uncle; “a woman always needs a man. If you had
-found an honest young fellow, you wouldn't have dropped on to the Paris
-pavement, you and your brothers, like a family of gipsies.”
-
-He stopped, to divide with a parsimony full of justice, a dish of bacon
-and potatoes which the servant brought in. Then, pointing to Geneviève
-and Colomban with his spoon, he added: “Those two will be married next
-spring, if we have a good winter season.”
-
-Such was the patriarchal custom of the house. The founder, Aristide
-Finet, had given his daughter, Désirée to his firsthand, Hauchecorne;
-he, Baudu, who had arrived in the Rue de la Michodière with seven francs
-in his pocket, had married old Hauchecorne's daughter, Elizabeth; and
-he intended, in his turn, to hand over Geneviève and the business to
-Colomban as soon as trade should improve. If he thus delayed a marriage,
-decided on for three years past, it was by a scruple, an obstinate
-probity. He had received the business in a prosperous state, and did
-not wish to pass it on to his son-in-law less patronised or in a worse
-position than when he took it. Baudu continued, introducing Colomban,
-who came from Rambouillet, the same place as Madame Baudu's father; in
-fact they were distant cousins. A hard-working fellow, who for ten years
-had slaved in the shop, fairly earning his promotions! Besides, he was
-far from being a nobody; he had for father that noted toper, Colomban,
-a veterinary surgeon, known all over the department of Seine-et-Oise, an
-artist in his line, but so fond of the flowing bowl that he was ruining
-himself.
-
-“Thank heaven!” said the draper in conclusion, “if the father drinks and
-runs after the women, the son has learnt the value of money here.”
-
-Whilst he was speaking Denise was examining Geneviève and Colomban. They
-sat close together at table, but remained very quiet, without a blush
-or a smile. From the day of his entry the young man had counted on
-this marriage. He had passed through the various stages: junior,
-counter-hand, etc., and had at last gained admittance into the
-confidence and pleasures of the family circle, all this patiently, and
-leading a clock-work style of life, looking upon this marriage with
-Geneviève as an excellent, convenient arrangement. The certainty of
-having her prevented him feeling any desire for her. And the young girl
-had also got to love him, but with the gravity of her reserved nature,
-and a real deep passion of which she herself was not aware, in her
-regular, monotonous daily life.
-
-“Quite right, if they like each other, and can do it,” said Denise,
-smiling, considering it her duty to make herself agreeable.
-
-“Yes, it always finishes like that,” declared Colomban, who had not
-spoken a word before, masticating slowly.
-
-Geneviève, after giving him a long look, said in her turn: “When people
-understand each other, the rest comes naturally.”
-
-Their tenderness had sprung up in this gloomy house of old Paris like a
-flower in a cellar. For ten years she had known no one but him, living
-by his side, behind the same bales of cloth, amidst the darkness of the
-shop; morning and evening they found themselves elbow to elbow in the
-narrow dining-room, so damp and dull. They could not have been more
-concealed, more utterly lost had they been in the country, in the woods.
-But a doubt, a jealous fear, began to suggest itself to the young girl,
-that she had given her hand, for ever, amidst this abetting solitude
-through sheer emptiness of heart and mental weariness.
-
-However, Denise, having remarked a growing anxiety in the look Geneviève
-cast at Colomban, good-naturedly replied: “Oh! when people are in love
-they always understand each other.”
-
-But Baudu kept a sharp eye on the table. He had distributed slices of
-Brie cheese, and, as a treat for the visitors, he called for a second
-dessert, a pot of red-currant jam, a liberality which seemed to surprise
-Colomban. Pépé, who up to then had been very good, behaved rather
-badly at the sight of the jam; whilst Jean, all attention during the
-conversation about Geneviève's marriage, was taking stock of the latter,
-whom he thought too weak, too pale, comparing her in his own mind to a
-little white rabbit with black ears and pink eyes.
-
-“We've chatted enough, and must now make room for the others,” said the
-draper, giving the signal to rise from table. “Just because we've had a
-treat is no reason why we should want too much of it.”
-
-Madame Baudu, the other shopman, and the young lady then came and took
-their places at the table. Denise, left alone again, sat near the door
-waiting for her uncle to take her to Vinçard's. Pépé was playing at her
-feet, whilst Jean had resumed his post of observation at the door. She
-sat there for nearly an hour, taking an interest in what was going on
-around her. Now and again a few customers came in; a lady, then two
-others appeared, the shop retaining its musty odour, its half light, by
-which the old-fashioned business, good-natured and simple, seemed to
-be weeping at its desertion. But what most interested Denise was The
-Ladies' Paradise opposite, the windows of which she could see through
-the open door. The sky remained clouded, a sort of humid softness warmed
-the air, notwithstanding the season; and in this clear light, in which
-there was, as it were, a hazy diffusion of sunshine, the great shop
-seemed alive and in full activity.
-
-Denise began to feel as if she were watching a machine working at full
-pressure, communicating its movement even as far as the windows. They
-were no longer the cold windows she had seen in the early morning; they
-seemed to be warm and vibrating from the activity within. There was a
-crowd before them, groups of women pushing and squeezing, devouring the
-finery with longing, covetous eyes. And the stuffs became animated in
-this passionate atmosphere: the laces fluttered, drooped, and concealed
-the depths of the shop with a troubling air of mystery; even the lengths
-of cloth, thick and heavy, exhaled a tempting odour, while the cloaks
-threw out their folds over the dummies, which assumed a soul, and the
-great velvet mantle particularly, expanded, supple and warm, as if on
-real fleshly shoulders, with a heaving of the bosom and a trembling of
-the hips. But the furnace-like glow which the house exhaled came above
-all from the sale, the crush at the counters, that could be felt behind
-the walls. There was the continual roaring of the machine at work, the
-marshalling of the customers, bewildered amidst the piles of goods, and
-finally pushed along to the pay-desk. And all that went on in an orderly
-manner, with mechanical regularity, quite a nation of women passing
-through the force and logic of this wonderful commercial machine.
-
-Denise had felt herself being tempted all day. She was bewildered and
-attracted by this shop, to her so vast, in which she saw more people in
-an hour than she had seen at Cornaille's in six months; and there
-was mingled with her desire to enter it a vague sense of danger which
-rendered the seduction complete. At the same time her uncle's shop made
-her feel ill at ease; she felt an unreasonable disdain, an instinctive
-repugnance for this cold, icy place, the home of old-fashioned trading.
-All her sensations--her anxious entry, her friends' cold reception, the
-dull lunch eaten in a prison-like atmosphere, her waiting amidst the
-sleepy solitude of this old house doomed to a speedy decay--all these
-sensations reproduced themselves in her mind under the form of a
-dumb protestation, a passionate longing for life and light. And
-notwithstanding her really tender heart, her eyes turned to The Ladies'
-Paradise, as if the saleswoman within her felt the need to go and warm
-herself at the glow of this immense business.
-
-“Plenty of customers over there!” was the remark that escaped her.
-
-But she regretted her words on seeing the Baudus near her. Madame Baudu,
-who had finished her lunch, was standing up, quite white, with her pale
-eyes fixed on the monster; every time she caught sight of this place, a
-mute, blank despair swelled her heart, and filled her eyes with scalding
-tears. As for Geneviève, she was anxiously watching Colomban, who,
-not supposing he was being observed, stood in ecstasy, looking at the
-handsome young saleswomen in the dress department opposite, the counter
-being visible through the first floor window. Baudu, his anger rising,
-merely said:
-
-“All is not gold that glitters. Patience!”
-
-The thought of his family evidently kept back the flood of rancour which
-was rising in his throat A feeling of pride prevented him displaying
-his temper before these children, only that morning arrived. At last the
-draper made an effort, and tore himself away from the spectacle of the
-sale opposite.
-
-“Well!” resumed he, “we'll go and see Vinçard. These situations are soon
-snatched up; it might be too late tomorrow.”
-
-But before going out he ordered the junior to go to the station and
-fetch Denise's box. Madame Baudu, to whom the young girl had confided
-Pépé, decided to run over and see Madame Gras, to arrange about the
-child. Jean promised his sister not to stir from the shop.
-
-“It's two minutes' walk,” explained Baudu as they went down the Rue
-Gaillon; “Vinçard has a silk business, and still does a fair trade. Of
-course he suffers, like every one else, but he's an artful fellow, who
-makes both ends meet by his miserly ways. I fancy, though, he wants to
-retire, on account of his rheumatics.”
-
-The shop was in the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, near, the Passage
-Choiseul. It was clean and light, well fitted up in the modern style,
-but rather small, and contained but a poor stock. They found Vinçard in
-consultation with two gentlemen.
-
-“Never mind us,” called out the draper; “we are in no hurry; we can
-wait.” And returning to the door he whispered to Denise: “The thin
-fellow is at The Paradise, second in the silk department, and the stout
-man is a silk manufacturer from Lyons.”
-
-Denise gathered that Vinçard was trying to sell his business to Robineau
-of The Paradise. He was giving his word of honour in a frank open way,
-with the facility of a man who could take any number of oaths without
-the slightest trouble. According to his account, the business was a
-golden one; and in the splendour of his rude health he interrupted
-himself to whine and complain of those infernal pains which prevented
-him stopping and making his fortune. But Robineau, nervous and
-tormented, interrupted him impatiently. He knew what a crisis the trade
-was passing through, and named a silk warehouse already ruined by The
-Paradise. Vinçard, inflamed, raised his voice.
-
-“No wonder! The fall of that great booby of a Vabre was certain. His
-wife spent everything he earned. Besides, we are more than five hundred
-yards away, whilst Vabre was almost next door to The Paradise.”
-
-Gaujean, the silk manufacturer, then chimed in, and their voices fell
-again. He accused the big establishments of ruining French manufacture;
-three or four laid down the law, reigning like masters over the market;
-and he gave it as his opinion that the only way of fighting them was to
-favour the small traders; above all, those who dealt in special classes
-of goods, to whom the future belonged. Therefore he offered Robineau
-plenty of credit.
-
-“See how you have been treated at The Paradise,” said he. “No notice
-taken of your long service. You had the promise of the first-hand's
-place long ago, when Bouthemont, an outsider without any claim, came in
-and got it at once.”
-
-Robineau was still smarting under this injustice. However, he hesitated
-to start on his own account, explaining that the money came from his
-wife, a legacy of sixty thousand francs she had just inherited, and he
-was full of scruples regarding this sum, saying that he would rather cut
-off his right hand than compromise her money in a doubtful affair.
-
-“No,” said he, “I haven't made up my mind; give me time to think over
-it. We'll have another talk about it.”
-
-“As you like,” replied Vinçard, concealing his disappointment under a
-smiling countenance. “It's to my interest not to sell; and were it not
-for my rheumatics----”
-
-And returning to the middle of the shop, he asked: “What can I do for
-you, Monsieur Baudu?”
-
-The draper, who had been listening with one ear, introduced Denise, told
-him as much as he thought necessary of her story, adding that she had
-two years' country experience.
-
-“And as I have heard you are wanting a good saleswoman----”
-
-Vinçard affected to be awfully sorry. “What an unfortunate thing!” said
-he. “I have, indeed, been looking for a saleswoman all the week; but
-I've just engaged one--not two hours ago.”
-
-A silence ensued. Denise seemed disheartened. Robineau, who was
-looking at her with interest, probably inspired with pity by her poor
-appearance, ventured to say:
-
-“I know they're wanting a young person at our place, in the ready-made
-dress department.”
-
-Baudu could not help crying out fervently: “At your place? Never!”
-
-Then he stopped, embarrassed. Denise had turned very red; she would
-never dare enter that great place, and yet the idea of being there
-filled her with pride.
-
-“Why not?” asked Robineau, surprised. “It would be a good opening
-for the young lady. I advise her to go and see Madame Aurélie, the
-first-hand, to-morrow. The worst that can happen to her is not to be
-accepted.”
-
-The draper, to conceal his inward revolt, began to talk vaguely. He knew
-Madame Aurélie, or, at least, her husband, Lhomme, the cashier, a stout
-man, who had had his right arm severed by an omnibus. Then turning
-suddenly to Denise, he added: “However, that's her business. She can do
-as she likes.”
-
-And he went out, after having said “good-day” to Gaujean and Robineau.
-Vinçard went with him as far as the door, reiterating his regrets. The
-young girl had remained in the middle of the shop, intimidated, desirous
-of asking Robineau for further particulars. But not daring to, she in
-her turn bowed, and simply said: “Thank you, sir.”
-
-On the way back Baudu said nothing to his niece, but walked very fast,
-forcing her to run to keep up with him, as if carried away by his
-reflections. Arrived in the Rue de la Michodière, he was going into his
-shop, when a neighbouring shopkeeper, standing at his door, called him.
-
-Denise stopped and waited.
-
-“What is it, old Bourras?” asked the draper.
-
-Bourras was a tall old man, with a prophet's head, bearded and hairy,
-and piercing eyes under thick and bushy eyebrows. He kept an umbrella
-and walking-stick shop, did repairs, and even carved handles, which had
-won for him an artistic celebrity in the neighbourhood. Denise glanced
-at the shop-window, where the umbrellas and sticks were arranged in
-straight lines. But on raising her eyes she was astonished at the
-appearance of the house, a hovel squeezed between The Ladies' Paradise
-and a large building of the Louis XIV. style, sprung up one hardly knew
-how, in this narrow space, crushed by its two low storeys. Had it not
-been for the support on each side it must have fallen; the slates were
-old and rotten, and the two-windowed front was cracked and covered
-with stains, which ran down in long rusty lines over the worm-eaten
-sign-board.
-
-“You know he's written to my landlord, offering to buy the house?” said
-Bourras, looking steadily at the draper with his fiery eyes.
-
-Baudu became paler still, and bent his shoulders. There was a silence,
-during which the two men remained face to face, looking very serious.
-
-“Must be prepared for anything now,” murmured Baudu at last.
-
-Bourras then got angry, shaking his hair and flowing board. “Let him buy
-the house, he'll have to pay four times the value for it! But I swear
-that as long as I live he shall not touch a stone of it. My lease has
-twelve years to run yet. We shall see! we shall see!”
-
-It was a declaration of war. Bourras looked towards The Ladies'
-Paradise, which neither had directly named. Baudu shook his head in
-silence, and then crossed the street to his shop, his legs almost
-failing under him. “Ah! good Lord! ah! good Lord!” he kept repeating.
-
-Denise, who had heard all, followed her uncle. Madame Baudu had just
-come back with Pépé, whom Madame Gras had agreed to receive at anytime.
-But Jean had disappeared, and this made his sister anxious. When
-he returned with a flushed face, talking in an animated way of the
-boulevards, she looked at him with such a sad expression that he blushed
-with shame. The box had arrived, and it was arranged that they should
-sleep in the attic.
-
-“How did you get on at Vinçard's?” asked Madame Baudu, suddenly.
-
-The draper related his useless errand, adding that Denise had heard of
-a situation; and, pointing to The Ladies' Paradise with a scornful
-gesture, he cried out: “There--in there!”
-
-The whole family felt wounded at the idea. The first dinner was at five
-o'clock. Denise and the two children took their places, with Baudu,
-Geneviève, and Colomban. A single jet of gas lighted and warmed the
-little dining-room, reeking with the smell of hot food. The meal
-passed off in silence, but at dessert Madame Baudu, who could not rest
-anywhere, left the shop, and came and sat down near Denise. And then the
-storm, kept back all day, broke out, every one feeling a certain relief
-in abusing the monster.
-
-“It's your business, you can do as you like,” repeated Baudu. “We
-don't want to influence you. But if you only knew what sort of place it
-is----” And he commenced to relate, in broken sentences, the history of
-this Octave Mouret. Wonderful luck! A fellow who had come up from the
-South of France with the amiable audacity of an adventurer; no sooner
-arrived than he commenced to distinguish himself by all sorts of
-disgraceful pranks with the ladies; had figured in an affair, which was
-still the talk of the neighbourhood; and to crown all, had suddenly and
-mysteriously made the conquest of Madame Hédouin, who brought him The
-Ladies' Paradise as a marriage portion.
-
-“Poor Caroline!” interrupted Madame Baudu. “We were distantly related.
-If she had lived things would be different. She wouldn't have let them
-ruin us like this. And he's the man who killed her. Yes, that very
-building! One morning, when visiting the works, she fell down a hole,
-and three days after she died. A fine, strong, healthy woman, who
-had never known what illness was! There's some of her blood in the
-foundation of that house.”
-
-She pointed to the establishment opposite with her pale and trembling
-hand. Denise, listening as to a fairy tale, slightly shuddered; the
-sense of fear which had mingled with the temptation she had felt since
-the morning, was caused perhaps by the presence of this woman's blood,
-which she fancied she could see in the red mortar of the basement.
-
-“It seems as if it brought him good luck,” added Madame Baudu, without
-mentioning Mouret by name.
-
-But the draper shrugged his shoulders, disdaining these old women's
-tales, and resumed his story, explaining the situation commercially. The
-Ladies' Paradise was founded in 1822 by two brothers, named Deleuze.
-On the death of the elder, his daughter, Caroline, married the son of
-a linen manufacturer, Charles Hédouin; and, later on, becoming a widow,
-she married Mouret. She thus brought him a half share of the business.
-Three months after the marriage, the second brother Deleuze died
-childless; so that when Caroline met her death, Mouret became sole heir,
-sole proprietor of The Ladies' Paradise. Wonderful luck!
-
-“A sharp fellow, a dangerous busybody, who will overthrow the whole
-neighborhood if allowed to!” continued Baudu. “I fancy that Caroline,
-a rather romantic woman, must have been carried away by the gentleman's
-extravagant ideas. In short, he persuaded her to buy the house on the
-left, then the one on the right; and he himself, on becoming his own
-master, bought two others; so that the establishment has continued to
-grow--extending in such a way that it now threatens to swallow us all
-up!”
-
-He was addressing Denise, but was really speaking more to himself,
-feeling a feverish longing to go over this history which haunted him
-continually. At home he was always angry, always violent, clenching
-his fists as if longing to go for somebody. Madame Baudu ceased to
-interfere, sitting motionless on her chair; Geneviève and Colomban,
-their eyes cast down, were picking up and eating the crumbs off the
-table, just for the sake of something to do. It was so warm, so stuffy
-in the small room, that Pépé was sleeping with his head on the table,
-and even Jean's eyes were closing.
-
-“Wait a bit!” resumed Baudu, seized with a sudden fit of anger, “such
-jokers always go to smash! Mouret is hard-pushed just now; I know that
-for a fact. He's been forced to spend all his savings on his mania for
-extensions and advertisements. Moreover, in order to raise money, he has
-induced most of his shop-people to invest all they possess with him. So
-that he hasn't a sou to help himself with now; and, unless a miracle be
-worked, and he treble his sales, as he hopes to do, you'll see what a
-crash there'll be! Ah! I'm not ill-natured, but that day I'll illuminate
-my shop-front, on my word of honour!”
-
-And he went on in a revengeful voice; one would have thought that the
-fall of The Ladies' Paradise was to restore the dignity and prestige
-of compromised business. Had any one ever seen such a thing? A draper's
-shop selling everything! Why not call it a bazaar at once? And the
-employees! a nice set they were too--a lot of puppies, who did their
-work like porters at a railway station, treating goods and customers
-like so many parcels; leaving the shop or getting the sack at a moment's
-notice. No affection, no manners, no taste! And all at once he quoted
-Colomban as an example of a good tradesman, brought up in the old
-school, knowing how long it took to learn all the cunning and tricks of
-the trade. The art was not to sell a large quantity, but to sell dear.
-Colomban could say how he had been treated, carefully looked after, his
-washing and mending done, nursed in illness, considered as one of the
-family--loved, in fact!
-
-“Of course,” repeated Colomban, after every statement the governor made.
-
-“Ah, you're the last of the old stock,” Baudu ended by declaring. “After
-you're gone there'll be none left. You are my sole consolation, for
-if they call all this sort of thing business I give up, I would rather
-clear out.”
-
-Geneviève, her head on one side, as if her thick hair were too heavy
-for her pale forehead, was watching the smiling shopman; and in her look
-there was a suspicion, a wish to see whether Colomban, stricken with
-remorse, would not blush at all this praise. But, like a fellow up
-to every trick of the old trade, he preserved his quiet manner, his
-good-natured and cunning look. However, Baudu still went on, louder than
-ever, condemning the people opposite, calling them a pack of savages,
-murdering each other in their struggle for existence, destroying
-all family ties. And he mentioned some country neighbours, the
-Lhommes--mother, father, and son--all employed in the infernal shop,
-people without any home life, always out, leading a comfortless, savage
-existence, never dining at home except on Sunday, feeding all the week
-at restaurants, hotels, anywhere. Certainly his dining-room wasn't
-too large nor too well-lighted; but it was part of their home, and the
-family had grown up affectionately about the domestic hearth. Whilst
-speaking his eyes wandered about the room; and he shuddered at the
-unavowed idea that the savages might one day, if they, succeeded
-in ruining his trade, turn him out of this house where he was so
-comfortable with his wife and child. Notwithstanding the assurance
-with which he predicted the utter downfall of his rivals, he was really
-terrified, feeling that the neighbourhood was being gradually invaded
-and devoured.
-
-“I don't want to disgust you,” resumed he, trying to calm himself; “if
-you think it to your interest to go there, I shall be the first to say,
-'go.'”
-
-“I am sure of that, uncle,” murmured Denise, bewildered, all this
-excitement rendering her more and more desirous of entering The Ladies'
-Paradise.
-
-He had put his elbows on the table, and was staring at her so hard
-that she felt uneasy. “But look here,” resumed he; “you who know the
-business, do you think it right that a simple draper's shop should sell
-everything? Formerly, when trade was trade, drapers sold nothing but
-drapery. Now they are doing their best to snap up every branch and ruin
-their neighbours. The whole neighbourhood complains of it, for every
-small tradesman is beginning to suffer terribly. This Mouret is ruining
-them. Bédoré and his sister, who keep the hosiery shop in the Rue
-Gaillon, have already lost half their customers; Mademoiselle Tatin, at
-the under-linen warehouse in the Passage Choiseul, has been obliged to
-lower her prices, to be able to sell at all. And the effects of this
-scourge, this pest, are felt as far as the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs,
-where I hear that Vanpouille Brothers, the furriers, cannot hold
-out much longer. Drapers selling fur goods--what a farce! another of
-Mouret's ideas!”
-
-“And gloves,” added Madame Baudu; “isn't it monstrous? He has even
-dared to add a glove department! Yesterday, as I was going along the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, I saw Quinette, the glover, at his door, looking
-so downcast that I hadn't the heart to ask him how business was going.”
-
-“And umbrellas,” resumed Baudu; “that's the climax! Bourras feels sure
-that Mouret simply wants to ruin him; for, in short, where's the rhyme
-between umbrellas and drapery? But Bourras is firm on his legs, and
-won't allow himself to be beggared. We shall see some fun one of these
-days.”
-
-He spoke of other tradesmen, passing the whole neigbour-hood in review.
-Now and again he let slip a confession. If Vinçard wanted to sell it was
-time for the rest to pack up, for Vinçard was like the rats who leave
-a house when it threatens to fall in. Then, immediately after, he
-contradicted himself, alluded to an alliance, an understanding between
-the small tradesmen in order to fight the colossus. He hesitated an
-instant before speaking of himself, his hands shaking, and his mouth
-twitching in a nervous manner. At last he made up his mind.
-
-“As for myself, I can't complain as yet. Of course he has done me harm,
-the scoundrel! But up to the present he only keeps ladies' cloths, light
-stuffs for dresses and heavier goods for mantles. People still come to
-me for men's goods, velvets for shooting suits, cloths for liveries,
-without speaking of flannels and serges, of which I defy him to show
-as good an assortment. But he thinks to annoy me by planting his cloth
-department right in front of my door. You've seen his display, haven't
-you? He always places his finest made-up goods there, surrounded by a
-framework of various cloths--a cheap-jack parade to tempt the women.
-Upon my word, I should be ashamed to use such means! The Old Elbeuf has
-been known for nearly a hundred years, and has no need for such at
-its door. As long as I live, it shall remain as I took it, with a few
-samples on each side, and nothing more!”
-
-The whole family was affected. Geneviève ventured to make a remark after
-a silence:
-
-“You know, papa, our customers know and like us. We mustn't lose
-heart Madame Desforges and Madame de Boves have been to-day, and I am
-expecting Madame Marty for some flannel.”
-
-“I,” declared Colomban, “I took an order from Madame Bourdelais
-yesterday. 'Tis true she spoke of an English cheviot marked up
-opposite ten sous cheaper than ours, and the same stuff, it appears.”
-
-“Fancy,” murmured Madame Baudu in her weak voice, “we knew that house
-when it was scarcely larger than a handkerchief! Yes, my dear Denise,
-when the Deleuzes started it, it had only one window in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin; and such a tiny one, in which there was barely
-room for a couple of pieces of print and two or three pieces of calico.
-There was no room to turn round in the shop, it was so small. At that
-time The Old Elbeuf, after sixty years' trading, was as you see it now.
-Ah! all that has greatly changed!”
-
-She shook her head; the drama of her whole life was expressed in these
-few words. Born in the old house, she loved every part of it, living
-only for it and by it; and, formerly proud of this house, the finest,
-the best patronised in the neighbourhood, she had had the daily grief of
-seeing the rival establishment gradually growing in importance, at first
-disdained, then equal to theirs, and finally towering above it, and
-threatening all the rest. This was for her a continual, open sore; she
-was slowly dying from sheer grief at seeing The Old Elbeuf humiliated,
-though still living, as if by the force of impulse, like a machine wound
-up. But she felt that the death of the shop would be hers as well, and
-that she would never survive the closing of it.
-
-There was a painful silence. Baudu was softly beating a tattoo with his
-fingers on the American cloth on the table. He experienced a sort of
-lassitude, almost a regret at having relieved his feelings once more in
-this way. In fact, the whole family felt the effects of his despondency,
-and could not help ruminating on the bitter story. They never had had
-any luck. The children had been educated and started in the world,
-fortune was beginning to smile on them, when suddenly this competition
-sprang up and ruined their hopes. There was, also, the house at
-Rambouillet, that country house to which he had been dreaming of
-retiring for the last ten years--a bargain, he thought; but it had
-turned out to be an old building always wanting repairs, and which
-he had let to people who never paid any rent. His last profits were
-swallowed up by the place--the only folly he had committed in his
-honest, upright career as a tradesman, obstinately attached to the old
-ways.
-
-“Come, come!” said he, suddenly, “we must make room for the others.
-Enough of this useless talk!”
-
-It was like an awakening. The gas hissed, in the dead and stifling air
-of the small room. They all jumped up, breaking the melancholy silence.
-However, Pépé was sleeping so soundly that they laid him on some bales
-of cloth. Jean had already returned to the street door yawning.
-
-“In short,” repeated Baudu to his niece, “you can do as you like. We
-have explained the matter to you, that's all. You know your own business
-best.”
-
-He looked at her sharply, waiting for a decisive answer. Denise, whom
-these stories had inspired with a still greater longing to enter The
-Ladies' Paradise, instead of turning her from it, preserved her quiet
-gentle demeanour with a Norman obstinacy. She simply replied: “We shall
-see, uncle.”
-
-And she spoke of going to bed early with the children, for they were
-all three very tired. But it had only just struck six, so she decided to
-stay in the shop a little longer. Night had come on, and she found
-the street quite dark, enveloped in a fine close rain, which had been
-falling since sunset. She was surprised. A few minutes had sufficed to
-fill the street with small pools, a stream of dirty water was running
-along the gutters, the pavement was thick with a sticky black mud;
-and through the beating rain she saw nothing but a confused stream of
-umbrellas, pushing, swinging along in the gloom like great black wings.
-She started back at first, feeling very cold, oppressed at heart by the
-badly-lighted shop, very dismal at this hour of the day. A damp breeze,
-the breath of the old quarter, came in from the street; it seemed that
-the rain, streaming from the umbrellas, was running right into the shop,
-that the pavement with its mud and its puddles extended all over the
-place, putting the finishing touches to the mouldiness of the old shop
-front, white with saltpetre. It was quite a vision of old Paris, damp
-and uncomfortable, which made her shiver, astonished and heart-broken to
-find the great city so cold and so ugly.
-
-But opposite, the gas-lamps were being lighted all along the frontage of
-The Ladies' Paradise. She moved nearer, again attracted and, as it were,
-warmed by this wealth of illumination. The machine was still roaring,
-active as ever, hissing forth its last clouds of steam; whilst the
-salesmen were folding up the stuffs, and the cashiers counting up the
-receipts. It was, as seen through the hazy windows, a vague swarming of
-lights, a confused factory-like interior. Behind the curtain of falling
-rain, this apparition, distant and confused, assumed the appearance of
-a giant furnace-house, where the black shadows of the firemen could
-be seen passing by the red glare of the furnaces. The displays in the
-windows became indistinct also; one could only distinguish the snowy
-lace, heightened in its whiteness by the ground glass globes of a row of
-gas jets, and against this chapel-like background the ready-made goods
-stood out vigorously, the velvet mantle trimmed with silver fox threw
-into relief the curved profile of a headless woman running through the
-rain to some entertainment in the unknown of the shades of the Paris
-night.
-
-Denise, yielding to the seduction, had gone to the door, heedless of the
-raindrops falling on her. At this hour, The Ladies' Paradise, with
-its furnace-like brilliancy, entirely conquered her. In the great
-metropolis, black and silent, beneath the rain--in this Paris, to which
-she was a stranger, it shone out like a lighthouse, and seemed to be of
-itself the life and light of the city. She dreamed of her future there,
-working hard to bring up the children, and of other things besides--she
-hardly knew what--far-off things, the desire and the fear of which made
-her tremble. The idea of this woman who had met her death amidst the
-foundations came back to her; she felt afraid, she thought she saw the
-lights bleeding; then, the whiteness of the lace quieting her, a vague
-hope sprang up in her heart, quite a certainty of happiness; whilst the
-fine rain, blowing on her, cooled her hands, and calmed her after the
-excitement of her journey.
-
-“It's Bourras,” said a voice behind her.
-
-She leant forward, and perceived the umbrella-maker, motionless
-before the window containing the ingenious display of umbrellas and
-walking-sticks. The old man had slipped up there in the dark, to feast
-his eyes on the triumphant show; and so great was his grief that he
-was unconscious of the rain which was beating on his bare head, and
-trickling off his white hair.
-
-“How stupid he is, he'll make himself ill,” resumed the voice.
-
-Turning round, Denise found the Baudus behind her again. Though they
-thought Bourras so stupid, they were obliged, against their will, to
-return to this spectacle which was breaking their hearts. Geneviève,
-very pale, had noticed that Colomban was watching the shadows of the
-saleswomen pass to and fro on the first floor opposite; and, whilst
-Baudu was choking with suppressed rancour, Madame Baudu was silently
-weeping.
-
-“You'll go and see to-morrow, won't you, Denise?” asked the draper,
-tormented with uncertainty, but feeling that his niece was conquered
-like the rest.
-
-She hesitated, then gently replied: “Yes, uncle, unless it pains you too
-much.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-The next morning, at half-past seven, Denise was outside The Ladies'
-Paradise, wishing to call there before taking Jean to his new place,
-which was a long way off, at the top of the Faubourg du Temple. But,
-accustomed to early hours, she had arrived too soon; the shop was hardly
-opened, and, afraid of looking ridiculous, full of timidity, she walked
-up and down the Place Gaillon for a moment.
-
-The cold wind that blew had already dried the pavement. Shopmen were
-hurriedly turning out of every street in the neighbourhood, their
-coat-collars turned up, and their hands in their pockets, taken unawares
-by this first chill of winter. Most of them hurried along alone, and
-disappeared in the depths of the warehouse, without addressing a word
-or look to their colleagues marching along by their side. Others were
-walking in twos and threes, talking fast, and taking up the whole of
-the pavement; while they all threw away with a similar gesture, their
-cigarette or cigar before crossing the threshold.
-
-Denise noticed that several of these gentlemen took stock of her in
-passing. This increased her timidity; she felt quite unable to follow
-them, and resolved to wait till they had all entered before going in,
-blushing at the idea of being elbowed at the door by all these men. But
-the stream continued, so to escape their looks, she took a walk round.
-When she returned to the principal entrance, she found a tall young man,
-pale and awkward, who appeared to be waiting as she was.
-
-“I beg your pardon, mademoiselle,” he finished by stammering out, “but
-perhaps you belong to the establishment?”
-
-She was so troubled at hearing a stranger address her in this way that
-she did not reply at first.
-
-“The fact is,” he continued, getting more confused than ever, “I thought
-of asking them to engage me, and you might have given me a little
-information.”
-
-He was as timid as she was, and had probably risked speaking to her
-because he felt she was trembling like himself.
-
-“I would with pleasure, sir,” replied she at last “But I'm no better off
-than you are; I'm just going to apply myself.”
-
-“Ah, very good,” said he, quite out of countenance.
-
-And they blushed violently, their two timidities remaining face to face
-for a moment, affected by the similarity of their positions, not daring,
-however, to wish each other success openly. Then, as they said nothing
-further, and became more and more uncomfortable, they separated
-awkwardly, and recommenced their waiting, one on either side, a few
-steps apart.
-
-The shopmen continued to arrive, and Denise could now hear them
-joking as they passed, casting side glances towards her. Her confusion
-increased at finding herself exposed to this unpleasant ordeal, and she
-had decided to take half an hour's walk in the neighbourhood, when the
-sight of a young man coming rapidly through the Rue Port-Mahon, detained
-her for a moment. He was evidently the manager of a department, she
-thought, for the others raised their hats to him. He was tall, with a
-clear skin and carefully trimmed beard; and he had eyes the colour of
-old gold, of a velvety softness, which he fixed on her for a moment as
-he crossed the street. He already entered the shop, indifferent that
-she remained motionless, quite upset by his look, filled with a singular
-emotion, in which there was more uneasiness than pleasure. She began
-to feel really afraid, and, to give herself time to collect her courage
-somewhat, she walked slowly down the Rue Gaillon, and then along the Rue
-Saint-Roch.
-
-It was better than a manager of a department, it was Octave Mouret in
-person. He had not been to bed, for after having spent the evening at a
-stockbroker's, he had gone to supper with a friend and two women, picked
-up behind the scenes of a small theatre. His tightly buttoned overcoat
-concealed a dress suit and white tie. He quickly ran upstairs, performed
-his toilet, changed, and entered his office, quite ready for work, with
-beaming eyes, and complexion as fresh as if he had had ten hours' sleep.
-The spacious office, furnished in old oak and hung with green rep, had
-for sole ornament the portrait of that Madame Hédouin, who was still the
-talk of the neighbourhood. Since her death Octave thought of her with
-a tender regret, showing himself grateful to the memory of her, who, by
-marrying him, had made his fortune. And before commencing to sign the
-drafts laid on his desk, he bestowed the contented smile of a happy man
-on the portrait Was it not always before her that he returned to work,
-after his young widower's escapades, every time he issued from the
-alcoves where his craving for amusement attracted him?
-
-There was a knock, and without waiting, a young man entered, a tall,
-thin fellow, with thin lips and a sharp nose, very gentlemanly and
-correct in his appearance, with his smooth hair already showing signs of
-turning grey. Mouret raised his eyes, then continuing to sign, said:
-
-“I hope you slept well, Bourdoncle?”
-
-“Very well, thanks,” replied the young man, walking about as if quite at
-home.
-
-Bourdoncle, the son of a poor farmer near Limoges, had started at The
-Ladies' Paradise at the same time as Mouret, when it only occupied the
-corner of the Place Gaillon. Very intelligent, very active, it seemed
-as if he ought to have easily supplanted his comrade, who was not so
-steady, and who had, besides various other faults, a careless manner
-and too many intrigues with women; but he lacked that touch of genius
-possessed by the impassioned Southerner, and had not his audacity, his
-winning grace. Besides, by a wise instinct, he had always, from the
-first, bowed before him, obedient and without a struggle; and when
-Mouret advised his people to put all their money into the business,
-Bourdoncle was one of the first to respond, even investing the proceeds
-of an unexpected legacy left him by an aunt; and little by little,
-after passing through the various grades, salesman, second, and then
-first-hand in the silk department, he had become one of the governor's
-most cherished and influential lieutenants, one of the six persons who
-assisted Mouret to govern The Ladies' Paradise--something like a privy
-council under an absolute king. Each one watched over a department.
-Bourdoncle exercised a general control.
-
-“And you,” resumed he, familiarly, “have you slept well?” When Mouret
-replied that he had not been to bed, he shook his head, murmuring: “Bad
-habits.”
-
-“Why?” replied the other, gaily. “I'm not so tired as you are, my dear
-fellow. You are half asleep now, you lead too quiet a life. Take a
-little amusement, that'll wake you up a bit.”
-
-This was their constant friendly dispute. Bourdoncle had, at the
-commencement, beaten his mistresses, because, said he, they prevented
-him sleeping. Now he professed to hate women, having, no doubt, chance
-love affairs of which he said nothing, so small was the place they
-occupied in his life; he contented himself with encouraging the
-extravagance of his lady customers, feeling the greatest disdain for
-their frivolity, which led them to ruin themselves in stupid gewgaws.
-Mouret, on the contrary, affected to worship them, remained before them
-delighted and cajoling, continually carried away by fresh love-affairs;
-and this served as an advertisement for his business. One would have
-said that he enveloped all the women in the same caress, the better to
-bewilder them and keep them at his mercy.
-
-“I saw Madame Desforges last night,” said he; “she was looking delicious
-at the ball.”
-
-“But it wasn't with her that you went to supper, was it?” asked the
-other.
-
-Mouret protested. “Oh! no, she's very virtuous, my dear fellow. I went
-to supper with little Héloïse, of the Folly. Stupid as a donkey, but so
-comical!”
-
-He took another bundle of drafts and went on signing. Bourdoncle
-continued to walk about. He went and took a look through the lofty
-plate-glass windows, into the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, then returned,
-saying: “You know they'll have their revenge.”
-
-“Who?” asked Mouret, who had lost the thread of the conversation.
-
-“Why, the women.”
-
-At this, Mouret became merrier still, displaying, beneath his sensual,
-adorative manner, his really brutal character. With a shrug of the
-shoulders he seemed to declare he would throw them all over, like
-so many empty sacks, when they had finished helping him to make his
-fortune. Bourdoncle obstinately repeated, in his cold way: “They will
-have their revenge; there will be one who will avenge all the others.
-It's bound to be.”
-
-“No fear,” cried Mouret, exaggerating his Southern accent. “That one
-isn't born yet, my boy. And if she comes, you know----”
-
-He had raised his penholder, brandishing it and pointing it in the air,
-as if he would have liked to stab some invisible heart with a knife.
-Bourdoncle resumed walking, bowing as usual before the superiority of
-the governor, whose genius, though faulty, had always got the better of
-him. He, so clear-headed, logical and passionless, incapable of falling,
-had yet to learn the feminine character of success, Paris yielding
-herself with a kiss to the boldest.
-
-A silence reigned, broken only by Mouret's pen. Then, in reply to his
-brief questions, Bourdoncle gave him the particulars of the great sale
-of winter novelties, which was to commence the following Monday. This
-was an important affair, and the house was risking its fortune in it;
-for the rumour had some foundation, Mouret was throwing himself into
-speculation like a poet, with such ostentation, such a determination to
-attain the colossal, that everything seemed bound to give way under
-him. It was quite a new style of doing business, an apparent commercial
-recklessness which had formerly made Madame Hédouin anxious, and which
-even now, notwithstanding the first successes, quite dismayed those
-who had capital in the business. They blamed the governor in secret for
-going too quick; accused him of having enlarged the establishment to a
-dangerous extent, before making sure of a sufficient increase of custom;
-above all, they trembled on seeing him put all the capital into one
-venture, filling the place with a pile of goods without leaving a sou in
-the reserve fund. Thus, for this sale, after the heavy sums paid to the
-builders, the whole capital was out, and it was once more a question of
-victory or death. And he, in the midst of all this excitement, preserved
-a triumphant gaiety, a certainty of gaining millions, like a man
-worshipped by the women, and who cannot be betrayed. When Bourdoncle
-ventured to express certain fears with reference to the too great
-development given to several not very productive departments, he broke
-out into a laugh full of confidence, and exclaimed:
-
-“No fear! my dear fellow, the place is too small!”
-
-The other appeared dumbfounded, seized with a fear he no longer
-attempted to conceal. The house too small! a draper's shop having
-nineteen departments, and four hundred and three employees!
-
-“Of course,” resumed Mouret, “we shall be obliged to enlarge our
-premises before another eighteen months. I'm seriously thinking about
-the matter. Last night Madame Desforges promised to introduce me to some
-one. In short, we'll talk it over when the idea is ripe.”
-
-And having finished signing his drafts, he got up, and tapped his
-lieutenant on the shoulder in a friendly manner, but the latter could
-not get over his astonishment. The fright felt by the prudent people
-around him amused Mouret. In one of his fits of brusque frankness with
-which he sometimes overwhelmed his familiars, he declared he was at
-heart a bigger Jew than all the Jews in the world; he took after his
-father, whom he resembled physically and morally, a fellow who knew
-the value of money; and, if his mother had given him that particle of
-nervous fantasy, why it was, perhaps, the principal element of his luck,
-for he felt the invincible force of his daring reckless grace.
-
-“You know very well that we'll stand by you to the last,” Bourdoncle
-finished by saying.
-
-Before going down into the various departments to give their usual look
-round, they settled certain other details. They examined the specimen of
-a little book of account forms, which Mouret had just invented for use
-at the counters. Having remarked that the old-fashioned goods, the dead
-stock, went off all the more rapidly when the commission given to the
-employees was high, he had based on this observation a new system. In
-future he intended to interest his people in the sale of all goods,
-giving them a commission on the smallest piece of stuff, the slightest
-article sold: a system which had caused a revolution in the drapery
-trade, creating between the salespeople a struggle for existence of
-which the proprietor reaped the benefit. This struggle formed his
-favourite method, the principle of organisation he constantly applied.
-He excited his employees' passions, pitted one against the other,
-allowed the strongest to swallow up the weakest, fattening on this
-interested struggle. The specimen book was approved of; at the top
-of the two forms--the one retained, and the one torn off--were the
-particulars of the department and the salesman's number; then there were
-columns on both for the measurement, description of the articles sold,
-and the price; the salesman simply signed the bill before handing it
-to the cashier. In this way an easy account was kept, it sufficed
-to compare the bills delivered by the cashier's department to the
-clearing-house with the salesmen's counterfoils. Every week the latter
-would receive their commission, and that without the least possibility
-of any error.
-
-“We sha'n't be robbed so much,” remarked Bourdoncle, with satisfaction.
-“A very good idea of yours.”
-
-“And I thought of something else last night,” explained Mouret. “Yes,
-my dear fellow, at the supper. I should like to give the clearing-house
-clerks a trifle for every error found in checking. You can understand
-that we shall then be certain they won't pass any, for they would rather
-invent some.”
-
-He began to laugh, whilst the other looked at him in admiration. This
-new application of the struggle for existence delighted Mouret; he had
-a real genius for administrative business, and dreamed of organising the
-house, so as to play upon the selfish instincts of his employees, for
-the complete and quiet satisfaction of his own appetites. He often said
-that to make people do their best, and even to keep them fairly honest,
-it was necessary to excite their selfish desires first.
-
-“Well, let's go downstairs,” resumed Mouret. “We must look after this
-sale. The silk arrived yesterday, I believe, and Bouthemont must be
-getting it in now.”
-
-Bourdoncle followed him. The receiving office was on the basement floor,
-in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin. There, on a level with the pavement,
-was a kind of glazed cage, where the vans discharged the goods. They
-were weighed, and then slipped down a rapid slide, its oak and iron
-work shining, brightened by the chafing of goods and cases. Everything
-entered by this yawning trap; it was a continual swallowing up, a fall
-of goods, causing a roaring like that of a cataract. At the approach of
-big sale times especially, the slide carried down a perpetual stream of
-Lyons silks, English woollens, Flemish linens, Alsatian calicoes, and
-Rouen printed goods; and the vans were sometimes obliged to wait their
-turn along the street; the bales running down produced the peculiar
-noise made by a stone thrown into deep water.
-
-Mouret stopped a moment before the slide, which was in full activity.
-Rows of cases were going down of themselves, falling like rain from
-some upper stream. Then some huge bales appeared, toppling over in their
-descent like so many pebbles. Mouret looked on, without saying a word.
-But this wealth of goods rushing in at the rate of thousands of francs
-a minute, made his eyes glisten. He had never before had such a clear,
-definite idea of the struggle he was engaged in. Here was this mountain
-of goods that he had to launch to the four corners of Paris. He did not
-open his mouth, continuing his inspection.
-
-By the grey light penetrating the air-holes, a squad of men were
-receiving the goods, whilst others were undoing and opening the cases
-and bales in presence of the managers of different departments. A
-dockyard agitation filled this cellar, this basement, where wrought-iron
-pillars supported the arches, and the bare walls of which were cemented.
-
-“Have you got all there, Bouthemont?” asked Mouret, going up to a
-broad-shouldered young fellow who was checking the contents of a case.
-
-“Yes, everything seems all right,” replied he; “but the counting will
-take me all the morning.”
-
-The manager was glancing at the invoice every now and then, standing up
-before a large counter on which one of his salesmen was laying, one by
-one, the pieces of silk he was taking from the case. Behind them ran
-other counters, also encumbered with goods that a small army of shopmen
-were examining. It was a general unpacking, an apparent confusion of
-stuffs, examined, turned over, and marked, amidst a buzz of voices.
-
-Bouthemont, a celebrity in the trade, had a round, jolly face, a
-coal-black beard, and fine hazel eyes. Born at Montpellier, noisy, too
-fond of company, he was not much good for the sales, but for buying he
-had not his equal. Sent to Paris by his father, who kept a draper's shop
-in his native town, he had absolutely refused to return when the old
-fellow thought he ought to know enough to succeed him in his business;
-and from that moment a rivalry sprung up between father and son, the
-former, all for his little country business, shocked to see a simple
-shopman earning three times as much as he did himself, the latter joking
-at the old man's routine, chinking his money, and throwing the whole
-house into confusion at every flying visit he paid. Like the other
-managers, Bouthemont drew, besides his three thousand francs regular
-pay, a commission on the sales. Montpellier, surprised and respectful,
-whispered that young Bouthemont had made fifteen thousand francs the
-year before, and that that was only a beginning--people prophesied to
-the exasperated father that this figure would certainly increase.
-
-Bourdoncle had taken up one of the pieces of silk, and was examining
-the grain with the eye of a connoisseur. It was a faille with a blue and
-silver selvage, the famous Paris Paradise, with which Mouret hoped to
-strike a decisive blow.
-
-“It is really very good,” observed Bourdoncle.
-
-“And the effect it produces is better than its real quality,” said
-Bouthemont. “Dumonteil is the only one capable of manufacturing such
-stuff. Last journey when I fell out with Gaujean, the latter was willing
-to set a hundred looms to work on this pattern, but he asked five sous a
-yard more.”
-
-Nearly every month Bouthemont went to Lyons, staying there days
-together, living at the best hotels, with orders to treat the
-manufacturers with open purse. He enjoyed, moreover, a perfect liberty,
-and bought what he liked, provided that he increased the yearly business
-of his department in a certain proportion, settled beforehand; and it
-was on this proportion that his commission was based. In short, his
-position at The Ladies' Paradise, like that of all the managers, was
-that of a special tradesman, in a grouping of various businesses, a sort
-of vast trading city.
-
-“So,” resumed he, “it's decided we mark it five francs twelve sous? It's
-barely the cost price, you know.”
-
-“Yes, yes, five francs twelve sous,” said Mouret, quickly; “and if I
-were alone, I'd sell it at a loss.”
-
-The manager laughed heartily. “Oh! I don't mind, that will just suit
-me; it will treble the sale, and as my only interest is to attain heavy
-receipts----”
-
-But Bourdoncle remained very grave, biting his lips. He drew his
-commission on the total profits, and it did not suit him to lower the
-prices. Part of his business was to exercise a control over the prices
-fixed upon, to prevent Bouthemont selling at too small a profit in order
-to increase the sales. Moreover, his former anxiety reappeared in the
-presence of these advertising combinations which he did not understand.
-He ventured to show his repugnance by saying:
-
-“If we sell it at five francs twelve sous, it will be like selling it
-at a loss, as we must allow for our expenses, which are considerable. It
-would fetch seven francs anywhere.”
-
-At this Mouret got angry. He struck the silk with his open hand,
-crying out excitedly: “I know that, that's why I want to give it to our
-customers. Really, my dear fellow, you'll never understand women's ways.
-Don't you see they'll be crazy after this silk?”
-
-“No doubt,” interrupted the other, obstinately, “and the more they buy,
-the more we shall lose.”
-
-“We shall lose a few sous on the stuff, very likely. What matters, if
-in return we attract all the women here, and keep them at our mercy,
-excited by the sight of our goods, emptying their purses without
-thinking? The principal thing, my dear fellow, is to inflame them, and
-for that you must have one article which flatters them--which causes
-a sensation. Afterwards, you can sell the other articles as dear as
-anywhere else, they'll still think yours the cheapest. For instance, our
-Golden Grain, that taffeta at seven francs and a half, sold everywhere
-at that price, will go down as an extraordinary bargain, and suffice to
-make up for the loss on the Paris Paradise. You'll see, you'll see!”
-
-He became quite eloquent.
-
-“Don't you understand? In a week's time from to-day I want the Paris
-Paradise to make a revolution in the market. It's our master-stroke,
-which will save us, and get our name up. Nothing else will be talked of;
-the blue and silver selvage will be known from one end of France to the
-other. And you'll hear the furious complaints of our competitors. The
-small traders will lose another wing by it; they'll be done for, all
-those rheumatic old brokers shivering in their cellars!”
-
-The shopmen checking the goods round about were listening and smiling.
-He liked to talk in this way without contradiction. Bourdoncle yielded
-once more. However, the case was empty, two men were opening another.
-
-“It's the manufacturers who are not exactly pleased,” said Bouthemont.
-“At Lyons they are all furious with you, they pretend that your cheap
-trading is ruining them. You are aware that Gaujean has positively
-declared war against me. Yes, he has sworn to give the little houses
-longer credit, rather than accept my prices.”
-
-Mouret shrugged his shoulders. “If Gaujean doesn't look sharp,” replied
-he, “Gaujean will be floored. What do they complain of? We pay ready
-money and we take all they can make; it's strange if they can't work
-cheaper at that rate. Besides, the public gets the benefit, and that's
-everything.”
-
-The shopman was emptying the second case, whilst Bouthemont was checking
-the pieces by the invoice. Another shopman, at the end of the counter,
-was marking them in plain figures, and the checking finished, the
-invoice, signed by the manager, had to be sent to the chief cashier's
-office. Mouret continued looking at this work for a moment, at all this
-activity round this unpacking of goods which threatened to drown
-the basement; then, without adding a word, with the air of a captain
-satisfied with his troops, he went away, followed by Bourdoncle.
-
-They slowly crossed the basement floor. The air-holes placed at
-intervals admitted a pale light; while in the dark corners, and along
-the narrow corridors, gas was constantly burning. In these corridors
-were situated the reserves, large vaults closed with iron railings,
-containing the surplus goods of each department. Mouret glanced in
-passing at the heating apparatus, to be lighted on the Monday for
-the first time, and at the post of firemen guarding a giant gas-meter
-enclosed in an iron cage. The kitchen and dining-rooms, old cellars
-turned into habitable apartments, were on the left at the corner of the
-Place Gaillon. At last he arrived at the delivery department, right at
-the other end of the basement floor. The parcels not taken away by the
-customers were sent down there, sorted on tables, placed in compartments
-each representing a district of Paris; then sent up by a large staircase
-opening just opposite The Old Elbeuf, to the vans standing alongside
-the pavement. In the mechanical working of The Ladies' Paradise, this
-staircase in the Rue de la Michodière disgorged without ceasing the
-goods swallowed up by the slide in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, after
-they had passed through the mechanism of the counters up above.
-
-“Campion,” said Mouret to the delivery manager, a retired sergeant
-with a thin face, “why weren't six pairs of sheets, bought by a lady
-yesterday about two o'clock, delivered in the evening?”
-
-“Where does the lady live?” asked the employee.
-
-“In the Rue de Rivoli, at the corner of the Rue d'Alger--Madame
-Desforges.”
-
-At this early hour the sorting tables were bare, the compartment only
-contained a few parcels left over night Whilst Campion was searching
-amongst these packets, after having consulted a list, Bourdoncle was
-looking at Mouret, thinking that this wonderful fellow knew everything,
-thought of everything, even when at the supper-tables of restaurants or
-in the alcoves of his mistresses. At last Campion discovered the error;
-the cashier's department had given a wrong number, and the parcel had
-come back.
-
-“What is the number of the pay-desk that debited that?” asked Mouret:
-“No. 10, you say?” And turning towards his lieutenant, he added: “No.
-10; that's Albert, isn't it? We'll just say two words to him.”
-
-But before starting on their tour round the shops, he wanted to go up to
-the postal order department, which occupied several rooms on the second
-floor. It was there that all the provincial and foreign orders arrived;
-and he went up every morning to see the correspondence. For two years
-this correspondence had been increasing daily. At first occupying only
-about ten clerks, it now required more than thirty. Some opened the
-letters, others read them, seated at both sides of the same table;
-others again classed them, giving each one a running number, which was
-repeated on a pigeon-hole. Then when the letters had been distributed
-to the different departments and the latter had delivered the articles,
-these articles were put in the pigeon-holes as they arrived, according
-to the running numbers. There was then nothing to do but to check and
-tie them up, which was done in a neighbouring room by a squad of workmen
-who were nailing and tying up from morning to night.
-
-Mouret put his usual question: “How many letters this morning,
-Levasseur?”
-
-“Five hundred and thirty-four, sir,” replied the chief clerk. “After the
-commencement of Monday's sale, I'm afraid we sha'n't have enough hands.
-Yesterday we were driven very hard.”
-
-Bourdoncle expressed his satisfaction by a nod of the head. He had not
-reckoned on five hundred and thirty-four letters on a Tuesday. Round
-the table, the clerks continued opening and reading the letters amidst
-a noise of rustling paper, whilst the going and coming of the various
-articles commenced before the pigeon-holes. It was one of the most
-complicated and important departments of the establishment, one in
-which there was a continual rush, for, strictly speaking, all the orders
-received in the morning ought to be sent off the same evening.
-
-“You shall have more hands if you want them,” replied Mouret, who
-had seen at a glance that the work was well done. “You know that when
-there's work to be done we never refuse the men.”
-
-Up above, under the roof, were the small bedrooms for the saleswomen.
-But he went downstairs again and entered the chief cashier's office,
-which was near his own. It was a room with a glazed wicket, and
-contained an enormous safe, fixed in the wall. Two cashiers there
-centralised the receipts which Lhomme, the chief cashier at the
-counters, brought in every evening; they also settled the current
-expenses, paid the manufacturers, the staff, all the crowd of people who
-lived by the house. The cashiers' office communicated with another, full
-of green cardboard boxes, where ten clerks checked the invoices. Then
-came another office, the clearing-house: six young men bending over
-black desks, having behind them quite a collection of registers, were
-getting up the discount accounts of the salesmen, by checking the debit
-notes. This work, which was new to them, did not get on very well.
-
-Mouret and Bourdoncle had crossed the cashiers' office and the invoice
-room. When they passed through the other office the young men, who
-were laughing and joking, started up in surprise. Mouret, without
-reprimanding them, explained the system of the little bonus he thought
-of giving them for each error discovered in the debit notes; and when he
-went out the clerks left off laughing, as if they had been whipped, and
-commenced working in earnest, looking up the errors.
-
-On the ground-floor, occupied by the shops, Mouret went straight to the
-pay-desk No. 10, where Albert Lhomme was cleaning his nails, waiting for
-customers. People regularly spoke of “the Lhomme dynasty,” since Madame
-Aurélie, firsthand at the dress department, after having helped her
-husband on to the post of chief cashier, had managed to get a pay
-desk for her son, a tall fellow, pale and vicious, who couldn't stop
-anywhere, and who caused her an immense deal of anxiety. But on reaching
-the young man, Mouret kept in the background, not wishing to render
-himself unpopular by performing a policeman's duty, and retaining from
-policy and taste his part of amiable god. He nudged Bourdoncle
-gently with his elbow--Bourdoncle, the infallible man, that model of
-exactitude, whom he generally charged with the work of reprimanding.
-
-“Monsieur Albert,” said the latter, severely, “you have taken another
-address wrong; the parcel has come back. It's unbearable!”
-
-The cashier, thinking it his duty to defend himself, called as a witness
-the messenger who had tied up the packet. This messenger, named Joseph,
-also belonged to the Lhomme dynasty, for he was Albert's foster brother,
-and owed his place to Madame Aurelie's influence, As the young man
-wanted to make him say it was the customer's mistake, Joseph stuttered,
-twisted the shaggy beard that ornamented his scarred face, struggling
-between his old soldier's conscience and gratitude towards his
-protectors.
-
-“Let Joseph alone,” Bourdoncle exclaimed at last, “and don't say
-any more. Ah! it's a lucky thing for you that we are mindful of your
-mother's good services!”
-
-But at this moment Lhomme came running up. From his office near the
-door he could see his son's pay-desk, which was in the glove department.
-Quite white-haired already, deadened by his sedentary life, he had a
-flabby, colourless face, as if worn out by the reflection of the money
-he was continually handling. His amputated arm did not at all incommode
-him in this work, and it was quite a curiosity to see him verify the
-receipts, so rapidly did the notes and coins slip through his left one,
-the only one he had. Son of a tax-collector at Chablis, he had come to
-Paris as a clerk in the office of a merchant of the Port-aux-Vins.
-Then, whilst lodging in the Rue Cuvier, he married the daughter of his
-doorkeeper, a small tailor, an Alsatian; and from that day he had bowed
-submissively before his wife, whose commercial ability filled him with
-respect. She earned more than twelve thousand francs a year in the dress
-department, whilst he only drew a fixed salary of five thousand francs.
-And the deference he felt for a woman bringing such sums into the home
-was extended to the son, who also belonged to her.
-
-“What's the matter?” murmured he; “is Albert in fault?”
-
-Then, according to his custom, Mouret appeared on the scene, to play the
-part of good-natured prince. When Bourdoncle had made himself feared,
-he looked after his own popularity.
-
-“Nothing of consequence!” murmured he. “My dear Lhomme, your son Albert
-is a careless fellow, who should take an example from you.” Then,
-changing the subject, showing himself more amiable than ever, he
-continued; “And that concert the other day--did you get a good seat?”
-
-A blush overspread the white cheeks of the old cashier. Music was his
-only vice, a vice which he indulged in solitarily, frequenting the
-theatres, the concerts, the rehearsals. Notwithstanding the loss of
-his arm, he played on the French horn, thanks to an ingenious system of
-keys; and as Madame Lhomme detested noise, he wrapped up his instrument
-in cloth in the evening, delighted all the same, in the highest
-degree, with the strangely dull sounds he drew from it. In the forced
-irregularity of their domestic life he had made himself an oasis of
-this music--that and the cash-box, he knew of nothing else, beyond the
-admiration he felt for his wife.
-
-“A very good seat,” replied he, with sparkling eyes. “You are really too
-kind, sir.”
-
-Mouret, who enjoyed a personal pleasure in satisfying other people's
-passions, sometimes gave Lhomme the tickets forced on him by the lady
-patronesses of such entertainments, and he completed the old man's
-delight by saying:
-
-“Ah, Beethoven! ah, Mozart! What music!” And without waiting for
-a reply, he went off, rejoining Bourdoncle, already on his tour of
-inspection through the departments.
-
-In the central hall, an inner courtyard with a glass roof formed the
-silk department. Both went along the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, occupied
-by the linen department, from one end to the other. Nothing unusual
-striking them, they passed on through the crowd of respectful
-assistants. They then turned into the cotton and hosiery departments,
-where the same order reigned. But in the department devoted to woollens,
-occupying the gallery which ran through to the Rue de la Michodière,
-Bourdoncle resumed the character of executioner, on observing a young
-man, seated on the counter, looking knocked up after a night passed
-without sleep. And this young man, named Liénard, son of a rich Angers
-draper, bowed his head beneath the reprimand, fearing nothing in his
-idle, careless life of pleasure except to be recalled by his father. The
-reprimands now began to shower down, and the gallery of the Rue de
-la Michodière received the full force of the storm. In the drapery
-department a salesman, a fresh hand, who slept in the house, had come
-in after eleven o'clock; in the haberdashery department, the second
-counterman had just allowed himself to be caught downstairs smoking a
-cigarette. But the tempest burst with especial violence in the glove
-department, on the head of one of the rare Parisians in the house,
-handsome Mignot, as they called him, the illegitimate son of a
-music-mistress: his crime was having caused a scandal in the dining-room
-by complaining of the food. As there were three tables, one at half-past
-nine, one at half-past ten, and another at half-past eleven, he
-wished to explain that belonging to the third table, he always had the
-leavings, the worst of everything.
-
-“What! the food not good?” asked Mouret, naïvely, opening his mouth at
-last.
-
-He only gave the head cook, a terrible Auvergnat, a franc and a half a
-head per day, out of which this man still managed to make a good
-profit; and the food was really execrable. But Bourdoncle shrugged
-his shoulders: a cook who had four hundred luncheons and four hundred
-dinners to serve, even in three series, had no time to waste on the
-refinements of his art.
-
-“Never mind,” said the governor, good-naturedly, “I wish all our
-employees to have good, abundant food. I'll speak to the cook.” And
-Mignot's complaint was shelved.
-
-Then returning to their point of departure, standing up near the door,
-amidst the umbrellas and neckties, Mouret and Bourdoncle received the
-report of one of the four inspectors, charged with the superintendence
-of the establishment. Old Jouve, a retired captain, decorated at
-Constantine, a fine-looking man still, with his big sensual nose and
-majestic baldness, having drawn their attention to a salesman, who,
-in reply to a simple remonstrance on his part, had called him “an old
-humbug,” the salesman was immediately discharged.
-
-However, the shop was still without customers, except a few housewives
-of the neighbourhood who were going through the almost deserted
-galleries. At the door the time-keeper had just closed his book, and was
-making out a separate list of the late comers. The salesmen were taking
-possession of their departments, which had been swept and brushed by
-the messengers before their arrival. Each young man hung up his hat
-and great-coat as he arrived, stifling a yawn, still half asleep. Some
-exchanged a few words, gazed about the shop and seemed to be pulling
-themselves together ready for another day's work; others were leisurely
-removing the green baize with which they had covered the goods over
-night, after having folded them up; and the piles of stuffs appeared
-symmetrically arranged, the whole shop was in a clean and orderly state,
-brilliant in the morning gaiety, waiting for the rush of business to
-come and obstruct it, and, as it were, narrow it by the unpacking and
-display of linen, cloth, silk, and lace.
-
-In the bright light of the central hall, two young men were talking in
-a low voice at the silk counter. One, short and charming, well set, and
-with a pink skin, was endeavouring to blend the colours of some silks
-for indoor show. His name was Hutin, his father kept a café at Yvetot,
-and he had managed after eighteen months' service to become one of the
-principal salesmen, thanks to a natural flexibility of character,
-a continual flow of caressing flattery, under which was concealed a
-furious rage for business, grasping everything, devouring everybody,
-even without hunger, just for the pleasure of the thing.
-
-“Look here, Favier, I should have struck him if I had been in your
-place, honour bright!” said he to the other, a tall bilious fellow with
-a dry and yellow skin, who was born at Besançon of a family of weavers,
-and who, without the least grace, concealed under a cold exterior a
-disquieting will.
-
-“It does no good to strike people,” murmured he, phlegmatically; “better
-wait.”
-
-They were both speaking of Robineau, who was looking after the shopmen
-during the manager's absence downstairs. Hutin was secretly undermining
-Robineau, whose place he coveted. He had already, to wound him and make
-him leave, introduced Bouthemont to fill the vacancy of manager which
-had been promised to Robineau. However, the latter stood firm, and it
-was now an hourly battle. Hutin dreamed of setting the whole department
-against him, to hound him out by means of ill-will and vexations. At
-the same time he went to work craftily, exciting Favier especially, who
-stood next to him as salesman, and who appeared to allow himself to be
-led on, but with certain brusque reserves, in which could be felt quite
-a private campaign carried on in silence.
-
-“Hush! seventeen!” said he, quickly, to his colleague, to warn him by
-this peculiar cry of the approach of Mouret and Bourdoncle.
-
-These latter were continuing their inspection by traversing the hall.
-They stopped to ask Robineau for an explanation with regard to a stock
-of velvets of which the boxes were encumbering a table. And as the
-latter replied that there wasn't enough room:
-
-“I told you so, Bourdoncle,” cried out Mouret, smiling; “the place is
-already too small. We shall soon have to knock down the walls as far as
-the Rue de Choiseul. You'll see what a crush there'll be next Monday.”
-
-And respecting the coming sale, for which they were preparing at every
-counter, he asked Robineau further questions and gave him various
-orders. But for several minutes, and without having stopped talking, he
-had been watching Hutin, who was contrasting the silks--blue, grey, and
-yellow--drawing back to judge of the harmony of the tones. Suddenly he
-interfered:
-
-“But why are you endeavouring to please the eyes? Don't be afraid; blind
-them. Look! red, green, yellow.”
-
-He had taken the pieces, throwing them together, crushing them,
-producing an excessively fast effect. Every one allowed the governor to
-be the best displayer in Paris, of a regular revolutionary stamp, who
-had founded the brutal and colossal school in the science of displaying.
-He delighted in a tumbling of stuffs, as if they had fallen from
-the crowded shelves by chance, making them glow with the most ardent
-colours, lighting each other up by the contrast, declaring that the
-customers ought to have sore eyes on going out of the shop. Hutin, who
-belonged, on the contrary, to the classic school, in which symmetry and
-harmony of colour were cherished, looked at him lighting up this fire of
-stuff on a table, not venturing on the least criticism, but biting his
-lip with the pout of an artist whose convictions are wounded by such a
-debauch.
-
-“There!” exclaimed Mouret when he had finished. “Leave it; you'll see if
-it doesn't fetch the women on Monday.”
-
-Just as he rejoined Bourdoncle and Robineau, there arrived a woman, who
-remained stock-still, suffocated before this show. It was Denise, who,
-having waited for nearly an hour in the street, the prey to a violent
-attack of timidity, had at last decided to go in. But she was so beside
-herself with bashfulness that she mistook the clearest directions; and
-the shopmen, of whom she had stutteringly asked for Madame Aurélie,
-directed her in vain to the lower staircase; she thanked them, and
-turned to the left if they told her to turn to the right; so that for
-the last ten minutes she had been wandering about the ground-floor,
-going from department to department, amidst the ill-natured curiosity
-and ill-tempered indifference of the salesmen. She longed to run away,
-and was at the same time retained by a wish to stop and admire. She felt
-herself lost, she, so little, in this monster place, in this machine at
-rest, trembling for fear she should be caught in the movement with which
-the walls already began to shake. And the thought of The Old Elbeuf,
-black and narrow, increased the immensity of this vast establishment,
-presenting it to her as bathed in light, like a city with its monuments,
-squares, and streets, in which it seemed impossible that she should ever
-find her way.
-
-However, she had not dared to risk herself in the silk hall, the
-high glass roof, luxurious counters, and cathedral-like air of which
-frightened her. Then when she did venture in, to escape the shopmen in
-the linen department, who were grinning, she had stumbled right on to
-Mouret's display; and, notwithstanding her fright, the woman was aroused
-within her, her cheeks suddenly became red, and she forgot everything in
-looking at the glow of these silks.
-
-“Hullo!” said Hutin in Favier's ear; “there's the girl we saw in the
-Place Gaillon.”
-
-Mouret, whilst affecting to listen to Bourdoncle and Robineau, was at
-heart flattered by the startled look of this poor girl, as a marchioness
-might be by the brutal desire of a passing drayman. But Denise had
-raised her eyes, and her confusion increased at the sight of this young
-man, whom she took for a manager. She thought he was looking at her
-severely. Then not knowing how to get away, quite lost, she applied to
-the nearest shopman, who happened to be Favier.
-
-“Madame Aurélie, please?”
-
-But Favier, who was disagreeable, contented himself with replying
-sharply: “First floor.”
-
-And Denise, longing to escape the looks of all these men, thanked him,
-and had again turned her back to the stairs she ought to have mounted,
-when Hutin, yielding naturally to his instinct of gallantry, stopped her
-with his most amiable salesman's smile, “No--this way, mademoiselle; if
-you don't mind.”
-
-And he even went with her a little way to the foot of the staircase
-on the left-hand side of the hall under the gallery. There he bowed,
-smiling tenderly, as he smiled at all women.
-
-“When you get upstairs turn to the left. The dress department is
-straight in front.”
-
-This caressing politeness affected Denise deeply. It was like a
-brotherly hand extended to her; she raised her eyes and looked at Hutin,
-and everything in him touched her--his handsome face, his looks which
-dissolved her fears, and his voice which seemed to her of a consoling
-softness. Her heart swelled with gratitude, and she bestowed her
-friendship in the few disjointed words her emotion allowed her to utter.
-
-“Really, sir, you are too kind. Pray don't trouble to come any further.
-Thank you very much.”
-
-Hutin had already rejoined Favier, to whom he coarsely whispered: “What
-a bag of bones--eh?”
-
-Upstairs the young girl suddenly found herself in the midst of the
-dress department. It was a vast room, with high carved oak cupboards all
-round, and clear glass windows looking on to the Rue de la Michodière.
-Five or six women in silk dresses, looking very coquettish with their
-frizzed chignons and crinolines drawn back, were moving about, talking.
-One, tall and thin, with a long head, having a runaway-horse appearance,
-was leaning against a cupboard, as if already knocked up with fatigue.
-
-“Madame Aurélie?” inquired Denise.
-
-The saleswoman looked at her without replying, with an air of disdain
-for her shabby dress, then turning to one of her friends, a short girl
-with a sickly white skin and an innocent and disgusted appearance, she
-asked: “Mademoiselle Vadon, do you know where Madame Aurélie is?”
-
-The young girl, who was arranging some mantles according to their sizes,
-did not even take the trouble to raise her head. “No, Mademoiselle
-Prunaire, I don't know at all,” replied she in a mincing tone.
-
-A silence ensued. Denise stood still, and no one took any further notice
-of her. However, after waiting a moment, she ventured to put another
-question: “Do you think Madame Aurélie will be back soon?”
-
-The second-hand, a thin, ugly woman, whom she had not noticed before,
-a widow with a projecting jaw-bone and coarse hair, cried out from a
-cupboard, where she was checking some tickets: “You'd better wait if
-you want to speak to Madame Aurélie herself.” And, addressing another
-saleswoman, she added: “Isn't she downstairs?”
-
-“No, Madame Frédéric, I don't think so,” replied the young lady. “She
-said nothing before going, so she can't be far off.”
-
-Denise, thus instructed, remained standing. There were several chairs
-for the customers; but as they had not told her to sit down, she did
-not dare to take one, although she felt ready to drop with fatigue. All
-these ladies had evidently put her down as an applicant for the vacancy,
-and they were taking stock of her, pulling her to pieces ill-naturedly,
-with the secret hostility of people at table who do not like to close up
-to make room for hungry outsiders. Her confusion increased; she crossed
-the room quietly and looked out of the window into the street, just
-for something to do. Opposite, The Old Elbeuf, with its rusty front and
-lifeless windows, appeared to her so ugly, so miserable, seen thus from
-amidst the luxury and life of her present standpoint, that a sort of
-remorse filled her already swollen heart with grief.
-
-“I say,” whispered tall Prunaire to little Vadon, “have you seen her
-boots?”
-
-“And her dress!” murmured the other.
-
-With her eyes still towards the street, Denise felt herself being
-devoured. But she was not angry; she did not think them handsome,
-neither the tall one with her carroty chignon falling over her
-horse-like neck, nor the little one with her sour milk complexion, which
-gave her flat and, as it were, boneless face a flabby appearance. Clara
-Primaire, daughter of a clogmaker in the forest of Vilet, debauched by
-the footmen at the Château de Mareuil, where the countess engaged her as
-needlewoman, had come later on from a shop at Langres, and was avenging
-herself in Paris on the men for the kicks with which her father had
-regaled her when at home. Marguerite Vadon, born at Grenoble, where
-her parents kept a linen shop, had been obliged to come to The Ladies'
-Paradise to conceal an accident she had met with--a brat which had made
-its appearance one day. She was a well-conducted girl, and intended
-to return to Grenoble to take charge of her parents' shop, and marry a
-cousin who was waiting for her.
-
-“Well,” resumed Clara, in a low voice, “there's a girl who won't do much
-good here!”
-
-But they stopped talking. A woman of about forty-five came in. It was
-Madame Aurélie, very stout, tightly laced in her black silk dress, the
-body of which, strained over her massive shoulders and full bust, shone
-like a piece of armour. She had, under very dark folds of hair, great
-fixed eyes, a severe mouth, and large and rather drooping cheeks; and in
-the majesty of her position as first-hand, her face assumed the bombast
-of a puffy mask of Cæsar, “Mademoiselle Vadon,” said she, in an
-irritated voice, “you didn't return the pattern of that mantle to the
-workroom yesterday, it seems?”
-
-“There was an alteration to make, madame,” replied the saleswoman, “so
-Madame Frédéric kept it.”
-
-The second-hand then took the pattern out of a cupboard, and the
-explanation continued. Every one gave way to Madame Aurélie, when she
-thought it necessary to assert her authority. Very vain, even going so
-far as not to wish to be called by her real name, Lhomme, which annoyed
-her, and to deny her father's humble position, always referring to him
-as a regularly established tailor, she was only gracious towards those
-young ladies who showed themselves flexible and caressing, bowing down
-in admiration before her. Some time previously, whilst she was trying
-to establish herself in a shop of her own, her temper had become sour,
-continually thwarted by the worst of luck, exasperated to feel herself
-born to fortune and to encounter nothing but a series of catastrophes;
-and now, even after her success at The Ladies' Paradise, where she
-earned twelve thousand francs a year, it seemed that she still nourished
-a secret spite against every one, and she was very hard with beginners,
-as life had shown itself hard for her at first.
-
-“That will do!” said she, sharply; “you are no more reasonable than the
-others, Madame Frédéric. Let the alteration be made immediately.”
-
-During this explanation, Denise had ceased to look into the street
-She had no doubt this was Madame Aurélie; but, frightened at her
-sharp voice, she remained standing, still waiting. The two saleswomen,
-delighted to have set their two superiors at variance, had returned to
-their work with an air of profound indifference. A few minutes
-elapsed, nobody being charitable enough to draw the young girl from her
-uncomfortable position. At last, Madame Aurélie herself perceived her,
-and astonished to see her standing there without moving, asked her what
-she wanted.
-
-“Madame Aurélie, please.”
-
-“I am Madame Aurélie.”
-
-Denise's mouth became dry and parched, and her hands cold; she felt some
-such fear as when she was a child and trembled at the thought of being
-whipped. She stammered out her request, but was obliged to repeat it to
-make herself understood. Madame Aurélie looked at her with her great
-fixed eyes, not a line of her imperial mask deigning to relax, “How old
-are you?”
-
-“Twenty, madame.”
-
-“What, twenty years old? you don't look sixteen!”
-
-The saleswomen again raised their heads. Denise hastened to add: “Oh,
-I'm very strong!”
-
-Madame Aurélie shrugged her broad shoulders, then coldly declared:
-“Well! I don't mind entering your name. We enter the names of all those
-who apply. Mademoiselle Prunaire, give me the book.”
-
-But the book could not be found; Jouve, the inspector had probably got
-it. As tall Clara was going to fetch it, Mouret arrived, still followed
-by Bourdoncle. They had made the tour of the other departments--the
-lace, the shawls, the furs, the furniture, the under-linen, and were
-winding up with the dresses. Madame Aurélie left Denise a moment to
-speak to them about an order for some cloaks she thought of giving to
-one of the large Paris houses; as a rule, she bought direct, and on
-her own responsibility; but, for important purchases, she preferred
-consulting the chiefs of the house. Bourdoncle then related her son
-Albert's latest act of carelessness, which seemed to fill her with
-despair. That boy would kill her; his father, although not a man of
-talent, was at least well-conducted, careful, and honest. All this
-dynasty of Lhommes, of which she was the acknowledged head, very often
-caused her a great deal of trouble. However, Mouret, surprised to see
-Denise again, bent down to ask Madame Aurélie what the young lady was
-doing there; and, when the first-hand replied that she was applying for
-a saleswoman's situation, Bourdoncle, with his disdain for women, seemed
-suffocated at this pretension.
-
-“You don't mean it,” murmured he; “it must be a joke, she's too ugly!”
-
-“The fact is, there's nothing handsome about her,” said Mouret, not
-daring to defend her, although still moved by the rapture she had
-displayed downstairs before his arrangement of silks.
-
-But the book having been brought in, Madame Aurélie returned to Denise,
-who had certainly not made a favourable impression. She looked very
-clean in her thin black woollen dress; the question of shabbiness was
-of no importance, as the house furnished a uniform, the regulation silk
-dress; but she appeared rather weak and puny, and had a melancholy face.
-Without insisting on handsome girls, one liked them to be of agreeable
-appearance for the sale rooms. And beneath the gaze of all these ladies
-and gentlemen who were studying her, weighing her like farmers would a
-horse at a fair, Denise completely lost countenance.
-
-“Your name?” asked Madame Aurélie, at the end of a counter, pen in hand,
-ready to write.
-
-“Denise Baudu, madame.”
-
-“Your age?”
-
-“Twenty years and four months.” And she repeated, risking a glance at
-Mouret, at this supposed manager, whom she met everywhere and whose
-presence troubled her so: “I don't look like it, but I am really very
-strong.”
-
-They smiled. Bourdoncle showed evident signs of impatience; her remark
-fell, moreover, amidst a most discouraging silence.
-
-“What house have you been in, in Paris?” resumed Madame Aurélie.
-
-“I've just arrived from Valognes.”
-
-This was a fresh disaster. As a rule, The Ladies' Paradise only took
-saleswomen with a year's experience in one of the small houses in Paris.
-Denise thought all was lost; and, had it not been for the children,
-had she not been obliged to work for them, she would have closed this
-useless interview and left the place. “Where were you at Valognes?”
-
-“At Cornaille's.”
-
-“I know him--good house,” remarked Mouret.
-
-It was very rarely that he interfered in the engagement of the
-employees, the manager of each department being responsible for his
-staff. But with his delicate appreciation of women, he divined in this
-young girl a hidden charm, a wealth of grace, and tenderness of which
-she herself was ignorant. The good name enjoyed by the house in which
-the candidate had started was of great importance, often deciding the
-question in his or her favour. Madame Aurélie continued, in a kinder
-tone: “And why did you leave Cornaille's?”
-
-“For family reasons,” replied Denise, turning scarlet “We have lost
-our parents, I have been obliged to follow my brothers. Here is a
-certificate.”
-
-It was excellent Her hopes were reviving, when another question troubled
-her.
-
-“Have you any other references in Paris? Where do you live?”
-
-“At my uncle's,” murmured she, hesitating about naming him, fearing
-they would never take the niece of a competitor. “At my uncle Baudu's,
-opposite.”
-
-At this, Mouret interfered a second time. “What! are you Baudu's niece?
-Is it Baudu who sent you here?”
-
-“Oh! no, sir!”
-
-And she could not help laughing, the idea appeared to her so singular.
-It was a transfiguration; she became quite rosy, and the smile round
-her rather large mouth lighted up her whole face. Her grey eyes sparkled
-with a tender flame, her cheeks filled with delicious dimples, and even
-her light hair seemed to partake of the frank and courageous gaiety that
-pervaded her whole being.
-
-“Why, she's really pretty,” whispered Mouret to Bourdoncle.
-
-The partner refused to admit it, with a gesture of annoyance. Clara
-bit her lips, and Marguerite turned away; but Madame Aurélie seemed won
-over, and encouraged Mouret with a nod when he resumed: “Your uncle was
-wrong not to bring you; his recommendation sufficed. They say he has a
-grudge against us. We are people of more liberal minds, and if he can't
-find employment for his niece in his house, why we will show him that
-she has only to knock at our door to be received. Just tell him I still
-like him very much, and that he must blame, not me, but the new style
-of business. Tell him, too, that he will ruin himself if he insists on
-keeping to his ridiculous old-fashioned ways.”
-
-Denise turned quite white again. It was Mouret; no one had mentioned his
-name, but he had revealed himself, and now she guessed who it was, she
-understood why this young man had caused her such emotion in the street,
-in the silk department, and again now. This emotion, which she could not
-analyse, pressed on her heart more and more, like a too-heavy weight.
-All the stories related by her uncle came back to her, increasing
-Mouret's importance, surrounding him with a sort of halo, making of him
-the master of the terrible machine by whose wheels she had felt
-herself being seized all the morning. And, behind his handsome face,
-well-trimmed beard, and eyes of the colour of old gold, she beheld the
-dead woman, that Madame Hédouin, whose blood had helped to cement the
-stones of the house. The shiver she had felt the previous night again
-seized her; and she thought she was merely afraid of him.
-
-Meanwhile, Madame Aurélie had closed the book. She only wanted one
-saleswoman, and she already had ten applications. But she was too
-anxious to please the governor to hesitate for a moment. However, the
-application would follow its course, Jouve, the inspector, would go
-and make enquiries, send in his report, and then she would come to a
-decision.
-
-“Very good, mademoiselle,” said she majestically, to preserve her
-authority; “we will write to you.”
-
-Denise stood there, unable to move for a moment, hardly knowing how to
-take her leave in the midst of all these people. At last she thanked
-Madame Aurélie, and on passing by Mouret and Bourdoncle, she bowed.
-These gentlemen, occupied in examining the pattern of a mantle with
-Madame Frédéric, did not take the slightest notice. Clara looked in a
-vexed way towards Marguerite, as if to predict that the new comer would
-not have a very pleasant time of it in the place. Denise doubtless felt
-this indifference and rancour behind her, for she went downstairs with
-the same troubled feeling she had on going up, asking herself whether
-she ought to be sorry or glad to have come. Could she count on having
-the situation? She did not even know that, her uncomfortable state
-having prevented her understanding clearly. Of all her sensations, two
-remained and gradually effaced all the others--the emotion, almost
-the fear, inspired in her by Mouret, and Hutin's amiability, the only
-pleasure she had enjoyed the whole morning, a souvenir of charming
-sweetness which filled her with gratitude. When she crossed the shop to
-go out she looked for the young man, happy at the idea of thanking him
-again with her eyes; and she was very sorry not to see him.
-
-“Well, mademoiselle, have you succeeded?” asked a timid voice, as she at
-last stood on the pavement outside. She turned round and recognised the
-tall, awkward young fellow who had spoken to her in the morning. He also
-had just come out of The Ladies' Paradise, appearing more frightened
-than she did, still bewildered with the examination he had just passed
-through.
-
-“I really don't know yet, sir,” replied she.
-
-“You're like me, then. What a way of looking at and talking to you they
-have in there--eh? I'm applying for a place in the lace department I was
-at Crèvecour's in the Rue du Mail.”
-
-They were once more standing facing each other; and, not knowing how
-to take leave, they commenced to blush. Then the young man, just for
-something to say in the excess of his timidity, ventured to ask in his
-good-natured, awkward way: “What is your name, mademoiselle?”
-
-“Denise Baudu.”
-
-“My name is Henri Deloche.”
-
-Now they smiled, and, yielding to the fraternity of their positions,
-shook each other by the hand.
-
-“Good luck!”
-
-“Yes, good luck!”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-Every Saturday, between four and six, Madame Desforges offered a cup of
-tea and a few cakes to those friends who were kind enough to visit her.
-She occupied the third floor of a house at the corner of the Rue de
-Rivoli and the Rue d'Alger; and the windows of both drawing-rooms
-overlooked the Tuileries Gardens. This Saturday, just as a footman was
-about to introduce him into the principal drawing-room, Mouret perceived
-from the anteroom, through an open door, Madame Desforges, who was
-crossing the little drawing-room. She stopped on seeing him, and he went
-in that way, bowing to her with a ceremonious air. But when the footman
-had closed the door, he quickly seized the young woman's hand, and
-tenderly kissed it.
-
-“Take care, I have company!” she said, in a low voice, glancing towards
-the door of the larger room. “I've just been to fetch this fan to show
-them,” and she playfully tapped him on the face with the tip of the fan.
-She was dark, rather stout, with big jealous eyes.
-
-But he still held her hand and asked: “Will he come?”
-
-“Certainly,” replied she. “I have his promise.”
-
-Both of them referred to Baron Hartmann, director of the Crédit
-Immobilier. Madame Desforges, daughter of a Councillor of State, was
-the widow of a stock-broker, who had left her a fortune, denied by some,
-exaggerated by others. Even during her husband's lifetime people said
-she had shown herself grateful towards Baron Hartmann, whose financial
-tips had proved very useful to them; and later on, after her husband's
-death, the acquaintance had probably continued, but always discreetly,
-without imprudence or display; for she never courted notoriety in any
-way, and was received everywhere in the upper-middle classes amongst
-whom she was born. Even at this time, when the passion of the banker, a
-sceptical, crafty man, had subsided into a simple paternal affection, if
-she permitted herself certain lovers whom he tolerated, she displayed
-in these treasons of the heart such a delicate reserve and tact, a
-knowledge of the world so adroitly applied, that appearances were saved,
-and no one would have ventured to openly express any doubt as to
-her conduct Having met Mouret at a mutual friend's, she had at first
-detested him; but she had yielded to him later on, as if carried away by
-the violent love with which he attacked her, and since he had commenced
-to approach Baron Hartmann through her, she had gradually got to love
-him with a real profound tenderness, adoring him with the violence of a
-woman already thirty-five, although only acknowledging twenty-nine,
-and in despair at feeling him younger than herself, trembling lest she
-should lose him.
-
-“Does he know about it?”
-
-“No, you'll explain the affair to him yourself,” she replied.
-
-She looked at him, thinking that he couldn't know anything or he would
-not employ her in this way with the baron, affecting to consider him
-simply as an old friend of hers. But he still held her hand, he called
-her his good Henriette, and she felt her heart melting. Silently she
-presented her lips, pressed them to his, then whispered: “Oh, they're
-waiting for me. Come in behind me.”
-
-They could hear voices issuing from the principal drawingroom, deadened
-by the heavy curtains. She pushed the door, leaving its two folds open,
-and handed the fan to one of the four ladies who were seated in the
-middle of the room.
-
-“There it is,” said she; “I didn't know exactly where it was. My maid
-would never have found it.” And she added in her cheerful way: “Come in,
-Monsieur Mouret, come through the little drawing-room; it will be less
-solemn.”
-
-Mouret bowed to the ladies whom he knew. The drawingroom, with its
-flowered brocatel Louis XVI. furniture, gilded bronzes and large green
-plants, had a tender feminine air, notwithstanding the height of the
-ceiling; and through the two windows could be seen the chestnut trees in
-the Tuileries Gardens, their leaves blowing about in the October wind.
-
-“But it isn't at all bad, this Chantilly!” exclaimed Madame Bourdelais,
-who had taken the fan.
-
-She was a short fair woman of thirty, with a delicate nose and sparkling
-eyes, an old school-fellow of Henriette's, and who had married a chief
-clerk in the Treasury. Of an old middle-class family, she managed her
-household and three children with a rare activity and good grace, and an
-exquisite knowledge of practical life.
-
-“And you paid twenty-five francs for it?” resumed she, examining each
-mesh of the lace. “At Luc, I think you said, to a country woman? No, it
-isn't dear; but you had to get it mounted, hadn't you?”
-
-“Of course,” replied Madame Desforges. “The mounting cost me two hundred
-francs.”
-
-Madame Bourdelais began to laugh. And that was what Henriette called a
-bargain! Two hundred francs for a plain ivory mount, with a monogram!
-And that for a simple piece of Chantilly, over which she had saved five
-francs, perhaps. Similar fans could be had ready, mounted for a hundred
-and twenty francs, and she named a shop in the Rue Poissonnière.
-
-However, the fan was handed round to all the ladies. Madame Guibal
-barely glanced at it. She was a tall, thin woman, with red hair, and
-a face full of indifference, in which her grey eyes, occasionally
-penetrating her unconcerned air, cast the terrible gleams of
-selfishness. She was never seen out with her husband, a barrister
-well-known at the Palais de Justice, who led, it was said, a pretty free
-life, dividing himself between his law business and his pleasures.
-
-“Oh,” murmured she, passing the fan to Madame de Boves, “I've scarcely
-bought one in my life. One always receives too many of such things.”
-
-The countess replied with delicate malice: “You are fortunate, my dear,
-in having a gallant husband.” And bending over to her daughter, a tall
-girl of twenty, she added: “Just look at the monogram, Blanche. What
-pretty work! It's the monogram that must have increased the price like
-that.”
-
-Madame de Boves had just turned forty. She was a superb woman, with the
-neck of a goddess, a large regular face, and big sleepy eyes, whom her
-husband, Inspector-General of the Stud, had married for her beauty. She
-appeared quite moved by the delicacy of the monogram, as if seized with
-a desire the emotion of which made her turn pale, and turning round
-suddenly, she continued: “Give us your opinion, Monsieur Mouret. Is it
-too dear--two hundred francs for this mount?”
-
-Mouret had remained standing in the midst of the five women, smiling,
-taking an interest in what interested them. He picked up the fan,
-examined it, and was about to give his opinion, when the footman opened
-the door and announced:
-
-“Madame Marty.”
-
-And there entered a thin, ugly woman, ravaged with the small-pox,
-dressed with a complicated elegance. She was of uncertain age, her
-thirty-five years appearing sometimes equal to thirty, and sometimes to
-forty, according to the intensity of the nervous fever which agitated
-her. A red leather bag, which she had not let go, hung from her right
-hand.
-
-“Dear madame,” said she to Henriette, “excuse me bringing my bag. Just
-fancy, as I was coming along I went into The Paradise, and as I have
-again been very extravagant, I did not like to leave it in my cab
-for fear of being robbed.” But having perceived Mouret, she resumed
-laughingly: “Ah! sir, I didn't mean to give you an advertisement, for I
-didn't know you were here. But you really have some extraordinary fine
-lace just now.”
-
-This turned the attention from the fan, which the young man laid on the
-table. The ladies were all anxious to see what Madame Marty had
-bought. She was known to be very extravagant, totally unable to resist
-temptation, strict in her conduct and incapable of yielding to a lover,
-but weak and cowardly, easily conquered before the least bit of finery.
-Daughter of a city clerk, she was ruining her husband, a master at the
-Lycée Bonaparte, who was obliged to double his salary of six thousand
-francs a year by giving private lessons, in order to meet the constantly
-increasing household expenses. She did not open her bag, but held it
-tight on her lap, and commenced to talk about her daughter Valentine,
-fourteen years old, one of her dearest coquetries, for she dressed her
-like herself, with all the fashionable novelties of which she submitted
-to the irresistible seduction.
-
-“You know,” she said, “they are making dresses trimmed with a
-narrow lace for young girls this winter. So when I saw a very pretty
-Valenciennes----”
-
-And she at last decided to open her bag. The ladies were stretching out
-their necks, when, in the midst of the silence, the door-bell was heard.
-
-“It's my husband,” stammered Madame Marty, very confused. “He promised to
-fetch me on leaving the Lycée Bonaparte.”
-
-She quickly shut the bag again, and put it under her chair with an
-instinctive movement. All the ladies set up a laugh. This made her
-blush for her precipitation, and she put the bag on her knees again,
-explaining that men never understood, and that they need not know.
-
-“Monsieur de Boves, Monsieur de Vallagnosc,” announced the footman.
-
-It was quite a surprise. Madame de Boves herself did not expect her
-husband. The latter, a fine man, wearing a moustache and an imperial
-with the military correctness so much liked at the Tuileries, kissed
-the hand of Madame Desforges, whom he had known as a young girl at her
-father's. And he made way to allow his companion, a tall, pale fellow,
-of an aristocratic poverty of blood, to make his bow to the lady of the
-house. But the conversation had hardly recommenced when two exclamations
-were heard:
-
-“What! Is that you, Paul?”
-
-“Why, Octave!”
-
-Mouret and Vallagnosc then shook hands, much to Madame Desforges's
-surprise. They knew each other, then? Of course, they had grown up side
-by side at the college at Plassans, and it was quite by chance they had
-not met at her house before. However, with their hands still united,
-they went into the little drawing-room, just as the servant brought in
-the tea, a china service on a silver waiter, which he placed near Madame
-Desforges, on a small round marble table with a light copper mounting.
-The ladies drew up and began talking louder, all speaking at once,
-producing a cross-fire of short disjointed sentences; whilst Monsieur
-de Boves, standing up behind them, put in an occasional word with the
-gallantry of a handsome functionary. The vast room, so prettily and
-cheerfully furnished, became merrier still with these gossiping voices,
-and the frequent laughter.
-
-“Ah! Paul, old boy,” repeated Mouret.
-
-He was seated near Vallagnosc, on a sofa. And alone in the little
-drawing-room, very coquettish with its pretty silk hangings, out of
-hearing of the ladies, and not even seeing them, except through the open
-door, the two old friends commenced grinning, examining each other's
-looks, exchanging slaps on the knees. Their whole youthful career was
-recalled, the old college at Plassans, with its two courtyards, its
-damp classrooms, and the dining-room in which they had consumed so much
-cod-fish, and the dormitories where the pillows used to fly from bed
-to bed as soon as the monitor began to snore. Paul, belonging to an old
-parliamentary family, noble, poor, and proud, was a good scholar,
-always at the top of his class, continually held up as an example by
-the master, who prophesied for him a brilliant future; whilst Octave
-remained at the bottom, stuck amongst the dunces, fat and jolly,
-indulging in all sorts of pleasures outside. Notwithstanding the
-difference in their characters, a fast friendship had rendered them
-inseparable, until their final examinations, which they passed, the one
-with honours, the other in a passable manner after two vexatious trials.
-Then they went out into the world, and had now met again, after ten
-years, already changed and looking older.
-
-“Well,” said Mouret, “what's become of you?”
-
-“Nothing at all,” replied the other.
-
-Vallagnosc, in the joy of their meeting, retained his tired and
-disenchanted air; and as his friend, astonished, insisted, saying: “But
-you must do something. What do you do?”
-
-“Nothing,” replied he.
-
-Octave commenced to laugh. Nothing! that wasn't enough. Little by little
-he succeeded in drawing Paul out to tell his story. It was the usual
-story of penniless younger sons, who think themselves obliged by their
-birth to choose a liberal profession, burying themselves in a sort
-of vain mediocrity, happy to escape starvation, notwithstanding their
-numerous degrees. He had studied law by a sort of family tradition; and
-had since remained a burden on his widowed mother, who even then hardly
-knew how to dispose of her two daughters. Having at last got quite
-ashamed, he left the three women to vegetate on the remnants of their
-fortune, and accepted an appointment in the Ministry of the Interior,
-where he buried himself like a mole in its hole.
-
-“What do you get there?” resumed Mouret.
-
-“Three thousand francs.”
-
-“But that's pitiful pay! Ah! old man, I'm really sorry for you. What! a
-clever fellow like you, who floored all of us I And they only give you
-three thousand francs a year, after having already ground you down for
-five years! No, it isn't right!” He interrupted himself, and returned to
-his own doings. “As for me, I made them a humble bow. You know what I'm
-doing?”
-
-“Yes,” said Vallagnosc, “I heard you were in business. You've got that
-big place in the Place Gaillon, haven't you?”
-
-“That's it. Counter-jumper, my boy!”
-
-Mouret raised his head, again slapped him on the knee, and repeated,
-with the solid gaiety of a fellow who did not blush for the trade by
-which he was making his fortune:
-
-“Counter-jumper, and no mistake! You remember, no doubt, I didn't bite
-much at their machines, although at heart I never thought myself duller
-than the others. When I took my degree, just to please the family, I
-could have become a barrister or a doctor quite as easily as any of my
-school-fellows, but those trades frightened me. I saw so many who were
-starving at them that I just threw them over without the least regret,
-and pitched head-first into business.”
-
-Vallognosc smiled with an awkward air, and ultimately said: “It's very
-certain your degree can't be much good to you for selling calico.”
-
-“Well!” replied Mouret, joyously, “all I ask is, that it shall not stand
-in my way, and you know, when one has been stupid enough to burden one's
-self with it, it is difficult to get rid of it. One goes at a tortoise's
-pace through life, whilst those who are bare-footed run like madmen.”
- Then, noticing that his friend seemed troubled, he took his hand in
-his, and continued: “Come, come, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but
-confess that your degrees have not satisfied any of your wants. Do you
-know that my manager in the silk department will draw more than twelve
-thousand francs this year. Just so! a fellow of very clear intelligence,
-whose knowledge is confined to spelling, and the first four rules. The
-ordinary salesmen in my place make from three to four thousand francs
-a year, more than you can earn yourself; and their education was not so
-expensive as yours, nor were they launched into the world with a written
-promise to conquer it. Of course, it is not everything to make money;
-but between the poor devils possessed of a smattering of science who
-now block up the liberal professions, without earning enough to keep
-themselves from starving, and the practical fellows armed for life's
-struggle, knowing every branch of their trade, by Jove! I don't hesitate
-a moment, I'm for the latter against the former, I think they thoroughly
-understand the age they live in!”
-
-His voice had become impassioned. Henriette, who was pouring out the
-tea, turned her head. When he caught her smile, at the further end of
-the large drawing-room, and saw the other ladies were listening, he was
-the first to make merry over his own big phrases.
-
-“In short, old man, every counter-jumper who commences, has, at the
-present day, a chance of becoming a millionaire.”
-
-Vallagnosc threw himself back on the sofa indolently, half-closing his
-eyes in a fatigued and disdainful attitude, in which a suspicion of
-affectation was added to his real hereditary exhaustion.
-
-“Bah!” murmured he, “life isn't worth all that trouble. There is nothing
-worth living for.” And as Mouret, shocked, looked at him with an air of
-surprise, he added: “Everything happens and nothing happens; one may as
-well stay with one's arms folded.”
-
-He then explained his pessimism--the mediocrities and the abortions of
-existence. For a time he had thought of literature, but his intercourse
-with certain poets had filled him with universal despair. He always
-arrived at the conclusion that all effort was useless, every hour
-equally weary and empty, and the world incurably stupid and dull. All
-enjoyment was a failure, and there was no pleasure in wrong-doing even.
-
-“Just tell me, do you enjoy life yourself?” asked he at last.
-
-Mouret was now in a state of astonished indignation, and exclaimed:
-“What? Do I enjoy myself? What are you talking about? Why, of course
-I do, my boy, and even when things give way, for then I am furious at
-hearing them cracking. I am a passionate fellow myself, and don't
-take life quietly; that's what interests me in it perhaps.” He glanced
-towards the drawing-room, and lowered his voice. “Oh! there are some
-women who've bothered me awfully, I must confess. But when I've got hold
-of one, I keep her. She doesn't always escape me, and then I take my
-share, I assure you. But it is not so much the women, for to speak
-truly, I don't care a hang for them; it's the wish to act--to create, in
-short. You have an idea; you fight for it, you hammer it into people's
-heads, and you see it grow and triumph. Ah! yes, my boy, I enjoy life!”
-
-All the joy of action, all the gaiety of existence, resounded in these
-words. He repeated that he went with the times. Really, a man must be
-badly constituted, have his brain and limbs out of order, to refuse to
-work in an age of such vast undertakings, when the entire century was
-pressing forward with giant strides. And he laughed at the despairing
-ones, the disgusted ones, the pessimists, all those weak, sickly members
-of our budding sciences, who assumed the weeping airs of poets, or the
-mincing ways of sceptics, amidst the immense activity of the present
-day. A fine part to play, proper and intelligent, that of yawning before
-other people's labour!
-
-“That's my only pleasure, yawning in other's faces,” said Vallagnosc,
-smiling with his cold look.
-
-At this Mouret's passion subsided, and he became affectionate again.
-“Ah, Paul, you're not changed. Just as paradoxical as ever! However,
-we've not met to quarrel. Each one has his own ideas, fortunately. But
-you must come and see my machine at work; you'll see it isn't a bad
-idea. Come, what news? Your mother and sisters are quite well, I hope?
-And weren't you supposed to get married at Plassans, about six months
-ago?”
-
-A sudden movement made by Vallagnosc stopped him; and as the former was
-looking round the drawing-room with an anxious expression, Mouret
-also turned round, and noticed that Mademoiselle de Boves was closely
-watching them. Blanche, tall and stout, resembled her mother; but her
-face was already puffed out, her large, coarse features swollen with
-unhealthy fat. Paul, in reply to a discreet question, intimated that
-nothing was yet settled; perhaps nothing would be settled. He had made
-the young person's acquaintance at Madame Desforges's, where he had
-visited a good deal last winter, but where he very rarely came now,
-which explained why he had not met Octave there sooner. In their turn,
-the De Boves invited him, and he was especially fond of the father, a
-very amiable man, formerly well known about town, who had retired into
-his present position. On the other hand, no money. Madame de Boves
-having brought her husband nothing but her Juno-like beauty as a
-marriage portion, the family were living poorly on the last mortgaged
-farm, to which modest revenue was added, fortunately, the nine thousand
-francs a year drawn by the count as Inspector-General of the Stud.
-And the ladies, mother and daughter, kept very short of money by him,
-impoverished by tender escapades outside, were sometimes reduced to
-turning their dresses themselves.
-
-“In that case, why marry?” was Mouret's simple question.
-
-“Well! I can't go on like this for ever,” said Vallagnosc, with a weary
-movement of the eyelids. “Besides, there are certain expectations; we
-are waiting the death of an aunt.”
-
-However, Mouret still kept his eye on Monsieur de Boves, who, seated
-next to Madame Guibal, was most attentive, and laughing tenderly like
-a man on an amorous campaign; he turned to his friend with such a
-significant twinkle of the eye that the latter added:
-
-“Not that one. At least not yet. The misfortune is, that his duty calls
-him to the four corners of France, to the breeding depôts, so that he
-has continual pretexts for absenting himself. Last month, whilst his
-wife supposed him to be at Perpignan, he was living at an hotel, in an
-out-of-the-way neighbourhood, with a music-mistress.”
-
-There ensued a pause. Then the young man, who was also watching the
-count's gallantries towards Madame Guibal, resumed in a low tone:
-“Really, I think you are right. The more so as the dear lady is not
-exactly a saint, if all they say is true. There's a very amusing story
-about her and an officer. But just look at him! Isn't he comical,
-magnetising her with his eyes? The old-fashioned gallantry, my dear
-fellow! I adore that man, and if I marry his daughter, he can safely say
-it's for his sake!”
-
-Mouret laughed, greatly amused. He questioned Vallagnosc again, and when
-he found that the first idea of a marriage between him and Blanche came
-from Madame Desforges, he thought the story better still. That good
-Henriette took a widow's delight in marrying people, so much so, that
-when she had provided for the girls, she sometimes allowed their fathers
-to choose friends from her company; but all so naturally, with such a
-good grace, that no one ever found any food for scandal. And Mouret, who
-loved her with the love of an active, busy man, accustomed to reducing
-his tenderness to figures, forgot all his calculations of captivation,
-and felt for her a comrade's friendship.
-
-At that moment she appeared at the door of the little drawing-room,
-followed by a gentleman, about sixty years old, whose entry had not
-been observed by the two friends. Occasionally the ladies' voices became
-sharper, accompanied by the tinkling of the small spoons in the china
-cups; and there was heard, from time to time, in the interval of a
-short silence, the noise of a saucer laid down too roughly on the marble
-table. A sudden gleam of the setting sun, which had just emerged from
-behind a thick cloud, gilded the top of the chestnut-trees in the
-gardens, and streamed through the windows in a red, golden flame, the
-fire of which lighted up the brocatel and brass-work of the furniture.
-
-“This way, my dear baron,” said Madame Desforges. “Allow me to introduce
-Monsieur Octave Mouret, who is longing to express the admiration he
-feels for you.” And turning round towards Octave, she added: “Baron
-Hartmann.”
-
-[Illustration: 0077]
-
-A smile played on the old man's lips. He was a short, vigorous man, with
-a large Alsatian head, and a heavy face, which lighted up with a gleam
-of intelligence at the slightest curl of his mouth, the slightest
-movement of his eyelids. For the last fortnight he had resisted
-Henriette's wish that he should consent to this interview; not that he
-felt any immoderate jealousy, accepting, like a man of the world, his
-position of father; but because it was the third friend Henriette had
-introduced to him, and he was afraid of becoming ridiculous at last.
-So that on approaching Octave he put on the discreet smile of a rich
-protector, who, if good enough to show himself charming, does not
-consent to be a dupe.
-
-“Oh! sir,” said Mouret, with his Southern enthusiasm, “the Crédit
-Immobiliers last operation was really astonishing! You cannot think how
-happy and proud I am to know you.”
-
-“Too kind, sir, too kind,” repeated the baron, still smiling.
-
-Henriette looked at them with her clear eyes without any awkwardness,
-standing between the two, lifting her head, going from one to the other;
-and, in her lace dress, which revealed her delicate neck and wrists, she
-appeared delighted to see them so friendly together.
-
-“Gentlemen,” said she at last, “I leave you to your conversation.” Then,
-turning towards Paul, who had got up, she resumed: “Will you accept of a
-cup of tea, Monsieur de Vallagnosc?”
-
-“With pleasure, madame,” and they both returned to the drawing-room.
-
-Mouret resumed his place on the sofa, when Baron Hartmann had sat
-down; the young man then broke out in praise of the Crédit Immobiliers
-operations. From that he went on to the subject so near his heart,
-speaking of the new thoroughfare, of the lengthening of the Rue Reaumur,
-of which they were going to open a section under the name of the Rue du
-Dix-Décembre, between the Place de la Bourse and the Place de
-l'Opera. It had been declared a work of public utility eighteen months
-previously; the expropriation jury had just been appointed. The whole
-neighbourhood was excited about this new opening, anxiously awaiting the
-commencement of the work, taking an interest in the condemned houses.
-Mouret had been waiting three years for this work--first, in the
-expectation of an increase of business; secondly, with certain schemes
-of enlargement which he dared not openly avow, so extensive were his
-ideas. As the Rue du Dix-Décembre was to cut through the Rue de Choiseul
-and the Rue de la Michodière, he saw The Ladies' Paradise invading
-the whole block, surrounded by these streets and the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin; he already imagined it with a princely frontage in
-the new thoroughfare, lord and master of the conquered city. Hence his
-strong desire to make Baron Hartmann's acquaintance, when he learnt that
-the Crédit Immobilier had made a contract with the authorities to open
-and build the Rue du Dix-Décembre, on condition that they received the
-frontage ground on each side of the street.
-
-“Really,” repeated he, trying to assume a naïve look, “you'll hand over
-the street ready made, with sewers, pavements, and gas lamps. And the
-frontage ground will suffice to compensate you. Oh! it's curious, very
-curious!”
-
-At last he came to the delicate point. He was aware that the Crédit
-Immobilier was buying up the houses which surrounded The Ladies'
-Paradise, not only those which were to fall under the demolisher's
-hands, but the others as well, those which were to remain standing; and
-he suspected the projectment of some future establishment He was very
-anxious about the enlargements of which he continued to extend the
-dream, seized with fear at the idea of one day clashing with a powerful
-company, owning property which they certainly would not part with. It
-was precisely this fear which had decided him to establish a connection
-immediately between himself and the baron--the amiable connection of a
-woman, so powerful between men of a gallant nature. No doubt he could
-have seen the financier in his office, and talked over the affair in
-question at his ease; but he felt himself stronger in Henriette's house;
-he knew how much the mutual possession of a mistress serves to render
-men pliable and tender. To be both near her, within the beloved perfume
-of her presence, to have her ready to convince them with a smile, seemed
-to him a certainty of success.
-
-“Haven't you bought the old Hôtel Duvillard, that old building next to
-mine?” he asked suddenly.
-
-The baron hesitated a moment, and then denied it. But Mouret looked in
-his face and smiled, playing, from that moment, the part of a good young
-man, open-hearted, simple, and straightforward in business.
-
-“Look here, baron,” said he, “as I have the unexpected honour of meeting
-you, I must make a confession. Oh, I don't ask you any of your secrets,
-but I am going to entrust you with mine, certain that I couldn't place
-them in wiser hands. Besides, I want your advice. I have long wished to
-call and see you, but dared not do so.”
-
-He did make his confession, he related his start, not even concealing
-the financial crisis through which he was passing in the midst of his
-triumph. Everything was brought up, the successive enlargements, the
-profits continually put back into the business, the sums brought by his
-employees, the house risking its existence at every fresh sale, in which
-the entire capital was staked, as it were, on a single throw of the
-dice. However, it was not money he wanted, for he had a fanatic's faith
-in his customers; his ambition ran higher; he proposed to the baron a
-partnership, into which the Crédit Immobilier should bring the colossal
-palace he saw in his dreams, whilst he, for his part, would give his
-genius and the business already created. The estate could be valued,
-nothing appeared to him easier to realise.
-
-“What are you going to do with your land and buildings?” asked he,
-persistently. “You have a plan, no doubt. But I'm quite certain your
-idea is not so good as mine. Think of that. We build a gallery on the
-ground, we pull down or re-arrange the houses, and we open the most
-extensive establishment in Paris--a bazaar which will bring in
-millions.” And he let slip the fervent heartfelt exclamation: “Ah! if I
-could only do without you! But you get hold of everything now. Besides,
-I shall never have the necessary capital. Come, we must come to an
-understanding. It would be a crime not to do so.”
-
-“How you go ahead, my dear sir!” Baron Hartmann contented himself with
-replying. “What an imagination!”
-
-He shook his head, and continued to smile, determined not to return
-confidence for confidence. The intention of the Crédit Immobilier was
-to create in the Rue du Dix-Décembre a rival to the Grand Hôtel, a
-luxurious establishment, the central position of which would attract
-foreigners. At the same time, as the hôtel was only to occupy a certain,
-frontage, the baron could also have entertained Mouret's idea, and
-treated for the rest of the block of houses, occupying a vast surface.
-But he had already advanced funds to two of Henriette's friends, and
-he was getting tired of his position as complacent protector. Besides,
-notwithstanding his passion for activity, which prompted him to open his
-purse to every fellow of intelligence and courage, Mouret's commercial
-genius astonished more than captivated him. Was it not a fanciful,
-imprudent operation, this gigantic shop? Would he not risk a certain
-failure in thus enlarging out of all bounds the drapery trade? In short,
-he didn't believe in it; he refused.
-
-“No doubt the idea is attractive, but it's a poet's idea. Where would
-you find the customers to fill such a cathedral?” Mouret looked at
-him for a moment silently, as if stupefied at his refusal. Was it
-possible?--a man of such foresight, who smelt money at no matter what
-depth! And suddenly, with an extremely eloquent gesture, he pointed to
-the ladies in the drawing-room and exclaimed: “There are my customers!”
- The sun was going down, the golden-red flame was now but a pale light,
-dying away in a farewell gleam on the silk of the hangings and the
-panels of the furniture. At this approach of twilight, an intimacy
-bathed the large room in a sweet softness. While Monsieur de Boves and
-Paul de Vallagnosc were talking near one of the windows, their eyes
-wandering far away into the gardens, the ladies had closed up, forming
-in the middle of the room a narrow circle of petticoats, from which
-issued sounds of laughter, whispered words, ardent questions and
-replies, all the passion felt by woman for expenditure and finery. They
-were talking about dress, and Madame de Boves was describing a costume
-she had seen at a ball.
-
-“First of all, a mauve silk skirt, then over that flounces of old
-Alençon lace, twelve inches deep.”
-
-“Oh! is it possible!” exclaimed Madame Marty. “Some women are
-fortunate!”
-
-Baron Hartmann, who had followed Mouret's gesture, was looking at the
-ladies through the door, which was wide open. He was listening to them
-with one ear, whilst the young man, inflamed by the desire to convince
-him, went deeper into the question, explaining the mechanism of the new
-style of drapery business. This branch of commerce was now based on a
-rapid and continual turning over of the capital, which it was necessary
-to turn into goods as often as possible in the same year. Thus, that
-year his capital, which only amounted to five hundred thousand francs,
-had been turned over four times, and had thus produced business to
-the amount of two millions. But this was a mere trifle, which could
-be increased tenfold, for later on he certainly hoped to turn over the
-capital fifteen or twenty times in certain departments.
-
-“You will understand, baron, that the whole system lies in this. It
-is very simple, but it had to be found out. We don't want a very large
-working capital; our sole effort is to get rid as quickly as possible of
-our stock to replace it by another, which will give our capital as many
-times its interest. In this way we can content ourselves with a very
-small profit; as our general expenses amount to the enormous figure of
-sixteen per cent., and as we seldom make more than twenty per cent, on
-our goods, it is only a net profit of four per cent at most; but this
-will finish by bringing in millions when we can operate on considerable
-quantities of goods incessantly renewed. You follow me, don't you?
-nothing can be clearer.”
-
-The baron shook his head again. He who had entertained the boldest
-combinations, of whom people still quoted the daring flights at the time
-of the introduction of gas, still remained uneasy and obstinate.
-
-“I quite understand,” said he; “you sell cheap to sell a quantity, and
-you sell a quantity to sell cheap. But you must sell, and I repeat my
-former question: Whom will you sell to? How do you hope to keep up such
-a colossal sale?”
-
-The sudden burst of a voice, coming from the drawing-room, cut short
-Mouret's explanation. It was Madame Guibal, who was saying she would
-have preferred the flounces of old Alençon down the front only.
-
-“But, my dear,” said Madame de Boves, “the front was covered with it as
-well. I never saw anything richer.”
-
-“Ah, that's a good idea,” resumed Madame Desforges, “I've got several
-yards of Alençon somewhere; I must look them up for a trimming.”
-
-And the voices fell again, becoming nothing but a murmur. Prices were
-quoted, quite a traffic stirred up their desires, the ladies were buying
-lace by the mile.
-
-“Why!” said Mouret, when he could speak, “we can sell what we like when
-we know how to sell! There lies our triumph.”
-
-And with his southern spirit, he showed the new business at work in
-warm, glowing phrases which evoked whole pictures. First came the
-wonderful power of the piling up of the goods, all accumulated at one
-point, sustaining and pushing each other, never any stand-still, the
-article of the season always on hand; and from counter to counter the
-customer found herself seized, buying here the material, further on the
-cotton, elsewhere the mantle, everything necessary to complete her dress
-in fact, then falling into unforeseen purchases, yielding to her longing
-for the useless and the pretty. He then went on to sing the praises of
-the plain figure system. The great revolution in the business sprung
-from this fortunate inspiration. If the old-fashioned small shops were
-dying out it was because they could not struggle against the low prices
-guaranteed by the tickets. The competition was now going on under
-the very eyes of the public; a look into the windows enabled them to
-contrast the prices; every shop was lowering its rates, contenting
-itself with the smallest possible profit; no cheating, no stroke of
-fortune prepared long beforehand on an article sold at double its value,
-but current operations, a regular percentage on all goods, success
-depending solely on the orderly working of a sale all the larger from
-the fact of its being carried on in broad daylight. Was it not an
-astonishing creation? It was causing a revolution in the market,
-transforming Paris, for it was made of woman's flesh and blood.
-
-“I have the women, I don't care a hang for the rest!” said Mouret, in a
-brutal confession which passion snatched from him.
-
-At this cry Baron Hartmann appeared moved. His smile lost its touch of
-irony; he looked at the young man, won over gradually by his confidence,
-feeling a growing tenderness for him.
-
-“Hush!” murmured he, paternally, “they will hear you.”
-
-But the ladies were now all speaking at once, so excited that they
-weren't even listening to each other. Madame de Boves was finishing the
-description of a dinner-dress; a mauve silk tunic, draped and caught up
-by bows of lace; the bodice cut very low, with more bows of lace on the
-shoulders.
-
-“You'll see,” said she. “I am having a bodice made like it, with some
-satin----”
-
-“I,” interrupted Madame Bourdelais, “I wanted some velvet. Oh! such a
-bargain!”
-
-Madame Marty asked: “How much for the silk?”
-
-And off they started again, all together. Madame Guibal, Henriette, and
-Blanche were measuring, cutting out, and making up. It was a pillage of
-material, a ransacking of all the shops, an appetite for luxury which
-expended itself in toilettes longed for and dreamed of--such a happiness
-to find themselves in an atmosphere of finery, that they lived buried in
-it, as in the warm air necessary to their existence.
-
-Mouret, however, had glanced towards the other drawingroom, and in a few
-phrases whispered into the baron's ear, as if he were confiding to him
-one of those amorous secrets that men sometimes risk among themselves,
-he finished explaining the mechanism of modern commerce. And, above the
-facts already given, right at the summit, appeared the exploitation of
-woman. Everything depended on that, the capital incessantly renewed, the
-system of piling up goods, the cheapness which attracts, the marking
-in plain figures which tranquilises. It was for woman that all the
-establishments were struggling in wild competition; it was woman that
-they were continually catching in the snare of their bargains, after
-bewildering her with their displays. They had awakened new desires in
-her flesh; they were an immense temptation, before which she succumbed
-fatally, yielding at first to reasonable purchases of useful articles
-for the household, then tempted by their coquetry, then devoured. In
-increasing their business tenfold, in popularising luxury, they became
-a terrible spending agency, ravaging the households, working up the
-fashionable folly of the hour, always dearer. And if woman reigned
-in their shops like a queen, cajoled, flattered, overwhelmed with
-attentions, she was an amorous one, on whom her subjects traffic, and
-who pays with a drop of her blood each fresh caprice. Through the
-very gracefulness of his gallantry, Mouret thus allowed to appear the
-brutality of a Jew, selling woman by the pound. He raised a temple to
-her, had her covered with incense by a legion of shopmen, created the
-rite of a new religion, thinking of nothing but her, continually seeking
-to imagine more powerful seductions; and, behind her back, when he had
-emptied her purse and shattered her nerves, he was full of the secret
-scorn of a man to whom a woman had just been stupid enough to yield
-herself.
-
-“Once have the women on your side,” whispered he to the baron, and
-laughing boldly, “you could sell the very world.” Now the baron
-understood. A few sentences had sufficed, he guessed the rest, and such
-a gallant exploitation inflamed him, stirring up in him the memory of
-his past life of pleasure. His eyes twinkled in a knowing way, and
-he ended by looking with an air of admiration at the inventor of this
-machine for devouring the women. It was really clever. He made the same
-remark as Bourdoncle, suggested to him by his long experience: “You know
-they'll make you suffer for it.”
-
-But Mouret shrugged his shoulders in a movement of overwhelming disdain.
-They all belonged to him, were his property, and he belonged to none
-of them. After having drawn from them his fortune and his pleasure, he
-intended to throw them all over for those who might still find their
-account in them. It was the rational, cold disdain of a Southerner and a
-speculator.
-
-“Well! my dear baron,” asked he in conclusion, “will you join me? Does
-this affair appear possible to you?”
-
-The baron, half conquered, did not wish, however, to engage himself yet
-A doubt remained beneath the charm which was gradually operating on him.
-He was going to reply in an evasive manner, when a pressing call from
-the ladies spared him the trouble. Voices were repeating, amidst silvery
-laughter: “Monsieur Mouret! Monsieur Mouret!” And as the latter, annoyed
-at being interrupted, pretended not to hear, Madame de Boves, who had
-just got up, came as far as the door of the little drawing-room.
-
-“You are wanted, Monsieur Mouret. It isn't very gallant of you to bury
-yourself in a corner to talk over business.”
-
-He then decided to go, with an apparent good grace, an air of rapture
-which astonished the baron. Both rose up and passed into the other
-drawing-room.
-
-“But I am quite at your service, ladies,” said he on entering, a smile
-on his lips.
-
-He was greeted with a burst of triumph. He was obliged to go further
-forward; the ladies made room for him in their midst The sun had just
-gone down behind the trees in the gardens, the day was departing, a fine
-shadow was gradually invading the vast apartment. It was the tender hour
-of twilight, that minute of discreet voluptuousness in the Parisian
-houses, between the dying brightness of the street and the lighting of
-the lamps downstairs. Monsieur de Boves and Vallagnosc, still standing
-up before a window, threw a shadow on the carpet: whilst, motionless
-in the last gleam of light which came in by the other window, Monsieur
-Marty, who had quietly entered, and whom the conversation of these
-ladies about dress had completely confused, placed his poor profile, a
-frock-coat, scanty but clean, his face pale and wan from teaching.
-
-“Is your sale still fixed for next Monday?” Madame Marty was just
-asking.
-
-“Certainly, madame,” replied Mouret, in a soft, sweet voice, an actor's
-voice, which he assumed when speaking to women.
-
-Henriette then intervened. “We are all going, you know. They say you are
-preparing wonders.”
-
-“Oh! wonders!” murmured he, with an air of modest fatuity. “I simply try
-to deserve your patronage.”
-
-But they pressed him with questions: Madame Bourdelais, Madame Guibal,
-Blanche even wanted to know.
-
-“Come, give us some details,” repeated Madame de Boves, persistently.
-“You are making us die of curiosity.”
-
-And they were surrounding him, when Henriette observed that he had not
-even taken a cup of tea. It was distressing. Four of them set about
-serving him, but on condition that he would answer them afterwards.
-Henriette poured it out, Madame Marty held the cup, whilst Madame de
-Boves and Madame Bourdelais contended for the honour of sweetening it.
-Then, when he had declined to sit down, and commenced to drink his
-tea slowly, standing up in the midst of them, they all approached,
-imprisoning him in the narrow circle of their skirts; and with their
-heads raised, their eyes sparkling, they sat there smiling at him.
-
-“Your silk, your Paris Paradise, that all the papers are taking about?”
- resumed Madame Marty, impatiently.
-
-“Oh!” replied he, “an extraordinary article, coarse-grained, supple and
-strong. You'll see it, ladies, and you'll see it nowhere else, for we
-have bought the exclusive right of it.”
-
-“Really! a fine silk at five francs twelve sous!” said Madame
-Bourdelais, enthusiastic. “One cannot credit it.”
-
-Ever since the advertisement had appeared, this silk had occupied a
-considerable place in their daily life. They talked of it, promising
-themselves some of it, worked up with desire and doubt. And, beneath
-the gossiping curiosity with which they overwhelmed the young man, there
-appeared their various temperaments as buyers.
-
-Madame Marty, carried away by her rage for spending, took everything at
-The Ladies' Paradise, without choosing, just as the articles appeared;
-Madame Guibal walked about the shop for hours without ever buying
-anything, happy and satisfied to simply feast her eyes; Madame de Boves,
-short of money, always tortured by some immoderate wish, nourished a
-feeling of rancour against the goods she could not carry away; Madame
-Bourdelais, with the sharp eye of a careful practical housewife, made
-straight for the bargains, using the big establishments with such a
-clever housewife's skill that she saved a heap of money; and lastly,
-Henriette, who, very elegant, only procured certain articles there, such
-as gloves, hosiery, and her coarser linen.
-
-“We have other stuffs of astonishing cheapness and richness,” continued
-Mouret, with his musical voice. “For instance, I recommend you our
-Golden Grain, a taffeta of incomparable brilliancy. In the fancy silks
-there are some charming lines, designs chosen from among thousands by
-our buyer: and in velvets you will find an exceedingly rich collection
-of shades. I warn you that cloth will be greatly worn this year; you'll
-see our checks and our cheviots.”
-
-They had ceased to interrupt him, and narrowed the circle, their mouths
-half open with a vague smile, their eager faces close to his, as in a
-sudden rush of their whole being towards the tempter. Their eyes grew
-dim, a slight shudder ran through them. All this time he retained his
-calm, conquering air, amidst the intoxicating perfumes which their hair
-exhaled; and between each sentence he continued to sip a little of his
-tea, the aroma of which cooled those sharper odours, in which there
-was a particle of the savage. Before a captivating grace so thoroughly
-master of itself, strong enough to play with woman in this way without
-being overcome by the intoxication which she exhales, Baron Hartmann,
-who had not ceased to look at him, felt his admiration increasing.
-
-“So cloth will be worn?” resumed Madame Marty, whose ravished face
-sparkled with coquettish passion.
-
-Madame Bourdelais, who kept a cool look-out, said, in her turn: “Your
-sale of remnants takes place on Thursday, doesn't it? I shall wait. I
-have all my little ones to clothe.” And turning her delicate blonde head
-towards the mistress of the house: “Sauveur is still your dressmaker, I
-suppose?”
-
-“Yes,” replied Henriette, “Sauveur is very dear, but she is the only one
-in Paris who knows how to make a bodice. Besides, Monsieur Mouret may
-say what he likes, she has the prettiest designs, designs that are not
-seen anywhere else. I can't bear to see my dresses on every woman's
-back.”
-
-Mouret smiled discreetly at first. Then he intimated that Madame Sauveur
-bought her material at his shop; no doubt she went to the manufacturers
-direct for certain designs of which she acquired the sole right of sale;
-but for all black silks, for instance, she watched for The Paradise
-bargains, laying in a considerable stock, which she disposed of at
-double and treble the price she gave.
-
-“Thus I am quite sure her buyers will snap up all our Paris Paradise.
-Why should she go to the manufacturers and pay dearer for this silk
-than she would at my place? On my word of honour, we shall sell it at a
-loss.”
-
-This was a decisive blow for the ladies. The idea of getting goods below
-cost price awoke in them all the greed felt by women, whose enjoyment
-as buyers is doubled when they think they are robbing the tradesman. He
-knew them to be incapable of resisting anything cheap.
-
-“But we sell everything for nothing!” exclaimed he gaily, taking
-up Madame Desforges's fan, which was behind him on the table. “For
-instance, here's this fan. I don't know what it cost.”
-
-“The Chantilly lace was twenty-five francs, and the mounting cost two
-hundred,” said Henriette.
-
-“Well, the Chantilly isn't dear. However, we have the same at eighteen
-francs; as for the mount, my dear madame, it's a shameful robbery. I
-should not dare to sell one like it for more than ninety francs.”
-
-“Just what I said!” exclaimed Madame Bourdelais.
-
-“Ninety francs!” murmured Madame de Boves; “one must be very poor indeed
-to go without one at that price.”
-
-She had taken up the fan, and was again examining it with her daughter
-Blanche; and, on her large regular face, in her big sleepy eyes, there
-arose an expression of the suppressed and despairing longing of a
-caprice in which she could not indulge. The fan once more went the round
-of the ladies, amidst various remarks and exclamations. Monsieur de
-Boves and Vallagnosc, however, had left the window. Whilst the former
-had returned to his place behind Madame Guibal, the charms of whose bust
-he was admiring, with his correct and superior air, the young man was
-leaning over Blanche, endeavouring to find something agreeable to say.
-
-“Don't you think it rather gloomy, mademoiselle, this white mount and
-black lace?”
-
-“Oh,” replied she, gravely, not a blush colouring her inflated cheeks,
-“I once saw one made of mother-of-pearl and white lace. Something truly
-virginal!”
-
-Monsieur de Boves, who had doubtless observed the heartbroken, longing
-looks with which his wife was following the fan, at last added his word
-to the conversation. “These flimsy things don't last long, they soon
-break,” said he.
-
-“Of course they do!” declared Madame Guibal, with an air of
-indifference. “I'm tired of having mine mended.”
-
-For several minutes, Madame Marty, excited by the conversation, was
-feverishly turning her red leather bag about on her lap, for she had not
-yet been able to show her purchases. She was burning to display them,
-with a sort of sensual desire; and, suddenly forgetting her husband's
-presence, she took out a few yards of narrow lace wound on a piece of
-cardboard.
-
-“It's the Valenciennes for my daughter,” said she. “It's an inch and a
-half wide. Isn't it delicious? One franc eighteen sous.”
-
-The lace was passed from hand to hand. The ladies were astonished.
-Mouret assured them he sold these little trimmings at cost price.
-However, Madame Marty had closed the bag, as if to conceal certain
-things she could not show. But after the success obtained by the
-Valenciennes she was unable to resist the temptation of taking out a
-handkerchief.
-
-“There was this handkerchief as well. Real Brussels, my dear. Oh! a
-bargain! Twenty francs!”
-
-And after that the bag became inexhaustible, she blushed with pleasure,
-a modesty like that of a woman undressing herself made her appear more
-charming and embarrassed at each fresh article she took out. There was
-a Spanish blonde-lace cravat, thirty francs: she didn't want it, but the
-shopman had sworn it was the last, and that in future the price would
-be raised. Next came a Chantilly veil: rather dear, fifty francs; if she
-didn't wear it she could make it do for her daughter.
-
-“Really, lace is so pretty!” repeated she with her nervous laugh. “Once
-I'm inside I could buy everything.”
-
-“And this?” asked Madame de Boves, taking up and examining a remnant of
-Maltese lace.
-
-“That,” replied she, “is for an insertion. There are twenty-six yards--a
-franc the yard. Just fancy!”
-
-“But,” said Madame Bourdelais, surprised, “what are you going to do with
-it?”
-
-“I'm sure I don't know. But it was such a funny pattern!”
-
-At this moment she raised her eyes and perceived her terrified husband
-in front of her. He had turned paler than usual, his whole person
-expressed the patient, resigned anguish of a man assisting, powerless,
-at the reckless expenditure of his salary, so dearly earned. Every fresh
-bit of lace was for him a disaster; bitter days of teaching swallowed
-up, long journeys to pupils through the mud devoured, the continued
-effort of his life resulting in a secret misery, the hell of a
-necessitous household. Before the increasing wildness of his look, she
-wanted to catch up the veil, the cravat, and the handkerchief, moving
-her feverish hands about, repeating with forced laughter: “You'll get
-me a scolding from my husband. I assure you, my dear, I've been very
-reasonable; for there was a fine piece of point at five hundred francs,
-oh! a marvel!”
-
-“Why didn't you buy it?” asked Madame Guibal, calmly. “Monsieur Marty is
-the most gallant of men.”
-
-The poor professor was obliged to bow and say his wife was perfectly
-welcome. But the idea of this point at five hundred francs was like
-a lump of ice dripping down his back; and as Mouret was just at that
-moment affirming that the new shops increased the comfort of the
-middle-class households, he glared at him with a terrible expression,
-the flash of hatred of a timid man who would have throttled him had he
-dared.
-
-But the ladies had still kept hold of the bits of lace, fascinated,
-intoxicated. The pieces were unrolled, passed from one to the other,
-drawing the admirers closer still, holding them in the delicate
-meshes. On their laps there was a continual caress of this tissue,
-so miraculously fine, and amidst which their culpable fingers fondly
-lingered. They still kept Mouret a close prisoner, overwhelming him with
-fresh questions. As the day continued to decline, he was now and again
-obliged to bend his head, grazing their hair with his beard, to examine
-a stitch, or indicate a design. But in this soft voluptuousness of
-twilight, in the midst of this warm feminine atmosphere, Mouret still
-remained their master beneath the rapture he affected. He seemed, to be
-a woman himself, they felt themselves penetrated and overcome by this
-delicate sense of their secret that he possessed, and they abandoned
-themselves, captivated; whilst he, certain from that moment to have
-them at his mercy, appeared, brutally triumphing over them, the despotic
-monarch of dress.
-
-“Oh, Monsieur Mouret!” stammered they, in low, hysterical voices, in the
-gloom of the drawing-room.
-
-The last rays of the setting sun were dying away on the brass-work
-of the furniture. The laces alone retained a snowy reflex on the dark
-dresses of the ladies, of which the confused group seemed to surround
-the young man with a vague appearance of kneeling, worshipping women. A
-light still shone on the side of the silver teapot, a short flame like
-that of a night-light, burning in an alcove warmed by the perfume of the
-tea. But suddenly the servant entered with two lamps, and the charm was
-destroyed. The drawing-room became light and cheerful. Madame Marty was
-putting her lace in her little bag, Madame de Boves was eating a sponge
-cake, whilst Henriette who had got up, was talking in a half-whisper to
-the baron, near one of the windows.
-
-“He's a charming fellow,” said the baron.
-
-“Isn't he?” exclaimed she, with the involuntary cry of a woman in love.
-
-He smiled, and looked at her with a paternal indulgence. This was the
-first time he had seen her so completely conquered; and, too proud to
-suffer from it, he experienced nothing but a feeling of compassion on
-seeing her in the hands of this handsome fellow, so tender and yet so
-cold-hearted. He thought he ought to warn her, and murmured in a joking
-tone: “Take care, my dear, or he'll eat you all up.”
-
-A flash of jealousy lighted up Henriette's eyes. Perhaps she understood
-Mouret had simply made use of her to get at the baron; and she
-determined to render him mad with passion, he whose hurried style of
-making love had the easy charm of a song thrown to the four winds of
-heaven. “Oh,” said she, affecting to joke in her turn, “the lamb always
-finishes up by eating the wolf.”
-
-The baron, greatly amused, encouraged, her with a nod. Could she be the
-woman who was to avenge all the others?
-
-When Mouret, after having reminded Vallagnosc that he wanted to show him
-his machine at work, came up to take his leave, the baron retained him
-near the window opposite the gardens, now buried in darkness. He yielded
-at last to the seduction; his confidence had come on seeing him in the
-midst of these ladies. Both conversed for a moment in a low tone, then
-the banker said: “Well, I'll look into the affair. It's settled if your
-Monday's sale proves as important as you expect.”
-
-They shook hands, and Mouret, delighted, took his leave, for he did not
-enjoy his dinner unless he went and gave a look at the day's receipts at
-The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-The following Monday, the 10th of October, a clear, victorious sun
-pierced the grey clouds which had darkened Paris during the previous
-week. It had drizzled all the previous night, a sort of watery mist, the
-humidity of which dirtied the streets; but in the early morning, thanks
-to the sharp wind which was driving the clouds away, the pavement had
-become drier, and the blue sky had a limpid, spring-like gaiety.
-
-Thus The Ladies' Paradise, after eight o'clock, blazed forth beneath
-the clear rays of the sun, in all the glory of its great sale of winter
-novelties. Flags were flying at the door, and pieces of woollens were
-flapping about in the fresh morning air, animating the Place Gaillon
-with the bustle of a country fair; whilst in both streets the windows
-developed symphonies of displays, the clearness of the glass showing up
-still further the brilliant tones. It was like a debauch of colour,
-a street pleasure which burst forth there, a wealth of goods publicly
-displayed, where everybody could go and feast their eyes.
-
-But at this hour very few people entered, only a few rare customers,
-housewives of the neighbourhood, women desirous of avoiding the
-afternoon crush. Behind the stuffs which decorated it, one could feel
-the shop to be empty, under arms and waiting for customers, with its
-waxed floors and counters overflowing with goods.
-
-The busy morning crowd barely glanced at the windows, without lingering
-a moment. In the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin and in the Place Gaillon,
-where the carriages were to take their stand, there were only two cabs
-at nine o'clock. The inhabitants of the district, especially the small
-traders, stirred up by such a show of streamers and decorations, formed
-little groups in the doorways, at the corners of the streets, gazing at
-the shop, making bitter remarks. What most filled them with indignation
-was the sight of one of the four delivery vans just introduced by
-Mouret, which was standing in the Rue de la Michodière, in front of the
-delivery office. They were green, picked out with yellow and red, their
-brilliantly varnished panels sparkling in the sun with the brightness
-of purple and gold. This van, with its brand-new medley of colours,
-the name of the house painted on each side, and surmounted with an
-advertisement of the day's sale, finished by going off at a trot, drawn
-by a splendid horse, after being filled up with the previous night's
-parcels; and Baudu, who was standing on the threshold of The Old Elbeuf,
-watched it as far as the boulevard, where it disappeared, to spread all
-over Paris in a starry radiance the hated name of The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-However, a few cabs were arriving and forming a line.
-
-Every time a customer entered, there was a movement amongst the shop
-messengers, who were drawn up under the lofty doorway, dressed in livery
-consisting of a light green coat and trousers, and striped red and
-yellow waistcoat. Jouve, the inspector and retired captain, was also
-there, in a frock-coat and white tie, wearing his decoration like a
-sign of respectability and probity, receiving the ladies with a gravely
-polite air, bending over them to point out the departments. Then they
-disappeared in the vestibule, which was transformed into an oriental
-saloon.
-
-From the very threshold it was a marvel, a surprise, which enchanted all
-of them. It was Mouret who had been struck with this idea. He was the
-first to buy, in the Levant, at very advantageous rates, a collection of
-old and new carpets, articles which up to the present had only been sold
-at curiosity shops, at high prices; and he intended to flood the market
-with these goods, selling them at a little over cost price, simply
-drawing from them a splendid decoration destined to attract the best
-class of art customers to his establishment From the centre of the Place
-Gaillon could be seen this oriental saloon, composed solely of carpets
-and door curtains which had been hung under his orders. The ceiling was
-covered with a quantity of Smyrna carpets, the complicated designs of
-which stood out boldly on a red ground. Then from each side there hung
-Syrian and Karamanian door-curtains, speckled with green, yellow, and
-vermilion; Diarbekir door-curtains of a commoner type, rough to the
-touch, like shepherds' cloaks; besides these there were carpets which
-could be used as door-curtains and hangings--long Ispahan, Teheran,
-and Kermancha rugs, the larger Schoumaka and Madras carpets, a strange
-florescence of peonies and palms, the fancy let loose in a garden of
-dreams. On the floor were more carpets, a heap of greasy fleeces: in the
-centre was an Agra carpet, an extraordinary article with a white ground
-and a broad delicate blue border, through which ran violet-coloured
-ornaments of exquisite design. Everywhere there was an immense display
-of marvellous fabrics; Mecca carpets with a velvety reflection, prayer
-carpets from Daghestan with a symbolic point, Kurdistan carpets covered
-with blossoming flowers; and finally, piled up in a corner, a heap of
-Gherdes, Koula, and Kirchur rugs from fifteen francs a piece.
-
-This sumptuous pacha's tent was furnished with divans and arm-chairs,
-made with camel sacks, some ornamented with many-coloured lozenges,
-others with primitive roses. Turkey, Arabia, and the Indies were all
-there. They had emptied the palaces, plundered the mosques and bazaars.
-A barbarous gold tone prevailed in the weft of the old carpets,
-the faded tints of which still preserved a sombre warmth, as of an
-extinguished furnace, a beautiful burnt hue suggestive of the old
-masters. Visions of the East floated beneath the luxury of this
-barbarous art, amid the strong odour which the old wools had retained of
-the country of vermin and of the rising sun.
-
-In the morning at eight o'clock, when Denise, who was to commence on
-that very Monday, had crossed the oriental saloon, she stood there,
-lost in astonishment, unable to recognise the shop entrance, entirely
-overcome by this harem-like decoration planted at the door. A messenger
-having shown her to the top of the house, and handed her over to Madame
-Cabin, who cleaned and looked after the rooms, this person installed
-her in No. 7, where her box had already been put. It was a narrow
-cell, opening on the roof by a skylight, furnished with a small bed,
-a walnut-wood wardrobe, a toilet-table, and two chairs. Twenty similar
-rooms ran along the convent-like corridor, painted yellow; and, out of
-the thirty-five young ladies in the house, the twenty who had no friends
-in Paris slept there, whilst the remaining fifteen lodged outside, a
-few with borrowed aunts and cousins. Denise at once took off her shabby
-woollen dress, worn thin by brushing and mended at the sleeves, the only
-one she had brought from Valognes; she then put on the uniform of her
-department, a black silk dress which had been altered for her and which
-she found ready on the bed. This dress was still too large, too wide
-across the shoulders; but she was so hurried in her emotion that she
-paid no heed to these details of coquetry. She had never worn silk
-before. When she went downstairs again, dressed up, uncomfortable, she
-looked at the shining skirt, feeling ashamed of the noisy rustling of
-the silk.
-
-Down below, as she was entering her department, a quarrel burst out. She
-heard Clara say, in a shrill voice:
-
-“Madame, I came in before her.”
-
-“It isn't true,” replied Marguerite. “She pushed past me at the door,
-but I had already one foot in the room.”
-
-It was for the inscription on the list of turns, which regulated the
-sales. The saleswomen wrote their names on a slate in the order of their
-arrival, and whenever one of them had served a customer, she re-wrote
-her name beneath the others. Madame Aurélie finished by deciding in
-Marguerite's favour.
-
-“Always some injustice here!” muttered Clara, furiously. But Denise's
-entry reconciled these young ladies. They looked at her, then smiled to
-each other. How could a person truss herself up in that way! The young
-girl went and awkwardly wrote her name on the list, where she found
-herself last. Meanwhile, Madame Aurélie was examining her with an
-anxious face. She could not help saying:
-
-“My dear, two like you could get into your dress; you must have it taken
-in. Besides, you don't know how to dress yourself. Come here and let me
-arrange you a bit.”
-
-And she placed herself before one of the tall glasses alternating with
-the doors of the cupboards containing the dresses. The vast apartment,
-surrounded by these glasses and the wood-work in carved oak, the
-floor covered with red Wilton carpet of a large pattern, resembled the
-commonplace drawing-room of an hotel, traversed by a continual stream of
-travellers. The young ladies completed the resemblance, dressed in the
-regulation silk, promenading their commercial charms about, without ever
-sitting down on the dozen chairs reserved for the customers. All wore
-between two buttonholes of the body of their dresses, as if stuck in
-their bosoms, a long pencil, with its point in the air; and half out of
-their pockets, could be seen the white cover of the book of debit-notes.
-Several risked wearing jewellery--rings, brooches, chains; but their
-great coquetry, the luxury they all struggled for in the forced
-uniformity of their dress, was their bare hair, quantities of it,
-augmented by plaits and chignons when their own did not suffice, combed,
-curled, and decked out in every way.
-
-“Pull the waist down in front,” said Madame Aurélie. “There, you have
-now no hump on your back. And your hair, how can you massacre it like
-that? It would be superb, if you only took a little trouble.”
-
-This was, in fact, Denise's only beauty. Of a beautiful flaxen hue, it
-fell down to her ankles; and when she did it up, it was so troublesome
-that she simply rolled it in a knot, keeping it together under the
-strong teeth of a bone comb. Clara, greatly annoyed by this head of
-hair, affected to laugh at it, so strange did it look, twisted up anyhow
-in its savage grace. She made a sign to a saleswoman in the under-linen
-department, a girl with a large face and agreeable manner. The two
-departments, which were close together, were in continual hostility; but
-the young ladies sometimes joined together in laughing at other people.
-
-“Mademoiselle Cugnot, just look at that mane,” said Clara, whom
-Marguerite was nudging, feigning also to be on the point of bursting out
-laughing.
-
-But Mademoiselle Cugnot was not in the humour for joking. She had been
-looking at Denise for a moment, and she remembered what she had suffered
-herself during the first few months of her arrival in the establishment.
-
-“Well, what?” said she. “Everybody hasn't got a mane like that!”
-
-And she returned to her place, leaving the two others very crestfallen.
-Denise, who had heard all, followed her with a look of thanks, while
-Madame Aurélie gave our heroine a book of debit-notes with her name on
-it, saying: “To-morrow you'll get yourself up better; and, now, try and
-pick up the ways of the house, wait your turn for selling. To-day's
-work will be very hard; we shall be able to judge of your capabilities.”
- However, the department still remained deserted; very few customers came
-up at this early hour. The young ladies reserved themselves, prudently
-preparing for the fatigues of the afternoon. Denise, intimidated by the
-thought that they were watching her, sharpened her pencil, for the sake
-of something to do; then, imitating the others, she stuck it into
-her bosom, between two buttonholes, and summoned up all her courage,
-determined to conquer a position. The previous evening they had told her
-she entered as a probationer, that is to say without any fixed salary;
-she would simply have the commission and a certain allowance on
-everything she sold. But she fully hoped to earn twelve hundred francs a
-year in this way, knowing that the good saleswomen earned as much as
-two thousand, when they liked to take the trouble. Her expenses were
-regulated; a hundred francs a month would enable her to pay Pépé's
-board and lodging, assist Jean, who did not earn a sou, and procure some
-clothes and linen for herself. But, in order to attain this large sum,
-she would have to show herself industrious and pushing, taking no notice
-of the ill-will displayed by those around her, fighting for her share,
-even snatching it from her comrades if necessary. As she was thus
-working herself up for the struggle, a tall young man, passing the
-department, smiled at her; and when she saw it was Deloche, who had been
-engaged in the lace department the previous day, she returned his smile,
-happy at the friendship which thus presented itself, accepting this
-smile as a good omen.
-
-At half-past nine a bell rang for the first luncheon. Then a fresh peal
-announced the second; and still no customers appeared. The second-hand,
-Madame Frédéric, who, in her disagreeable widow's harshness, delighted
-in prophesying disasters, declared in short sentences that the day
-was lost, that they would not see a soul, that they might close the
-cupboards and go away; predictions which darkened Marguerite's flat
-face, she being a girl who looked sharp after her profits, whilst Clara,
-with her runaway-horse appearance, was already dreaming of an excursion
-to the Verrières woods, if the house failed. As for Madame Aurélie, she
-was there, silent and serious, promenading her Cæsar-like mask about
-the empty department, like a general who has a certain responsibility
-in victory and in defeat. About eleven o'clock a few ladies appeared.
-Denise's turn for serving had arrived. Just at that moment a customer
-came up.
-
-“The fat old girl from the country,” murmured Marguerite.
-
-It was a woman of forty-five, who occasionally journeyed to Paris from
-the depths of some out-of-the-way place. There she saved up for months;
-then, hardly out of the train, she made straight for The Ladies'
-Paradise, and spent all her savings. She very rarely ordered anything
-by letter, she liked to see and handle the goods, and laid in a stock of
-everything, even down to needles, which she said were excessively dear
-in her small town. The whole staff knew her, that her name was Boutarel,
-and that she lived at Albi, but troubled no further about her, neither
-about her position nor her mode of life.
-
-“How do you do, madame?” graciously asked Madame Aurélie, who had come
-forward. “And what can we show you? You shall be attended to at once.”
- Then, turning round: “Now, young ladies!”
-
-Denise approached; but Clara had sprung forward. As a rule, she was very
-careless and idle, not caring about the money she earned in the shop, as
-she could get plenty outside, without trouble. But the idea of doing the
-new-comer out of a good customer spurred her on.
-
-“I beg your pardon, it's my turn,” said Denise, indignantly. Madame
-Aurélie set her aside with a severe look, saying: “There are no turns.
-I alone am mistress here. Wait till you know, before serving our regular
-customers.”
-
-The young girl retired, and as the tears were coming in her eyes, and
-she wished to conceal this excess of sensibility, she turned her back,
-standing up before the window, pretending to be looking into the street.
-Were they going to prevent her selling? Would they all arrange together
-to deprive her of the important sales, like that? A fear for the future
-seized her, she felt herself crushed between so many interests let
-loose. Yielding to the bitterness of her abandonment, her forehead
-against the cold glass, she gazed at The Old Elbeuf opposite, thinking
-she ought to have implored her uncle to keep her. Perhaps he himself
-regretted his decision, for he seemed to her greatly affected the
-previous evening. Now she was quite alone in this vast house, where no
-one liked her, where she found herself hurt, lost. Pépé and Jean, who
-had never left her side, were living with strangers; it was a cruel
-separation, and the big tears which she kept back made the street dance
-in a sort of fog. All this time, the hum of voices continued behind her.
-
-“This one makes me look a fright,” Madame Boutarel was saying.
-
-“You really make a mistake, madame,” said Clara; “the shoulders fit
-perfectly--but perhaps you would prefer a pelisse to a mantle?”
-
-But Denise started. A hand was laid on her arm. Madame Aurélie addressed
-her severely:
-
-“Well, you're doing nothing now--eh? only looking at the people passing.
-Things can't go on this way, you know!”
-
-“But they prevent me selling, madame.”
-
-“Oh, there's other work for you, mademoiselle! Begin at the beginning.
-Do the folding-up.”
-
-In order to please the few customers who had called, they had been
-obliged to ransack all the cupboards, and on the two long oaken tables,
-to the right and the left, were heaps of mantles, pelisses, and capes,
-garments of all sizes and all materials. Without replying, Denise set
-about sorting them, folding them carefully and arranging them again
-in the cupboards. This was the lowest work, generally performed by
-beginners. She ceased to protest, knowing that they required the
-strictest obedience, waiting till the first hand should be good enough
-to let her sell, as she seemed at first to have the intention of doing.
-She was still folding, when Mouret appeared on the scene. This was a
-violent shock for her; she blushed without knowing why, she felt herself
-invaded by a strange fear, thinking he was going to speak to her. But he
-did not even see her; he no longer remembered this little girl whom the
-charming impression of an instant had induced him to support.
-
-“Madame Aurélie,” called he in a brief voice.
-
-He was rather pale, but his eyes were clear and resolute. In making the
-tour of the departments he had found them empty, and the possibility
-of a defeat had suddenly presented itself in the midst of his obstinate
-faith in fortune. True, it was only eleven o'clock; he knew by
-experience that the crowd never arrived much before the afternoon. But
-certain symptoms troubled him. At the previous sales, a general movement
-had taken place from the morning even; besides he did not see any of
-those bareheaded women, customers living in the neighbourhood, who
-usually dropped into his shop as into a neighbour's. Like all great
-captains, he felt at the moment of giving battle a superstitious
-weakness, notwithstanding his habitually resolute attitude. Things would
-not go on well, he was lost, and he could not have explained why; he
-thought he could read his defeat on the faces of the passing ladies
-even.
-
-Just at that moment, Madame Boutarel, she who always bought something,
-was going away, saying: “No, you have nothing that pleases me. I'll see,
-I'll decide later on.”
-
-Mouret watched her depart. Then, as Madame Aurélie ran up at his call,
-he took her aside, and they exchanged a few rapid words. She wore a
-despairing air, and was evidently admitting that things were looking
-bad. For a moment they remained face to face, seized with one of those
-doubts which generals conceal from their soldiers. Ultimately he said
-out loud in his brave way: “If you want assistance, understand, take a
-girl from the workroom. She'll be a little help to you.”
-
-He continued his inspection in despair. He had avoided Bourdoncle
-all the morning, for his anxious doubts irritated him. On leaving the
-under-linen department, where business was still worse, he dropped right
-on to him, and was obliged to submit to the expression of his fears. He
-did not hesitate to send him to the devil, with a brutality that even
-his principal employees came in for when things were looking bad.
-
-“Get out of my way!” said he. “Everything is going on all right. I shall
-end by pitching out the tremblers.”
-
-Mouret planted himself alone on the landing of the hall-staircase. From
-there he commanded the whole shop; around him the departments on the
-first-floor; beneath, those of the ground-floor. Above, the emptiness
-seemed heart-breaking; in the lace department, an old woman was having
-everything turned over and buying nothing; whilst three good-for-nothing
-minxes in the under-linen department were slowly choosing some collars
-at eighteen sous. Down below, under the covered galleries, in the ray of
-light which came in from the street, he noticed that the customers were
-commencing to get more numerous. It was a slow, broken procession,
-a promenade before the counters; in the mercery and the haberdashery
-departments some women of the commoner class were pushing about, but
-there was hardly a customer in the linen or in the woollen departments.
-The shop messengers, in their green coats, the buttons of which shone
-brilliantly, were waiting for customers, their hands dangling about. Now
-and again there passed an inspector with a ceremonious air, very stiff
-in his white neck-tie. Mouret was especially grieved by the mortal
-silence which reigned in the hall, where the light fell from above from
-a ground glass window, showing a white dust, diffuse and suspended, as
-it were, under which the silk department seemed to be sleeping, amid
-a shivering religious silence. A shopman's footstep, a few whispered
-words, the rustling of a passing skirt, were the only noises heard,
-and they were almost stifled by the hot air of the heating apparatus.
-However, carriages began to arrive, the sudden piffling up of the horses
-was heard, and immediately after the banging of the carriage doors.
-Outside, a distant tumult was commencing to make itself heard, groups of
-idlers were pushing in front of the windows, cabs were taking up their
-positions in the Place Gaillon, there were all the appearances of an
-approaching crowd. But on seeing the idle cashiers leaning back on their
-chairs behind their wickets, and observing that the parcel-tables
-with their boxes of string and reams of blue packing-paper remained
-unoccupied, Mouret, though indignant with himself for being afraid,
-thought he felt his immense machine stop and turn cold beneath him.
-
-“I say, Favier,” murmured Hutin, “look at the governor up there. He
-doesn't seem to be enjoying himself.”
-
-“This is a rotten shop!” replied Favier. “Just fancy, I've not sold a
-thing yet.”
-
-Both of them, waiting for customers, whispered such short remarks from
-time to time without looking at each other. The other salesmen of the
-department were occupied in arranging large bales of the Paris Paradise
-under Robineau's orders; whilst Bouthemont, in full consultation with a
-thin young woman, seemed to be taking an important order. Around them,
-on frail and elegant shelves, the silks, folded in long pieces of
-creamy paper, were heaped up like pamphlets of an unusual size; and,
-encumbering the counters, were fancy silks, moires, satins, velvets,
-presenting the appearance of mown flowers, quite a harvest of delicate
-precious tissues. This was the most elegant of all the departments, a
-veritable drawingroom, where the goods, so light and airy, were nothing
-but a luxurious furnishing.
-
-“I must have a hundred francs by Sunday,” said Hutin. “If I don't make
-an average of twelve francs a day, I'm lost. I'd reckoned on this sale.”
-
-“By Jovel a hundred francs; that's rather stiff,” said Favier. “I only
-want fifty or sixty. You must go in for swell women, then?”
-
-“Oh, no, my dear fellow. It's a stupid affair; I made a bet and lost. So
-I have to stand a dinner for five persons, two fellows and three girls.
-Hang me! the first one that passes I'll let her in for twenty yards of
-Paris Paradise!”
-
-They continued talking for several minutes, relating what they had done
-the previous day, and what they intended to do the next week. Favier
-did a little betting, Hutin did a little boating, and kept music-hall
-singers. But they were both possessed by the same desire for money,
-struggling for it all the week, and spending it all on Sunday. It was
-their sole preoccupation in the shop, an hourly and pitiless struggle.
-And that cunning Bouthemont had just managed to get hold of Madame
-Sauveur's messenger, the skinny woman with whom he was talking! good
-business, three or four dozen pieces, at least, for the celebrated
-dressmaker always gave good orders. At that moment Robineau took it into
-his head to do Favier out of a customer.
-
-“Oh! as for that fellow, we must settle up with him,” said Hutin, who
-took advantage of the slightest thing in order to stir up the salesmen
-against the man whose place he coveted.
-
-“Ought the first and second hands to sell? My word of honour! my dear
-fellow, if ever I become second you'll see how well I shall act with the
-others.”
-
-And all his little Norman person, so fat and jolly, played the
-good-natured man energetically. Favier could not help casting a side
-glance towards him, but he preserved his phlegmatical air, contenting
-himself with replying: “Yes, I know. I should be only too pleased.”
- Then, as a lady came up, he added in a lower tone: “Look out! Here's one
-for you.”
-
-It was a lady with a blotchy face, a yellow bonnet, and a red dress.
-Hutin immediately recognised in her a woman who would buy nothing.
-He quickly stooped behind the counter, pretending to be doing up his
-boot-lace; and, thus concealed, he murmured: “No fear, let some one else
-take her. I don't want to lose my turn!”
-
-However, Robineau called out: “Whose turn, gentlemen? Monsieur Hutin's?
-Where's Monsieur Hutin?”
-
-And as this gentleman still gave no reply, it was the next salesman who
-served the lady with the blotches. Hutin was right, she simply wanted
-some samples with the prices; and she kept the salesman more than ten
-minutes, overwhelming him with questions. However, Robineau had seen
-Hutin get up from behind the counter; so that when another customer
-arrived, he interfered with a stern air, stopping the young man, who was
-rushing forward.
-
-“Your turn is passed. I called you, and as you were there behind----”
-
-“But I didn't hear you, sir.”
-
-“That'll do! Write your name at the bottom. Now, Monsieur Favier, it's
-your turn.”
-
-Favier, greatly amused at heart at this adventure, threw a glance at his
-friend, as if to excuse himself. Hutin, with pale lips, had turned his
-head away. What enraged him was that he knew the customer very well,
-an adorable blonde who often came to their department, and whom the
-salesmen called amongst themselves “the pretty lady,” knowing nothing of
-her, not even her name. She bought a great deal, had her purchases taken
-to her carriage, and immediately disappeared. Tall, elegant, dressed
-with exquisite taste, she appeared to be very rich, and to belong to the
-best society.
-
-“Well! and your courtesan?” asked Hutin of Favier, when the latter
-returned from the pay-desk, where he had accompanied the lady.
-
-“Oh! a courtesan!” replied the other. “I fancy she looks too lady-like
-for that. She must be the wife of a stockbroker or a doctor, or
-something of that sort.”
-
-“Don't tell me! it's a courtesan. With their grand lady airs it's
-impossible to tell now-a-days!”
-
-Favier looked at his book of debit-notes. “I don't care!” said he, “I've
-stuck her for two hundred and ninety-three francs. That makes nearly
-three francs for me.”
-
-Hutin bit his lips, and vented his spleen on the debit notebooks.
-Another invention for cramming their pockets. There was a secret rivalry
-between these two. Favier, as a rule, pretended to sing small, to
-recognise Hutin's superiority, but in reality devouring him all the
-while behind his back. Thus Hutin was wild at the thought of the three
-francs pocketed so easily by a salesman whom he considered to be his
-inferior in business. A fine day's work! If it went on like this, he
-would not earn enough to pay for the seltzer water for his guests. And
-in the midst of the battle, which was now becoming fiercer, he walked
-along the counters with hungry eyes, eager for his share, jealous even
-of his superior, who was just showing the thin young woman out, and
-saying to her:
-
-“Very well! it's understood. Tell her I'll do my best to obtain this
-favour from Monsieur Mouret.”
-
-Mouret had quitted his post on the stairs some time before. Suddenly he
-reappeared on the landing of the principal staircase which communicated
-with the ground floor; and from there he commanded a view of the whole
-establishment. His face had regained its colour, his faith was restored
-and increasing before the crowd which was gradually filling the place.
-It was the expected rush at last, the afternoon crush, which he had for
-a moment despaired of. All the shopmen were at their posts, a last ring
-of the bell had announced the end of the third lunch; the disastrous
-morning, due no doubt to a shower which fell about nine o'clock, could
-still be repaired, for the blue sky of early morn had resumed its
-victorious gaiety. Now that the first-floor departments were becoming
-animated, he was obliged to stand back to make way for the women who
-were going up to the under-clothing and dress departments; whilst,
-behind him, in the lace and the shawl departments, he heard large
-sums bandied about. But the sight of the galleries on the ground-floor
-especially reassured him. There was a crowd at the haberdashery
-department, and even the linen and woollen departments were invaded. The
-procession of buyers closed up, nearly all of a higher class at present,
-with a few lingering housewives. Under the pale light of the silk hall,
-ladies had taken off their gloves to feel the Paris Paradise, talking in
-half-whispers. And there was no longer any mistaking the noises arriving
-from outside, rolling of cabs, banging of carriage-doors, an increasing
-tumult in the crowd. He felt the machine commencing to work under him,
-getting up steam and reviving, from the pay-desks where the money was
-jingling, and the tables where the messengers were hurriedly packing up
-the goods, down to the basement, in the delivery-room, which was quickly
-filling up with the parcels sent down, and the underground rumbling of
-which seemed to shake the whole house. In the midst of the crowd was the
-inspector, Jouve, walking about gravely, watching for thieves.
-
-“Hullo! is that you?” said Mouret, all at once, recognising Paul de
-Vallagnosc whom a messenger had conducted to him. “No, no, you are
-not in my way. Besides, you've only to follow me if you want to see
-everything, for to-day I stay at the breach.”
-
-He still felt anxious. No doubt there were plenty of people, but would
-the sale prove to be the triumph he hoped for? However, he laughed with
-Paul, carrying him off gaily.
-
-“It seems to be picking up a bit,” said Hutin to Favier. “But somehow
-I've no luck; there are some days that are precious bad, my word! I've
-just made another miss, that old frump hasn't bought anything.”
-
-And he glanced towards a lady who was walking off, casting looks of
-disgust at all the goods. He was not likely to get fat on his thousand
-francs a year, unless he sold something; as a rule he made seven or
-eight francs a day commission, which gave him with his regular pay an
-average of ten francs a day. Favier never made much more than eight, and
-there was this animal taking the bread out of his mouth, for he had just
-sold another dress--a cold-natured fellow who had never known how to
-amuse a customer! It was exasperating.
-
-“Those chaps over there seem to be doing very well,” remarked Favier,
-speaking of the salesmen in the hosiery and haberdashery departments.
-
-But Hutin, who was looking all round the place, suddenly asked: “Do you
-know Madame Desforges, the governor's sweetheart? Look! that dark woman
-in the glove department, who is having some gloves tried on by Mignot.”
- He stopped, then resumed in a low tone, as if speaking to Mignot, on
-whom he continued to keep his eyes: “Oh, go on, old man, you may pull
-her fingers about as much as you like, that won't do you any good! We
-know your conquests!”
-
-There was a rivalry between himself and the glove-man, the rivalry
-of two handsome fellows, who both affected to flirt with the
-lady-customers. As a matter of fact they had neither had any real
-conquests to boast about. Mignot lived on the legend of a police
-superintendent's wife who had fallen in love with him, whilst Hutin had
-really conquered a lace-maker who had got tired of wandering about in
-the doubtful hotels in the neighbourhood; but they invented a lot
-of mysterious adventures, leading people to believe in all sorts of
-appointments made by titled ladies, between two purchases.
-
-“You should get hold of her,” said Favier, in his sly, artful way.
-
-“That's a good idea!” exclaimed Hutin. “If she comes here I'll let her
-in for something extensive; I want a five-franc piece!”
-
-In the glove department quite a row of ladies were seated before the
-narrow counter covered with green velvet and edged with nickel silver;
-and the smiling shopmen were heaping up before them the flat boxes of a
-bright red, taken out of the counter itself, and resembling the ticketed
-drawers of a secrétaire. Mignot especially was bending his pretty
-doll-like face over his customer, his thick Parisian voice full of
-tender inflections. He had already sold Madame Desforges a dozen pairs
-of kid gloves, the Paradise gloves, one of the specialities of the
-house. She then took three pairs of Swedish, and was now trying on some
-Saxon gloves, for fear the size should not be exact.
-
-“Oh! quite perfect, madame!” repeated Mignot. “Six and a quarter would
-be too large for a hand like yours.”
-
-Half lying on the counter, he was holding her hand, taking the fingers
-one by one, slipping the glove on with a long, renewed, and persistently
-caressing air, looking at her as if he expected to see in her face
-the signs of a voluptuous joy. But she, with her elbow on the velvet
-counter, her wrist raised, gave him her fingers with the unconcerned
-air with which she gave her foot to her maid to allow her to button her
-boot. For her he was not a man; she employed him for such private work
-with the familiar disdain she showed for the people in her service,
-without looking at him even.
-
-“I don't hurt you, madame?”
-
-She replied “No,” with a shake of the head. The smell of the Saxon
-gloves--that savage smell as of sugared musk--troubled her as a rule;
-and she sometimes laughed about it, confessing her taste for this
-equivocal perfume, in which there is a suspicion of the wild beast
-fallen into some girl's powder-box. But seated at this commonplace
-counter she did not notice the smell of the gloves, it raised no sensual
-feeling between her and this salesman doing his work.
-
-“And what next, madame?”
-
-“Nothing, thanks. Be good enough to carry the parcel to the pay-desk No.
-10, for Madame Desforges.”
-
-Being a constant customer, she gave her name at a pay-desk, and had each
-purchase sent there without wanting a shopman to follow her. When she
-had gone away, Mignot turned towards his neighbour and winked, and would
-have liked him to believe that wonderful things had just taken place.
-“By Jove! I'd like to dress her all over!” said he, coarsely. Meanwhile,
-Madame Desforges continued her purchases. She turned to the left,
-stopping in the linen department to procure some dusters; then she
-walked round the shop, going as far as the woollen department at the
-further end of the gallery. As she was satisfied with her cook,
-she wanted to make her a present of a dress. The woollen department
-overflowed with a compact crowd, all the lower middle-class women were
-there, feeling the stuff, absorbed in mute calculations; and she was
-obliged to sit down for a moment. The shelves were piled up with great
-rolls of stuff which the salesmen were taking down one by one, with a
-sudden pull. They were beginning to get confused with these encumbered
-counters, on which the stuffs were mixing up and tumbling over each
-other. It was a rising tide of neutral tints, heavy woollen tones,
-iron-greys, and blue-greys, with here and there a Scotch tartan, and a
-blood-red ground of flannel breaking out. And the white tickets on
-the pieces were like a shower of rare white flakes falling on a black
-December soil.
-
-Behind a pile of poplin, Liénard was joking with a tall girl without hat
-or bonnet, a work-girl, sent by her mistress to match some merino.
-He detested these big-sale days, which tired him to death, and he
-endeavoured to shirk his work, getting plenty of money from his father,
-not caring a fig about the business, doing just enough to avoid being
-dismissed.
-
-“Listen to me, Mademoiselle Fanny,” he was saying; “you are always in
-a hurry. Did the striped vicugna do the other day? I shall come and see
-you, and ask for my commission.” But the girl escaped, laughing, and
-Liénard found himself before Madame Desforges, whom he could not help
-asking: “What can I serve you with, madame?”
-
-She wanted a dress, not too dear but yet strong. Liénard, with the view
-of sparing his arms, which was his principal care, manoeuvred to make
-her take one of the stuffs already unfolded on the counter. There were
-cashmeres, serges, vicugnas, and he declared that there was nothing
-better to be had, they never wore out. But none of these seemed to
-satisfy her. On one of the shelves she had observed a blue serge, which
-she wished to see. He made up his mind at last, and took down the
-roll, but she thought it too rough. Then he showed her a cheviot, some
-diagonal, some greys, every sort of woollens, which she felt out of
-curiosity, for the pleasure of doing so, decided at heart to take
-no matter what. The young man was thus obliged to empty the highest
-shelves; his shoulders cracked, the counter had disappeared under the
-silky grain of the cashmeres and poplins, the rough nap of the cheviot,
-and the tufty down of the vicugna; there were samples of every material
-and every tint. Though she had not the least wish to buy any, she asked
-to see some grenadine and some Chambéry gauze. Then, when she had seen
-enough, she said:
-
-“Oh! after all, the first is the best; it's for my cook. Yes, the serge,
-the one at two francs.” And when Liénard had measured it, pale with
-suppressed anger, she added: “Have the goodness to carry that to
-pay-desk No. 10, for Madame Desforges.” Just as she was going away,
-she recognised Madame Marty close to her, accompanied by her daughter
-Valentine, a tall girl of fourteen, thin and bold, who was already
-casting a woman's covetous looks on the goods.
-
-“Ah! it's you, dear madame?”
-
-“Yes, dear madame; what a crowd--eh?”
-
-“Oh! don't speak of it, it's stifling. And such a success! Have you seen
-the oriental saloon?”
-
-“Superb--wonderful!”
-
-And amidst the pushing and crushing of the growing crowd of modest
-purses eagerly seeking the cheap lines in the woollen goods, they
-went into ecstasies over the exhibition of carpets. Then Madame Marty
-explained she was looking for some material for a mantle; but she was
-not quite decided; she wanted to see some check patterns.
-
-“Look, mamma,” murmured Valentine, “it's too common.”
-
-“Come to the silk department,” said Madame Desforges, “you must see
-their famous Paris Paradise.”
-
-Madame Marty hesitated for a moment. It would be very dear, and she had
-faithfully promised her husband to be careful! She had been buying for
-an hour, quite a pile of articles were following her already: a muff and
-some cuffs and collars for herself, some stockings for her daughter. She
-finished by saying to the shopman who was showing her the checks:
-
-“Well--no; I'm going to the silk department; you've nothing to suit me.”
-
-The shopman took the articles and walked before the ladies. In the silk
-department there was also a crowd, the principal crush being opposite
-the inside display, arranged by Hutin, and to which Mouret had given the
-finishing touches. It was at the further end of the hall, around one
-of the small wrought-iron columns which supported the glass roof, a
-veritable torrent of stuffs, a puffy sheet falling from, above and
-spreading out? down to the floor. At first stood out the light satins
-and tender silks, the satins _à la Reine_ and Renaissance, with
-the pearly tones of spring water; light silks, transparent as
-crystals--Nile-green, Indian-azure, May-rose, and Danube-blue. Then
-came the stronger fabrics: marvellous satins, duchess silks, warm tints,
-rolling in great waves; and right at the bottom, as in a fountain-basin,
-reposed the heavy stuffs, the figured silks, the damasks, brocades,
-and lovely silvered silks in the midst of a deep bed of velvet of every
-sort--black, white, and coloured--skilfully disposed on silk and satin
-grounds, hollowing out with their medley of colours a still lake in
-which the reflex of the sky seemed to be dancing. The women, pale with
-desire, bent over as if to look at themselves. And before this falling
-cataract they all remained standing, with the secret fear of being
-carried away by the irruption of such luxury, and with the irresistible
-desire to jump in amidst it and be lost.
-
-“Here you are, then!” said Madame Desforges, on finding Madame
-Bourdelais installed before a counter.
-
-“Ah! good-morning!” replied the latter, shaking hands with the ladies.
-“Yes, I've come to have a look.”
-
-“What a prodigious exhibition! It's like a dream. And the oriental
-saloon! Have you seen the oriental saloon?”
-
-“Yes, yes; extraordinary!”
-
-But beneath this enthusiasm, which was to be decidedly the fashionable
-note of the day, Madame Bourdelais retained her practical housekeeper's
-coolness. She was carefully examining a piece of Paris Paradise, for
-she had come on purpose to take advantage of the exceptional cheapness
-of this silk, if she found it really advantageous. She was doubtless
-satisfied with it, for she took twenty-five yards, hoping it would be
-sufficient to make a dress for herself and a cloak for her little girl.
-
-“What! you are going already?” resumed Madame Desforges. “Take a walk
-round with us.”
-
-“No, thanks; they are waiting for me at home. I didn't like to risk
-bringing the children into this crowd.”
-
-And she went away, preceded by the salesman carrying * the twenty-five
-yards of silk, and who led her to pay-desk No. 10, where young Albert
-was getting confused with all the demands for bills with which he was
-besieged. When the salesman was able to approach, after having inscribed
-his sale on the debit-note, he called out the item, which the cashier
-entered in a register; then it was checked over, and the leaf torn
-off the salesman's book of debit-notes was stuck on a file near the
-receipting stamp.
-
-“One hundred and forty francs,” said Albert.
-
-Madame Bourdelais paid and gave her address, for having come on foot she
-did not wish to be troubled with a parcel. Joseph had already got the
-silk behind the pay-desk, and was tying it up; and the parcel, thrown
-into a basket on wheels, was sent down to the delivery department, where
-all the goods in the shop seemed to be swallowed up with a sluice-like
-noise.
-
-Meanwhile, the block was becoming so great in the silk department that
-Madame Desforges and Madame Marty could not at first find a salesman
-disengaged. They remained standing, mingling with the crowd of ladies
-who were looking at the silks and feeling them, staying there hours
-without making up their minds. But the Paris Paradise was a great
-success; around it pressed one of those crowds which decides the fortune
-of a fashion in a day. A host of shopmen were engaged in measuring off
-this silk; one could see, above the customers' heads, the pale glimmer
-of the unfolded pieces, in the continual coming and going of the fingers
-along the oak yard measures hanging from brass rods; one could hear the
-noise of the scissors cutting the silk, without ceasing, as the sale
-went on, as if there were not enough shopmen to suffice for all the
-greedy outstretched hands of the customers.
-
-“It really isn't bad for five francs twelve sous,” said Madame
-Desforges, who had succeeded in getting hold of a piece at the edge of
-the table.
-
-Madame Marty and her daughter experienced a disappointment. The
-newspapers had said so much about it, that they had expected something
-stronger and more brilliant. But Bouthemont had just recognised Madame
-Desforges, and in order to get in the good graces of such a handsome
-lady, who was supposed to be all-powerful with the governor, he came up,
-with his rather coarse amiability. What! no one was serving her! it was
-unpardonable! He begged her to be indulgent, for really they did not
-know which way to turn. And he went to look for some chairs amongst the
-neighbouring skirts, laughing with his good-natured laugh, full of a
-brutal love for the sex, which did not seem to displease Henrietta.
-
-“I say,” murmured Favier, on going to take some velvet from a shelf
-behind Hutin, “there's Bouthemont making up to your mash.”
-
-Hutin had forgotten Madame Desforges, beside himself with rage with an
-old lady, who, after having kept him a quarter of an hour, had finished
-by buying a yard of black satin for a pair of stays. In the busy moments
-they took no notice of the turns, each salesman served the customers as
-they arrived. And he was answering Madame Boutarel, who was finishing
-her afternoon at The Ladies' Paradise, where she had already spent three
-hours in the morning, when Favier's warning made him start. Was he going
-to miss the governor's friend, from whom he had sworn to draw a five
-franc piece? That would be the height of ill-luck, for he hadn't made
-three francs as yet with all those other chignons who were mooning about
-the place! Bouthemont was just then calling out loudly:
-
-“Come, gentlemen, some one this way!”
-
-Hutin passed Madame Boutarel over to Robineau, who was doing nothing.
-
-“Here's the second-hand, madame. He will answer you better than I can.”
-
-And he rushed off to take Madame Marty's purchases from the woollen
-salesman who had accompanied the ladies. That day a nervous excitement
-must have troubled his delicate scent. As a rule, the first glance told
-him if a customer would buy, and how much. Then he domineered over the
-customer, he hastened to serve her to pass on to another, imposing
-his choice on her, persuading her that he knew best what material she
-wanted.
-
-“What sort of silk, madame?” asked he in his most gallant manner. Madame
-Desforges had no sooner opened her mouth than he added: “I know, I've
-got just what you want.”
-
-When the piece of Paris Paradise was unfolded on a narrow corner of the
-counter, between heaps of other silks, Madame Marty and her daughter
-approached. Hutin, rather anxious, understood that it was at first a
-question of serving these two. Whispered words were exchanged, Madame
-Desforges was advising her friend.
-
-“Oh! certainly,” murmured she. “A silk at five francs twelve sous will
-never be equal to one at fifteen, or even ten.”
-
-“It is very light,” repeated Madame Marty. “I'm afraid that it has not
-sufficient body for a mantle.”
-
-This remarked induced the salesman to intervene. He smiled with the
-exaggerated politeness of a man who cannot make a mistake.
-
-“But, madame, flexibility is the chief quality of this silk. It will not
-crumple. It's exactly what you want.”
-
-Impressed by such an assurance, the ladies said no more. They had taken
-the silk up, and were examining it again, when they felt a touch on
-their shoulders. It was Madame Guibal, who had been slowly walking about
-the shop for an hour past, feasting her eyes on the heaped-up riches,
-without buying even a yard of calico. And there was another explosion of
-gossip.
-
-“What! Is that you?”
-
-“Yes, it's me, rather knocked about though.”
-
-“What a crowd--eh? One can't get about. And the oriental saloon?”
-
-“Ravishing!”
-
-“Good heavens! what a success! Stay a moment, we will go upstairs
-together.”
-
-“No, thanks, I've just come down.”
-
-Hutin was waiting, concealing his impatience with a smile that did not
-quit his lips. Were they going to keep him there long? Really the women
-took things very coolly, it was like taking his money out of his pocket.
-At last Madame Guibal went away and continued her stroll, turning round
-the splendid display of silks with an enraptured air.
-
-“If I were you I should buy the mantle ready-made,” said Madame
-Desforges, suddenly returning to the Paris Paradise. “It won't cost you
-so much.”
-
-“It's true that the trimmings and making-up----” murmured Madame Marty.
-“Besides, one has more choice.”
-
-All three had risen. Madame Desforges turned to Hutin, saying: “Have the
-goodness to show us to the ready-made department.”
-
-He remained dumbfoundered, not being used to such defeats. What! the
-dark lady bought nothing! Had he then made a mistake? He abandoned
-Madame Marty and attacked Madame Desforges, trying his powerful
-abilities as salesman on her.
-
-“And you, madame, would you not like to see our satins, our velvets? We
-have some extraordinary bargains.”
-
-“Thanks, another time,” replied she coolly, not looking at him any more
-than she had at Mignot.
-
-Hutin had to take up Madame Marty's purchases and walk before the ladies
-to show them to the ready-made department But he had also the grief
-of seeing that Robineau was selling Madame Boutarel a good quantity of
-silk. Decidedly his scent was playing him false, he wouldn't make four
-sous. Beneath the amiable correctness of his manners there was the rage
-of a man being robbed and swallowed up by the others.
-
-“On the first floor, ladies,” said he, without ceasing to smile.
-
-It was no easy matter to get to the staircase. A compact crowd of heads
-was surging under the galleries, expanding like an overflowing river
-into the middle of the hall. Quite a battle of business was going on,
-the salesmen had this population of women at their mercy, passing them
-from one to the other with feverish haste. The moment of the formidable
-afternoon rush had arrived, when the over-heated machine led the dance
-of customers, drawing the money from their very flesh. In the silk
-department especially a breath of folly seemed to pervade all, the Paris
-Paradise collected such a crowd that for several minutes Hutin could not
-advance a step; and Henriette, half-suffocated, having raised her eyes,
-beheld Mouret at the top of the stairs, his favourite position, from
-which he could see the victory. She smiled, hoping that he would come
-down and extricate her. But he did not even recognise her in the crowd;
-he was still with Vallagnosc, showing him the house, his face beaming
-with triumph.
-
-The trepidation within was now stifling all outside noise; one no
-longer heard the rumbling of the vehicles, nor the banging of the
-carriage-doors; nothing remained above the vast murmur of business but
-the sentiment of this enormous Paris, of such immensity that it would
-always furnish buyers. In the heavy still air, in which the fumes of the
-heating apparatus warmed the odour of the stuffs, the hubbub increased,
-made up of all sorts of noises, of the continual walking about, of the
-same phrases, a hundred times repeated around the counters, of the gold
-jingling on the brass of the pay-desks, besieged by a legion of purses,
-and of the baskets on wheels loaded with parcels which were constantly
-disappearing into the gaping cellars. And, amidst the fine dust,
-everything finished by getting mixed up, it became impossible to
-recognise the divisions of the different departments; the haberdashery
-department over there seemed drowned; further on, in the linen
-department, a ray of sunshine, entering by the window in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, was like a golden dart in a heap of snow; close
-by, in the glove and woollen departments, a dense mass of bonnets and
-chignons hid the background of the shop from view. The toilettes were
-no longer visible, the head-dresses alone appeared, decked with feathers
-and ribbons.
-
-A few men's hats introduced here and there a black spot, whilst
-the women's pale complexions assumed in the fatigue and heat the
-transparencies of the camellia. At last, Hutin--thanks to his vigorous
-elbows--was able to open a way for the ladies, by keeping in front of
-them. But on ascending the stairs, Henriette could not find Mouret,
-who had just plunged Vallagnosc right into the crowd to complete his
-bewilderment, himself feeling the physical want of a dip into this bath
-of success. He lost his breath deliciously, he felt against his limbs a
-sort of caress from all his customers.
-
-“To the left, ladies,” said Hutin, still attentive, notwithstanding his
-increasing exasperation.
-
-Up above there was the same block. It invaded even the furnishing
-department, usually the quietest. The shawl, the fur, and the
-under-clothing departments swarmed with people. As the ladies were
-crossing the lace department another meeting took place. Madame de Boves
-was there with her daughter Blanche, both buried in the articles Deloche
-was showing them. And Hutin had to make another halt, bundle in hand.
-
-“Good afternoon! I was just thinking of you.”
-
-“I've been looking for you myself. But how can you expect to find any
-one in this crowd?”
-
-“It's magnificent, isn't it?”
-
-“Dazzling, my dear. We can hardly stand.”
-
-“And you're buying?”
-
-“Oh! no, we're only looking round. It rests us a little to be seated.”
-
-As a fact, Madame de Boves, scarcely possessing more than her cab-fare
-in her purse, was having all sorts of laces handed down, simply for the
-pleasure of seeing and handling them. She had guessed Deloche to be
-a new salesman, slow and awkward, who dared not resist the customers'
-whims; and she took advantage of his bewildered good-nature, and kept
-him there half an hour, still asking for fresh articles. The counter
-was covered, she dived her hands into this increasing mountain of lace,
-Malines, Valenciennes, and Chantilly, her fingers trembling with desire,
-her face gradually warming with a sensual joy; whilst Blanche, close to
-her, agitated by the same passion, was very pale, her flesh inflated and
-soft. The conversation continued; Hutin, standing there waiting their
-good pleasure, could have slapped their faces.
-
-“Ah!” said Madame Marty, “you're looking at some cravats and
-handkerchiefs like those I showed you the other day.”
-
-It was true, Madame de Boves, tormented by Madame Marty's lace since
-the previous Saturday, had been unable to resist the desire to at least
-handle some like it, as the allowance her husband made her did not
-permit her to carry any away. She blushed slightly, explaining that
-Blanche wanted to see the Spanish-blonde cravats. Then she added:
-“You're going to the ready-made department--Well! we'll see you again.
-Shall we say in the oriental saloon?”
-
-“That's it, in the oriental saloon--Superb, isn't it?”
-
-And they separated enraptured, amidst the obstruction produced by the
-sale of the insertions and small trimmings at low prices. Deloche, glad
-to be occupied, recommenced emptying the boxes before the mother and
-daughter. And amidst the groups pressed along the counters, Jouve, the
-inspector, was slowly walking about with his military air, displaying
-his decoration, watching over these fine and precious goods, so easy to
-conceal up a sleeve. When he passed behind Madame de Boves, surprised
-to see her with her arms plunged in such a heap of lace he cast a quick
-glance at her feverish hands.
-
-“To the right, ladies,” said Hutin, resuming his march.
-
-He was beside himself with rage. Was it not enough that he had missed a
-sale down below? Now they kept him waiting at each turning of the shop!
-And in his annoyance there was a strong feeling of the rancour existing
-between the textile departments and the ready-made departments, which
-were in continual hostility, fighting over the customers, stealing each
-other's percentage and commission. Those of the silk department were
-more enraged than those of the woollen, whenever they were obliged to
-show a lady to where the ready-made articles were kept, when she decided
-to take a mantle after looking at various sorts of silk.
-
-“Mademoiselle Vadon!” said Hutin, in an angry voice, when he at last
-arrived in the department.
-
-But she passed by without listening, absorbed in a sale which she was
-conducting. The room was full, a stream of people were crossing it,
-coming in by the door of the lace department and going out by the door
-of the under-clothing department, whilst to the right customers were
-trying on garments, and posing before the glasses. The red carpet
-stifled the noise of the footsteps, the distant roar from the
-ground-floor died away, giving place to a discreet murmur, a
-drawing-room warmth deadened by the crowd of women.
-
-“Mademoiselle Prunaire!” cried out Hutin. And as she took no notice
-either, he added between his teeth, so as not to be heard: “A set of
-frights!”
-
-He certainly was not fond of them, tired to death as he was by climbing
-the stairs to bring them customers, furious at the profits which he
-accused them of taking out of his pocket It was a secret war, in which
-the young ladies themselves entered with equal fierceness; and in their
-mutual fatigue, always on foot, worked to death, all difference of sex
-disappeared, nothing remained but these contrary interests, irritated by
-the fever of business.
-
-“So there's no one here to serve?” asked Hutin.
-
-But he suddenly caught sight of Denise. They had kept her folding all
-the morning, only giving her a few doubtful customers to whom she had
-not sold anything. When he recognised her, occupied in clearing off the
-counter an enormous heap of garments, he ran up to her.
-
-“Look here, mademoiselle! serve these ladies who are waiting.”
-
-And he quickly slipped Madame Marty's purchases into her arms, tired
-of carrying them about the place. His smile returned, and in this smile
-there was the ill-natured expression of the experienced salesman, who
-shrewdly guessed into what an awkward position he had just thrown both
-the ladies and the young girl. The latter, however, remained quite
-troubled before this unhoped-for sale which suddenly presented itself.
-For the second time Hutin appeared to her like an unknown friend,
-fraternal and tender, always ready to spring out of darkness and
-save her. Her eyes glistened with gratitude; she followed him with a
-lingering look, whilst he was elbowing his way towards his department.
-
-“I want a mantle,” said Madame Marty.
-
-Then Denise questioned her. What style of mantle? But the lady had no
-idea, she wished to see what the house had got. And the young girl,
-already very tired, bewildered by the crowd, lost her head; she had
-never served any but the rare customers who came to Cornaille's, at
-Valognes; she didn't even know the number of the models, nor their
-places in the cupboards. She hardly knew how to reply to the ladies, who
-were beginning to lose patience, when Madame Aurélie perceived Madame
-Desforges, of whose connection with Mouret she was no doubt aware, for
-she hastened over and asked with a smile:
-
-“Are these ladies being served?”
-
-“Yes, that young person over there is attending to us,” replied
-Henriette. “But she does not appear to be very well up to her work; she
-can't find anything.”
-
-At this, the first-hand completely paralysed Denise by saying to her
-in a whisper: “You see very well you know nothing. Don't interfere any
-more, please.” And turning round she called out: “Mademoiselle Vadon,
-these ladies require a mantle!”
-
-She remained there whilst Marguerite showed the models. The girl assumed
-with the customers a dry polite voice, the disagreeable attitude of a
-young person dressed up in silk, with a sort of varnish of elegance, of
-which she retained, unknown to herself, the jealousy and rancour.
-When she heard Madame Marty say she did not wish to exceed two hundred
-francs, she made a grimace of pity. Oh! madame would give more, it would
-be impossible to find anything respectable for two hundred francs. And
-she threw some of the common mantles on a counter with a gesture which
-signified: “Just see, aren't they pitiful?” Madame Marty dared not think
-of them after that; she bent over to murmur in Madame Desforges's ear:
-
-“Don't you prefer to be served by men? One feels more comfortable?”
-
-At last Marguerite brought a silk mantle trimmed with jet, which she
-treated with more respect And Madame Aurélie abruptly called Denise.
-
-“Come, do something for your living. Just put that on your shoulders.”
-
-Denise, wounded to the heart, despairing of ever succeeding in the
-house, had remained motionless, her hands hanging by her side. No doubt
-she would be sent away, and the children would be without food. The
-tumult of the crowd buzzed in her head, she felt herself tottering, her
-arms bruised by the handling of so many armfuls of garments, hard work
-which she had never done before. However, she was obliged to obey and
-allow Marguerite to put the mantle on her, as on a dummy.
-
-“Stand upright,” said Madame Aurélie.
-
-But a moment after they forgot Denise. Mouret had just come in with
-Vallagnosc and Bourdoncle; and he bowed to the ladies, who complimented
-him on his magnificent exhibition of winter novelties. Of course
-they went into raptures over the oriental saloon. Vallagnosc, who was
-finishing his walk round the counters, displayed more surprise than
-admiration; for, after all, thought he, in his pessimist supineness,
-it was nothing more than an immense collection of calico. Bourdoncle,
-forgetting that he belonged to the establishment, also congratulated the
-governor, to make him forget his anxious doubts and persecutions of the
-early part of the day.
-
-“Yes, yes; things are going on very well, I'm quite satisfied,” repeated
-Mouret, radiant, replying with a smile to Madame Desforges's tender
-looks. “But I must not interrupt you, ladies.”
-
-Then all eyes were again fixed on Denise. She placed herself entirely in
-the hands of Marguerite, who was making her turn round slowly.
-
-“What do you think of it--eh?” asked Madame Marty of Madame Desforges.
-
-The latter gave her advice, like a supreme umpire of fashion. “It isn't
-bad, the cut is original, but it doesn't seem to me very graceful about
-the figure.”
-
-“Oh!” interrupted Madame Aurélie, “it must be seen on the lady herself.
-You can understand it does not look much on this young person, who
-is not very stout. Hold up your head, mademoiselle, give it all its
-importance.”
-
-They smiled. Denise had turned very pale. She felt ashamed at being thus
-turned into a machine, which they were examining and joking about so
-freely.
-
-Madame Desforges, yielding to the antipathy of a contrary nature, and
-annoyed by the young girl's sweet face, maliciously added: “No doubt it
-would set better if the young person's dress were not so loose-fitting.”
-
-And she cast at Mouret the mocking look of a Parisian beauty, greatly
-amused by the absurd ridiculous dress of a country girl. He felt the
-amorous caress of this glance, the triumph of a woman proud of her
-beauty and of her art. Therefore, out of pure gratitude, the gratitude
-of a man who felt himself adored, he thought himself obliged to joke
-in his turn, notwithstanding his good-will towards Denise, whose secret
-charm had conquered his gallant nature.
-
-“Besides, her hair should be combed,” murmured he.
-
-This was the last straw. The director deigned to laugh, all the young
-ladies were bursting. Marguerite risked a slight chuckle, like a
-well-behaved girl who restrains herself; Clara had left a customer to
-enjoy the fun at her ease; even the saleswomen from another department
-had come, attracted by the talking. As for the ladies they took it more
-quietly, with an air of well-bred enjoyment. Madame Aurélie was the only
-one who did not laugh, as if Denise's splendid wild-looking head of
-hair and elegant virginal shoulders had dishonoured her, in the orderly
-well-kept department. The young girl had turned paler still, in the
-midst of all these people who were laughing at her. She felt herself
-violated, exposed to all their looks, without defence. What had she
-done that they should thus attack her thin figure, and her too luxuriant
-hair? But she was especially wounded by Madame Desforges's and Mouret's
-laughter, instinctively divining their connection, her heart sinking
-with an unknown grief. This lady was very ill-natured to attack a poor
-girl who had said nothing; and as for Mouret, he most decidedly froze
-her up with a sort of fear, before which all her other sentiments
-disappeared, without her being able to analyse them. And, totally
-abandoned, attacked in her most cherished womanly feelings of modesty,
-and shocked at their injustice, she was obliged to stifle the sobs which
-were rising in her throat.
-
-“I should think so; let her comb her hair to-morrow,” said the terrible
-Bourdoncle to Madame Aurélie. He had condemned Denise the first day she
-came, full of scorn for her small limbs.
-
-At last the first-hand came and took the mantle off Denise's shoulders,
-saying to her in a low tone: “Well! mademoiselle, here's a fine start.
-Really, if this is the way you show off your capabilities----Impossible
-to be more stupid!”
-
-Denise, fearing the tears might gush from her, hastened back to the heap
-of garments, which she began to sort out on the counter. There at least
-she was lost in the crowd. Fatigue prevented her thinking. But she
-suddenly felt Pauline near her, a saleswoman in the under-clothing
-department, who had already defended her that morning. The latter had
-followed the scene, and murmured in Denise's ear:
-
-“My poor child, don't be so sensitive. Keep that to yourself, or they'll
-go on worse and worse. I come from Chartres. Yes, exactly, Pauline
-Cugnot is my name; and my parents are millers. Well! they would have
-devoured me the first few days if I had not stood up firm. Come, be
-brave! give me your hand, we'll have a talk together whenever you like.”
-
-This hand held out redoubled Denise's confusion; she shook it furtively,
-hastening to take up a load of cloaks, fearing to be doing wrong and to
-get a scolding if they knew she had a friend.
-
-However, Madame Aurélie herself, had just put the mantle on Madame
-Marty, and they all exclaimed: “Oh! how nice! delightful!” It at once
-looked quite different. Madame Desforges decided it would be impossible
-to improve on it.
-
-There was a good deal of bowing. Mouret took his leave, whilst
-Vallognosc, who had perceived Madame de Boves and her daughter in the
-lace department, hastened to offer his arm to the mother. Marguerite,
-standing before one of the pay-desks, was already calling out the
-different purchases made by Madame Marty, who settled for them and
-ordered the parcel to be taken to her cab. Madame Desforges had found
-her articles at pay-desk No. 10. Then the ladies met once more in the
-oriental saloon. They were leaving, but it was amidst a loquacious
-feeling of admiration. Even Madame Guibal became enthusiastic.
-
-“Oh! delicious! makes you think you are in the East; doesn't it?”
-
-“A real harem, and not at all dear!”
-
-“And the Smyrnas! oh, the Smyrnas! what tones, what delicacy!”
-
-“And this Kurdestan! Just look, a Delacroix!”
-
-The crowd was slowly diminishing. The bell, at an hour's interval,
-had already announced the two first dinners; the third was about to
-be served, and in the departments there were now only a few lingering
-customers, whose fever for spending had made them forget the time.
-Outside nothing was heard but the rolling of the last carriages amidst
-the husky voice of Paris, the snort of a satiated ogre digesting the
-linens and cloths, silks and lace, with which he had been gorged since
-the morning. Inside, beneath the flaming gas-jets, which, burning in
-the twilight, had lighted up the supreme efforts of the sale, everything
-appeared like a field of battle still warm with the massacre of the
-various goods. The salesmen, harassed and fatigued, camped amidst the
-contents of their shelves and counters, which appeared to have been
-thrown into the greatest confusion by the furious blast of a hurricane.
-It was with difficulty that one traversed the galleries on the ground
-floor, blocked up with a crowd of chairs, and in the glove department it
-was necessary to step over a pile of cases heaped up around Mignot; in
-the woollen department there was no means of passing at all, Liénard was
-dozing on a sea of bales, in which certain piles, still standing,
-though half destroyed, seemed to be houses that an overflowing river was
-carrying away; and, further on, the linen department was like a heavy
-fall of snow, one ran up against icebergs of napkins, and walked on
-light flakes of handkerchiefs.
-
-The same disorder prevailed upstairs in the departments; the furs were
-scattered over the flooring, the readymade clothes were heaped up
-like the great-coats of wounded soldiers, the lace and the underlinen,
-unfolded, crumpled, thrown about everywhere, made one think of an army
-of women who had disrobed there in the disorder of some sudden
-desire; whilst downstairs, at the other end of the house, the delivery
-department in full activity was still disgorging the parcels with which
-it was bursting, and which were carried off by the vans--last vibration
-of the overheated machine. But it was in the silk department especially
-that the customers had flung themselves with the greatest ardour. There
-they had cleared off everything, there was plenty of room to pass, the
-hall was bare; the whole of the colossal stock of Paris Paradise had
-been cut up and carried away, as if by a swarm of devouring locusts. And
-in the midst of this emptiness, Hutin and Favier were running through
-the counterfoils of their debit-notes, calculating their commission,
-still out of breath after the struggle. Favier had made fifteen francs,
-Hutin had only managed to make thirteen, thoroughly beaten that day,
-enraged at his bad luck. Their eyes sparkled with the passion for money.
-The whole shop around them was also adding up figures, glowing with the
-same fever, in the brutal gaiety of the evening of the battle.
-
-“Well, Bourdoncle!” cried out Mouret, “are you trembling still?”
-
-He had returned to his favourite position at the top of the stairs of
-the first floor, against the balustrade; and, in the presence of the
-massacre of stuffs which was spread out under him, he indulged in a
-victorious laugh. His fears of the morning, that moment of unpardonable
-weakness which nobody would ever know of, inspired him with a greater
-desire to triumph. The battle was definitely won, the small tradespeople
-of the neighbourhood were done for, and Baron Hartmann was conquered,
-with his millions and his land. Whilst he was looking at the cashiers
-bending over their ledgers, adding up long columns of figures, whilst he
-was listening to the sound of the gold, falling from their fingers into
-the metal bowls, he already saw The Ladies' Paradise growing beyond all
-bounds, enlarging its hall and prolonging its galleries as far as the
-Rue du Dix-Décembre.
-
-“And now are you convinced, Bourdoncle,” he resumed, “that the house is
-really too small? We could have sold twice as much.”
-
-Bourdoncle humbled himself, enraptured, moreover, to find himself in the
-wrong. But a new spectacle rendered them grave. As was the custom every
-evening, Lhomme, the chief cashier, had just collected the receipts
-from each pay-desk; after having added them up, he usually posted up
-the total amount after placing the paper on which it was written on his
-file. He then took the receipts up to the chief cashier's office, in a
-leather case and in bags, according to the nature of the cash. On this
-occasion the gold and silver predominated, and he was slowly walking
-upstairs, carrying three enormous bags. Deprived of his right arm, cut
-off at the elbow, he clasped them in his left arm against his breast,
-holding one up with his chin to prevent it slipping. His heavy breathing
-could be heard at a distance, he passed along, staggering and superb,
-amidst the respectful shopmen.
-
-“How much, Lhomme?” asked Mouret.
-
-“Eighty thousand seven hundred and forty-two francs two sous,” replied
-the cashier.
-
-A joyous laugh stirred up The Ladies' Paradise. The amount ran through
-the establishment. It was the highest figure ever attained in one day by
-a draper's shop.
-
-That evening, when Denise went up to bed, she was obliged to lean
-against the partition in the corridor under the zinc roof. When in
-her room, and with the door closed, she fell down on the bed; her feet
-pained her so much. For a long time she continued to look with a stupid
-air at the dressing-table, the wardrobe, all the hotel-like nudity.
-This, then, was where she was going to live; and her first day tormented
-her--an abominable, endless day. She would never have the courage to go
-through another. Then she perceived she was dressed in silk; and this
-uniform depressed her. She was childish enough, before unpacking her
-box, to put on her old woollen dress, which hung on the back of a chair.
-But when she was once more dressed in this poor garment of hers, a
-painful emotion choked her; the sobs which she had kept back all day
-burst forth suddenly in a flood of hot tears. She fell back on the bed,
-weeping at the thought of the two children, and she wept on, without
-feeling to have the strength to take off her boots, completely overcome
-with fatigue and grief.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-The next day Denise had scarcely been downstairs half an hour, when
-Madame Aurélie said to her in her sharp voice: “You are wanted at the
-directorate, mademoiselle.”
-
-The young girl found Mouret alone, in the large office hung with green
-repp. He had suddenly remembered the “unkempt girl,” as Bourdoncle
-called her; and he, who usually detested the part of fault-finder, had
-had the idea of sending for her and waking her up a bit, if she were
-still dressed in the style of a country wench. The previous day,
-notwithstanding his pleasantry, he had experienced, in Madame
-Desforges's presence, a feeling of wounded vanity, on seeing the
-elegance of one of his saleswomen discussed. He felt a confused
-sentiment, a mixture of sympathy and anger.
-
-“We have engaged you, mademoiselle,” commenced he, “out of regard for
-your uncle, and you must not put us under the sad necessity----”
-
-But he stopped. Opposite him, on the other side of the desk, stood
-Denise, upright, serious, and pale. Her silk dress was no longer too big
-for her, but fitted tight round her pretty figure, displaying the
-pure lines of her virgin shoulders; and if her hair, knotted in thick
-tresses, still appeared untidy, she tried at least to keep it in order.
-After having gone to sleep with her clothes on, her eyes red with
-weeping, the young girl had felt ashamed of this attack of nervous
-sensibility on waking up about four o'clock, and she had immediately
-set about taking in her dress. She had spent an hour before the small
-looking-glass, combing her hair, without being able to reduce it as she
-would have liked to.
-
-“Ah! thank heavens!” said Mouret, “you look better this morning. But
-there's still that dreadful hair!” He rose from his seat and went up to
-her to try and smooth it down in the same familiar way Madame Aurélie
-had attempted to do it the previous day. “There! just tuck that in
-behind your ear. The chignon is too high.”
-
-She did not speak, but let him continue to arrange her hair;
-notwithstanding her vow to be strong, she had arrived at the office full
-of misgivings, certain that she had been sent for to be informed of her
-dismissal. And Mouret's evident kindliness did not reassure her; she
-still felt afraid of him, feeling when near him that uneasiness which
-she attributed to a natural anxiety in the presence of a powerful man
-on whom her fate depended. When he saw her so trembling under his
-hands, which were grazing her neck, he was sorry for his movement of
-good-nature, for he feared above all to lose his authority.
-
-“In short, mademoiselle,” resumed he, once more placing the desk between
-himself and her, “try and look to your appearance. You are no longer
-at Valognes; study our Parisian young ladies. If your uncle's name has
-sufficed to gain your admittance to our house, I feel sure you will
-carry out what your person seemed to promise to me. Unfortunately,
-everybody here is not of my opinion. Let this be a warning to you. Don't
-make me tell a falsehood.”
-
-He treated her like a child, with more pity than kindness, his curiosity
-in matters feminine simply awakened by the troubling, womanly charm
-which he felt springing up in this poor and awkward child. And she,
-whilst he was lecturing her, having suddenly perceived Madame Hedouin's
-portrait--the handsome regular face smiling gravely in the gold
-frame--felt herself shivering again, notwithstanding the encouraging
-words he addressed to her. This was the dead lady, she whom people
-accused him of having killed, in order to found the house with the blood
-of her body.
-
-Mouret was still speaking. “Now you may go,” said he at last, sitting
-down and taking up his pen. She went away, heaving a deep sigh of
-relief.
-
-From that day forward, Denise displayed her great courage. Beneath these
-rare attacks of sensitiveness, a strong sense of reason was constantly
-working, quite a feeling of bravery at finding herself weak and alone, a
-cheerful determination to carry out her self-imposed task. She made very
-little noise, but went straight ahead to her goal, with an invincible
-sweetness, overcoming all obstacles, and that simply and naturally, for
-such was her real character.
-
-At first she had to surmount the terrible fatigues of the department The
-parcels of garments tired her arms, so much so that during the first
-six weeks she cried with pain when she turned over at night, bent almost
-double, her shoulders bruised. But she suffered still more from her
-shoes, thick shoes brought from Valognes, want of money preventing her
-replacing them with light boots. Always on her feet, trotting about
-from morning to night, scolded if seen leaning for a moment against any
-support, her feet became swollen, little feet, like those of a child,
-which seemed ground up in these torturing bluchers; her heels throbbed
-with fever, the soles were covered with blisters, the skin of which
-chafed off and stuck to the stocking. She felt her entire frame
-shattered, her limbs and organs contracted by the lassitude of her legs,
-the certain sudden weaknesses incident to her sex betraying themselves
-by the paleness of her flesh. And she, so thin, so frail, resisted
-courageously, whilst a great many saleswomen around her were obliged
-to quit the business, attacked with special maladies. Her good grace in
-suffering, her valiant obstinacy maintained her, smiling and upright,
-when she felt ready to give way, thoroughly worn out and exhausted by
-work to which men would have succumbed.
-
-Another torment was to have the whole department against her. To
-the physical martyrdom there was added the secret persecution of her
-comrades. Two months of patience and gentleness had not disarmed them.
-She was constantly exposed to wounding remarks, cruel inventions,
-a series of slights which cut her to the heart, in her longing for
-affection. They had joked for a long time over her unfortunate first
-appearance; the words “clogs” and “numbskull” circulated. Those who
-missed a sale were sent to Valognes; she passed, in short, for the fool
-of the place. Then, when she revealed herself later on as a remarkable
-saleswoman, well up in the mechanism of the house, the young ladies
-arranged together so as never to leave her a good customer. Marguerite
-and Clara pursued her with an instinctive hatred, closing up the ranks
-in order not to be swallowed up by this new comer, whom they really
-feared in spite of their affectation of disdain. As for Madame Aurélie,
-she was hurt by the proud reserve displayed by the young girl, who did
-not hover round her skirts with an air of caressing admiration; she
-therefore abandoned Denise to the rancour of her favourites, to the
-favoured ones of her court, who were always on their knees, engaged in
-feeding her with a continual flattery, which her large authoritative
-person needed to make it blossom forth. For a while, the second-hand,
-Madame Frédéric, appeared not to enter into the conspiracy, but this
-must have been by inadvertence, for she showed herself equally harsh the
-moment she saw to what annoyances her good-nature was likely to expose
-her. Then the abandonment became complete, they all made a butt of the
-“unkempt girl,” who lived in an hourly struggle, only managing by the
-greatest courage to hold her own in the department.
-
-Such was her life now. She had to smile, look brave and gracious in a
-silk dress which did not belong to her, although dying with fatigue,
-badly fed, badly treated, under the continual menace of a brutal
-dismissal. Her room was her only refuge, the only place where she could
-abandon herself to the luxury of a cry, when she had suffered too much
-during the day. But a terrible coldness fell from the zinc roof, covered
-with the December snow; she was obliged to nestle in her iron bedstead,
-throw all her clothes over her, and weep under the counterpane to
-prevent the frost chapping her face. Mouret never spoke to her now. When
-she caught Bourdoncle's severe looks during business hours she trembled,
-for she felt in him a born enemy who would not forgive her the slightest
-fault. And amidst this general hostility, Jouve the inspector's strange
-friendliness astonished her. If he met her in any out-of-the-way corner
-he smiled at her, made some amiable remark; twice he had saved her from
-being reprimanded without any show of gratitude on her part, for she was
-more troubled than touched by his protection.
-
-One evening, after dinner, as the young ladies were setting the
-cupboards in order, Joseph came and informed Denise that a young man
-wanted her below. She went down, feeling very anxious.
-
-“Hullo!” said Clara, “the 'unkempt girl' has got a young man.”
-
-“He must be hard up for a sweetheart,” declared Marguerite.
-
-Downstairs, at the door, Denise found her brother Jean. She had formally
-prohibited him from coming to the shop in this way, as it looked very
-bad. But she did not dare to scold him, so excited did he appear,
-bareheaded, out of breath through running from the Faubourg du Temple.
-
-“Have you got ten francs?” stammered he. “Give me ten francs, or I'm a
-lost man.”
-
-The young rascal looked so comical, with his flowing locks and handsome
-girlish face, launching out with this melodramatic phrase, that she
-could have smiled had it not been for the anguish which this demand for
-money caused her.
-
-“What! ten francs?” she murmured. “Whatever's the matter?”
-
-He blushed, and explained that he had met a friend's sister. Denise
-stopped him, feeling embarrassed, not wishing to know any more about it.
-Twice already had he rushed in to obtain similar loans, but the first
-time it was only twenty-five sous, and the next thirty. He was always
-getting mixed up with women.
-
-“I can't give you ten francs,” resumed she. “Pépé's board isn't paid
-yet, and I've only just the money. I shall have hardly enough to buy a
-pair of boots, which I want badly. You really are not reasonable, Jean.
-It's too bad of you.”
-
-“Well, I'm lost,” repeated he, with a tragical gesture. “Just listen,
-little sister; she's a tall, dark girl; we went to the café with her
-brother. I never thought the drinks----”
-
-She had to interrupt him again, and as tears were coming into his eyes,
-she took out her purse and slipped a ten-franc piece into his hand. He
-at once set up a laugh.
-
-“I was sure--But my word of honour! never again! A fellow would have to
-be a regular scamp.”
-
-And he ran off, after having kissed his sister, like a madman. The
-fellows in the shop seemed astonished.
-
-That night Denise did not sleep much. Since her entry in The Ladies'
-Paradise, money had been her cruel anxiety. She was still a probationer,
-without salary; the young ladies in the department frequently prevented
-her from selling, and she just managed to pay Pépé's board and lodging,
-thanks to the unimportant customers they were good enough to leave her.
-It was a time of black misery--misery in a silk dress. She was often
-obliged to spend the night repairing her small stack of clothes, darning
-her linen, mending her chemises as if they had been lace; without
-mentioning the patches she put on her boots, as cleverly as any
-bootmaker could have done. She even risked washing things in her hand
-basin. But her old woollen dress was an especial cause of anxiety to
-her; she had no other, and was forced to put it on every evening when
-she quitted the uniform silk, and this wore it terribly; a spot on
-it gave her the fever, the least tear was a catastrophe. And she had
-nothing, not a sou, not even enough to buy the trifling articles which
-a woman always wants; she had been obliged to wait a fortnight to renew
-her stock of needles and cotton. Thus it was a real disaster when Jean,
-with his love affairs, dropped down all at once and pillaged her purse.
-A franc-piece taken away caused a gulf which she did not know how
-to fill up. As for finding ten francs on the morrow it was not to be
-thought of for a moment. The whole night she slept an uncomfortable
-sleep, haunted by the nightmare, in which she saw Pépé thrown into the
-street, whilst she was turning over the flagstones with her bruised
-fingers to see if there were not some money underneath.
-
-It happened that the next day she had to play the part of the
-well-dressed girl. Some well-known customers came in, and Madame Aurélie
-called her several times in order that she should show off the new
-styles. And whilst she was posing there, with the stiff graces of a
-fashion-plate, she was thinking of Pépé's board and lodging, which she
-had promised to pay that evening. She could very well do without boots
-for another month; but even on adding the thirty francs she had left to
-the four francs which she had saved sou by sou, that would never make
-more than thirty-four francs, and where was she to find six francs to
-complete the sum? It was an anguish in which her heart failed her.
-
-“You will notice the shoulders are free,” Madame Aurélie was saying.
-“It's very fashionable and very convenient. The young person can fold
-her arms.”
-
-“Oh! easily,” replied Denise, who continued to smile amiably. “One can't
-feel it. I am sure you will like it, madame.”
-
-She now blamed herself for having gone to fetch Pépé from Madame Gras's,
-the previous Sunday, to take him for a walk in the Champs-Elysées. The
-poor child so seldom went out with her! But she had had to buy some
-gingerbread and a little spade, and then take him to see Punch and Judy,
-and that had mounted at once to twenty-nine sous. Really Jean could
-not think much about the little one, or he would not be so foolish.
-Afterwards, everything fell upon her shoulders.
-
-“Of course, if it does not suit you, madame--” resumed the first-hand.
-“Just put this cloak on, mademoiselle, so that the lady may judge.”
-
-And Denise walked slowly round, with the cloak on, saying: “This is
-warmer. It's this year's fashion.”
-
-And she continued to torture herself, behind her professional good
-graces, until the evening, to know where she was to find this money. The
-young ladies, who were very busy, had left her an important sale; but
-it was only Tuesday, and she had four days to wait before drawing any
-money. After dinner she decided to postpone her visit to Madame Gras
-till the next day. She would excuse herself, say she had been detained,
-and before then she would have the six francs, perhaps.
-
-As Denise avoided the slightest expense, she went to bed early. What
-could she do in the streets, with her unsociableness, still frightened
-by the big city in which she only knew the streets near the shop? After
-having ventured as far as the Palais-Royal, to get a little fresh air,
-she would quickly return, lock herself in her room and set about sewing
-or washing.
-
-It was, along the corridor of the bed-rooms, a barrack-like
-promiscuity--girls, who were often not very tidy, a gossiping over dirty
-water and dirty linen, quite a disagreeable feeling, which manifested
-itself in frequent quarrels and continual reconciliations. They were,
-moreover, prohibited from going up to their rooms in the day-time; they
-did not live there, but merely slept there at night, not going up till
-the last minute, leaving again in the morning still half asleep, hardly
-awakened by a rapid wash; and this gust of wind which was continually
-sweeping through the corridor, the fatigue of the thirteen hours' work
-which threw them on their beds thoroughly worn out, changed this upper
-part of the house into an inn traversed by the tired ill-temper of a
-host of travellers. Denise had no friend. Of all the young ladies,
-one alone, Pauline Cugnot, showed her a certain tenderness; and the
-ready-made and under-clothing departments being close to one another,
-and in open war, the sympathy between the two saleswomen had hitherto
-been confined to a few rare words hastily exchanged. Pauline occupied
-a neighbouring room, to the right of Denise's; but as she disappeared
-immediately after dinner and only returned at eleven o'clock, the latter
-only heard her get into bed, without ever meeting her after business
-hours.
-
-This evening, Denise had made up her mind to play the part of bootmaker
-once more. She was holding her shoes, turning them about, wondering how
-she could make them last another month. At last she decided to take a
-strong needle and sew on the soles, which were threatening to leave the
-uppers. During this time a collar and a pair of cuffs were soaking in
-the basin full of soapsuds.
-
-Every evening she heard the same noises, the young ladies coming in
-one by one, short whispered conversations, laughing, and sometimes a
-dispute, which they stifled as much as possible. Then the beds creaked,
-the tired occupants yawned, and fell into a heavy slumber. Denise's left
-hand neighbour often talked in her sleep, which frightened her very much
-at first Perhaps others, like herself, stopped up to mend their things,
-in spite of the rules; but if so they probably took the same precautions
-as she did herself, keeping very quiet, avoiding the least shock, for a
-shivering silence reigned in all the rooms.
-
-It had struck eleven about ten minutes before when a sound of footsteps
-made her raise her head. Another young lady late! And she recognised it
-to be Pauline, by hearing the latter open the door next to her.
-
-But she was astonished when Pauline returned quietly and knocked at her
-door.
-
-“Make haste, it's me!”
-
-The saleswomen not being allowed to visit each other in their rooms,
-Denise quickly unlocked the door, so that her neighbour should not
-be caught by Madame Cabin, who was supposed to see this rule strictly
-carried out.
-
-“Was she there?” asked Denise, closing the door.
-
-“Who? Madame Cabin?” replied Pauline. “Oh, I'm not afraid of her, she's
-easily settled with a five-franc-piece!” Then she added: “I've wanted to
-have a talk with you for a long time past. But it's impossible to do so
-downstairs. Besides, you looked so down-hearted to-night at table.”
-
-Denise thanked her, and invited her to sit down, touched by her
-good-natured air. But in the trouble caused by the sudden visit she had
-not laid down the shoe she was mending, and Pauline's eyes fell on it
-at once. She shook her head, looked round and perceived the collar and
-cuffs in the basin.
-
-“My poor child, I thought as much,” resumed she. “Ah, I know what it is!
-When I first came up from Chartres, and old Cugnot didn't send me a sou,
-I many a time washed my own chemises! Yes, yes, even my chemises! I had
-two, and there was always one in soak.”
-
-She sat down, still out of breath from running. Her large face,
-with small bright eyes, and big tender mouth, had a certain grace,
-notwithstanding the rather coarse features. And, without transition,
-all of a sudden, she related her history; her childhood at the mill; old
-Cugnot ruined by a lawsuit; her being sent to Paris to make her fortune
-with twenty francs in her pocket; then her start as a shop-girl in a
-shop at Batignolles, then at The Ladies' Paradise--a terrible start, all
-the sufferings and all the privations imaginable; she then spoke of
-her present life, of the two hundred francs she earned a month, the
-pleasures she indulged in, the carelessness in which she allowed her
-days to glide away. Some jewellery, a brooch, a watch-chain, glistened
-on her dark-blue cloth dress, coquettishly made to the figure; and she
-wore a velvet hat, ornamented with a large grey feather.
-
-Denise had turned very red, with her shoe. She began to stammer out an
-explanation.
-
-“But the same thing happened to me,” repeated Pauline.
-
-“Come, come, I'm older than you, I'm over twenty-six, though I don't
-look it. Just tell me your little troubles.”
-
-Denise yielded, conquered by this friendship so frankly offered. She
-sat down in her petticoat, with an old shawl over her shoulders, near
-Pauline in full dress; and an interesting gossip ensued.
-
-It was freezing in the room, the cold seemed to run down the bare
-prison-like walls; but they did not notice that their fingers were
-almost frost-bitten, they were so fully taken up by their conversation.
-Little by little, Denise opened her heart entirely, spoke of Jean and
-Pépé, and how much the money question tortured her; which led them both
-to abuse the young ladies in the dress department. Pauline relieved her
-mind.
-
-“Oh, the hussies! If they treated you properly and in a friendly manner,
-you could make more than a hundred francs a month.”
-
-“Everybody is down on me, and I'm sure I don't know why,” said Denise,
-beginning to cry. “Look at Monsieur Bourdoncle, he's always watching me
-for a chance of finding me in fault, as if I were in his way. Old Jouve
-is about the only one----”
-
-The other interrupted her. “What, that old monkey of an inspector! Ah!
-my dear, don't you trust him. You know, men with big noses like his! He
-may display his decoration as much as he likes, there's a story about
-something that happened to him in our department. But what a child you
-are to grieve like this! What a misfortune it is to be so sensitive! Of
-course, what is happening to you happens to every one; they are making
-you pay your footing.”
-
-She seized her hands and kissed her, carried away by her good heart The
-money-question was a graver one. Certainly a poor girl could not support
-her two brothers, pay the little one's board and lodging, and regale the
-big one's mistresses with the few paltry sous picked up from the others'
-cast-off customers; for it was to be feared that she would not get any
-salary until business improved in March.
-
-“Listen to me, it's impossible for you to live in this way any longer.
-If I were you----” said Pauline.
-
-But a noise in the corridor stopped her. It was probably Marguerite, who
-was accused of prowling about at night to watch the others. Pauline,
-who was still pressing her friend's hand, looked at her for a moment in
-silence, listening. Then she resumed in a very low tone, with an air of
-tender conviction: “If I were you I should take some one.”
-
-“How some one?” murmured Denise, not understanding at first.
-
-When she understood, she withdrew her hands, looking very confused. This
-advice made her feel awkward, like an idea which had never occurred to
-her, and of which she could not see the advantage.
-
-“Oh! no,” replied she simply.
-
-“Then,” continued Pauline, “you'll never manage, I tell you so, plainly.
-Here are the figures: forty francs for the little one, a five franc
-piece now and again for the big one; and then there's yourself, you
-can't always go about dressed like a pauper, with boots that make the
-other girls laugh at you; yes, really, your boots do you a deal of harm.
-Take some one, it would be much better.”
-
-“No,” repeated Denise.
-
-“Well! you are very foolish. It's inevitable, my dear, and so natural.
-We all do it sooner or later. Look at me, I was a probationer, like you,
-without a sou. We are boarded and lodged, it's true; but there's our
-dress; besides, it's impossible to go without a copper in one's pocket,
-shut up in one's room, watching the flies. So you see girls forcibly
-drift into it.”
-
-She then spoke of her first lover, a lawyer's clerk whom she had met at
-a party at Meudon. After him, came a post-office clerk. And, finally,
-ever since the autumn, she had been keeping company with a salesman at
-the Bon Marche, a very nice tall fellow, with whom she spent all her
-leisure time. Never more than one sweetheart at a time, however. She was
-very respectable in her way, and became indignant when she heard talk of
-those girls who yielded to the first-comer.
-
-“I don't tell you to misconduct yourself, you know!” said she quickly.
-“For instance, I should not like to be seen with your Clara, for fear
-people should say I was as bad as she. But when a girl stays quietly
-with one lover, and has nothing to blame herself for--do you think that
-wrong?”
-
-“No,” replied Denise. “But I don't care for it, that's all.” There was
-a fresh silence. In the small icy-cold room they were smiling to each
-other, greatly affected by this whispered conversation. “Besides, one
-must have some affection for some one before doing so,” resumed she, her
-cheeks scarlet.
-
-Pauline was astonished. She set up a laugh, and embraced her a second
-time, saying: “But, my darling, when you meet and like each other! You
-are funny! People won't force you. Look here, would you like Baugé
-to take us somewhere in the country on Sunday? He'll bring one of his
-friends.”
-
-“No,” said Denise, in her gently obstinate way.
-
-Pauline insisted no longer. Each one was free to act as she liked. What
-she had said was out of pure kindness of heart, for she felt really
-grieved to see a comrade so miserable. And as it was nearly midnight,
-she got up to leave. But before doing so she forced Denise to accept the
-six francs she wanted, begging her not to trouble about the matter, but
-to repay the amount when she earned more.
-
-“Now,” added she, “blow your candle out, so that they can't see which
-door opens; you can light it again immediately.”
-
-The candle blown out, they shook hands; and Pauline ran off to her room,
-without leaving any trace in the darkness but the vague rustling of her
-petticoats amidst the deep slumber of the occupants of the other little
-rooms.
-
-Before going to bed Denise wanted to finish her boot and do her washing.
-The cold became sharper still as the night advanced; but she did not
-feel it, this conversation had stirred up her heart's blood. She was not
-shocked, it seemed to her that every one had a right to arrange her life
-as she liked, when alone and free in the world. She had never given way
-to such ideas; her sense of right and her healthy nature maintained her
-naturally in the respectability in which she had always lived. About one
-o'clock she at last went to bed. No, she did not love any one. So what
-was the use of disarranging her life, of spoiling the maternal devotion
-she had vowed for her two brothers? However, she did not sleep; a crowd
-of indistinct forms passed before her closed eyes, vanishing in the
-darkness.
-
-From this moment Denise took an interest in the love-stories of the
-department. During the slack moments they were constantly occupied
-by their affairs with the men. Gossiping tales flew about, stories of
-adventures amused the girls for a week. Clara was a scandal; she had
-three lovers, without counting a string of chance admirers whom she had
-in tow; and, if she did not leave the shop, where she did the least work
-possible, disdaining the money which she could easily and more agreeably
-earn elsewhere, it was to shield herself from her family; for she was
-mortally afraid of old Prunaire, who threatened to come to Paris and
-break her arms and legs with his clogs. Marguerite, on the contrary,
-behaved very well, and was not known to have any lover; this caused
-some surprise, for all knew of her adventure--her coming to Paris to be
-confined in secret; how had she come to have the child, if she were so
-virtuous? And there were some who hinted at an accident, adding that she
-was now reserving herself for her cousin at Grenoble. The young ladies
-also joked about Madame Frédéric, declaring that she was discreetly
-connected with certain great personages; the truth was that they knew
-nothing of her love-affairs; for she disappeared every evening, stiff
-as starch in her widow's ill-temper, evidently in a great hurry, though
-nobody knew where she was running off to so eagerly. As to Madame
-Aurélie's passions, her pretended larks with obedient young men, they
-were certainly false; mere inventions, spread abroad by discontented
-saleswomen just for fun. Perhaps she had formerly displayed rather too
-much motherly feeling for one of her son's friends, but she now occupied
-too high a place in the drapery business to allow her to amuse herself
-with such childish matters. Then there was the crowd leaving in the
-evening, nine girls out of every ten having young men waiting for them
-at the door; in the Place Gaillon, along the Rue de la Michodière, and
-the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, there was always quite a troop of men
-standing motionless, watching for the girls coming out; and, when they
-came, each one gave his arm to his lady and disappeared, talking with a
-marital tranquillity.
-
-But what troubled Denise most was to have discovered Colomban's secret.
-He was continually to be seen on the other side of the street, at the
-door of The Old Elbeuf, his eyes raised, and never quitting the young
-ladies in the readymade department. When he felt Denise was watching him
-he blushed and turned away his head, as if afraid she might betray him
-to Geneviève, although there had been no further connection between the
-Baudus and their niece since her engagement at The Ladies' Paradise.
-At first she had thought he was in love with Marguerite, on seeing his
-despairing looks, for Marguerite, being very quiet, and sleeping in the
-building, was not very easy to get at. But what was her astonishment to
-find that Colomban's ardent glances were intended for Clara. He had been
-like that for months, devoured by passion on the opposite side of the
-way, without finding the courage to declare himself; and that for a girl
-who was perfectly free, who lived in the Rue Louis-le-Grand, and whom he
-could have spoken to any evening before she walked off on the arm of a
-fresh fellow! Clara herself appeared to have no idea of her conquest.
-Denise's discovery filled her with a painful emotion. Was love, then,
-such a stupid thing as that? What! this fellow, who had real
-happiness within his reach, was ruining his life, enraptured with this
-good-for-nothing girl as if she were a saint! From that day she was
-seized with a feeling of grief every time she saw Geneviève's pale and
-suffering face behind the green panes of The Old Elbeuf.
-
-In the evening, Denise could not help thinking a great deal, on seeing
-the young ladies march off with their sweethearts Those who did not
-sleep at The Ladies' Paradise, disappeared until the next day, bringing
-back into their departments an outside odour, a sort of troubling,
-unknown impression. The young girl was sometimes obliged to reply with
-a smile to a friendly nod from Pauline, whom Baugé waited for every
-evening regularly at half-past eight, at the corner of the fountain
-in the Place Gaillon. Then, after having gone out the last and taken
-a furtive walk, always alone, she was invariably the first in, going
-upstairs to work, or to bed, her head filled with dreams, full of
-curiosity about this outdoor life, of which she knew nothing. She
-certainly did not envy the young ladies, she was happy in her solitude,
-in that unsociableness to which her timidity condemned her, as to a
-refuge; but her imagination carried her away, she tried to guess things,
-evoking the pleasures constantly described before her, the cafés, the
-restaurants, the theatres, the Sundays spent on the water and in the
-country taverns. This filled her with a mental weakness, a desire
-mingled with lassitude; and she seemed to be already tired of those
-amusements which she had never tasted.
-
-However, there was but little room for these dangerous dreams in her
-daily working life. During the thirteen hours' hard work in the shop,
-there was no time for any display of tenderness between the salesmen and
-the saleswomen. If the continual fight for money had not abolished the
-sexes, the unceasing press of business which occupied their minds and
-fatigued their bodies would have sufficed to kill all desire. But
-very few love-affairs had been known in the establishment amidst the
-hostilities and friendships between the men and the women, the constant
-elbowings from department to department. They were all nothing but
-the wheels, turned round by the immense machine, abdicating their
-personalities, simply contributing their strength to this commonplace,
-powerful total. It was only outside that they resumed their individual
-lives, with the abrupt flame of awakening passions.
-
-Denise, however, one day saw Albert Lhomme slipping a note into the hand
-of a young lady in the underclothing department, after having several
-times passed through with an air of indifference. The dead season, which
-lasts from December to February was commencing; and she had periods of
-rest, hours spent on her feet, her eyes wandering all over the
-shop, waiting for customers. The young ladies of her department were
-especially friendly with the salesmen who served the lace, but their
-intimacy never went any further than some rather risky jokes, exchanged
-in whispers. In the lace department there was a second-hand, a gay youth
-who pursued Clara with all sorts of abominable stories, simply for a
-joke--so careless at heart that he made no effort to meet her outside;
-and thus it was from counter to counter, between the gentlemen and the
-young ladies, a series of winks, nods, and remarks, which they alone
-understood. At times they indulged in some sly gossip with their
-backs half turned and with a dreamy air, in order to put the terrible
-Bourdoncle off the scent As for Deloche, for a long time he contented
-him self with smiling at Denise when he met her; but, getting bolder,
-he occasionally murmured a friendly word. The day she had noticed
-Madame Aurélie's son giving a note to the young lady in the under-linen
-department, Deloche was asking her if she had enjoyed her lunch, feeling
-to want to say something, and unable to find anything more amiable.
-He also saw the white paper; and looking at the young girl, they both
-blushed at this intrigue carried on before them.
-
-But under these rumours which gradually awoke the woman in her, Denise
-still retained her infantine peace of mind. The one thing that stirred
-her heart was meeting with Hutin. But even that was only gratitude
-in her eyes; she simply thought herself touched by the young man's
-politeness. He could not bring a customer to the department without her
-feeling quite confused. Several times, on returning from a pay-desk, she
-found herself making a _détour_, uselessly passing the silk counter,
-her bosom heaving with emotion. One afternoon she met Mouret there, who
-seemed to follow her with a smile. He paid no more attention to her now,
-only addressing a few words to her from time to time, to give her a few
-hints about her toilet, and to joke with her, as an impossible girl, a
-little savage almost like a boy, of whom he would never make a coquette,
-notwithstanding all his knowledge of women; sometimes he even ventured
-to laugh at and tease her, without wishing to acknowledge to himself
-the charm which this little saleswoman inspired in him, with her comical
-head of hair. Before this mute smile, Denise trembled, as if she were
-in fault Did he know why she was going through the silk department, when
-she could not herself have explained what made her make such a _détour?_
-
-Hutin, moreover, did not seem to be aware in any way of the young
-girl's grateful looks. The shop-girls were not his style, he affected to
-despise them, boasting more than ever of extraordinary adventures with
-the lady customers; a baroness had been struck with him at his counter,
-and the wife of an architect had fallen into his arms one day when he
-went to her house about an error in measuring he had made. Beneath
-this Norman boasting he simply concealed girls picked up in cafés and
-music-halls. Like all young gentlemen in the drapery line, he had a
-mania for spending, fighting in his department the whole week with a
-miser's greediness, with the sole wish to squander his money on Sunday
-on the racecourses, in the restaurants, and dancing-saloons; never
-thinking of saving a penny, spending his salary as soon as he drew it,
-absolutely indifferent about the future. Favier did not join him in
-these parties. Hutin and he, so friendly in the shop, bowed to each
-other at the door, where all further intercourse ceased. A great many of
-the shopmen, in continual contact indoors, became strangers, ignorant of
-each other's lives, as soon as they set foot in the streets. But Liénard
-was Hutin's intimate friend. Both lived in the same lodging-house,
-the Hôtel de Smyrne, in the Rue Sainte-Anne, a murky building entirely
-inhabited by shop assistants. In the morning they arrived together;
-then, in the evening, the first one free, after the folding was done,
-waited for the other at the Cafe Saint-Roch, in the Rue Saint-Roch, a
-little café where the employees of The Ladies' Paradise usually met,
-brawling, drinking, and playing cards amidst the smoke of their pipes.
-They often stopped there till one in the morning, until the tired
-landlord turned them out. For the last month they had been spending
-three evenings a week at a free-and-easy at Montmartre; and they took
-their friends with them, creating a success for Mademoiselle Laure, a
-music-hall singer. Hutin's latest conquest, whose talent they applauded
-with such violent blows and such a clamour that the police had been
-obliged to interfere on two occasions.
-
-The winter passed in this way, and Denise at last obtained three hundred
-francs a-year fixed salary. It was quite time, for her shoes were
-completely worn out. For the last month she had avoided going out, for
-fear of bursting them entirely.
-
-“What a noise you make with your shoes, mademoiselle!” Madame Aurélie
-very often remarked, with an irritated look. “It's intolerable. What's
-the matter with your feet?”
-
-The day Denise appeared with a pair of cloth boots, for which she had
-given five francs, Marguerite and Clara expressed their astonishment in
-a kind of half whisper, so as to be heard.
-
-“Hullo! the 'unkempt girl' has given up her goloshes,” said the one.
-
-“Ah,” retorted the other, “she must have cried over them. They were her
-mother's.”
-
-In point of fact, there was a general uprising against Denise. The girls
-of her department had found out her friendship with Pauline, and thought
-they saw a certain bravado in this affection displayed for a saleswoman
-of a rival counter. They spoke of treason, accused her of going and
-repeating their slightest words. The war between the two departments
-became more violent than ever, it had never waxed so warm; hard words
-were exchanged like cannon-balls, and there was even a slap given one
-evening behind some boxes of chemises. Perhaps this remote quarrel arose
-from the fact that the young ladies in the under-linen department wore
-woollen dresses, whilst those in the ready-made one wore silk. In any
-case, the former spoke of their neighbours with the shocked air of
-respectable girls; and facts proved that they were right, for it had
-been remarked that the silk dresses appeared to have a certain influence
-on the dissolute habits of the young ladies who wore them. Clara was
-taunted with her troop of lovers, even Marguerite had, so to say, had
-her child thrown in her face, whilst Madame Frédéric was accused of
-all sorts of concealed passions. And this was solely on account of that
-Denise!
-
-“Now, young ladies, no ugly words; behave yourselves!” Madame Aurélie
-would say with her imperial air, amidst the rising passions of her
-little kingdom. “Show who you are.”
-
-At heart she preferred to remain neutral. As she confessed one day, when
-talking to Mouret, these girls were all about the same, one was as good
-as the other. But she suddenly became impassioned when she learnt from
-Bourdoncle that he had just caught her son downstairs kissing a young
-girl belonging to the under-linen department, the saleswoman to whom he
-had passed several letters. It was abominable, and she roundly accused
-the under-linen department of having laid a trap for Albert. Yes, it was
-a got-up affair against herself, they were trying to dishonour her by
-ruining a child without experience, after seeing that it was impossible
-to attack her department. Her only object in making such a noise was to
-complicate the business, for she knew what her son was, fully aware
-that he was capable of doing all sorts of stupid things. For a time the
-matter assumed a grave aspect, Mignot, the glove salesman, was mixed up
-in it. He was a great friend of Albert's, and the rumour got circulated
-that he favoured the mistresses Albert sent him, girls with big
-chignons, who rummaged in the boxes for hours together; and there was
-also a story about some Swedish kid gloves given to the girl of the
-under-linen department which was never properly cleared up. At last
-the scandal was hushed up out of regard for Madame Aurélie, whom Mouret
-himself treated with deference. Bourdoncle contented himself a week
-after with dismissing, for some slight offence, the girl who allowed
-herself to be kissed. If they shut their eyes to the terrible doings
-of their employees outdoors, the managers did not tolerate the least
-nonsense in the house.
-
-And it was Denise who suffered for all this. Madame Aurélie, although
-perfectly well aware of what was going on, nourished a secret rancour
-against her; she saw her laughing one evening with Pauline, and took
-it for bravado, concluding that they were gossiping over her son's
-love-affairs. And she caused the young girl to be isolated more than
-ever in the department. For some time she had been thinking of inviting
-the young ladies to spend a Sunday near Rambouillet, at Rigolles, where
-she had bought a country house with the first hundred thousand francs
-she had saved; and she suddenly decided to do so; it would be a means
-of punishing Denise, of putting her openly on one side. She was the only
-one not invited. For a fortnight in advance, nothing was talked of but
-this party; the girls kept their eyes on the sky, and had already
-mapped out the whole day, looking forward to all sorts of pleasures:
-donkey-riding, milk and brown bread. And they were to be all women,
-which was more amusing still! As a rule, Madame Aurélie killed her
-holidays in this way, going out with her lady friends; for she was so
-little accustomed to being at home, she always felt so uncomfortable, so
-strange, during the rare occasions she could dine with her husband and
-son, that she preferred to throw up even those occasions, and go and
-dine at a restaurant. Lhomme went his own way, enraptured to resume
-his bachelor existence, and Albert, greatly relieved, went off with
-his beauties; so that, unaccustomed to being at home, feeling in each
-other's way, and wearying each other when together on a Sunday, they
-paid nothing more than a flying visit to the house, as to some common
-hôtel where people take a bed for the night. Regarding the excursion
-to Rambouillet, Madame Aurélie simply declared that propriety prevented
-Albert joining them, and that the father himself would display great
-tact by refusing to come; a declaration which enchanted the two men.
-However, the happy day was drawing near, and the young girls chattered
-more than ever, relating their preparations in the way of dress, as if
-they were going on a six months' tour, whilst Denise had to listen to
-them, pale and silent in her abandonment.
-
-“Ah, they make you wild, don't they?” said Pauline to her one morning.
-“If I were you I would just catch them nicely! They are going to enjoy
-themselves. I would enjoy myself too. Come with us on Sunday, Baugé is
-going to take me to Joinville.”
-
-“No, thanks,” said the young girl with her quiet obstinacy.
-
-“But why not? Are you still afraid of being taken by force?”
-
-And Pauline, laughed heartily. Denise also smiled. She knew how such
-things came about; it was always during some similar excursions that the
-young ladies had made the acquaintance of their first lovers, brought by
-chance by a friend; and she did not want to.
-
-“Come,” resumed Pauline, “I assure you that Baugé won't bring any one.
-We shall be all by ourselves. As you don't want to, I won't go and marry
-you off, of course.”
-
-Denise hesitated, tormented by such a strong desire to go that the blood
-flew to her cheeks. Since the girls had been talking about their country
-pleasures she had felt stifled, overcome by a longing for fresh air,
-dreaming of the tall grass into which she could sink down up to the
-neck, of the giant trees the shadows of which should flow over her like
-so much cooling water. Her childhood, spent in the rich verdure of the
-Cotentin, was awakening with a regret for sun and air.
-
-“Well! yes,” said she at last.
-
-Everything was soon arranged. Baugé was to come and fetch them at eight
-o'clock, in the Place Gaillon; from there they would take a cab to the
-Vincennes Station. Denise, whose twenty-five francs a month was quickly
-swallowed up by the children, had only been able to do up her old black
-woollen dress, by trimming it with strips of check poplin; and she had
-also made herself a bonnet, a shape covered with silk and ornamented
-with a simple blue ribbon. In this simple attire she looked very
-young, like an overgrown girl, exceedingly clean, rather shamefaced and
-embarrassed by her luxuriant hair, which appeared through the nakedness
-of her bonnet.
-
-Pauline, on the contrary, displayed a pretty violet and white striped
-silk dress, a hat richly trimmed and laden with feathers, jewels round
-her neck and rings on her fingers, which gave her the appearance of a
-well-to-do tradesman's wife. It was like a Sunday revenge on the woollen
-dress she was obliged to wear all the week in the shop; whilst Denise,
-who wore her uniform silk from Monday to Saturday, resumed, on Sunday,
-her thin woollen dress of misery.
-
-“There's Baugé,” said Pauline, pointing to a tall fellow standing near
-the fountain.
-
-She introduced her lover, and Denise felt at her ease at once, he seemed
-such a nice fellow. Baugé, big, strong as an ox, had a long Flemish
-face, in which his expressionless eyes twinkled with an infantine
-puerility. Born at Dunkerque, the younger son of a grocer, he had come
-to Paris, almost turned out by his father and brother, who thought him
-a fearful dunce. However, he made three thousand five hundred francs a
-year at the Bon Marche. He was rather stupid, but a very good hand in
-the linen department. The women thought him nice.
-
-“And the cab?” asked Pauline.
-
-They had to go as far as the Boulevard. It was already rather warm
-in the sun, the glorious May morning seemed to laugh on the street
-pavement. There was not a cloud in the sky; quite a gaiety floated in
-the blue air, transparent as crystal. An involuntary smile played on
-Denise's lips; she breathed freely; it seemed to her that her bosom was
-throwing off the stifling sensation of six months. At last she no
-longer felt the stuffy air and the heavy stones of The Ladies' Paradise
-weighing her down! She had then the prospect of a long day in the
-country before her! and it was like a new lease of life, an endless joy,
-into which she entered with all the glee of a little child. However,
-when in the cab, she turned her eyes away, feeling very awkward as
-Pauline bent over to kiss her lover.
-
-“Oh, look!” said she, her head still at the window, “there's Monsieur
-Lhomme. How he does walk!”
-
-“He's got his French horn,” added Pauline, leaning out. “What an old
-stupid! One would think he was running to meet his girl!”
-
-Lhomme, with his instrument under his arm, was spinning along past
-the Gymnase Theatre, his nose in the air, laughing with delight at the
-thought of the treat in store for him. He was going to spend the day at
-a friend's, a flautist at a small theatre, where a few amateurs indulged
-in a little chamber music on Sundays as soon as breakfast was over.
-
-“At eight o'clock! what a madman!” resumed Pauline. “And you know that
-Madame Aurélie and all her clique must have taken the Rambouillet train
-that left at half-past six. It's very certain the husband and wife won't
-come across each other.”
-
-Both then commenced talking of the Rambouillet excursion. They did not
-wish it to be rainy for the others, because they themselves would be
-obliged to suffer as well; but if a cloud could burst over there without
-extending to Joinville, it would be funny all the same. Then they
-attacked Clara, a dirty slut, who hardly knew how to spend the money
-her men gave her: hadn't she bought three pairs of boots all at the same
-time, which she threw away the next day, after having cut them with her
-scissors, on account of her feet, which were covered with bunions. In
-fact, the young ladies were just as bad as the fellows, they squandered
-everything, never saving a sou, wasting two or three hundred francs a
-month on dress and dainties.
-
-“But he's only got one arm,” said Baugé all of a sudden. “How does he
-manage to play the French horn?”
-
-He had kept his eyes on Lhomme. Pauline, who sometimes amused herself by
-playing on his stupidity, told him the cashier kept the instrument up
-by placing it against a wall. He thoroughly believed her, and thought it
-very ingenious. Then, when stricken with remorse, she explained to him
-in what way Lhomme had adapted to his stump a system of keys which he
-made use of as a hand, he shook his head, full of suspicion, declaring
-that they wouldn't make him swallow that.
-
-“You are ready too stupid!” she retorted, laughingly. “Never mind, I love
-you all the same.”
-
-They reached the Vincennes Station just in time for a train. Baugé paid;
-but Denise had previously declared that she wished to pay her share
-of the expenses; they would settle up in the evening. They took
-second-class tickets, and found the train full of a gay noisy throng.
-At Nogent, a wedding-party got out, amidst a storm of laughter. At last
-they arrived at Joinville and went straight to the island to order
-lunch; and they stopped there, lingering on the banks of the Marne,
-under the tall poplars. It was rather cold in the shade, a sharp breese
-was blowing in the sunshine, extending far into the distance, on the
-other side of the river, the limpid parity of a plain dotted with
-cultivated fields. Denise lingered behind Pauline and her lover, who
-were walking with their arms round each others waists. She had picked
-a handful of buttercups, and was watching the view of the river, happy,
-her heart beating, her head drooping, each time Baugé leant over to kiss
-his mistress. Her eyes filled with tears. And yet she was not suffering.
-What was the matter with her that she had this feeling of suffocation?
-and why did this vast landscape, where she had looked forward to having
-so much enjoyment, fill her with a vague regret she could not explain?
-Then, at lunch, Pauline's noisy laugh bewildered her. That young lady,
-who loved the suburbs with the passion of an actress living in the
-gas-light, in the thick air of a crowd, wanted to lunch in an arbour,
-notwithstanding the sharp wind. She was delighted with the sudden gusts
-which blew up the table-cloth, she thought the arbour very funny in its
-nudity, with the freshly-painted trelliswork, the lozenges of which cast
-a reflection on the cloth. She ate ravenously, devouring everything with
-the voracity of a girl badly fed at the shop, making up for it outside
-by giving herself an indigestion with the things she liked; this was her
-vice, she spent most of her money in cakes and indigestible dainties
-of all kinds, favourite dishes stowed away in her leisure moments. As
-Denise seemed to have had enough of the eggs, fried fish, and stewed
-chicken, she restrained herself, not daring to order any strawberries, a
-luxury still very dear, for fear of running the bill up too high.
-
-“Now, what are we going to do?” asked Baugé when the coffee was served.
-
-As a rule Pauline and he returned to Paris to dine, and finish their
-day in some theatre. But at Denise's request, they decided to stay at
-Joinville all day; they would be able to have their fill of the country.
-So they stopped and wandered about the fields all the afternoon. They
-spoke for a moment of going for a row, but abandoned the idea; Baugé was
-not a good waterman. But they found themselves walking along the banks
-of the Marne, all the same, and were greatly interested by the life on
-the river, the squadrons of yawls and other boats, and the young men
-who formed the crews. The sun was going down, they were returning to
-Joinville, when they saw two boats coming down stream at a racing
-speed, exchanging volleys of insults, in which the repeated cries of
-“Sawbones!” and “Counter-jumpers!” dominated.
-
-“Hallo!” said Pauline, “it's Monsieur Hutin.”
-
-“Yes,” said Baugé, shading his face with his hand, “I recognise his
-mahogany boat. The other one is manned by students, no doubt.”
-
-And he explained the deadly hatred existing between the young students
-and the shopmen. Denise, on hearing Hutin's name mentioned, suddenly
-stopped, and followed, with fixed eyes, the frail skiff spinning along
-like an arrow. She tried to distinguish the young man among the rowers,
-but could only manage to make out the white dresses of two women, one of
-whom, who was steering, wore a red hat. Their voices were drowned by the
-rapid flow of the river.
-
-“Pitch 'em in, the sawbones!”
-
-“Duck 'em, the counter-jumpers!”
-
-In the evening they returned to the restaurant on the island. But it had
-turned too chilly, they were obliged to dine in one of the closed rooms,
-where the table-cloths were still damp from the humidity of the winter.
-After six o'clock the tables were all occupied, yet the excursionists
-still hurried in, looking for a corner; and the waiters continued to
-bring in more chairs and forms, putting the plates closer together, and
-crowding the people up. It was stifling, they had to open the windows.
-Outdoors, the day was waning, a greenish twilight fell from the poplars
-so quickly that the proprietor, unprepared for these meals under cover,
-and having no lamps, was obliged to put a wax candle on each table. The
-uproar became deafening with laughing, calling out, and the clacking of
-the table utensils; the candles flared and melted in the draught from
-the windows, whilst moths fluttered about in the air, warmed by the
-odour of the food, and traversed by sudden gusts of cold wind.
-
-“What fun they're having, eh?” said Pauline, very busy with a plate
-of matelote, which she declared extraordinary. She leant over to add:
-“Didn't you see Monsieur Albert over there?”
-
-It was really young Lhomme, in the middle of three questionable women,
-a vulgar-looking old lady in a yellow bonnet, suspiciously like a
-procuress, and two young girls of thirteen or fourteen, forward and
-painfully impudent creatures. He, already intoxicated, was knocking his
-glass on the table, and talking of drubbing the waiter if he did not
-bring some “liqueurs” immediately.
-
-“Well!” resumed Pauline, “there's a family, if you like! the mother at
-Rambouillet, the father in Paris; and the son at Joinville; they won't
-tread on one another's toes!”
-
-Denise, who detested noise, smiled, however, and tasted the joy of
-ceasing to think, amid such uproar. But all at once they heard a noise
-in the other room, a burst of voices which drowned the others. They
-were yelling, and must have come to blows, for one could hear a scuffle,
-chairs falling down, quite a struggle, amid which the river-cries again
-resounded:
-
-“Duck 'em, the counter-jumpers!”
-
-“Pitch 'em in, the sawbones!”
-
-And when the hotel-keeper's loud voice had calmed this tempest, Hutin
-suddenly made his appearance, wearing a red jersey, and a little cap
-at the back of his head; he had on his arm the tall, fair girl, who had
-been steering, and who, in order to wear the boat's colours, had planted
-a bunch of poppies behind her ear. They were greeted on entering by a
-storm of applause; and his face beamed with pride, he swelled out his
-chest, assuming a nautical rolling gait, showing off a blow which had
-blackened his cheek, puffed up with joy at being noticed. Behind them
-followed the crew. They took a table by storm, and the uproar became
-something fearful.
-
-“It appears,” explained Baugé, after having listened to the conversation
-behind him, “it appears that the students have recognised the woman
-with Hutin as an old friend from their neighbourhood, who now sings in
-a music-hall at Montmartre. So they were kicking up a row for her. These
-students never pay their women.”
-
-“In any case,” said Pauline, stiffly, “she's jolly ugly, with her
-carroty hair. Really, I don't know where Monsieur Hutin picks them up,
-but they're an ugly, dirty lot.”
-
-Denise had turned pale, and felt an icy coldness, as if her heart's
-blood were flowing away, drop by drop. She had already, on seeing the
-boats from the bank, felt a shiver; but now she no longer had any doubt,
-this girl was certainly with Hutin. With trembling hands, and a choking
-sensation in her throat, she ceased eating.
-
-“What's the matter?” asked her friend.
-
-“Nothing,” stammered she; “it's rather warm here.”
-
-But Hutin's table was close to theirs, and when he perceived Baugé,
-whom he knew, he commenced a conversation in a shrill voice, in order to
-attract further attention.
-
-“I say,” cried he, “are you as virtuous as ever at the Bon Marche?”
-
-“Not so much as all that,” replied Baugé, turning very red.
-
-“That won't do! You know they only take virgins there, and there's a
-confessional box permanently fixed for the salesmen who venture to look
-at them. A house where they marry you--no, thanks!”
-
-The other fellows began to laugh. Liénard, who belonged to the crew,
-added: “It isn't like the Louvre. There they have a midwife attached to
-the ready-made department. My word of honour!”
-
-The gaiety increased; Pauline herself burst out, the idea of the midwife
-seemed so funny. But Baugé was annoyed by the jokes about the innocence
-of his house. He launched out all at once: “Oh, you're not too well off
-at The Ladies' Paradise. Sacked for the slightest thing! And a governor
-who seems to tout for his lady customers.”
-
-Hutin no longer listened to him, but commenced to praise the house in
-the Place Clichÿ. He knew a young girl there so excessively aristocratic
-that the customers dared not speak to her for fear of humiliating her.
-Then, drawing up closer, he related that he had made a hundred and
-fifteen francs that week; oh! a capital week. Favier left behind with
-fifty-two francs, the whole lot floored. And it was visible he was
-bursting with money, he would not go to bed till he had liquidated the
-hundred and fifteen francs. Then, as he gradually became intoxicated,
-he attacked Robineau, that fool of a second-hand who affected to keep
-himself apart, going so far as to refuse to walk in the street with one
-of his salesmen.
-
-“Shut up,” said Liénard; “you talk too much, old man.”
-
-The heat had increased, the candles were guttering down on to the
-table-cloths stained with wine; and through the open windows, when the
-noise within ceased for an instant, there entered a distant prolonged
-voice, the voice of the river, and of the tall poplars sleeping in the
-calm night. Baugé had just called for the bill, seeing that Denise was
-now quite white, her throat choked by the tears she withheld; but the
-waiter did not appear, and she had to submit to Hutin's loud talk. He
-was now boasting of being more superior to Liénard, because Liénard
-cared for nothing, simply squandering his father's money, whilst he,
-Hutin, was spending his own earnings, the fruit of his intelligence. At
-last Baugé paid, and the two girls went out.
-
-“There's one from the Louvre,” murmured Pauline in the outer room,
-looking at a tall thin girl putting on her mantle.
-
-“You don't know her. You can't tell,” said the young man.
-
-“Oh, can't I? They've got a way of draping themselves. She belongs to
-the midwife's department! If she heard, she must be pleased.”
-
-They got outside at last, and Denise heaved a sigh of relief. For a
-moment she had thought she was going to die in that suffocating heat,
-amidst all those cries; and she still attributed her faintness to the
-want of air. Now she breathed freely in the freshness of the starry
-night As the two young girls were leaving the garden of the restaurant,
-a timid voice murmured in the shade: “Good evening, ladies.”
-
-It was Deloche. They had not seen him at the further end of the front
-room, where he was dining alone, after having come from Paris on foot,
-for the pleasure of the walk. On recognising this friendly voice,
-Denise, suffering, yielded mechanically to the want of some support.
-
-“Monsieur Deloche, come back with us,” said she. “Give me your arm.”
-
-Pauline and Baugé had already gone on in front. They were astonished,
-never thinking it would turn out like this, and with this fellow above
-all. However, as there was still an hour before the train started,
-they went to the end of the island, following the bank, under the tall
-poplars; and, from time to time, they turned round, murmuring: “But
-where are they? Ah, there they are. It's rather funny, all the same.”
-
-At first Denise and Deloche remained silent The noise from the
-restaurant was slowly dying away, changing into a musical sweetness in
-the calmness of the night; and they went further in amongst the cool of
-the trees, still feverish from that furnace, the lights of which were
-disappearing one by one behind the foliage. Opposite them there was a
-sort of shadowy wall, a mass of shade in which the trunks and branches
-buried themselves so compact that they could not even distinguish any
-trace of the path. However, they went forward quietly, without fear.
-Then, their eyes getting more accustomed to the darkness, they saw on
-the right the trunks of the poplars, resembling sombre columns upholding
-the domes of their branches, pierced with stars; whilst on the right the
-water assumed occasionally in the darkness the brightness of a mirror.
-The wind was subsiding, they no longer heard anything but the flowing of
-the river.
-
-“I am very pleased to have met you,” stammered Deloche at last, making
-up his mind to speak first. “You can't think how happy you render me in
-consenting to walk with me.”
-
-And, aided by the darkness, after many awkward attempts, he ventured to
-tell her he loved her. He had long wanted to write to her and tell her
-so; and perhaps she would never have known it had it not been for this
-lovely night coming to his assistance, this water that murmured so
-softly, and these trees which screened them with their shade. But she
-did not reply; she continued to walk by his side with the same suffering
-air. And he was trying to look into her face, when he heard a sob.
-
-“Oh! good heavens!” he exclaimed, “you are crying, mademoiselle, you are
-crying! Have I offended you?”
-
-“No, no,” she murmured.
-
-She tried to keep back her tears, but she could not. Even when at table,
-she had thought her heart was about to burst. She abandoned herself in
-the darkness entirely, stifled by her sobs, thinking that if Hutin had
-been in Deloche's place and said such tender things to her, she would
-have been unable to resist. This confession made to herself filled her
-with confusion. A feeling of shame burnt her face, as if she had already
-fallen into the arms of that Hutin, who was disporting himself with
-those girls.
-
-“I didn't mean to offend you,” continued Deloche, almost crying also.
-
-“No, but listen,” said she, her voice still trembling; “I am not at all
-angry with you. But never speak to me again as you have just done. What
-you ask is impossible. Oh! you're a good fellow, and I'm quite willing
-to be your friend, but nothing more. You understand--your friend.”
-
-He shuddered. After a few steps taken in silence, he stammered: “In
-fact, you don't love me?”
-
-And as she spared him the pain of a brutal “no,” he resumed in a soft,
-heart-broken voice: “Oh, I was prepared for it I have never had any
-luck, I know I can never be happy. At home, they used to beat me. In
-Paris, I've always been a drudge. You see, when one does not know how
-to rob other fellows of their mistresses, and when one is too awkward to
-earn as much as the others, why the best thing is to go into some corner
-and die. Never fear, I sha'n't torment you any more. As for loving you,
-you can't prevent me, can you? I shall love you for nothing, like a dog.
-There, everything escapes me, that's my luck in life.”
-
-And he, too, burst into tears. She tried to console him, and in their
-friendly effusion they found they belonged to the same department--she
-to Valognes, he to Briquebec, eight miles from each other, and this was
-a fresh tie. His father, a poor, needy bailiff, and sickly jealous, used
-to drub him, calling him a bastard, exasperated with his long pale face
-and tow-like hair, which, said he, did not belong to the family. And
-they got talking about the vast pastures, surrounded with quick-set
-hedges, of the shady paths winding beneath the elm trees, and of the
-grass grown roads, like the alleys in a park.
-
-Around them night was getting darker, but they could still distinguish
-the rushes on the banks, and the interlaced foliage, black beneath the
-twinkling stars; and a peacefulness came over them, they forgot their
-troubles, brought nearer by their ill-luck, in a closer feeling of
-friendship.
-
-“Well?” asked Pauline of Denise, taking her aside when they arrived at
-the station.
-
-The young girl understood by the smile and the stare of tender
-curiosity; she turned very red and replied: “But--never, my dear! I told
-you I did not wish to! He belongs to my part of the country. We were
-talking about Valognes.”
-
-Pauline and Baugé were perplexed, put out in their ideas, not knowing
-what to think. Deloche left them in the Place de la Bastille; like all
-young probationers, he slept at the house, where he had to be in by
-eleven o'clock. Not wishing to go in with him, Denise, who had got
-permission to go to the theatre, accepted Baugé's invitation to
-accompany Pauline to his home--he, in order to be nearer his mistress,
-had moved into the Rue Saint-Roch. They took a cab, and Denise was
-stupefied on learning on the way that her friend was going to stay all
-night with the young man--nothing was easier, they only had to give
-Madame Cabin five francs, all the young ladies did it. Baugé did the
-honours of his room, which was furnished with old Empire furniture,
-given him by his father. He got angry when Denise spoke of settling up,
-but at last accepted the fifteen francs twelve sous which she had laid
-on the chest of drawers; but he insisted on making her a cup of tea, and
-he struggled with a spirit-lamp and saucepan, and then was obliged to go
-and fetch some sugar. Midnight struck as he was pouring out the tea.
-
-“I must be off,” said Denise.
-
-“Presently,” replied Pauline. “The theatres don't close so early.”
-
-Denise felt uncomfortable in this bachelor's room. She had seen her
-friend take off her things, turn down the bed, open it, and pat the
-pillows with her naked arms; and these preparations for a night of
-love-making carried on before her, troubled her, and made her feel
-ashamed, awakening once in her wounded heart the recollection of Hutin.
-Such ideas were not very salutary. At last she left them, at a quarter
-past twelve. But she went away confused, when in reply to her innocent
-“good night,” Pauline cried out, thoughtlessly; “Thanks, we are sure to
-have a good one!”
-
-The private door leading to Mouret's apartments and to the employees'
-bedrooms was in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin. Madame Cabin opened the
-door and gave a glance in order to mark the return. A night-light
-was burning dimly in the hall, and Denise, finding herself in this
-uncertain light, hesitated, and was seized with fear, for on turning the
-corner of the street, she had seen the door close on the vague shadow of
-a man. It must have been the governor coming home from a party,
-and the idea that he was there in the dark waiting for her perhaps,
-caused her one of those strange fears with which he still inspired her,
-without any reasonable cause. Some one moved on the first-floor, a boot
-creaked, and losing her head entirely, she pushed open a door which led
-into the shop, and which was always left open for the night-watch. She
-was in the printed cotton department.
-
-“Good heavens! what shall I do?” she stammered, in her emotion.
-
-The idea occurred to her that there was another door upstairs leading
-to the bedrooms; but she would have to go right across the shop. She
-preferred this, notwithstanding the darkness reigning in the galleries.
-Not a gas-jet was burning, there were only a few oil-lamps hung here and
-there on the branches of the lustres; and these scattered lights, like
-yellow patches, their rays lost in the gloom, resembled the lanterns
-hung up in a mine. Big shadows loomed in the air; one could hardly
-distinguish the piles of goods, which assumed alarming profiles: fallen
-columns, squatting beasts, and lurking thieves. The heavy silence,
-broken by distant respirations, increased still more the darkness.
-However, she saw where she was. The linen department on her left formed
-a dead colour, like the blueiness of houses in the street under a summer
-sky; then she wished to cross the hall immediately, but running up
-against some piles of printed calico, she thought it safer to follow the
-hosiery department, and then the woollen one. There she was frightened
-by a loud noise of snoring. It was Joseph, the messenger, sleeping
-behind some articles of mourning. She quickly ran into the hall, now
-illuminated by the skylight, with a sort of crepuscular light which
-made it appear larger, full of a nocturnal church-like terror, with the
-immobility of its shelves, and the shadows of its yard-measures which
-described reversed crosses. She now fairly ran away. In the mercery and
-glove departments she nearly walked over some more messengers, and only
-felt safe when she at last found herself on the staircase. But upstairs,
-before the ready-made department, she was seized with fear on perceiving
-a lantern moving forward, twinkling in the darkness. It was the watch,
-two firemen marking their passage on the faces of the indicators. She
-stood a moment unable to understand it, watched them passing from
-the shawl to the furniture department, then to the under-linen,
-terrified by their strange manouvres, by the grinding of the key, and
-by the closing of the iron doors which made a murderous noise. When they
-approached, she took refuge in the lace department, but a sound of
-talking made her hastily depart, and run off to the outer door. She had
-recognised Deloche's voice. He slept in his department, on a little iron
-bedstead which he set up himself every evening; and he was not asleep
-yet, recalling the pleasant hours he had just spent.
-
-“What! it's you, mademoiselle?” said Mouret, whom Denise found before
-her on the staircase, a small pocket-candlestick in his hand.
-
-She stammered, and tried to explain that she had come to look for
-something. But he was not angry. He looked at her with his paternal, and
-at the same time curious, air.
-
-“You had permission to go to the theatre, then?”
-
-“Yes, sir.”
-
-“And have you enjoyed yourself? What theatre did you go to?”
-
-“I have been in the country, sir.”
-
-That made him laugh. Then he asked, laying a certain stress on his
-question: “All alone?”
-
-“No, sir; with a lady friend,” replied she, her cheeks burning, shocked
-at the idea which he no doubt entertained.
-
-He said no more; but he was still looking at her in her simple black
-dress and hat trimmed with a single blue ribbon. Was this little savage
-going to turn out a pretty girl? She looked all the better for her
-day in the open air, charming with her splendid hair falling over her
-forehead. And he, who during the last six months had treated her like
-a child, some times giving her advice, yielding to a desire to gain
-experience, to a wicked wish to know how a woman sprung up and lost
-herself in Paris, no longer laughed, experiencing a feeling of
-surprise and fear mingled with tenderness. No doubt it was a lover who
-embellished her like this. At this thought he felt as if stung to the
-quick by a favourite bird, with which he was playing.
-
-“Good night, sir,” murmured Denise, continuing her way without waiting.
-
-He did not answer, but stood watching her till she dis appeared. Then he
-entered his own apartments.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-When the dead summer season arrived, there was quite a panic at The
-Ladies' Paradise. The reign of terror commenced, a great many employees
-were sent away on leave, and others were dismissed in dozens by the
-principals, who wished to clear the shop, no customers appearing during
-the July and August heat. Mouret, on making his daily inspection with
-Burdoncle, called aside the managers, whom he had prompted during the
-winter to engage more men than were necessary, so that the business
-should not suffer, leaving them to weed out their staff later on. It was
-now a question of reducing expenses by getting rid of quite a third of
-the shop people, the weak ones who allowed themselves to be swallowed up
-by the strong ones.
-
-“Come,” he would say, “you must have some who don't suit you. We can't
-keep them all this time doing nothing.”
-
-And if the manager hesitated, hardly knowing whom to sacrifice, he would
-continue; “Make your arrangements, six salesmen must suffice; you can
-take on others in October, there are plenty to be had!”
-
-As a rule Bourdoncle undertook the executions. He had a terrible way of
-saying: “Go and be paid!” which fell like a blow from an axe. Anything
-served him as a pretext for clearing off the superfluous staff. He
-invented misdeeds, speculating on the slightest negligence. “You were
-sitting down, sir; go and be paid!”
-
-“You dare to answer me; go and be paid!”
-
-“Your shoes are not clean; go and be paid!” And even the bravest
-trembled in presence of the massacre which he left behind him. Then,
-this system not working quick enough, he invented a trap by which he got
-rid in a few days, without fatigue, of the number of salesmen condemned
-beforehand. At eight o'clock, he took his stand at the door, watch in
-hand; and at three minutes past the hour, the breathless young people
-were greeted with the implacable “Go and be paid!” This was a quick and
-cleanly method of doing the work.
-
-“You've an ugly mug,” he ended by saying one day to a poor wretch whose
-nose, all on one side, annoyed him, “go and be paid!”
-
-The favoured ones obtained a fortnight's holiday without pay, which was
-a more humane way of lessening the expenses. The salesmen accepted their
-precarious situation, obliged to do so by necessity and habit. Since
-their arrival in Paris, they had roamed about, commencing their
-apprenticeship here, finishing it there, getting dismissed or themselves
-resigning all at once, as interest dictated. When business stood still,
-the workmen were deprived of their daily bread; and this was well
-understood in the indifferent march of the machine, the useless
-workmen were quietly thrown aside, like so much old plant, there was no
-gratitude shown for services rendered. So much the worse for those who
-did not know how to look after themselves!
-
-Nothing else was now talked of in the various departments. Fresh stories
-circulated every day. The dismissed salesmen were named, as one counts
-the dead in time of cholera. The shawl and the woollen departments
-suffered especially; seven employees disappeared from them in one week.
-Then the underlinen department was thrown into confusion, a customer
-had nearly fainted away, accusing the young person who had served her of
-eating garlic; and the latter was dismissed at once, although, badly
-fed and dying of hunger, she was simply finishing a collection of
-bread crusts at the counter. The authorities were pitiless at the least
-complaint from the customers; no excuse was admitted, the employee was
-always wrong, and had to disappear like a defective instrument, hurtful
-to the proper working of the business; and the others bowed their heads,
-not even attempting any defence. In the panic which was raging each one
-trembled for himself. Mignot, going out one day with a parcel under his
-coat, notwithstanding the rules, was nearly caught, and really thought
-himself lost. Liénard, who was celebrated for his idleness, owed to his
-father's position in the drapery trade that he was not turned away one
-afternoon that Bourdoncle found him dozing between two piles of English
-velvets. But the Lhommes were especially anxious, expecting every day
-to see their son Albert sent away, the governor being very dissatisfied
-with his conduct at the pay-desk. He frequently had women there who
-distracted his attention from his work; and twice Madame Aurélie had
-been obliged to plead for him with the principals.
-
-Denise was so menaced amid this general clearance, that she lived in the
-constant expectation of a catastrophe. It was in vain that she summoned
-up her courage, struggling with all her gaiety and all her reason not
-to yield to the misgivings of her tender nature; she burst out into
-blinding tears as soon as she had closed the door of her bedroom,
-desolated at the thought of seeing herself in the street, on bad terms
-with her uncle, not knowing where to go, without a sou saved, and having
-the two children to look after. The sensations she had felt the first
-few weeks sprang up again, she fancied herself a grain of seed under
-a powerful millstone; and, utterly discouraged, she abandoned herself
-entirely to the thought of what a small atom she was in this great
-machine, which would certainly crush her with its quiet indifference.
-There was no illusion possible; if they sent away any one from her
-department she knew it would be her. No doubt, during the Rambouillet
-excursion, the other young ladies had incensed Madame Aurélie against
-her, for since then that lady had treated her with an air of severity in
-which there was a certain rancour. Besides, they could not forgive her
-going to Joinville, regarding it as a sign of revolt, a means of setting
-the whole department at defiance, by parading about with a young
-lady from a rival counter. Never had Denise suffered so much in the
-department, and she now gave up all hope of conquering it.
-
-“Let them alone!” repeated Pauline, “a lot of stuck-up things, as stupid
-as donkeys!”
-
-But it was just these fine lady airs which intimidated Denise. Nearly
-all the saleswomen, by their daily contact with the rich customers,
-assumed certain graces, and finished by forming a vague nameless class,
-something between a work-girl and a middle-class lady. But beneath their
-art in dress, and the manners and phrases learnt by heart, there was
-often only a false superficial education, the fruits of attending cheap
-theatres and music-halls, and picking up all the current stupidities of
-the Paris pavement.
-
-“You know the 'unkempt girl' has got a child?” said Clara one morning,
-on arriving in the department. And, as they seemed astonished, she
-continued: “I saw her yesterday myself taking the child out for a walk!
-She's got it stowed away in the neighbourhood, somewhere.”
-
-Two days after, Margueritte came up after dinner with another piece
-of news. “A nice thing, I've just seen the 'unkempt girl's' lover--a
-workman, just fancy! Yes, a dirty little workman, with yellow hair, who
-was watching her through the windows.”
-
-From that moment it was an accepted truth: Denise had a workman for
-a lover, and an infant concealed somewhere in the neighbourhood. They
-overwhelmed her with spiteful allusions. The first time she understood
-she turned quite pale before the monstrosity of their suppositions. It
-was abominable; she tried to explain, and stammered out: “But they are
-my brothers!”
-
-“Oh! oh! her brothers!” said Clara in a bantering tone.
-
-Madame Aurélie was obliged to interfere. “Be quiet! young ladies. You
-had better go on changing those tickets. Mademoiselle Baudu is quite
-free to misbehave herself out of doors, if only she worked a bit when
-here.”
-
-This curt defence was a condemnation. The young girl, feeling choked as
-if they had accused her of a crime, vainly endeavoured to explain the
-facts. They laughed and shrugged their shoulders, and she felt wounded
-to the heart On hearing the rumour, Deloche was so indignant that he
-wanted to slap the faces of the young ladies in Denise's department; and
-was only restrained by the fear of compromising her. Since the evening
-at Joinville, he entertained a submissive love, an almost religious
-friendship for her, which he proved by his faithful doglike looks. He
-was careful not to show his affection before the others, for they would
-have laughed at them; but that did not prevent his dreaming of the
-avenging blow, if ever any one should attack her before him.
-
-Denise finished by not answering the insults. It was too odious, nobody
-would believe it. When any girl ventured a fresh allusion, she contented
-herself with looking at her with a sad, calm air. Besides, she had other
-troubles, material anxieties which took up her attention. Jean went on
-as bad as ever, always worrying her for money. Hardly a week passed that
-she did not receive some fresh story from him, four pages long; and
-when the house postman brought her these letters, in a big, passionate
-handwriting, she hastened to hide them in her pocket, for the saleswomen
-affected to laugh, and sung snatches of some doubtful ditties.
-Then after having invented a pretext to go to the other end of the
-establishment and read the letters, she was seized with fear; poor Jean
-seemed to be lost. All his fibs went down with her, she believed all
-his extraordinary love adventures, her complete ignorance of such things
-making her exaggerate the danger. Sometimes it was a two-franc piece
-to enable him to escape the jealousy of some woman; at other times five
-francs, six francs, to get some poor girl out of a scrape, whose father
-would otherwise kill her. So that as her salary and commission did not
-suffice, she had conceived the idea of looking for a little work after
-business hours. She spoke about it to Robineau, who had shown a certain
-sympathy for her since their meeting at Vinçard's, and he had procured
-her the making of some neckties at five sous a dozen. At night, between
-nine and one o'clock, she could do six dozen, which made thirty sous,
-out of which she had to deduct four sous for a candle. But as this sum
-kept Jean going she did not complain of the want of sleep, and would
-have thought herself very happy had not another catastrophe once more
-overthrown her budget calculations. At the end of the second fortnight,
-when she went to the necktie-dealer, she found the door closed; the
-woman had failed, become bankrupt, thus carrying off her eighteen francs
-six sous, a considerable sum on which she had been counting for the
-last week. All the annoyances in the department disappeared before this
-disaster.
-
-“You look dull,” said Pauline, meeting her in the furniture gallery,
-looking very pale. “Are you in want of anything?”
-
-But as Denise already owed her friend twelve francs, she tried to smile
-and replied: “No, thanks. I've not slept well, that's all.”
-
-It was the twentieth of July, when the panic caused by the dismissals
-was at its worst. Out of the four hundred employees, Bourdoncle had
-already sacked fifty, and there were rumours of fresh executions. She
-thought but little of the menaces which were flying about, entirely
-taken up by the anguish of one of Jean's adventures, still more
-terrifying than the others. This very day he wanted fifteen francs,
-which sum alone could save him from the vengeance of an outraged
-husband. The previous evening she had received the first letter opening
-the drama; then, one after the other, came two more; in the last, which
-she was finishing when Pauline met her, Jean announced his death
-for that evening, if she did not send the money. She was in agony.
-Impossible to take it out of Pépé's board, paid two days before. Every
-sort of bad luck was pursuing her, for she had hoped to get her
-eighteen francs six sous through Robineau, who could perhaps find the
-necktie-dealer; but Robineau having got a fortnight's holiday, had not
-returned the previous night as he was expected to do.
-
-However, Pauline still questioned her in a friendly way; when they
-met, in an out-of-the-way department, they conversed for a few minutes,
-keeping a sharp look-out the while. Suddenly, Pauline made a move as if
-to run off, having observed the white tie of an inspector who was coming
-out of the shawl department.
-
-“Ah! it's only old Jouve!” murmured she in a relieved tone. “I can't
-think what makes the old man grin as he does when he sees us together.
-In your place I should beware, for he's too kind to you. He's an old
-humbug, as spiteful as a cat, and thinks he's still got his troopers to
-talk to.”
-
-It was quite true; Jouve was detested by all the salespeople for the
-severity of his treatment. More than half the dismissals were the result
-of his reports; and with his big red nose of a rakish ex-captain, he
-only exercised his leniency in the departments served by women.
-
-“Why should I be afraid?” asked Denise.
-
-“Well!” replied Pauline, laughing, “perhaps he may exact some return.
-Several of the young ladies try to keep well with him.”
-
-Jouve had gone away, pretending not to see them; and they heard him
-dropping on to a salesman in the lace department, guilty of watching a
-fallen horse in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin.
-
-“By the way,” resumed Pauline, “weren't you looking for Monsieur
-Robineau yesterday? He's come back.”
-
-Denise thought she was saved. “Thanks, I'll go round the other way then,
-and pass through the silk department. So much the worse! They sent me
-upstairs to the work-room to fetch a bodkin.”
-
-And they separated. The young girl, with a busy look, as if she were
-running from pay-desk to pay-desk in search of something, arrived on the
-stairs and went down into the hall. It was a quarter to ten, the
-first lunch-bell had rung. A warm sun was playing on the windows, and
-notwithstanding the grey linen blinds, the heat penetrated into the
-stagnant air. Now and then a refreshing breath arose from the floor,
-which the messengers were gently watering. It was a somnolence, a summer
-siesta, in the midst of the empty space around the counters, like the
-interior of a church wrapt in sleeping shadow after the last mass.
-Some listless salesmen were standing about, a few rare customers were
-crossing the galleries and the hall, with the fatigued step of women
-annoyed by the sun.
-
-Just as Denise went down, Favier was measuring a dress length of
-light silk, with pink spots, for Madame Boutarel, arrived in Paris the
-previous day from the South. Since the commencement of the month, the
-provinces had been sending up their detachments; one saw nothing but
-queerly-dressed ladies with yellow shawls, green skirts, and flaring
-bonnets. The shopmen, indifferent, were too indolent to laugh at them
-even. Favier accompanied Madame Boutarel to the mercery department, and
-on returning, said to Hutin:
-
-“Yesterday they were all Auvergnat women, to-day they're all
-Provençales. I'm sick of them.”
-
-But Hutin rushed forward, it was his turn, and he had recognised “the
-pretty lady,” the lovely blonde whom the department thus designated,
-knowing nothing about her, not even her name. They all smiled at her,
-not a week passed without her coming to The Ladies' Paradise, always
-alone. This time she had a little boy of four or five with her, and this
-gave rise to some comment.
-
-“She's married, then?” asked Favier, when Hutin returned from the
-pay-desk, where he had debited her with thirty yards of Duchess satin.
-
-“Possibly,” replied he, “although the youngster proves nothing. Perhaps
-he belongs to a lady friend. What's certain is, that she must have been
-weeping. She's so melancholy, and her eyes are so red!”
-
-À silence ensued. The two salesmen gazed vaguely into the depths of the
-shop. Then Favier resumed in a low voice; “If she's married, perhaps her
-husband's given her a drubbing.”
-
-“Possibly,” repeated Hutin, “unless it be a lover who has left her.” And
-after a fresh silence, he added: “Any way, I don't care a hang!”
-
-At this moment Denise crossed the silk department, slackening her pace
-and looking around her, trying to find Robineau. She could not see him,
-so she went into the linen department, then passed through again. The
-two salesmen had noticed her movements.
-
-“There's that bag of bones again,” murmured Hutin.
-
-“She's looking for Robineau,” said Favier. “I can't think what they're
-up to together. Oh! nothing smutty; Robineau's too big a fool. They say
-he has procured her a little work, some neckties. What a spec, eh?”
-
-Hutin was meditating something spiteful. When Denise passed near he, he
-stopped her, saying: “Is it me you're looking for?”
-
-She turned very red. Since the Joinville excursion, she dared not read
-her heart, full of confused sensations. She was constantly recalling his
-appearance with that red-haired girl, and if she still trembled before
-him, it was doubtless from uneasiness. Had she ever loved him? Did she
-love him still? She hardly liked to stir up these things, which were
-painful to her.
-
-“No, sir,” she replied, embarrassed.
-
-Hutin then began to laugh at her uneasy manner. “Would you like us to
-serve him to you? Favier, just serve this young lady with Robineau.”
-
-She looked at him fixedly, with the sad calm look with which she had
-received the wounding remarks the young ladies had made about her. Ah!
-he was spiteful, he attacked her as well as the others! And she felt a
-sort of supreme anguish, the breaking of a last tie. Her face expressed
-such real suffering, that Favier, though not of a very tender nature,
-came to her assistance.
-
-“Monsieur Robineau is in the stock-room,” said he. “No doubt he will
-be back for lunch. You'll find him here this afternoon, if you want to
-speak to him.”
-
-Denise thanked him, and went up to her department, where Madamé Aurélie
-was waiting for her in a terrible rage. What! she had been gone half an
-hour! Where had she just sprung from? Not from the work-room, that
-was quite certain! The poor girl hung down her head, thinking of this
-avalanche of misfortunes. All would be over if Robineau did not come in.
-However, she resolved to go down again.
-
-In the silk department, Robineau's return had provoked quite a
-revolution. The salesmen had hoped that, disgusted with the annoyances
-they were incessantly causing him, he would not return; and, in fact,
-there was a moment, when pressed by Vinçard to take over his business,
-he had almost decided to do so. Hutin's secret working, the mine he had
-been laying under the second-hand's feet for months past, was about to
-be sprung. During Robineau's holidays, Hutin, who had taken his place
-as second-hand, had done his best to injure him in the minds of the
-principals, and get possession of his situation by an excess of zeal; he
-discovered and reported all sorts of trifling irregularities, suggested
-improvements, and invented new designs. In fact, every one in the
-department, from the unpaid probationer, longing to become a salesman,
-up to the first salesman who coveted the situation of manager, they all
-had one fixed idea, and that was to dislodge the comrade above them, to
-ascend another rung of the ladder, swallowing him up if necessary; and
-this struggle of appetites, this pushing the one against the other, even
-contributed to the better working of the machine, provoking business
-and increasing tenfold the success which was astonishing Paris. Behind
-Hutin, there was Favier; then behind Favier came the others, in a long
-line. One heard a loud noise as of jaw-bones working. Robineau was
-condemned, each one was grabbing after his bone. So that when the
-second-hand reappeared there was a general grumbling. The matter had to
-be settled, the salesmen's attitude appeared so menacing, that the head
-of the department had sent Robineau to the stock-room, in order to give
-the authorities time to come to a decision.
-
-“We would sooner all leave, if they keep him,” declared Hutin.
-
-This affair bothered Bouthemont, whose gaiety ill-accorded with such
-an internal vexation. He was pained to see nothing but scowling faces
-around him. However, he wished to be just “Come, leave him alone, he
-doesn't hurt you.”
-
-But they protested energetically. “What! doesn't hurt us! An
-insupportable object, always irritable, capable of walking over your
-body, he's so proud!”
-
-This was the great bitterness of the department Robineau, nervous as
-a woman, was intolerably stiff and susceptible. They related scores of
-stories, a poor little fellow who had fallen ill through it, and lady
-customers even who had been humiliated by his nasty remarks.
-
-“Well, gentlemen, I won't take anything on myself,” said Bouthemont.
-“I've notified the directors, and am going to speak about it shortly.”
-
-The second lunch-bell rang, the clang of which came up from the
-basement, distant and deadened in the close air of the shop. Hutin and
-Favier went down. From all the counters, the salesmen were arriving one
-by one, helter-skelter, hastening below to the narrow entrance to the
-kitchen, a damp passage always lighted with gas. The throng pushed
-forward, without a laugh or a word, amidst an increasing noise of
-crockery and a strong odour of food. At the extremity of the passage
-there was a sudden halt, before a wicket. Flanked with piles of plates,
-armed with forks and spoons, which he was plunging in the copper-pans, a
-cook was distributing the portions. And when he stood aside, the flaring
-kitchen could be seen behind his white-covered belly.
-
-“Of course!” muttered Hutin, consulting the bill of fare, written on a
-black-board above the wicket. “Beef and pungent sauce, or skate. Never
-any roast meat in this rotten shop! Their boiled beef and fish don't
-do a bit of good to a fellow!” Moreover, the fish was universally
-neglected, for the pan was quite full. Favier, however, took some skate.
-Behind him, Hutin stooped down, saying: “Beef and pungent sauce.” With
-a mechanical movement, the cook picked up a piece of meat, and poured
-a spoonful of sauce over it; and Hutin, suffocated by the ardent breath
-from the kitchen, had hardly got his portion, before the words, “Beef,
-pungent sauce; beef, pungent sauce,” followed each other like a litany;
-whilst the cook continued to pick up the meat and pour over the sauce,
-with the rapid and rhythmical movement of a well-regulated clock.
-
-“But the skate's cold,” declared Favier, whose hand felt no warmth from
-the plate.
-
-They were all hurrying along now, with their plates held out straight,
-for fear of running up against one another. Ten steps further was the
-bar, another wicket with a shiny zinc counter, on which were ranged the
-shares of wine, small bottles, without corks, still damp from rinsing.
-And each took one of these bottles in his empty hand as he passed, and
-then, completely laden, made for his table with a serious air, careful
-not to spill anything.
-
-Hutin grumbled, “This is a fine dance, with all this crockery!”
-
-Their table, Favier's and his, was at the end of the corridor in the
-last dining-room. The rooms were all alike, old cellars twelve feet by
-fifteen, which had been cemented over and fitted up as refectories; but
-the damp came through the paint-work, the yellow walls were covered with
-greenish spots; and, from the narrow air-holes, opening on the street,
-on a level with the pavement, there fell a livid light, incessantly
-traversed by the vague shadows of the passers-by. In July as in
-December, one was stifled in the warm air, laden with nauseous smells,
-coming from the neighbourhood of the kitchen.
-
-Hutin went in first. On the table, which was fixed at one end to the
-wall, and covered with American cloth, there were only the glasses,
-knives, and forks, marking oft the places. A pile of clean plates stood
-at each end; whilst in the middle was a big loaf, a knife sticking in
-it, with the handle in the air. Hutin got rid of his bottle and laid
-down his plate; then, after having taken his napkin from the bottom of a
-set of pigeonholes, the sole ornament on the walls, he heaved a sigh and
-sat down.
-
-“And I'm fearfully hungry, too!” he murmured.
-
-“It's always like that,” replied Favier, who took his place on the left.
-“Nothing to eat when one is starving.”
-
-The table was rapidly filling. It contained twenty-two places. At
-first nothing was heard but a loud clattering of knives and forks, the
-gormandising of big fellows with stomachs emptied by thirteen hours'
-daily work. Formerly the employees had an hour for meals, which enabled
-them to go outside to a café and take their coffee; and they would
-despatch their dinner in twenty minutes, anxious to get into the street
-But this stirred them up too much, they came back careless, indisposed
-for business; and the managers had decided that they should not go out,
-but pay an extra three halfpence for a cup of coffee, if they wanted it.
-So that now they were in no hurry, but prolonged the meal, not at
-all anxious to go back to work before time. A great many read some
-newspaper, between mouthfuls, the journal folded and placed against
-their bottle. Others, their first hunger satisfied, talked noisily,
-always returning to the eternal grievance of the bad food, the money
-they had earned, what they had done the previous Sunday, and what they
-were going to do on the next one.
-
-“I say, what about your Robineau?” asked a salesman of Hutin.
-
-The struggle between the salesmen of the silk department and their
-second-hand occupied all the counters. The question was discussed every
-evening at the Café Saint-Roch until midnight. Hutin, who was busy with
-his piece of beef, contented himself with replying:
-
-“Well! he's come back, Robineau has.” Then, suddenly getting angry,
-he resumed: “But confound it! they've given me a bit of a donkey, I
-believe! It's becoming disgusting, my word of honour!”
-
-“You needn't grumble!” said Favier. “I was flat enough to ask for skate.
-It's putrid.”
-
-They were all speaking at once, some complaining, some joking. At a
-corner of the table, against the wall, Deloche was silently eating. He
-was afflicted with an enormous appetite, which he had never been able
-to satisfy, and not earning enough to afford any extras, he cut himself
-enormous chunks of bread, and swallowed up the least savoury platefuls,
-with an air of greediness. They all laughed at him, crying: “Favier,
-pass your skate to Deloche. He likes it like that. And your meat, Hutin;
-Deloche wants it for his dessert.”
-
-The poor fellow shrugged his shoulders, and did not even reply. It
-wasn't his fault if he was dying of hunger. Besides, the others might
-abuse the food as much as they liked, they swallowed it up all the same.
-
-But a low whistling stopped their talk; Mouret and Bourdoncle were in
-the corridor. For some time the complaints had become so frequent that
-the principals pretended to come and judge for themselves the quality
-of the food. They gave thirty sous a head per day to the chief cook,
-who had to pay everything, provisions, coal, gas, and staff, and they
-displayed a naïve astonishment when the food was not good. This very
-morning even, each department had deputed a spokesman. Mignot and
-Liénard had undertaken to speak for their comrades. And in the sudden
-silence, all ears were stretched out to catch the conversation going
-on in the next room, where Mouret and Bourdoncle had just entered. The
-latter declared the beef excellent; and Mignot, astounded by this quiet
-affirmation, was repeating, “But chew it, and see;” whilst Liénard,
-attacking the skate, was gently saying, “But it stinks, sir!” Mouret
-then launched into a cordial speech: he would do everything for his
-employees' welfare, he was their father, and would rather eat dry bread
-than see them badly fed.
-
-“I promise you to look into the matter,” said he in conclusion, raising
-his voice so that they should hear it from one end of the passage to the
-other.
-
-The inquiry being finished, the noise of the knives and forks commenced
-once more. Hutin muttered “Yes, reckon on that, and drink water! Ah,
-they're not stingy of soft words. Want some promises, there you are! And
-they continue to feed you on old boot-leather, and to chuck you out like
-dogs!”
-
-The salesman who had already questioned him repeated: “You say that
-Robineau----”
-
-But a noise of heavy crockery-ware drowned his voice. The men changed
-their plates themselves, and the piles at both ends were diminishing.
-When a kitchen-help brought in some large tin dishes, Hutin cried out:
-“Baked rice! this is a finisher!”
-
-“Good for a penn'orth of gum!” said Favier, serving himself.
-
-Some liked it, others thought it too sticky. There were some who
-remained quite silent, plunged in the fiction of their newspaper,
-not even knowing what they were eating. They were all mopping their
-foreheads, the narrow cellar-like apartment was full of a ruddy steam,
-whilst the shadows of the passers-by were continually passing in black
-bands over the untidy cloth.
-
-“Pass Deloche the bread,” cried out one of the wags.
-
-Each one cut a piece, and then dug the knife into the loaf up to the
-handle; and the bread still went round.
-
-“Who'll take my rice for a dessert?” asked Hutin.
-
-When he had concluded his bargain with a short, thin young fellow, he
-attempted to sell his wine also; but no one would take it, it was known
-to be detestable.
-
-“As I was telling you, Robineau is back,” he continued, amid the
-cross-fire of laughter and conversation that was going on. “Oh!
-his affair is a grave one. Just fancy, he has been debauching the
-saleswomen! Yes, and he gets them cravats to make!”
-
-“Silence!” exclaimed Favier. “They're just judging him.”
-
-And he pointed to Bouthemont, who was walking in the passage between
-Mouret and Bourdoncle, all three absorbed in an animated conversation,
-carried on in a low tone. The diningroom of the managers and
-second-hands happened to be just opposite. Therefore, when Bouthemont
-saw Mouret pass he got up, having finished, and related the affair,
-explaining the awkward position he was in. The other two listened, still
-refusing to sacrifice Robineau, a first-class salesman, who dated from
-Madame Hedouin's time. But when he came to the story of the neckties,
-Bourdoncle got angry. Was this fellow mad to interfere with the
-saleswomen and procure them extra work? The house paid dear enough for
-the women's time; if they worked on their own account at night they
-worked less during the day in the shop, that was certain; therefore it
-was a robbery, they were risking their health which did not belong to
-them. No, the night was made for sleep; they must all sleep, or they
-would be sent to the right-about!
-
-“Getting rather warm!” remarked Hutin.
-
-Every time the three men passed the dining-room, the shopmen watched
-them, commenting on the slightest gestures. They had forgotten the baked
-rice, in which a cashier had just found a brace-button.
-
-“I heard the word 'cravat,'” said Favier. “And you saw how Bourdoncle's
-face turned pale at once.”
-
-Mouret shared his partner's indignation. That a saleswoman should be
-reduced to work at night, seemed to him an attack on the organisation
-of The Ladies' Paradise. Who was the stupid that couldn't earn enough
-in the business? But when Bouthemont named Denise he softened down,
-and invented excuses. Ah I yes, that poor little girl; she wasn't very
-sharp, and was greatly burdened, it was said. Bourdoncle interrupted him
-to declare they ought to send her off immediately. They would never
-do anything with such an ugly creature, he had always said so; and he
-seemed to be indulging a spiteful feeling. Mouret, perplexed, affected
-to laugh. Dear me! what a severe man! couldn't they forgive her for
-once? They could call in the culprit and give her a scolding. In short,
-Robineau was the most to blame, for he ought to have dissuaded her, he,
-an old hand, knowing the ways of the house.
-
-“Well! there's the governor laughing now!” resumed Favier, astonished,
-as the group again passed the door.
-
-“Ah, by Jove!” exclaimed Hutin, “if they persist in shoving Robineau on
-our shoulders, we'll make it lively for them!”
-
-Bourdoncle looked straight at Mouret. Then he simply assumed a
-disdainful expression, to intimate that he saw how it was, and thought
-it idiotic. Bouthemont resumed his complaints; the salesmen threatened
-to leave, and there were some very good men amongst them. But what
-appeared to touch these gentlemen especially, was the rumour of
-Robineau's friendly relations with Gaujean; the latter, it was said, was
-urging the former to set up for himself in the neighbourhood, offering
-him any amount of credit, to run in opposition to The Ladies' Paradise.
-There was a pause. Ah! Robineau was thinking of showing fight, was he!
-Mouret had become serious; he affected a certain scorn, avoided coming
-to a decision, treating it as a matter of no importance. They would
-see, they would speak to him. And he immediately commenced to joke with
-Bouthemont, whose father, arrived two days before from his little shop
-at Montpellier, had been nearly choked with rage and indignation on
-seeing the immense hall in which his son reigned. They were still
-laughing about the old man, who, recovering his Southern assurance,
-had immediately commenced to run everything down, pretending that the
-drapery business would soon go to the dogs.
-
-“Here's Robineau,” said Bouthemont. “I sent him to the stock-room to
-avoid any unpleasant occurrence. Excuse me if I insist, but things are
-in such an unpleasant state that something must be done.”
-
-Robineau, who had just come in, passed by the group with a bow, on his
-way to the table. Mouret simply repeated: “All right, we'll see about
-it.”
-
-And they separated. Hutin and Favier were still waiting for them, but
-on seeing they did not return, relieved their feelings. Was the governor
-coming down like this to every meal, to count the mouthfuls? A nice
-thing, if they could not even eat in peace! The truth was, they had just
-seen Robineau come in, and the governor's good-humour made them anxious
-for the result of the struggle they were engaged in. They lowered their
-voices, trying to find fresh subjects for grumbling.
-
-“But I'm dying of hunger!” continued Hutin, aloud. “One is hungrier than
-ever on getting up from table!” And yet he had eaten two portions of
-dessert, his own and the one he had exchanged for his plate of rice. All
-at once he cried out: “Hang it, I'm going in for an extra! Victor, give
-me another dessert!”
-
-The waiter was finishing serving the dessert. He then brought in the
-coffee, and those who took it gave him their three sous there and then.
-A few fellows had gone away, dawdling along the corridor, looking for a
-dark corner in which they could smoke a cigarette. The others remained
-at table before the heaps of greasy plates and dishes, rolling up the
-bread-crumbs into little bullets, going over the same old stories, in
-the odour of broken food, and the sweltering heat that was reddening
-their ears. The walls reeked with moisture, a slow asphyxia fell from
-the mouldy ceiling. Standing against the wall was Deloche, stuffed
-with bread, digesting in silence, his eyes on the air-hole; his daily
-recreation, after lunch, was to watch the feet of the passers-by
-spinning along the street, a continual procession of living feet, big
-boots, elegant boots, and ladies' tiny boots, without head or body. On
-rainy days it was very dirty.
-
-“What! Already?” exclaimed Hutin.
-
-A bell rang at the end of the passage, they had to make way for the
-third lunch. The waiters came in with pails of warm water and big
-sponges to clean the American cloth. Gradually the rooms became empty,
-the salesmen returned to their departments, lingering on the stairs. In
-the kitchen, the head cook had resumed his place at the wicket, between
-the pans of skate, beef, and sauce, armed with his forks and spoons,
-ready to fill the plates anew with the rhythmical movement of a
-well-regulated clock. As Hutin and Favier slowly withdrew, they saw
-Denise coming down.
-
-“Monsieur Robineau is back, mademoiselle,” said the former with sneering
-politeness.
-
-“He is still at table,” added the other. “But if it's anything important
-you can go in.”
-
-Denise continued on her way without replying or turning round; but when
-she passed the dining-room of the managers and second-hands, she could
-not help just looking in, and saw that Robineau was really there. She
-resolved to try and speak to him in the afternoon, and continued her
-journey along the corridor to her dining-room, which was at the other
-end.
-
-The women took their meals apart, in two special rooms. Denise entered
-the first one. It was also an old cellar, transformed into a refectory;
-but it had been fitted up with more comfort. On the oval table, in the
-middle of the apartment, the fifteen places were further apart and the
-wine was in decanters, a dish of skate and a dish of beef with pungent
-sauce occupied the two ends of the table. Waiters in white aprons
-attended to the young ladies, and spared them the trouble of fetching
-their portions from the wicket The management had thought that more
-decent.
-
-“You went round, then?” asked Pauline, already seated and cutting
-herself some bread.
-
-“Yes,” replied Denise, blushing, “I was accompanying a customer.”
-
-But this was a falsehood. Clara nudged her neighbour. What was the
-matter with the “unkempt girl?” She was quite strange in her ways. One
-after the other she had received letters from her lover; then, she went
-running all over the shop like a madwoman, pretending to be going to the
-work-room, where she did not even make an appearance. There was something
-up, that was certain. Then Clara, eating her skate without disgust,
-with the indifference of a girl who had been used to nothing better than
-rancid bacon, spoke of a frightful drama, the account of which filled
-the newspapers.
-
-“You've heard about that man cutting his mistress's throat with a razor,
-haven't you?”
-
-“Well!” said a little quiet delicate-looking girl belonging to the
-under-linen department, “he found her with another fellow. Serve her
-right!”
-
-But Pauline protested. What! just because one had ceased to love a man,
-he should be allowed to cut your throat? Ah! no, never! And stopping all
-at once, she turned round to the waiter, saying: “Pierre, I can't get
-through this beef. Just tell them to do me an extra, an omelet, nice and
-soft, if possible.”
-
-To pass away the time, she took out some chocolate which she began
-eating with her bread, for she always had her pockets full of
-sweetmeats.
-
-“Certainly it isn't very amusing with such a fellow,” resumed Clara.
-“And some people are fearfully jealous, you know! Only the other day
-there was a workman who pitched his wife into a well.”
-
-She kept her eyes on Denise, thinking she had guessed her trouble on
-seeing her turn pale. Evidently this little prude was afraid of being
-beaten by her lover, whom she no doubt deceived. It would be a lark if
-he came right into the shop after her, as she seemed to fear he would.
-But the conversation took another turn, one of the girls was giving a
-recipe for cleaning velvet. They then went on to speak of a piece at
-the Gaiety, in which some darling little children danced better than
-any grown-up persons. Pauline, saddened for a moment at the sight of her
-omelet, which was overdone, resumed her gaiety on finding it went down
-fairly well.
-
-“Pass the wine,” said she to Denise. “You should go in for an omelet.”
-
-“Oh! the beef is enough for me,” replied the young girl, who, to avoid
-expense, confined herself to the food provided by the house, no matter
-how repugnant it might be.
-
-When the waiter brought in the baked rice, the young ladies protested.
-They had refused it the previous week, and hoped it would not appear
-again. Denise, inattentive, worrying about Jean after Clara's stories,
-was the only one to eat it; all the others looked at her with an air
-of disgust. There was a great demand for extras, they gorged themselves
-with jam. This was a sort of elegance, they felt obliged to feed
-themselves with their own money.
-
-“You know the gentlemen have complained,” said the little delicate girl
-from the under-linen department, “and the management has promised----”
-
-They interrupted her with a burst of laughter, and commenced to talk
-about the management. All the girls took coffee but Denise, who couldn't
-bear it, she said. And they lingered there before their cups, the
-young ladies from the under-linen department in woollen dresses, with a
-middle-class simplicity, the young ladies from the dress department
-in silk, their napkins tucked under their chins, in order not to stain
-their dresses, like ladies who might have come down to the servants'
-hall to dine with their chamber-maids. They had opened the glazed
-sash of the airhole to change the stifling poisoned air; but they were
-obliged to close it at once, the cab-wheels seemed to be passing over
-the table.
-
-“Hush!” exclaimed Pauline; “here's that old beast!”
-
-It was Jouve, the inspector, who was rather fond of prowling about at
-meal times, when the young ladies were there. He was supposed, in fact,
-to look after their dining-rooms. With a smiling face he would come in
-and walk round the tables; sometimes he would even indulge in a little
-gossip, and inquire if they had made a good lunch. But as he annoyed
-them and made them feel uncomfortable, they all hastened to get away.
-Although the bell had not rung, Clara was the first to disappear; the
-others followed her, so that soon only Denise and Pauline remained.
-The latter, after having drunk her coffee, was finishing her chocolate
-drops. All at once she got up, saying: “I'm going to send the messenger
-for some oranges. Are you coming?”
-
-“Presently,” replied Denise, who was nibbling at a crust, determined to
-wait till the last, so as to be able to see Robineau on going upstairs.
-
-However, when she found herself alone with Jouve she felt uneasy, so she
-quitted the table; but as she was going towards the door he stopped her
-saying: “Mademoiselle Baudu----”
-
-Standing before her, he smiled with a paternal air. His thick grey
-moustache and short cropped hair gave him a respectable military
-appearance; and he threw out his chest, on which was displayed the red
-ribbon of his decoration.
-
-“What is it, Monsieur Jouve?” asked she, feeling reassured. “I caught
-you again this morning talking upstairs behind the carpet department You
-know it is not allowed, and if I reported you---- She must be very fond
-of you, your friend Pauline.” His moustache quivered, a flame lighted up
-his enormous nose. “What makes you so fond of each other, eh?” Denise,
-without understanding, was again becoming seized with an uneasy feeling.
-He was getting too close, and was speaking right in her face.
-
-“It's true we were talking, Monsieur Jouve,” she stammered, “but there's
-no harm in talking a bit. You are very good to me, and I'm very much
-obliged to you.”
-
-“I ought not to be good,” said he. “Justice, and nothing more, is my
-motto. But when it's a pretty girl----”
-
-And he came closer still, and she felt really afraid. Pauline's words
-came back to her memory; she now remembered the stories going about,
-stories of girls terrified by old Jouve into buying his good-will. In
-the shop, as a rule, he confined himself to little familiarities, such
-as pinching the cheeks of the complaisant young ladies with his fat
-fingers, taking their hands in his and keeping them there as if he had
-forgotten them. This was very paternal, and he only gave way to his real
-nature outdoors, when they consented to accept a little refreshment at
-his place in the Rue des Moineaux.
-
-“Leave me alone,” murmured the young girl, drawing back. “Come,” said
-he, “you are not going to play the savage with me, who always treats
-you well. Be amiable, come and take a cup of tea and a slice of
-bread-and-butter with me this evening. You are very welcome.”
-
-She was struggling now. “No! no!”
-
-The dining room was empty, the waiter had not come back. Jouve,
-listening for the sound of any footsteps, cast a rapid glance around
-him; and, very excited, losing control over himself, going beyond his
-fatherly familiarities, he tried to kiss her on the neck.
-
-“What a spiteful, stupid little girl. When one has a head of hair like
-yours one should not be so stupid. Come round this evening, just for
-fun.”
-
-But she was very excited, shocked, and terrified at the approach of this
-burning face, of which she could feel the breath. Suddenly she pushed
-him, so roughly that he staggered and nearly fell on to the table.
-Fortunately, a chair saved him; but in the shock, some wine left in a
-glass spurted on to his white necktie, and soaked his decoration. And
-he stood there, without wiping himself, choked with anger at such
-brutality. What! when he was expecting nothing, when he was not exerting
-his strength, and was yielding simply to his kindness of heart!
-
-[Illustration: 0297]
-
-“Ah, you will be sorry for this, on my word of honour!” Denise ran away.
-Just at that moment the bell rang; but troubled, still shuddering, she
-forgot Robineau, and went straight to her counter, not daring to go
-down again. As the sun fell on the frontage of the Place Gaillon of
-an afternoon, they were all stifling in the first floor rooms,
-notwithstanding the grey linen blinds. A few customers came, put the
-young ladies into a very uncomfortable, warm state, and went away
-without buying anything. Every one was yawning even under Madame
-Aurélie's big sleepy eyes. Towards three o'clock, Denise, seeing the
-first-hand falling off to sleep, quietly slipped off, and resumed her
-journey across the shop, with a busy air. To put the curious ones, who
-might be watching her, off the scent, she did not go straight to the
-silk department; pretending to want something in the lace department,
-she went up to Deloche, and asked him a question; then, on the
-ground-floor, she passed through the printed cottons department, and
-was just going into the cravat one, when she stopped short, startled and
-surprised. Jean was before her.
-
-“What! it's you?” she murmured, quite pale.
-
-He had on his working blouse, and was bare-headed, with his hair in
-disorder, the curls falling over his girlish face. Standing before a
-show-case of narrow black neckties, he appeared to be thinking deeply.
-
-“What are you doing here?” resumed Denise.
-
-“What do you think?” replied he. “I was waiting for you. You won't let
-me come. So I came in, but haven't said anything to anybody. You may
-feel quite safe. Pretend not to know me, if you like.”
-
-Some salesmen were already looking at them with astonishment Jean
-lowered his voice. “She wanted to come with me you know. Yes, she is
-close by, opposite the fountain. Give me the fifteen francs quick, or we
-are done for as sure as the sun is shining on us!”
-
-Denise lost her head. The lookers-on were grinning, listening to this
-adventure. And as there was a staircase behind the cravat department
-leading to the lower floor, she pushed her brother along, and quickly
-led him below. Downstairs he continued his story, embarrassed, inventing
-his facts, fearing not to be believed.
-
-“The money is not for her. She is too respectable for that. And as for
-her husband, he does not care a straw for fifteen francs. Not for a
-million would he allow his wife. A glue manufacturer, I tell you. People
-very well off indeed. No, it's for a low fellow, one of her friends,
-who has seen us together; and if I don't give him this money this
-evening----”
-
-“Be quiet,” murmured Denise. “Presently, do get along.” They were now
-in the parcels office. The dead season had thrown the vast floor into
-a sort of torpor, in the pale light from the air-holes. It was cold as
-well, a silence fell from the ceiling. However, a porter was collecting
-from one of the compartments the few packets for the neighbourhood of
-the Madeleine; and, on the large sorting-table, was seated Campion, the
-chief clerk, his legs dangling, and his eyes wandering about.
-
-Jean began again: “The husband, who has a big knife----”
-
-“Get along!” repeated Denise, still pushing him forward. They followed
-one of the narrow corridors, where the gas was kept continually burning.
-To the right and the left in the dark vaults the reserve goods threw out
-their shadows behind the gratings. At last she stopped opposite one of
-these. Nobody was likely to pass that way; but it was not allowed, and
-she shuddered.
-
-“If this rascal says anything,” resumed Jean, “the husband, who has a
-big knife----”
-
-“Where do you expect I can find fifteen francs?” exclaimed Denise in
-despair. “Can't you be more careful? You're always getting into some
-stupid scrape!”
-
-He struck his chest. Amidst all his romantic inventions, he had almost
-forgotten the exact truth. He dramatised his money wants, but there
-was always some immediate necessity behind this display. “By all that's
-sacred, it's really true this time. I was holding her like this, and she
-was kissing me----”
-
-She stopped him again, and lost her temper, feeling on thorns,
-completely at a loss. “I don't want to know. Keep your wicked conduct
-to yourself. It's too bad, you ought to know better! You're always
-tormenting me. I'm killing myself to keep you in money. Yes, I have to
-stay up all night at work. Not only that, you are taking the bread out
-of your little brother's mouth.”
-
-Jean stood there with his mouth wide open, and all the colour left his
-face. What! it was not right? And he could not understand, he had always
-treated his sister like a comrade, he thought it quite a natural thing
-to open his heart to her. But what choked him above all, was to learn
-she stopped up all night. The idea that he was killing her, and taking
-Pépé's share as well, affected him so much that he began to cry.
-
-“You're right; I'm a scamp,” exclaimed he. “But it isn't wicked, really,
-far from it, and that's why one always does it! This woman, Denise, is
-twenty, and thought it such fun, because I'm only seventeen. Really now!
-I am quite furious with myself! I could slap my face!” He had taken her
-hands, and was kissing them and inundating them with tears. “Give me
-the fifteen francs, and this shall be the last time. I swear to you.
-Or rather--no!--don't give me anything. I prefer to die. If the husband
-murders me it will be a good riddance for you.” And as she was crying as
-well, he was stricken with remorse. “I say that, but of course I'm not
-sure. Perhaps he doesn't want to kill any one. We'll manage. I promise
-you that, darling. Good-bye, I'm off.”
-
-But a sound of footsteps at the end of the corridor frightened them. She
-quickly drew him close to the grating, in a dark corner. For an instant
-they heard nothing but the hissing of a gas-burner near them. Then the
-footsteps drew nearer; and, on stretching out her neck, she recognised
-Jouve, the inspector, who had just entered the corridor, with his stiff
-military walk. Was he there by chance, or had some one at the door
-warned him of Jean's presence? She was seized with such a fright that
-she knew not what to do; and she pushed Jean out of the dark spot where
-they were concealed, and drove him before her, stammering out: “Be off!
-Be off!”
-
-Both galloped along, hearing Jouve behind them, for he also had began to
-run. They crossed the parcels office again, and arrived at the foot of
-the stairs leading out into the Rue de la Michodière.
-
-“Be off!” repeated Denise, “be off! If I can, I'll send you the fifteen
-francs all the same.”
-
-Jean, bewildered, scampered away. The inspector, who came up panting,
-out of breath, could only distinguish a corner of his white blouse, and
-his locks of fair hair flying in the wind. He stood a moment to get his
-breath, and resume his correct appearance. He had on a brand-new white
-necktie, the large bow of which shone like a snow-flake.
-
-“Well! this is nice behaviour, mademoiselle!” said he, his lips
-trembling. “Yes, it's nice, very nice! If you think I'm going to stand
-this sort of thing in the basement, you're mistaken.”
-
-And he pursued her with this whilst she was returning to the shop,
-overcome with emotion, unable to find a word of defence. She was sorry
-now she had run away. Why hadn't she explained the matter, and brought
-her brother forward? They would now go and imagine all sorts of
-villanies, and say what she might, they would not believe her. Once more
-she forgot Robineau, and went straight to her counter. Jouve immediately
-went to the manager's office to report the matter. But the messenger
-told him Monsieur Mouret was with Monsieur Bourdoncle and Monsieur
-Robineau; they had been talking together for the last quarter of an
-hour. In fact, the door was halfopen, and he could hear Mouret gaily
-asking Robineau if he had had a pleasant holiday; there was not the
-least question of a dismissal--on the contrary, the conversation fell on
-certain things to be done in the department.
-
-“Do you want anything, Monsieur Jouve?” exclaimed Mouret “Come in.”
-
-But a sudden instinct warned the inspector. As Bourdoncle had come out,
-he preferred to relate the affair to him. They slowly passed through the
-shawl department, walking side by side, the one leaning over and talking
-in a low tone, the other listening, not a sign on his severe face
-betraying his impressions. “All right,” said the latter at last.
-
-And as they had arrived close to the dress department, he went in. Just
-at that moment Madame Aurélie was scolding Denise. Where had she come
-from, again? This time she couldn't say she had been to the work-room.
-Really, these continual absences could not be tolerated any longer.
-
-“Madame Aurélie!” cried Bourdoncle.
-
-He had decided on a bold stroke, not wishing to consult Mouret, for fear
-of some weakness. The first-hand came up, and the story was once more
-related in a low voice. They were all waiting in the expectation of some
-catastrophe. At last, Madame Aurélie turned round with a solemn air.
-
-“Mademoiselle Baudu!” And her puffy emperor's mask assumed the
-immobility of the all-powerful: “Go and be paid!” The terrible phrase
-sounded very loud in the empty department. Denise stood there pale as
-a ghost, without saying a word. At last she was able to ask in broken
-sentences:
-
-“Me! me! What for? What have I done?”
-
-Bourdoncle replied, harshly, that she knew very well, that she had
-better not provoke any explanation; and he spoke of the cravats, and
-said that it would be a fine thing if all the young ladies received men
-down in the basement.
-
-“But it was my brother!” cried she with the grievous anger of an
-outraged virgin.
-
-Marguerite and Clara commenced to laugh. Madame Frédéric, usually so
-discreet, shook her head with an incredulous air. Always her brother!
-Really it was very stupid! Denise looked round at all of them:
-Bourdoncle, who had taken a dislike to her the first day; Jouve, who had
-stopped to serve as a witness, and from whom she expected no justice;
-then these girls whom she had not been able to soften by nine months of
-smiling courage, who were happy, in fact, to turn her out of doors. What
-was the good of struggling? what was the use of trying to impose herself
-on them when no one liked her? And she went away without a word,
-not even casting a last look towards this room where she had so long
-struggled. But as soon as she was alone, before the hall staircase, a
-deeper sense of suffering filled her grieved heart. No one liked her,
-and the sudden thought of Mouret had just deprived her of all idea of
-resignation. No! no! she could not accept such a dismissal. Perhaps he
-would believe this villanous story, this rendezvous with a man down in
-the cellars. At the thought, a feeling of shame tortured her, an anguish
-with which she had never before been afflicted. She wanted to go and see
-him, to explain the matter to him, simply to let him know the truth;
-for she was quite ready to go away as soon as he knew this. And her
-old fear, the shiver which chilled her when in his presence, suddenly
-developed into an ardent desire to see him, not to leave the house
-without telling him she had never belonged to another.
-
-It was nearly five o'clock, and the shop was waking up into life again
-in the cool evening air. She quickly started off for Mouret's office.
-But when she arrived at the door, a hopeless melancholy feeling again
-took possession of her. Her tongue refused its office, the intolerable
-burden of existence again fell on her shoulders. He would not believe
-her, he would laugh like the others, she thought; and this idea made her
-almost faint away. All was over, she would be better alone, out of the
-way, dead! And, without informing Pauline or Deloche, she went at once
-and took her money.
-
-“You have, mademoiselle,” said the clerk, “twenty-two days; that makes
-eighteen francs and fourteen sous; to which must be added seven francs
-for commission. That's right, isn't it?”
-
-“Yes, sir. Thanks.”
-
-And Denise was going away with her money, when she at last met Robineau.
-He had already heard of her dismissal, and promised to find the
-necktie-dealer. In a lower tone he tried to console her, but lost his
-temper: what an existence, to be at the continual mercy of a whim! to be
-thrown out at an hour's notice, without even being able to claim a full
-month's salary. Denise went up to inform Madame Cabin, saying that she
-would try and send for her box during the evening. It was just striking
-five when she found herself on the pavement of the Place Gaillon,
-bewildered, in the midst of the crowd of people and cabs.
-
-The same evening when Robineau got home he received a letter from the
-management informing him, in a few lines, that for certain reasons
-relating to the internal arrangements they were obliged to deprive
-themselves of his services. He had been in the house seven years, and it
-was only that afternoon that he was talking to the principals; this
-was a heavy blow for him. Hutin and Favier were crowing in the silk
-department, as loudly as Clara and Marguerite in the dress one. A jolly
-good riddance! Such clean sweeps make room for the others! Deloche and
-Pauline were the only ones to regret Denise's departure, exchanging, in
-the rush of business, bitter words of regret at losing her, so kind, so
-well behaved.
-
-“Ah,” said the young man, “if ever she succeeds anywhere else, I should
-like to see her come back here, and trample on the others; a lot of
-good-for-nothing creatures!”
-
-It was Bourdoncle who in this affair had to bear the brunt of Mouret's
-anger. When the latter heard of Denise's dismissal, he was exceedingly
-annoyed. As a rule he never interfered with the staff; but this time he
-affected to see an encroachment on his power, an attempt to over-ride
-his authority. Was he no longer master in the place, that they dared
-to give orders? Everything must pass through his hands, absolutely
-everything; and he would immediately crush any one who should resist
-Then, after making personal inquiries, all the while in a nervous
-torment which he could not conceal, he lost his temper again. This
-poor girl was not lying; it was really her brother. Campion had fully
-recognised him. Why was she sent away, then? He even spoke of taking her
-back.
-
-However, Bourdoncle, strong in his passive resistance, bent before the
-storm. He watched Mouret, and one day when he saw him a little calmer,
-ventured to say in a meaning voice: “It's better for everybody that
-she's gone.”
-
-Mouret stood there looking very awkward, the blood rushing to his face.
-“Well!” replied he, laughing, “perhaps you're right. Let's go and take
-a turn down stairs. Things are looking better, we took nearly a hundred
-thousand francs yesterday.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-For a moment Denise stood bewildered on the pavement, in the sun which
-still shone fiercely at five o'clock. The July heat warmed the
-gutters, Paris was blazing with the chalky whiteness peculiar to it in
-summer-time, and which produced quite a blinding glare. The catastrophe
-had happened so suddenly, they had turned her out so roughly, that she
-stood there, turning her money over in her pocket in a mechanical way,
-asking herself where she was to go, and what she was to do.
-
-A long line of cabs prevented her quitting the pavement near The Ladies'
-Paradise. When she at last risked herself amongst the wheels she
-crossed over the Place Gaillon, as if she intended to go into the Rue
-Louis-le-Grand; then she altered her mind, and walked towards the Rue
-Saint-Roch. But still she had no plan, for she stopped at the corner of
-the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, and finally followed it, after looking
-around her with an undecided air. Arrived at the Passage Choiseul, she
-passed through, and found herself in the Rue Monsigny, without knowing
-how, and ultimately came into the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin again. Her
-head was filled with a fearful buzzing sensation, she thought of her box
-on seeing a commissionaire; but where was she to have it taken to, and
-why all this trouble, when an hour ago she had a bed to go to?
-
-Then her eyes fixed on the houses, she began to examine the windows.
-There were any number of bills, “Apartments to Let.” She saw them
-confusedly, repeatedly seized by the inward emotion which was agitating
-her whole being. Was it possible? Left alone so suddenly, lost in this
-immense city in which she was a stranger, without support, without
-resources. She must eat and sleep, however. The streets succeeded one
-another, the Rue des Moulins, the Rue Sainte-Anne. She wandered about
-the neighbourhood, frequently retracing her steps, always brought back
-to the only spot she knew really well. Suddenly she was astonished,
-she was again standing before The Ladies' Paradise; and to escape this
-obsession she plunged into the Rue de la Michodière. Fortunately Baudu
-was not at his door. The Old Elbeuf appeared to be dead, behind its
-murky windows. She would never have dared to show herself at her
-uncle's, for he affected not to recognise her any more, and she did not
-wish to become a burden to him, in the misfortune he had predicted for
-her. But, on the other side of the street, a yellow bill attracted
-her attention. “Furnished room to let.” It was the first that did not
-frighten her, so poor did the house appear. She soon recognised it,
-with its two low storeys, and rusty-coloured front, crushed between The
-Ladies' Paradise and the old Hôtel Duvillard. On the threshold of the
-umbrella shop, old Bourras, hairy and bearded like a prophet, and
-with his glasses on his nose, stood studying the ivory handle of a
-walking-stick. Hiring the whole house, he under-let the two upper floors
-furnished, to lighten the rent.
-
-“You have a room, sir?” asked Denise, obeying an instinctive impulse.
-
-He raised his great bushy eyes, surprised to see her, for he knew all
-the young persons at The Ladies' Paradise. And, after observing her
-clean dress and respectable appearance, he replied: “It won't suit you.”
-
-“How much is it, then?” replied Denise.
-
-“Fifteen francs a month.”
-
-She asked to see it. On arriving in the narrow shop, and seeing that
-he was still eyeing her with an astonished air, she told him of her
-departure from the shop and of her wish not to trouble her uncle. The
-old man then went and fetched a key hanging on a board in the back-shop,
-a small dark room, where he did his cooking and had his bed; beyond
-that, behind a dirty window, could be seen a back-yard about six feet
-square.
-
-“I'll walk in front to prevent you falling,” said Bourras, entering the
-damp corridor which ran along the shop.
-
-He stumbled against the lower stair, and commenced the ascent,
-reiterating his warnings to be careful. Look out! the rail was close
-against the wall, there was a hole at the corner, sometimes the lodgers
-left their dust-boxes there. Denise, in complete obscurity, could
-distinguish nothing, only feeling the chilliness of the old damp
-plaster. On the first floor, however, a small window looking into the
-yard enabled her to see vaguely, as at the bottom of a piece of sleeping
-water, the rotten staircase, the walls black with dirt, the cracked and
-discoloured doors.
-
-“If only only these rooms were vacant,” resumed
-
-Bourras. “You would be very comfortable there. But they are always
-occupied by ladies.”
-
-On the second floor the light increased, showing up with a raw paleness
-the distress of the house. A journeyman-baker occupied the first room,
-and it was the other, the further one, that was vacant. When Bourras
-had opened the door he was obliged to stay on the landing in order that
-Denise might enter with ease. The bed placed in the corner nearest the
-door, left just room enough for one person to pass. At the other end
-there was a small walnut-wood chest of drawers, a deal table stained
-black, and two chairs. The lodgers who did any cooking were obliged to
-kneel before the fire-place, where there was an earthenware stove.
-
-“You know,” said the old man, “it is not luxurious, but the view from
-the window is gay. You can see the people passing in the street.” And,
-as Denise was looking with surprise at the ceiling just above the bed,
-where a chance lady-lodger had written her name--Ernestine--by drawing
-the flame of the candle over it, he added with a good-natured smile; “If
-I did a lot of repairs, I should never make both ends meet. There you
-are; it's all I have to offer.”
-
-“I shall be very well here,” declared the young girl.
-
-She paid a month in advance, asked for the linen--a pair of sheets and
-two towels, and made her bed without delay, happy, relieved to know
-where she was going to sleep that night. An hour after she had sent a
-commissionaire to fetch her box, and was quite at home.
-
-During the first two months she had a terribly hard time of it. Being
-unable to pay for Pépé's board, she had taken him away, and slept him on
-an old sofa lent by Bourras. She could not do with less than thirty
-sous a day, including the rent, even by consenting to live on dry bread
-herself, in order to procure a bit of meat for the little one.
-During the first fortnight she got on pretty well, having begun her
-housekeeping with about ten francs; besides she had been fortunate
-enough to find the cravat-dealer, who paid her her eighteen francs six
-sous. But after that she became completely destitute. It was in vain she
-applied to the various shops, at La Place Clichy, the Bon Marché, the
-Louvre: the dead season had stopped business everywhere, they told
-her to apply again in the autumn, more than five thousand employees,
-dismissed like her, were wandering about Paris in want of places. She
-then tried to obtain a little work elsewhere; but in her ignorance of
-Paris she did not know where to apply, often accepting most ungrateful
-tasks, and sometimes even not getting her money. Certain evenings she
-gave Pépé his dinner alone, a plate of soup, telling him she had dined
-out; and she would go to bed, her head in a whirl, nourished by the
-fever which was burning her hands. When Jean dropped suddenly into
-the midst of this poverty, he called himself a scoundrel with such
-a despairing violence that she was obliged to tell some falsehood to
-reassure him; and often found means of slipping a two-franc piece into
-his hand, to prove that she still had money. She never wept before the
-children. On Sundays, when she would cook a piece of veal in the stove,
-on her knees before the fire, the narrow room re-echoed with the gaiety
-of children, careless about existence. Then, when Jean had returned
-to his master's and Pépé was sleeping, she spent a frightful night, in
-anguish about the coming day.
-
-Other fears kept her awake. The two ladies on the first floor received
-visitors up to a late hour; and sometimes a visitor mistook the floor
-and came banging at Denise's door. Bourras having quietly told her not
-to answer, she buried her face under her pillow to escape hearing their
-oaths. Then, her neighbour, the baker, had shown a disposition to annoy
-her: he never came home till the morning, and would lay in wait for her,
-as she went to fetch her water; he even made holes in the wall, to watch
-her washing herself, so that she was obliged to hang her clothes against
-the wall. But she suffered still more from the annoyances of the street,
-the continual persecution of the passers-by. She could not go downstairs
-to buy a candle, in these streets swarming with the debauchees of the
-old quarters, without feeling a warm breath behind her, and hearing
-crude, insulting remarks; and the men pursued her to the very end of the
-dark passage, encouraged by the sordid appearance of the house. Why had
-she no lover? It astonished people, and seemed ridiculous. She would
-certainly have to yield one day. She herself could not have explained
-why she resisted, menaced as she was by hunger, and perturbed by the
-desires with which the air around her was warm.
-
-One evening Denise had not even any bread for Pépé's soup, when a
-gentleman, wearing a decoration, commenced to follow her. On arriving
-opposite the passage he became brutal, and it was with a disgusted,
-shocked feeling that she banged the door in his face. Then, upstairs,
-she sat down, her hands trembling. The little one was sleeping. What
-should she say if he woke up and asked for bread? And yet she had only
-to consent and her misery would be over, she could have money, dresses,
-and a fine room. It was very simple, every one came to that, it was
-said; for a woman alone in Paris could not live by her labour. But her
-whole being rose up in protestation, without indignation against the
-others, simply averse to the disgrace of the thing. She considered life
-a matter of logic, good conduct, and courage.
-
-Denise frequently questioned herself in this way. An old love story
-floated in her memory, the sailor's betrothed whom her love guarded
-from all perils. At Valognes she had often hummed over this sentimental
-ballad, gazing on the deserted street. Had she also a tender affection
-in her heart that she was so brave? She still thought of Hutin, full of
-uneasiness. Morning and evening she saw him pass under her window. Now
-that he was second-hand he walked by himself, amid the respect of the
-simple salesmen. He never raised his head, she thought she suffered from
-his vanity, and watched him pass without any fear of being discovered.
-And as soon as she saw Mouret, who also passed every day, she began to
-tremble, and, quickly concealed herself, her bosom heaving. He had no
-need to know where she was lodging. Then she felt ashamed of the house,
-and suffered at the idea of what he thought of her, although perhaps
-they would never meet again.
-
-Denise still lived amidst the agitation caused by The Ladies' Paradise.
-A simple wall separated her room from her old department; and, from
-early morning, she went over her day's work, feeling the arrival of the
-crowd, the increased bustle of business. The slightest noise shook the
-old house hanging on the flank of the colossus; she felt the gigantic
-pulse beating. Besides, she could not avoid certain meetings. Twice
-she had found herself face to face with Pauline, who had offered her
-services, grieved to see her so unfortunate; and she had even been
-obliged to tell a falsehood to avoid receiving her friend or paying
-her a visit, one Sunday, at Baugé's. But it was more difficult still to
-defend herself against Deloche's desperate affection; he watched her,
-aware of all her troubles, waited for her in the doorways. One day he
-wanted to lend her thirty francs, a brother's savings, he said, with
-a blush. And these meetings made her regret the shop, continually
-occupying her with the life they led inside, as if she had not quitted
-it.
-
-No one ever called upon Denise. One afternoon she was surprised by a
-knock. It was Colomban. She received him standing. He, looking very
-awkward, stammered at first, asked how she was getting on, and spoke of
-The Old Elbeuf.
-
-Perhaps it was Uncle Baudu who had sent him, regretting his rigour;
-for he continued to pass his niece without taking any notice of her,
-although quite aware of her miserable position. But when she plainly
-questioned her visitor, he appeared more embarrassed than ever. No,
-no, it was not the governor who had sent him; and he finished by naming
-Clara--he simply wanted to talk about Clara. Little by little he became
-bolder, and asked Denise's advice, supposing that she could be useful
-to him with her old friend. It was in vain that she tried to dishearten
-him, by reproaching him with the pain he was causing Geneviève, all for
-this heartless girl. He came up another day, and got into the habit of
-coming to see her. This sufficed for his timid passion; he continually
-commenced the same conversation, unable to resist, trembling with joy to
-be with a girl who had approached Clara. And this caused Denise to live
-more than ever at The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-It was towards the end of September that the young girl experienced the
-blackest misery. Pépé had fallen ill, having caught a severe cold. He
-ought to have been nourished with good broth, and she had not even a
-piece of bread. One evening, completely conquered, she was sobbing, in
-one of those sombre straits which drive women on to the streets, or into
-the Seine, when old Bourras gently knocked at the door. He brought a
-loaf, and a milk-can full of broth.
-
-“There! there's something for the youngster,” said he in his abrupt way.
-“Don't cry like that; it annoys my lodgers.” And as she thanked him in a
-fresh outburst of tears, he resumed: “Do keep quiet! To-morrow come and
-see me. I've some work for you.”
-
-Bourras, since the terrible blow dealt him by The Ladies' Paradise
-by their opening an umbrella department, had ceased to employ any
-workwomen. He did everything himself to save expenses--the cleaning,
-mending, and sewing. His trade was also diminishing, so that he was
-sometimes without work. And he was obliged to invent something to do the
-next day, when he installed Denise in a corner of his shop. He felt that
-he could not let any one die of hunger in his house.
-
-“You'll have two francs a day,” said he. “When you find something
-better, you can leave me.”
-
-She was afraid of him, and did the work so quickly that he hardly knew
-what else to give her to do. He had given her some silk to stitch, some
-lace to repair. During the first few days she did not dare raise her
-head, uncomfortable to know he was close to her, with his lion-like
-mane, hooked nose, and piercing eyes, under his thick bushy eyebrows.
-His voice was harsh, his gestures extravagant, and the mothers of the
-neighbourhood often frightened their youngsters by threatening to send
-for him, as they would for a policeman. However, the boys never passed
-his door without calling out some insulting words, which he did not even
-seem to hear. All his maniacal anger was directed against the scoundrels
-who dishonoured his trade by selling cheap trashy articles, which dogs
-would not consent to use.
-
-Denise trembled whenever he burst out thus: “Art is done for, I tell
-you! There's not a single respectable handle made now. They make sticks,
-but as for handles, it's all up! Bring me a proper handle, and I'll give
-you twenty francs!”
-
-He had a real artist's pride; not a workman in Paris was capable of
-turning out a handle like his, light and strong. He carved the knobs
-especially with charming ingenuity, continually inventing fresh designs,
-flowers, fruit, animals, and heads, subjects conceived and executed in
-a free and life-like style. A little pocket-knife sufficed, and he spent
-whole days, spectacles on nose, chipping bits of boxwood and ebony.
-
-“A pack of ignorant beggars,” said he, “who are satisfied with sticking a
-certain quantity of silk on so much whalebone! They buy their handles by
-the gross, handles readymade. And they sell just what they like! I tell
-you, art is done for!”
-
-Denise began to take courage. He had insisted on having Pépé down in the
-shop to play, for he was wonderfully fond of children. When the little
-one was crawling about on all-fours, neither of them had room to move,
-she in her corner doing the mending, he near the window, carving with
-his little pocket-knife. Every day now brought on the same work and
-the same conversation. Whilst working, he continually pitched into The
-Ladies' Paradise; never tired of explaining how affairs stood. He had
-occupied his house since 1845, and had a thirty years' lease, at a rent
-of eighteen hundred francs a year; and, as he made a thousand francs out
-of his four furnished rooms, he only paid eight hundred for the shop.
-It was a mere trifle, he had no expenses, and could thus hold out for a
-long time still. To hear him, there was no doubt about his triumph;
-he would certainly swallow up the monster. Suddenly he would interrupt
-himself.
-
-“Have they got any dog's heads like that?”
-
-And he would blink his eyes behind his glasses, to judge the dog's head
-he was carving, with its lip turned up and fangs out, in a life-like
-growl. Pépé, delighted with the dog, would get up, placing his two
-little arms on the old man's knee.
-
-“As long as I make both ends meet I don't care a hang about the rest,”
- the latter would resume, delicately shaping the dog's tongue with the
-point of his knife. “The scoundrels have taken away my profits; but if
-I'm making nothing I'm not losing anything yet, or at least but very
-little. And, you see, I'm ready to sacrifice everything rather than
-yield.”
-
-He would brandish his knife, and his white hair would blow about in a
-storm of anger.
-
-“But,” Denise would mildly observe, without raising her eyes from her
-needle, “if they made you a reasonable offer, it would be wiser to
-accept.”
-
-Then his ferocious obstinacy would burst forth. “Never! If my head were
-under the knife I would say no, by heavens! I've another ten years'
-lease, and they shall not have the house before then, even if I should
-have to die of hunger within the four bare walls. Twice already have
-they tried to get over me. They offered me twelve thousand francs for
-my good-will, and eighteen thousand francs for the last ten years of my
-lease; in all thirty thousand. Not for fifty thousand even! I have them
-in my power, and intend to see them licking the dust before me!”
-
-“Thirty thousand francs! it's a good sum,” Denise would resume. “You
-could go and establish yourself elsewhere. And suppose they were to buy
-the house?”
-
-Bourras, putting the finishing touches to his dog's tongue, would
-appear absorbed for a moment, an infantine laugh pervading his venerable
-prophet's face. Then he would, continue: “The house, no fear! They spoke
-of buying it last year, and offered eighty thousand francs, twice as
-much as it's worth. But the landlord, a retired fruiterer, as big a
-scoundrel as they, wanted to make them shell out more. But not only
-that, they are suspicious about me; they know I'm not so likely to give
-way. No! no! here I am, and here I intend to stay. The emperor with all
-his cannon could not turn me out.” Denise never dared say any more, she
-would go on with her work, whilst the old man continued to break out in
-short sentences, between two cuts with his knife, muttering something to
-the effect that the game had hardly commenced, later on they would see
-wonderful things, he had certain plans which would sweep away their
-umbrella counter; and, in his obstinacy, there appeared a personal
-revolt of the small manufacturer against the threatening invasion of
-the great shops. Pépé, however, would at last climb on his knees, and
-impatiently stretch out his hand towards the dog's head.
-
-“Give it me, sir.”
-
-“Presently, my child,” the old man would reply in a voice that suddenly
-became tender. “He hasn't any eyes; we must make his eyes now.” And
-whilst carving the eye he would continue talking to Denise. “Do you hear
-them? Isn't there a roar next door? That's what exasperates me more than
-anything, my word of honour! to have them always on my back with their
-infernal locomotive-like noise.”
-
-It made his little table tremble, he asserted. The whole shop was
-shaken, and he would spend the entire afternoon without a customer, in
-the trepidation of the crowd which overflowed The Ladies' Paradise. It
-was from morning to night a subject for eternal grumbling. Another good
-day's work, they were knocking against the wall, the silk department
-must have cleared ten thousand francs; or else he made merry over a
-showery day which had killed the receipts. And the slightest rumours,
-the most unimportant noises, furnished him with subjects of endless
-comment.
-
-“Ah! some one has slipped down! Ah, if they could only all fall and
-break their backs! That, my dear, is a dispute between some ladies. So
-much the better! So much the better! Do you hear the parcels falling on
-to the lower floor? It's disgusting!”
-
-It did not do for Denise to discuss his explanations, for he retorted
-bitterly by reminding her of the shameful way they had dismissed her.
-She was obliged to relate for the hundredth time her life in the dress
-department, the hardships she had endured at first, the small unhealthy
-bedrooms, the bad food, and the continual struggle between the salesmen;
-and they were thus talking about the shop from morning to night,
-absorbing it hourly in the very air they breathed.
-
-“Give it me, sir,” Pépé would repeat, with eager outstretched hands.
-
-The dog's head finished, Bourras would hold it at a distance, then
-examine it closely with childish glee. “Take care, it will bite you!
-There, go and play, and don't break it, if you can help it.” Then
-resuming his fixed idea, he would shake his fist at the wall. “You may
-do all you can to knock the house down. You sha'n't have it, even if you
-invade the whole neighbourhood.”
-
-Denise had now her daily bread assured her, and she was extremely
-grateful to the old umbrella-dealer, whose good heart she felt beneath
-his strange violent ways. She had a strong desire, however, to find some
-work elsewhere, for she often saw him inventing some trifle for her
-to do; she fully understood that he did not require a workwoman in the
-present slack state of his business, and that he was employing her out
-of pure charity. Six months had passed thus, and the dull winter season
-had again returned. She was despairing of finding a situation before
-March, when, one evening in January, Deloche, who was watching for
-her in a doorway, gave her a bit of advice. Why did she not go and see
-Robineau; perhaps he might want some one?
-
-In September, Robineau had decided to buy Vinçard's silk business,
-trembling all the time lest he should compromise his wife's sixty
-thousand francs. He had paid forty thousand for the good-will and stock,
-and was starting with the remaining twenty thousand. It was not much,
-but he had Gaujean behind him to back him up with any amount of credit.
-Since his disagreement with The Ladies' Paradise, the latter had been
-longing to stir up a system of competition against the colossus; and he
-thought victory certain, by creating special shops in the neighbourhood,
-where the public could find a large and varied choice of articles. The
-rich Lyons manufacturers, such as Dumonteil, were the only ones who
-could accept the big shops' terms, satisfied to keep their looms going
-with them, looking for their profits by selling to less important
-houses. But Gaujean was far from having the solidity and staying power
-possessed by Dumonteil. For a long time a simple commission agent, it
-was only during the last five or six years that he had had looms of his
-own, and he still had a lot of work done by other makers, furnishing
-them with the raw material and paying them by the yard. It was precisely
-this system which, increasing his manufacturing expenses, had prevented
-him competing with Dumonteil for the supply of the Paris Paradise. This
-had filled him with rancour; he saw in Robineau the instrument of a
-decisive battle to be declared against these drapery bazaars which he
-accused of ruining the French manufacturers.
-
-When Denise called she found Madame Robineau alone. Daughter of an
-overseer in the Department of Highways, entirely ignorant of business
-matters, she still retained the charming awkwardness of a girl educated
-in a Blois convent She was dark, very pretty, with a gentle, cheerful
-manner, which gave her a great charm. She adored her husband, living
-solely by his love. As Denise was about to leave her name Robineau came
-in, and engaged her at once, one of his two saleswomen having left the
-previous day to go to The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-“They don't leave us a single good hand,” said he. “However, with you
-I shall feel quite easy, for you are like me, you can't be very fond of
-them. Come to-morrow.”
-
-In the evening Denise hardly knew how to announce her departure to
-Bourras. In fact, he called her an ungrateful girl, and lost his temper.
-Then when, with tears in her eyes, she tried to defend herself by
-intimating that she could see through his charitable conduct, he
-softened down, said that he had plenty of work, that she was leaving him
-just as he was about to bring out an umbrella of his invention.
-
-“And Pépé?” asked he.
-
-This was Denise's great trouble; she dared not take him back to Madame
-Gras, and could not leave him alone in the bedroom, shut up from morning
-to night.
-
-“Very good, Til keep him,” said the old man; “he'll be all right in my
-shop. We'll do the cooking together.” Then, as she refused, fearing it
-might inconvenience him, he thundered out: “Great heavens! have you no
-confidence in me? I sha'n't eat your child!”
-
-Denise was much happier at Robineau's. He only paid her sixty francs a
-month, with her food, without giving her any commission on the sales,
-just the same as in the old-fashioned houses. But she was treated with
-great kindness, especially by Madame Robineau, always smiling at her
-counter. He, nervous, worried, was sometimes rather abrupt. At the
-expiration of the first month, Denise was quite one of the family, like
-the other saleswoman, a silent, consumptive, little body. The Robineaus
-were not at all particular before them, talking of the business at table
-in the back shop, which looked on to a large yard. And it was there
-they decided one evening on starting the campaign against The Ladies'
-Paradise. Gaujean had come to dinner. After the usual roast leg of
-mutton, he had broached the subject in his Lyons voice, thickened by the
-Rhône fogs.
-
-“It's getting unbearable,” said he. “They go to Dumonteil, purchase
-the sole right in a design, and take three hundred pieces straight off,
-insisting on a reduction of ten sous a yard; and, as they pay ready
-money, they enjoy moreover the profit of eighteen per cent discount.
-Very often Dumonteil barely makes four sous a yard out of it He works to
-keep his looms going, for a loom that stands still is a dead loss. Under
-these circumstances how can you expect that we, with our limited plant,
-and especially with our makers, can keep up the struggle?”
-
-Robineau, pensive, forgot his dinner. “Three hundred pieces!” he
-murmured. “I tremble when I take a dozen, and at ninety days. They can
-mark up a franc or two francs cheaper than us. I have calculated
-there is a reduction of at least fifteen per cent, on their catalogued
-articles, when compared with our prices. That's what kills the small
-houses.”
-
-He was in a period of discouragement. His wife, full of anxiety, was
-looking at him with a tender air. She understood very little about the
-business, all these figures confused her; she could not understand why
-people took such trouble, when it was so easy to be gay and love one
-another. However, it sufficed that her husband wished to conquer, and
-she became as impassioned as he himself, and would have stood to her
-counter till death.
-
-“But why don't all the manufacturers come to an understanding together?”
- resumed Robineau, violently. “They could then lay down the law, instead
-of submitting to it.”
-
-Gaujean, who had asked for another slice of mutton, was slowly
-masticating. “Ah! why, why? The looms must be kept going, I tell you.
-When one has weavers everywhere, in the neighbourhood of Lyons, in the
-Gard, in the Isère, they can't stand still a day without an enormous
-loss. Then we who sometimes employ makers having ten or fifteen looms
-are better able to control the output, as far as regards the stock,
-whilst the big manufacturers are obliged to have continual outlets, the
-quickest and largest possible, so that they are on their knees before
-the big shops. I know three or four who out-bid each other, and who
-would sooner work at a loss than not obtain the orders. But they make
-up for it with the small houses like yours. Yes, if they exist through
-them, they make their profit out of you. Heaven knows how the crisis
-will end!”
-
-“It's odious!” exclaimed Robineau, relieved by this cry of anger.
-
-Denise was quietly listening. She was secretly for the big shops, with
-her instinctive love of logic and life.
-
-They had relapsed into silence, and were eating some potted French
-beans; at last she ventured to say in a cheerful tone, “The public does
-not complain.”
-
-Madame Robineau could not suppress a little laugh, which annoyed her
-husband and Gaujean. No doubt the customer was satisfied, for, in
-the end, it was the customer who profited by the fall in prices. But
-everybody must live; where would they be if, under the pretext of
-the general welfare, the consumer was fattened at the expense of the
-producer? And then commenced a long discussion. Denise affected to be
-joking, all the while producing solid arguments. All the middle-men
-disappeared, the manufacturing agents, representatives, commission
-agents, and this greatly contributed to cheapen the articles; besides,
-the manufacturers could no longer live without the big shops, for as
-soon as one of them lost their custom, failure became a certainty; in
-short, it was a natural commercial evolution. It would be impossible to
-prevent things going on as they ought to, when everybody was working for
-that, whether they liked it or not.
-
-“So you are for those who turned you out into the street?” asked
-Gaujean.
-
-Denise became very red. She herself was surprised at the vivacity of her
-defence. What had she at heart, that such a flame should have invaded
-her bosom?
-
-“Dear me, no!” replied she. “Perhaps I'm wrong, for you are more
-competent to judge than I. I simply express my opinion. The prices,
-instead of being settled as formerly by fifty houses, are now fixed
-by four or five, which have lowered them, thanks to the power of their
-capital, and the strength of their immense business. So much the better
-for the public, that's all!”
-
-Robineau was not angry, but had become grave, keeping his eyes fixed
-on the table-cloth. He had often felt this breath of the new style of
-business, this evolution of which the young girl spoke; and he would ask
-himself in his clear, quiet moments, why he should wish to resist such a
-powerful current, which must carry everything before it Madame Robineau
-herself, on seeing her husband deep in thought, glanced with approval at
-Denise, who had modestly resumed her silent attitude.
-
-“Come,” resumed Gaujean, to cut short the argument, “all that is simply
-theory. Let's talk of our matter.”
-
-After the cheese, the servant brought in some jam and some pears. He
-took some jam, eating it with a spoon, with the unconscious greediness
-of a big man very fond of sugar.
-
-“To begin with, you must attack their Paris Paradise, which has been
-their success of the year. I have come to an understanding with
-several of my brother manufacturers at Lyons, and have brought you an
-exceptional offer--a black silk, that you can sell at five and a half.
-They sell theirs at five francs twelve sous, don't they? Well! this will
-be two sous less, and that will suffice to upset them.”
-
-At this Robineau's eyes lighted up again. In his continual nervous
-torment, he often skipped like this from despair to hope. “Have you got
-a sample?” asked he. And when Gaujean drew from his pocket-book a little
-square of silk, he went into raptures, exclaiming: “Why, this is a
-handsomer silk than the Paris Paradise! In any case it produces a better
-effect, the grain is coarser. You are right, we must make the attempt If
-I don't bring them to my feet, I'll give up this time!”
-
-Madame Robineau, sharing this enthusiasm, declared the silk superb, and
-Denise herself thought they would succeed. The latter part of the dinner
-was thus very gay. They talk in a loud tone; it seemed that The Ladies'
-Paradise was at its last gasp. Gaujean, who was finishing the pot of
-jam, explained what enormous sacrifices he and his colleagues would be
-obliged to make to deliver such an article at this low price; but they
-would ruin themselves rather than yield; they had sworn to kill the big
-shops. As the coffee came in the gaiety was greatly increased by the
-arrival of Vinçard, who had just called, in passing, to see how his
-successor was getting on.
-
-“Famous!” cried he, feeling the silk. “You'll floor them, I stake my
-life! Ah! you owe me a rare good thing; I told you this was a golden
-affair!”
-
-He had just taken a restaurant at Vincennes. It was an old, cherished
-idea, slyly nourished while he was struggling in the silk business,
-trembling for fear he should not sell it before the crash came, and
-swearing to himself that he would put his money into an undertaking
-where he could rob at his ease. The idea of a restaurant had struck him
-at the wedding of a cousin, who had been made to pay ten francs for
-a bowl of dish water, in which floated some Italian paste. And, in
-presence of the Robineaus, the joy he felt in having saddled them with
-a badly-paying business of which he despaired of ever getting
-rid, enlarged still further his face with its round eyes and large
-loyal-looking mouth, a face beaming with health.
-
-“And your pains?” asked Madame Robineau, good-naturedly.
-
-“My pains?” murmured he, astonished.
-
-“Yes, those rheumatic pains which tormented you so much when you were
-here.”
-
-He then recollected, and blushed slightly. “Oh, I suffered,” and
-blushed slightly. “Oh I suffer from them still! However, the country
-air, you know, has done wonders for me. Never mind, you've done a good
-stroke of business. Had it not been for my rheumatics, I could soon have
-retired with ten thousand francs a year. My word of honour!”
-
-A fortnight later, the struggle commenced between Robineau and The
-Ladies' Paradise. It became celebrated, and occupied for a time the
-whole Parisian market. Robineau, using his adversary's weapons, had
-advertised extensively in the newspapers. Besides that, he made a fine
-display, piling up enormous bales of the famous silk in his windows,
-with immense white tickets, displaying in giant figures the price, five
-francs and a half. It was this figure that caused a revolution among
-the women; two sous cheaper than at The Ladies' Paradise, and the silk
-appeared stronger. From the first day a crowd of customers flocked in.
-Madame Marty bought a dress she did not want, pretending it to be a
-bargain; Madame Bourdelais thought the silk very fine, but preferred
-waiting, guessing no doubt what would happen. And, indeed the following
-week, Mouret boldly reduced The Paris Paradise by four sous, after a
-lively discussion with Bourdoncle and the other managers, in which
-he had succeeded in inducing them to accept the challenge, even at a
-sacrifice; for these four sous represented a dead loss, the silk being
-sold already at strict cost price. It was a heavy blow to Robineau, who
-did not think his rival would reduce; for this suicidal competition,
-these losing sales, were then unknown; and the tide of customers,
-attracted by the cheapness, had immediately flown back towards the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, whilst the shop in the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs
-gradually emptied.
-
-Gaujean came up from Lyons; there were hasty confabulations, and they
-finished by coming to a most heroic resolution; the silk should be
-lowered in price, they would sell it at five francs six sous, beneath
-which no one could go, without folly. The next day Mouret marked his at
-five francs four sous. After that it became a mania: Robineau replied by
-five francs three sous, when Mouret at once ticketed his at five francs
-and two sous. Neither lowered more than a sou at a time now, losing
-considerable sums as often as they made this present to the public. The
-customers laughed, delighted with this duel, moved by the terrible
-blows dealt each other by the two houses to please them. At last Mouret
-ventured as low as five francs; his staff paled before such a challenge
-thrown down to fortune. Robineau, utterly beaten, out of breath, stopped
-also at five francs, not having the courage to go any lower. And they
-rested at their positions, face to face, with the massacre of their
-goods around them.
-
-But if honour was saved on both sides, the situation was becoming fatal
-for Robineau. The Ladies' Paradise had money at its disposal and a
-patronage which enabled it to balance its profits; whilst he, sustained
-by Gaujean alone, unable to recoup his losses on other articles,
-was exhausted, and slipped daily a little further on the verge of
-bankruptcy. He was dying from his hardihood, notwithstanding the
-numerous customers that the hazards of the struggle had brought him. One
-of his secret torments was to see these customers slowly quitting him,
-returning to The Ladies' Paradise, after the money he had lost and the
-efforts he had made to conquer them.
-
-One day he quite lost patience. A customer, Madame de Boves, had come to
-his shop for some mantles, for he had added a ready-made department to
-his business. She could not make up her mind, complaining of the quality
-of the goods. At last she said: “Their Paris Paradise is a great deal
-stronger.”
-
-Robineau restrained himself, assuring her that she was mistaken, with a
-tradesman's politeness, all the more respectful, because he was afraid
-to allow his anger to burst forth.
-
-“But just look at the silk of this mantle!” resumed she, “one would
-really take it for so much cobweb. You may say what you like, sir, their
-silk at five francs is like leather compared with this.”
-
-He did not reply, the blood rushing to his face, and his lips tightly
-closed. In point of fact he had ingeniously thought of buying some of
-his rival's silk for these mantles. So that it was Mouret, not he, who
-lost on the material. He simply cut off the selvage.
-
-“Really you think the Paris Paradise thicker?” murmured he.
-
-“Oh! a hundred times!” said Madame de Boves. “There's no comparison.”
-
-This injustice on her part, her running down the goods in this way,
-filled him with indignation. And, as she was still turning the mantle
-over with a disgusted air, a little piece of the blue and silver
-selvage, not cut off, appeared under the lining. He could not contain
-himself any longer; he confessed he would even have given his head.
-
-“Well, madame, this _is_ Paris Paradise. I bought it myself! Look at the
-border.”
-
-Madame de Boves went away greatly annoyed, and a number of ladies
-quitted him when the affair became known. And he, amid this ruin, when
-the fear for the future seized him, only trembled for his wife, who had
-been brought up in a happy, peaceful home, and would never be able to
-endure a life of poverty. What would become of her if a catastrophe
-threw them into the street, with a load of debts? It was his fault, he
-ought never to have touched her money. She was obliged to comfort him.
-Wasn't the money as much his as hers? He loved her dearly, and she
-wanted nothing more; she gave him everything, her heart and her life.
-They could be heard in the back shop embracing one another. Little by
-little, the affairs and ways of the house became more regular; every
-month their losses increased, in a slow proportion which postponed the
-fatal issue. A tenacious hope sustained them, they still announced the
-near discomfiture of The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-“Pooh!” he would say, “we are young yet. The future is ours.”
-
-“And besides, what matters, if you have done what you wanted to do?”
- resumed she. “As long as you are satisfied, I am as well, darling.”
-
-Denise's affection increased for them on seeing their tenderness. She
-trembled, feeling their inevitable fall; but she dared not interfere. It
-was then she fully understood the power of the new system of business,
-and became impassioned for this force which was transforming Paris. Her
-ideas were ripening, a woman's grace was developing out of the savage
-child newly arrived from Valognes. In fact, her life was a pretty
-pleasant one, notwithstanding the fatigue and the little money she
-earned. When she had spent all the day on her feet, she had to go
-straight home, and look after Pépé, whom old Bourras insisted on
-feeding, fortunately; but there was still a lot to do: a shirt to wash,
-stockings to mend; without mentioning the noise made by the youngster,
-which made her head ache fit to split. She never went to bed before
-midnight. Sunday was her hardest day: she cleaned her room, and mended
-her own things, so busy that it was often five o'clock before she could
-dress. However, she sometimes went out for health's sake, taking the
-little one for a long walk, out towards Neuilly; and their treat was to
-drink a cup of milk there at a dairyman's, who allowed them to sit down
-in his yard. Jean disdained these excursions; he put in an appearance
-now and again on week-day evenings, then disappeared, pretending to have
-other visits to pay; he asked for no more money, but he arrived with
-such a melancholy face, that his sister, anxious, always managed to keep
-a five-franc piece for him. That was her sole luxury.
-
-“Five francs!” he would exclaim each time. “My stars! you're too good!
-It just happens, there's the stationer's wife----”
-
-“Not another word,” Denise would say; “I don't want to know.”
-
-But he thought she was accusing him of boasting. “I tell you she's the
-wife of a stationer! Oh! something magnificent!”
-
-Three months passed away, spring was returning. Denise refused to return
-to Joinville with Pauline and Baugé. She sometimes met them in the Rue
-Saint-Roch, when she left the shop in the evening. Pauline, one evening
-when she was alone, confided to her that she was very likely going to
-marry her lover; it was she who was hesitating, for they did not care
-for married saleswomen at The Ladies' Paradise. This idea of marriage
-surprised Denise, she did not dare to advise her friend. One day, just
-as Colomban had stopped her near the fountain to talk about Clara, the
-latter was crossing the road; and Denise was obliged to run away, for he
-implored her to ask her old comrade if she would marry him. What was the
-matter with them all? why were they tormenting themselves like this? She
-thought herself very fortunate not to be in love with any one.
-
-“You've heard the news?” cried out the umbrella dealer to her one
-evening on her return home from business.
-
-“No, Monsieur Bourras.”
-
-“Well! the scoundrels have bought the Hôtel Duvillard. I'm hemmed in on
-all sides!” He was waving his long arms about, in a burst of fury
-which made his white mane stand up on end. “A regular mixed-up affair,”
- resumed the old man. “It appears that the hôtel belonged to the Crédit
-Immobilier, the president of which, Baron Hartmann, has just sold it to
-our famous Mouret. Now they've got me on the right, on the left, and
-at the back, just in the way I'm holding the knob of this stick in my
-hand!”
-
-It was true, the sale was to have been concluded the previous day.
-Bourras's small house, hemmed in between The Ladies' Paradise and the
-Hôtel Duvillard, hanging on like a swallow's nest in a crack of a wall,
-seemed sure to be crushed, as soon as the shop invaded the hôtel, and
-the time had now arrived. The colossus had turned the feeble obstacle,
-and was surrounding it with a pile of goods, threatening to swallow it
-up, to absorb it by the sole force of its giant aspiration.
-
-Bourras could feel the embrace which was making his shop creak. He
-thought he could see the place getting smaller; he was afraid of being
-absorbed himself, of being carried to the other side with his umbrellas
-and sticks, so loudly was the terrible machine roaring just then.
-
-“Do you hear them?” asked he. “One would think they were eating up the
-walls even! And in my cellar, in the attic, everywhere, there's the same
-noise as of a saw going through the plaster. Never mind! I don't fancy
-they'll flatten me out like a sheet of paper. I'll stick here, even if
-they blow up my roof, and the rain should fall in bucketfuls on my bed!”
-
-It was just at this moment that Mouret caused fresh proposals to be made
-to Bourras; they would increase the figure, they would give him fifty
-thousand francs for his good-will and the remainder of the lease. This
-offer redoubled the old man's anger; he refused in an insulting manner.
-How these scoundrels must rob people to be able to pay fifty thousand
-francs for a thing not worth ten thousand. And he defended his shop as a
-young girl defends her virtue, for honour's sake.
-
-Denise noticed Bourras was pre-occupied during the next fortnight. He
-wandered about in a feverish manner, measuring the walls of his house,
-surveying it from the middle of the street with the air of an architect.
-Then one morning some workmen arrived. This was the decisive blow. He
-had conceived the bold idea of beating The Ladies' Paradise on its own
-ground by making certain concessions to modern luxury. The customers,
-who often reproached him about his dark shop, would certainly come back
-again, when they saw it bright and new. In the first place, the workmen
-stopped up the crevices and whitewashed the frontage, then they painted
-the woodwork a light green, and even carried the splendour so far as to
-gild the sign-board. A sum of three thousand francs, held in reserve
-by Bourras as a last resource, was swallowed up in this way. The whole
-neighbourhood was in a state of revolution; people came to look at
-him amid all these riches, losing his head, no longer able to find
-the things he was accustomed to. He did not seem to be at home in this
-shining frame, in this tender setting; he seemed frightened, with his
-long beard and white hair. The people passing on the opposite side
-of the street were astonished on seeing him waving his arms about and
-carving his handles. And he was in a state of fever, afraid of dirtying
-his shop, plunging further into this luxurious business, which he did
-not at all understand.
-
-The same as with Robineau, the campaign against The Ladies' Paradise was
-opened by Bourras. The latter had just brought out his invention,
-the automatic umbrella, which later on was to become popular. But The
-Paradise people immediately improved on the invention, and a struggle of
-prices commenced. Bourras had an article at one franc and nineteen sous,
-in zanella, with steel mounting, everlasting, said the ticket, But
-he was especially anxious to vanquish his competitors with his
-handles--bamboo, dogwood, olive, myrtle, rattan, every imaginable sort
-of handle. The Paradise people, less artistic, paid more attention to
-the material, extolling their alpacas and mohairs, their twills and
-sarcenets. And they came out victorious. Bourras, in despair, repeated
-that art was done for, that he was reduced to carving his handles for
-pleasure, without any hope of selling them.
-
-“It's my fault!” cried he to Denise. “I never ought to have kept a lot
-of rotten articles, at one franc nineteen sous! That's where these new
-notions lead one to. I wanted to follow the example of these brigands;
-so much the better if I'm ruined by it!”
-
-The month of July was very warm, and Denise suffered greatly in her
-narrow room, under the roof. So after leaving the shop, she sometimes
-went and fetched Pépé, and instead of going up-stairs at once, went
-for a stroll in the Tuileries Gardens until the gates were closed. One
-evening as she was walking under the chestnut-trees she suddenly stopped
-with surprise; a few yards off, walking straight towards her, she
-thought she recognised Hutin. But her heart commenced to beat violently.
-It was Mouret, who had dined over the water, and was hurrying along on
-foot to call on Madame Desforges. At the abrupt movement she made to
-escape him, he caught sight of her. The night was coming on, but still
-he recognised her.
-
-“Ah, it's you, mademoiselle!”
-
-She did not reply, astonished that he should deign to stop. He, smiling,
-concealed his constraint beneath an air of amiable protection.
-
-“You are still in Paris?”
-
-“Yes, sir,” said she at last.
-
-She was slowly drawing back, desirous of making a bow and continuing
-her walk. But he turned and followed her under the black shadows of the
-chestnut-trees. The air was getting cooler, some children were laughing
-in the distance, trundling their hoops.
-
-“This is your brother, is it not?” resumed he, looking at Pépé.
-
-The little boy, frightened by the unusual presence of a gentleman, was
-gravely walking by his sister's side, holding her tightly by the hand.
-
-“Yes, sir,” replied she once more.
-
-She blushed, thinking of the abominable inventions circulated by
-Marguerite and Clara. No doubt Mouret understood why she was blushing,
-for he quickly added: “Listen, mademoiselle, I have to apologise to you.
-Yes, I should have been happy to have told you sooner how much I regret
-the error that has been made. You were accused too lightly of a fault.
-But the evil is done. I simply wanted to assure you that every one in
-our establishment now knows of your affection for your brothers,” he
-continued, with a respectful politeness to which the saleswomen in
-The Ladies' Paradise were little accustomed. Denise's confusion had
-increased; but her heart was filled with joy. He knew, then, that she
-had given herself to no one! Both remained silent; he continued beside
-her, regulating his walk to the child's short steps; and the distant
-murmurs of the city were dying away under the black shadows of the
-spreading chestnut-trees. “I have only one reparation to offer you,”
- resumed he. “Naturally, if you would like to come back to us----”
-
-She interrupted him, and refused with a feverish haste. “No, sir, I
-cannot. Thank you all the same, but I have found another situation.”
-
-He knew it, they had informed him she was with Robineau; and leisurely,
-on a footing of amiable equality, he spoke of the latter, rendering
-him full justice. A very intelligent fellow, but too nervous. He would
-certainly come to grief: Gaujean had burdened him with a very heavy
-business, in which they would both suffer. Denise, conquered by this
-familiarity, opened her mind further, and allowed it to be seen that she
-was for the big shops in the war between them and the small traders:
-she became animated, citing examples, showing herself well up in the
-question, even expressing new and enlightened ideas. He, charmed,
-listened to her in surprise; and turned round, trying to distinguish
-her features in the growing darkness. She seemed still the same with
-her simple dress and sweet face; but from this modest bashfulness, there
-seemed to exhale a penetrating perfume, of which he felt the powerful'
-influence. Decidedly this little girl had got used to the air of Paris,
-she was becoming quite a woman, and was really perturbing, so sensible,
-with her beautiful hair, overflowing with tenderness.
-
-“As you are on our side,” said he, laughing, “why do you stay with our
-adversaries? I fancy, too, they told me you lodged with Bourras.”
-
-“A very worthy man,” murmured she.
-
-“No, not a bit of it! he's an old idiot, a madman who will force me
-to ruin him, though I should be glad to get rid of him with a fortune!
-Besides, your place is not in his house, which has a bad reputation. He
-lets to certain women----”
-
-But feeling that the young girl was confused, he hastened to add: “One
-can be respectable anywhere, and there's even more merit in remaining so
-when one is so poor.”
-
-They went on a few steps in silence. Pépé seemed to be listening with
-the attentive air of a sharp child. Now and again he raised his eyes to
-his sister, whose burning hand, quivering with sudden starts, astonished
-him.
-
-“Look here!” resumed Mouret, gaily, “will you be my ambassador? I
-intended increasing my offer to-morrow--of proposing eighty thousand
-francs to Bourras. Do you speak to him first about it. Tell him he's
-cutting his own throat. Perhaps he'll listen to you, as he has a liking
-for you, and you'll be doing him a real service.”
-
-“Very well!” said Denise, smiling also, “I will deliver your message,
-but I am afraid I shall not succeed.”
-
-And a fresh silence ensued, neither of them having anything more to say.
-He attempted to talk of her uncle Baudu; but had to give it up on seeing
-the young girl's uneasiness. However, they continued to walk side by
-side, and at last found themselves near the Rue de Rivoli, in a path
-where it was still light. On coming out of the darkness of the trees it
-was like a sudden awakening. He understood that he could not detain her
-any longer.
-
-“Good night, mademoiselle.”
-
-“Good night, sir.”
-
-But he did not go away. On raising his eyes he perceived in front of
-him, at the corner of the Rue d'Alger, the lighted windows at Madame
-Desforges's, whither he was bound. And looking at Denise, whom he could
-now see, in the pale twilight, she appeared to him very puny beside
-Henriette. Why was it she touched his heart in this way? It was a stupid
-caprice.
-
-“This little man is getting tired,” resumed he, just for something to
-say. “Remember, mind, that our house is always open to you; you've only
-to knock, and I'll give you every compensation possible. Good night,
-mademoiselle.”
-
-“Good night, sir,”
-
-When Mouret quitted her, Denise went back under the chestnut-trees,
-in the black shadow. For a long time she walked on without any object,
-between the enormous trunks, her face burning, her head in a whirl of
-confused ideas. Pépé still had hold of her hand, stretching out his
-short legs to keep pace with her. She had forgotten him. At last he
-said:
-
-“You go too quick, little mother.”
-
-At this she sat down on a bench; and as he was tired, the child went to
-sleep on her lap. She held him there, nestling to her virgin bosom,
-her eyes lost far away in the darkness. When, an hour later on, they
-returned slowly to the Rue de la Michodière, she had regained her usual
-quiet, sensible expression.
-
-“Hell and thunder!” shouted Bourras, when he saw her coming, “the blow
-is struck. That rascal of a Mouret has just bought my house.” He was
-half mad, and was striking himself in the middle of the shop with such
-outrageous gestures that he almost threatened to break the windows. “Ah!
-the scoundrel! It's the fruiterer who's written to tell me this. And
-how much do you think he has got for the house? One hundred and fifty
-thousand francs, four times its value! There's another thief, if you
-like! Just fancy, he has taken advantage of my embellishments, making
-capital out of the fact that the house has been done up. How much longer
-are they going to make a fool of me?”
-
-The thought that his money spent on paint and white-wash had brought
-the fruiterer a profit exasperated him. And now Mouret would be his
-landlord; he would have to pay him! It was beneath this detested
-competitor's roof, that he must live in future! Such a thought raised
-his fury to the highest possible pitch.
-
-“Ah! I could hear them digging a hole through the wall. At this moment,
-they are here eating out of my very plate, so to say!”
-
-And the shop shook under his heavy fist which he banged on the counter;
-he made the umbrellas and the parasols dance again. Denise, bewildered,
-could not get in a word. She stood there, motionless, waiting for the
-end of his tirade; whilst Pépé, very tired, had fallen asleep on a
-chair. At last, when Bourras became a little calmer, she resolved to
-deliver Mouret's message. No doubt the old man was irritated, but the
-excess even of his anger, the blind alley in which he found himself,
-might determine an abrupt acceptance.
-
-“I've just met some one,” she commenced. “Yes, a person from The
-Paradise, very well informed. It appears that they are going to offer
-you eighty thousand francs to-morrow.”
-
-“Eighty thousand francs!” interrupted he, in a terrible voice; “eighty
-thousand francs! Not for a million now!” She tried to reason with him.
-But at that moment the shop door opened, and she suddenly drew back,
-pale and silent. It was her uncle Baudu, with his yellow face and aged
-look. Bourras seized his neighbour by the button-hole, and roared out
-in his face without allowing him to say a word, as if goaded on by his
-presence:
-
-“What do you think they have the cheek to offer me? Eighty thousand
-francs! They've got so far, the brigands! they think I'm going to
-sell myself like a prostitute. Ah! they've bought the house, and think
-they've now got me. Well! it's all over, they sha'n't have it! I might
-have given way, perhaps; but now it belongs to them, let them try and
-take it!”
-
-“So the news is true?” said Baudu in his slow voice. “I had heard of it,
-and came over to know if it was so.”
-
-“Eighty thousand francs!” repeated Bourras. “Why not a hundred thousand
-at once? It's this immense sum of money that makes me indignant Do they
-think they can make me commit a knavish trick with their money! They
-sha'n't have it, by heavens! Never, never, you hear me?”
-
-Denise gently observed, in her calm, quiet way: “They'll have it in nine
-years' time, when your lease expires.”
-
-And, notwithstanding her uncle's presence, she begged of the old man to
-accept. The struggle was becoming impossible, he was fighting against a
-superior force; he would be mad to refuse the fortune offered him. But
-he still replied no. In nine years' time he hoped to be dead, so as
-not to see it “You hear, Monsieur Baudu,” resumed he, “your niece is on
-their side, it's her they have employed to corrupt me. She's with the
-brigands, my word of honour!”
-
-Baudu, who up to then had appeared not to notice Denise, now raised his
-head, with the morose movement that he affected when standing at his
-shop door, every time she passed. But, slowly, he turned round and
-looked at her, and his thick lips trembled.
-
-“I know it,” replied he in a half-whisper, and he continued to look at
-her.
-
-Denise, affected almost to tears, thought him greatly changed by
-trouble. Perhaps he was stricken with remorse for not having assisted
-her during the time of misery she had just passed through. Then the
-sight of Pépé sleeping on the chair, amidst the noise of the discussion,
-seemed to suddenly inspire him with compassion.
-
-“Denise,” said he simply, “come to-morrow and have dinner with us and
-bring the little one. My wife and Geneviève asked me to invite you if I
-met you.”
-
-She turned very red, and went up and kissed him. And as he was going
-away, Bourras, delighted at this reconciliation, cried out to him again:
-“Just talk to her, she isn't a bad sort. As for me, the house may fall,
-I shall be found in the ruins.”
-
-“Our houses are already falling, neighbour,” said Baudu with a sombre
-air. “We shall all be crushed under them.”
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-At this time the whole neighbourhood was talking of the great
-thoroughfare to be opened from the Bourse to the new Opera House, under
-the name of the Rue du Dix-Décembre. The expropriation judgments had
-just been delivered, two gangs of demolishers were already attacking the
-opening at the two ends, the first pulling down the old mansions in
-the Rue Louis-le-Grand, the other destroying the thin walls of the old
-Vaudeville; and one could hear the picks getting closer. The Rue de
-Choiseul and the Rue de la Michodière got quite excited over their
-condemned houses. Before a fortnight passed, the opening would make a
-great hole in these streets, letting in the sun and air.
-
-But what stirred up the district still more, was the work going on at
-The Ladies' Paradise. Considerable enlargements were talked of,
-gigantic shops having frontages in the Rue de la Michodière, the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, and the Rue Monsigny. Mouret, it was said,
-had made arrangements with Baron Hartmann, chairman of the Crédit
-Immobilier, and he would occupy the whole block, except the future
-frontage in the Rue du Dix-Décembre, on which the baron wished to
-construct a rival to the Grand Hôtel. The Paradise people were buying up
-leases on all sides, the shops were closing, the tenants moving; and
-in the empty buildings an army of workmen were commencing the various
-alterations under a cloud of plaster. In the midst of this disorder,
-old Bourras's narrow hovel was the only one that remained standing and
-intact, obstinately sticking between the high walls covered with masons.
-
-When, the next day, Denise went with Pépé to her uncle Baudu's,
-the street was just at that moment blocked up by a line of tumbrels
-discharging bricks before the Hôtel Duvillard. Baudu was standing at his
-shop door looking on with a gloomy air. As The Ladies' Paradise became
-larger, The Old Elbeuf seemed to get smaller. The young girl thought the
-windows looked blacker than ever, and more and more crushed beneath the
-low first storey, with its prison-like bars; the damp had still further
-discoloured the old green sign-board, a sort of distress oozed from the
-whole frontage, livid in hue, and, as it were, grown thinner.
-
-“Here you are, then!” said Baudu. “Take care! they would run right over
-you.”
-
-Inside the shop, Denise experienced the same heart-broken sensation; she
-found it darker, invaded more than ever by the somnolence of approaching
-ruin; empty corners formed dark and gloomy holes, the dust was invading
-the counters and drawers, whilst an odour of saltpetre rose from the
-bales of cloth that were no longer moved about. At the desk Madame Baudu
-and Geneviève were standing mute and motionless, as in some solitary
-spot, where no one would come to disturb them. The mother was hemming
-some dusters. The daughter, her hands spread on her knees, was gazing at
-the emptiness before her.
-
-“Good evening, aunt,” said Denise; “I'm delighted to see you again, and
-if I have hurt your feelings, I hope you will forgive me.”
-
-Madame Baudu kissed her, greatly affected. “My poor child,” said she,
-“if I had no other troubles, you would see me gayer than this.”
-
-“Good evening, cousin,” resumed Denise, kissing Geneviève on the cheeks.
-
-The latter woke up with a sort of start, and returned her kisses,
-without finding a word to say. The two women then took up Pépé, who was
-holding out his little arms, and the reconciliation was complete.
-
-“Well! it's six o'clock, let's go to dinner,” said Baudu. “Why haven't
-you brought Jean?”
-
-“But he was to come,” murmured Denise, embarrassed. “I saw him this
-morning, and he faithfully promised me. Oh! we must not wait for him;
-his master has kept him, I dare say.” She suspected some extraordinary
-adventure, and wished to apologise for him in advance.
-
-“In that case, we will commence,” said her uncle. Then turning towards
-the obscure depths of the shop, he added:
-
-“Come on, Colomban, you can dine with us. No one will come.”
-
-Denise had not noticed the shopman. Her aunt explained to her that they
-had been obliged to get rid of the other salesman and the young lady.
-Business was getting so bad that Colomban sufficed; and even he spent
-many idle hours, drowsy, falling off to sleep with his eyes open. The
-gas was burning in the dining-room, although they were enjoying long
-summer days. Denise slightly shivered on entering, seized by the
-dampness falling from the walls. She once more beheld the round table,
-the places laid on the American cloth, the window drawing its air and
-light from the dark and fetid back yard. And these things appeared to
-her to be gloomier than ever, and tearful like the shop.
-
-“Father,” said Geneviève, uncomfortable for Denise's sake, “shall I
-close the window? there's rather a bad smell.”
-
-He smelt nothing, and seemed surprised. “Shut the window if you like,”
- replied he at last. “But we sha'n't get any air then.”
-
-And indeed they were almost stifled. It was a family dinner, very
-simple. After the soup, as soon as the servant had served the boiled
-beef, the old man as usual commenced about the people opposite. At first
-he showed himself very tolerant, allowing his niece to have a different
-opinion.
-
-“Dear me! you are quite free to support these great hairbrained houses.
-Each one has his ideas, my girl. If you were not disgusted at being so
-disgracefully chucked out you must have strong reasons for liking them;
-and even if you went back again, I should think none the worse of you.
-No one here would be offended, would they?”
-
-“Oh, no!” murmured Madame Baudu.
-
-Denise quietly gave her reasons, as she had at Robineau's: the logical
-evolution in business, the necessities of modern times, the greatness
-of these new creations, in short, the growing well-being of the public.
-Baudu, his eyes opened, and his mouth clamming, listened with a visible
-tension of intelligence. Then, when she had finished, he shook his head.
-
-“That's all phantasmagoria, you know. Business is business, there's no
-getting over that. I own that they succeed, but that's all. For a
-long time I thought they would smash up; yes, I expected that, waiting
-patiently--you remember? Well, no, it appears that now-a-days thieves
-make fortunes, whilst honest people die of hunger. That's what we've
-come to. I'm obliged to bow to facts. And I do bow, on my word, I do
-bow!” A deep anger was gradually rising within him. All at once he
-flourished his fork. “But The Old Elbeuf will never give way! I said
-as much to Bourras, you know, 'Neighbour, you're going over to the
-cheapjacks; your paint and your varnish are a disgrace.'”
-
-“Eat your dinner!” interrupted Madame Baudu, feeling anxious, on seeing
-him so excited.
-
-“Wait a bit, I want my niece thoroughly to understand my motto. Just
-listen, my girl: I'm like this decanter, I don't budge. They succeed, so
-much the worse for them! As for me, I protest--that's all!”
-
-The servant brought in a piece of roast veal. He cut it up with his
-trembling hands; but he no longer had his correct glance, his skill in
-weighing the portions. The consciousness of his defeat deprived him of
-the confidence he used to have as a respected employer. Pépé thought his
-uncle was getting angry, and they had to pacify him, by giving him some
-dessert, some biscuits which were near his plate. Then Baudu, lowering
-his voice, tried to talk of something else. For a moment he spoke of the
-demolitions going on, approving of the Rue du Dix-Décembre, the cutting
-of which would certainly improve the business of the neighbourhood. But
-then again he returned to The Ladies' Paradise; everything brought him
-back to it, it was a kind of complaint. They were covered with plaster,
-and business was stopped since the builders' carts had commenced
-to block up the street. It would soon be really ridiculous, in its
-immensity; the customers would lose themselves. Why not have the
-central markets at once? And, in spite of his wife's supplicating looks,
-notwithstanding his own effort, he went on from the works to the amount
-of business done in the big shop. Was it not inconceivable? In less
-than four years they had increased their figures five-fold; the annual
-receipts, formerly eight million francs, now attained the sum of forty
-millions, according to the last balance-sheet. In fact it was a piece of
-folly, a thing that had never been seen before, and against which it was
-perfectly useless to struggle. They were always increasing, they had now
-a thousand employees and twenty-eight departments. These twenty-eight
-departments enraged him more than anything else. No doubt they had
-duplicated a few, but others were quite new; for instance, a furniture
-department, and a department for fancy goods. The idea! Fancy goods!
-Really these people were not at all proud, they would end by selling
-fish. Baudu, though affecting to respect Denise's opinions, attempted to
-convert her.
-
-“Frankly, you can't defend them. What would you say were I to add a
-hardware department to my cloth business? You would say I was mad.
-Confess, at least, that you don't esteem them.”
-
-And as the young girl simply smiled, feeling uncomfortable,
-understanding the uselessness of good reasons, he resumed:
-
-“In short, you are on their side. We won't talk about it any more, for
-ifs useless to let that part us again. It would be too much to see them
-come between me and my family! Go back with them, if you like; but pray
-don't worry me with any more of their stories!”
-
-A silence ensued. His former violence was reduced to this feverish
-resignation. As they were suffocating in the narrow room, heated by
-the gas-burner, the servant had to open the window again; and the damp,
-pestilential air from the yard blew into the apartment. A dish of stewed
-potatoes appeared, and they helped themselves slowly, without a word.
-
-“Look at those two,” recommenced Baudu, pointing with his knife to
-Geneviève and Colomban. “Ask them if they like your Ladies' Paradise.”
-
-Side by side in the usual place where they had found themselves twice
-a-day for the last twelve years, the engaged couple were eating in
-moderation, and without uttering a word. He, exaggerating the coarse
-good-nature of his face, seemed to be concealing, behind his drooping
-eyelashes, the inner flame which was devouring him; whilst she, her
-head bowed lower beneath her too heavy hair, seemed to be giving way
-entirely, as if ravaged by a secret grief.
-
-“Last year was very disastrous,” explained Baudu, “and we have been
-obliged to postpone the marriage, not for our own pleasure; ask them
-what they think of your friends.” Denise, in order to pacify him,
-interrogated the young people.
-
-“Naturally I can't be very fond of them,” replied Geneviève. “But never
-fear, every one doesn't detest them.”
-
-And she looked at Colomban, who was rolling up some bread-crumbs with an
-absorbed air. When he felt the young girl's gaze directed towards him,
-he broke out into a series of violent exclamations: “A rotten shop!
-A lot of rogues, every man-jack of them! A regular pest in the
-neighbourhood!”
-
-“You hear him!' You hear him!” exclaimed Baudu, delighted. “There's one
-they'll never get hold of! Ah! my boy, you're the last of the old stock,
-we sha'n't see any more!” But Geneviève, with her severe and suffering
-look, still kept her eyes on Colomban, diving into the depths of his
-heart. And he felt troubled, he redoubled his invectives. Madame
-Baudu was watching them with an anxious air, as if she foresaw another
-misfortune in this direction. For some time her daughter's sadness had
-frightened her, she felt her to be dying. “The shop is left to take
-care of itself,” said she at last, quitting the table, desirous of
-putting an end to the scene. “Go and see, Colomban; I fancy I heard some
-one.”
-
-They had finished, and got up. Baudu and Colomban went to speak to a
-traveller, who had come for orders. Madame Baudu carried Pépé off to
-show him some pictures. The servant had quickly cleared the table, and
-Denise was lounging by the window, looking into the little back yard,
-when turning round she saw Geneviève still in her place, her eyes fixed
-on the American cloth, which was still damp from the sponge having been
-passed over it.
-
-“Are you suffering, cousin?” she asked.
-
-The young girl did not reply, obstinately studying a rent in the cloth,
-too preoccupied by the reflections passing through her mind. Then she
-raised her head with pain, and looked at the sympathising face bent over
-hers. The others had gone, then? What was she doing on this chair? And
-suddenly a flood of sobs stifled her, her head fell forward on the edge
-of the table. She wept on, wetting her sleeve with her tears.
-
-“Good heavens! what's the matter with you?” cried Denise in dismay.
-“Shall I call some one?”
-
-Geneviève nervously seized her by the arm, and held her back,
-stammering: “No, no, stay. Don't let mamma know! With you I don't mind;
-but not the others--not the others! It's not my fault, I assure you.
-It was on finding myself all alone. Wait a bit; I'm better, and Pm not
-crying now.”
-
-But sudden attacks kept seizing her, causing her frail body to tremble.
-It seemed as though the weight of her hair was weighing down her head.
-As she was rolling her poor head on her folded arms, a hair-pin came
-out, and her hair fell over her neck, burying it in its folds. Denise,
-quietly, for fear of attracting attention, tried to console her. She
-undid her dress, and was heart-broken on seeing how fearfully thin she
-was. The poor girl's bosom was as hollow as that of a child. Denise
-took the hair by handfuls, that superb head of hair which seemed to be
-absorbing all her life, and twisted it up, to clear it away, and give
-her a little air.
-
-“Thanks, you are very kind,” said Geneviève. “Ah! I'm not very stout, am
-I? I used to be stouter, but it's all gone away. Do up my dress or mamma
-might see my shoulders. I hide them as much as I can. Good heavens! I'm
-not at all well, I'm not at all well.”
-
-However, the attack passed away, and she sat there completely worn out,
-looking fixedly at her cousin. After a pause she abruptly asked: “Tell
-me the truth: does he love her?”
-
-Denise felt a blush rising to her cheek. She was perfectly well aware
-that Geneviève referred to Colomban and Clara; but she pretended to be
-surprised.
-
-“Who, dear?”
-
-Geneviève shook her head with an incredulous air. “Don't tell
-falsehoods, I beg of you. Do me the favour of setting my doubts at rest.
-You must know, I feel it. Yes, you have been this girl's comrade, and
-I've seen Colomban run after you, and talk to her in a low voice. He was
-giving you messages for her, wasn't he? Oh! for pity's sake, tell me the
-truth; I assure you it will do me good.”
-
-Never had Denise been in such an awkward position. She lowered her eyes
-before this almost dumb girl, who yet guessed all. However, she had the
-strength to deceive her still. “But it's you he loves!”
-
-Geneviève turned away in despair. “Very well, you won't tell me
-anything. However, I don't care, I've seen them. He's continually going
-outside to look at her. She, upstairs, laughs like a bad woman. Of
-course they meet out of doors.”
-
-“As for that, no, I assure you!” exclaimed Denise, forgetting herself,
-carried away by the desire to give her, at least, that consolation.
-
-The young girl drew a long breath, and smiled feebly. Then with the weak
-voice of a convalescent: “I should like a glass of water. Excuse me if I
-trouble you. Look, over there in the sideboard.”
-
-When she got hold of the bottle, she drank a large glassful right off,
-keeping Denise away with one hand, the latter being afraid Geneviève
-might do herself harm.
-
-“No, no, let me be; I'm always thirsty. In the night I get up to drink.”
- There was a fresh silence. Then she went on again quietly: “If you only
-knew, I've been accustomed to the idea of this marriage for the last ten
-years. I was still wearing short dresses, when Colomban was courting me.
-I hardly remember how things have come about By always living together,
-being shut up here together, without any other distractions between us,
-I must have ended by believing him to be my husband before he really
-was. I didn't know whether I loved him. I was his wife, and that's all.
-And now he wants to go off with another girl! Oh, heavens! my heart is
-breaking! You see, it's a grief that I've never felt before. It hurts
-me in the bosom, and in the head; then it spreads every where, and is
-killing me.”
-
-Her eyes filled with tears. Denise, whose eyelids were also wet with
-pity, asked her: “Does my aunt suspect anything?”
-
-“Yes, mamma has her suspicions, I think. As to papa, he is too worried,
-and does not know the pain he is causing me by postponing this marriage.
-Mamma has questioned me several times, greatly alarmed to see me pining
-away. She has never been very strong herself, and has often said: 'My
-poor child, I've not made you very strong.' Besides, one doesn't grow
-much in these shops. But she must find me getting really too thin now.
-Look at my arms; would you believe it?”
-
-And with a trembling hand she again took up the water bottle. Her cousin
-tried to prevent her drinking.
-
-“No, I'm so thirsty, let me drink.”
-
-They could hear Baudu talking in a loud voice. Then yielding to an
-inspiration of her tender heart, Denise knelt down before Geneviève,
-throwing her arms round her neck, kissing her, and assuring her that
-everything would turn out all right, that she would marry Colomban, that
-she would get well, and live happily. But she got up quickly, her uncle
-was calling her.
-
-“Jean is here. Come along.”
-
-It was indeed Jean, looking rather scared, who had come to dinner. When
-they told him it was striking eight, he looked amazed. Impossible! He
-had only just left his master's. They chaffed him. No doubt he had come
-by way of the Bois de Vincennes. But as soon as he could get near his
-sister, he whispered to her: “It's a little laundry-girl who was taking
-back some linen. I've got a cab outside by the hour. Give me five
-francs.”
-
-He went out a minute, and then returned to dinner, for Madame Baudu
-would not hear of his going away without taking, at least, a plate of
-soup. Geneviève had reappeared in her usual silent and retiring manner.
-Colomban was half asleep behind the counter. The evening passed away,
-slow and melancholy, only animated by Baudu's step, as he walked
-from one end of the empty shop to the other. A single gas-burner was
-alight--the shadow of the low ceiling fell in large masses, like black
-earth from a ditch.
-
-Several months passed away. Denise came in nearly every evening to cheer
-up Geneviève a bit, but the house became more melancholy than ever. The
-works opposite were a continual torment, which intensified their bad
-luck. Even when they had an hour of hope--some unexpected joy--the
-falling of a tumbrel-load of bricks, the sound of the saw of a
-stonecutter, or the simple call of a mason, sufficed at once to mar
-their pleasure. In fact, the whole neighbourhood felt the shock. From
-the boarded enclosure, running along and blocking up the three streets,
-there issued a movement of feverish activity. Although the architect
-used the existing buildings, he altered them in various ways to adapt
-them to their new uses; and right in the centre at the opening caused by
-the court-yards, he was building a central gallery as big as a
-church, which was to terminate with a grand entrance in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin right in the middle of the frontage. They had, at
-first, experienced great difficulty in laying the foundations, for they
-had come on to some sewer deposits and loose earth, full of human
-bones. Besides that, the boring of the well had made the neighbours very
-anxious--a well three hundred feet deep, destined to give two hundred
-gallons a minute. They had now got the walls up to the first storey;
-the entire block was surrounded by scaffolding, regular towers of timber
-work. There was an incessant noise from the grinding of the windlasses
-hoisting up the stone, the abrupt discharge of iron bars, the clamour of
-this army of workmen, accompanied by the noise of picks and hammers.
-But above all, what deafened the people was the sound of the machinery.
-Everything went by steam, screeching whistles rent the air; whilst, at
-the slightest gust of wind, clouds of plaster flew about and covered the
-neighbouring roofs like a fall of snow. The Baudus in despair looked
-on at this implacable dust penetrating everywhere--getting through the
-closest woodwork, soiling the goods in their shop, even gliding into
-their beds; and the idea that they must continue to breathe it--that it
-would finish by killing them--empoisoned their existence.
-
-The situation, however, was destined to become worse still, for in
-September, the architect, afraid of not being ready, decided to carry
-on the work at night also. Powerful electric lamps were established,
-and the uproar became continuous. Gangs of men relieved each other;
-the hammers never stopped, the engines whistled night and day; the
-everlasting clamour seemed to raise and scatter the white dust The
-Baudus now had to give up the idea of sleeping even; they were shaken in
-their beds; the noises changed into nightmare as soon as they fell off
-to sleep. Then, if they got up to calm their fever, and went, with bare
-feet, to look out of the window, they were frightened by the vision
-of The Ladies' Paradise flaring in the darkness like a colossal forge,
-where their ruin was being forged. Along the half-built walls, dotted
-with open bays, the electric lamps threw a large blue flood of light,
-of a blinding intensity. Two o'clock struck--then three, then four; and
-during the painful sleep of the neighbourhood, the works, increased
-by this lunar brightness, became colossal and fantastic, swarming with
-black shadows, noisy workmen, whose profiles gesticulated on the crude
-whiteness of the new plastering.
-
-Baudu was quite right. The small traders in the neighbouring streets
-were receiving another mortal blow. Every time The Ladies' Paradise
-created new departments there were fresh failures among the shopkeepers
-of the district The disaster spread, one could hear the cracking of
-the oldest houses. Mademoiselle Tatin, at the under-linen shop in the
-Passage Choiseul, had just been declared bankrupt; Quinette, the glover,
-could hardly hold out another six months; the furriers, Vanpouille, were
-obliged to sub-let a part of their premises; and if the Bédorés, brother
-and sister, the hosiers, still kept on in the Rue Gaillon, they were
-evidently living on money saved formerly. And now more smashes were
-going to be added to those long since foreseen; the department for fancy
-goods threatened a toy-shopkeeper in the Rue Saint-Roch, Deslignières, a
-big, full-blooded man; whilst the furniture department attacked Messrs.
-Piot and Rivoire, whose shops were sleeping in the shadow of the Passage
-Sainte-Anne. It was even feared that an attack of apoplexy would carry
-off the toyman, who had gone into a terrible rage on seeing The Ladies'
-Paradise mark up purses at thirty per cent, reduction. The furniture
-dealers, who were much calmer, affected to joke at these counter-jumpers
-who wanted to meddle with such articles as chairs and tables; but
-customers were already leaving them, the success of the department had
-every appearance of being a formidable one. It was all over, they were
-obliged to bow their heads. After these others would be swept off, and
-there was no reason why every business should not be driven away. One
-day The Ladies' Paradise alone would cover the neighbourhood with its
-roof.
-
-At present, morning and evening, when the thousand employees went in and
-came out, they formed such a long procession in the Place Gaillon that
-people stopped to look at them as they would at a passing regiment.
-For ten minutes they blocked up all the streets; and the shopkeepers at
-their doors thought bitterly of their single assistant, whom they hardly
-knew how to find food for. The last balance-sheet of the big shop,
-the forty millions turned over, had also caused a revolution in the
-neighbourhood. The figure passed from house to house amid cries of
-surprise and anger. Forty millions! Think of that! No doubt the net
-profit did not exceed more than four per cent., with their heavy general
-expenses, and system of low prices; but sixteen hundred thousand francs
-was a jolly sum, one could be satisfied with four per cent., when one
-operated on such a scale as that. It was said that Mouret's starting
-capital of five hundred thousand francs, augmented each year by the
-total profits, a capital which must at that moment have amounted to four
-millions, had thus passed ten times over the counters in the form of
-goods. Robineau, when he made this calculation before Denise, after
-dinner, was overcome for a moment, his eyes fixed on his empty plate.
-She was right, it was this incessant renewal of the capital that
-constituted the invincible force of the new system of business. Bourras
-alone denied the facts, refusing to understand, superb and stupid as a
-mile-stone. A pack of thieves and nothing more! A lying set! Cheap-jacks
-who would be picked up out of the gutter one fine morning!
-
-The Baudus, however, notwithstanding their wish not to change anything
-in the way of The Old Elbeuf, tried to sustain the competition. The
-customers no longer coming to them, they forced themselves to go to the
-customers, through the agency of travellers. There was at that time, in
-the Paris market, a traveller connected with all the great tailors,
-who saved the little cloth and flannel houses when he condescended to
-represent them. Naturally they all tried to get hold of him; he assumed
-the importance of a personage; and Baudu, having haggled with him, had
-the misfortune of seeing him come to terms with the Matignons, in the
-Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs. One after the other, two other travellers
-robbed him; a third, an honest man, did no business. It was a slow
-death, without any shock, a continual decrease of business, customers
-lost one by one. A day came when the bills fell very heavily. Up to
-that time they had lived on their former savings; but now they began to
-contract debts. In December, Baudu, terrified by the amount of the bills
-he had accepted, resigned himself to a most cruel sacrifice: he sold his
-country-house at Rambouillet, a house which cost him a lot of money in
-continual repairs, and for which the tenants had not even paid the rent
-when he decided to get rid of it. This sale killed the only dream of
-his life, his heart bled as for the loss of some dear one. And he had to
-sell for seventy thousand francs that which had cost him more than two
-hundred thousand, considering himself fortunate to have met the Lhommes,
-his neighbours, who were desirous of adding to their property. The
-seventy thousand francs would keep the business going a little longer;
-for notwithstanding the repulses already encountered, the idea of
-struggling sprang up again; perhaps with great care they might conquer
-even now.
-
-The Sunday on which the Lhommes paid the money, they were good enough to
-dine at The Old Elbeuf. Madame Aurélie was the first to arrive; they had
-to wait for the cashier, who came late, scared by a whole afternoon's
-music; as for young Albert, he had accepted the invitation, but did not
-put in an appearance. It was, moreover, a somewhat painful evening. The
-Baudus, living without air in their narrow dining-room, suffered from
-the gust of wind brought in by the Lhommes, with their scattered family
-and taste for a free existence. Geneviève, wounded by Madame Aurélie's
-imperial airs, did not open her mouth; whilst Colomban was admiring
-her with a shiver, on reflecting that she reigned over Clara. Before
-retiring to rest, in the evening, Madame Baudu being already in bed,
-Baudu walked about the room for a long time. It was a mild night,
-thawing and damp. Outside, notwithstanding the closed windows, and drawn
-curtains, one could hear the machinery roaring on the opposite side of
-the way.
-
-“Do you know what I'm thinking of, Elisabeth?” said he at last “Well!
-these Lhommes may earn as much money as they like, I'd rather be in my
-shoes than theirs. They get on well, it's true. The wife said, didn't
-she? that she had made nearly twenty thousand francs this year, and that
-has enabled her to take my poor house. Never mind! I've no longer the
-house, but I don't go playing music in one direction, whilst you are
-gadding about in the other. No, look you, they can't be happy.”
-
-He was still labouring under the grief of his sacrifice, nourishing
-a certain rancour against those people who had bought up his darling
-dream. When he came near the bed, he gesticulated, leaning over his
-wife; then, returning to the window, he stood silent for a minute,
-listening to the noise of the works. And he resumed his old accusations,
-his despairing complaints about the new times; nobody had ever seen such
-things, a shop-assistant earning more than a tradesman, cashiers buying
-up the employers' property. Everything was going to the dogs; family
-ties no longer existed, people lived at hôtels instead of eating their
-meals at home in a respectable manner. He ended by prophesying that
-young Albert would later on swallow up the Rambouillet property with a
-lot of actresses.
-
-Madame Baudu listened to him, her head flat on the pillow, so pale that
-her face was the colour of the sheets. “They've paid you,” at length
-said she, softly.
-
-At this Baudu became dumb. He walked about for an instant with his eyes
-on the ground. Then he resumed: “They've paid me, 'tis true; and,
-after all, their money is as good as another's. It would be funny if we
-revived the business with this money. Ah! if I were not so old and worn
-out!”
-
-A long silence ensued. The draper was full of vague projects. Suddenly
-his wife spoke again, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, without moving her
-head: “Have you noticed your daughter lately?”
-
-“No,” replied he.
-
-“Well! she makes me rather anxious. She's getting pale, she seems to be
-pining away.”
-
-He stood before the bed, full of surprise. “Really! whatever for? If
-she's ill she should say so. To-morrow we must send for the doctor.”
-
-Madame Baudu still remained motionless. After a short time, she declared
-with her meditative air: “This marriage with Colomban, I think it would
-be better to get it over.”
-
-He looked at her, then began walking about again. Certain things came
-back to his mind. Was it possible that his daughter was falling ill over
-the shopman? Did she love him so much that she could not wait? Here was
-another misfortune! It worried him all the more from the fact that he
-himself had fixed ideas about this marriage. He could never consent to
-it in the present state of affairs. However, his anxiety softened him.
-
-“Very good,” said he at last, “I'll speak to Colomban.” And without
-saying another word he continued his walk. Soon afterwards his wife
-fell off to sleep, quite white, as if dead; but he still kept on walking
-about. Before getting into bed he drew aside the curtains and glanced
-outside; on the other side of the street, the gaping windows of the old
-Hôtel Duvillard showed the workmen moving about in the dazzling glare of
-the electric light.
-
-The next morning Baudu took Colomban to the further end of the store,
-on the upper floor, having made up his mind over night what he should
-say to him. “My boy,” said he “you know I've sold my property at
-Rambouillet. That will enable us to show good fight. But I should like
-beforehand to have a talk with you.”
-
-The young man, who seemed to dread the interview, waited with an awkward
-air. His small eyes twinkled in his large face, and he stood there with
-his mouth open--a sign with him of profound agitation.
-
-“Just listen to me,” resumed the draper. “When old Hauchecorne left me
-The Old Elbeuf, the house was prosperous; he himself had received it
-from old Finet in a satisfactory state. You know my ideas; I should
-consider it wrong if I passed this family trust to my children in a
-diminished state; and that's why I've always postponed your marriage
-with Geneviève. Yes, I was obstinate; I hoped to bring back our former
-prosperity; I wanted to hand you the books, saying: 'Look here! the year
-I commenced we sold so much cloth, and this year, the year I retire, we
-have sold ten thousand or twenty thousand francs' worth more.' In short,
-you understand, it was a vow I had made to myself, the very natural
-desire I had to prove that the house had not lost anything in my hands.
-Otherwise it would seem to me I was robbing you.” His voice was stifled
-with emotion. He blew his nose to recover a bit, and asked, “You don't
-say anything?”
-
-But Colomban had nothing to say. He shook his head, and waited, more and
-more troubled, thinking he could guess what, the governor was aiming at.
-It was the marriage without further delay. How could he refuse? He
-would never have the strength. And the other girl, of whom he dreamed at
-night, devoured by such a flame that he frequently threw himself quite
-naked on the floor, in the fear of dying of it.
-
-“Now,” continued Baudu, “there's a sum of money that may save us. The
-situation becomes worse every day, and perhaps by making a supreme
-effort----In short, I thought it right to warn you. We are going to
-venture our last stake. If we are beaten, why that will entirely ruin
-us! But, my poor boy, your marriage must be again postponed, for I don't
-wish to throw you two all alone into the struggle. That would be too
-cowardly, wouldn't it?”
-
-Colomban, greatly relieved, had seated himself on a pile of swan-skin
-flannel. His legs were still trembling. He was afraid of showing his
-joy, he held down his head, rolling his fingers on his knees.
-
-“You don't say anything?” repeated Baudu.
-
-No, he said nothing, he could find nothing to say. The draper then
-slowly continued: “I was sure this would grieve you. You must muster up
-courage. Pull yourself together a bit, don't let yourself be crushed in
-this way. Above all, understand my position. Can I hang such a weight on
-your neck? Instead of leaving you a good business, I should leave you
-a bankruptcy perhaps. No, it's only a scoundrel who would play such a
-trick! No doubt, I desire nothing but your happiness, but no one shall
-ever make me, go against my conscience.”
-
-And he went on for a long time in this way, swaying about in a maze of
-contradictions, like a man who would have liked to be understood at
-half a word and finds himself obliged to explain everything. As he had
-promised his daughter and the shop, strict probity forced him to deliver
-both in good condition, without defects or debts. But he was tired, the
-burden seemed to be too much for him, his stammering voice was one of
-supplication. He got more entangled than ever in his words, he was still
-expecting a sudden rally from Colomban, some heartfelt cry, which came
-not.
-
-“I know,” murmured he, “that old men are wanting in ardour. With young
-ones, things light up. They are full of fire, it's natural. But, no, no,
-I can't, my word of honour! If I gave it up to you, you would blame me
-later on.”
-
-He stopped, trembling, and as the young man still kept his head down,
-he asked him for the third time, after a painful silence: “You don't
-say anything?” At last, but without looking at him, Colomban replied:
-“There's nothing to say. You are the master, you know better than all of
-us. As you wish it we'll wait, we'll try and be reasonable.”
-
-It was all over. Baudu still hoped he was going to throw himself into
-his arms, exclaiming: “Father, do you take a rest, we'll fight in our
-turn; give us the shop as it is, so that we may work a miracle and save
-it! Then he looked at him, and was seized with shame, accusing himself
-of having wished to dupe his children. The deep-rooted maniacal honesty
-of the shopkeeper was awakened in him; it was this prudent fellow who
-was right, for in business there is no such thing as sentiment, it is
-only a question of figures.
-
-“Give me your hand, my boy,” said he in conclusion. “It's settled we
-won't speak about the marriage for another year. One must think of the
-business before everything.” That evening in their room when Madame
-Baudu questioned her husband as to the result of the conversation, the
-result of the conversation, the latter had resumed his obstinate wish to
-fight in person to the bitter end. He gave Colomban high praise,
-calling him a solid fellow, firm in his ideas, brought up with the best
-principles, incapable, for instance, of joking with the customers like
-those puppies at The Paradise. No, he was honest, he belonged to
-the family, he didn't speculate on the business as though he were a
-stock-jobber.
-
-“Well, then, when's the marriage to take place?” asked Madame Baudu.
-
-“Later on,” replied he, “when I am able to keep to my promises.”
-
-She made no gestures, she simply observed: “It will be our daughter's
-death.”
-
-Baudu restrained himself, stirred up with anger. He was the one whom it
-would kill, if they continually upset him like this! Was it his fault?
-He loved his daughter--would lay down his life for her; but he could
-not make the business prosper when it obstinately refused to do so.
-Geneviève ought to have a little more sense, and wait patiently for a
-better balance-sheet The deuce! Colomban was there, no one would run
-away with him!
-
-“It's incredible!” repeated he; “such a well-trained girl!”
-
-Madame Baudu said no more. No doubt she had guessed Geneviève's jealous
-agony; but she did not dare to inform her husband. A singular womanly
-modesty always prevented her approaching certain tender, delicate
-subjects with him. When he saw her so silent, he turned his anger
-against the people opposite, stretching his fists out in the air,
-towards the works, where they were setting up large iron girders, with a
-great noise of hammers.
-
-Denise had decided to return to The Ladies' Paradise, having understood
-that the Robineaus, though forced to cut down their staff, did not like
-to dismiss her. To maintain their position, now, they were obliged to do
-everything themselves. Gaujean, obstinate in his rancour, renewed their
-bills, even promised to find them funds; but they were frightened, they
-wanted to go in for economy and order. During a whole fortnight Denise
-had felt uneasy with them, and she had to speak first, saying she had
-found a situation elsewhere. This was a great relief. Madame Robineau
-embraced her, deeply affected, saying she should always miss her. Then
-when, in reply to a question, the young girl said she was going back to
-Mouret's, Robineau turned pale.
-
-“You are right!” he exclaimed violently.
-
-It was not so easy to tell the news to old Bourras. However, Denise
-had to give him notice, and she trembled, for she was full of gratitude
-towards him. Bourras just at this time was in a continual fever of
-rage--full of invectives against the works going on next door. The
-builder's carts blocked up his doorway; the picks tapped on his walls;
-everything in his place, the umbrellas and the sticks, danced about
-to the noise of the hammers. It seemed that the hovel, obstinately
-remaining amid all these demolitions, was going to give way. But the
-worst of all was that the architect, in order to connect the existing
-shops with those about to be opened in the Hôtel Duvillard, had
-conceived the idea of boring a passage under the little house that
-separated them. This house belonged to the firm of Mouret & Co., and
-the lease stipulating that the tenant should submit to all necessary
-repairs, the workmen appeared on the scene one morning. At this Bourras
-nearly went into a fit. Wasn't it enough to strangle him on all sides,
-on the right, the left, and behind, without attacking him underfoot as
-well, taking the ground from under him! And he drove the masons
-away, and went to law. Repairs, yes! but this was rather a work of
-embellishment. The neighbourhood thought he would carry the day,
-without, however, being sure of anything The case, however, threatened
-to be a long one, and people became very excited over this interminable
-duel. The day Denise resolved to give him notice, Bourras had just
-returned from his lawyer.
-
-“Would you believe it!” exclaimed he, “they now say the house is not
-solid; they pretend that the foundations must be strengthened. Confound
-it! they have shaken it up so with their infernal machines, that it
-isn't astonishing if it gives way!”
-
-Then, when the young girl announced she was going away, and that she was
-going back to The Ladies' Paradise at a salary of a thousand francs, he
-was so amazed that he simply raised his trembling hands in the air. The
-emotion made him drop into a chair.
-
-“You! you!” he stammered. “Ah, I'm the only one--I'm the only one left!”
- After a pause, he asked: “And the youngster?”
-
-“He'll go back to Madame Gras's,” replied Denise.
-
-“She was very fond of him! that can't be refused. You'll all go. Go,
-then, leave me here alone. Yes, alone--you understand! There shall be
-one who will never bow his head. And tell them I'll win my lawsuit, if I
-have to sell my last shirt for it!”
-
-Denise was not to leave Robineau's till the end of the month. She had
-seen Mouret again; everything was settled. One evening as she was going
-up to her room, Deloche, who was watching for her in a doorway, stopped
-her. He was delighted, having just heard the good news; they were all
-talking about it in the shop, he said. And he told her the gossip of the
-counters.
-
-“You know, the young ladies in the dress department are pulling long
-faces!” Then, interrupting himself, he added: “By the way, you remember
-Clara Primaire? Well, it appears the governor has------ You understand?”
-
-He had turned quite red. She, very pale, exclaimed: “Monsieur Mouret!”
-
-“Funny taste--eh?” he resumed. “A woman who looks like a horse. The
-little girl from the under-linen department, whom he had twice last
-year, was, at least, good-looking. However, that's his business.”
-
-Denise, once upstairs, almost fainted away. It was surely through coming
-up too quick. Leaning out of the window she had a sudden vision of
-Valognes, the deserted street and grassy pavement, which she used to
-see from her room as a child; and she was seized with a desire to go
-and live there--to seek refuge in the peace and forgetfulness of the
-country. Paris irritated her, she hated The Ladies' Paradise, she hardly
-knew why she had consented to go back. She would certainly suffer as
-much as ever there; she was already suffering from an unknown uneasiness
-since Deloche's stories. Suddenly, without any notice, a flood of tears
-forced her to leave the window. She wept on for some time, and found
-a little courage to live on still. The next day at breakfast-time, as
-Robineau had sent her on an errand, and she was passing The Old Elbeuf,
-she pushed open the door on seeing Colomban alone in the shop. The
-Baudus were breakfasting; she could hear the clatter of the knives and
-forks in the little room.
-
-“You can come in,” said the shopman. “They are at breakfast.”
-
-But she motioned him to be silent, and drew him into a corner. Then,
-lowering her voice, she said: “It's you I want to speak to. Have you
-no heart? Don't you see that Geneviève loves you, and that it's killing
-her.”
-
-She was trembling, the previous night's fever had taken possession
-of her again. He, frightened, surprised at this sudden attack, stood
-looking at her, without a word.
-
-“Do you hear?” she continued. “Geneviève knows you love another. She
-told me so. She wept like a child. Ah, poor girl! she isn't very strong
-now, I can tell you! If you had seen her thin arms! It's heart-breaking.
-You can't leave her to die like this!”
-
-At last he spoke, quite overcome. “But she isn't ill--you exaggerate!
-I don't see anything myself. Besides, it's her father who is postponing
-the marriage.”
-
-Denise sharply corrected this falsehood, certain that the least
-persistence on the part of the young man would decide her uncle. As to
-Colomban's surprise, it was not feigned; he had really never noticed
-Geneviève's slow agony. For him it was a very disagreeable revelation;
-for while he remained ignorant of it, he had no great blame to tax
-himself with.
-
-“And who for?” resumed Denise. “For a worthless girl! You can't know
-who you are loving! Up to the present I have not wanted to hurt your
-feelings, I have often avoided answering your continual questions. Well!
-she goes with everybody, she laughs at you, you will never have her, or
-you may have her, like others, just once in a way.”
-
-He listened to her, very pale; and at each of the sentences she threw
-into his face, his lips trembled. She, in a cruel fit, yielded to a
-transport of anger of which she had no consciousness. “In short,” said
-she in a final cry, “she's with Monsieur Mouret, if you want to know!”
-
-Her voice was stifled, she turned paler than Colomban himself. Both
-stood looking at each other. Then he stammered out: “I love her!”
-
-Denise felt ashamed of herself. Why was she talking in this way to this
-young fellow? Why was she getting so excited? She stood there mute, the
-simple reply he had just given resounded in her heart like the clang of
-a bell, which deafened her. “I love her, I love her!” and it seemed
-to spread. He was right, he could not marry another woman. And as
-she turned round, she observed Geneviève on the threshold of the
-dining-room.
-
-“Be quiet!” she said rapidly.
-
-But it was too late, Geneviève must have heard, for her face was white
-bloodless. Just at that moment a customer opened the door--Madame
-Bourdelais, one of the last faithful customers of the Old Elbeuf where
-she found solid goods for her money; for a long time past Madame de
-Boves had followed the fashion, and gone over to The Ladies' Paradise;
-Madame Marty herself no longer came, entirely captivated by the
-seductions of the display opposite. And Geneviève was forced to go
-forward, and say in her weak voice:
-
-“What do you desire, madame?”
-
-Madame Bourdelais wished to see some flannel. Colomban took down a roll
-from a shelf. Geneviève showed the article; and both of them, their
-hands cold, found themselves brought together behind the counter.
-Meanwhile Baudu came out of the dining-room last, behind his wife, who
-had gone and seated herself at the pay-desk. At first he did not meddle
-with the sale, but stood up, looking at Madame Bourdelais.
-
-“It is not good enough,” said the latter. “Show me the strongest you
-have.”
-
-Colomban took down another bundle. There was a silence. Madame
-Bourdelais examined the stuff.
-
-“How much?”
-
-“Six francs, madame,” replied Geneviève. The lady made an abrupt
-movement. “Six francs!” said she. “But they have the same opposite at
-five francs.”
-
-A slight contraction passed over Baudu's face. He could not help
-interfering politely. No doubt madame made a mistake, the stuff ought to
-have been sold at six francs and a half; it was impossible to give it at
-five francs. It must be another quality she was referring to.
-
-“No, no,” she repeated, with the obstinacy of a lady who could not be
-deceived. “The quality is the same. It may even be a little thicker.”
-
-And the discussion got very warm. Baudu, his face getting bilious,
-made an effort to continue smiling. His bitterness against The Ladies'
-Paradise was bursting in his throat.
-
-“Really,” said Madame Bourdelais at last, “you must treat me better,
-otherwise I shall go opposite, like the others.”
-
-He then lost his head, and cried out, shaking with a passion he could
-not repress: “Well! go opposite!”
-
-At this she got up, greatly annoyed, and went away without turning
-round, saying: “That's what I am going to do, sir.”
-
-A general stupor ensued. The governor's violence had frightened all of
-them. He was himself scared, and trembled at what he had just said. The
-phrase had escaped against his will in the explosion of a long pent-up
-rancour. And the Baudus now stood there motionless, following Madame
-Bourdelais with their looks, watching her cross the street. She seemed
-to be carrying off their fortune. When she slowly passed under the high
-door of The Ladies' Paradise, when they saw her disappear in the crowd,
-they felt a sort of sudden wrench.
-
-“There's another they've taken from us!” murmured the draper. Then
-turning towards Denise, of whose re-engagement he was aware, he said:
-“You as well, they've taken you back. Oh, I don't blame you for it. As
-they have the money, they are naturally the strongest.”
-
-Just then, Denise, still hoping that Geneviève had not overheard
-Colomban, was saying to her: “He loves you. Try and cheer up.”
-
-But the young girl replied to her in a very low and heartbroken voice:
-“Why do you tell me a falsehood? Look! he can't help it, he's always
-glancing up there. I know very well they've stolen him from me, as
-they've robbed us of everything else.”
-
-Geneviève went and sat down on the seat at the desk near her mother. The
-latter had doubtless guessed the fresh blow received by her daughter,
-for her anxious eyes wandered from her to Colomban, and then to The
-Ladies' Paradise. It was true, they had stolen everything from them:
-from the father, a fortune; from the mother, her dying child; from the
-daughter, a husband, waited for for ten years. Before this condemned
-family, Denise, whose heart was overflowing with pity, felt for an
-instant afraid of being wicked. Was she not going to assist this machine
-which was crushing the poor people? But she felt herself carried away as
-it were by an invisible force, and knew that she was doing no wrong.
-
-“Bah!” resumed Baudu, to give himself courage; “we sha'n't die over it,
-after all. For one customer lost we shall find two others. You hear,
-Denise, I've got over seventy thousand francs there, which will
-certainly trouble your Mouret's rest. Come, come, you others, don't look
-so glum!”
-
-But he could not enliven them. He himself relapsed into a pale
-consternation; and they all stood with their eyes on the monster,
-attracted, possessed, full of their misfortune. The work was nearly
-finished, the scaffolding had been removed from the front, a whole
-side of the colossal edifice appeared, with its walls and large light
-windows.
-
-Along the pavement at last open to circulation, stood eight vans that
-the messengers were loading one after the other.
-
-In the sunshine, a ray of which ran along the street, the green panels,
-picked out with red and yellow, sparkled like so many mirrors, sending
-blinding reflections right into The Old Elbeuf. The drivers, dressed in
-black, of a correct appearance, were holding the horses well in, superb
-pairs, shaking their silvered bits. And each time a van was loaded,
-there was a sonorous, rolling noise, which made the neighbouring small
-shops tremble. And before this triumphal procession, which they were
-destined to submit to twice a day, the Baudus' hearts broke. The father
-half fainted away, asking himself where this continual flood of goods
-could go to; whilst the mother, tormented to death about her daughter,
-continued to gaze into the street, her eyes drowned in a flood of tears.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-It was on a Monday, the 14th of March, that The Ladies' Paradise
-inaugurated its new buildings by a great exhibition of summer novelties,
-which was to last three days. Outside, a sharp wind was blowing, the
-passers-by, surprised by this return of winter, spun along, buttoned up
-in their overcoats. However, behind the closed doors of the neighbouring
-shops, quite an agitation was fermenting; and one could see, against the
-windows, the pale faces of the small tradesmen, occupied in counting the
-first carriages which stopped before the new grand entrance in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin. This door, lofty and deep like a church porch,
-surmounted by a group--Industry and Commerce hand-in-hand amidst a
-complication of symbols--was sheltered by a vast awning, the fresh
-gilding of which seemed to light up the pavement with a ray of sunshine.
-To the right and left stretched the shop fronts, barely dry and of a
-blinding whiteness, running along the Rue Monsigny and the Rue de
-la Michodière, occupying the whole island, except on the Rue du
-Dix-Décembre side, where the Crédit Immobilier intended to build.
-Along this barrack-like development, the small tradesmen, when they
-raised their heads, perceived the piles of goods through the large
-plate-glass windows which, from the ground floor up to the second
-storey, opened the house to the light of day. And this enormous cube,
-this colossal bazaar, shut out the sky from them, seeming to cause the
-cold which was making them shiver behind their frozen counters.
-
-As early as six o'clock, Mouret was on the spot, giving his final
-orders. In the centre, starting from the grand entrance, a large gallery
-ran from end to end, flanked right and left by two narrower galleries,
-the Monsigny Gallery and the Michodière Gallery. The court-yards had
-been glazed and turned into halls, iron staircases rose from the ground
-floor, iron bridges were thrown from one end to the other on the two
-storeys. The architect, who happened to be a young man of talent with
-modern ideas, had only used stone for the under-ground floor and the
-corner pillars, constructing the whole ground with the corner pillars,
-constructing the whole carcase of iron, the assemblage of beams and
-rafters being supported by columns. The arches of the flooring and the
-partitions were of brickwork. Space had been gained everywhere, light
-and air entered freely, and the public circulated with the greatest
-ease under the bold flights of the far-stretching girders. It was the
-cathedral of modern commerce, light but solid, made for a nation of
-customers. Below, in the central gallery, after the door bargains, came
-the cravat, the glove, and the silk departments; the Monsigny Gallery
-was occupied by the linen and the Rouen goods; the Michodière Gallery
-by the mercery, the hosiery, the drapery, and the woollen departments.
-Then, on the first floor were installed the ready-made, the under-linen,
-the shawl, the lace, and other new departments, whilst the bedding, the
-carpets, the furnishing materials, all the cumbersome articles difficult
-to handle, had been relegated to the second floor. The number of
-departments was now thirty-nine, with eighteen hundred employees, of
-whom two hundred were women. Quite a little world operated there, in the
-sonorous life of the high metallic naves.
-
-Mouret's unique passion was to conquer woman. He wished her to be queen
-in his house, and he had built this temple to get her completely at his
-mercy. His sole aim was to intoxicate her with gallant attentions, and
-traffic on her desires, work on her fever. Night and day he racked his
-brain to invent fresh attractions. He had already introduced two lifts
-lined with velvet for the upper storeys, in order to spare delicate
-ladies the trouble of mounting the stairs. Then he had just opened a bar
-where the customers could find, gratis, some light refreshment, syrups
-and biscuits, and a reading-room, a monumental gallery, decorated with
-excessive luxury, in which he had even ventured on an exhibition of
-pictures. But his most profound idea was to conquer the mother through
-the child, when unable to do so through her coquetry; he neglected no
-means, speculated on every sentiment, created departments for little
-boys and girls, arresting the passing mothers by distributing pictures
-and air-balls to the children. A stroke of genius this idea of
-distributing to each buyer a red air-ball made of fine gutta-percha,
-bearing in large letters the name of the shop, and which, held by
-a string, floated in the air, parading in the streets a living
-advertisement.
-
-But the greatest power of all was the advertising. Mouret spent three
-hundred thousand francs a year in catalogues, advertisements, and
-bills. For his summer sale he had launched forth two hundred thousand
-catalogues, of which fifty thousand went abroad, translated into every
-language. He now had them illustrated with engravings, even accompanying
-them with samples, gummed between the leaves. It was an overflowing
-display; The Ladies' Paradise became a household word all over the
-world, invading the walls, the newspapers, and even the curtains at the
-theatres. He declared that woman was powerless against advertising, that
-she was bound to follow the crowd. Not only that, he laid still more
-seductive traps for her, analysing her like a great moralist. Thus he
-had discovered that she could not resist a bargain, that she bought
-without necessity when she thought she saw a cheap line, and on this
-observation he based his system of reductions in price, progressively
-lowering the price of unsold articles, preferring to sell them at a
-loss, faithful to his principle of the continual renewal of the goods.
-He had penetrated still further into the heart of woman, and had just
-thought of the “returns,” a masterpiece of Jesuitical seduction. “Take
-whatever you like, madame; you can return the article if you don't like
-it.” And the woman who hesitated was provided with the last excuse, the
-possibility of repairing an extravagant folly, she took the article with
-an easy conscience. The returns and the reduction of prices now formed
-part of the classical working of the new style of business.
-
-But where Mouret revealed himself as an unrivalled master was in the
-interior arrangement of the shops. He laid down as a law that not a
-corner of The Ladies' Paradise ought to remain deserted, requiring
-everywhere a noise, a crowd, evidence of life; for life, said he,
-attracts life, increases and multiplies. From this law he drew all sorts
-of applications. In the first place, there ought always to be a crush at
-the entrance, so that the people in the street should mistake it for
-a riot; and he obtained this crush by placing a lot of bargains at the
-doors, shelves and baskets overflowing with very low-priced articles;
-so that the common people crowded there, stopping up the doorway, making
-the shop look as if it were crammed with customers, when it was often
-only half full. Then, in the galleries, he had the art of concealing
-the departments in which business was slack; for instance, the shawl
-department in summer, and the printed calico department in winter, he
-surrounded them with busy departments, drowning them with a continual
-uproar. It was he alone who had been inspired with the idea of placing
-on the second-floor the carpet and furniture counters, counters where
-the customers were less frequent, and which if placed on the ground
-floor would have caused empty, cold spaces. If he could have managed it,
-he would have had the street running through his shop.
-
-Just at that moment, Mouret was a prey to an attack of inspiration. On
-the Saturday evening, as he was giving a last look at the preparations
-for the Monday's great sale, he was suddenly struck with the idea that
-the arrangement of the departments adopted by him was wrong and stupid;
-and yet It seemed a perfectly logical arrangement: the stuffs on one
-side, the made-up articles on the other, an intelligent order of things
-which would enable the customers to find their way themselves. He had
-thought of this orderly arrangement formerly, in Madame Hédouin's narrow
-shop; and now he felt his faith shaken, just as he carried out his idea.
-Suddenly he cried out that they would “have to alter all that.” They had
-forty-eight hours, and half what had been done had to be changed. The
-staff, frightened, bewildered, had been obliged to work two nights and
-the entire Sunday, amidst a frightful disorder. On the Monday morning
-even, an hour before the opening, there was still some goods to be
-placed. Decidedly the governor was going mad, no one understood, a
-general consternation prevailed.
-
-[Illustration: 0355]
-
-“Come, look sharp!” cried Mouret, with the quiet assurance of his
-genius. “There are some more costumes to be taken upstairs. And the
-Japan goods, are they placed on the central landing? A last effort, my
-boys, you'll see the sale by-and-by.”
-
-Bourdoncle had also been there since daybreak. He did not understand any
-more than the others, and he followed the governor's movements with
-an anxious eye. He hardly dared to ask him any questions, knowing how
-Mouret received people in these critical moments. However, he at last
-made up his mind, and gently asked: “Was it really necessary to upset
-everything like that, on the eve of our sale?”
-
-At first Mouret shrugged his shoulders without replying. Then as the
-other persisted, he burst out: “So that all the customers should heap
-themselves into one corner--eh? A nice idea of mine! I should never have
-got over it! Don't you see that it would have localised the crowd. A
-woman would have come in, gone straight to the department she wished,
-passed from the petticoat counter to the dress one, from the dress to
-the mantle, then retired, without having even lost herself for a moment?
-Not one would have thoroughly seen the establishment!”
-
-“But,” remarked Bourdoncle, “now that you have disarranged everything,
-and thrown the goods all over the place, the employees will wear out
-their legs in guiding the customers from department to department.”
-
-Mouret gave a look of superb contempt. “I don't care a hang for that!
-They're young, it'll make them grow! So much the better if they do walk
-about! They'll appear more numerous, and increase the crowd. The greater
-the crush the better; all will go well!” He laughed, and deigned to
-explain his idea, lowering his voice: “Look here, Bourdoncle, listen to
-the result. Firstly, this continual circulation of customers disperses
-them all over the shop, multiplies them, and makes them lose their
-heads; secondly, as they must be conducted from one end of the
-establishment to the other, if they want, for instance, a lining after
-having bought a dress, these journeys in every direction triple the
-size of the house in their eyes; thirdly, they are forced to traverse
-departments where they would never have set foot otherwise, temptations
-present themselves on their passage, and they succumb; fourthly----”
-
-Bourdoncle was now laughing with him. At this Mouret, delighted, stopped
-to call out to the messengers: “Very good, my boys! now for a sweep, and
-it'll be splendid!”
-
-But on turning round he perceived Denise. He and Bourdoncle were
-opposite the ready-made department, which he had just dismembered by
-sending the dresses and costumes up on the second-floor at the other
-end of the building. Denise, the first down, was opening her eyes with
-astonishment, quite bewildered by the new arrangements.
-
-“What is it?” murmured she; “are we going to move?” This surprise
-appeared to amuse Mouret, who adored these sensational effects. Early in
-February Denise had returned to The Ladies' Paradise, where she had been
-agreeably surprised to find the staff polite, almost respectful. Madame
-Aurélie especially was very kind; Marguerite and Clara seemed resigned;
-even down to old Jouve, who also bowed his head, with an awkward
-embarrassed air, as if desirous of effacing the disagreeable memory of
-the past. It sufficed that Mouret had said a few words, everybody
-was whispering, following her with their eyes. And in this general
-amiability, the only things that wounded her were Deloche's singularly
-melancholy looks, and Paulines inexplicable smiles. However, Mouret was
-still looking at her in his delighted way.
-
-“What is it you want, mademoiselle?” asked he at last.
-
-Denise had noticed him. She blushed slightly. Since her return she had
-received marks of kindness from him which greatly touched her. Pauline,
-without her knowing why, had given her a full account of the governor's
-and Clara's love affairs: where he saw her, and what he paid her; and
-she often returned to the subject, even adding that he had another
-mistress, that Madame Desforges, well known by all the shop. Such
-stories stirred up Denise, she felt in his presence all her former
-fears, an uneasiness in which her gratitude was struggling against her
-anger.
-
-“It's all this confusion going on in the place,” she murmured.
-
-Mouret then approached her and said in a lower voice:
-
-“Have the goodness to come to my office this evening after business. I
-wish to speak to you.”
-
-Greatly agitated, she bowed her head without saying a word. And she went
-into the department where the other saleswomen were now arriving. But
-Bourdoncle had overheard Mouret, and he looked at him with a smile. He
-even ventured to say when they were alone:
-
-“That girl again! Be careful; it will end by being serious!”
-
-Mouret hastily defended himself, concealing his emotion beneath an
-air of superior indifference. “Never fear, it's only a joke! The woman
-who'll catch me isn't born, my dear fellow!”
-
-And as the shop was opening at last, he rushed off to give a final look
-at the various counters. Bourdoncle shook his head. This Denise, so
-simple and quiet, began to make him uneasy. The first time, he had
-conquered by a brutal dismissal. But she had reappeared, and he felt she
-had become so strong that he now treated her as a redoubtable adversary,
-remaining mute before her, patiently waiting. Mouret, whom he caught up,
-was shouting out downstairs, in the Saint-Augustin Hall, opposite the
-entrance door:
-
-“Are you playing with me? I ordered the blue parasols to be put as a
-border. Just pull all that down, and be quick about it!”
-
-He would listen to nothing; a gang of messengers had to come and
-re-arrange the exhibition of parasols. Seeing the customers arriving, he
-even had the doors closed for a moment, declaring that he would not open
-them, rather than have the blue parasols in the centre. It ruined his
-composition. The renowned dressers, Hutin, Mignot, and others, came to
-look, and opened their eyes; but they affected not to understand, being
-of a different school.
-
-At last the doors were opened again, and the crowd flowed in. From the
-first, before the shop was full, there was such a crush at the
-doorway that they were obliged to call the police to re-establish the
-circulation on the pavement. Mouret had calculated correctly; all the
-housekeepers, a compact troop of middle-class women and workmen's wives,
-swarmed around the bargains and remnants displayed in the open street.
-They felt the “hung” goods at the entrance; a calico at seven sous,
-a wool and cotton grey stuff at nine sous, and, above all, an Orleans
-cloth at seven sous and half, which was emptying the poorer purses.
-There was an elbowing, a feverish crushing around the shelves and
-baskets containing the articles at reduced prices, lace at two sous,
-ribbon at five, garters at three the pair, gloves, petticoats, cravats,
-cotton socks, and stockings, were all tumbled about, and disappearing,
-as if swallowed up by the voracious crowd. Notwithstanding the cold, the
-shopmen who were selling in the open street could not serve fast enough.
-A woman in the family way cried out with pain; two little girls were
-nearly stifled.
-
-All the morning this crush went on increasing. Towards one o'clock there
-was a crowd waiting to enter; the street was blocked as in a time of
-riot. Just at that moment, as Madame de Boves and her daughter Blanche
-were standing on the pavement opposite, hesitating, they were accosted
-by Madame Marty, also accompanied by her daughter Valentine.
-
-“What a crowd--eh?” said the former. “They're killing themselves inside.
-I ought not to have come, I was in bed, but got up to get a little fresh
-air.”
-
-“Just like me,” said the other. “I promised my husband to go and see his
-sister at Montmartre. Then just as I was passing, I thought of a piece
-of braid I wanted. I may as well buy it here as anywhere else, mayn't I?
-Oh, I sha'n't spend a sou! in fact I don't want anything.”
-
-However, they did not take their eyes off the door, seized and carried
-away as it were by the force of the crowd.
-
-“No, no, I'm not going in, I'm afraid,” murmured Madame de Boves.
-“Blanche, let's go away, we should be crushed.” But her voice failed,
-she was gradually yielding to the desire to follow the others; and her
-fear dissolved in the irresistible attraction of the crush. Madame Marty
-was also giving way, repeating:
-
-“Keep hold of my dress, Valentine. Ah, well! I've never seen such a
-thing before. You are lifted off your feet. What will it be like inside?”
-
-The ladies, seized by the current, could not now go back. As streams
-attract to themselves the fugitive waters of a valley, so it seemed that
-the wave of customers, flowing into the vestibule, was absorbing the
-passers-by, drinking in the population from the four corners of Paris.
-They advanced but slowly, squeezed almost to death, kept upright by the
-shoulders and bellies around them, of which they felt the close heat;
-and their satisfied desire enjoyed the painful entrance which incited
-still further their curiosity. There was a pell-mell of ladies arrayed
-in silk, of poorly dressed middle-class women, and of bare-headed girls,
-all excited and carried away by the same passion. A few men buried
-beneath the overflow of bosoms were casting anxious glances around them.
-A nurse, in the thickest of the crowd, held her baby above her head, the
-youngster crowing with delight. The only one to get angry was a skinny
-woman, who broke out into bad words, accusing her neighbour of digging
-right into her.
-
-“I really think I shall lose my skirts in this crowd,” remarked Madame
-de Boves.
-
-Mute, her face still fresh from the open air, Madame Marty was standing
-on tip-toe to see above the others' heads into the depths of the shop.
-The pupils of her grey eyes were as contracted as those of a cat coming
-out of the broad daylight; she had the reposed flesh, and the clear
-expression of a person just waking up.
-
-“Ah, at last!” said she, heaving a sigh.
-
-The ladies had just extricated themselves. They were in the
-Saint-Augustin Hall, which they were greatly surprised to find almost
-empty. But a feeling of comfort invaded them, they seemed to be entering
-into spring-time after emerging from the winter of the street. Whilst
-outside, the frozen wind, laden with rain and hail, was still blowing,
-the fine season, in The Paradise galleries, was already budding forth
-with the light stuffs, the flowery brilliancy of the tender shades, the
-rural gaiety of the summer dresses and the parasols.
-
-“Do look there!” exclaimed Madame de Boves, standing motionless, her
-eyes in the air.
-
-It was the exhibition of parasols. Wide-open, rounded off like shields,
-they covered the whole hall, from the glazed roof to the varnished oak
-mouldings below. They described festoons round the semi-circular arches
-of the upper storeys; they descended in garlands along the slender
-columns; they ran along in close lines on the balustrades of the
-galleries and the staircases; and everywhere, ranged symmetrically,
-speckling the walls with red, green, and yellow, they looked like great
-Venetian lanterns, lighted up for some colossal entertainment. In the
-corners were more complicated patterns, stars composed of parasols at
-thirty-nine sous, the light shades of which, pale-blue, cream-white, and
-blush rose, seemed to burn with the sweetness of a night-light; whilst
-up above, immense Japanese parasols, on which golden-coloured cranes
-soared in a purple sky, blazed forth with the reflections of a great
-conflagration.
-
-Madame Marty endeavoured to find a phrase to express her rapture, but
-could only exclaim, “It's like fairyland!” Then trying to find out
-where she was she continued: “Let's see, the braid is in the mercery
-department. I shall buy my braid and be off.”
-
-“I will go with you,” said Madame de Boves. “Eh? Blanche, we'll just go
-through the shop, nothing more.”
-
-But they had hardly left the door before they lost themselves. They
-turned to the left, and as the mercery department had been moved, they
-dropped right into the middle of the one devoted to collarettes, cuffs,
-trimmings, &c. It was very warm under the galleries, a hot-house heat,
-moist and close, laden with the insipid odour of the stuffs, and in
-which the stamping of the crowd was stifled. They then returned to the
-door, where an outward current was already established, an interminable
-line of women and children, over whom floated a multitude of red
-air-balls. Forty thousand of these were ready; there were men specially
-placed for their distribution. To see the customers who were going out,
-one would have thought there was a flight of enormous soap-bubbles above
-them, at the end of the almost invisible strings, reflecting the fiery
-glare of the parasols. The whole place was illuminated by them.
-
-“There's quite a world here!” declared Madame de Boves. “You hardly know
-where you are.”
-
-However, the ladies could not remain in the eddy of the door, right in
-the crush of the entrance and exit. Fortunately, Jouve, the inspector,
-came to their assistance. He stood in the vestibule, grave, attentive,
-eyeing each woman as she passed. Specially charged with the inside
-police, he was on the lookout for thieves, and especially followed women
-in the family way, when the fever of their eyes became too alarming.
-
-“The mercery department, ladies?” said he obligingly, “turn to the left;
-look! just there behind the hosiery department.”
-
-Madame de Boves thanked him. But Madame Marty, turning round, no
-longer saw her daughter Valentine beside her. She was beginning to feel
-frightened, when she caught sight of her, already a long way off, at the
-end of the Saint-Augustin Hall, deeply absorbed before a table covered
-with a heap of women's cravats at nineteen sous. Mouret practised the
-system of offering articles to the customers, hooking and plundering
-them as they passed; for he used every sort of advertisement, laughing
-at the discretion of certain fellow-tradesmen who thought the articles
-should be left to speak for themselves. Special salesmen, idle and
-smooth-tongued Parisians, thus got rid of considerable quantities of
-small trashy things.
-
-“Oh, mamma!” murmured Valentine, “just look at these cravats. They have
-a bird embroidered at the corners.”
-
-The shopman cracked up the article, swore it was all silk, that the
-manufacturer had become bankrupt, and that they would never have such a
-bargain again.
-
-“Nineteen sous--is it possible?” said Madame Marty, tempted as well as
-her daughter. “Well! I can take a couple, that won't ruin us.”
-
-Madame de Boves disdained this style of thing, she detested things
-being offered. A shopman calling her made her run away. Madame Marty,
-surprised, could not understand this nervous horror of commercial
-quackery, for she was of another nature; she was one of those fortunate
-women who delight in being thus violated, in bathing in the caress of
-this public offering, with the enjoyment of plunging one's hands in
-everything, and wasting one's time in useless talk.
-
-“Now,” she said, “I'm going for my braid. I don't wish to see anything
-else.”
-
-However, as she crossed the cravat and glove departments, her heart once
-more failed her. There was, under the diffuse light, a display made
-up of bright and gay colours, which produced a ravishing effect The
-counters, symmetrically arranged, seemed like so many flower-borders,
-changing the hall into a French garden, in which smiled a tender gamut
-of blossoms. Lying on the bare wood, in open boxes, and protruding from
-the overflowing drawers, a quantity of silk hand-kerchiefs displayed
-the bright scarlet of the geranium, the creamy white of the petunia,
-the golden yellow of the chrysanthemum, the sky-blue of the verbena; and
-higher up, on brass stems, twined another florescence, fichus carelessly
-hung, ribbons unrolled, quite a brilliant cordon, which extended along,
-climbed up the columns, and were multiplied indefinitely by the mirrors.
-But what most attracted the crowd was a Swiss cottage in the glove
-department, made entirely of gloves, a chef d'ouvre of Mignot's, which
-had taken him two days to arrange. In the first place, the ground-floor
-was composed of black gloves; then came straw-coloured, mignonette,
-and red gloves, distributed in the decoration, bordering the windows,
-forming the balconies, and taking the place of the tiles.
-
-“What do you desire, madame?” asked Mignot, on seeing Madame Marty
-planted before the cottage. “Here are some Swedish kid gloves at one
-franc fifteen sous, first quality.”
-
-He offered his wares with furious energy, calling the passing customers
-from the end of his counter, dunning them with his politeness. As she
-shook her head in refusal he confined: “Tyrolian gloves, one franc five
-sous. Turin gloves for children, embroidered gloves in all colours.”
-
-“No, thanks; I don't want anything,” declared Madame Marty.
-
-But feeling that her voice was softening, he attacked her with greater
-energy than ever, holding the embroidered gloves before her eyes; and
-she could not resist, she bought a pair. Then, as Madame de Boves looked
-at her with a smile, she blushed.
-
-“Don't you think me childish--eh? If I don't make haste and get my braid
-and be off, I shall be done for.”
-
-Unfortunately, there was such a crush in the mercery department that she
-could not get served. They had both been waiting for over ten minutes,
-and were getting annoyed, when the sudden meeting with Madame Bourdelais
-occupied their attention. The latter explained, with her quiet practical
-air, that she had just brought the little ones to see the show.
-Madeleine was ten, Edmond eight, and Lucien four years old; and they
-were laughing with joy, it was a cheap treat long promised.
-
-“They are really too comical; I shall buy a red parasol,” said Madame
-Marty all at once, stamping with impatience at being there doing
-nothing.
-
-She choose one at fourteen francs and a-half. Madame Bourdelais, after
-having watched the purchase with a look of blame, said to her amicably:
-“You are very wrong to be in such a hurry. In a month's time you could
-have had it for ten francs. They won't catch me like that.”
-
-And she developed quite a theory of careful housekeeping. As the shops
-lowered their prices, it was simply a question of waiting. She did not
-wish to be taken in by them, so she preferred to take advantage of their
-real bargains. She even showed a feeling of malice in the struggle,
-boasting that she had never left them a sou profit.
-
-“Come,” said she at last, “I've promised my little ones to show them the
-pictures upstairs in the reading-room. Come up with us, you have plenty
-of time.”
-
-And the braid was forgotten. Madame Marty yielded at once, whilst Madame
-de Boves refused, preferring to take a turn on the ground-floor first.
-Besides, they were sure to meet again upstairs. Madame Bourdelais was
-looking for a staircase when she perceived one of the lifts; and she
-pushed her children in to complete their pleasure. Madame Marty and
-Valentine also entered the narrow cage, where they were closely packed;
-but the mirrors, the velvet seats, and the polished brasswork took up
-their attention so much that they arrived at the first storey without
-having felt the gentle ascent of the machine. Another pleasure was
-in store for them, in the first gallery. As they passed before the
-refreshment bar, Madame Bourdelais did not fail to gorge her little
-family with syrup. It was a square room with a large marble counter;
-at the two ends there were silvered fountains from which flowed a small
-stream of water; whilst rows of bottles stood on small shelves behind.
-Three waiters were continually engaged wiping and filling the glasses.
-To restrain the thirsty crowd, they had been obliged to establish a
-system of turns, as at theatres and railway-stations, by erecting a
-barrier covered with velvet. The crush was terrific. Some people, losing
-all shame before these gratuitous treats, made themselves ill.
-
-“Well! where are they?” exclaimed Madame Bourdelais when she extricated
-herself from the crowd, after having wiped the children's faces with her
-handkerchief.
-
-But she caught sight of Madame Marty and Valentine at the further end
-of another gallery, a long way off. Both buried beneath a heap of
-petticoats, were still buying. They were conquered, the mother and
-daughter were rapidly disappearing in the fever of spending which was
-carrying them away. When she at last arrived in the reading-room Madame
-Bourdelais installed Madeleine, Edmond, and Lucien before the large
-table; then taking from one of the shelves some photographic albums she
-brought them to them. The ceiling of the long apartment was covered
-with gold; at the two extremities, monumental chimney-pieces faced each
-other; some rather poor pictures, very richly framed, covered the walls;
-and between the columns before each of the arched bays opening into the
-various shops, were tall green plants in majolica vases. Quite a
-silent crowd surrounded the table, which was littered with reviews and
-newspapers, with here and there some ink-stands and boxes of stationery.
-Ladies took off their gloves, and wrote their letters on the paper
-stamped with the name of the house, which they crossed out with a dash
-of the pen. A few men, lolling back in the armchairs, were reading the
-newspapers. But a great many people sat there doing nothing: husbands
-waiting for their wives, let loose in the various departments, discreet
-young women looking out for their lovers, old relations left there as
-in a cloak-room, to be taken away when time to leave. And this little
-society, comfortably installed, quietly reposed itself there, glancing
-through the open bays into the depths of the galleries and the halls,
-from which a distant murmur ascended above the grating of the pens and
-the rustling of the newspapers.
-
-“What! you here!” said Madame Bourdelais. “I didn't know you.”
-
-Near the children was a lady concealed behind the pages of a review.
-It was Madame Guibal She seemed annoyed at the meeting; but quickly
-recovering herself, related that she had come to sit down for a moment
-to escape the crush. And as Madame Bourdelais asked her if she was
-going to make any purchases, she replied with her languorous air, hiding
-behind her eyelashes the egoistical greediness of her looks:
-
-“Oh! no. On the contrary, I have come to return some goods. Yes, some
-door-curtains which I don't like. But there is such a crowd that I am
-waiting to get near the department.”
-
-She went on talking, saying how convenient this system of returns
-was; formerly she never bought anything, but now she sometimes allowed
-herself to be tempted. In fact, she returned four articles out of five,
-and was getting known at all the counters for her strange system
-of buying, and her eternal discontent which made her bring back the
-articles one by one, after having kept them several days. But, whilst
-speaking, she did not take her eyes off the doors of the reading-room;
-and she appeared greatly relieved when Madame Bourdelais rejoined her
-children, to explain the photographs to them. Almost at the same
-moment Monsieur de Boves and Paul de Vallagnosc came in. The count,
-who affected to be showing the young man through the new buildings,
-exchanged a rapid glance with Madame Guibal; and she then plunged into
-her review again, as if she had not seen him.
-
-“Hullo, Paul!” suddenly exclaimed a voice behind these gentlemen.
-
-It was Mouret, on his way round to give a look at the various
-departments. They shook hands, and he at once asked: “Has Madame de
-Boves done us the honour of coming?”
-
-“Well, no,” replied the husband, “and she very much regrets it. She's
-not very well. Oh! nothing dangerous!” But suddenly he pretended to
-catch sight of Madame Guibal, and ran off, going up to her bareheaded,
-whilst the others merely bowed to her from a distance. She also
-pretended to be surprised. Paul smiled; he now understood the affair,
-and he related to Mouret in a low voice how De Boves, whom he had met in
-the Rue Richelieu, had tried to get away from him, and had finished by
-dragging him into The Ladies' Paradise, under the pretext that he must
-show him the new buildings. For the last year the lady had drawn from De
-Boves all the money and pleasure she could, never writing to him, making
-appointments with him in public places, churches, museums, and shops, to
-arrange their affairs.
-
-“I fancy that at each meeting they change their hôtel,” murmured the
-young man. “Not long ago, he was on a tour of inspection; he wrote to
-his wife every day from Blois, Libourne, and Tarbes; and yet I feel
-convinced I saw them going into a family boarding-house at Batignolles.
-But look at him, isn't he splendid before her with his military
-correctness! The old French gallantry, my dear fellow, the old French
-gallantry!”
-
-“And your marriage?” asked Mouret Paul, without taking his eyes off the
-count, replied that they were still waiting for the death of the aunt.
-Then, with a triumphant air: “There, did you see him? He stooped down,
-and slipped an address into her hand. She's now accepting with the most
-virtuous air. She's a terrible woman, that delicate red-haired creature
-with her careless ways. Well! there are some fine things going on in
-your place!”
-
-“Oh!” said Mouret, smiling, “these ladies are not in my house, they are
-at home here.”
-
-He then began to joke. Love, like the swallows, always brought good luck
-to a house. No doubt he knew the girls who wandered about from counter
-to counter, the ladies who accidentally met a friend in the shop; but
-if they bought nothing, they filled up a place, and helped to crowd and
-warm the shop. Still continuing his gossip, he carried his old comrade
-off, and planted him on the threshold of the reading-room, opposite the
-grand central gallery, the successive halls of which ran along at their
-feet. Behind them, the reading-room still retained its quiet air,
-only disturbed by the scratching of the pens and the rustling of the
-newspapers. One old gentleman had gone to sleep over the _Moniteur_.
-Monsieur de Boves was looking at the pictures, with the evident
-intention of losing his future son-in-law in the crowd as soon as
-possible. And, alone, amid this calmness, Madame Bourdelais was amusing
-her children, talking very loud, as in a conquered place.
-
-“You see they are quite at home,” said Mouret, who pointed with a
-broad gesture to the multitude of women with which the departments were
-overflowing.
-
-Just at that moment Madame Desforges, after having nearly had her mantle
-carried away in the crowd, at last came in and crossed the first hall.
-Then, on reaching the principal gallery, she raised her eyes. It was
-like a railway span, surrounded by the balustrades of the two storeys,
-intersected by hanging staircases, crossed by flying bridges. The iron
-staircases developed bold curves, multiplying the landings; the iron
-bridges suspended in space, ran straight along, very high up; and all
-this iron formed, beneath the white light of the windows, an excessively
-light architecture, a complicated lace-work through which the daylight
-penetrated, the modern realisation of a dreamed-of palace, of a
-Babel-like heaping up of the storeys, enlarging the rooms, opening up
-glimpses on to other floors and into other rooms without end. In fact,
-iron reigned everywhere; the young architect had had the honesty and
-courage not to disguise it under a coating of paint imitating stone or
-wood. Down below, in order not to outshine the goods, the decoration was
-sober, with large regular spaces in neutral tints; then as the metallic
-work ascended, the capitals of the columns became richer, the rivets
-formed ornaments, the shoulder-pieces and corbels were loaded with
-sculptured work; up above, there was a mass of painting, green and red,
-amidst a prodigality of gold, floods of gold, heaps of gold, even to
-the glazed-work, the glass of which was enamelled and inlaid with gold.
-Under the covered galleries, the bare brick-work of the arches was also
-decorated in bright colours. Mosaics and earthenware also formed part
-of the decoration, enlivening the friezes, lighting up with their fresh
-notes the severity of the whole; whilst the stairs, with their red
-velvet covered hand-rails, were edged with a band of curved polished
-iron, which shone like the steel of a piece of armour.
-
-Although she had already seen the new establishment
-
-Madame Desforges stood still, struck by the ardent life which was this
-day animating the immense nave. Below, around her, continued the eddying
-of the crowd, of which the double current of those entering and those
-going out made itself felt as far as the silk department; a crowd still
-very mixed in its elements, though the afternoon was bringing a greater
-number of ladies amongst the shopkeepers and house-wives; a great many
-women in mourning, with their flowing veils, and the inevitable wet
-nurses straying about, protecting their babies with their outstretched
-arms. And this sea of faces, these many-coloured hats, these bare heads,
-both dark and light, rolled from one end of the gallery to the other,
-confused and discoloured amidst the loud glare of the stuffs. Madame
-Desforges could see nothing but large price tickets bearing enormous
-figures everywhere, their white patches standing out on the bright
-printed cottons, the shining silks, and the sombre woollens. Piles of
-ribbons curtailed the heads, a wall of flannel threw out a promontory;
-on all sides the mirrors carried the departments back into infinite
-space, reflecting the displays with portions of the public, faces
-reversed, and halves of shoulders and arms; whilst to the right and
-to the left the lateral galleries opened up other vistas, the snowy
-background of the linen department, the speckled depth of the hosiery
-one, distant views illuminated by the rays of light from some glazed
-bay, and in which the crowd appeared nothing but a mass of human
-dust. Then, when Madame Desforges raised her eyes, she saw, along the
-staircases, on the flying bridges, around the balustrade of each storey,
-a continual humming ascent, an entire population in the air, travelling
-in the cuttings of the enormous ironwork construction, casting black
-shadows on the diffused light of the enamelled windows. Large gilded
-lustres hung from the ceiling; a decoration of rugs, embroidered silks,
-stuffs worked with gold, hung down, draping the balustrade with gorgeous
-banners; and, from one end to the other, there were clouds of lace,
-palpitations of muslin, trophies of silks, apotheoses of half-dressed
-dummies; and right at the top, above all this confusion, the bedding
-department, suspended as it were, displayed little iron bedsteads with
-their mattresses, hung with their white curtains, a sort of school
-dormitory sleeping amidst the stamping of the customers, rarer and rarer
-as the departments ascended.
-
-“Does madame require a cheap pair of garters?” asked a salesman of
-Madame Desforges, seeing her standing still “All silk, twenty-nine
-sous.”
-
-She did not deign to answer. Things were being offered around her more
-feverishly than ever. She wanted, however, to find out where she was.
-Albert Lhomme's pay-desk was on her left; he knew her by sight and
-ventured to give her an amiable smile, not in the least hurry in the
-midst of the heaps of bills by which he was besieged; whilst, behind
-him, Joseph, struggling with the string-box, could not pack up the
-articles fast enough. She then saw where she was; the silk department
-must be in front of her. But it took her ten minutes to get there,
-the crowd was becoming so immense. Up in the air, at the end of their
-invisible strings, the red air-balls had become more numerous than ever;
-they now formed clouds of purple, gently blowing towards the doors,
-continuing to scatter themselves over Paris; and she had to bow her head
-beneath the flight of air-balls, when very young children held them, the
-string rolled round their little fingers.
-
-“What! you have ventured here, madame?” exclaimed Bouthemont gaily, as
-soon as he caught sight of Madame Desforges.
-
-The manager of the silk department, introduced to her by Mouret himself,
-was now in the habit of sometimes calling on her at her five o'clock
-tea. She thought him common, but very amiable, of a fine sanguine
-temper, which surprised and amused her. Besides, about two days before
-he had openly related to her the affair between Mouret and Clara,
-without any calculation, out of stupidity, like a fellow who loves a
-joke; and, stung with jealousy, concealing her wounded feelings beneath
-an appearance of disdain, she had come to try and discover her rival, a
-young lady in the dress department he had merely said, refusing to name
-her.
-
-“Do you require anything to-day?” he asked her.
-
-“Of course, or else I should not have come. Have you any silk for
-morning gowns?”
-
-She hoped to obtain the name of the young lady from him, for she was
-full of a desire to see her. He immediately called Favier; and resumed
-talking to her, whilst waiting for the salesman, who was just finishing
-serving a customer who happened to be “the pretty lady,” that beautiful
-blonde of whom the whole department occasionally spoke, without knowing
-anything of her life or even her name. This time the pretty lady was in
-deep mourning. Ah, who had she lost--her husband or her father? Not her
-father, or she would have appeared more melancholy. What had they been
-saying? She was not a gay woman then; she had a real husband. Unless,
-however, she should be in mourning for her mother. For a few minutes,
-notwithstanding the press of business, the department exchanged these
-various speculations.
-
-“Make haste! it's intolerable!” cried Hutin to Favier, who had just
-returned from showing his customer to the pay-desk. “When that lady is
-here you never seem to finish. She doesn't care a fig for you!”
-
-“She cares a deuced sight more for me than I do for her!” replied the
-vexed salesman.
-
-But Hutin threatened to report him to the directors if he did not show
-more respect for the customers. He was getting terrible, of a morose
-severity, since the department had conspired together to get him into
-Robineau's place. He even showed himself so intolerable, after the
-promises of good-fellowship, with which he had formerly warmed his
-colleagues, that the latter were now secretly supporting Favier against
-him.
-
-“Now, then, no back answers,” replied Hutin sharply. “Monsieur
-Bouthemont wishes you to show some light designs in silks.”
-
-In the middle of the department, an exhibition of summer silks lighted
-up the hall with an aurora-like brilliancy, like the rising of a star,
-in the most delicate tints possible: pale rose, tender yellow, limpid
-blue, the entire gamut of Iris. There were silks of a cloudy fineness,
-surahs lighter than the down falling from the trees, satined pekins soft
-and supple as a Chinese virgin's skin. There were, moreover, Japanese
-pongees, Indian tussores and corahs, without counting the light French
-silks, the thousand stripes, the small checks, the flowered patterns,
-all the most fanciful designs, which made one think of ladies in
-furbelows, walking about, in the sweet May mornings, under the immense
-trees of some park.
-
-“I'll take this, the Louis XIV. with figured roses,” said Madame
-Desforges at last.
-
-And whilst Favier was measuring it, she made a last attempt with
-Bouthemont, who had remained near her.
-
-“I'm going up to the ready-made department to see if there are any
-travelling cloaks. Is she fair, the young lady you were talking about?”
-
-The manager, who felt rather anxious on finding her so persistent,
-merely smiled. But, just at that moment, Denise went by. She had just
-passed on to Liénard, who had charge of the merinoes, Madame Boutarel,
-that provincial lady who came up to Paris twice a year, to scatter all
-over The Ladies' Paradise the money she scraped together out of her
-housekeeping. And as Favier was about to take up Madame Desforges's
-silk, Hutin, thinking to annoy him, interfered.
-
-“It's quite unnecessary, Mademoiselle Denise will have the kindness to
-conduct this lady.”
-
-Denise, quite confused, at once took charge of the parcel and the
-debit-note. She could never meet this young man face to face without
-experiencing a feeling of shame, as if he reminded her of a former
-fault; and yet she had only sinned in her dreams.
-
-“But, tell me,” said Madame Desforges, in a low tone, to Bouthemont,
-“isn't it this awkward girl? He has taken her back, then? But it is she,
-the heroine of the adventure!”
-
-“Perhaps,” replied the head of department, still smiling, and fully
-decided not to tell the truth.
-
-Madame Desforges then slowly ascended the staircase, preceded by Denise;
-but she had to stop every two or three steps to avoid being carried away
-by the descending crowd. In the living vibration of the whole
-building, the iron supports seemed to stagger beneath the weight, as if
-continually trembling from the breath of the crowd On each stair was
-a dummy, strongly fixed, displaying some garment: a costume, cloak,
-or dressing-gown; and it was like a double row of soldiers for some
-triumphal march-past, with the little wooden arm like the handle of a
-poniard, stuck into the red swan-skin, which gave a bloody appearance to
-the stump of a neck crowning the whole.
-
-Madame Desforges was at last reaching the first storey, when a still
-greater surging of the crowd forced her to stop once more. She had now,
-beneath her, the departments on the ground-floor, with the press of
-customers she had just passed through. It was a new spectacle, a sea
-of heads fore-shortened, concealing the bodices, swarming with a busy
-agitation. The white price tickets now appeared but so many thin lines,
-the promontory of flannels cut through the gallery like a narrow
-wall; whilst the carpets and the embroidered silks which decked the
-balustrades hung at her feet like processional banners suspended from
-the gallery of a church. In the distance, she could perceive the angles
-of the lateral galleries, as from the top of a steeple one perceives
-the corners of the neighbouring streets, with the black spots of the
-passers-by moving about. But what surprised her above all, in the
-fatigue of her eyes blinded by the brilliant pell mell of colours, was,
-when she lowered her lids, to feel the crowd more than its dull noise
-like the rising tide, and the human warmth that it exhaled. A fine dust
-rose from the floor, laden with the odour of woman, the odour of her
-linen and her bust, of her skirts and her hair, an invading, penetrating
-odour, which seemed to be the incense of this temple raised for the
-worship of her body.
-
-Meanwhile Mouret, still standing up before the reading-room with De
-Vallagnosc, was inhaling this odour, intoxicating himself with it, and
-repeating: “They are quite at home. I know some who spend the whole day
-here, eating cakes and writing their letters. There's only one thing
-more to do, and that is, to find them beds.”
-
-This joke made Paul smile, he who, in the _ennui_ of his pessimism,
-continued to think the crowd stupid in thus running after a lot of
-gew-gaws. Whenever he came to give his old comrade a look up, he went
-away almost vexed to see him so full of life amidst his people of
-coquettes. Would not one of them, with shallow brain and empty heart,
-teach him one day the stupidity and uselessness of existence? That very
-day Octave seemed to lose some of his admirable equilibrium; he who
-generally inspired his customers with a fever, with the tranquil grace
-of an operator, was as though seized by the passion with which the
-establishment was gradually burning. Since he had caught sight of Denise
-and Madame Desforges coming up the grand staircase, he had been talking
-louder, gesticulating against his will; and, whilst affecting not to
-turn his face towards them, he became more and more animated as he felt
-them drawing nearer. His face got redder, his eyes had a little of that
-rapture with which the eyes of his customers ultimately vacillated.
-
-“You must be robbed fearfully,” murmured De Vallagnosc, who thought the
-crowd looked very criminal.
-
-Mouret threw his arms out “My dear fellow, it's beyond all imagination.”
-
-And, nervously, delighted at having something to talk about, he gave a
-number of details, related cases, and classified the subjects. In the
-first place, there were the professional thieves; these women did the
-least harm of all, for the police knew every one of them. Then came the
-kleptomaniacs, who stole from a perverse desire, a new sort of nervous
-affection which a mad doctor had classed, proving the results of the
-temptation provided by the big shops. In the last place must be counted
-the women in an interesting condition, whose robberies were of a special
-order. For instance, at the house of one of them, the superintendent of
-police had found two hundred and forty-eight pairs of pink gloves stolen
-from every shop in Paris.
-
-“That's what makes the women have such funny eyes here, then,” murmured
-De Vallagnosc; “I've been watching them with their greedy, shameful
-looks, like mad creatures. A fine school for honesty!”
-
-“Hang it!” replied Mouret, “though we make them quite at home, we can't
-let them take away the goods under their mantles. And sometimes they are
-very respectable people. Last week we had the sister of a chemist, and
-the wife of a councillor. We try and settle these matters.”
-
-He stopped to point out Jouve, the inspector, who was just then looking
-sharp after a woman in the family way, down below at the ribbon counter.
-This woman, whose enormous belly suffered a great deal from the pushing
-of the crowd, was accompanied by a friend, whose mission appeared to be
-to defend her against the heavy shocks, and each time she stopped in a
-department, Jouve did not take his eyes off her, whilst her friend near
-her ransacked the card-board boxes at her ease.
-
-“Oh! he'll catch her!” resumed Mouret; “he knows all their tricks.”
-
-But his voice trembled, he laughed in an awkward manner. Denise and
-Henriette, whom he had ceased to watch, were at last passing behind him,
-after having had a great deal of trouble to get out of the crowd. He
-turned round suddenly, and bowed to his customer with the discreet air
-of a friend who does not wish to compromise a woman by stopping her in
-the middle of a crowd of people. But the latter, on the alert, had at
-once perceived the look with which he had first enveloped Denise. It
-must be this girl, this was the rival she had had the curiosity to come
-and see.
-
-In the ready-made department, the young ladies were losing their heads.
-Two of them had fallen ill, and Madame Frédéric, the second-hand, had
-quietly given notice the previous day, and gone to the cashier's office
-to take her money, leaving The Ladies' Paradise all in a minute, as
-The Ladies' Paradise itself discharged its employees. Ever since the
-morning, in spite of the feverish rush of business, every one had
-been talking of this adventure. Clara, maintained in the department by
-Mouret's caprice, thought it grand. Marguerite related how exasperated
-Bourdoncle was; whilst Madame Aurélie, greatly vexed, declared that
-Madame Frédéric ought at least to have informed her, for such hypocrisy
-had never before been heard of.
-
-Although the latter had never confided in any one, she was suspected of
-having given up drapery business to marry the proprietor of some of the
-baths in the neighbourhood of the Halles.
-
-“It's a travelling cloak that madame desires, I believe?” asked Denise
-of Madame Desforges, after having offered her a chair.
-
-“Yes,” replied the latter, curtly, decided on being rude.
-
-The new decorations of the department were of a rich severity: high
-carved oak cupboards, mirrors filling the whole space of the panels,
-and a red Wilton carpet, which stifled the continued movement of the
-customers. Whilst Denise was gone for the cloaks, Madame Desforges,
-who was looking round, perceived herself in a glass; and she continued
-contemplating herself. She must be getting old to be cast aside for
-the first-comer. The glass reflected the entire department with its
-commotion, but she only beheld her own pale face; she did not hear
-Clara behind her relating to Marguerite instances of Madame Frederic's
-mysterious ways, the manner in which she went out of her way night and
-morning to go through the Passage Choiseul, in order to make believe
-that she perhaps lived over the water.
-
-“Here are our latest designs,” said Denise. “We have them in several
-colours.”
-
-She laid out four or five cloaks. Madame Desforges looked at them with
-a scornful air, and became harsher at each fresh one she examined. Why
-those frillings which made the garment look so scanty? and the other
-one, square across the shoulders, one would have thought it had been
-cut out with a hatchet. Though it was for travelling she could not dress
-like a sentry-box.
-
-“Show me something else, mademoiselle.”
-
-Denise unfolded and folded the garments without the slightest sign of
-ill temper. And it was just this calm, serene patience which exasperated
-Madame Desforges still further. Her looks continually returned to the
-glass in front of her. Now that she saw herself there, close to Denise,
-she made a comparison. Was it possible that he should prefer this
-insignificant creature to herself? She now remembered that this was the
-girl she had formerly seen making her début with such a silly figure,
-awkward as a peasant girl just arrived from her village. No doubt she
-looked better now, stiff and correct in her silk dress. But how puny,
-how common-place!
-
-“I will show you some other models, madame,” said Denise, quietly.
-
-When she returned, the scene began again. Then it was the cloth that was
-heavy and no good whatever. Madame Desforges turned round, raised her
-voice, endeavouring to attract Madame Aurélie's attention, in the hope
-of getting the young girl a scolding. But Denise, since her return, had
-gradually conquered the department, and now felt quite at home in
-it; the first-hand had even recognised in her some rare and valuable
-qualities as a saleswoman--an obstinate sweetness, a smiling conviction.
-Therefore Madame Aurélie simply shrugged her shoulders, taking care not
-to interfere.
-
-“Would you kindly tell me the kind of garment you require, madame?”
- asked Denise, once more, with her polite persistence, which nothing
-could discourage.
-
-“But you've got nothing!” exclaimed Madame Desforges.
-
-She stopped, surprised to feel a hand laid on her shoulder. It was
-Madame Marty, carried right through the establishment by her fever
-for spending. Her purchases had increased to such an extent, since the
-cravats, the embroidered gloves, and the red parasol, that the last
-salesman had just decided to place the whole on a chair, for it would
-have broken his arm; and he walked in front of her, drawing the chair
-along, on which was heaped up a pile of petticoats, napkins, curtains, a
-lamp, and three straw hats.
-
-“Ah!” said she, “you are buying a travelling cloak.”
-
-“Oh! dear, no,” replied Madame Desforges; “they are frightful.”
-
-But Madame Marty had just noticed a striped cloak which she rather
-liked. Her daughter Valentine was already examining it. So Denise called
-Marguerite to clear the article out of the department, it being a model
-of the previous year, and the latter, at a glance from her comrade,
-presented it as an exceptional bargain. When she had sworn that they had
-lowered the price twice, that from a hundred and fifty francs, they had
-reduced it to a hundred and thirty, and that it was now at a hundred and
-ten, Madame Marty could not withstand the temptation of its cheapness.
-She bought it, and the salesman who accompanied her left the chair and
-the parcel, with the debit-notes attached to the goods.
-
-Meanwhile, behind the ladies' backs, and amidst the jostlings of the
-sale, the gossip of the department about Madame Frédéric still went on.
-
-“Really! she had some one?” asked a little saleswoman, fresh in the
-department.
-
-“The bath-man of course!” replied Clara. “Mustn't trust those sly, quiet
-widows.”
-
-Then while Marguerite was debiting, Madam Marty turned her head and
-desired Clara by a slight movement of the eyebrows, she whispered to
-Madame Desforges: “Monsieur Mouret's caprice, you know!”
-
-The other, surprised, looked at Clara; then, turning her eyes towards
-Denise, replied: “But it isn't the tall one; the little one!”
-
-And as Madame Marty could not be sure which, Madame Desforges resumed
-aloud, with the scorn of a lady for chambermaids: “Perhaps the tall one
-and the little one; all those who like!”
-
-Denise had heard everything. She turned pale, and raised her big, pure
-eyes on this lady who was thus wounding her, and whom she did not know.
-No doubt it was the lady of whom they had spoken to her, the lady whom
-the governor saw outside. In the look that was exchanged between them,
-Denise displayed such a melancholy dignity, such a frank innocence, that
-Henriette felt quite awkward.
-
-“As you have nothing presentable to show me here, conduct me to the
-dress and costume department,” said she, abruptly.
-
-“I'll go with you as well,” exclaimed Madame Marty, “I wanted to see a
-costume for Valentine.”
-
-Marguerite took the chair by its back, and dragged it along on its hind
-feet, that were getting worn by this species of cartage. Denise only
-carried a few yards of silk, bought by Madame Desforges. It was quite
-a journey, now that the robes and costumes were on the second floor, at
-the other end of the establishment.
-
-And the long journey commenced along the crowded galleries. Marguerite
-walked in front, drawing the chair along, like a little carriage,
-slowly opening herself a passage. As soon as she reached the under-linen
-department, Madame Desforges began to complain: wasn't it ridiculous, a
-shop where one was obliged to walk a couple of leagues to find the least
-thing! Madame Marty also said she was tired to death, yet she did not
-the less enjoy this fatigue, this slow exhaustion of her strength,
-amidst the inexhaustible treasures displayed on every side. Mouret's
-idea, full of genius, seized upon her, stopping her at each department.
-She made a first halt before the trousseaux, tempted by some chemises
-that Pauline sold her; and Marguerite found herself relieved from the
-burden of the chair, which Pauline had to take, with the debit-notes.
-Madame Desforges could have gone on her road, and thus have liberated
-Denise quicker, but she seemed happy to feel her behind her, motionless
-and patient, whilst she was lingering there, advising her friend. In
-the baby-linen department the ladies went into ecstasies, without buying
-anything. Then Madame Marty's weakness commenced anew; she succumbed
-successively before a black silk corset, a pair of fur cuffs, sold at
-a reduction on account of the lateness of the season, and some Russian
-lace much in vogue at that time for trimming table-linen. All these
-things were heaped up on the chair, the parcels still increased, making
-the chair creak; and the salesmen who succeeded each other, found it
-more and more difficult to drag along as the load became heavier.
-
-“This way, madame,” said Denise without a murmur, after each halt.
-
-“But it's absurd!” exclaimed Madame Desforges. “We shall never get
-there. Why not have put the dresses and costumes near the ready-made
-department? It is a jumble!”
-
-Madame Marty, whose eyes were sparkling, intoxicated by this succession
-of riches dancing before her, repeated in a half whisper:
-
-“Oh, dear! What will my husband say? You are right, there is no order in
-this place. You lose yourself, and commit all sorts of follies.”
-
-On the great central landing, the chair, could barely pass. Mouret had
-just blocked the space with a lot of fancy goods, drinking-cups mounted
-on gilded zinc, trashy dressing-cases and liqueur stands, being of
-opinion that the crowd was not sufficiently great, and that circulation
-was too easy. He had authorised one of his shopmen to exhibit there on
-a small table Chinese and Japanese curiosities, knick-knacks at a low
-price, which the customers eagerly snatched up. It was an unexpected
-success, and he already thought of extending this business. Whilst
-two messengers carried the chair up to the second storey, Madame Marty
-bought six ivory studs, some silk mice, and an enamelled match-box.
-
-On the second floor the journey was continued. Denise, who had been
-showing customers about in this way since the morning, was dropping with
-fatigue; but she still continued correct, amiable, and polite. She had
-to wait for the ladies again in the furnishing materials department,
-where a ravishing cretonne had tempted Madame Marty. Then, in the
-furniture department, it was a work-table that took her fancy. Her
-hands trembled, she jokingly entreated Madame Desforges to prevent her
-spending any more, when a meeting with Madame Guibal furnished her with
-an excuse. It was in the carpet department, where the latter had gone to
-return a lot of Oriental door-curtains bought by her five days before.
-And she was standing, talking to the salesman, a brawny fellow, who,
-with his sinewy arms handled from morning to night loads heavy enough to
-kill a bullock. Naturally he was quite astounded at this “return,”
- which deprived him of his commission. He did his best to embarrass his
-customer, suspecting some queer adventure, no doubt a ball given with
-these curtains, bought at The Ladies' Paradise, and then returned, to
-avoid hiring at an upholsterer's: he knew this was frequently done by
-the needy portion of society. In short, she must have some reason for
-returning them; if she did not like the designs or the colours, he
-would show her others, he had a most complete assortment. To all these
-insinuations Madame Guibal replied in the quietest, most unconcerned
-manner possible, with a queenly assurance that the curtains did not suit
-her, without deigning to add any explanation. She refused to look at any
-others, and he was obliged to give way, for the salesmen had orders to
-take back the goods, even if they saw they had been used.
-
-As the three ladies went off together, and Madame Marty referred with
-remorse to the work-table for which she had no earthly need, Madame
-Guibal said in her calm voice: “Well! you can return it. You saw it was
-quite easy. Let them send it home. You can put it in your drawing-room,
-keep it for a time, then if you don't like it, return it!”
-
-“Ah! that's a good idea!” exclaimed Madame Marty. “If my husband makes
-too much fuss, I'll send everything back.” This was for her the supreme
-excuse, she calculated no longer, but went on buying, with the secret
-wish to keep everything, for she was not a woman to give anything back.
-
-At last they arrived in the dress and costume department. But as Denise
-was about to deliver to another young lady the silk bought by Madame
-Desforges, the latter seemed to change her mind, and declared that she
-would decidedly take one of the travelling cloaks, the light grey one
-with the hood; and Denise had to wait complacently to bring her back
-to the ready-made department. The young girl felt herself being treated
-like a servant by this imperious, whimsical customer; but she had
-sworn to herself to do her duty, and retained her calm attitude,
-notwithstanding the rising of her heart and the shock to her pride.
-Madame Desforges bought nothing in the dress and costume department.
-
-“Oh! mamma,” said Valentine, “if that little costume should fit me!”
-
-In a low tone, Madame Guibal was explaining her tactics to Madame Marty.
-When she saw a dress she liked in a shop, she had it sent home, took
-the pattern of it, and then sent it back. And Madame Marty bought
-the costume for her daughter remarking: “A good idea! You are very
-practical, my dear madame.”
-
-They had been obliged to abandon the chair. It had been left in
-distress, in the furniture department, with the work-table. The weight
-was too much, the hind legs threatened to break off; and it was arranged
-that all the purchases should be centralised at one pay-desk, and
-from there sent down to the delivery department. The ladies, still
-accompanied by Denise, then began wandering all about the establishment,
-making a second appearance in nearly every department. They seemed to
-take up all the space on the stairs and in the galleries. Every
-moment some fresh meeting brought them to a standstill. Thus, near the
-reading-room, they once more came across Madame Bourdelais and her three
-children. The youngsters were loaded with parcels: Madeline had a dress
-for herself, Edmond was carrying a collection of little shoes, whilst
-the youngest, Lucien, was wearing a new cap.
-
-“You as well!” said Madame Desforges, laughingly, to her old
-school-fellow.
-
-“Pray, don't speak of it!” cried out Madame Bourdelais. “I'm furious.
-They get hold of us by the little ones now! You know what a little I
-spend on myself! But how can you expect me to resist the voices of these
-young children, who want everything? I had come just to show them round,
-and here am I plundering the whole establishment!”
-
-Mouret, who happened to be there still, with De Vallagnosc and Monsieur
-de Boves, was listening to her with a smile. She observed it, and gaily
-complained, with a certain amount of real irritation, of these traps
-laid for a mother's tenderness; the idea that she had just yielded to
-the fevers of advertising raised her indignation, and he, still smiling,
-bowed, fully enjoying this triumph. Monsieur de Boves had manoeuvred so
-as to get near Madame Guibal, whom he ultimately followed, trying for
-the second time to lose De Vallagnosc; but the latter, tired of the
-crush, hastened to rejoin him. Denise was again brought to a standstill,
-obliged to wait for the ladies. She turned her back, and Mouret himself
-affected not to see her. Madame Desforges, with the delicate scent of a
-jealous woman, had no further doubt. Whilst he was complimenting her and
-walking beside her, like a gallant host, she was deep in thought, asking
-herself how she could convince him of his treason.
-
-Meanwhile Monsieur de Boves and De Vallagnosc, who were on in front with
-Madame Guibal, had reached the lace department, a luxurious room, near
-the ready-made department, surrounded with stocks of carved oak drawers,
-which were constantly being opened and shut. Around the columns, covered
-with red velvet, were spirals of white lace; and from one end of the
-department to the other, hung lengths of Maltese; whilst on the counters
-there were quantities of large cards, wound round with Valenciennes,
-Malines, and hand-made point At the further end two ladies were seated
-before a mauve silk skirt, on which Deloche was placing pieces of
-Chantilly, the ladies looking on silently, without making up their
-minds.
-
-“Hallo!” said De Vallagnosc, quite surprised, “you said Madame de Boves
-was unwell. But there she is standing over there near that counter, with
-Mademoiselle Blanche.”
-
-The count could not help starting back, and casting a side glance at
-Madame Guibal.
-
-“Dear me! so she is,” said he.
-
-It was very warm in this room. The customers, half stifled, had pale
-faces with flaming eyes. It seemed as if all the seductions of the shop
-had converged into this supreme temptation, that it was the secluded
-alcove where the customers were doomed to fall, the corner of
-perdition where the strongest must succumb. Hands were plunged into the
-overflowing heaps, retaining an intoxicating trembling from the contact.
-
-“I fancy those ladies are ruining you,” resumed De Vallagnosc, amused at
-the meeting.
-
-Monsieur de Boves assumed the look of a husband perfectly sure of his
-wife's discretion, from the simple fact that he did not give her a sou
-to spend. The latter, after having wandered through all the departments
-with her daughter, without buying anything, had just stranded in the
-lace department in a rage of unsated desire. Half dead with fatigue, she
-was leaning up against the counter. She dived about in a heap of lace,
-her hands became soft, a warmth penetrated as far as her shoulders. Then
-suddenly, just as her daughter turned her head and the salesman went
-away, she was thinking of slipping a piece of point d'Alençon under her
-mantle. But she shuddered, and dropped it, on hearing De Vallagnosc's
-voice saying gaily:
-
-“Ah! we've caught you, madame.”
-
-For several seconds she stood there speechless and pale. Then she
-explained that, feeling much better, she thought she would take a
-stroll. And on noticing that her husband was with Madame Guibal, she
-quite recovered herself, and looked at them with such a dignified air
-that the other lady felt obliged to say:
-
-“I was with Madame Desforges when these gentlemen met us.”
-
-The other ladies came up just at that moment, accompanied by Mouret,
-who again detained them to point out Jouve the inspector, who was still
-following the woman in the family way and her lady friend. It was very
-curious, they could not form any idea of the number of thieves that were
-arrested in the lace department. Madame de Boves, who was listening,
-fancied herself between two gendarmes, with her forty-six years, her
-luxury, and her husband's fine position; but yet she felt no remorse,
-thinking she ought to have slipped the lace up her sleeve. Jouve,
-however, had just decided to lay hold of the woman in the family way,
-despairing of catching her in the act, but fully suspecting her of
-having filled her pockets, with a sleight of hand which had escaped him.
-But when he had taken her aside and searched her, he was wild to find
-nothing on her--not a cravat, not a button. Her friend had disappeared.
-All at once he understood: the woman in the family way was only there as
-a blind; it was the friend who did the trick.
-
-This affair amused the ladies. Mouret, rather vexed, merely said: “Old
-Jouve has been floored this time. He'll have his revenge.”
-
-“Oh!” replied De Vallognosc, “I don't think he's equal to it. Besides,
-why do you display such a quantity of goods? It serves you right, if you
-are robbed. You ought not to tempt these poor, defenceless women so.”
-
-This was the last word, which sounded like the sharp note of the day,
-in the growing fever of the establishment. The ladies then separated,
-crossing the crowded departments for the last time. It was four o'clock,
-the rays of the setting sun were darting through the large windows in
-the front, lighting up crossways the glazed roofs of the halls, and in
-this red, fiery light sprung up, like a golden vapour, the thick dust
-raised by the circulation of the crowd. A broad ray ran along the grand
-central gallery, showing up on a flaming ground the staircases, the
-flying bridges, all the network of suspended iron. The mosaics and the
-terra-cotta of the friezes sparkled, the green andred paint were lighted
-up by the fire of the masses of gold scattered everywhere. It was like a
-red-hot furnace, in which the displays were now burning, the palaces of
-gloves and cravats, the clusters of ribbons and lace, the lofty piles of
-linen and calico, the diapered parterres in which flourished the light
-silks and foulards. The exhibition of parasols, with their shield-like
-roundness, threw out a sort of metallic reflection. In the distance were
-a lot of lost counters, sparkling, swarming with a moving crowd, ablaze
-with sunshine.
-
-And at this last moment, amidst this over-warmed air, the women reigned
-supreme. They had taken the whole place by storm, camping there as in
-a conquered country, like an invading horde installed amongst the
-overhauling of the goods. The salesmen, deafened, knocked up, were
-now nothing but their slaves, of whom they disposed with a sovereign's
-tyranny. Fat women elbowed their way through the crowd. The thinnest
-ones took up a lot of space, and became quite arrogant. They were all
-there, with heads high and abrupt gestures, quite at home, without the
-slightest politeness one for the other, using the house as much as they
-could, even carrying away the dust from the walls. Madame Bourdelais,
-desirous of making up for her expenditure, had again taken her children
-to the refreshment bar; the crowd was now pushing about there in a
-furious way, even the mothers were gorging themselves with Malaga; they
-had drunk since the opening eighty quarts of syrup and seventy bottles
-of wine. After having bought her travelling cloak, Madame Desforges
-had managed to secure some pictures at the pay-desk; and she went away
-scheming to get Denise into her house, where she could humiliate
-her before Mouret himself, so as to see their faces and arrive at a
-conclusion. Whilst Monsieur de Boves succeeded in losing himself in the
-crowd and disappearing with Madame Guibal, Madame de Boves, followed by
-Blanche and De Vallagnosc, had had the fancy to ask for a red air-ball,
-although she had bought nothing. It was always something, she would not
-go away empty-handed, she would make a friend of her doorkeeper's little
-girl with it. At the distributing counter they were just commencing the
-fortieth thousand: forty thousand red air-balls which had taken flight
-in the warm air of the shop, quite a cloud of red air-balls which were
-now floating from one end of Paris to the other, bearing upwards to the
-sky the name of The Ladies' Paradise!
-
-Five o'clock struck. Of all the ladies, Madame Marty and her daughter
-were the only ones to remain, in the final crisis of the sale. She could
-not tear herself away, although ready to drop with fatigue, retained by
-an attraction so strong that she was continually retracing her steps,
-though wanting nothing, wandering about the departments out of a
-curiosity that knew no bounds. It was the moment in which the crowd,
-goaded on by the advertisements, completely lost itself; the sixty
-thousand francs paid to the newspapers, the ten thousand bills posted on
-the walls, the two hundred thousand catalogues distributed all over the
-world, after having emptied their purses, left in the women's minds the
-shock of their intoxication; and the customers still remained, shaken by
-Mouret's other inventions, the reduction of prices, the “returns,” the
-endless gallantries. Madame Marty lingered before the various stalls,
-amidst the hoarse cries of the salesmen, the chinking of the gold at the
-pay-desks, and the rolling of the parcels down into the basement; she
-again traversed the ground floor, the linen, the silk, the glove,
-and the woollen departments; then she went upstairs again, abandoning
-herself to the metallic vibrations of the suspended staircases and the
-flying-bridges, returning to the ready-made, the under-linen, and
-the lace departments; she even ascended to the second floor, into the
-heights of the bedding and furniture department; and everywhere the
-employees, Hutin and Favier, Mignot and Liénard, Deloche, Pauline and
-Denise, nearly dead with fatigue, were making a last effort, snatching
-victories from the expiring fever of the customers. This fever had
-gradually increased since the morning, like the intoxication arising
-from the tumbling of the stuffs. The crowd shone forth under the fiery
-glare of the five o'clock sun. Madame Marty's face was now animated and
-nervous, like that of an infant after drinking pure wine. Arrived with
-clear eyes and fresh skin from the cold of the street, she had slowly
-burnt her sight and complexion, at the spectacle of this luxury, of
-these violent colours, the continued gallop of which irritated her
-passion. When she at last went away, after saying she would pay at home,
-terrified by the amount of her bill, her features were drawn up, her
-eyes were like those of a sick person. She was obliged to fight her way
-through the crowd at the door, where the people were almost killing each
-other, amidst the struggle for the bargains. Then, when she got into
-the street, and found her daughter, whom she had lost for a moment, the
-fresh air made her shiver, she stood there frightened in the disorder of
-this neurosis of the immense establishments.
-
-In the evening, as Denise was returning from dinner, a messenger called
-her: “You are wanted at the director's office, mademoiselle.”
-
-She had forgotten the order Mouret had given her in the morning, to go
-to his office after the sale. He was standing waiting for her. On going
-in she did not close the door, which remained, wide open.
-
-“We are very pleased with you, mademoiselle,” said he, “and we have
-thought of proving our satisfaction. You know in what a shameful manner
-Madame Frédéric has left us. From to-morrow you will take her place as
-second-hand.”
-
-Denise listened to him immovable with surprise. She murmured in a
-trembling voice: “But, sir, there are saleswomen in the department who
-are much my seniors.”
-
-“What does that matter?” resumed he. “You are the most capable, the most
-trustworthy. I choose you; it's quite natural. Are you not satisfied?”
-
-She blushed, feeling a delicious happiness and embarrassment, in
-which her first fright vanished. Why had she at once thought of the
-suppositions with which this unhoped for favour would be received? And
-she stood filled with her confusion, notwithstanding her sudden burst of
-gratitude. He was looking at her with a smile, in her simple silk dress,
-without a single piece of jewellery, nothing but the luxury of her
-royal, blonde head of hair. She had become more refined, her skin was
-whiter, her manner delicate and grave. Her former puny insignificance
-was developing into a charm of a penetrating discretion.
-
-“You are very kind, sir,” she stammered. “I don't know how to tell
-you----”
-
-But she was cut short by the appearance of Lhomme in the doorway. In his
-hand he was holding a large leather bag, and with his mutilated arm he
-was pressing an enormous notecase to his chest; whilst, behind him, his
-son Albert was carrying a load of bags, which were weighing him down.
-
-“Five hundred and eighty-seven thousand two hundred and ten francs
-thirty centimes!” cried out the cashier, whose flabby, used-up face
-seemed to be lighted up with a ray of sunshine, in the reflection of
-such a sum.
-
-It was the day's receipts, the highest The Ladies' Paradise had ever
-done. In the distance, in the depths of the shop that Lhomme had just
-passed through slowly, with the heavy gait of an overloaded beast of
-burden, one could hear the uproar, the ripple of surprise and joy, left
-by this colossal sum which passed.
-
-“But it's superb!” said Mouret, enchanted. “My good Lhomme, put it down
-there, and take a rest, for you look quite done up. I'll have this money
-taken to the central cashier's office. Yes, yes, put it all on my table,
-I want to see the heap.”
-
-He was full of a childish gaiety. The cashier and his son laid down
-their burdens. The leather bag gave out a clear, golden ring, two of the
-other bags bursting let out a stream of silver and copper, whilst from
-the note-case peeped forth corners of bank notes. One end of the large
-table was entirely covered; it was like the tumbling of a fortune picked
-up in ten hours.
-
-When Lhomme and Albert had retired, mopping their faces, Mouret remained
-for a moment motionless, lost, his eyes fixed on the money. Then,
-raising his head, he perceived Denise, who had drawn back. He began to
-smile again, forced her to come forward, and finished by saying he
-would give her all she could take in her hand; and there was a sort of
-love-bargain beneath his playfulness.
-
-“Look! out of the bag. I bet it would be less than a thousand francs,
-your hand is so small!”
-
-But she drew back again. He loved her, then? Suddenly she understood,
-she felt the growing flame of desire with which he had enveloped her
-since, her return to the shop. What overcame her more than anything else
-was to feel her heart beating violently. Why did he wound her with all
-this money, when she was overflowing with gratitude, and he could have
-done anything with her by a friendly word? He was coming closer to her,
-continuing to joke, when, to his great annoyance, Bourdoncle appeared,
-under the pretence of informing him of the number of entries--the
-enormous number of seventy thousand customers had entered The Ladies'
-Paradise that day. And she hastened away, after having again thanked
-him.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-The first Sunday in August every one was busy with the stock-taking,
-which had to be finished by the evening. Early in the morning all the
-employees were at their posts, as on a week-day, and the work commenced
-with closed doors, in the immense establishment, entirely free from
-customers.
-
-Denise, however, had not come down with the other young ladies at eight
-o'clock. Confined to her room for the last five days by a sprained
-ankle, caused when going up stairs to the work-rooms, she was going on
-much better; but, sure of Madame Aurélie's indulgence, she did not hurry
-down, and sat putting her boots on with difficulty, resolved, however,
-to show herself in the department. The young ladies' bed-rooms now
-occupied the entire fifth storey of the new buildings, along the Rue
-Monsigny; there were sixty of them, on either side of a corridor, and
-they were much more comfortable than formerly, although still
-furnished with the iron bedstead, large wardrobe, and little mahogany
-toilet-table. The private life of the saleswomen became more refined and
-elegant there, they displayed a taste for scented soap and fine linen,
-quite a natural ascent towards middle-class ways as their positions
-improved, although high words and banging doors were still sometimes
-heard amidst the hôtel-like gust that carried them away, morning and
-evening. Denise, being second-hand in her department, had one of the
-largest rooms, the two attic windows of which looked into the street.
-Being much better off now, she indulged in several little luxuries, a
-red eider-down coverlet for the bed, covered with Maltese lace, a small
-carpet in front of the wardrobe, and two blue-glass vases containing a
-few faded roses on the toilet table.
-
-When she got her boots on she tried to walk across the room; but was
-obliged to lean against the furniture, being still rather lame. But that
-would soon come right again, she thought. At the same time, she had been
-quite right in refusing the invitation to dine at uncle Baudu's that
-evening, and in asking her aunt to take Pépé out for a walk, for she
-had placed him with Madame Gras again. Jean, who had been to see her the
-previous day, was to dine at his uncle's also. She continued to try to
-walk, resolved to go to bed early, in order to rest her leg, when Madame
-Cabin, the housekeeper, knocked and gave her a letter, with an air of
-mystery.
-
-The door closed. Denise, astonished by this woman's discreet smile,
-opened the letter. She dropped on to a chair; it was a letter from
-Mouret, in which he expressed himself delighted at her recovery, and
-begged her to go down and dine with him that evening, as she could not
-go out. The tone of this note, at once familiar and paternal, was in no
-way offensive; but it was impossible for her to mistake its meaning. The
-Ladies' Paradise well knew the real signification of these invitations,
-which were legendary: Clara had dined, others as well, all those the
-governor had specially remarked. After dinner, as the witlings were
-wont to say, came the dessert. And the young girl's white cheeks were
-gradually invaded by a flow of blood.
-
-The letter slipped on to her knees, and Denise, her heart beating
-violently, remained with her eyes fixed on the blinding light of one of
-the windows. This was the confession she must have made to herself, in
-this very room, during her sleepless moments: if she still trembled when
-he passed, she now knew it was not from fear; and her former uneasiness,
-her old terror, could have been nothing but the frightened ignorance of
-love, the disorder of her growing affections, in her youthful wildness.
-She did not argue with herself, she simply felt that she had always
-loved him from the hour she had shuddered and stammered before him.
-She had loved him when she had feared him as a pitiless master; she had
-loved him when her distracted heart was dreaming of Hutin, unconsciously
-yielding to a desire for affection. Perhaps she might have given herself
-to another, but she had never loved any but this man, whose mere look
-terrified her. And her whole past life came back to her, unfolding
-itself in the blinding light of the window: the hardships of her start,
-that sweet walk under the shady trees of the Tuileries Gardens, and,
-lastly, the desires with which he had enveloped her ever since her
-return. The letter dropped on the ground, Denise still gazed at the
-window, dazzled by the glare of the sun.
-
-Suddenly there was a knock. She hastened to pick up the letter and
-conceal it in her pocket. It was Pauline, who, having slipped away under
-some pretext, had come for a little gossip.
-
-“How are you, my dear? We never meet now----”
-
-But as it was against the rules to go up into the bed-rooms, and, above
-all, for two to be shut in together, Denise took her to the end of the
-passage, into the ladies' drawing-room, a gallant present from Mouret
-to the young ladies, who could spend their evenings there till eleven
-o'clock. The apartment, decorated in white and gold, of the vulgar
-nudity of an hôtel room, was furnished with a piano, a central table,
-and some arm-chairs and sofas protected with white covers. But, after
-a few evenings spent together, in the first novelty of the thing, the
-saleswomen never went into the place without coming to high words at
-once. They required educating to it, the little trading city was wanting
-in accord. Meanwhile, almost the only one that went there in the evening
-was the second-hand in the corset department, Miss Powell, who strummed
-away at Chopin on the piano, and whose coveted talent ended by driving
-the others away.
-
-“You see my ankle's better now,” said Denise, “I was going downstairs.”
-
-“Well!” exclaimed the other, “what zeal! I'd take it easy if I had the
-chance!”
-
-They both sat down on a sofa. Pauline's attitude had changed since her
-friend had been promoted to be second-hand in the ready-made department.
-With her good-natured cordiality was mingled a shade of respect, a sort
-of surprise to feel the puny little saleswoman of former days on the
-road to fortune. Denise liked her very much, and confided in her alone,
-amidst the continual gallop of the two hundred women that the firm now
-employed.
-
-“What's the matter?” asked Pauline, quickly, when she remarked the young
-girl's troubled looks.
-
-“Oh! nothing,” replied the latter, with an awkward smile.
-
-“Yes, yes; there's something the matter with you. Have you no faith in
-me, that you have given up telling me your troubles?”
-
-Then Denise, in the emotion that was swelling her bosom--an emotion
-she could not control--abandoned herself to her feelings. She gave her
-friend the letter, stammering: “Look! he has just written to me.”
-
-Between themselves, they had never openly spoken of Mouret. But this
-very silence was like a confession of their secret pre-occupations.
-Pauline knew everything. After having read the letter, she clasped
-Denise in her arms, and softly murmured: “My dear, to speak frankly, I
-thought it was already done. Don't be shocked; I assure you the whole
-shop must think as I do. Naturally! he appointed you as second-hand
-so quickly, then he's always after you. It's obvious!” She kissed
-her affectionately, and then asked her: “You will go this evening, of
-course?”
-
-Denise looked at her without replying. All at once she burst into tears,
-her head on Pauline's shoulder. The latter was quite astonished.'
-
-“Come, try and calm yourself; there's nothing in the affair to upset you
-like this.”
-
-“No, no; let me be,” stammered Denise. “If you only knew what trouble I
-am in! Since I received that letter, I have felt beside myself. Let me
-have a good cry, that will relieve me.”
-
-Full of pity, though not understanding, Pauline endeavoured to console
-her. In the first place, he had thrown up Clara. It was said he still
-visited a lady outside, but that was not proved. Then she explained that
-one could not be jealous of a man in such a position. He had too much
-money; he was the master, after all Denise listened to her, and had she
-been ignorant of her love, she could no longer have doubted it after
-the suffering she felt at the name of Clara and the allusion to
-Madame Desforges, which made her heart bleed. She could hear Clara's
-disagreeable voice, she could see Madame Desforges dragging her about
-the different departments with the scorn of a rich lady for a poor
-shop-girl.
-
-“So you would go yourself?” asked she.
-
-Pauline, without pausing to think, cried out: “Of course, how can one do
-otherwise!” Then reflecting, she added: “Not now, but formerly, because
-now I am going to marry Baugé, and it would not be right.”
-
-In fact, Baugé, who had left the Bon Marche for The Ladies' Paradise,
-was going to marry her about the middle of the month. Bourdoncle did
-not like these married couples; they had managed, however, to get the
-necessary permission, and even hoped to obtain a fortnight's holiday for
-their honeymoon.
-
-“There you are,” declared Denise, “when a man loves a girl he ought to
-marry her. Baugé is going to marry you.” Pauline laughed heartily. “But
-my dear, it isn't the same thing. Baugé is going to marry me because he
-is Baugé. He's my equal, that's a natural thing. Whilst Monsieur Mouret!
-Do you think Monsieur Mouret can marry his saleswomen?”
-
-“Oh! no, oh! no,” exclaimed the young girl, shocked by the absurdity the
-question, “and that's why he ought not to have written to me.”
-
-This argument completely astonished Pauline. Her coarse face, with her
-small tender eyes, assumed quite an expression of maternal compassion.
-Then she got up, opened the piano, and softly played with one finger,
-“King Dagobert,” to enliven the situation, no doubt. Into the nakedness
-of the drawingroom, the white coverings of which seemed to increase the
-emptiness, came the noises from the street, the distant melopoia of a
-woman crying out green peas. Denise had thrown herself back on the sofa,
-her head against the wood-work, shaken by a fresh flood of sobs, which
-she stifled in her handkerchief.
-
-“Again!” resumed Pauline, turning round. “Really you are not reasonable.
-Why did you bring me here? We ought to have stopped in your room.”
-
-She knelt down before her, and commenced lecturing her again. How many
-others would like to be in her place! Besides, if the thing did not
-please her, it was very simple: she had only to say no, without worrying
-herself like this. But she should reflect before risking her position
-by a refusal which was inexplicable, considering she had no engagement
-elsewhere. Was it such a terrible thing after all? and the reprimand
-was finishing up by some pleasantries, gaily whispered, when a sound of
-footsteps was heard in the passage. Pauline ran to the door and looked
-out. “Hush! Madame Aurélie!” she murmured. “I'm off, and just you dry
-your eyes. She need not know what's up.” When Denise was alone, she got
-up, and forced back her tears; and, her hands still trembling, with the
-fear of being caught there doing nothing, she closed the piano, which
-her friend had left open. But on hearing Madame Aurélie knocking at her
-door, she left the drawing-room.
-
-“What! you are up!” exclaimed the first-hand. “It's very thoughtless
-of you, my dear child. I was just coming up to see how you were, and to
-tell you that we did not require you downstairs.”
-
-Denise assured her that she felt very much better, that it would do her
-good to do something to amuse herself.
-
-“I sha'nt tire myself, madame. You can place me on a chair, and I'll do
-some writing.”
-
-Both then went downstairs. Madame Aurélie, who was most attentive,
-insisted on Denise leaning on her shoulder. She must have noticed the
-young girl's red eyes, for she was stealthily examining her. No doubt
-she was aware of a great deal of what was going on.
-
-It was an unexpected victory: Denise had at last conquered the
-department. After struggling for six months, amidst her torments as
-drudge and fag, without disarming her comrades' ill-will, she had in a
-few weeks entirely overcome them, and now saw them around her submissive
-and respectful. Madame Aurélie's sudden affection had greatly assisted
-her in this ungrateful task of softening her comrades' hearts towards
-her. It was whispered that the first-hand was Mouret's obliging
-factotum, that she rendered him many delicate services; and she took the
-young girl under her protection with such warmth that the latter must
-have been recommended to her in a very special manner. But Denise had
-also brought all her charm into play in order to disarm her enemies.
-The task was all the more difficult from the fact that she had to obtain
-their pardon for her appointment to the situation of second-hand. The
-young ladies spoke of this as an injustice, accused her of having earned
-it at dessert, with the governor; and even added a lot of abominable
-details. But in spite of their revolt, the title of second-hand
-influenced them, Denise assumed a certain authority which astonished and
-overawed the most hostile spirits. Soon after, she even found flatterers
-amongst the new hands; and her sweetness and modesty finished the
-conquest. Marguerite came over to her side. Clara was the only one to
-continue her ill-natured ways, still venturing on the old insult of
-the “unkempt girl,” which no one now saw the fun of. During her short
-intimacy with Mouret, she had taken advantage of it to neglect her work,
-being of a wonderfully idle, gossiping nature; then, as he had quickly
-tired of her, she did not even recriminate, incapable of jealousy in
-the disorderly abandon of her existence, perfectly satisfied to have
-profited from it to the extent of being allowed to stand about doing
-nothing. But, at the same time, she considered that Denise had robbed
-her of Madame Frederic's place. She would never have accepted it, on
-account of the worry; but she was vexed at the want of politeness, for
-she had the same claims as the other one, and prior claims too.
-
-“Hullo! there's the young mother being trotted out after her
-confinement,” murmured she, on seeing Madame Aurélie bringing Denise in
-on her arm.
-
-Marguerite shrugged her shoulders, saying, “I dare say you think that's
-a good joke!”
-
-Nine o'clock struck. Outside, an ardent blue sky was warming the
-streets.
-
-Cabs were rolling toward the railway stations, the whole population
-dressed out in Sunday clothes, was streaming in long rows towards the
-suburban woods.
-
-Inside the building, inundated with sun through the large open bays, the
-cooped-up staff had just commenced the stocktaking. They had closed
-the doors; people stopped on the pavement, looking through the windows,
-astonished at this shutting-up when an extraordinary activity was going
-on inside. There was, from one end of the galleries to the other, from
-the top floor to the bottom, a continual movement of employees, their
-arms in the air, and parcels flying about above their heads; and
-all this amidst a tempest of cries and a calling out of prices, the
-confusion of which ascended and became a deafening roar. Each of the
-thirty-nine departments did its work apart, without troubling about its
-neighbour. At this early hour the shelves had hardly been touched, there
-were only a few bales of goods on the floors; the machine would have to
-get up more steam if they were to finish that evening.
-
-“Why have you come down?” asked Marguerite of Denise, good-naturedly.
-“You'll only make yourself worse, and we are quite enough to do the
-work.”
-
-“That's what I told her,” declared Madame Aurélie, “but she insisted on
-coming down to help us.”
-
-All the young ladies flocked round Denise. The work was interrupted even
-for a time. They complimented her, listening with various exclamations
-to the story of her sprained ankle. At last Madame Aurélie made her sit
-down at a table; and it was understood that she should merely write
-down the articles as they were called out. On such a day as this they
-requisitioned any employee capable of holding a pen: the inspectors, the
-cashiers, the clerks, even down to the shop messengers; and the various
-departments divided amongst themselves these assistants of a day to get
-the work over quicker. It was thus that Denise found herself installed
-near Lhomme the cashier and Joseph the messenger, both bending over
-large sheets of paper.
-
-“Five mantles, cloth, fur trimming, third size, at two hundred and forty
-francs!” cried Marguerite. “Four ditto, first size, at two hundred and
-twenty!”
-
-The work once more commenced. Behind Marguerite three saleswomen were
-emptying the cupboards, classifying the articles, giving them to her in
-bundles; and, when she had called them out, she threw them on the table,
-where they were gradually heaping up in enormous piles. Lhomme wrote
-down the articles, Joseph kept another list for the clearinghouse.
-Whilst this was going on, Madame Aurélie herself, assisted by three
-other saleswomen, was counting the silk garments, which Denise entered
-on the sheets. Clara was employed in looking after the heaps, to arrange
-them in such a manner that they should occupy the least space possible
-on the tables. But she was not paying much attention to her work, for
-the heaps were already tumbling down.
-
-“I say,” asked she of a little saleswoman who had joined that winter,
-“are they going to give you a rise? You know the second-hand is to
-have two thousand francs, which, with her commission, will bring her in
-nearly seven thousand.”
-
-The little saleswoman, without ceasing to pass some cloaks down, replied
-that if they didn't give her eight hundred francs she would take her
-hook. The rises were always given the day after the stock-taking; it
-was also the epoch at which, the amount of business done during the year
-being known, the managers of the departments drew their commission on
-the increase of this figure, compared with that of the preceding year.
-Thus, notwithstanding the bustle and uproar of the work, the impassioned
-gossiping went on everywhere. Between two articles called out, they
-talked of nothing but money. The rumour ran that Madame Aurélie would
-exceed twenty-five thousand francs; and this immense sum greatly excited
-the young ladies. Marguerite, the best saleswoman after Denise, had made
-four thousand five hundred francs, fifteen hundred francs salary, and
-about three thousand francs commission; whilst Clara had not made two
-thousand five hundred francs altogether.
-
-“I don't care a button for their rises!” resumed the latter, still
-talking to the little saleswoman. “If papa were dead, I would jolly
-soon clear out of this! But what exasperates me is to see seven thousand
-francs given to that strip of a girl! What do you say?”
-
-Madame Aurélie violently interrupted the conversation, turning round
-with her imperial air. “Be quiet, young ladies! We can't hear ourselves
-speak, my word of honour!”
-
-Then she resumed calling out: “Seven mantles, old style, Sicilian, first
-size, at a hundred and thirty! Three pelisses, surah, second size, at a
-hundred and fifty! Have you got that down, Mademoiselle Baudu?”
-
-“Yes, madame.”
-
-Clara then had to look after the armfuls of garments piled on the
-tables. She pushed them about, and made more room. But she soon left
-them again to reply to a salesman, who was looking for her. It was the
-glover, Mignot, escaped from his department. He whispered a request for
-twenty francs; he already owed her thirty, a loan effected the day after
-a race, after having lost his week's salary on a horse; this time he had
-squandered his commission, drawn over night, and had not ten sous for
-his Sunday. Clara had only ten francs about her, which she lent him with
-a fairly good grace. And they went on talking, spoke of a party of six,
-indulged in at a restaurant at Bougival, where the women had paid their
-share: it was much better, they all felt perfectly at their ease like
-that. Then Mignot, who wanted his twenty francs, went and bent over
-Lhomme's shoulder. The latter, stopped in his writing, appeared greatly
-troubled. However, he dared not refuse, and was looking for the money
-in his purse, when Madame Aurélie, astonished not to hear Marguerite's
-voice, which had been interrupted, perceived Mignot, and understood at
-once. She roughly sent him back to his department, saying she didn't
-want any one to come and distract her young ladies from their work. The
-truth is, she dreaded this young man, a bosom friend of Albert's, the
-accomplice of his doubtful tricks, which she trembled to see turn out
-badly some day. Therefore, when Mignot had got his ten francs, and had
-run away, she could not help saying to her husband:
-
-“Is it possible to let a fellow like that get over you!”
-
-“But, my dear, I really could not refuse the young man.” She closed his
-mouth with a shrug of her substantial shoulders. Then, as the saleswomen
-were slyly grinning at this family explanation, she resumed with
-severity: “Now, Mademoiselle Vadon, don't let's go to sleep.”
-
-“Twenty cloaks, cashmere extra, fourth size, at eighteen francs and a
-half,” resumed Marguerite in her sing-song voice.
-
-Lhomme, with his head bowed down, had resumed writing. They had
-gradually raised his salary to nine thousand francs a year; and he was
-very humble before Madame Aurélie, who still brought nearly triple as
-much into the family.
-
-For a while the work pushed forward. Figures flew about, the parcels
-of garments rained thick and fast on the tables, But Clara had invented
-another amusement: she was teasing the messenger, Joseph, about
-a passion that he was said to nourish for a young lady in the
-pattern-room. This young lady, already twenty-eight years old, thin and
-pale, was a protege of Madame Desforges, who had wanted to make Mouret
-engage her as a saleswoman, backing up her recommendation with a
-touching story: an orphan, the last of the De Fontenailles, an old and
-noble family of Poitou, thrown into the streets of Paris with a drunken
-father, but yet virtuous amidst this misfortune, with an education too
-limited, unfortunately, to take a place as governess or music-mistress.
-Mouret generally got angry when any one recommended to him these
-broken-down gentlewomen; there was not, said he, a class of creatures
-more incapable, more insupportable, more narrow-minded than these
-gentlewomen; and, besides, a saleswoman could not be improvised,
-she must serve an apprenticeship, it was a complicated and delicate
-business. However, he took Madame Desforges's protege, but put her in
-the pattern-room, in the same way as he had already found places, to
-oblige friends, for two countesses and a baroness in the advertising
-department, where they addressed envelopes, etc. Mademoiselle de
-Fontenailles earned three francs a day, which just enabled her to live
-in her modest room, in the Rue d'Argenteuil. It was on seeing her, with
-her sad look and such shabby clothes, that Joseph's heart, very tender
-under his rough soldier's manner, had been touched. He did not confess,
-but he blushed, when the young ladies in the ready-made department
-chaffed him; for the pattern-room was not far off, and they had often
-observed him prowling about the doorway.
-
-“Joseph is somewhat absent-minded,” murmured Clara. “His nose is always
-turned towards the under-linen department.”
-
-They had requisitioned Mademoiselle de Fontenailles there, and she was
-assisting at the outfitting counter. As the messenger was continually
-glancing in that direction, the saleswomen began to laugh. He became
-very confused, and plunged into his accounts; whilst Marguerite, in
-order to arrest the flood of gaiety which was tickling her throat, cried
-out louder stills “Fourteen jackets, English cloth, second size, at
-fifteen francs!”
-
-At this, Madame Aurélie, who was engaged in calling out some cloaks,
-could not make herself heard. She interfered with a wounded air, and
-a majestic slowness: “A little softer, mademoiselle. We are not in a
-market. And you are all very unreasonable, to be amusing yourselves with
-these childish matters, when our time is so precious.”
-
-Just at that moment, as Clara was not paying any attention to the
-parcels, a catastrophe took place. Some mantles tumbled down, and all
-the heaps on the tables, dragged down with them, fell one after the
-other, so that the carpet was strewn with them.
-
-“There! what did I say!” cried the first-hand, beside herself. “Pray be
-more careful, Mademoiselle Prunaire; it's intolerable!”
-
-But a hum ran along: Mouret and Bourdoncle, making their round of
-inspection, had just appeared. The voices started again, the pens
-sputtered along, whilst Clara hastened to pick up the garments. The
-governor did not interrupt the work. He stood there several minutes,
-mute, smiling; and it was on his lips alone that a slight feverish
-shivering was visible in his gay and victorious face of stock-taking
-days. When he perceived Denise, he nearly gave way to a gesture of
-astonishment. She had come down, then? His eyes met Madame Aurélie's.
-Then, after a moment's hesitation, he went away into the under-linen
-department.
-
-However, Denise, warned by the slight noise, had raised her head. And,
-after having recognised Mouret, she had immediately bent over her
-work again, without ostentation. Since she had been writing in this
-mechanical way, amidst the regular calling-out of the articles, a
-peaceful feeling had stolen over her. She had always yielded thus to
-the first excesses of her sensitiveness: the tears suffocated her,
-her passion doubled her torments; then she regained her self-command,
-finding a grand, calm courage, a strength of will, quiet but inexorable.
-Now, with her limpid eyes, and pale complexion, she was free from all
-agitation, entirely given up to her work, resolved to crush her heart
-and to do nothing but her will.
-
-Ten o'clock struck, the uproar of the stock-taking was increasing in the
-activity of the departments. And amidst the cries incessantly raised,
-crossing each other on all sides, the same news was circulating with
-surprising rapidity: every salesman knew that Mouret had written that
-morning inviting Denise to dinner. The indiscretion came from Pauline.
-On going downstairs, still excited, she had met Deloche in the lace
-department, and, without noticing that Liénard was talking to the young
-man, she immediately relieved her mind of the secret.
-
-“It's done, my dear fellow. She's just received a letter. He invites her
-for this evening.”
-
-Deloche turned very pale. He had understood, for he often questioned
-Pauline; they spoke of their common friend every day, of Mouret's love
-for her, of the famous invitation which would finish by bringing the
-adventure to an issue. She frequently scolded him for his secret love
-for Denise, with whom he would never succeed, and she shrugged her
-shoulders whenever he expressed his approval of the girl's conduct in
-resisting the governor.
-
-“Her foot's better, she's coming down,” continued Pauline.
-
-“Pray don't put on that funeral face. It's a piece of good luck for her,
-this invitation.” And she hastened back to her department.
-
-“Ah! good!” murmured Liénard, who had heard all, “you're talking about
-the young girl with the sprain. You were quite right to be so quick in
-defending her last night at the café!”
-
-He also ran off; but before he had returned to the woollen department,
-he had already related the story to four or five fellows. In less than
-ten minutes, it had gone the round of the whole shop.
-
-Liénard's last remark referred to a scene which had taken place the
-previous evening, at the Café Saint-Roch. Deloche and he were now
-constantly together. The former had taken Hutin's room at the Hôtel de
-Smyme, when that gentleman, appointed second-hand, had hired a suite of
-three rooms; and the two shopmen came to The Ladies' Paradise together
-in the morning, and waited for each other in the evening in order to go
-away together. Their rooms, which were next door to each other, looked
-into the same black yard, a narrow well, the odour from which poisoned
-the hôtel. They got on very well together, notwithstanding their
-difference of character, the one carelessly squandering the money he
-drew from his father, the other penniless, perpetually tortured by ideas
-of saving, both having, however, a point in common, their unskilfulness
-as salesmen, which left them to vegetate at their counters, without any
-increase of salary. After leaving the shop, they spent the greater part
-of their time at the Café Saint-Roch. Quite free from customers during
-the day, this café filled up about halfpast eight with an overflowing
-crowd of employees, that crowd of shopmen disgorged into the street from
-the great door in the Place Gaillon. Then burst forth a deafening uproar
-of clinking dominoes, bursts of laughter and yelping voices, amidst the
-thick smoke of the pipes. Beer and coffee were in great demand. Seated
-in the left-hand corner, Liénard went in for the dearest drinks, whilst
-Deloche contented himself with a glass of beer, which he would take
-four hours to drink. It was there that the latter had heard Favier, at a
-neighbouring table, relate some abominable things about Denise, the way
-in which she had “hooked” the governor, by pulling her dress up whenever
-she went upstairs in front of him. He had with difficulty restrained
-himself from striking him. Then, as the other went off, saying that
-the young girl went down every night to join her lover, he called him a
-liar, feeling mad with rage.
-
-“What a blackguard! It's a lie, it's a lie, I tell you!”
-
-And in the emotion which was agitating him, he let out too much, with a
-stammering voice, entirely opening his heart.
-
-“I know her, and it isn't true. She has never had any affection except
-for one man; yes, for Monsieur Hutin, and even he has never noticed it,
-he can't even boast of ever having as much as touched her.”
-
-The report of this quarrel, exaggerated, misconstrued, was already
-affording amusement for the whole shop, when the story of Mouret's
-letter was circulated. In fact, it was to a salesman in the silk
-department that Liénard first confided the news. With the silk-vendors
-the stock-taking was going on rapidly. Favier and two shopmen, mounted
-on stools, were emptying the shelves, passing the pieces of stuff to
-Hutin as they went on, the latter, standing on a table, calling out the
-figures, after consulting the tickets; and he then dropped the pieces,
-which, rising slowly like an autumn tide, were gradually encumbering the
-floor. Other men were writing, Albert Lhomme was also helping them,
-his face pale and heavy after a night spent in a low public-house at La
-Chapelle. A ray of sun fell from the glazed roof of the hall, through
-which could be seen the ardent blue of the sky.
-
-“Draw those blinds!” cried out Bouthemont, very busy superintending the
-work. “The sun is unbearable!”
-
-Favier, who was stretching to reach a piece, grumbled under his breath:
-“A nice thing to shut people up a lovely day like this! No fear of it
-raining on a stock-taking day! And they keep us under lock and key like
-a lot of convicts when all Paris is out-doors!”
-
-He passed the piece to Hutin. On the ticket was the measurement,
-diminished at each sale by the quantity sold, which greatly simplified
-the work. The second-hand cried out: “Fancy silk, small check,
-twenty-one yards, at six francs and a half.”
-
-And the silk went to increase the heap on the floor. Then he continued
-a conversation commenced, by saying to Favier: “So he wanted to fight
-you?”
-
-“Yes, I was quietly drinking my glass of beer. It was hardly worth
-while contradicting me, she has just received a letter from the governor
-inviting her to dinner. The whole shop is talking about it.”
-
-“What! it wasn't done!”
-
-Favier handed him another piece.
-
-“A caution, isn't it? One would have staked his life on it. It seemed
-like an old connection.”
-
-“Ditto, twenty-five yards!” cried Hutin.
-
-The dull thud of the piece was heard, whilst he added in a lower tone:
-“She carried on fearfully, you know, at that old fool Bourras's.”
-
-The whole department was now joking about the affair, without, however,
-allowing the work to suffer. The young girl's name passed from mouth to
-mouth, the fellows arched their backs and winked. Bouthemont himself,
-who took a rare delight in such gay stories, could not help adding his
-joke, the bad taste of which filled his heart with joy. Albert,
-waking up a bit, swore he had seen Denise with two soldiers at the
-Gros-Caillou. At that moment Mignot came down, with the twenty francs he
-had just borrowed, and he stopped to slip ten francs into Albert's
-hand, making an appointment with him for the evening; a projected lark,
-restrained for want of money, but still possible, notwithstanding the
-smallness of the sum. But handsome Mignot, when he heard about the
-famous letter, made such an abominable remark, that Bouthemont was
-obliged to interfere.
-
-“That's enough, gentlemen. It isn't our business. Go on, Monsiéur
-Hutin.”
-
-“Fancy silk, small check, thirty-two yards, at six francs and a half,”
- cried out the latter.
-
-The pens started off again, the parcels fell regularly, the flood of
-stuffs still increased, as if the overflow of a river had emptied itself
-there. And the calling out of the fancy silks never ceased. Favier, in a
-half whisper, remarked that the stock was in a nice state; the governors
-would be enchanted; that big stupid of a Bouthemont might be the best
-buyer in Paris, but as a salesman he was not worth his salt. Hutin
-smiled, delighted, approving by a friendly look; for after having
-himself introduced Bouthemont into The Ladies' Paradise, in order to
-drive out Robineau, he was now undermining him also, with the firm
-intention of robbing him of his place. It was the same war as formerly,
-treacherous insinuations whispered in the partners' ears, an excessive
-display of zeal in order to push one's-self forward, a regular campaign
-carried on with affable cunning. However, Favier, towards whom Hutin was
-displaying some fresh condescension, took a look at the latter, thin and
-cold, with his bilious face, as if to count the mouthfuls in this short,
-squat little man, and looking as though he were waiting till his
-comrade had swallowed up Bouthemont, in order to eat him afterwards.
-He, Favier,' hoped to get the second-hand's place, should his friend be
-appointed manager. Then, they would see. And both, consumed by the fever
-which was raging from one end of the shop to the other, talked of the
-probable rises of salary, without ceasing to call out the stock of fancy
-silks; they felt sure Bouthemont would reach thirty thousand francs
-that year; Hutin would exceed ten thousand; Favier estimated his pay and
-commission at five thousand five hundred. The amount of business in the
-department was increasing yearly, the salesmen were promoted and their
-salaries doubled, like officers in time of war.
-
-“Won't those fancy silks soon be finished?” asked Bouthemont suddenly,
-with an annoyed air. “What a miserable spring, always raining! People
-have bought nothing but black silks.”
-
-His fat, jovial face became cloudy; he looked at the growing heap on the
-floor, whilst Hutin called out louder still, in a sonorous voice, not
-free from triumph--“Fancy silks, small check, twenty-eight yards, at six
-francs and a half.”
-
-There was still another shelf-full. Favier, whose arms were beginning
-to feel tired, was now going very slowly. As he handed Hutin the last
-pieces he resumed in a low tone--“Oh! I say, I forgot. Have you heard
-that the second-hand in the ready-made department once had a regular
-fancy for you?”
-
-The young man seemed greatly surprised. “What! How do you mean?”
-
-“Yes, that great booby Deloche let it out to us. I remember her casting
-sheep's eyes at you some time back.”
-
-Since his appointment as second-hand Hutin had thrown up his music-hall
-singers and gone in for governesses. Greatly flattered at heart, he
-replied with a scornful air, “I like them a little better stuffed,
-my boy; besides, it won't do to take up with anybody, as the governor
-does.” He stopped to call out--
-
-“White Poult silk, thirty-five yards, at eight francs fifteen sous.”
-
-“Oh! at last!” murmured Bouthemont, greatly relieved.
-
-But a bell rang, it was the second table, to which Favier belonged. He
-got off the stool, another salesman took his place, and he was obliged
-to step over the mountain of pieces of stuff with which the floor was
-encumbered. Similar heaps were scattered about in very department; the
-shelves, the boxes, the cupboards were being gradually emptied, whilst
-the goods were overflowing on every side, under-foot, between the
-counters and the tables, in a continual rising. In the linen department
-was heard the heavy falling of the bales of calico; in the mercery
-department there was a clicking of boxes; and distant rumbling sounds
-came from the furniture department. Every sort of voice was heard
-together, shrill voices, thick voices; figures whizzed through the air,
-a rustling clamour reigned in the immense nave--the clamour of the
-forests in January when the wind is whistling through the branches.
-
-Favier at last got clear and went up the dining-room staircase. Since
-the enlargement of The Ladies' Paradise the refectories had been shifted
-to the fourth storey in the new buildings. As he hurried up he came upon
-Deloche and Liénard, so he fell back on Mignot, who was following on his
-heels.
-
-“The deuce!” said he, in the corridor leading to the kitchen, opposite
-the blackboard on which the bill of fare was inscribed, “you can see
-it's stock-taking day. A regular feast! Chicken, or leg of mutton, and
-artichokes! Their mutton won't be much of a success!”
-
-Mignot sniggered, murmuring, “Every one's going in for chicken, then!”
-
-However, Deloche and Liénard had taken their portions and had gone away.
-Favier then leant over at the wicket and called out--“Chicken!”
-
-But he had to wait; one of the kitchen helps had cut his finger in
-carving, and this caused some confusion. Favier stood there, with
-his face to the opening, looking into the kitchen with its giant
-appliances--the central range, over which two rails fixed to the
-ceiling brought forward, by a system of chains and pullies, the colossal
-coppers, which four men could not have lifted. Several cooks, quite
-white in the sombre red of the furnace, were attending to the evening
-soup coppers, mounted on iron ladders, armed with skimmers fixed on long
-handles. Then against the wall were grills large enough to roast
-martyrs on, saucepans big enough to cook a whole sheep in, a monumental
-plate-warmer, and a marble well kept full by a continual stream of
-water. To the left could be seen a washing-up place, stone sinks as
-large as ponds; whilst on the other side to the right, was an immense
-meat-safe, in which some large joints of red meat were hanging on steel
-hooks. A machine for peeling potatoes was working with the tic-tac of
-a mill. Two small trucks laden with freshly-picked salad were being
-wheeled along by some kitchen helps into the fresh air under a fountain.
-
-“Chicken,” repeated Favier, getting impatient. Then, turning round, he
-added in a lower tone, “There's one fellow cut himself. It's disgusting,
-it's running over the food.”
-
-Mignot wanted to see. Quite a string of shopmen had now arrived; there
-was a good deal of laughing and pushing. The two young men, their
-heads at the wicket, exchanged their remarks before this phalansterian
-kitchen, in which the least utensils, even the spits and larding pins,
-assumed gigantic proportions. Two thousand luncheons and two thousand
-dinners had to be served, and the number of employees was increasing
-every week. It was quite an abyss, into which was thrown daily something
-like forty-five bushels of potatoes, one hundred and twenty pounds of
-butter, and sixteen hundred pounds of meat; and at each meal they had to
-broach three casks of wine, over a hundred and fifty gallons were served
-out at the wine counter.
-
-“Ah! at last!” murmured Favier when the cook reappeared with a large
-pan, out of which he handed him the leg of a fowl.
-
-“Chicken,” said Mignot behind him.
-
-And with their plates in their hands they both entered the refectory,
-after having taken their wine at the counter; whilst behind them the
-word “Chicken” was repeated without ceasing, regularly, and one could
-hear the cook picking up the pieces with his fork with a rapid and
-measured sound.
-
-The men's dining-room was now an immense apartment, where places for
-five hundred at each of the three dinners could easily be laid. There
-were long mahogany tables, placed parallel across the room, and at
-either end were similar tables reserved for the managers of departments
-and the inspectors; whilst in the centre was a counter for the extras.
-Large windows, right and left, lighted up with a white light this
-gallery, of which the ceiling, notwithstanding its being four yards
-high, seemed very low, crushed by the enormous development of the other
-dimensions. The sole ornament on the walls, painted a light yellow,
-were the napkin cupboards. After this first refectory came that of
-the messengers and carmen, where the meals were served irregularly,
-according to the necessities of the work.
-
-“What! you've got a leg as well, Mignot?” said Favier, as he took his
-place at one of the tables opposite his companion.
-
-Other young men now sat down around them. There was no tablecloth, the
-plates gave out a cracked sound on the bare mahogany, and every one was
-crying out in this particular corner, for the number of legs was really
-prodigious.
-
-“These chickens are all legs!” remarked Mignot.
-
-Those who had pieces of the carcase were greatly discontented. However,
-the food had been much better since the late improvements. Mouret
-no longer treated with a contractor at a fixed sum; he had taken the
-kitchen into his own hands, organising it like one of the departments,
-with a head-cook, under-cooks, and an inspector; and if he spent more
-he got more work out of the staff--a practical humane calculation which
-long terrified Bourdoncle.
-
-“Mine is pretty tender, all the same,” said Mignot. “Pass over the
-bread!”
-
-The big loaf was sent round, and after cutting a slice for himself he
-dug the knife into the crust A few dilatory ones now hurried in, taking
-their places; a ferocious appetite, increased by the morning's work,
-ran along the immense tables from one end to the other. There was an
-increasing clatter of forks, a sound of bottles being emptied, the noise
-of glasses laid down too violently, the grinding rumble of five hundred
-pairs of powerful jaws working with wonderful energy. And the talk,
-still very rare, was stifled in the mouths full of food.
-
-Deloche, however, seated between Baugé and Liénard, found himself nearly
-opposite Favier. They had glanced at each other with a rancorous look.
-The neighbours whispered, aware of their quarrel the previous day.
-Then they laughed at poor Deloche's ill-luck, always famishing, always
-falling on to the worst piece at table, by a sort of cruel fatality.
-This time he had come in for the neck of a chicken and bits of the
-carcase. Without saying a word he let them joke away, swallowing large
-mouthfuls of bread, and picking the neck with the infinite art of a
-fellow who entertains a great respect for meat.
-
-“Why don't you complain?” asked Baugé.
-
-But he shrugged his shoulders. What would be the good? It was always the
-same. When he ventured to complain things went worse than ever.
-
-“You know the Bobbin fellows have got their club now,” said Mignot, all
-at once. “Yes, my boy, the 'Bobbin Club.' It's held at a tavern in the
-Rue Saint-Honoré, where they hire a room on Saturdays.”
-
-He was speaking of the mercery salesmen. The whole table began to joke.
-Between two mouthfuls, with his voice still thick, each one made some
-remark, added a detail; the obstinate readers alone remained mute,
-absorbed, their noses buried in some newspapers. It could not be denied;
-shopmen were gradually assuming a better style; nearly half of them now
-spoke English or German. It was no longer good form to go and kick up
-a row at Bullier, to prowl about the music-halls for the pleasure of
-hissing ugly singers. No; a score of them got together and formed a
-club.
-
-“Have they a piano like the linen-drapers?” asked Liénard.
-
-“I should rather think they have a piano!” exclaimed Mignot. “And they
-play, my boy, and sing! There's even one of them, little Bavoux, who
-recites verses.”
-
-The gaiety redoubled, they chaffed little Bavoux, but still beneath this
-laughter there lay a great respect. They then spoke of a piece at the
-Vaudeville, in which a counter-jumper played a nasty part, which annoyed
-several of them, whilst others were anxiously wondering what time they
-would get away, having invitations to pass the evening at friends'
-houses; and from all points were heard similar conversations amidst
-the increasing noise of the crockery. To drive out the odour of the
-food--the warm steam which rose from the five hundred plates--the
-windows had been opened, while the lowered blinds were scorching in
-the heavy August sun. An ardent breath came in from the street, golden
-reflections yellowed the ceiling, bathing in a reddish light the
-perspiring eaters.
-
-“A nice thing to shut people up such a fine Sunday as this!” repeated
-Favier.
-
-This reflection brought them back to the stock-taking. It was a splendid
-year. And they went on to speak of the salaries--the rises--the eternal
-subject, the stirring question which occupied them all. It was always
-thus on chicken days, a wonderful excitement declared itself, the noise
-at last became insupportable. When the waiters brought the artichokes
-one could not hear one's self speak. The inspector on duty had orders to
-be indulgent.
-
-“By the way,” cried out Favier, “you've heard the news?”
-
-But his voice was drowned. Mignot was asking: “Who doesn't like
-artichoke; I'll sell my dessert for an artichoke.”
-
-No one replied. Everybody liked artichoke. This lunch would be counted
-amongst the good ones, for peaches were to be given for dessert.
-
-“He has invited her to dinner, my dear fellow,” said Favier to his
-right-hand neighbour, finishing his story. “What! you didn't know it?”
-
-The whole table knew it, they were tired of talking about it since the
-first thing in the morning. And the same poor jokes passed from mouth
-to mouth. Deloche had turned pale again. He looked at them, his eyes
-finishing by resting on Favier, who was persisting in repeating:
-
-“If he's not had her, he's going to. And he won't be the first; oh! no,
-he won't be the first.”
-
-He was also looking at Deloche. He added with a provoking air: “Those
-who like bones can have her for a crown!” Suddenly, he ducked his head.
-Deloche, yielding to an irresistible movement, had just thrown his last
-glass of wine into his tormentor's face, stammering: “Take that, you
-infernal liar! I ought to have drenched you yesterday!”
-
-[Illustration: 0406]
-
-It caused quite a scandal. A few drops had spurted on Favier's
-neighbours, whilst he only had his hair slightly wetted: the wine,
-thrown by an awkward hand, had fallen the other side of the table. But
-the others got angry, asking if she was his mistress that he defended
-her in this way? What a brute! he deserved a good sound drubbing to
-teach him manners. However, their voices fell, an inspector was observed
-coming along, and it was useless to introduce the management into the
-quarrel. Favier contented himself with saying:
-
-“If it had caught me, you would have seen some sport!” Then the affair
-wound up in jeers. When Deloche, still trembling, wished to drink to
-hide his confusion, and seized his empty glass mechanically, they burst
-out laughing. He laid his glass down again awkwardly, and commenced
-sucking the leaves of the artichoke he had already eaten.
-
-“Pass Deloche the water bottle,” said Mignot, quietly; “he's thirsty.”
-
-The laughter increased. The young men took their clean plates from the
-piles standing on the table, at equal distances, whilst the waiters
-handed round the dessert, which consisted of peaches, in baskets. And
-they all held their sides when Mignot added, with a grin:
-
-“Each man to his taste. Deloche takes wine with his peaches.”
-
-The latter sat motionless, with his head hanging down, as if deaf to the
-joking going on around him: he was full of a despairing regret for what
-he had just done. These fellows were right--what right had he to defend
-her? They would now think all sorts of villanous things: he could have
-killed himself for having thus compromised her, in attempting to prove
-her innocence. This was always his luck, he might just as well kill
-himself at once, for he could not even yield to the promptings of his
-heart without doing some stupid thing. And the fears came into his eyes.
-Was it not always his fault if the whole shop was talking of the letter
-written by the governor? He heard them grinning and making abominable
-remarks about this invitation, of which Liénard alone had been informed;
-and he accused himself, he ought not to have let Pauline speak before
-the latter; he was really responsible for the annoying indiscretion
-committed.
-
-“Why did you go and relate that?” he murmured at last, in a voice full
-of grief. “It's very bad.”
-
-“I?” replied Liénard; “but I only told it to one or two persons,
-enjoining secrecy. One never knows how these things get about!”
-
-When Deloche made up his mind to drink a glass of water the whole table
-burst out laughing again. They had finished and were lolling back on
-their chairs waiting for the bell recalling them to work. They had not
-asked for many extras at the great central counter, the more so as the
-firm treated them to coffee that day. The cups were steaming, perspiring
-faces shone under the light vapours, floating like the blue clouds
-from cigarettes. At the windows the blinds hung motionless, without the
-slightest flapping. One of them, drawn up, admitted a ray of sunshine
-which traversed the room and gilded the ceiling. The uproar of the
-voices beat on the walls with such force that the bell was at first
-only heard by those at the tables near the door. They got up, and
-the confusion of the departure filled the corridors for a long time.
-Deloche, however, remained behind to escape the malicious remarks that
-were still being made. Baugé even went out before him, and Baugé was, as
-a rule, the last to leave, going a circuitous way so as to meet Pauline
-as she went to the ladies' dining-room; a manouvre arranged between
-them--the only chance of seeing each other for a minute during business
-hours. But this time, just as they were indulging in a loving kiss in a
-corner of the passage they were surprised by Denise, who was also going
-up to lunch. She was walking slowly on account of her foot.
-
-“Oh! my dear,” stammered Pauline, very red, “don't say anything, will
-you?”
-
-Baugé, with his big limbs and giant proportions, was trembling like
-a little boy. He murmured, “They'd very soon pitch us out. Though our
-marriage may be announced, they don't allow any kissing, the animals!”
-
-Denise, greatly agitated, affected not to have seen them; and Baugé
-disappeared just as Deloche, who was going the longest way round,
-appeared in his turn. He tried to apologise, stammering out phrases that
-Denise did not at first catch. Then, as he blamed Pauline for having
-spoken before Liénard, and she stood there looking very embarrassed,
-Denise at last understood the whispered phrases she had heard around her
-all the morning. It was the story of the letter that was circulating.
-She was again seized by the shudder with which this letter had agitated
-her; she felt herself disrobed by all these men.
-
-“But I didn't know,” repeated Pauline. “Besides, there's nothing bad in
-the letter. Let them gossip; they're jealous, of course!”
-
-“My dear,” said Denise at last, with her prudent air, “I don't blame
-you in any way! You've spoken nothing but the truth. I _have_ received a
-letter, and it is my duty to answer it.”
-
-Deloche went away heart-broken, having understood that the young girl
-accepted the situation and would keep the appointment that evening. When
-the two young ladies had lunched in a small room adjoining the large
-dining-room, and in which the women were served much more comfortably,
-Pauline had to assist Denise downstairs, for the latter's foot was
-worse.
-
-Down below in the afternoon warmth the stock-taking was roaring louder
-than ever. The moment for the supreme effort had arrived, when before
-the work, behindhand since the morning, every force was put forth in
-order to finish that evening. The voices got louder still, one saw
-nothing but the waving of arms continually emptying the shelves,
-throwing the goods down, and it was impossible to get along, the tide of
-the bales and piles of goods on the floor rose as high as the counters.
-A sea of heads, of brandished fists, of limbs flying about, seemed to
-extend to the very depths of the departments, like the distant confusion
-of a riot. It was the last fever of the clearance, the machine nearly
-ready to burst; whilst along the plate-glass windows, round the closed
-shop, a few rare pedestrians continued to pass, pale with the
-stifling boredom of a summer Sunday. On the pavement in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin were planted three tall girls, bareheaded and
-sluttish-looking, impudently sticking their faces against the windows,
-trying to see the curious work going on inside.
-
-When Denise returned to the ready-made department Madame Aurélie left
-Marguerite to finish calling out the garments. There was still a lot of
-checking to be done, for which, desirous of silence, she retired into
-the pattern-room, taking the young girl with her.
-
-“Come with me, we'll do the checking; then you can add up the totals.”
-
-But as she wished to leave the door open, in order to look after the
-young ladies, the noise came in, and they could not hear much better.
-It was a large, square room, furnished simply with some chairs and three
-long tables. In one corner were the great machine knives, for cutting
-up the patterns. Entire pieces were consumed; they sent away every year
-more than sixty thousand francs' worth of material, cut up in strips.
-From morning to night, the knives were cutting up silk, wool, and linen,
-with a scythe-like noise. Then the books had to be got together,
-gummed or sewn. And there was also between the two windows, a little
-printing-press for the tickets.
-
-“Not so loud, please!” cried Madame Aurélie, now and again, quite unable
-to hear Denise reading out the articles.
-
-When the checking of the first lists was finished, she left the young
-girl at one of the tables, absorbed in the adding-up. But she returned
-almost immediately, and placed Mademoiselle de Fontenailles near her;
-the under-linen department not wanting her any longer, had sent her to
-Madame Aurélie. She could also do some adding-up, it would save time.
-But the appearance of the marchioness, as Clara ill-naturedly called
-her, had disturbed the department. They laughed and joked at poor
-Joseph, their ferocious sallies could be heard in the pattern-room.
-
-“Don't draw back, you are not at all in my way,” said Denise, seized
-with pity for the poor girl. “My inkstand will suffice, we'll dip
-together.”
-
-Mademoiselle de Fontenailles, dulled and stultified by her unfortunate
-position, could not even find a word of gratitude. She appeared to be
-a woman who drank, her thinness had a livid appearance, and her hands
-alone, white and delicate, attested the distinction of her birth.
-
-The laughter ceased all at once, and the work resumed its regular roar.
-It was Mouret who was once more going through the departments. But he
-stopped and looked round for Denise, surprised not to see her there.
-He made a sign to Madame Aurélie; and both drew aside, talking in a low
-tone for a moment. He must be questioning her. She indicated with her
-eyes the pattern-room, then seemed to be making a report. No doubt she
-was relating that the young girl had been weeping that morning.
-
-“Very good!” said Mouret, aloud, coming nearer. “Show me the lists.”
-
-“This way, sir,” said the first-hand. “We have run away from the noise.”
-
-He followed her into the next room. Clara was not duped by this
-manouvre, and said they had better go and fetch a bed at once. But
-Marguerite threw her the garments at a quicker rate, in order to take
-up her attention and close her mouth. Wasn't the second-hand a good
-comrade? Her affairs did not concern any one. The department was
-becoming an accomplice, the young ladies got more agitated than ever,
-Lhomme and Joseph affected not to see or hear anything. And Jouve,
-the inspector, who, passing by, had remarked Madame Aurélie's tactics,
-commenced walking up and down before the pattern-room door, with the
-regular step of a sentry guarding the will and pleasure of a superior.
-
-“Give Monsieur Mouret the lists,” said the first-hand.
-
-Denise gave them, and sat there with her eyes raised. She had slightly
-started, but had conquered herself, and retained a fine calm look,
-although her cheeks were pale. For a moment, Mouret appeared to be
-absorbed in the list of articles, without a look for the young girl.
-A silence reigned, Madame Aurélie then went up to Mademoiselle de
-Fontenailles, who had not even turned her head, appeared dissatisfied
-with her counting, and said to her in a half whisper:
-
-“Go and help with the parcels. You are not used to figures.”
-
-The latter got up, and returned to the department, where she was greeted
-by a whispering on all sides. Joseph, exposed to the laughing eyes
-of these young minxes, was writing anyhow. Clara, delighted with this
-assistant who arrived, was yet very rough with her, hating her as she
-hated all the women in the shop. What an idiotic thing to yield to the
-love of a workman, when one was a marchioness! And yet she envied her
-this love.
-
-“Very good!” repeated Mouret, still affecting to read.
-
-However Madame Aurélie hardly knew how to get away in her turn in a
-decent fashion. She stamped about, went to look at the knives, furious
-with her husband for not inventing a pretext for calling her; but he was
-never any good for serious matters, he would have died of thirst close
-to a pond. It was Marguerite who was intelligent enough to go and ask
-the first-hand a question.
-
-“I'm coming,” replied the latter.
-
-And her dignity being now protected, having a pretext in the eyes of the
-young ladies who were watching her, she at last left Denise and Mouret
-alone together, going out with her imperial air, her profile so noble,
-that the saleswomen did not even dare to smile. Mouret had slowly laid
-the lists on the table, and stood looking at the young girl, who had
-remained seated, pen in hand. She did not avert her gaze, but she had
-turned paler.
-
-“You will come this evening?” asked he.
-
-“No, sir, I cannot. My brothers are to be at uncle's to-night, and I
-have promised to dine with them.”
-
-“But your foot! You walk with such difficulty.”
-
-“Oh, I can get so far very well. I feel much better since the morning.”
-
-He had now turned pale in his turn, before this quiet refusal. A nervous
-revolt agitated his lips. However, he restrained himself, and resumed
-with the air of a good-natured master simply interesting himself in one
-of his young ladies: “Come now, if I begged of you--You know what great
-esteem I have for you.”
-
-Denise retained her respectful attitude. “I am greatly touched, sir, by
-your kindness to me, and I thank you for this invitation. But I repeat,
-I cannot; my brothers expect me.”
-
-She persisted in not understanding. The door remained open, and she felt
-that the whole shop was pushing her on to yield. Pauline had amicably
-called her a great simpleton, the others would laugh at her if she
-refused the invitation. Madame Aurélie, who had gone away, Marguerite,
-whose rising voice she could hear, Lhomme, with his motionless, discreet
-attitude, all these people were wishing for her fall, throwing her
-into the governor's arms. And the distant roar of the stock-taking,
-the millions of goods called out on all sides, thrown about in every
-direction, were like a warm wind, carrying the breath of passion
-straight towards her. There was a silence. Now and again, Mouret's voice
-was drowned by the noise which accompanied him, with the formidable
-uproar of a kingly fortune gained in battle.
-
-“When will you come, then?” asked he again. “Tomorrow?”
-
-This simple question troubled Denise. She lost her calmness for a
-moment, and stammered: “I don't know--I can't----”
-
-He smiled, and tried to take her hand, which she withheld. “What are you
-afraid of?”
-
-But she quickly raised her head, looked him straight in the face, and
-said, smiling, with her sweet, brave look: “I am afraid of nothing, sir.
-I can do as I like, can't I? I don't wish to, that's all!”
-
-As she finished speaking, she was surprised by hearing a creaking noise,
-and on turning round saw the door slowly closing. It was Jouve, the
-inspector, who had taken upon himself to pull it to. The doors were a
-part of his duty, none should ever remain open. And he gravely resumed
-his position as sentinel. No one appeared to have noticed this door
-being closed in such a simple manner. Clara alone risked a strong remark
-in Mademoiselle de Fontenailles's ear, but the latter's face remained
-expressionless.
-
-Denise, however, had got up. Mouret was saying to her in a low and
-trembling voice: “Listen, Denise, I love you. You have long known it,
-pray don't be so cruel as to play the ignorant. And don't fear anything.
-Many a time I've thought of calling you into my office. We should have
-been alone, I should only have had to lock the door. But I did not wish
-to; you see I speak to you here, where any one can enter. I love you,
-Denise!” She was standing up, very pale, listening to him, still looking
-straight into his face. “Tell me. Why do you refuse? Have you no wants?
-Your brothers are a heavy burden. Anything you might ask me, anything
-you might require of me----”
-
-With a word, she stopped him: “Thanks, I now earn more than I want.”
-
-“But it's perfect liberty that I am offering you, an existence of
-pleasure and luxury. I will set you up in a home of your own. I will
-assure you a little fortune.”
-
-“No, thanks; I should soon get tired of doing nothing. I earned my own
-living before I was ten years old.”
-
-He was almost mad. This was the first one who did not yield. He had only
-had to stoop to pick up the others, they all awaited his pleasure
-like submissive slaves; and this one said no, without even giving a
-reasonable pretext. His desire, long restrained, goaded by resistance,
-became stronger than ever. Perhaps he had not offered enough, he
-thought, and he doubled his offers; he pressed her more and more.
-
-“No, no, thanks,” replied she each time, without faltering. Then he
-allowed this cry from his heart to escape him: “But don't you see that I
-am suffering! Yes, it's stupid, but I am suffering like a child!”
-
-Tears came into his eyes. A fresh silence reigned. They could still hear
-behind the closed door the softened roar of the stock-taking. It was
-like a dying note of triumph, the accompaniment became more discreet, in
-this defeat of the master. “And yet if I liked--” said he in an ardent
-voice, seizing her hands.
-
-She left them in his, her eyes turned pale, her whole strength was
-deserting her. A warmth came from this man's burning hands, filling her
-with a delicious cowardice. Good heavens! how she loved him, and with
-what delight she could have hung on his neck and remained there!
-
-“I will! I will!” repeated he, in his passionate excitement “I expect
-you to-night, otherwise I will take measures.”
-
-He was becoming brutal. She set up a low cry; the pain she felt at her
-wrists restored her courage. With an angry shake she disengaged herself.
-Then, very stiff, looking taller in her weakness: “No, leave me alone!
-I am not a Clara, to be thrown over in a day. Besides, you love another;
-yes, that lady who comes here. Stay with her. I do not accept half an
-affection.”
-
-He was struck with surprise. What was she saying, and what did she want?
-The girls he had picked up in the shop had never asked to be loved. He
-ought to have laughed at such an idea, and this attitude of tender pride
-completely conquered his heart.
-
-“Now, sir, please open the door,” resumed she. “It is not proper to be
-shut up together in this way.”
-
-He obeyed; and with his temples throbbing, hardly knowing how to conceal
-his anguish, he recalled Madame Aurélie, and broke out angrily about the
-stock of cloaks, saying that the prices must be lowered, until every one
-had been got rid of. Such was the rule of the house--a clean sweep was
-made every year, they sold at sixty per cent, loss rather than keep an
-old model or any stale material. At that moment, Bourdoncle, seeking
-Mouret, was waiting for him outside, stopped before the closed door
-by Jouve, who had said a word in his ear with a grave air. He got very
-impatient, without, however, summoning up the courage to interrupt the
-governor's tête-à-tête. Was it possible? such a day too, and with that
-puny creature! And when Mouret at last came out Bourdoncle spoke to
-him about the fancy silks, of which the stock left on hand would be
-enormous. This was a relief for Mouret, who could now cry out at
-his ease. What the devil was Bouthemont thinking about? He went off,
-declaring that he could not allow a buyer to display such a want of
-sense as to buy beyond the requirements of the business.
-
-“What is the matter with him?” murmured Madame Aurélie, quite overcome
-by his reproaches.
-
-And the young ladies looked at each other with a surprised air. At six
-o'clock the stock-taking was finished. The sun was still shining--a
-blonde summer sun, of which the golden reflection streamed through
-the glazed roofs of the halls. In the heavy air of the streets, tired
-families were already returning from the suburbs, loaded with bouquets,
-dragging their children along. One by one, the departments had become
-silent. Nothing was now heard in the depths of the galleries but the
-lingering calls of a few men clearing a last shelf. Then even these
-voices ceased, and there remained of the bustle of the day nothing but a
-shivering, above the formidable piles of goods. The shelves, cupboards,
-boxes, and band-boxes, were now empty: not a yard of stuff, not an
-object of any sort had remained in its place. The vast establishment
-presented nothing but the carcase of its usual appearance, the woodwork
-was absolutely bare, as on the day of entering into possession. This
-nakedness was the visible proof of the complete and exact taking of the
-stock. And on the ground was sixteen million francs' worth of goods, a
-rising sea, which had finished by submerging the tables and counters.
-The shopmen, drowned up to the shoulders, had commenced to put each
-article back into its place. They expected to finish about ten o'clock.
-
-When Madame Aurélie, who went to the first dinner, returned to the
-dining-room, she announced the amount of business done during the year,
-which the totals of the various departments had just given. The figure
-was eighty million francs, ten millions more than the preceding year.
-The only real decrease was on the fancy silks.
-
-“If Monsieur Mouret is not satisfied, I should like to know what more he
-wants,” added the first-hand. “See! he's over there, at the top of the
-grand staircase, looking furious.”
-
-The young ladies went to look at him. He was standing alone, with a
-sombre countenance, above the millions scattered at his feet.
-
-“Madame,” said Denise, at this moment, “would you kindly let me go away
-now? I can't do any more good on account of my foot, and as I am to dine
-at my uncle's with my brothers----”
-
-They were all astonished. She had not yielded, then! Madame Aurélie
-hesitated, and seemed inclined to prohibit her going out, her voice
-sharp and disagreeable; whilst Clara shrugged her shoulders, full of
-incredulity. That wouldn't do! it was very simple--the governor no
-longer wanted her! When Pauline learnt this, she was in the baby-linen
-department with Deloche, and the sudden joy exhibited by the young man
-made her very angry. That did him a lot of good, didn't it? Perhaps
-he was pleased to see that his friend had been stupid enough to miss
-a fortune? And Bourdoncle, who did not dare to approach Mouret in
-his ferocious isolation, marched up and down amidst these rumours, in
-despair also, and full of anxiety. However, Denise went downstairs. As
-she arrived at the bottom of the left-hand staircase, slowly, supporting
-herself by the banister, she came upon a group of grinning salesmen.
-Her name was pronounced, and she felt that they were talking about her
-adventure. They had not noticed her.
-
-“Oh! all that's put on, you know,” Favier was saying. “She's full of
-vice! Yes, I know some one she wanted to take by force.”
-
-And he looked at Hutin, who, in order to preserve his dignity as
-second-hand, was standing a certain distance apart, without joining
-in their conversation. But he was so flattered by the air of envy with
-which the others were contemplating him, that he deigned to murmur: “She
-was a regular nuisance to me, that girl!”
-
-Denise, wounded to the heart, clung to the banister. They must have seen
-her, for they all disappeared, laughing. He was right, she thought,
-and she accused herself of her former ignorance, when she used to think
-about him. But what a coward he was, and how she scorned him now! A
-great trouble had seized her: was it not strange that she should have
-found the strength just now to repulse a man whom she adored, when she
-used to feel herself so feeble in bygone days before this worthless
-fellow, whom she had only dreamed off? Her sense of reason and her
-bravery foundered before these contradictions of her being, in which she
-could not read clearly. She hastened to cross the hall. Then a sort of
-instinct prompted her to raise her head, whilst an inspector opened the
-door, closed since the morning. And she perceived Mouret, who was still
-at the top of the stairs, on the great central landing, dominating
-the gallery. But he had forgotten the stock-taking, he did not see his
-empire, this building bursting with riches. Everything had disappeared,
-his former glorious victories, his future colossal fortune. With a
-desponding look he was watching Denise's departure, and when she had
-passed the door everything disappeared, a darkness came over the house.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-That day Bouthemont was the first to arrive at Madame Desforges's
-four o'clock tea. Still alone in her large Louis XVI. drawing-room,
-the brasses and brocatelle of which shone out with a clear gaiety, the
-latter rose with an air of impatience, saying, “Well?”
-
-“Well,” replied the young man, “when I told him I should doubtless call
-on you he formally promised me to come.”
-
-“You made him thoroughly understand that I counted on the baron to-day?”
-
-“Certainly. That's what appeared to decide him.”
-
-They were speaking of Mouret, who the year before had suddenly taken
-such a liking to Bouthemont that he had admitted him to share his
-pleasures, and had even introduced him to Henriette, glad to have an
-agreeable fellow always at hand to enliven an intimacy of which he was
-getting tired. It was thus that Bouthemont had ultimately become the
-confidant of his governor and of the handsome widow; he did their little
-errands, talked of the one to the other, and sometimes reconciled them.
-Henriette, in her jealous fits, abandoned herself to a familiarity which
-sometimes surprised and embarrassed him, for she lost all her lady-like
-prudence, using all her art to save appearances.
-
-She resumed violently, “You ought to have brought him. I should have
-been sure then.”
-
-“Well,” said he, with a good-natured laugh, “it isn't my fault if he
-escapes so frequently now. Oh! he's very fond of me, all the same. Were
-it not for him I should be in a bad way at the shop.”
-
-His situation at The Ladies' Paradise was really menaced since the last
-stock-taking. It was in vain that he adduced the rainy season; one could
-not overlook the considerable stock of fancy silks; and as Hutin was
-improving the occasion, undermining him with the governors with an
-increase of sly rage, he felt the ground cracking under him. Mouret
-had condemned him, weary, no doubt, of this witness who prevented him
-breaking with Henriette, tired of a familiarity which was profitless.
-But, in accordance with his usual tactics, he was pushing Bourdoncle
-forward; it was Bourdoncle and the other partners who insisted on his
-dismissal at each board meeting; whilst he resisted still, according to
-his account, defending his friend energetically, at the risk of getting
-into serious trouble with the others.
-
-“Well, I shall wait,” resumed Madame Desforges. “You know that girl is
-coming here at five o'clock, I want to see them face to face. I must
-discover their secret.”
-
-And she returned to this long-meditated plan. She repeated in her fever
-that she had requested Madame Aurélie to send her Denise to look at a
-mantle which fitted badly. When she had once got the young girl in her
-room, she would find a means of calling Mouret, and could then act.
-Bouthemont, who had sat down opposite her, was gazing at her with his
-fine laughing eyes, which he endeavoured to render grave. This jovial,
-dissipated fellow, with his coal-black beard, whose warm Gascon blood
-empurpled his cheeks, was thinking that these fine ladies were not much
-good, and that they let out a nice lot of secrets, when they opened
-their hearts. His friend's mistresses, simple shop-girls, certainly
-never made more complete confessions.
-
-“Come,” he ventured to say at last, “what does that matter to you? I
-swear to you there is nothing whatever between them.”
-
-“Just so,” cried she, “because he loves her! I don't care in the least
-for the others, chance acquaintances, friends of a day!”
-
-She spoke of Clara with disdain. She was well aware that Mouret, after
-Denise's refusal, had fallen back on this tall, redhaired girl, with
-the horse's head, doubtless by calculation; for he maintained her in the
-department, loading her with presents. Not only that, for the last three
-months he had been leading: a terrible life, squandering his money with
-a prodigality which caused a great many remarks; he had bought a mansion
-for a worthless actress, and was being ruined by two or three other
-jades, who seemed to be struggling to outdo each other in costly, stupid
-caprices.
-
-“It's this creature's fault,” repeated Henriette. “I feel sure he's
-ruining himself with the others because she repulses him. Besides,
-what's his money to me? I should have loved him better poor. You know
-how I love him, you who have become our friend.”
-
-She stopped, choked, ready to burst into tears; and with a movement
-of abandon she held out her two hands to him. It was true, she adored
-Mouret for his youth and his triumphs, never had any man thus conquered
-her so entirely in a quiver of her flesh and of her pride; but at the
-thought of losing him, she also heard the knell of her fortieth year,
-and she asked herself with terror how she should replace this great
-love.
-
-“I'll have my revenge,” murmured she. “I'll have my revenge, if he
-behaves badly!”
-
-Bouthemont continued to hold her hands in his. She was still handsome.
-But she would be a very awkward mistress, thought he, and he did not
-like that style of woman. The thing, however, deserved thinking over;
-perhaps it would be worth while risking certain annoyances.
-
-“Why don't you set up for yourself?” she asked all at once, drawing her
-hands away.
-
-He was astonished. Then he replied: “But it would require an immense
-sum. Last year I had an idea in my head. I feel convinced that there
-are customers enough in Paris for one or two more big shops; but the
-district would have to be chosen. The Bon Marche has the left side
-of the river; the Louvre occupies the centre; we monopolise, at The
-Paradise, the rich west-end district. There remains the north, where
-a rival to the Place Clichy could be created. And I had discovered a
-splendid position, near the Opera House----”
-
-“Well?”
-
-He set up a noisy laugh. “Just fancy. I was stupid enough to go and talk
-to my father about it Yes, I was simple enough to ask him to find some
-shareholders at Toulouse.”
-
-And he gaily described the anger of the old man, enraged against the
-great Parisian bazaars, in his little country shop. Old Bouthemont,
-suffocated by the thirty thousand francs a year earned by his son, had
-replied that he would give his money and that of his friends to the
-hospitals rather than contribute a sou to one of those shops which were
-the pests of the drapery business.
-
-“Besides,” continued the young man, “it would require millions.”
-
-“Suppose they were found?” observed Madame Desforges, simply.
-
-He looked at her, serious all at once. Was it not merely a jealous
-woman's word? But she did not give him time to question her, adding: “In
-short, you know what a great interest I take in you. We'll talk about it
-again.”
-
-The outer bell had rung. She got up, and he, himself, with an
-instinctive movement, drew back his chair, as if they might have
-been surprised. A silence reigned in the drawingroom, with its pretty
-hangings, and decorated with such a profusion of green plants that there
-was quite a small wood between the two windows. She stood there waiting,
-with her ear towards the door.
-
-“There he is,” she murmured.
-
-The footman announced Monsieur Mouret and Monsieur de Vallagnosc.
-Henriette could not restrain a movement of anger. Why had he not come
-alone? He must have gone after his friend, fearful of a tête-à-tête with
-her. However, she smiled and shook hands with the two men.
-
-“What a stranger you are getting. I may say the same for you, Monsieur
-de Vallagnosc.”
-
-Her great grief was to be becoming stout, and she squeezed herself into
-tight black silk dresses, to conceal her increasing obesity. However,
-her pretty face, with her dark hair, preserved its amiable expression.
-And Mouret could familiarly tell her, enveloping her with a look:
-
-“It's useless to ask how you are. You are as fresh as a rose.”
-
-“Oh! I'm almost too well,” replied she. “Besides, I might have died; you
-would have known nothing about it.”
-
-She was examining him also, and thought him looking tired and nervous,
-his eyes heavy, his complexion livid.
-
-“Well,” she resumed, in a tone which she endeavoured to render
-agreeable, “I cannot return the compliment; you don't look at all well
-to-day.”
-
-“Overwork!” remarked De Vallagnosc.
-
-Mouret shrugged his shoulders, without replying. He had just perceived
-Bouthemont, and nodded to him in a friendly way. During the time
-of their close intimacy he used to take him away direct from the
-department, bringing him to Henriette's during the busiest moments of
-the afternoon. But times had changed; he said to him in a half whisper:
-“You went away rather early. They noticed your departure, and are
-furious about it.”
-
-He referred to Bourdoncle and the other persons who had an interest in
-the business, as if he were not himself the master.
-
-“Ah!” murmured Bouthemont, rather anxious.
-
-“Yes, I want to talk to you. Wait for me, we'll leave together.”
-
-Meanwhile, Henriette had sat down again; and while listening to De
-Vallagnosc, who was announcing that Madame de Boves would probably pay
-her a visit, she did not take her eyes off Mouret. The latter, silent
-again, gazed at the furniture, seemed to be looking for something on the
-ceiling. Then as she laughingly complained that she had only gentlemen
-at her four o'clock tea, he so far forgot himself as to blurt out:
-
-“I expected to find Baron Hartmann here.”
-
-Henriette turned pale. No doubt she knew he came to her house solely to
-meet the baron; but he might have avoided throwing his indifference in
-her face like this. At that moment the door had opened and the footman
-was standing behind her. When she had interrogated him by a sign, he
-leant over her and said in a very low tone:
-
-“It's for that mantle. You wished me to let you know. The young lady is
-there.”
-
-Then Henriette raised her voice, so as to be heard. All her jealous
-suffering found relief in the following words, of a scornful harshness:
-
-“She can wait!”
-
-“Shall I show her into your dressing-room?”
-
-“No, no. Let her stay in the ante-room!”
-
-And when the servant had gone out she quietly resumed her conversation
-with De Vallagnosc. Mouret, who had relapsed into his former lassitude,
-had listened with a careless, distracted air, without understanding.
-Bouthemont, preoccupied by the adventure, was reflecting. But almost
-immediately after the door was opened again, and two ladies were shown
-in.
-
-“Just fancy,” said Madame Marty, “I was alighting at the door, when I
-saw Madame de Boves coming under the arcade.”
-
-“Yes,” explained the latter, “it's a fine day, and my doctor says I must
-take walking exercise.”
-
-Then, after a general hand-shaking, she asked Henriette:
-
-“You're engaging a new maid, then?”
-
-“No,” replied the other, astonished. “Why?”
-
-“Because I've just seen a young girl in the ante-room.” Henriette
-interrupted her, laughing. “It's true; all these shop-girls look like
-ladies' maids, don't they? Yes, it's a young person come to alter a
-mantle.”
-
-Mouret looked at her intently, a suspicion crossing his mind. She went
-on with a forced gaiety, explaining that she had bought mantle at The
-Ladies' Paradise the previous week.
-
-“What!” asked Madame Marty, “have you deserted Sauveur then?”
-
-“No my dear, but I wished to make an experiment. Besides, I was pretty
-well satisfied with a first purchase, a travelling cloak. But this time
-it has not succeeded at all. You may say what you like, one is horribly
-trussed up in the big shops. I speak out plainly, even before you,
-Monsieur Mouret; you will never know how to dress a woman with the
-slightest claim to distinction.”
-
-Mouret did not defend his house, still keeping his eyes on her, thinking
-to himself that she would never have dared to do such a thing. And it
-was Bouthemont who had to plead the cause of The Ladies' Paradise.
-
-“If all the aristocratic ladies who patronise us announced the fact,”
- replied he, gaily, “you would be astonished at our customers. Order a
-garment to measure at our place, it will equal one from Sauveur's, and
-will cost but half the money. But there, just because it's cheaper it's
-not so good.”
-
-“So it doesn't fit, this mantle you speak of?” resumed Madame de
-Boves. “Ah! now I remember the young person. It's rather dark in your
-ante-room.”
-
-“Yes,” added Madame Marty, “I was wondering where I had seen that
-figure. Well, go, my dear, don't stand on ceremony with us.”
-
-Henriette assumed a look of disdainful unconcern. “Oh, presently, there
-is no hurry.”
-
-The ladies continued to discuss the articles from the big shops. Then
-Madame de Boves spoke of her husband, who, she said, had gone to inspect
-the breeding depot at Saint-Lô; and just then Henriette was relating
-that through the illness of an aunt Madame Guibal had been suddenly
-called into Franche-Comté. Moreover, she did not reckon that day on
-Madame Bourdelais, who at the end of every month shut herself up with
-a needlewoman to look over her young people's under-linen. But Madame
-Marty seemed agitated with some secret trouble. Her husband's position
-at the Lycée Bonaparte was menaced, in consequence of lessons given by
-the poor man in certain doubtful institutions where a regular trade was
-carried on with the B.A. diplomas; the poor fellow picked up a pound
-where he could, feverishly, in order to meet the ruinous expenses which
-pillaged his household; and his wife, on seeing him weeping one evening
-in the fear of a dismissal, had conceived the idea of getting her friend
-Henriette to speak to a director at the Ministry of Public Instruction
-with whom she was acquainted. Henriette finished by quieting her with a
-few words. It was understood that Monsieur Marty was coming himself to
-know his fate and to thank her.
-
-“You look ill, Monsieur Mouret,” observed Madame de Boves.
-
-“Overwork!” repeated De Vallagnosc, with his ironical phlegm.
-
-Mouret quickly got up, as if ashamed at forgetting himself thus. He went
-and took his accustomed place in the midst of the ladies, summoning up
-all his agreeable talent. He was now occupied with the winter novelties,
-and spoke of a considerable arrival of lace; and Madame de Boves
-questioned him as to the price of Bruges lace: she felt inclined to buy
-some. She had now got so far as to economise the thirty-sous for a
-cab, often going home quite ill from the effects of stopping before the
-windows. Draped in a mantle which was already two years old she tried,
-in imagination, on her queenly shoulders all the dearest things she saw;
-and it was like tearing her flesh away when she awoke and found herself
-dressed in her patched, old dresses, without the slightest hope of ever
-satisfying her passion.
-
-“Baron Hartmann,” announced the man-servant.
-
-Henriette observed with what pleasure Mouret shook hands with the new
-arrival. The latter bowed to the ladies and looked at the young man with
-that subtle expression which sometimes illumined his big Alsatian face.
-
-“Always plunged in dress!” murmured he, with a smile. Then, like a
-friend of the house, he ventured to add, “There's a charming young girl
-in the ante-room. Who is it?”
-
-“Oh, nobody,” replied Madame Desforges, in her ill-natured voice. “Only
-a shop-girl waiting to see me.”
-
-But the door remained half open, the servant was bringing in the tea.
-He went out, came in again, placed the china service on the table,
-then some plates of sandwiches and biscuits. In the vast room, a bright
-light, softened by the green plants, illuminated the brass-work, bathing
-the silk hangings in a tender flame; and each time the door was opened
-one could perceive an obscure corner of the ante-room, which was only
-lighted by two ground-glass windows. There, in the darkness, appeared a
-sombre form, motionless and patient. It was Denise, still standing up;
-there was a leather-covered form there, but a feeling of pride prevented
-her sitting down on it. She felt the insult keenly. She had been there
-for the last half-hour, without a gesture, without a word. The ladies
-and the baron had taken stock of her in passing; she could now hear the
-voices from the drawingroom. All this amiable luxury wounded her with
-its indifference, and still she did not move. Suddenly, through the
-half-open door, she perceived Mouret, and he, on his side, had at last
-guessed it to be her.
-
-“Is it one of your saleswomen?” asked Baron Hartmann.
-
-Mouret had succeeded in concealing his great agitation; but his voice
-trembled somewhat with emotion: “No doubt; but I don't know which.”
-
-“It's the little fair girl from the ready-made department,” replied
-Madame Marty, obligingly, “the second-hand, I believe.”
-
-Henriette looked at Mouret in her turn.
-
-“Ah!” said he, simply.
-
-And he tried to change the conversation, speaking of the fêtes given to
-the King of Prussia then passing through Paris. But the baron returned
-maliciously to the young ladies in the big establishments. He affected
-to be desirous of gaining information, and put several questions: Where
-did they come from in general? Was their conduct as bad as it was said
-to be? Quite a discussion ensued.
-
-“Really,” he repeated, “you think them well behaved.”
-
-Mouret defended their virtue with a conviction which made De Vallagnosc
-smile. Bouthemont then interfered, to save his chief. Of course there
-were some of all sorts, bad and good. Formerly they had nothing but
-the refuse of the trade, a poor, vague class of girls drifted into the
-drapery business; whilst now, such respectable families as those living
-in the Rue de Sèvres, for instance, positively brought up their girls
-for the Bon Marche. In short, when they liked to conduct themselves
-well, they could, for they were not, like the work-girls of Paris,
-obliged to board and lodge themselves; they had bed and board, their
-existence was provided for, an existence excessively hard, no doubt.
-The worst of all was their neutral, badly-defined position, between the
-shop-woman and the lady. Thrown into the midst of luxury, often without
-any previous instruction, they formed a singular, nameless class. Their
-misfortunes and vices sprung from that.
-
-“I,” said Madame de Boves, “I don't know any creatures more
-disagreeable. Really, one could slap them sometimes.”
-
-And the ladies vented their spite. They devoured each other before the
-shop-counters; it was a question of woman against woman in the sharp
-rivalry of money and beauty. It was an ill-natured jealousy felt by the
-saleswomen towards the well-dressed customers, the ladies whose manners
-they tried to imitate, and a still stronger feeling on the part of the
-poorly-dressed customers, the lower-class ones, against the saleswomen,
-those girls dressed in silk, from whom they would have liked to exact a
-servant's humility when serving a ten sou purchase.
-
-“Don't speak of them,” said Henriette, by way of conclusion, “a wretched
-lot of beings ready to sell themselves the same as their goods.”
-
-[Illustration: 0423]
-
-Mouret had the strength to smile. The baron was looking at him, so
-touched by his graceful command over himself that he changed the
-conversation, returning to the fêtes to be given to the King of Prussia,
-saying they would be superb, the whole trade of Paris would profit by
-them. Henriette remained silent and thoughtful, divided between the
-desire to forget Denise in the ante-room, and the fear that Mouret, now
-aware of her presence, might go away. At last she quitted her chair.
-
-“You will allow me?”
-
-“Certainly, my dear,” replied Madame Marty. “I'll do the honours of the
-house for you.”
-
-She got up, took the teapot, and filled the cups. Henriette turned
-towards Baron Hartmann, saying: “You'll stay a few minutes, won't you?”
-
-“Yes; I want to speak to Monsieur Mouret. We are going to invade your
-little drawing-room.”
-
-She went out, and her black silk dress, rustling against the door,
-produced a noise like that of a snake wriggling through the brushwood.
-The baron at once manoeuvred to carry Mouret off, leaving the ladies to
-Bouthemont and De Vallagnosc. Then they stood talking before the window
-of the other room in a low tone. It was quite a fresh affair. For a long
-time Mouret had cherished a desire to realise his former project,
-the invasion of the whole block by The Ladies' Paradise, from the
-Rue Monsigny to the Rue de la Michodière and from the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin to the Rue du Dix-Décembre. There was still a vast
-piece of ground, in the latter street, remaining to be acquired, and
-that sufficed to spoil his triumph, he was tortured with the desire to
-complete his conquest, to erect there a sort of apotheosis, a monumental
-façade. As long as his principal entrance should remain in the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, in a dark street of old Paris, his work would be
-incomplete, wanting in logic. He wished to set it up before new Paris,
-in one of these modern avenues through which passed the busy crowd
-of the latter part of the nineteenth century. He saw it dominating,
-imposing itself as the giant palace of commerce, casting a greater
-shadow over the city than the old Louvre itself. But up to the present
-he had been baulked by the obstinacy of die Crédit Immobilier, which
-still held to its first idea of building a rival to the Grand Hôtel on
-this land. The plans were ready, they were only waiting for the clearing
-of the Rue du Dix-Décembre to commence the work. At last, by a supreme
-effort, Mouret had almost convinced Baron Hartmann.
-
-“Well!” commenced the latter, “we had a board-meeting yesterday, and I
-came to-day, thinking I should meet you, and being desirous of keeping
-you informed. They still resist.” The young man gave way to a nervous
-gesture. “But it's ridiculous. What do they say?”
-
-“Dear me! they say what I have said to you myself, and what I am still
-inclined to think. Your façade is only an ornament, the new buildings
-would only extend by about a tenth the surface of your establishment,
-and it would be throwing away immense sums on a mere advertisement.”
-
-At this Mouret burst out “An advertisement! an advertisement! In any
-case this will be in stone and outlive all of us. Just consider that it
-would increase our business tenfold! We should see our money back in
-two years. What matters about what you call the wasted ground, if this
-ground returns you an enormous interest! You will see the crowd,
-when our customers are no longer obliged to struggle through the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin, but can freely pass down a thoroughfare large
-enough for six carriages abreast.”
-
-“No doubt,” replied the baron, laughing. “But you are a poet in your
-way, let me tell you once more. These gentlemen think it would be
-dangerous to further extend your business.' They want to be prudent for
-you.”
-
-“What do they mean? Prudent! I don't understand. Don't the figures show
-the constant progression of our business? At first, with a capital
-of five hundred thousand francs, I did business to the extent of two
-millions, turning the capital over four times. It then became four
-million francs, which, turned over ten times, has produced business to
-the extent of forty millions. In short, after successive increases,
-I have just learnt, from the last stock-taking, that the amount of
-business done now amounts to a total of eighty millions; thus
-the capital, only slightly increased--for it does not exceed six
-millions--has passed over our counters in the form of more than twelve
-times.”
-
-He raised his voice, tapping the fingers of his right hand on the palm
-of his left hand, knocking down these millions as he would have cracked
-a few nuts. The baron interrupted him.
-
-“I know, I know. But you don't hope to keep on increasing in this way,
-do you?”
-
-“Why not?” asked Mouret, ingenuously. “There's no reason why it should
-stop. The capital can be turned over as often as fifteen times. I
-predicted as much long ago. In certain departments it can be turned over
-twenty-five or thirty times. And after? well! after, we'll find a means
-of turning it over more than that.”
-
-“So you'll finish by drinking up all the money in Paris, as you'd drink
-a glass of water?”
-
-“Most decidedly. Doesn't Paris belong to the women, and don't the women
-belong to us?”
-
-The baron laid his hands on Mouret's shoulders, looking at him with a
-paternal air. “Listen, you're a fine fellow, and I am really fond of
-you. There's no resisting you. We'll go into the matter seriously, and I
-hope to make them listen to reason. Up to the present, we are perfectly
-satisfied with you. Your dividends astonish the Bourse. You must be
-right; it will be better to put more money into your business, than to
-risk this competition with the Grand Hôtel, which is hazardous.”
-
-Mouret's excitement subsided at once; he thanked the baron, but without
-any of his usual enthusiasm; and the latter saw him turn his eyes
-towards the door of the next room, again seized with the secret
-anxiety which he was concealing. However, De Vallagnosc had come up,
-understanding that they had finished talking business. He stood close to
-them, listening to the baron, who was murmuring with the gallant air of
-an old man who had seen life:
-
-“I say, I fancy they're taking their revenge.”
-
-“Who?” asked Mouret, embarrassed.
-
-“Why, the women. They're getting tired of belonging to you; you now
-belong to them, my dear fellow; it's only just!” He joked him, well
-aware of the young man's notorious love affairs: the mansion bought
-for the actress, the enormous sums squandered with girls picked up in
-private supper rooms, amused him as an excuse for the follies he had
-formerly committed himself. His old experience rejoiced.
-
-“Really, I don't understand,” repeated Mouret.
-
-“Oh! you understand well enough. They always get the last word. In fact,
-I said to myself: It isn't possible, he's boasting he can't be so strong
-as that! And there you are! Bleed the women, work them as you would a
-coal mine, and what for? In order that they may work you afterwards, and
-force you to refund at last! Take care, for they'll draw more blood and
-money from you than you have ever sucked from them.”
-
-He laughed louder still; and De Vallagnosc was also grinning, without,
-however, saying a word.
-
-“Dear me! one must have a taste of everything,” confessed Mouret, at
-last, pretending to laugh as well. “Money is so stupid, if it isn't
-spent.”
-
-“As for that, I agree with you,” resumed the baron. “Enjoy yourself, my
-dear fellow, I'll not be the one to preach to you, nor to tremble for
-the great interests we have confided to your care. Every one must sow
-his wild oats, and his head is generally clearer afterwards. Besides,
-there's nothing unpleasant in ruining one's self when one feels capable
-of building up another fortune. But if money is nothing, there are
-certain sufferings----”
-
-He stopped, his smile became sad, former sufferings presented themselves
-amid the irony of his scepticism. He had watched the duel between
-Henriette and Mouret with the curiosity of one who still felt greatly
-interested in other people's love battles; and he felt that the crisis
-had arrived, he guessed the drama, well acquainted with the story of
-this Denise, whom he had seen in the ante-room.
-
-“Oh! as for suffering, that's not in my line,” said Mouret, in a tone of
-bravado. “It's quite enough to pay.”
-
-The baron looked at him for a moment without speaking. Without wishing
-to insist on his discreet allusion he added, slowly--“Don't make
-yourself worse than you are! You'll lose something else besides your
-money at that game. Yes, you'll lose a part of yourself, my dear
-fellow.” He stopped, again laughing, to ask, “That often happens,
-doesn't it, Monsieur de Vallagnosc?”
-
-“So they say, baron,” the young man simply replied.
-
-Just at this moment the door was opened. Mouret, who was going to reply,
-slightly started. The three men turned round. It was Madame Desforges,
-looking very gay, putting her head through the doorway to call, in a
-hurried voice--
-
-“Monsieur Mouret! Monsieur Mouret!” Then, when she perceived the three
-men, she added, “Oh! you'll excuse me, won't you, gentlemen? I'm going
-to take Monsieur Mouret away for a minute. The least he can do, as
-he has sold me a frightful mantle, is to give me the benefit of his
-experience. This girl is a stupid, without the least idea. Come, come!
-I'm waiting for you.”
-
-He hesitated, undecided, flinching before the scene he could foresee.
-But he had to obey. The baron said to him, with his air at once paternal
-and mocking, “Go, my dear fellow, go, madame wants you.”
-
-Mouret followed her. The door closed, and he thought he could hear De
-Vallagnosc's grin stifled by the hangings. His courage was entirely
-exhausted. Since Henriette had quitted the drawing-room, and he knew
-Denise was alone in the house in jealous hands, he had experienced a
-growing anxiety, a nervous torment, which made him listen from time to
-time as if suddenly startled by a distant sound of weeping. What could
-this woman invent to torture her? And his whole love, this love which
-surprised him even now, went out to the young girl like a support and
-a consolation. Never had he loved her so strongly, with that charm so
-powerful in suffering. His former affections, his love for Henriette
-herself--so delicate, so handsome, the possession of whom was so
-flattering to his pride--had never been more than agreeable pastimes,
-frequently a calculation, in which he sought nothing but a profitable
-pleasure. He used quietly to leave his mistresses and go home to bed,
-happy in his bachelor liberty, without a regret or a care on his mind;
-whilst now his heart beat with anguish, his life was taken, he no longer
-enjoyed the forgetfulness of sleep in his great, solitary bed. Denise
-was his only thought. Even at this moment she was the sole object of
-his anxiety, and he was telling himself that he preferred to be there to
-protect her, notwithstanding his fear of some regrettable scene with the
-other one.
-
-At first, they both crossed the bed-room, silent and empty. Then Madame
-Desforges, pushing open a door, entered the dressing-room, followed by
-Mouret. It was a rather large room, hung with red silk, furnished with
-a marble toilet table and a large wardrobe with three compartments and
-great glass doors. As the window looked into the yard, it was already
-rather dark, and the two nickel-plated gas burners on either side of the
-wardrobe had been lighted.
-
-“Now, let's see,” said Henriette, “perhaps we shall get on better. This
-girl is a stupid, without the least idea. Come, come! I'm waiting for
-you.”
-
-On entering, Mouret had found Denise standing upright, in the middle of
-the bright light. She was very pale, dressed in a cashmere jacket, and a
-black hat.
-
-He hesitated, undecided, flinching before the scene he could foresee.
-But he had to obey. The baron said to him, with his air at once paternal
-and mocking, “Go, my dear fellow, go, madame wants you.”
-
-Mouret followed her. The door closed, and he thought he could hear De
-Vallagnosc's grin stifled by the hangings. His courage was entirely
-exhausted. Since Henriette had quitted the drawing-room, and he knew
-Denise was alone in the house in jealous hands, he had experienced a
-growing anxiety, a nervous torment, which made him listen from time to
-time as if suddenly startled by a distant sound of weeping. What could
-this woman invent to torture her? And his whole love, this love which
-surprised him even now, went out to the young girl like a support and
-a consolation. Never had he loved her so strongly, with that charm so
-powerful in suffering. His former affections, his love for Henriette
-herself--so delicate, so handsome, the possession of whom was so
-flattering to his pride--had never been more than agreeable pastimes,
-frequently a calculation, in which he sought nothing but a profitable
-pleasure. He used quietly to leave his mistresses and go home to bed,
-happy in his bachelor liberty, without a regret or a care on his mind;
-whilst now his heart beat with anguish, his life was taken, he no longer
-enjoyed the forgetfulness of sleep in his great, solitary bed. Denise
-was his only thought. Even at this moment she was the sole object of
-his anxiety, and he was telling himself that he preferred to be there to
-protect her, notwithstanding his fear of some regrettable scene with the
-other one.
-
-At first, they both crossed the bed-room, silent and empty. Then Madame
-Desforges, pushing open a door, entered the dressing-room, followed by
-Mouret. It was a rather large room, hung with red silk, furnished with
-a marble toilet table and a large wardrobe with three compartments and
-great glass doors. As the window looked into the yard, it was already
-rather dark, and the two nickel-plated gas burners on either side of the
-wardrobe had been lighted.
-
-“Now, let's see,” said Henriette, “perhaps we shall get on better.”
-
-On entering Mouret had found Denise standing upright, in the middle of
-a bright light. She was very pale, modestly dressed in a cashmere jacket
-with a black hat, and was holding on one arm the mantle bought at The
-Ladies Paradise. When she saw the young man her hands slightly trembled.
-
-“I wish Monsieur Mouret to judge,” resumed Henriette. “Just help me,
-mademoiselle.”
-
-And Denise, approaching, had to give her the mantle. She had already
-placed some pins on the shoulders, the part that did not fit. Henriette
-turned round to look at herself in the glass.
-
-“Is it possible? Speak frankly.”
-
-“It really is a failure, madame,” said Mouret, to cut the matter short.
-“It's very simple; the young lady will take your measure, and we will
-make you another.”
-
-“No, I want this one, I want it immediately,” resumed she, with
-vivacity. “But it's too narrow across the chest, and it forms a ruck at
-the back between the shoulders.” Then, in her sharpest voice, she added:
-“It's no use you standing looking at me, mademoiselle, that won't make
-it any better! Try and find a remedy. It's your business.”
-
-Denise again commenced to place the pins, without saying a word. That
-went on for some time: she had to pass from one shoulder to the other,
-and was even obliged to go almost on her knees, to pull the mantle down
-in front. Above her placing herself entirely in Denise's hands, Madame
-Desforges gave her face the harsh expression of a mistress exceedingly
-difficult to please. Delighted to lower the young girl to this servant's
-work, she gave her sharp and brief orders, watching for the least sign
-of suffering on Mouret's face.
-
-“Put a pin here! No! not there, here, near the sleeve. You don't seem
-to understand! That isn't it, there's the ruck showing again. Take care,
-you're pricking me now!”
-
-Twice had Mouret vainly attempted to interfere, to put an end to this
-scene. His heart was beating violently from this humiliation of his
-love; and he loved Denise more than ever, with a deep tenderness, in
-the presence of her admirably silent and patient attitude. If the young
-girl's hands still trembled somewhat, at being treated in this way
-before his face, she accepted the necessities of her position with the
-proud resignation of a courageous girl. When Madame Desforges found
-they were not likely to betray themselves, she tried another way, she
-commenced to smile on Mouret, treating him openly as her lover. The pins
-having run short, she said to him:
-
-“Look, my dear, in the ivory box on the dressing-table. Really! it's
-empty? Kindly see on the chimney-piece in the bed-room; you know, at the
-corner of the looking-glass.”
-
-She spoke as if he were quite at home, in the habit of sleeping there,
-and knew where to find everything, even the brushes and combs. When he
-brought back a few pins, she took them one by one, and forced him to
-stay near her, looking at him and speaking low.
-
-“I don't fancy I'm hump-backed. Give me your hand, feel my shoulders,
-just to please me. Am I really made like that?”
-
-Denise slowly raised her eyes, paler than ever, and set about placing
-the pins in silence. Mouret could only see her blonde tresses, twisted
-at the back of her delicate neck; but by the slight shudder which was
-raising them, he thought he could perceive the uneasiness and shame of
-her face. Now, she would certainly repulse him, and send him back to
-this woman, who did not conceal her connection even before strangers.
-Brutal thoughts came into his head, he could have struck Henriette. How
-was he to stop her talk? How should he tell Denise that he adored her,
-that she alone existed for him at this moment, and that he was ready to
-sacrifice for her all his former affections? The worst of women would
-not have indulged in the equivocal familiarities of this well-born lady.
-He took his hand away, and drew back, saying:
-
-“You are wrong to go so far, madame, since I myself consider the garment
-to be a failure.”
-
-One of the gas-burners was hissing, and in the stuffy, moist air of the
-room, nothing else was heard but this ardent breath. The looking-glasses
-threw large sheets of light on the red silk hangings, on which were
-dancing the shadows of the two women. A bottle of verbena, of which the
-cork had been left out, spread a vague odour, something like that of a
-fading bouquet.
-
-“There, madame, I can do no more,” said Denise, at last, rising up.
-
-She felt thoroughly worn out. Twice she had run the pins in her fingers,
-as if blinded, her eyes in a mist. Was he in the plot? Had he sent for
-her, to avenge himself for her refusal, by showing that other women
-loved him? And this thought chilled her; she never remembered to have
-stood in need of so much courage, not even during the terrible hours of
-her life when she wanted for bread. It was comparatively nothing to be
-humiliated, but to see him almost in the arms of another woman, as if
-she had not been there! Henriette looked at herself in the glass, and
-once more broke out into harsh words.
-
-“But it's absurd, mademoiselle. It fits worse than ever. Just look how
-tight it is across the chest I look like a wet nurse.”
-
-Denise, losing all patience, made a rather unfortunate remark. “You are
-slightly stout, madame. We cannot make you thinner than you are.”
-
-“Stout! stout!” exclaimed Henriette, who now turned pale in her turn.
-“You're becoming insolent, mademoiselle. Really, I should advise you to
-criticise others!”
-
-They both stood looking at each other, face to face, trembling. There
-was now neither lady or shop-girl. They were simply two women, made
-equal by their rivalry. The one had violently taken off the mantle and
-cast it on a chair, whilst the other was throwing on the dressing-table
-the few pins she had in her hands.
-
-“What astonishes me,” resumed Henriette, “is that Monsieur Mouret should
-tolerate such insolence. I thought, sir, that you were more particular
-about your employees.”
-
-Denise had again assumed her brave, calm manner. She gently replied:
-“If Monsieur Mouret keeps me, it's because he has no fault to find. I am
-ready to apologise to you, if he wishes it.”
-
-Mouret was listening, excited by this quarrel, unable to find a word to
-put a stop to it. He had a great horror of these explanations between
-women, their asperity wounding his sense of elegance and gracefulness.
-Henriette wished to force him to say something in condemnation of the
-young girl; and, as he remained mute, still undecided, she stung him
-with a final insult:
-
-“Very good, sir. It seems that I must suffer the insolence of your
-mistresses in my own house even! A girl you've picked up out of the
-gutter!”
-
-Two big tears gushed from Denise's eyes. She had kept them back for some
-time, but her whole being succumbed beneath this last insult. When he
-saw her weeping like that, without the slightest attempt at retaliation,
-with a silent, despairing dignity, Mouret no longer hesitated, his heart
-went out towards her in an immense burst of tenderness. He took her
-hands in his and stammered:
-
-“Go away immediately, my child, and forget this house!”
-
-Henriette, perfectly amazed, choking with anger, stood looking at them.
-
-“Wait a minute,” continued he, folding up the mantle himself, “take this
-garment away. Madame can buy another elsewhere. And pray don't cry any
-more. You know how much I esteem you.”
-
-He went with her to the door, which he closed after her. She had not
-said a word; but a pink flame had coloured her cheeks, whilst her eyes
-were wet with fresh tears, tears of a delicious sweetness. Henriette,
-who was suffocating, had taken out her handkerchief and was crushing
-her lips with it. This was a total overthrowing of her calculations, she
-herself had been caught in the trap she had laid. She was mortified with
-herself for having pushed the matter too far, tortured with jealousy.
-To be abandoned for such a creature as that! To see herself disdained
-before her! Her pride suffered more than her love.
-
-“So, it's that girl that you love?” said she, painfully, when they were
-alone.
-
-Mouret did not reply at once; he was walking about from the window to
-the door, as if absorbed by some violent emotion. At last he stopped,
-and very politely, in a voice which he tried to render cold, he replied
-with simplicity: “Yes, madame.”
-
-The gas burner was still hissing in the stifling air of the
-dressing-room. But the reflex of the glasses were no longer traversed
-by dancing shadows, the room seemed bare, of a heavy dulness. Henriette
-suddenly dropped on a chair, twisting her handkerchief in her febrile
-fingers, repeating amidst her sobs:
-
-“Good heavens! How miserable I am!”
-
-He stood looking at her for several seconds, and then went away quietly.
-She, left all alone, wept on in silence, before the pins scattered over
-the dressing-table and the floor.
-
-When Mouret returned to the little drawing-room, he found De Vallagnosc
-alone, the baron having gone back to the ladies. As he felt himself very
-agitated still, he sat down at the further end of the room, on a sofa;
-and his friend, seeing him turn pale, charitably came and stood before
-him, to conceal him from curious eyes. At first, they looked at each
-other without saying a word. Then De Vallagnosc, who seemed to be
-inwardly amused at Mouret's confusion, finished by asking in his
-bantering voice:
-
-“Are you still enjoying yourself?”
-
-Mouret did not appear to understand him at first. But when he remembered
-their former conversations on the empty stupidity and the useless
-torture of life, he replied: “Of course, I've never before lived so
-much. Ah! my boy, don't you laugh, the hours that make one die of
-grief are by far the shortest.” He lowered his voice, continuing gaily,
-beneath his half-wiped tears: “Yes, you know all, don't you? Between
-them they have rent my heart. But yet it's nice, as nice as kisses, the
-wounds they make. I am thoroughly worn out; but, no matter, you can't
-think how I love life! Oh! I shall win her at last, this little girl who
-still says no!”
-
-De Vallagnosc simply said: “And after?”
-
-“After? Why, I shall have her! Isn't that enough? If you think yourself
-strong, because you refuse to be stupid and to suffer, you make a great
-mistake! You are merely a dupe, my boy, nothing more! Try and long for
-a woman and win her at last: that pays you in one minute for all your
-misery,” But De Vallagnosc once more trotted out his pessimism. What was
-the good of working so much if money could not buy everything? He would
-very soon have shut up shop and given up work for ever, the day he found
-out that his millions could not even buy the woman he wanted! Mouret,
-listening to him, became grave. Then he set off violently, he believed
-in the all-powerfulness of his will.
-
-“I want her, and I'll have her! And if she escapes me, you'll see what
-a place I shall have built to cure myself. It will be splendid, all the
-same. You don't understand this language, old man, otherwise you would
-know that action contains its own recompense. To act, to create, to
-struggle against facts, to overcome them or be overthrown by them, all
-human health and joy consists in that!”
-
-“Simple method of diverting one's self,” murmured the other.
-
-“Well, I prefer diverting myself. As one must die, I would rather die of
-passion than boredom!”
-
-They both laughed, this reminded them of their old discussions at
-college. De Vallagnosc, in an effeminate voice, then commenced to parade
-his theories of the insipidity of things, investing with a sort of
-fanfaronade the immobility and emptiness of his existence. Yes, he
-dragged on from day to day at the office, in three years he had had
-a rise of six hundred francs; he was now receiving three thousand six
-hundred, barely enough to pay for his cigars; it was getting worse than
-ever, and if he did not kill himself, it was simply from a dislike of
-all trouble. Mouret having spoken of his marriage with Mademoiselle
-de Boves, he replied that notwithstanding the obstinacy of the aunt
-in refusing to die, the matter was going to be concluded; at least, he
-thought so, the parents were agreed, and he was ready to do anything
-they might tell him to do. What was the use of wishing or not wishing,
-since things never turned out as one desired? He quoted as an example
-his future father-in-law, who expected to find in Madame Guibal an
-indolent blonde, the caprice of an hour, but who was now led by her with
-a whip, like an old horse on its last legs. Whilst they supposed him to
-be busy inspecting the stud at Saint-Lo, she was squandering his last
-resources in a little house hired by him at Versailles.'
-
-“He's happier than you,” said Mouret, getting up.
-
-“Oh! rather!” declared De Vallagnosc. “Perhaps it's only doing wrong
-that's somewhat amusing.”
-
-Mouret had now recovered his spirits. He was thinking about getting
-away; but not wishing his departure to resemble a flight he resolved to
-take a cup of tea, and went into the other drawing-room with his friend,
-both in high spirits. The baron asked him if the mantle had been made to
-fit, and Mouret replied, carelessly, that he gave it up as far as he was
-concerned. They all seemed astonished. Whilst Madame Marty hastened to
-serve him, Madame de Boves accused the shops of always keeping their
-garments too narrow. At last, he managed to sit down near Bouthemont,
-who had not stirred. They were forgotten for a moment, and, in reply to
-anxious questions put by Bouthemont, desirous of knowing what he had
-to say to him, Mouret did not wait to get into the street, but abruptly
-informed him that the board of directors had decided to deprive
-themselves of his services. Between each phrase he drank a drop of tea,
-protesting all the while that he was in despair. Oh! a quarrel that he
-had not even then got over, for he had left the meeting beside himself
-with rage. But what could he do? he could not break with these gentlemen
-about a simple question of staff. Bouthemont, very pale, had to thank
-him once more.
-
-“What a terrible mantle,” observed Madame Marty. “Henriette can't get
-over it.”
-
-And really, this prolonged absence began to make every one feel awkward.
-But, at that very moment, Madame Desforges appeared.
-
-“So you've given it up as well?” cried Madame de Boves, gaily.
-
-“How do you mean?”
-
-“Why, Monsieur Mouret told us you could do nothing with it.”
-
-Henriette affected the greatest surprise. “Monsieur Mouret was joking.
-The mantle will fit splendidly.”
-
-They had again returned to the big shops. Mouret had to give his
-opinion; he came up to them and affected to be very just The Bon Marche
-was an excellent house, solid, respectable, but the Louvre certainly had
-a more aristocratic class of customers.
-
-“In short, you prefer The Ladies' Paradise,” said the baron, smiling.
-
-“Yes,” replied Mouret, quietly. “There we really love our customers.”
-
-All the women present were of his opinion. It was just that, they were
-at a sort of private party at The Ladies' Paradise, they felt, there a
-continual caress of flattery, an overflowing adoration which detained
-the most dignified and virtuous woman. The enormous success of the
-establishment sprung from this gallant seduction.
-
-“By the way,” asked Henriette, who wished to appear entirely at
-her ease, “what have you done with my protege. Monsieur Mouret? You
-know--Mademoiselle de Fontenailles.” And turning towards Madame Marty
-she explained, “A maricheness, poor girl, fallen into poverty.”
-
-“Oh!” said Mouret, “she earns three francs a day stitching.”
-
-De Vallagnosc wished to interfere for a joke. “Don't push him too far,
-madame, or he'll tell you that all the old families of France ought to
-sell calico.”
-
-“Well,” declared Mouret, “it would at least be an honourable end for a
-great many of them.”
-
-They set up a laugh, the paradox seemed rather strong. He continued to
-sing the praises of what he called the aristocracy of work. A slight
-flush had coloured Madame de Boves's cheeks, she was wild at the shifts
-she was put to by her poverty; whilst Madame Marty on the contrary
-approved, stricken with remorse on thinking of her poor husband. The
-footman had just ushered in the professor, who had called to take her
-home. He was drier, more emaciated than ever by his hard labour, and
-still wore his thin shining frock coat. When he had thanked Madame
-Desforges for having spoken for him at the Ministry, he cast at Mouret
-the timid glance of a man meeting the evil that is to kill him. And he
-was quite confused when he heard the latter asking him:
-
-“Isn't it true, sir, that work leads to everything?”
-
-“Work and economy,” replied he, with a slight shivering of his whole
-body. “Add economy, sir.”
-
-Meanwhile, Bouthemont had not moved from his chair, Mouret's words
-were still ringing in his ears. He at last got up, and went and said
-to Henriette in a low tone: “You know, he's given me notice; oh! in the
-kindest possible manner. But may I be hanged if he sha'n't repent it!
-I've just found my sign, The Four Seasons, and shall plant myself close
-to the Opera House!”
-
-She looked at him with a gloomy expression. “Reckon on me, I'm with you.
-Wait a minute.” And she immediately drew Baron Hartmann into the recess
-of a window, and boldly recommended Bouthemont to him, as a fellow
-who was going to revolutionise Paris, in his turn, by setting up for
-himself. When she spoke of an advance of funds for her new protegee, the
-baron, though now astonished at nothing, could not suppress a gesture of
-bewilderment. This was the fourth fellow of genius she had confided to
-him, and he began to feel himself ridiculous. But he did not directly
-refuse, the idea of starting a competitor to The Ladies' Paradise even
-pleased him somewhat; for he had already invented, in banking matters,
-this sort of competition, to keep off others. Besides, the adventure
-amused him, and he promised to look into the matter.
-
-“We must talk it over to-night,” whispered Henriette, returning to
-Bouthemont. “Don't fail to call about nine o'clock. The baron is with
-us.”
-
-At this moment the vast room was foil of voices. Mouret still standing
-up, in the midst of the ladies, had recovered his habitual elegant
-gracefulness, and was gaily defending himself from the charge of ruining
-them in dress, offering to prove by the figures that he enabled them
-to save thirty per cent on their purchases. Baron Hartmann watched him,
-seized with the fraternal admiration of a former man about town. Come!
-the duel was finished, Henriette was decidedly beaten, she certainly was
-not the coming woman. And he thought he could see the modest profile of
-the young girl whom he had observed on passing through the ante-room.
-She was there, patient, alone, redoubtable in her sweetness.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-It was on the 25th of September that the building of the new façade
-of The Ladies' Paradise was commenced. Baron Hartmann, according to his
-promise, had had the matter settled at the last general meeting of
-the Crédit Immobilier. And Mouret was at length going to enjoy the
-realisation of his dreams; this façade, about to arise in the Rue du
-Dix-Décembre, was like the very blossoming of his fortune. He wished,
-therefore, to celebrate the laying of the first stone, to make a
-ceremony of the work, and he distributed gratuities amongst his
-employees, and gave them game and champagne for dinner in the evening.
-Every one noticed his wonderfully good humour during the ceremony, his
-victorious gesture as he laid the first stone, with a flourish of the
-trowel. For weeks he had been anxious, agitated by a nervous torment
-that he did not always succeed in concealing; and his triumph served
-as a respite, a distraction in his suffering. During the afternoon he
-seemed to have returned to his former healthy gaiety. But, after dinner,
-when he went through the refectory to drink a glass of champagne with
-his staff, he appeared feverish again, smiling with a painful look, his
-features drawn up by the unavowed pain that was devouring him. He was
-once more mastered by it.
-
-The next day, in the ready-made department, Clara tried to be
-disagreeable with Denise. She had noticed Colomban's bashful passion,
-and took it into her head to joke about the Baudus. As Marguerite was
-sharpening her pencil while waiting for customers, she said to her, in a
-loud voice:
-
-“You know my lover opposite. It really grieves me to see him in that
-dark shop, where no one ever enters.”
-
-“He's not so badly off,” replied Marguerite, “he's going to marry the
-governor's daughter.”
-
-“Oh! oh!” replied Clara, “it would be good fun to lead him astray, then!
-I'll try the game on, my word of honour!” And she continued in the
-same strain, happy to feel Denise was shocked. The latter forgave her
-everything else; but the idea of her dying cousin Geneviève, finished
-by this cruelty, threw her into an indignant rage. At that moment a
-customer came in, and as Madame Aurélie had just gone downstairs, she
-took the direction of the counter, and called Clara.
-
-“Mademoiselle Prunaire, you had better attend to this lady instead of
-gossiping there.”
-
-“I wasn't gossiping.”
-
-“Have the kindness to hold your tongue, and attend to this lady
-immediately.”
-
-Clara gave in, conquered. When Denise showed her authority, quietly,
-without raising her voice, not one of them resisted. She had acquired
-absolute authority by her very moderation and sweetness. For a moment
-she walked up and down in silence, amidst the young ladies, who had
-become very serious. Marguerite had resumed sharpening her pencil, the
-point of which was always breaking. She alone continued to approve of
-Denise's resistance to Mouret, shaking her head, not acknowledging
-the baby she had had, but declaring that if they had any idea of the
-consequences of such a thing, they would prefer to remain virtuous.
-
-“What! you're getting angry?” said a voice behind Denise.
-
-It was Pauline, who was crossing the department. She had noticed the
-scene, and spoke in a low tone, smiling.
-
-“But I'm obliged to,” replied Denise in the same tone, “I can't manage
-them otherwise.”
-
-Pauline shrugged her shoulders. “Nonsense, you can be queen over all of
-us whenever you like.”
-
-She was still unable to understand her friend's refusal. Since the end
-of August, Pauline had been married to Baugé, a most stupid affair,
-she would sometimes gaily remark. The terrible Bourdoncle treated her
-anyhow, now, considering her as lost for trade. Her only terror was that
-they might one fine day send them to love each other elsewhere, for
-the managers had decreed love to be execrable and fatal to business.
-So great was her fear, that, when she met Baugé in the galleries,
-she affected not to know him. She had just had a fright--old Jouve had
-nearly caught her talking to her husband behind a pile of dusters.
-
-“See! he's followed me,” added she, after having hastily related the
-adventure to Denise. “Just look at him scenting me out with his big
-nose!”
-
-Jouve, in fact, was then coming from the lace department, correctly
-arrayed in a white tie, his nose on the scent for some delinquent.
-But when he saw Denise he assumed a knowing air, and passed by with an
-amiable smile.
-
-“Saved!” murmured Pauline. “My dear, you made him swallow that! I say,
-if anything should happen to me, you would speak for me, wouldn't you!
-Yes, yes, don't put on that astonished air, we know that a word from you
-would revolutionise the house.”
-
-And she ran off to her counter. Denise had blushed, troubled by these
-amicable allusions. It was true, however. She had a vague sensation of
-her power by the flatteries with which she was surrounded. When Madame
-Aurélie returned, and found the department quiet and busy under the
-surveillance of the second-hand, she smiled at her amicably. She threw
-over Mouret himself, her amiability increased daily for this young girl
-who might one fine morning desire her situation as first-hand. Denise's
-reign was commencing.
-
-Bourdoncle alone still stood out. In the secret war which he continued
-to carry on against the young girl, there was in the first place a
-natural antipathy, he detested her for her gentleness and her charm.
-Then he fought against her as a fatal influence which would place
-the house in peril the day when Mouret should succumb. The governor's
-commercial genius seemed bound to sink amidst this stupid affection:
-what they had gained by women would be swallowed up by this woman. None
-of them touched his heart, he treated them with the disdain of a man
-without passion, whose trade is to live on them, and who had had his
-last illusions dispelled by seeing them too closely in the miseries of
-his traffic. Instead of intoxicating him, the odour of these seventy
-thousand customers gave him frightful headaches: and so soon as he
-reached home he beat his mistresses. And what made him especially
-anxious in the presence of this little saleswoman, who had gradually
-become so redoubtable, was that he did not in the least believe in her
-disinterestedness, in the genuineness of her refusals. For him she was
-playing a part, the most skilful of parts; for if she had yielded at
-once, Mouret would doubtless have forgotten her the next day; whilst by
-refusing, she had goaded his desires, rendering him mad, capable of any
-folly. An artful jade, a woman learned in vice, would not have acted any
-different to this pattern of innocence.
-
-Thus Bourdoncle could never catch sight of her, with her clear eyes,
-sweet face, and simple attitude, without being seized with a real fear,
-as if he had before him some disguised female flesh-eater, the sombre
-enigma of woman, Death in the guise of a virgin. In what way could he
-confound the tactics of this false novice? He was now only anxious to
-penetrate her artful ways, in the hope of exposing them to the light of
-day. She would certainly commit some fault, he would surprise her with
-one of her lovers, and she should again be dismissed. The house would
-then resume its regular working like a well wound-up machine.
-
-“Keep a good look-out, Monsieur Jouve,” repeated Bourdoncle to the
-inspector. “I'll take care that you shall be rewarded.”
-
-But Jouve was somewhat lukewarm, he knew something about women, and was
-asking himself whether he had not better take the part of this young
-girl, who might be the future sovereign mistress of the place. Though he
-did not now dare to touch her, he still thought her bewitchingly pretty.
-His colonel in bygone days had killed himself for a similar little
-thing, with an insignificant face, delicate and modest, one look from
-whom ravaged all hearts.
-
-“I do,” replied he. “But, on my word, I cannot discover anything.”
-
-And yet stories were circulating, there was quite a stream of abominable
-tittle-tattle running beneath the flattery and respect Denise felt
-arising around her. The whole house now declared that she had formerly
-had Hutin for a lover; no one could swear that the intimacy still
-continued, but they were suspected of meeting from time to time. Deloche
-also was said to sleep with her, they were continually meeting in dark
-corners, talking for hours together. It was quite a scandal!
-
-“So, nothing about the first-hand in the silk department, nor about the
-young man in the lace one?” asked Bourdoncle.
-
-“No, sir, nothing yet,” replied the inspector.
-
-It was with Deloche especially that Bourdoncle expected to surprise
-Denise. One morning he himself had caught them laughing together
-downstairs. In the meantime, he treated her on a footing of perfect
-equality, for he no longer disdained her, he felt her to be strong
-enough to overthrow even him, notwithstanding his ten years' service, if
-he lost the game.
-
-“Keep your eye on the young man in the lace department,” concluded he
-each time. “They are always together. If you catch them, call me, I'll
-manage the rest.”
-
-Mouret, however, was living in anguish. Was it possible that this child
-could torture him in this manner? He could always recall her arriving at
-The Ladies' Paradise, with her big shoes, thin black dress, and savage
-airs. She stammered, they all used to laugh at her, he himself had
-thought her ugly at first. Ugly! and now she could have brought him on
-his knees by a look, he thought her nothing less than an angel! Then she
-had remained the last in the house, repulsed, joked at, treated by him
-as a curious specimen of humanity. For months he had wanted to see how
-a girl sprung up, and had amused himself at this experiment, without
-understanding that he was risking his heart. She, little by little grew
-up, became redoubtable. Perhaps he had loved her from the first moment,
-even at the time he thought he felt nothing but pity for her. And yet he
-had only really begun to feel this love the evening of their walk under
-the chestnut trees of the Tuileries. His life started from there, he
-could still hear the laughing of a group of little girls, the distant
-fall of a jet of water, whilst in the warm shade she walked on beside
-him in silence. After that he knew no more, his fever had increased hour
-by hour; all his blood, his whole being, in fact, was sacrificed. And
-for such a child--was it possible? When she passed him now, the slight
-wind from her dress seemed so powerful that he staggered.
-
-For a long time he had struggled, and even now he frequently became
-indignant, endeavouring to extricate himself from this idiotic
-possession. What secret had she to be able to bind him in this way? Had
-he not seen her without boots? Had she not been received almost out of
-charity? He could have understood it had it been a question of one of
-those superb creatures who charm the crowd, but this little girl; this
-nobody! She had, in short, one of those insignificant faces which excite
-no remark. She could not even be very intelligent, for he remembered her
-bad beginning as a saleswoman. But, after every explosion of anger, he
-had experienced a relapse of passion, like a sacred terror at having
-insulted his idol. She possessed everything that renders a woman
-good--courage, gaiety, simplicity; and there exhaled from her
-gentleness, a charm of a penetrating, perfume-like subtlety. One might
-at first ignore her, or elbow her like any other girl; but the charm
-soon began to act, with a slow invincible force; one belonged to her for
-ever, if she deigned to smile. Everything then smiled in her white face,
-her pretty eyes, her cheeks and chin full of dimples; whilst her heavy
-blonde hair seemed to light up also, with a royal and conquering beauty.
-He acknowledged himself vanquished; she was as intelligent as she was
-beautiful, her intelligence came from the best part of her being. Whilst
-the other saleswomen had only a superficial education, the varnish which
-scales off from girls of that class, she, without any false elegance,
-retained her native grace, the savour of her origin. The most complete
-commercial ideas sprang up from her experience, under this narrow
-forehead, the pure lines of which clearly announced the presence of a
-firm will and a love of order. And he could have clasped his hands to
-ask her pardon for having blasphemed her during his hours of revolt.
-
-Why did she still refuse with such obstinacy. Twenty times had he
-entreated her, increasing his offers, offering money and more money.
-Then, thinking she must be ambitious, he had promised to appoint her
-first-hand, as soon as there should be a vacant department And she
-refused, and still she refused Î For him it was a stupor, a struggle
-in which his desire became enraged. Such an adventure appeared to him
-impossible, this child would certainly finish by yielding, for he had
-always regarded a woman's virtue as a relative matter. He could see no
-other object, everything disappeared before this necessity: to have
-her at last in his room, to take her on his knees, and, kiss her on her
-lips; and at this vision, the blood of his veins ran quick and strong,
-he trembled, distracted by his own powerlessness.
-
-His days now passed in the same grievous obsession, Denise's image rose
-with him; after having dreamed of her all night, it followed him before
-the desk in his office, where he signed his bills and orders from nine
-to ten o'clock: a work which he accomplished mechanically, never ceasing
-to feel her present, still saying no, with her quiet air. Then, at ten
-o'clock, came the board-meeting, a meeting of the twelve directors, at
-which he had to preside; they discussed matters affecting the in-door
-arrangements, examined the purchases, settled the window displays; and
-she was still there, he heard her soft voice amidst the figures, he saw
-her bright smile in the most complicated financial situations. After
-the board-meeting, she still accompanied him, making with him the daily
-inspection of the counters, returned with him to his office in the
-afternoon, remaining close to his chair from two till four o'clock,
-whilst he received a crowd of important business men, the principal
-manufacturers of all France, bankers, inventors; a continual come-and-go
-of the riches and intelligence of the land, an excited dance of
-millions, rapid interviews during which were hatched the biggest affairs
-on the Paris market. If he forgot her for a moment whilst deciding
-on the ruin or the prosperity of an industry, he found her again at a
-twitch of his heart; his voice died away, he asked himself what was the
-use of this princely fortune when she still refused. At last, when five
-o'clock struck, he had to sign the day's correspondence, the mechanical
-working of his hand again commenced, whilst she rose up before him more
-dominating than ever, seizing him entirely, to possess him during the
-solitary and ardent hours of the night. And the morrow was the same day
-over again, those days so active, so full of a colossal labour, which
-the slight shadow of a child sufficed to ravage with anguish.
-
-But it was especially during his daily inspection of the departments
-that he felt his misery. To have built up this giant machine, to reign
-over such a world of people, and to be dying of grief because a little
-girl would not accept him! He scorned himself, dragging the fever and
-shame of his pain about with him everywhere. On certain days he became
-disgusted with his power, feeling a nausea at the very sight of the long
-galleries. At other times he would have wished to extend his empire, and
-make it so vast that she would perhaps yield out of sheer admiration and
-fear.
-
-He first of all stopped in the basement opposite the shoot. It was still
-in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin; but it had been necessary to enlarge
-it, and it was now as wide as the bed of a river, down which the
-continual flood of goods rolled with the loud noise of rushing water; it
-was a constant succession of arrivals from all parts of the world, rows
-of waggons from all railways, a ceaseless discharging of merchandise,
-a stream of boxes and bales running underground, absorbed by the
-insatiable establishment. He gazed at this torrent flowing into his
-house, thought of his position as one of the masters of the public
-fortune, that he held in his hands the fate of the French manufacturers,
-and that he was unable to buy a kiss from one of his saleswomen.
-
-Then he passed on to the receiving department, which now occupied that
-part of the basement running along the Rue Monsigny. Twenty tables were
-ranged there, in the pale light of the air-holes; dozens of shopmen were
-bustling about, emptying the cases, checking the goods, and marking them
-in plain figures, amidst the roar of the shoot, which almost drowned
-their voices. Various managers of departments stopped him, he had to
-resolve difficulties and confirm orders. This cellar was filled with the
-tender glimmer of the satin, the whiteness of the linen, a prodigious
-unpacking in which the furs were mingled with the lace, the fancy goods
-with the Eastern curtains. With a slow step he made his way amongst all
-these riches thrown about in disorder, heaped up in their rough state.
-Above, they were destined to ornament the window displays, letting loose
-the race after money across the counters, no sooner shown than carried
-off, in the furious current of business which traversed the place. He
-thought of his having offered the young girl silks, velvets, anything
-she liked to take in any quantities, from these enormous heaps, and that
-she had refused by a shake of her fair head.
-
-After that, he passed on to the other end of the basement, to pay his
-usual visit to the delivery department. Interminable corridors ran
-along, lighted up with gas; to the right and to the left, the reserves,
-closed in with gratings, were like so many subterranean stores, a
-complete commercial quarter, with its haberdashery, underclothing,
-glove, and other shops, sleeping in the shade. Further on was placed
-one of the three stoves; further still, a fireman's post guarding
-the gas-meter, enclosed in its iron cage. He found, in the delivery
-department, the sorting tables already blocked with loads of parcels,
-bandboxes, and cases, continually arriving in large baskets; and
-Campion, the superintendent, gave him some particulars about the current
-work, whilst the twenty men placed under his orders distributed the
-parcels into large compartments, each bearing the name of a district of
-Paris, and from whence the messengers took them up to the vans, ranged
-along the pavement. One heard a series of cries, names of streets, and
-recommendations shouted out; quite an uproar, an agitation such as
-on board a mail boat about to start. And he stood there for a moment,
-motionless, looking at this discharge of goods which he had just seen
-absorbed by the house, at the opposite extremity of the basement: the
-enormous current there discharged itself into the street, after having
-filled the tills with gold. His eyes became misty, this colossal
-business no longer had any importance; he had but one idea, that of
-going away to some distant, land, and abandoning everything, if she
-persisted in saying no.
-
-He then went upstairs, continuing his inspection, talking, and agitating
-himself more and more, without finding any respite. On the second floor
-he entered the correspondence department, picking quarrels, secretly
-exasperated against the perfect regularity of this machine that he had
-himself built up. This department was the one that was daily assuming
-the most considerable importance; it now required two hundred
-employees--some opening, reading, and classifying the letters coming
-from the provinces and abroad, whilst others gathered into compartments
-the goods ordered by the correspondents. And the number of letters was
-increasing to such an extent that they no longer counted them; they
-weighed them, receiving as much as a hundred pounds per day. He,
-feverish, went through the three offices, questioning Levasseur as
-to the weight of the correspondence; eighty pounds, ninety pounds,
-sometimes, on a Monday, a hundred pounds. The figure increased daily, he
-ought to have been delighted. But he stood shuddering, in the noise made
-by the neighbouring squad of packers nailing down the cases. Vainly he
-roamed about the house; the fixed idea remained fast in his mind, and as
-his power unfolded itself before him, as the mechanism of the business
-and the army of employees passed before his gaze, he felt more
-profoundly than ever the insult of his powerlessness. Orders from all
-Europe were flowing in, a special post-office van was required for his
-correspondence; and yet she said no, always no.
-
-He went downstairs again, visiting the central cashier's office, where
-four clerks guarded the two giants safes, in which there had passed
-the previous year forty-eight million francs. He glanced at the
-clearing-house, which now occupied twenty-five clerks, chosen from
-amongst the most trustworthy. He went into the next office, where
-twenty-five young men, junior clerks, were engaged in checking the
-debit-notes, and calculating the salesmen's commission. He returned
-to the chief cashier's office, exasperated at the sight of the safes,
-wandering amidst these millions, the uselessness of which drove him mad.
-She said no, always no.
-
-And it was always no, in all the departments, in the galleries, in the
-saloons, and in every part of the establishment! He went from the silk
-to the drapery department, from the linen to the lace department, he
-ascended to the upper floors, stopping on the flying bridges, prolonging
-his inspection with a maniacal, grievous minuteness. The house had grown
-out of all bounds, he had created this department, then this other; he
-governed this fresh domain, he extended his empire into this industry,
-the last one conquered; and it was no, always no, in spite of
-everything. His staff would now have sufficed to people a small town:
-there were fifteen hundred salesmen, and a thousand other employees
-of every sort, including forty inspectors and seventy cashiers; the
-kitchens alone gave occupation to thirty-two men; ten clerks were set
-apart for the advertising; there were three hundred and fifty shop
-messengers, all wearing livery, and twenty-four firemen living on the
-premises. And, in the stables, royal buildings situated in the Rue
-Monsigny, opposite the warehouse, were one hundred and forty-five
-horses, a luxurious establishment which was already celebrated in Paris.
-The first four conveyances which used formerly to stir up the whole
-neighbourhood, when the house occupied only the corner of the Place
-Gaillon, had gradually increased to sixty-two trucks, one-horse vans,
-and heavy two-horse ones. They were continually scouring Paris, driven
-with knowing skill by drivers dressed in black, promenading the gold
-and purple sign of The Ladies' Paradise. They even went beyond the
-fortifications, into the suburbs; they were to be met on the dusty roads
-of Bicêtre, along the banks of the Marne, even in the shady drives of
-the Forest of Saint-Germain. Sometimes one would spring up from the
-depths of some sunny avenue, where all was silent and deserted, the
-superb animals trotting along, throwing into the mysterious peacefulness
-of this grand nature the loud advertisement of its varnished panels. He
-was even dreaming of launching them further still, into the neighbouring
-departments; he would have liked to hear them rolling along every
-road in France, from one frontier to the other. But he no longer even
-troubled to visit his horses, though he was passionately fond of them.
-Of what good was this conquest of the world, since it was no, always no?
-
-At present, in the evening, when he arrived at Lhomme's desk, he still
-looked through habit at the amount of the takings written on a card,
-which the cashier stuck on an iron file at his side; this figure rarely
-fell below a hundred thousand francs, sometimes it ran up to eight and
-nine hundred thousand, on big sale days; but these figures no longer
-sounded in his ears like a trumpet-blast, he regretted having looked at
-them, going away full of bitterness and scorn for money.
-
-But Mouret's sufferings were destined to increase, for he became
-jealous. One morning, in the office, before the boardmeeting commenced,
-Bourdoncle ventured to hint that the little girl in the ready-made
-department was playing with him.
-
-“How?” asked he, very pale.
-
-“Yes! she has lovers in this very building.”
-
-Mouret found strength to smile. “I don't think any more about her, my
-dear fellow. You can speak freely. Who are her lovers?”
-
-“Hutin, they say, and then a salesman in the lace department--Deloche,
-that tall awkward fellow. I can't speak with certainty, never having
-seen them together. But it appears that it's notorious.”
-
-There was a silence. Mouret affected to arrange the papers on his desk,
-to conceal the trembling of his hands. At last, he observed, without
-raising his head: “We must have proofs, try and bring me some proofs. As
-for me, I assure you I don't, care in the least, for I'm quite sick of
-her. But we can't allow such things to go on here.”
-
-Bourdoncle simply replied: “Never fear, you shall have proofs one of
-these days. I'm keeping a good look out.”
-
-This news deprived Mouret of all rest. He no longer had the courage to
-return to this conversation, but lived in the continual expectation of
-a catastrophe, in which his heart would be crushed. And this torment
-rendered him terrible, the whole house trembled before him. He now
-disdained to conceal himself behind Bourdoncle, but performed the
-executions in person, feeling a nervous desire for revenge, solacing
-himself by an abuse of his power, of that power which could do nothing
-for the contentment of his sole desire. Each one of his inspections
-became a massacre, his appearance caused a panic to run along from
-counter to counter. The dead winter season was just then approaching,
-and he made a clean sweep in the departments, multiplying the victims
-and pushing them into the streets. His first idea had been to dismiss
-Hutin and Deloche; then he had reflected that if he did not keep them,
-he would never discover anything; and the others suffered for them: the
-whole staff trembled. In the evening, when he found himself alone again,
-his eyes swelled up, big with tears.
-
-One day especially terror reigned supreme. An inspector had the idea
-that Mignot was stealing. There were always a lot of strange-looking
-girls prowling around his counter; and one of them had just been
-arrested, her thighs and bosom padded with sixty pairs of gloves. From
-that moment a watch was kept, and the inspector caught Mignot in the
-act, facilitating the sleight of hand of a tall fair girl, formerly a
-saleswoman at the Louvre, but since gone wrong: the manouvre was very
-simple, he affected to try some gloves on her, waited till she had
-padded herself, and then conducted her to the pay-desk, where she
-paid for a single pair only. Mouret happened to be there, just at that
-moment. As a rule, he preferred not to mix himself up with these sort of
-adventures, which were pretty frequent; for notwithstanding the regular
-working of the well-arranged machine, great disorder reigned in certain
-departments of The Ladies' Paradise, and scarcely a week passed without
-some employee being dismissed for theft. The authorities preferred to
-hush up such matters as far as possible, considering it useless to set
-the police at work, and thus expose one of the fatal plague-spots of
-these great bazaars. But, that day, Mouret felt a real need of getting
-angry with some one, and he treated the handsome Mignot with such
-violence, and the latter stood there trembling with fear, his face pale
-and discomposed.
-
-“I ought to call a policeman,” cried Mouret, before all the other
-salesmen. “But why don't you answer? who is this woman? I swear I'll
-send for the police, if you don't tell me the truth.”
-
-They had taken the woman away, and two saleswomen were undressing
-her. Mignot stammered out: “I don't know her, sir. She's the one who
-came----”
-
-“Don't tell lies!” interrupted Mouret, in a violent rage. “And there's
-nobody here to warn us! You are all in the plot, on my word! We are in
-a regular wood, robbed, pillaged, plundered. It's enough to make us have
-the pockets of each one searched before going out!”
-
-Murmurs were heard. The three or four customers buying gloves stood
-looking on, frightened.
-
-“Silence!” resumed he, furiously, “or I'll clear the place!”
-
-But Bourdoncle came running up, anxious at the idea of the scandal.
-He whispered a few words in Mouret's ear, the affair was assuming an
-exceptional gravity; and he prevailed on him to take Mignot into the
-inspectors' office, a room on the ground floor near the entrance in the
-Rue Gaillon. The woman was there, quietly putting on her stays again.
-She had just mentioned Albert Lhomme's name. Mignot, again questioned,
-lost his head, and commenced to sob; he wasn't in fault, it was Albert
-who sent him his mistresses; at first he had merely afforded them
-certain advantages, enabling them to profit by the bargains; then, when
-they at last took to stealing, he was already too far compromised
-to report the matter. The principals now discovered a series of
-extraordinary robberies; goods taken away by girls, who went into the
-neighbouring W.Cs, built near the refreshment bar and surrounded by
-evergreen plants, to hide the goods under their petticoats; purchases
-that a salesman neglected to call out at a pay-desk, when he accompanied
-a customer there, the price of which he divided with the cashier; even
-down to false returns, articles which they announced as brought back to
-the house, pocketing the money thus repaid; without even mentioning the
-classical robbery, parcels taken out under their coats in the evening,
-rolled round their bodies, and sometimes even hung down their leg's. For
-the last fourteen months, thanks to Mignot and other salesmen, no doubt,
-whom they refused to name, this pilfering had been going on at Albert's
-desk, quite an impudent trade, for sums of which no one ever knew the
-exact total.
-
-Meanwhile the news had spread into the various departments, causing the
-guilty consciences to tremble, and the most honest ones to quake at
-the general sweep that seemed imminent. Albert had disappeared into the
-inspectors' office. Next his father had passed, choking, his face full
-of blood, showing signs of apoplexy. Madame Aurélie herself was then
-called; and she, her head high beneath the affront, had the fat,
-puffed-up appearance of a wax mask. The explanation lasted some time,
-no one knew the exact details; but it was said the firsthand had
-slapped her son's face, and that the worthy old father wept, whilst
-the governor, contrary to all his elegant habits, swore like a trooper,
-absolutely wanting to deliver the offenders up to justice. However, the
-scandal was hushed up. Mignot was the only one dismissed there and then.
-Albert did not disappear till two days later; no doubt his mother
-had begged that the family should not be dishonoured by an immediate
-execution. But the panic lasted several days longer, for after this
-scene Mouret had wandered from one end of the establishment to the
-other, with a terrible expression, venting his anger on all those who
-dared even to raise their eyes.
-
-“What are you doing there, sir, looking at the flies? Go and be paid!”
-
-At last, the storm burst one day on the head of Hutin himself. Favier,
-appointed second-hand, was undermining the first-hand, in order to
-dislodge him from his position. This was always the way; he addressed
-crafty reports to the directors, taking advantage of every occasion to
-have the first-hand caught doing something wrong. Thus, one morning, as
-Mouret was going through the silk department, he stopped, surprised to
-see Favier engaged in altering the price tickets of a stock of black
-velvet.
-
-“Why are you lowering the prices?” asked he. “Who gave you the order to
-do so?”
-
-The second-hand, who was making a great noise over this work, as if
-he wished to attract the governor's attention, foreseeing the result,
-replied with an innocent, surprised air:
-
-“Why, Monsieur Hutin told me, sir.”
-
-“Monsieur Hutin! Where is Monsieur Hutin?”
-
-And when the latter came upstairs, called by a salesman, an animated
-explanation ensued. What! he undertook to lower the prices himself now!
-But he appeared greatly astonished in his turn, having merely talked
-over the matter with Favier, without giving any positive orders. The
-latter then assumed the sorrowful air of an employee who finds himself
-obliged to contradict his superior. However, he was quite willing to
-accept the blame, if it would get the latter out of a scrape. Things
-began to look very bad.
-
-“Understand, Monsieur Hutin!” cried Mouret, “I have never tolerated
-these attempts at independence. We alone decide about the prices.”
-
-He continued, with a sharp voice, and wounding intentions, which
-surprised the salesmen, for as a rule these discussions were carried
-on quietly, and the case might really have resulted from a
-misunderstanding. One could feel he had some unavowed spite to satisfy.
-He had at last caught that Hutin at fault, that Hutin who was said to be
-Denise's lover! He could now solace himself, by making him feel that he
-was the master! And he exaggerated matters, even insinuating that this
-reduction of price appeared to conceal very questionable intentions.
-
-“Sir,” repeated Hutin, “I meant to consult you about it. It is really
-necessary, as you know, for these velvets have not succeeded.”
-
-Mouret cut him short with a final insult. “Very good, sir; we will look
-into the matter. But don't do such a thing again, if you value your
-place.”
-
-And he walked off. Hutin, bewildered, furious, finding no one but
-Favier to confide in, swore he would go and throw his resignation at the
-brute's head. But he soon left off talking of going away, and began to
-stir up all the abominable accusations which were current amongst the
-salesmen against their chiefs. And Favier, his eye sparkling, defended
-himself with a great show of sympathy. He was obliged to reply, wasn't
-he? Besides, could any one have foreseen such a row for so trifling
-a matter? What had come to the governor lately, that he should be so
-unbearable?
-
-“We all know what's the matter with him,” replied Hutin, “Is it my fault
-if that little jade in the dress-department is turning his head? My dear
-fellow, you can see the blow comes from there. He's aware I've slept
-with her, and he doesn't like it; or perhaps it's she herself who wants
-to get me pitched out, because I'm in her way. But I swear she shall
-hear from me, if ever she crosses my path.”
-
-Two days after, as Hutin was going up into the work-room, upstairs,
-under the roof, to recommend a person, he started on perceiving at the
-end of a passage Denise and Deloche leaning out of a window, and plunged
-so deeply in private conversation that they did not even turn round. The
-idea of having them caught occurred to him suddenly, when he perceived
-with astonishment that Deloche was weeping. He at once went away without
-making any noise; and meeting Bourdoncle and Jouve on the stairs, told
-them some story about one of the _extincteurs_ the door of which seemed
-to be broken; in this way they would go upstairs and drop on to the two
-others. Bourdoncle discovered them first. He stopped short, and told
-Jouve to go and fetch the governor, whilst he remained there. The
-inspector had to obey, greatly annoyed at being forced to compromise
-himself in such a matter.
-
-This was a lost corner of the vast world in which the people of The
-Ladies' Paradise worked. One arrived there by a complication of stairs
-and passages. The work-rooms occupied the top of the house, a succession
-of low sloping rooms, lighted by large windows cut in the zinc roof,
-furnished solely with long tables and enormous iron stoves; and right
-along were a crowd of work-girls of all sorts, for the under-clothing,
-the lace, the dressmaking, and the house furnishing; living winter and
-summer in a stifling heat, amidst the odour special to the business;
-and one had to go straight through the wing, and turn to the right
-on passing the dressmakers, before coming to this solitary end of the
-corridor. The rare customers, that a salesman occasionally brought
-here for an order, gasped for breath, tired out, frightened, with the
-sensation of having been turning round for hours and hours, and of being
-a hundred leagues above the street.
-
-Denise had often found Deloche waiting for her. As secondhand she had
-charge of the arrangements between her department and the work-room
-where only the models and alterations were done, and was always going up
-and down to give the necessary orders. He watched for her, inventing any
-pretext to run after her; then he affected to be surprised when he met
-her at the work-room door. She got to laugh about the matter, it became
-quite an understood thing. The corridor ran alongside the cistern, an
-enormous iron tank containing twelve thousand gallons of water; and
-there was another one of equal size on the roof, reached by an iron
-ladder. For an instant, Deloche would stand talking, leaning with one
-shoulder against the cistern in the continual abandonment of his long
-body, bent with fatigue. The noise of the water was heard, a mysterious
-noise of which the iron tank ever retained the musical vibration.
-Notwithstanding the deep silence, Denise would turn round anxiously,
-thinking she had seen a shadow pass on the bare, yellow-painted walls.
-But the window would soon attract them, they would lean out, and forget
-themselves in a pleasant gossip, in endless souvenirs of their native
-place. Below them, extended the immense glass roof of the central
-gallery, a lake of glass bounded by the distant housetops, like a rocky
-coast. Beyond, they saw nothing but the sky, a sheet of sky, which
-reflected in the sleeping water of the glazed work the flight of its
-clouds and the tender blue of its azure.
-
-It so happened that Deloche was speaking of Valognes that day. “I was
-six years old; my mother took me to Valognes market in a cart. You know
-it's ten miles away; we had to leave Bricquebec at five o'clock. It's a
-fine country down our way. Do you know it?”
-
-“Yes, yes,” replied Denise, slowly, her looks lost in the distance. “I
-was there once, but was very little then. Nice roads with grass on
-each side, aren't there? and now and again sheep browsing in couples,
-dragging their clog along by the rope.” She stopped, then resumed with
-a vague smile: “Our roads run as straight as an arrow for miles between
-rows of trees which afford a lot of shade. We have meadows surrounded
-with hedges taller than I am, where there are horses and cows feeding.
-We have a little river, and the water is very cold, under the brushwood,
-in a spot I know well.”
-
-“It is the same with us, exactly!” cried Deloche, delighted. “There's
-grass everywhere, each one encloses his plot with thorns and elms, and
-is at once at home; and it's quite green, a green far different to what
-we see in Paris. Dear me! what fun I've had at the bottom of the road,
-to the left, coming down from the mill!”
-
-And their voices died away, they stopped with their eyes fixed and lost
-on the sunny lake of the glazed work. A mirage rose up before them from
-this blinding water, they saw an endless succession of meadows, the
-Cotentin bathed in the balmy breath of the ocean, a luminous vapour,
-which melted the horizon into a delicate pearly grey. Below, under the
-colossal iron framework, in the silk hall, roared the business, the
-trepidation of the machine at work; the entire house vibrated with the
-trampling of the crowd, the bustle of the shopmen, and the life of the
-thirty thousand persons elbowing each other there; and they, carried
-away by their dreams, on feeling this profound and dull clamour with
-which the roofs were resounding, thought they heard the wind passing
-over the grass, shaking the tall trees.
-
-“Ah! Mademoiselle Denise,” stammered Deloche, “why aren't you kinder to
-me? I love you so much!” Tears had come into his eyes, and as she tried
-to interrupt him with a gesture, he continued quickly: “No--let me tell
-you these things once more. We should get on so well together! People
-always find something to talk about when they come from the same place.”
-
-He was choking, and she at last managed to say kindly: “You're
-not reasonable; you promised me never to speak of that again. It's
-impossible. I have a good friendship for you, because you're a nice
-fellow; but I wish to remain free.”
-
-“Yes, yes. I know it,” replied he in a broken voice, “you don't love me.
-Oh! you may say so, I quite understand it. There's nothing in me to make
-you love me. Listen, I've only had one sweet moment in my life, and that
-was when I met you at Joinville, do you remember? For a moment under the
-trees, when it was so dark, I thought your arm trembled, and was stupid
-enough to imagine----”
-
-But she again interrupted him. Her quick ear had just caught
-Bourdoncle's and Jouve's steps at the end of the corridor.
-
-“Hark, there's some one coming.”
-
-“No,” said he, preventing her leaving the window, “it's in the cistern:
-all sorts of extraordinary noises come up from it, as if there were some
-one inside.”
-
-And he continued his timid, caressing complaints. She was no longer
-listening to him, rocked into dreamland by this declaration of love, her
-looks wandering over the roofs of The Ladies' Paradise. To the right
-and the left of the glazed gallery, other galleries, other halls, were
-glistening in the sun, between the tops of the houses, pierced with
-windows and running along symmetrically, like the wings of a barracks.
-Immense metallic works rose up, ladders, bridges, describing a lacework
-of iron in the air; whilst the kitchen chimneys threw out an immense
-volume of smoke like a factory, and the great square cistern, supported
-in the air on wrought-iron pillars, assumed a strange, barbarous
-profile, hoisted up to this height by the pride of one man. In the
-distance, Paris was roaring.
-
-When Denise returned from this dreamy state, from this fanciful
-development of The Ladies' Paradise, in which her thoughts floated as
-in a vast solitude, she found that Deloche had seized her hand. And he
-appeared so woe-begone, so full of grief, that she had not the heart to
-draw it away.
-
-“Forgive me,” he murmured. “It's all over now; I should be quite too
-miserable if you punished me by withdrawing your friendship. I
-assure you I intended to say something else. Yes, I had determined to
-understand the situation and be very good.” His tears again began to
-flow, he tried to steady his voice. “For I know my lot in life. It is
-too late for my luck to turn. Beaten at home, beaten in Paris, beaten
-everywhere. I've now been here four years and am still the last in the
-department So I wanted to tell you not to trouble on my account. I won't
-annoy you any longer. Try to be happy, love some one else; yes, that
-would really be a pleasure for me. If you are happy, I shall be also.
-That will be my happiness.”
-
-He could say no more. As if to seal his promise he raised the young
-girl's hand to his lips--kissing it with the humble kiss of a slave. She
-was deeply affected, and said simply, in a tender, sisterly tone, which
-attenuated somewhat the pity of the words:
-
-“My poor boy!”
-
-But they started, and turned round; Mouret was standing before them.
-
-For the last ten minutes, Jouve had been searching for the governor all
-over the place; but the latter was looking at the works going on for the
-new façade in the Rue du Dix-Décembre. He spent long hours there every
-day, trying to interest himself in this work, of which he had so long
-dreamed. This was his refuge against his torments, amidst the masons
-laying the immense corner-stones, and the engineers setting up the
-great iron framework. The façade already appeared above the level of the
-street, indicating the vast porch, and the windows of the first storey,
-a palace-like development in its crude state. He scaled the ladders,
-discussing with the architect the ornamentation which was to be
-something quite new, scrambled over the heaps of brick and iron, and
-even went down into the cellar; and the roar of the steam-engine, the
-tic-tac of the trowels, the noise of the hammers, the clamour of this
-people of workmen, all over this immense cage surrounded by sonorous
-planks, really distracted him for an instant. He came out white with
-plaster, black with iron-filings, his feet splashed by the water from
-the pumps, his pain so far from being cured that his anguish returned
-and his heart beat stronger than ever, as the noise of the works died
-away behind him. It so happened, on the day in question, a slight
-distraction had restored him his gaiety, and he was deeply interested
-in an album of drawings of the mosaics and enamelled terra-cottas which
-were to decorate the friezes, when Jouve came up to fetch him, out of
-breath, annoyed at being obliged to dirty his coat amongst all this
-building material. At first Mouret had cried out that they must
-wait; then, at a word spoken in a low tone by the inspector, he had
-immediately followed him, shivering, a prey again to his passion.
-Nothing else existed, the façade crumbled away before being built; what
-was the use of this supreme triumph of his pride, if the simple name of
-a woman whispered in his ear tortured him to this extent.
-
-Upstairs, Bourdoncle and Jouve thought it prudent to vanish. Deloche
-had already run away, Denise alone remained to face Mouret, paler than
-usual, but looking straight into his eyes.
-
-“Have the kindness to follow me, mademoiselle,” said he in a harsh
-voice.
-
-She followed him, they descended the two storeys, and crossed the
-furniture and carpet departments without saying a word. When he arrived
-at his office, he opened the door wide, saying, “Walk in, mademoiselle.”
-
-And, closing the door, he went to his desk. The new director's office
-was fitted up more luxuriously than the old one, the reps hangings had
-been replaced by velvet ones, and a book-case, incrusted with ivory,
-occupied one whole side; but on the walls there was still no picture but
-the portrait of Madame Hédouin, a young woman with a handsome calm face,
-smiling in its gold frame.
-
-“Mademoiselle,” said he at last, trying to maintain a cold, severe
-air, “there are certain things that we cannot tolerate. Good conduct is
-absolutely necessary here.”
-
-He stopped, choosing his words, in order not to yield to the furious
-anger which was rising up within him. What! she loved this fellow, this
-miserable salesman, the laughingstock of his counter! and it was the
-humblest, the most awkward of all that she preferred to him, the master!
-for he had seen them, she leaving her hand in his, and he covering that
-hand with kisses.
-
-“I've been very good to you, mademoiselle,” continued he, making a fresh
-effort “I little expected to be rewarded in this way.”
-
-Denise, immediately on entering, had been attracted by Madame Hédouin's
-portrait; and, notwithstanding her great trouble, was still pre-occupied
-by it. Every time she came into the director's office her eyes were sure
-to meet those of this lady. She felt almost afraid of her, although
-she knew her to have been very good. This time, she felt her to be a
-protection.
-
-“You are right, sir,” he said, softly, “I was wrong to stop and talk,
-and I beg your pardon for doing so. This young man comes from my part of
-the country.”
-
-“I'll dismiss him!” cried Mouret, putting all his suffering into this
-furious cry.
-
-And, completely overcome, entirely forgetting his position as a director
-lecturing a saleswoman guilty of an infraction of the rules, he broke
-out into a torrent of violent words. Had she no shame in her? a young
-girl like her abandoning herself to such a being! and he even made most
-atrocious accusations, introducing Hutin's name into the affair, and
-then others, in such a flood of words, that she could not even defend
-herself. But he would make a clean sweep, and kick them all out. The
-severe explanation he had promised himself, when following Jouve, had
-degenerated into the shameful violence of a scene of jealousy.
-
-“Yes, your lovers! They told me about it, and I was stupid enough to
-doubt it But I was the only one! I was the only one!”
-
-Denise, suffocating, bewildered, stood listening to these frightful
-charges, which she had not at first understood. Did he really suppose
-her to be as bad as this? At another remark, harsher than all the rest,
-she silently turned towards the door. And, in reply to a movement he
-made to stop her, said:
-
-“Let me alone, sir, I'm going away. If you think me what you say, I will
-not remain in the house another second.”
-
-But he rushed in front of the door, exclaiming: “Why don't you defend
-yourself? Say something!”
-
-She stood there very stiff, maintaining an icy silence. For a long time
-he pressed her with questions, with a growing anxiety; and the mute
-dignity of this innocent girl once more appeared to be the artful
-calculation of a woman learned in all the tactics of passion. She could
-not have played a game better calculated to bring him to her feet,
-tortured by doubt, desirous of being convinced.
-
-“Come, you say he is from your part of the country? Perhaps you've met
-there formerly. Swear that there has been nothing between you and this
-fellow.”
-
-And as she obstinately remained silent, as if still wishing to open
-the door and go away, he completely lost his head, and broke out into a
-supreme explosion of grief.
-
-“Good heavens! I love you! I love you! Why do you delight in tormenting
-me like this? You can see that nothing else exists, that the people
-of whom I speak only touch me through you, and you alone can occupy my
-thoughts. Thinking you were jealous, I gave up all my pleasures. You
-were told I had mistresses; well! I have them no longer; I hardly set
-foot outside. Did I not prefer you at that lady's house? have I not
-broken with her to belong solely to you? And I am still waiting for a
-word of thanks, a little gratitude. And if you fear that I should return
-to her, you may feel quite easy: she is avenging herself by helping one
-of our former salesmen to found a rival establishment. Tell me, must I
-go on my knees to touch your heart?”
-
-He had come to this. He, who did not tolerate the slightest peccadillo
-with the shopwomen, who turned them out for the least caprice, found
-himself reduced to imploring one of them not to go away, not to abandon
-him in his misery. He held the door against her, ready to forgive her
-everything, to shut his eyes, if she merely deigned to lie. And it was
-true, he had got thoroughly sick of girls picked up at theatres and
-night-houses; he had long since given up Clara and now ceased to visit
-at Madame Desforges's house, where Bouthemont reigned supreme, while
-waiting for the opening of the new shop, The Four Seasons, which was
-already filling the newspapers with its advertisements.
-
-“Must I go on my knees?” repeated he, almost choked by suppressed tears.
-
-She stopped him, herself quite unable to conceal her emotion, deeply
-affected by this suffering passion. “You are wrong, sir, to agitate
-yourself in this way,” replied she, at last “I assure you that all these
-wicked reports are untrue. This poor fellow you have just seen is no
-more guilty than I am.”
-
-She said this with her brave, frank air, looking with her bright eyes
-straight into his face.
-
-“Very good, I believe you,” murmured he. “I'll not dismiss any of your
-comrades, since you take all these people under your protection. But
-why, then, do you repulse me, if you love no one else?”
-
-A sudden constraint, an anxious bashfulness seized the young girl.
-
-“You love some one, don't you?” resumed he, in a trembling voice. “Oh!
-you may speak out; I have no claim on your affections. Do you love any
-one?”
-
-She turned very red, her heart was in her mouth, and she felt all
-falsehood impossible before this emotion which was betraying her, this
-repugnance for a lie which made the truth appear in her face in spite of
-all.
-
-“Yes,” she at last confessed, feebly. “But I beg you to let me go away,
-sir, you are torturing me.”
-
-She was now suffering in her turn. Was it not enough to have to defend
-herself against him? Was she to be obliged to fight against herself,
-against the breath of tenderness which sometimes took away all her
-courage? When he spoke to her thus, when she saw him so full of emotion,
-so overcome, she hardly knew why she still refused; and it was only
-afterwards that she found, in the depths of her healthy, girlish nature,
-the pride and the prudence which maintained her intact in her virtuous
-resolution. It was by a sort of instinct of happiness that she still
-remained so obstinate, to satisfy her need of a quiet life, and not
-from any idea of virtue. She would have fallen into this man's arms, her
-heart seduced, her flesh overpowered if she had not experienced a sort
-of revolt, almost a feeling of repulsion before the definite bestowal
-of her being, ignorant of her future fate. The lover made her afraid,
-inspiring her with that fear that all women feel at the approach of the
-male.
-
-Mouret gave way to a gesture of gloomy discouragement. He could not
-understand her. He turned towards his desk, took up some papers and
-then laid them down again, saying: “I will retain you no longer,
-mademoiselle; I cannot keep you against your will.”
-
-“But I don't wish to go away,” replied she, smiling. “If you believe me
-to be innocent, I will remain. One ought always to believe a woman to be
-virtuous, sir. There are numbers who are so, I assure you.”
-
-Denise's eyes had involuntarily wandered towards Madame Hédouin's
-portrait: that lady so wise and so beautiful, whose blood, they said,
-had brought good fortune to the house. Mouret followed the young girl's
-look with a start, for he thought he heard his dead wife pronounce this
-phrase, one of her own sayings which he at once recognised. And it was
-like a resurrection, he discovered in Denise the good sense, the just
-equilibrium of her he had lost, even down to the gentle voice, sparing
-of useless words. He was struck by this resemblance, which rendered him
-sadder still.
-
-“You know I am yours,” murmured he in conclusion. “Do what you like with
-me.”
-
-Then she resumed gaily: “That is right, sir. The advice of a woman,
-however humble she may be, is always worth listening to when she has a
-little intelligence. If you put yourself in my hands, be sure I'll make
-nothing but a good man of you!”
-
-She smiled, with that simple unassuming air which had such a charm. He
-also smiled in a feeble way, and escorted her as far as the door, as he
-would a lady.
-
-The next day Denise was appointed first-hand. The dress and costume
-department was divided, the management creating especially for her one
-for children's costumes, which was installed close to the ready-made
-one. Since her son's dismissal, Madame Aurélie had been trembling, for
-she found the directors getting cool towards her, and saw the young
-girl's power increasing daily. Would they not shortly sacrifice her in
-favour of this latter, by taking advantage of the first pretext? Her
-emperor's mask, puffed up with fat, seemed to have got thinner from the
-shame which now stained the whole Lhomme dynasty; and she made a show
-of going away every evening on her husband's arm, for they were brought
-nearer together by misfortune, and felt vaguely that the evil came from
-the disorder of their home; whilst the poor old man, more affected than
-her, in a sickly fear of being himself suspected of robbery, counted
-over the receipts, again and again, noisily, performing miracles with
-his amputated arm. So that, when she saw Denise appointed first-hand
-in the children's costume department, she experienced such joy that she
-paraded the most affectionate feeling towards the young girl, really
-grateful to her for not having taken her place away. And she overwhelmed
-her with attentions, treating her as an equal, often going to talk
-to her in the neighbouring department, with a stately air, like a
-queen-mother paying a visit to a young queen.
-
-In fact, Denise was now at the summit. Her appointment as first-hand had
-destroyed the last resistance. If some still babbled, from that itching
-of the tongue which ravages every assemblage of men and women, they
-bowed very low before her face. Marguerite, now second-hand, was full
-of praise for her. Clara, herself, inspired with a secret respect before
-this good fortune, which she felt herself incapable of achieving, had
-bowed her head. But Denise's victory was more complete still over the
-gentlemen; over Jouve, who now bent almost double whenever he addressed
-her; over Hutin, seized with anxiety on feeling his position giving way
-under him; and over Bourdoncle, reduced at last to powerlessness. When
-the latter saw her coming out of the director's office, smiling, with
-her quiet air, and that the next day Mouret had insisted on the board
-creating this new department, he had yielded, vanquished by a sacred
-terror of woman. He had always given in thus before Mouret, recognising
-him to be his master, notwithstanding his escapades and his idiotic
-love affairs. This time the woman had proved the stronger, and he was
-expecting to be swept away by the disaster.
-
-However, Denise bore her triumph in a peaceable, charming manner,
-happy at these marks of consideration, even affecting to see in them
-a sympathy for the miseries of her debut and the final success of her
-patient courage. Thus she received with a laughing joy the slightest
-marks of friendship, and this caused her to be really loved by some,
-she was so kind, sympathetic, and full of affection. The only person for
-whom she still showed an invincible repugnance was Clara, having learned
-that this girl had amused herself by taking Colomban home with her one
-night as she had said she would do for a joke; and he, carried away
-by his passion, was becoming more dissipated every day, whilst poor
-Geneviève was slowly dying. The adventure was talked of at The Ladies'
-Paradise, and thought very droll.
-
-But this trouble, the only one she had outside, did not in any way
-change Denise's equable temper. It was especially in her department that
-she was seen at her best, in the midst of her little world of babies of
-all ages. She was passionately fond of children, and she could not have
-been placed in a better position. Sometimes there were fully fifty girls
-and as many boys there, quite a turbulent school, let loose in their
-growing coquettish desires. The mothers completely lost their heads.
-She, conciliating, smiling, had the little ones placed in a line, on
-chairs; and when there happened to be amongst the number a rosy-cheeked
-little angel, whose pretty face tempted her, she would insist on serving
-her herself, bringing the dress and trying it on the child's dimpled
-shoulders, with the tender precaution of an elder sister. There were
-fits of laughter, cries of joy, amidst the scolding voices of the
-mothers. Sometimes a little girl, already a grand lady, nine or ten
-years old, having a cloth jacket to try on, would stand studying it
-before a glass, turning round, with an absorbed air, her eyes sparkling
-with a desire to please. The counters were encumbered with the things
-unpacked, dresses in pink and blue Asian linen for children of from
-one to five years, blue sailor costumes, with plaited skirt and blouse,
-trimmed with fine cambric muslin, Louis XV. costumes, mantles, jackets,
-a pell-mell of narrow garments, stiffened in their infantine grace,
-something like the cloak-room of a regiment of big dolls, taken out of
-the wardrobes and given up to pillage. Denise had always a few sweets
-in her pockets, to appease the tears of some youngster in despair at
-not being able to carry off a pair of red trousers; and she lived there
-amongst these little ones as in her own family, feeling quite young
-again herself from the contact of all this innocence and freshness
-incessantly renewed around her skirts.
-
-She now had frequent friendly conversations with Mouret. When she
-went to the office to take orders and furnish information, he kept her
-talking, enjoying the sound of her voice. It was what she laughingly
-called “making a good man of him.” In her prudent, cautious Norman head
-there sprang up all sorts of projects, ideas about the new business
-which she had already ventured to hint at when at Robineau's, and some
-of which she had expressed on the evening of their walk in the Tuileries
-gardens. She could not be occupied in any matter, see any work going on,
-without being moved with a desire to introduce some improvement in the
-mechanism. Then, since her entry into The Ladies' Paradise, she was
-especially pained by the precarious position of the employees; the
-sudden dismissals shocked her, she thought them iniquitous and stupid,
-hurtful to all, to the house as much as to the staff. Her former
-sufferings were still fresh in her mind, and her heart was seized with
-pity every time she saw a new comer, her feet bruised, her eyes dim with
-tears, dragging herself along in her misery in her silk dress, amidst
-the spiteful persecution of the old hands. This dog's life made the best
-of them bad; and the sad work of destruction commenced: all eaten up by
-the trade before the age of forty, disappearing, falling into unknown
-places, a great many dying in harness, some of consumption and
-exhaustion, others of fatigue and bad air, a few thrown on the street,
-the happiest married, buried in some little provincial shop. Was it
-humane, was it just, this frightful consumption of human life that
-the big shops carried on every year? And she pleaded the cause of the
-wheel-work of the colossal machine, not from any sentimental reasons,
-but by arguments appealing to the very interests of the employers. To
-make a machine solid and strong, it is necessary to use good iron; if
-the iron breaks or is broken, there is a stoppage of work, repeated
-expenses of starting, quite a loss of power.
-
-Sometimes she would become quite animated, she would picture an immense
-ideal bazaar, the phalansterium of modern commerce, in which each one
-should have his exact share of the profits, according to his merits,
-with the certainty of the future, assured to him by a contract Mouret
-would feel amused at this, notwithstanding his fever. He accused her of
-socialism, embarrassed her by pointing out the difficulties of carrying
-out these schemes; for she spoke in the simplicity of her soul, bravely
-trusting in the future, when she perceived a dangerous hole underlying
-her tender-hearted plans. He was, however, shaken, captivated by this
-young voice, still trembling from the evils endured, so convinced and
-earnest in pointing out the reforms which would tend to consolidate the
-house; yet he listened while joking with her; the salesmen's position
-gradually improved, the wholesale dismissals were replaced by a system
-of holidays granted during the dead seasons, and there was also about
-to be created a sort of benefit club which would protect the employees
-against bad times and ensure them a pension. It was the embryo of the
-vast trades' unions of the twentieth century.
-
-Denise did not confine her attention solely to healing the wounds from
-which she had herself bled; she conceived various delicate feminine
-ideas, which, communicated to Mouret, delighted the customers. She also
-caused Lhomme's happiness by supporting a scheme he had long nourished,
-that of creating a band of music, in which all the executants should be
-chosen from amongst the staff. Three months later Lhomme had a hundred
-and twenty musicians under his direction, the dream of his whole life
-was realised. And a grand fête was given on the premises, a concert and
-a ball, to introduce the band of The Ladies' Paradise to the customers
-and the whole world. The newspapers took the matter up, Bourdoncle
-himself, frightened by these innovations, was obliged to bow before this
-immense advertisement. Afterwards, a recreation room for the men was
-established, with two billiard tables and backgammon and chess boards.
-Then classes were held in the house of an evening; there were lessons in
-English and German, in grammar, arithmetic, and geography; they even
-had lessons in riding and fencing. A library was formed, ten thousand
-volumes were placed at the disposal of the employees. And a resident
-doctor giving consultations gratis was also added, together with baths,
-and hair-dressing and refreshment saloons. Every want in life
-was provided for, everything was to be obtained without going
-outside--board, lodging, and clothing. The Ladies' Paradise sufficed
-entirely for all its own wants and pleasures, in the very heart of
-Paris, taken up by all this clatter, by this working city which was
-springing up so vigorously out of the ruins of the old streets, at last
-opened to the rays of the sun.
-
-Then a fresh movement of opinion took place in Denise's favour. As
-Bourdoncle, vanquished, repeated with despair to his friends that he
-would give a great deal to put Denise into Mouret's arms himself, it was
-concluded that she had not yielded, that her all-powerfulness resulted
-from her refusal. From that moment she became immensely popular. They
-knew for what indulgences they were indebted to her, and they admired
-her for the force of her will. There was one, at least, who could master
-the governor, who avenged all the others, and knew how to get something
-else besides promises out of him! So she had come at last, she who was
-to make him treat the poor devils with a little respect! When she went
-through the shop, with her delicate, self-willed head, her tender,
-invincible air, the salesmen smiled at her, were proud of her, and would
-willingly have exhibited her to the crowd. Denise, in her happiness,
-allowed herself to be carried along by this increasing sympathy. Was it
-all possible? She saw herself arrive in a poor dress, frightened, lost
-amidst the mechanism of the terrible machine; for a long time she had
-had the sensation of being nothing, hardly a grain of seed beneath these
-millstones which were crushing a whole world; and now to-day she was the
-very soul of this world, she alone was of consequence, able at a word to
-increase or slacken the pace of the colossus lying at her feet. And yet
-she had not wished for these things, she had simply presented herself,
-without calculation, with the sole charm of her sweetness. Her
-sovereignty sometimes caused her an uneasy surprise; why did they all
-obey her? she was not pretty, she did nothing wrong. Then she smiled,
-her heart at rest, feeling within herself nothing but goodness and
-prudence, a love of truth and logic which constituted all her strength.
-
-One of Denise's greatest joys was to be able to assist Pauline. The
-latter, being about to become a mother, was trembling, aware that
-two other saleswomen in the same condition had been sent away. The
-principals did not tolerate these accidents, maternity being suppressed
-as cumbersome and indecent; they occasionally allowed marriage, but
-would admit of no children. Pauline had, it was true, her husband in the
-house; but still she felt anxious, it being almost impossible for her
-to appear at the counter; and in order to postpone a probable dismissal,
-she laced herself very tightly, resolved to conceal her state as long
-as she could. One of the two saleswomen who had been dismissed, had just
-been delivered of a still-born child, through having laced herself up
-in this way; and it was not certain that she herself would recover.
-Meanwhile, Bourdoncle had observed that Pauline's complexion was getting
-very livid, and that she had a painfully stiff way of walking. One
-morning he was standing near her, in the under-linen department, when a
-messenger, taking away a bundle, ran up against her with such force that
-she cried out with pain. Bourdoncle immediately took her on one side,
-made her confess, and submitted the question of her dismissal to the
-board, under the pretext that she stood in need of country air: the
-story of this accident would spread, and would have a disastrous effect
-on the public if she should have a miscarriage, as had already taken
-place in the baby linen department the year before. Mouret, who was not
-at the meeting, could only give his opinion in the evening. But Denise
-having had time to interfere, he closed Bourdoncle's mouth, in the
-interest of the house itself. Did they wish to frighten the heads of
-families and the young mothers amongst their customers? And it was
-decided, with great pomp, that every married saleswoman should, when in
-the family way, be sent to a special midwife's as soon as her presence
-at the counter became offensive to the customers.
-
-The next day when Denise went up into the infirmary to see Pauline,
-who had been obliged to take to her bed on account of the blow she had
-received, the latter kissed her violently on both cheeks. “How kind you
-are! Had it not been for you I should have been turned away. Pray don't
-be anxious about me, the doctor says it's nothing.”
-
-Baugé, who had slipped away from his department, was also there, on the
-other side of the bed. He likewise stammered his thanks, troubled before
-Denise, whom he now treated as an important person, of a superior class.
-Ah! if he heard any more nasty remarks about her, he would soon close
-the mouths of the jealous ones! But Pauline sent him away with a
-good-natured shrug of the shoulders.
-
-“My poor darling, you're always saying something stupid. Leave us to
-talk together.”
-
-The infirmary was a long, light room, containing twelve beds, with their
-white curtains. Those who did not wish to go home to their families were
-nursed here. But on the day in question, Pauline was the only occupant,
-in a bed near one of the large windows which looked on to the Rue
-Neuve-Saint-Augustin. And they immediately commenced to exchange
-whispered words, tender confidences, in the calm air, perfumed with a
-vague odour of lavender.
-
-“So he does just what you wish him to? How cruel you are, to make him
-suffer so! Come, just explain it to me, now I've ventured to approach
-the subject. Do you detest him?” Pauline had retained hold of Denise's
-hand, as the latter sat near the bed, with her elbow on the bolster; and
-overcome by a sudden emotion, her cheeks invaded with colour, she had
-a moment of weakness at this direct and unexpected question. Her secret
-escaped her, she buried her head in the pillow, murmuring:
-
-“I love him!”
-
-Pauline was astonished. “What! you love him? But it's very simple: say
-yes.”
-
-Denise, her face still concealed, replied “No!” by an energetic shake of
-the head. And she did so, simply because she loved him, without being
-able to explain the matter. No doubt it was ridiculous; but she felt
-like that, she could not change her nature. Her friend's surprise
-increased, and she at length asked: “So it's all to make him marry you?”
-
-At this the young girl sprung up, quite confused: “Marry me! Oh! no!
-Oh! I assure you that I have never wished for anything of the kind! No,
-never has such an idea entered my head; and you know what a horror I
-have of all falsehood!”
-
-“Well, dear,” resumed Pauline, kindly, “you couldn't have acted
-otherwise, if such had been your intention. All this must come to an
-end, and it is very certain that it can only finish by a marriage, as
-you won't let it be otherwise. I must tell you that every one has the
-same idea; yes, they feel persuaded that you are riding the high horse,
-in order to make him take you to church. Dear me! what a funny girl you
-are!”
-
-And she had to console Denise, who had again dropped her head on to the
-bolster, sobbing, declaring that she would certainly go away, since they
-attributed all sorts of things to her that had never crossed her mind.
-No doubt, when a man loved a woman he ought to marry her. But she asked
-for nothing, she had made no calculations, she simply begged to be
-allowed to live quietly, with her joys and her sorrows, like other
-people. She would go away.
-
-At the same moment Mouret was going through the premises below. He had
-wanted to forget his thoughts by visiting the works once more. Several
-months had elapsed, the façade now reared its monumental lines behind
-the vast hoardings which concealed it from the public. Quite an army of
-decorators were at work: marble-cutters, mosaic-workers, and others. The
-central group above the door was being gilded; whilst on the acroteria
-were being fixed the pedestals destined to receive the statues of the
-manufacturing cities of France. From morning to night, in the Rue du
-Dix-Décembre, lately opened to the public, a crowd of idlers stood
-gaping about, their noses in the air, seeing nothing, but pre-occupied
-by the marvels that were related of this façade, the inauguration of
-which was going to revolutionise Paris. And it was on this feverish
-working-ground, amidst the artists putting the finishing touches to the
-realisation of his dream commenced by the masons, that Mouret felt more
-bitterly than ever the vanity of his fortune. The thought of Denise had
-suddenly arrested him, this thought which incessantly pierced him with
-a flame, like the shooting of an incurable pain. He had run away, unable
-to find a word of satisfaction, fearful lest he should show his tears,
-leaving behind him the disgust of his triumph. This façade, which was
-at last erected, seemed little in his eyes, very much like one of those
-walls of sand that children build, and it might have been extended from
-one end of the city to the other, elevated to the starry sky, yet it
-would not have filled the emptiness of his heart, that the “yes” of a
-mere child could alone fill.
-
-When Mouret entered his office he was almost choking with sobs. What did
-she want? He dared not offer her money now; and the confused idea of a
-marriage presented itself amidst his young widower's revolts. And, in
-the debility of his powerlessness, his tears began to flow. He was very
-miserable.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-One morning in November, Denise was giving her first orders in the
-department when the Baudus' servant came to tell her that Mademoiselle
-Geneviève had passed a very bad night, and wished to see her cousin
-immediately. For some time the young girl had been getting weaker and
-weaker, and she had been obliged to take to her bed two days before.
-
-“Say I am coming at once,” replied Denise, very anxious.
-
-The blow which was finishing Geneviève was Colomban's sudden
-disappearance. At first, chaffed by Clara, he had stopped out several
-nights; then, yielding to the mad desires of a quiet, chaste fellow, he
-had become her obedient slave, and had not returned one Monday, but had
-simply sent a farewell letter to Baudu, written in the studied terms of
-a man about to commit suicide. Perhaps, at the bottom of this passion,
-there was also the crafty calculation of a fellow delighted at escaping
-a disastrous marriage. The draper's business was in as bad a way as
-his betrothed; the moment was propitious to break with them through any
-stupidity. And every one cited him as an unfortunate victim of love.
-
-When Denise arrived at The Old Elbeuf, Madame Baudu was there alone,
-sitting motionless behind the pay-desk, with her small white face, eaten
-up by anæmia, silent and quiet in the cold, deserted shop. There were
-no assistants now. The servant dusted the shelves, and it was even a
-question of replacing her by a charwoman. A dreary cold fell from the
-ceiling, hours passed away without a customer coming to disturb this
-silence, and the goods, no longer touched, became mustier and mustier
-every day.
-
-“What's the matter?” asked Denise, anxiously. “Is Geneviève in danger?”
-
-Madame Baudu did not reply at first. Her eyes filled with tears. Then
-she stammered: “I don't know; they don't tell me anything. Ah, it's all
-over, it's all over.”
-
-And she cast a sombre glance around the dark old shop, as if she felt
-her daughter and the shop disappearing together. The seventy thousand
-francs, produce of the sale of their Rambouillet property, had melted
-away in less than two years in this gulf of competition. In order to
-struggle against The Ladies' Paradise, which now kept men's cloths and
-materials for hunting and livery suits, the draper had made considerable
-sacrifices. At last he had been definitely crushed by the swanskin cloth
-and flannels sold by his rival, an assortment that had not its equal
-in the market. Little by little his debts had increased, and, as a last
-resource, he had resolved to mortgage the old building in the Rue de la
-Michodière, where Finet, their ancestor, had founded the business; and
-it was now only a question of days, the crumbling away had commenced,
-the very ceilings seemed to be falling down and turning into dust, like
-an old worm-eaten structure carried away by the wind.
-
-“Your uncle is upstairs,” resumed Madame Baudu in her broken voice. “We
-stay with her two hours each. Some one must look out here; oh! but only
-as a precaution, for to tell the truths----”
-
-Her gesture finished the phrase. They would have put the shutters up had
-it not been for their old commercial pride, which still propped them up
-in the presence of the neighbourhood.
-
-“Well, I'll go up, aunt,” said Denise, whose heart was bleeding, amidst
-this resigned despair that even the pieces of cloth themselves exhaled.
-
-“Yes, go upstairs quick, my girl. She's waiting for you. She's been
-asking for you all night. She has something to tell you.”
-
-But just at that moment Baudu came down. The rising bile gave his yellow
-face a greenish tinge, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was still walking
-with the muffled step with which he had quitted the Sick room, and
-murmur-ed, as if he might be heard upstairs, “She's asleep.”
-
-And, thoroughly worn out, he sat down on a chair, wiping his forehead
-with a mechanical gesture, puffing like a man who has just finished some
-hard work. A silence ensued, but at last he said to Denise: “You'll see
-her presently. When she is sleeping, she seems to me to be all right
-again.”
-
-There was again a silence. Face to face, the father and mother stood
-looking at each other. Then, in a half whisper, he went over his grief
-again, naming no one, addressing no one directly: “My head on the block,
-I wouldn't have believed it! He was the last one. I had brought him up
-as a son. If any one had come and said to me, 'They'll take him away
-from you as well; he'll fall as well,' I would have replied 'Impossible,
-it could not be.' And he has fallen all the same! Ah! the scoundrel, he
-who was so well up in real business, who had all my ideas! And all for
-a young monkey, one of those dummies that parade at the windows of bad
-houses! No! really, it's enough to drive one mad!”
-
-He shook his head, his eyes fell on the damp floor worn away by
-generations of customers. Then he continued in a lower voice, “There are
-moments when I feel myself the most culpable of all in our misfortune.
-Yes, it's my fault if our poor girl is upstairs devoured by fever. Ought
-not I to have married them at once, without yielding to my stupid pride,
-my obstinacy in refusing to leave them the house less prosperous than
-before? Had I done that she would now have the man she loved, and
-perhaps their united youthful strength would have accomplished the
-miracle that I have failed to work. But I am an old fool, and saw
-through nothing; I didn't know that people fell ill over such things.
-Really he was an extraordinary fellow: with such a gift for business,
-and such probity, such simplicity of conduct, so orderly in every
-way--in short, my pupil.”
-
-He raised his head, still defending his ideas, in the person of the
-shopman who had betrayed him. Denise could not bear to hear him accuse
-himself, and she told him so, carried away by her emotion, on seeing him
-so humble, with his eyes full of tears, he who used formerly to reign as
-absolute master.
-
-“Uncle, pray don't apologise for him. He never loved Geneviève, he would
-have run away sooner if you had tried to hasten the marriage. I have
-spoken to him myself about it; he was perfectly well aware that my
-cousin was suffering on his account, and you see that did not prevent
-him leaving. Ask aunt.”
-
-Without opening her lips, Madame Baudu confirmed these words by a nod.
-The draper turned paler still, blinded by his tears. He stammered out:
-“It must be in the blood, his father died last year through having led a
-dissolute life.”
-
-And he once more looked round the obscure shop, his eyes wandering from
-the empty counters to the full shelves, then resting on Madame Baudu,
-who was still at the pay-desk, waiting in vain for the customers who did
-not come.
-
-“Come,” said he, “it's all over. They've ruined our business, and now
-one of their hussies is killing our daughter.”
-
-No one spoke. The rolling of the vehicles, which occasionally shook the
-floor, passed like a funereal beating of drums in the still air, stifled
-under the low ceiling. Suddenly, amidst this gloomy sadness of the old
-dying shop, could be heard several heavy knocks, struck somewhere in
-the house. It was Geneviève, who had just awoke, and was knocking with a
-stick they had left near her bed.
-
-“Let's go up at once,” said Baudu, rising with a start. “Try and be
-cheerful, she mustn't know.”
-
-He himself rubbed his eyes to efface the trace of his tears. As soon as
-he had opened the door, on the first storey, they heard a frightened,
-feeble voice crying: “Oh, I don't like to be left alone. Don't leave me;
-I'm afraid to be left alone.” Then, when she perceived Denise, Geneviève
-became calmer, and smiled joyfully. “You've come, then! How I've been
-longing to see you since yesterday. I thought you also had abandoned
-me!”
-
-It was a piteous sight. The young girl's room looked out on to the yard,
-a little room lighted by a livid light At first her parents had put her
-in their own room, in the front; but the sight of The Ladies' Paradise
-opposite affected her so much, that they had been obliged to bring
-her back to her own again. And there she lay, so very thin, under the
-bed-clothes, that one hardly suspected the form and existence of a human
-body. Her skinny arms, consumed by a burning fever, were in a perpetual
-movement of anxious, unconscious searching; whilst her black hair seemed
-thicker still, and to be eating up her poor face with its voracious
-vitality, that face in which was agonising the final degenerateness of
-a family sprung up in the shade, in this cellar of old commercial Paris.
-Denise, her heart bursting with pity, stood looking at her. She did not
-at first speak, for fear of giving way to tears. At last she murmured:
-
-“I came at once. Can I be of any use to you? You asked for me. Would you
-like me to stay?”
-
-“No, thanks. I don't want anything. I only wanted to embrace you.”
-
-Tears filled her eyes. Denise quickly leant over, and kissed her on both
-cheeks, trembling to feel on her lips the flame of those hollow cheeks.
-But Geneviève, stretching out her arms, seized and kept her in a
-desperate embrace. Then she looked towards her father.
-
-“Would you like me to stay?” repeated Denise. “Perhaps there is
-something I can do for you.”
-
-Geneviève's glance was still obstinately fixed on her father, who
-remained standing, with a stolid air, almost choking. He at last
-understood, and went away, without saying a word; and they heard his
-heavy footstep on the stairs.
-
-“Tell me, is he with that woman?” asked the sick girl immediately,
-seizing her cousin's hand, and making her sit on the side of the bed.
-“I want to know, and you are the only one can tell me. They're living
-together, aren't they?” Denise, surprised by these questions, stammered,
-and was obliged to confess the truth, the rumours that were current in
-the shop. Clara, tired of this fellow, who was getting a nuisance to
-her, had already broken with him, and Colomban, desolated, was pursuing
-her everywhere, trying to obtain a meeting from time to time, with a
-sort of canine humility. They said that he was going to take a situation
-at the Grands Magasins du Louvre.
-
-“If you still love him, he may return,” said Denise, to cheer the dying
-girl with this last hope. “Get well quick, he will acknowledge his
-errors, and marry you.”
-
-Geneviève interrupted her. She had listened with all her soul, with an
-intense passion that raised her in the bed. But she fell back almost
-immediately. “No, I know it's all over! I don't say anything, because I
-see papa crying, and I don't wish to make mamma worse than she is. But I
-am going, Denise, and if I called for you last night it was for fear of
-going off before the morning. And to think that he is not happy after
-all!”
-
-And Denise having remonstrated, assuring her that she was not so bad as
-all that, she cut her short again, suddenly throwing off the bed-clothes
-with the chaste gesture of a virgin who has nothing to conceal in death.
-Naked to the waist, she murmured: “Look at me! Is it possible?”
-
-Trembling, Denise quitted the side of the bed, as if she feared to
-destroy this fearful nudity with a breath. It was the last of the flesh,
-a bride's body used up by waiting, returned to the first infantile
-slimness of her young days. Geneviève slowly covered herself up again,
-saying: “You see I am no longer a woman. It would be wrong to wish for
-him still!” There was a silence. Both continued to look at each other,
-unable to find a word to say. It was Geneviève who resumed: “Come, don't
-stay any longer, you have your own affairs to look after. And thanks, I
-was tormented by the wish to know, and am now satisfied. If you see him,
-tell him I forgive him. Adieu, dear Denise. Kiss me once more, for it's
-the last time.” The young girl kissed her, protesting: “No, no, don't
-despair, all you want is loving care, nothing more.” But the sick girl,
-shaking her head in an obstinate way, smiled, quite sure of what she
-said. And as her cousin was making for the door, she exclaimed: “Wait a
-minute, knock with this stick, so that papa may come up. I'm afraid to
-stay alone.”
-
-Then, when Baudu arrived in that small, gloomy room, where he spent
-hours seated on a chair, she assumed an air of gaiety, saying to
-Denise--“Don't come to-morrow, I would rather not. But on Sunday I shall
-expect you; you can spend the afternoon with me.”
-
-The next morning, at six o'clock, Geneviève expired after four hours'
-fearful agony. The funeral took place on a Saturday, a fearfully black,
-gloomy day, under a sooty sky which hung over the shivering city. The
-Old Elbeuf, hung with white linen, lighted up the street with a bright
-spot, and the candles burning in the fading day seemed so many stars
-drowned in the twilight The coffin was covered with wreaths and bouquets
-of white roses; it was a narrow child's coffin, placed in the obscure
-passage of the house on a level with the pavement, so near the gutter
-that the passing carriages had already splashed the coverings. The whole
-neighbourhood exhaled a dampness, a cellar-like mouldy odour, with its
-continual rush of pedestrians on the muddy pavement.
-
-At nine o'clock Denise came over to stay with her aunt. But as the
-funeral was starting, the latter--who had ceased weeping, her eyes burnt
-with tears--begged her to follow the body and look after her uncle,
-whose mute affliction and almost idiotic grief filled the family with
-anxiety. Below, the young girl found the street full of people, for the
-small traders in the neighbourhood were anxious to show the Baudus
-a mark of sympathy, and in this eagerness there was also a sort of
-manifestation against The Ladies' Paradise, whom they accused of
-causing Geneviève's slow agony. All the victims of the monster were
-there--Bédoré and sister from the hosier's shop in the Rue Gaillon, the
-furriers, Vanpouille Brothers, and Deslignières the toyman, and Piot
-and Rivoire the furniture dealers; even Mademoiselle Tatin from the
-underclothing shop, and the glover Quinette, long since cleared off by
-bankruptcy, had made it a duty to come, the one from Batignolle, the
-other from the Bastille, where they had been obliged to take situations.
-Whilst waiting for the hearse, which was late, these people, tramping
-about in the mud, cast glances of hatred towards The Ladies' Paradise,
-the bright windows and gay displays of which seemed an insult in face
-of The Old Elbeuf, which, with its funeral trappings and glimmering
-candles, cast a gloom over the other side of the street A few curious
-faces appeared at the plate-glass windows; but the colossus maintained
-the indifference of a machine going at full speed, unconscious of the
-deaths it may cause on the road.
-
-Denise looked round for her brother Jean, whom she at last perceived
-standing before Bourras's shop, and she went and asked him to walk with
-his uncle, to assist him if he could not get along. For the last few
-weeks Jean had been very grave, as if tormented by some worry. To-day,
-buttoned up in his black frock-coat, a full grown man, earning his
-twenty francs a day, he seemed so dignified and so sad that his sister
-was surprised, for she had no idea he loved his cousin so much as that.
-Desirous of sparing Pépé this needless grief, she had left him with
-Madame Gras, intending to go and fetch him in the afternoon to see his
-uncle and aunt.
-
-The hearse had still not arrived, and Denise, greatly affected, was
-watching the candles burn, when she was startled by a well-known voice
-behind her. It was Bourras. He had called the chestnut-seller opposite,
-in his little box, against the public-house, and said to him:
-
-“I say, Vigouroux, just keep a look-out for me a bit, will you? You see
-I've closed the door. If any one comes tell them to call again. But don't
-let that disturb you, no one will come.”
-
-Then he took his stand on the pavement, waiting like the others. Denise,
-feeling rather awkward, glanced at his shop. He entirely abandoned it
-now; there was nothing left but a disorderly array of umbrellas eaten up
-by the damp air, and canes blackened by the gas. The embellishments
-that he had made, the delicate green paint work, the glasses, the gilded
-sign, were all cracking, already getting dirty, presenting that rapid
-and lamentable decrepitude of false luxury laid over ruins. But though
-the old crevices were re-appearing, though the spots of damp had sprung
-up over the gildings, the house still held its ground obstinately,
-hanging on to the flanks of The Ladies' Paradise like a dishonouring
-wart, which, although cracked and rotten, refused to fall off.
-
-“Ah! the scoundrels,” growled Bourras, “they won't even let her be
-carried away.”
-
-The hearse, which had at last arrived, had just got into collision with
-one of The Ladies' Paradise vans, which was spinning along, shedding in
-the mist its starry radiance, with the rapid trot of two superb horses.
-And the old man cast on Denise an oblique glance, lighted up under his
-bushy eyebrows. Slowly, the funeral started off, splashing through the
-muddy pools, amid the silence of the omnibuses and carriages suddenly
-pulled up. When the coffin, draped with white, crossed the Place
-Gaillon, the sombre looks of the cortege were once more plunged into the
-windows of the big shop, where two saleswomen alone had run up to look
-on, pleased at this distraction. Baudu followed the hearse with a heavy
-mechanical step, refusing by a sign the arm offered by Jean, who was
-walking with him. Then, after a long-string of people, came three
-mourning coaches. As they passed the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs,
-Robineau ran up to join the cortege, very pale, and looking much older.
-
-At Saint-Roch, a great many women were waiting, the small traders of
-the neighbourhood, who had been afraid of the crowd at the house. The
-manifestation was developing into quite a riot; and when, after the
-service, the procession started off back, all the men followed, although
-it was a long walk from the Rue Saint-Honoré to the Montmartre Cemetery.
-They had to go up the Rue Saint-Roch, and once more pass The Ladies'
-Paradise. It was a sort of obsession; this poor young girl's body was
-paraded round the big shop like the first victim fallen in time of
-revolution. At the door some red flannels were flapping like so many
-flags, and a display of carpets blazed forth in a florescence of
-enormous roses and full-blown pæonies. Denise had got into one of the
-coaches, being agitated by some smarting doubts, her heart oppressed by
-such a feeling of grief that she had not the strength to walk At
-that moment there was a stop, in the Rue du Dix-Décembre, before the
-scaffolding of the new façade which still obstructed the thoroughfare.
-'And the young girl observed old Bourras, left behind, dragging along
-with difficulty, close to the wheels of the coach in which she was
-riding alone. He would never get as far as the cemetery, she thought. He
-raised his head, looked at her, and all at once got into the coach.
-
-“It's my confounded knees,” exclaimed he. “Don't draw back! Is it you
-that we detest?”
-
-She felt him to be friendly and furious as in former days. He grumbled,
-declared that Baudu must be fearfully strong to be able to keep up after
-such blows as he had received. The procession had resumed its slow pace;
-and on leaning out, Denise saw her uncle walking with his heavy step,
-which seemed to regulate the rumbling and painful march of the cortege.
-She then threw herself back into the corner, listening to the endless
-complaints of the old umbrella maker, rocked by the melancholy movement
-of the coach.
-
-“The police ought to clear the public thoroughfare, my word! They've
-been blocking up our street for the last eighteen months with the
-scaffolding of their façade, where a man was killed the other day. Never
-mind! When they want to enlarge further they'll have to throw bridges
-over the street. They say there are now two thousand seven hundred
-employees, and that the business will amount to a hundred millions this
-year. A hundred millions! Just fancy, a hundred millions!”
-
-Denise had nothing to say in reply. The procession had just turned
-into the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, where it was stopped by a block of
-vehicles. Bourras went on, with a vague expression in his eyes, as if he
-were dreaming aloud. He still failed to understand the triumph
-achieved by The Ladies' Paradise, but he acknowledged the defeat of the
-old-fashioned traders.
-
-“Poor Robineau's done for, he's got the face of a drowning man. And the
-Bédorés and the Vanpouilles, they can't keep going; they're like me,
-played out Deslignières will die of apoplexy. Piot and Rivoire have the
-yellow jaundice. Ah! we're a fine lot; a pretty cortege of skeletons to
-follow the poor child. It must be comical for those looking on to see
-this string of bankrupts pass. Besides, it appears that the clean sweep
-is to continue. The scoundrels are creating departments for flowers,
-bonnets, perfumery, shoemaking, all sorts of things. Grognet, the
-perfumer in the Rue de Grammont, can clear out, and I wouldn't give ten
-francs for Naud's shoe-shop in the Rue d'Antin. The cholera has spread
-as far as the Rue Sainte-Anne, where Lacassagne, at the feather and
-flower shop, and Madame Chadeuil, whose bonnets are so well-known, will
-be swept away before long. And after those, others; it will still go
-on! All the businesses in the neighbourhood will suffer. When
-counter-jumpers commence to sell soap and goloshes, they are quite
-capable of dealing in fried potatoes. My word, the world is turning
-upside down!”
-
-The hearse was just then crossing the Place de la Trinité to ascend the
-steep Rue Blanche, and from the corner of the gloomy coach Denise, who,
-broken-hearted, was listening to the endless complaints of the old man,
-could see the coffin as they issued from the Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin.
-Behind her uncle, marching along with the blind, mute face of an ox
-about to be poleaxed, she seemed to hear the tramping of a flock of
-sheep led to the slaughter-house, the discomfiture of the shops of a
-whole district, the small traders dragging along their ruin, with the
-thud of damp shoes, through the muddy streets of Paris. Bourras still
-went on, in a deeper voice, as if slackened by the difficult ascent of
-the Rue Blanche.
-
-“As for me, I am settled. But I still hold on all the same, and won't
-let go. He's just lost his appeal case. Ah! that's cost me something,
-what with nearly two years' pleading, and the solicitors and the
-barristers! Never mind, he won't pass under my shop, the judges have
-decided that such a work could not be considered as a legitimate case
-of repairing. Fancy, he talked of creating underneath a light saloon to
-judge the colours of the stuffs by gas-light, a subterranean room which
-would have united the hosiery to the drapery department! And he can't
-get over it; he can't swallow the fact that an old humbug like me should
-stop his progress when everybody are on their knees before his money.
-Never! I won't! that's understood. Very likely I may be worsted. Since I
-have had to go to the money-lenders, I know the villain is looking after
-my paper, in the hope to play me some villanous trick, no doubt. But
-that doesn't matter. He says 'yes,' and I say 'no,' and shall still say
-'no,' even when I get between two boards like this poor little girl who
-has just been nailed up.”
-
-When they reached the Boulevard de Clichy, the coach went at a
-quicker pace; one could hear the heavy breathing of the mourners, the
-unconscious haste of the cortege, anxious to get the sad ceremony over.
-What Bourras did not openly mention, was the frightful misery into which
-he had fallen, bewildered amidst the confusion of the small trader who
-is on the road to ruin and yet remains obstinate, under a shower of
-protested bills. Denise, well acquainted with his situation, at last
-interrupted the silence by saying, in a voice of entreaty:
-
-“Monsieur Bourras, pray don't stand out any longer. Let me arrange
-matters for you.”
-
-But he interrupted her with a violent gesture. “You be quiet. That's
-nobody's business. You're a good little girl, and I know you lead him
-a hard life, this man who thought you were for sale like my house. But
-what would you answer if I advised you to say 'yes?' You'd send me about
-my business. Therefore, when I say 'no,' don't you interfere in the
-matter.”
-
-And the coach having stopped at the cemetery gate, he got out with the
-young girl. The Baudus' vault was situated in the first alley on the
-left. In a few minutes the ceremony was terminated. Jean had drawn
-away his uncle, who was looking into the grave with a gaping air. The
-mourners wandered about amongst the neighbouring tombs, and the faces
-of all these shopkeepers, their blood impoverished by living in their
-unhealthy shops assumed an ugly suffering look under the leaden sky.
-When the coffin slipped gently down, their blotched and pimpled cheeks
-paled, and their bleared eyes, blinded with figures, turned away.
-
-“We ought all to jump into this hole,” said Bourras to Denise, who had
-kept close to him. “In burying this poor girl they are burying the whole
-district. Oh! I know what I am saying, the old-fashioned business may go
-and join the white roses they are throwing on to her coffin.”
-
-Denise brought back her uncle and brother in a mourning coach. The day
-was for her exceedingly dull and melancholy. In the first place, she
-began to get anxious at Jean's paleness, and when she understood that it
-was on account of another woman, she tried to quiet him by opening her
-purse, but he shook his head and refused, saying it was serious this
-time, the niece of a very rich pastry-cook, who would not accept even
-a bunch of violets. Afterwards, in the afternoon, when Denise went to
-fetch Pépé from Madame Gras's, the latter declared that he was getting
-too big for her to keep any longer; another annoyance, for she would be
-obliged to find him a school, perhaps send him away. And to crown all
-she was thoroughly heart-broken, on bringing Pépé back to kiss his aunt
-and uncle, to see the gloomy sadness of The Old Elbeuf. The shop was
-closed, and the old couple were at the further end of the little room,
-where they had forgotten to light the gas, notwithstanding the complete
-obscurity of this winter's day. They were now quite alone, face to face,
-in the house, slowly emptied by ruin; and the death of their daughter
-deepened the shady corners, and was like the supreme cracking which was
-soon to break up the old rafters, eaten away by the damp. Beneath this
-destruction, her uncle, unable to stop himself, still kept walking round
-the table, with his funeral-like step, blind and silent; whilst her
-aunt said nothing, she had fallen into a chair, with the white face of a
-wounded person, whose blood was running away drop by drop. They did not
-even weep when Pépé covered their cold cheeks with kisses. Denise was
-choked with tears.
-
-That same evening Mouret sent for the young girl to speak of a child's
-garment he wished to launch forth, a mixture of the Scotch and Zouave
-costumes. And still trembling with pity, shocked at so much suffering,
-she could not contain herself; she first ventured to speak of Bourras,
-of that poor old man whom they were about to ruin. But, on hearing the
-umbrella maker's name, Mouret flew into a rage at once. The old madman,
-as he called him, was the plague of his life, and spoilt his triumph
-by his idiotic obstinacy in not giving up his house, that ignoble hovel
-which was a disgrace to The Ladies' Paradise, the only little corner
-of the vast block that escaped his conquest. The matter was becoming a
-regular nightmare; any one else but Denise speaking in favour of Bourras
-would have run the risk of being dismissed immediately, so violently was
-Mouret tortured by the sickly desire to kick the house down. In short,
-what did they wish him to do? Could he leave this heap of ruins sticking
-to The Ladies' Paradise? It would be got rid of, the shop was to pass
-through it. So touch the worse for the old fool! And he spoke of his
-repeated proposals; he had offered him as much as a hundred thousand
-francs. Wasn't that fair? He never higgled, he gave the money required;
-but in return he expected people to be reasonable, and allow him to
-finish his work! Did any one ever try to stop the locomotives on a
-railway? She listened to him, with drooping eyes, unable to find any
-but purely sentimental reasons. The old man was so old, they might have
-waited till his death; a failure would kill him. Then he added that he
-was no longer able to prevent things going their course. Bourdoncle had
-taken the matter up, for the board had resolved to put an end to it. She
-had nothing more to add, notwithstanding the grievous pity she felt for
-her old friend.
-
-After a painful silence, Mouret himself commenced to speak of the
-Baudus, by expressing his sorrow at the death of their daughter. They
-were very worthy people, very honest, but had been pursued by the worst
-of luck. Then he resumed his arguments; at bottom, they had really
-caused their own misfortune by obstinately sticking to the old ways in
-their worm-eaten place; it was not astonishing that the place should be
-falling about their heads. He had predicted it scores of times; she must
-remember that he had charged her to warn her uncle of a fatal disaster,
-if the latter still clung to his old-fashioned stupid ways. And the
-catastrophe had arrived; no one in the world could now prevent it
-They could not reasonably expect him to ruin himself to save the
-neighbourhood. Besides, if he had been foolish enough to close The
-Ladies' Paradise, another big shop would have sprung up of itself next
-door, for the idea was now starting from the four corners of the globe;
-the triumph of these manufacturing and industrial cities was sown by
-the spirit of the times, which was sweeping away the tumbling edifice
-of former ages. Little by little Mouret warmed up, and found an
-eloquent emotion with which to defend himself against the hatred of his
-involuntary victims, the clamour of the small dying shops that was heard
-around him. They could not keep their dead, he continued, they must bury
-them; and with a gesture he sent down into the grave, swept away and
-threw into the common hole the corpse of old-fashioned business, the
-greenish, poisonous remains of which were becoming a disgrace to the
-bright, sun-lighted streets of new Paris. No, no, he felt no remorse,
-he was simply doing the work of his age, and she knew it; she, who loved
-life, who had a passion for big affairs, concluded in the full glare of
-publicity. Reduced to silence, she listened to him for some time, and
-then went away, her soul full of trouble.
-
-That night Denise slept but little. A sleeplessness, traversed by
-nightmare, kept her turning over and over in her bed. It seemed to her
-that she was quite little, and she burst into tears, in their garden at
-Valognes, on seeing the blackcaps eat up the spiders, which themselves
-devoured the flies. Was it then really true, this necessity for the
-world to fatten on death, this struggle for existence which drove
-people into the charnel-house of eternal destruction? Afterwards she saw
-herself before the vault into which they had lowered Geneviève, then
-she perceived her uncle and aunt in their obscure dining-room. In
-the profound silence, a heavy voice, as of something tumbling down,
-traversed the dead air; it was Bourras's house giving way, as if
-undermined by a high tide. The silence recommenced, more sinister than
-ever, and a fresh rumbling was heard, then another, then another; the
-Robineaus, the Bédorés, the Vanpouilles, cracked and fell down in their
-turn, the small shops of the neighbourhood were disappearing beneath an
-invisible pick, with a brusque, thundering noise, as of a tumbril being
-emptied. Then an immense pity awoke her with a start. Heavens! what
-tortures! There were families weeping, old men thrown out into the
-street, all the poignant dramas that ruin conjures up. And she could
-save nobody; and she felt that it was right, that all this misery was
-necessary for the health of the Paris of the future. When day broke she
-became calmer, a feeling of resigned melancholy kept her awake, turned
-towards the windows through which the light was making its way. Yes, it
-was the need of blood that every revolution exacted from its martyrs,
-every step forward was made over the bodies of the dead. Her fear
-of being a wicked girl, of having assisted in the ruin of her
-fellow-creatures, now melted into a heartfelt pity, in face of these
-evils without remedy, which are the painful accompaniment of each
-generation's birth. She finished by seeking some possible comfort in her
-goodness, she dreamed of the means to be employed in order to save her
-relations at least from the final crash.
-
-Mouret now appeared before her with his passionate face and caressing
-eyes. He would certainly refuse her nothing; she felt sure he would
-accord her all reasonable compensation. And her thoughts went astray
-in trying to judge him. She knew his life, was aware of the calculating
-nature of his former affections, his continual exploitation of woman,
-mistresses taken up to further his own ends, and his intimacy with
-Madame Desforges solely to get hold of Baron Hartmann, and all the
-others, such as Clara and the rest, pleasure bought, paid for, and
-thrown out on the pavement. But these beginnings of a love adventurer,
-which were the talk of the shop, were gradually effaced by the strokes
-of genius of this man, his victorious grace. He was seduction itself.
-What she could never have forgiven was his former deception, his lover's
-coldness under the gallant comedy of his attentions. But she felt
-herself to be entirely without rancour, now that he was suffering
-through her. This suffering had elevated him. When she saw him tortured
-by her refusal, atoning so fully for his former disdain for woman, he
-seemed to have made amends for all his faults.
-
-That morning Denise obtained from Mouret the compensation she might
-judge legitimate the day the Baudus and old Bourras should succumb.
-Weeks passed away, during which she went to see her uncle nearly every
-afternoon, escaping from her counter for a few minutes, bringing her
-smiling face and brave courage to enliven the sombre shop. She was
-especially anxious about her aunt, who had fallen into a dull stupor
-since Geneviève's death; it seemed that her life was quitting her
-hourly; and when people spoke to her she would reply with an astonished
-air that she was not suffering, but that she simply felt as if overcome
-by sleep. The neighbours shook their heads, saying she would not live
-long to regret her daughter.
-
-One day Denise was coming out of the Baudus', when, on turning the
-corner of the Place Gaillon, she heard a loud cry. The crowd rushed
-forward, a panic arose, that breath of fear and pity which so
-suddenly seizes a crowd. It was a brown omnibus, belonging to the
-Bastille-Batignolles line, which had run over a man, coming out of the
-Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin, opposite the fountain. Upright on his seat,
-with furious gestures, the driver was pulling in his two kicking horses,
-and crying out, in a great passion:
-
-“Confound you! Why don't you look out, you idiot!”
-
-The omnibus had now stopped, and the crowd had surrounded the wounded
-man, and, strange to say, a policeman was soon on the spot. Still
-standing up, invoking the testimony of the people on the knife-board,
-who had also got up, to look over and see the wounded man, the coachman
-was explaining the matter, with exasperated gestures, choked by his
-increasing anger.
-
-“It's something fearful. This fellow was walking in the middle of the
-road, quite at home. I called out, and he at once threw himself under
-the wheels!”
-
-A house-painter, who had run up, brush in hand, from a neighbouring
-house, then said, in a sharp voice, amidst the clamour: “Don't excite
-yourself. I saw him, he threw himself under. He jumped in, head first.
-Another unfortunate tired of life, no doubt.”
-
-Others spoke up, and all agreed upon it being a case of suicide, whilst
-the policeman pulled out his book and made his entry. Several ladies,
-very pale, got out quickly, and ran away without looking back, filled
-with horror by the soft shaking which had stirred them up when the
-omnibus passed over the body. Denise approached, attracted by a
-practical pity, which prompted her to interest herself in all sorts
-of street accidents, wounded dogs, horses down, and tilers falling off
-roofs. And she immediately recognised the unfortunate fellow who had
-fainted away, his clothes covered with mud.
-
-“It's Monsieur Robineau,” cried she, in her grievous astonishment.
-
-The policeman at once questioned the young girl, and she gave his name,
-profession, and address. Thanks to the driver's energy, the omnibus had
-twisted round, and thus only Robineau's legs had gone under the wheels,
-but it was to be feared that they were both broken. Four men carried
-the wounded draper to a chemist's shop in the Rue Gaillon, whilst the
-omnibus slowly resumed its journey.
-
-“My stars!” said the driver, whipping up his horses, “I've done a famous
-day's work.”
-
-Denise followed Robineau into the chemist's. The latter, waiting for a
-doctor who could not be found, declared there was no immediate danger,
-and that the wounded man had better be taken home, as he lived in
-the neighbourhood. A lad started off to the police-station to order a
-stretcher, and Denise had the happy thought of going on in front and
-preparing Madame Robineau for this frightful blow. But she had the
-greatest trouble in the world to get into the street through the crowd,
-which was struggling before the door. This crowd, attracted by death,
-was increasing every minute; men, women, and children stood on tip-toe,
-and held their own amidst a brutal pushing, and each new comer had his
-version of the accident, so that at last it was said to be a husband
-pitched out of the window by his wife's lover.
-
-In the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, Denise perceived Madame Robineau
-on the threshold of the silk warehouse. This gave her a pretext for
-stopping, and she talked on for a moment, trying to find a way of
-breaking the terrible news. The shop presented the disorderly, abandoned
-appearance of the last struggles of a dying business. It was the
-inevitable end of the great battle of the silks; the Paris Paradise had
-crushed its rival by a fresh reduction of a sou; it was now sold at four
-francs nineteen sous, Gaujean's silk had found its Waterloo. For the
-last two months Robineau, reduced to all sorts of shifts, had been
-leading a fearful life, trying to prevent a declaration of bankruptcy.
-
-“I've just seen your husband pass through the Place Gaillon,” murmured
-Denise, who had now entered the shop.
-
-Madame Robineau, whom a secret anxiety seemed to be continually
-attracting towards the street, said quickly: “Ah, just now, wasn't it?
-I'm waiting for him, he ought to be back; Monsieur Gaujean came up this
-morning, and they have gone out together.”
-
-She was still charming, delicate, and gay; but her advanced state of
-pregnancy gave her a fatigued look, and she was more frightened, more
-bewildered than ever, by these business matters, which she did not
-understand, and which were all going wrong. As she often said, what was
-the use of it all? Would it not be better to live quietly in some small
-house, and be contented with modest fare?
-
-“My dear child,” resumed she with her smile, which was becoming sadder,
-“we have nothing to conceal from you. Things are not going on well,
-and my poor darling is worried to death. To-day this Gaujean has been
-tormenting him about some bills overdue. I was dying with anxiety at
-being left here all alone.”
-
-And she was returning to the door when Denise stopped her, having heard
-the noise of the crowd and guessing that it was the wounded man being
-brought along, surrounded by a mob of idlers anxious to see the end of
-the affair. Then, with a parched throat, unable to find the consoling
-words she would have wished, she had to explain the matter.
-
-“Don't be anxious, there's no immediate danger. I've seen Monsieur
-Robineau, he has met with an accident. They are just bringing him home,
-pray don't be frightened.”
-
-The poor woman listened to her, white as a sheet, without clearly
-understanding. The street was full of people, the drivers of the impeded
-cabs were swearing, the men had laid down the stretcher before the shop
-in order to open both glass doors.
-
-“It was an accident,” continued Denise, resolved to conceal the attempt
-at suicide. “He was on the pavement and slipped under the wheels of an
-omnibus. Only his feet were hurt. They've sent for a doctor. There's no
-need to be anxious.”
-
-A shudder passed over Madame Robineau. She set up an inarticulate cry,
-then ceased talking and ran to the stretcher, drawing the covering away
-with her trembling hands. The men who had brought Robineau were waiting
-to take him away as soon as the doctor arrived. They dared not touch
-him, who had come round again, and whose sufferings were frightful at
-the slightest movement. When he saw his wife his eyes filled with tears.
-She embraced him, and stood looking fixedly at him, and weeping. In the
-street the tumult was increasing; the people pressed forward as at a
-theatre, with glistening eyes; some work-girls, escaped from a shop,
-were almost pushing through the windows eager to see what was going on.
-In order to avoid this feverish curiosity, and thinking, besides, that
-it was not right to leave the shop open, Denise decided on letting the
-metallic shutters down. She went and turned the winch, the wheels of
-which gave out a plaintive cry, the sheets of iron slowly descended, like
-the heavy draperies of a curtain falling on the catastrophe of a fifth
-act. When she went in again, after closing the little round door in the
-shutters, she found Madame Robineau still clasping her husband in
-her arms, in the half-light which came from the two stars cut in the
-shutters. The ruined shop seemed to be gliding into nothingness, the
-two stars alone glittered on this sudden and brutal catastrophe of the
-streets of Paris.
-
-At last Madame Robineau recovered her speech. “Oh, my darling!--oh, my
-darling! my darling!”
-
-This was all she could say, and he, suffocated, confessed himself with a
-cry of remorse when he saw her kneeling thus before him. When he did not
-move he only felt the burning lead of his legs.
-
-“Forgive me, I must have been mad. When the lawyer told me before
-Gaujean that the posters would be put up tomorrow, I saw flames dancing
-before me as if the walls were burning. After that I remember nothing
-else. I came down the Rue de la Michodière--it seemed that The Paradise
-people were laughing at me, that immense house seemed to crush me. So,
-when the omnibus came up, I thought of Lhomme and his arm, and threw
-myself underneath the omnibus.”
-
-Madame Robineau had slowly fallen on to the floor, horrified by this
-confession. Heavens! he had tried to kill himself. She seized the hand
-of her young friend, who leant over towards her quite overcome. The
-wounded man, exhausted by emotion, had just fainted away again; and the
-doctor not having arrived, two men went all over the neighbourhood for
-him. The doorkeeper belonging to the house had gone off in his turn to
-look for him.
-
-“Pray, don't be anxious,” repeated Denise, mechanically, herself also
-sobbing.
-
-Then Madame Robineau, seated on the floor, with her head against the
-stretcher, her cheek placed on the mattress where her husband was lying,
-relieved her heart “Oh! I must tell you. It's all for me he wanted to
-die. He's always saying, 'I've robbed you; it was not my money.' And at
-night he dreams of this money, waking up covered with perspiration,
-calling himself an incapable fellow, saying that those who have no head
-for business ought not to risk other people's money. You know he has
-always been nervous, his brain tormented. He finished by conjuring up
-things that frightened me. He saw me in the street in tatters, begging,
-his darling wife, whom he loved so tenderly, whom he longed to see rich
-and happy.” But on turning round, she noticed he had opened his eyes;
-and she continued in a trembling voice: “My darling, why have you done
-this? You must think me very wicked! I assure you, I don't care if we
-are ruined. So long as we are together, we shall never be unhappy. Let
-them take everything, and we will go away somewhere, where you won't
-hear any more about them. You can still work; you'll see how happy we
-shall be!”
-
-She placed her forehead near her husband's pale face, and both were
-silent, in the emotion of their anguish. There was a pause. The shop
-seemed to be sleeping, benumbed by the pale night which enveloped it;
-whilst behind the thin shutters could be heard the noises of the street,
-the life of the busy city, the rumble of the vehicles, and the hustling
-and pushing of the passing crowd. At last Denise, who went every minute
-to glance through the hall door, came back, exclaiming: “Here's the
-doctor!”
-
-He was a young fellow, with bright eyes, whom the doorkeeper had found
-and brought in. He preferred to examine the poor man before they put him
-to bed. Only one of his legs, the left one, was broken above the ankle;
-it was a simple fracture, no serious complication appeared likely to
-result from it. And they were about to carry the stretcher into the
-back-room when Gaujean arrived. He came to give them an account of
-a last attempt to settle matters, an attempt which had failed; the
-declaration of bankruptcy was definite.
-
-“Dear me,” murmured he, “what's the matter?”
-
-In a few words, Denise informed him. Then he stopped, feeling rather
-awkward, while Robineau said, in a feeble voice: “I don't bear you any
-ill-will, but all this is partly your fault.”
-
-“Well, my dear fellow,” replied Gaujean, “it wanted stronger men than
-us. You know I'm not in a much better state than you.”
-
-They raised the stretcher; Robineau still found strength to say: “No,
-no, stronger fellows than us would have given way as we have. I can
-understand such obstinate old men as Bourras and Baudu standing out, but
-you and I, who are young, who had accepted the new style of things! No,
-Gaujean, it's the last of a world.”
-
-They carried him off. Madame Robineau embraced Denise with an eagerness
-in which there was almost a feeling of joy, to have at last got rid of
-all those worrying business matters. And, as Gaujean went away with the
-young girl, he confessed to her that this poor devil of a Robineau was
-right. It was idiotic to try and struggle against The Ladies' Paradise.
-He personally felt himself lost, if he did not give in. Last night, in
-fact, he had secretly made a proposal to Hutin, who was just leaving for
-Lyons. But he felt very doubtful, and tried to interest Denise in the
-matter, aware, no doubt, of her powerfulness.
-
-“My word,” said he, “so much the worse for the manufacturers! Every
-one would laugh at me if I ruined myself in fighting for other people's
-benefit, when these fellows are struggling who shall make at the
-cheapest price! As you said some time ago, the manufacturers have
-only to follow the march of progress by a better organisation and new
-methods. Everything will come all right; it suffices that the public are
-satisfied.”
-
-Denise smiled and replied: “Go and say that to Monsieur Mouret himself.
-Your visit will please him, and he's not the man to display any rancour,
-if you offer him even a centime profit per yard.”
-
-Madame Baudu died in January, on a bright sunny afternoon. For some
-weeks she had been unable to go down into the shop that a charwoman now
-looked after. She was in bed, propped up by the pillows. Nothing but
-her eyes seemed to be living in her white face, and, her head erect, she
-kept them obstinately fixed on The Ladies' Paradise opposite, through
-the small curtains of the windows. Baudu, himself suffering from this
-obsession, from the despairing fixity of her gaze, sometimes wanted
-to draw the large curtains to. But she stopped him with an imploring
-gesture, obstinately desirous of seeing the monster shop till the last
-moment. It had now robbed her of everything, her business, her daughter;
-she herself had gradually died away with The Old Elbeuf, losing a part
-of her life as the shop lost its customers; the day it succumbed, she
-had no more breath left When she felt she was dying, she still found the
-strength to insist on her husband opening the two windows. It was
-very mild, a bright day of sun gilded The Ladies' Paradise, whilst the
-bed-room of their old house shivered in the shade. Madame Baudu lay with
-her fixed gaze, absorbed by the vision of the triumphal monument, the
-clear, limpid windows, behind which a gallop of millions was passing.
-Slowly her eyes grew dim, invaded by darkness; and when they at last
-sunk in death, they remained wide open, still looking, drowned in tears.
-
-Once more the ruined traders of the district followed the funeral
-procession. There were the brothers Vanpouille, pale at the thought of
-their December bills, paid by a supreme effort which they would never be
-able to repeat. Bédoré, with his sister, leant on his cane, so full of
-worry and anxiety that his liver complaint was getting worse every day.
-Deslignières had had a fit, Piot and Rivoire walked on in silence, with
-downcast looks, like men entirely played out. They dared not question
-each other about those who had disappeared, Quinette, Mademoiselle
-Tatin, and others, who were sinking, ruined, swept away by this
-disastrous flood; without counting Robineau, still in bed, with his
-broken leg. But they pointed with an especial air of interest to the new
-tradesmen attacked by the plague; the perfumer Grognet, the milliner
-Madame Chadeuil, Lacassagne, the flower maker, and Naud, the bootmaker,
-still standing firm, but seized by the anxiety of the evil, which would
-doubtless sweep them away in their turn. Baudu walked along behind the
-hearse with the same heavy, stolid step as when he had followed his
-daughter; whilst at the back of a mourning coach could be seen Bourras's
-sparkling eyes under his bushy eyebrows, and his hair of a snowy white.
-
-Denise was in great trouble. For the last fifteen days she had been
-worn out with fatigue and anxiety; she had been obliged to put Pépé to
-school, and had been running about for Jean, who was so stricken with
-the pastrycook's niece, that he had implored his sister to go and ask
-her hand in marriage. Then her aunt's death, these repeated catastrophes
-had quite overwhelmed the young girl. Mouret again offered his services,
-giving her leave to do what she liked for her uncle and the others.
-One morning she had an interview with him, at the news that Bourras was
-turned into the street, and that Baudu was going to shut up shop. Then
-she went out after breakfast in the hope of comforting these two, at
-least.
-
-In the Rue de la Michodière, Bourras was standing on the pavement
-opposite his house, from which he had been expelled the previous day by
-a fine trick, a discovery of the lawyers; as Mouret held some bills, he
-had easily obtained an order in bankruptcy against the umbrella-maker;
-then he had given five hundred francs for the expiring lease at the sale
-ordered by the court; so that the obstinate old man had allowed himself
-to be deprived of, for five hundred francs, what he had refused to give
-up for a hundred thousand. The architect, who came with his gang of
-workmen, had been obliged to employ the police to get him out. The goods
-had been taken and sold; but he still kept himself obstinately in the
-corner where he slept, and from which they did not like to drive him,
-out of pity. The workmen even attacked the roofing over his head.
-They had taken off the rotten slates, the ceilings fell in, the walls
-cracked, and yet he stuck there, under the naked old beams, amidst the
-ruins of the shop. At last the police came, and he went away. But the
-following morning he again appeared on the opposite side of the street,
-after having spent the night in a lodging-house in the neighbourhood.
-
-“Monsieur Bourras!” said Denise, kindly.
-
-He did not hear her, his flaming eyes were devouring the workmen who
-were attacking the front of the hovel with their picks. Through the
-empty window-frames could be seen the inside of the house, the miserable
-rooms, and the black staircase, where the sun had not penetrated for the
-last two hundred years. .
-
-“Ah! it's you,” replied he, at last, when he recognised her. “A nice bit
-of work they're doing, eh? the robbers!”
-
-She did not now dare to speak, stirred up by the lamentable sadness of
-the old place, herself unable to take her eyes off the mouldy stones
-that were falling. Above, in a corner of the ceiling of her old room, she
-still perceived the name in black and shaky letters--Ernestine--written
-with the flame of a candle, and the remembrance of those days of
-misery came back to her, inspiring her with a tender sympathy for all
-suffering. But the workmen, in order to knock one of the walls down at a
-blow, had attacked it at its base. It was tottering.
-
-“Should like to see it crush all of them,” growled Bourras, in a savage
-voice.
-
-There was a terrible cracking noise. The frightened workmen ran out into
-the street. In falling down, the wall tottered and carried all the house
-with it. No doubt the hovel was ripe for the fall--it could no longer
-stand, with its flaws and cracks; a push had sufficed to cleave it
-from top to bottom. It was a pitiful crumbling away, the razing of a
-mud-house soddened by the rains. Not a board remained standing; there
-was nothing on the ground but a heap of rubbish, the dung of the past
-thrown at the street corner.
-
-“Oh, heavens!” exclaimed the old man, as if the blow had resounded in
-his very entrails.
-
-He stood there gaping, never supposing it would have been over so quick.
-And he looked at the gap, the hollow space at last left free on the
-flanks of The Ladies' Paradise. It was like the crushing of a gnat, the
-final triumph over the annoying obstinacy of the infinitely small, the
-whole isle invaded and conquered. The passers-by lingered to talk to the
-workmen, who were crying out against these old buildings, only good for
-killing people.
-
-“Monsieur Bourras,” repeated Denise, trying to get him on one side, “you
-know that you will not be abandoned. All your wants will be provided
-for.”
-
-He held up his head. “I have no wants. You've been sent by them, haven't
-you? Well, tell them that old Bourras still knows how to work, and that
-he can find work wherever he likes. Really, it would be a fine thing to
-offer charity to those they are assassinating!”
-
-Then she implored him: “Pray accept, Monsieur Bourras; don't give me
-this grief.”
-
-But he shook his bushy head. “No, no, it's all over. Good-bye. Go and
-live happily, you who are young, and don't prevent old people sticking
-to their ideas.”
-
-He cast a last glance at the heap of rubbish, and then went away. She
-watched him disappear, elbowed by the crowd on the pavement. He turned
-the corner of the Place Gaillon, and all was over. For a moment, Denise
-remained motionless, lost in thought. At last she went over to her
-uncle's. The draper was alone in the dark shop of The Old Elbeuf. The
-charwoman only came morning and evening to do a little cooking, and
-to take down and put up the shutters. He spent hours in this solitude,
-often without being disturbed once during the whole day, bewildered, and
-unable to find the goods when a stray customer happened to venture in.
-And there in the half-light he marched about unceasingly, with that
-heavy step he had at the two funerals, yielding to a sickly desire,
-regular fits of forced marching, as if he were trying to rock his grief
-to sleep.
-
-“Are you feeling better, uncle?” asked Denise. He only stopped for
-a second to glance at her. Then he started off again, going from the
-pay-desk to an obscure corner.
-
-“Yes, yes. Very well, thanks.”
-
-She tried to find some consoling subject, some cheerful remark, but
-could think of nothing. “Did you hear the noise? The house is down.”
-
-“Ah! it's true,” murmured he, with an astonished look, “that must have
-been the house. I felt the ground tremble. Seeing them on the roof this
-morning, I closed my door.”
-
-And he made a vague movement, to imitate that such things no longer
-interested him. Every time he arrived before the pay-desk, he looked at
-the empty seat, that well-known velvet-covered seat, where his wife and
-daughter had grown up. Then when his perpetual walking brought him to
-the other end, he gazed at the shelves drowned in shadow, in which a few
-pieces of cloth were gradually growing mouldy. It was a widowed house,
-those he loved had disappeared, his business had come to a shameful
-end, and he was left alone to commune with his dead heart, and his pride
-brought low amidst all these catastrophes. He raised his eyes towards
-the black ceiling, overcome by the sepulchral silence which reigned in
-the little dining-room, the family nook, of which he had formerly loved
-every part, even down to the stuffy odour. Not a breath was now heard in
-the old house, his regular heavy step made the ancient walls resound, as
-if he were walking over the tombs of his affections.
-
-At last Denise approached the subject which had brought her. “Uncle, you
-can't stay like this. You must come to a decision.”
-
-He replied, without stopping his walk--“No doubt; but what would you
-have me do? I've tried to sell, but no one has come. One of these
-mornings I shall shut up shop and go off.”
-
-She was aware that a failure was no longer to be feared. The creditors
-had preferred to come to an understanding before such a long series
-of misfortunes. Everything paid, the old man would find himself in the
-street, penniless.
-
-“But what will you do, then?” murmured she, seeking some transition in
-order to arrive at the offer she dared not make.
-
-“I don't know,” replied he. “They'll pick me up all right.” He had
-changed his route, going from the dining-room to the windows with their
-lamentable displays, looking at the latter, every time he came to
-them, with a gloomy expression. His gaze did not even turn towards the
-triumphal façade of The Ladies' Paradise, whose architectural lines ran
-as far as the eye could see, to the right and to the left, at both
-ends of the street. He was thoroughly annihilated, and had not even the
-strength to get angry.
-
-“Listen, uncle,” said Denise, greatly embarrassed; “perhaps there might
-be a situation for you.” She stopped, and stammered. “Yes, I am charged
-to offer you a situation as inspector.”
-
-“Where?” asked Baudu.
-
-“Opposite,” replied she; “in our shop. Six thousand francs a year; a
-very easy place.”
-
-Suddenly he stopped in front of her. But instead of getting angry as she
-feared he would, he turned very pale, succumbing to a grievous emotion,
-a feeling of bitter resignation.
-
-“Opposite, opposite,” stammered he several times. “You want me to go
-opposite?”
-
-Denise herself was affected by this emotion. She recalled the long
-struggle of the two shops, assisted at the funerals of Geneviève and
-Madame Baudu, saw before her The Old Elbeuf overthrown, utterly ruined
-by The Ladies' Paradise. And the idea of her uncle taking a situation
-opposite, and walking about in a white neck-tie, made her heart leap
-with pity and revolt.
-
-“Come, Denise, is it possible?” said he, simply, wringing his poor
-trembling hands.
-
-“No, no, uncle,” exclaimed she, in a sudden burst of her just and
-excellent being. “It would be wrong. Forgive me, I beg of you.”
-
-He resumed his walk, his step once more broke the funereal silence
-of the house. And when she left him, he was still going on in that
-obstinate locomotion of great griefs, which turn round themselves
-without ever being able to get beyond.
-
-Denise passed another sleepless night. She had just touched the bottom
-of her powerlessness. Even in favour of her own people she was unable to
-find any consolation. She had been obliged to assist to the bitter end
-at this invincible work of life which requires death as its continual
-seed. She no longer struggled, she accepted this law of combat; but her
-womanly soul was filled with a weeping pity, with a fraternal tenderness
-at the idea of suffering humanity. For years, she herself had been
-caught in the wheel-work of the machine. Had she not bled there? Had
-they not bruised her, dismissed her, overwhelmed her with insults? Even
-now she was frightened, when she felt herself chosen by the logic of
-facts. Why her, a girl so puny? Why should her small hand suddenly
-become so powerful amidst the monster's work? And the force which was
-sweeping everything away, carried her away in her turn, she, whose
-coming was to be a revenge. Mouret had invented this mechanism for
-crushing the world, and its brutal working shocked her; he had sown ruin
-all over the neighbourhood, despoiled some, killed others; and yet she
-loved him for the grandeur of his work, she loved him still more at
-every excess of his power, notwithstanding the flood of tears which
-overcame her, before the sacred misery of the vanquished.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-The Rue du Dix-Décembre, looking quite new with its chalk-white houses
-and the final scaffoldings of some nearly finished buildings, stretched
-out beneath a clear February sun; a stream of carriages was passing at
-a rattling pace through this gleam of light, which traversed the
-damp shadow of the old Saint-Roch quarter; and, between the Rue de
-la Michodière and the Rue de Choiseul, there was a great tumult, the
-crushing of a crowd excited by a month's advertising, their eyes in
-the air, gaping at the monumental façade of The Ladies' Paradise,
-inaugurated that Monday, on the occasion of a grand show of white goods.
-
-The bright new masonry displayed a vast development of polychromatic
-architecture, relieved by gildings, announcing the tumult and sparkle
-of the business inside, and attracting attention like a gigantic
-window-display all aglow with the liveliest colours. In order not to
-neutralise the show of goods, the decoration of the ground floor was of
-a sober description; the base of sea-green marble; the corner pillars
-and the supporting columns were covered with black marble, the severity
-of which was relieved by gilded medallions; and the rest of plate-glass,
-in iron sashes, nothing but glass, which seemed to open up the depths
-of the halls and galleries to the full light of day. But as the floors
-ascended, the tones became brighter. The frieze on the ground floor was
-decorated with a series of mosaics, a garland of red and blue flowers,
-alternating with marble slabs, on which were cut the names of goods,
-running all round, encircling the colossus. Then the base of the first
-floor, made of enamelled bricks, supported the large windows, as high as
-the frieze, formed of gilded escutcheons, with the arms of the towns of
-France, and designs in terra-cotta, the enamel of which reproduced
-the bright coloured flowers of the base. Then, right at the top, the
-entablature blossomed forth like the ardent florescence of the entire
-façade, the mosaics and the faience reappeared with warmer colourings,
-the zinc gutters were carved and gilded, while along the acroteria ran
-a nation of statues, representing the great industrial and manufacturing
-cities, their delicate silhouettes standing out against the sky. The
-spectators were especially astonished at the sight of the central door,
-also decorated with a profusion of mosaics, faience, and terra-cotta,
-and surmounted by an allegorical group, the new gilding of which
-glittered in the sun: Woman dressed and kissed by a flight of laughing
-cupids.
-
-About two o'clock the police were obliged to make the crowd move on, and
-to look after the carriages. The palace was built, the temple raised to
-the extravagant folly of fashion. It dominated everything, covering
-a whole district with its shadow. The scar left on its flank by the
-demolition of Bourras's hovel had already been so skilfully cicatrised
-that it would have been impossible to find the place formerly occupied
-by this old wart--the four façades now ran along the four streets,
-without a break in their superb isolation. Since Baudu's retirement, The
-Old Elbeuf, on the other side of the way, had been closed, walled up like
-a tomb, behind the shutters that were never now taken down; little by
-little the cab-wheels had splashed them, posters covered them up and
-pasted them together, a rising tide of advertising, which seemed like
-the last shovelful of earth thrown over the old-fashioned commerce; and,
-in the middle of this dead frontage, dirtied by the mud from the street,
-discoloured by the refuse of Paris, was displayed, like a flag planted
-over a conquered empire, an immense yellow poster, quite wet, announcing
-in letters two feet high the great sale at The Ladies' Paradise. It
-was as if the colossus, after each enlargement, seized with shame and
-repugnance for the black old quarter, where it had modestly sprung up,
-and that it had later on slaughtered, had just turned its back to it,
-leaving the mud of the narrow streets in its track, presenting its
-upstart face to the noisy, sunny thoroughfare of new Paris.
-
-As it was now represented in the engraving of the advertisements, it had
-grown bigger and bigger, like the ogre of the legend, whose shoulders
-threatened to pierce the clouds. In the first place, in the foreground
-of the engraving, were the Rue du Dix-Décembre, the Rue de la
-Michodière, and the Rue de Choiseul, filled with little black figures,
-and spread out immoderately, as if to make room for the customers of the
-whole world. Then came a bird's eye view of the buildings themselves,
-of an exaggerated immensity, with their roofings which described the
-covered galleries, the glazed courtyards in which could be recognised
-the halls, the endless detail of this lake of glass and zinc shining in
-the sun. Beyond, stretched forth Paris, but Paris diminished, eaten
-up by the monster: the houses, of a cottage-like humility in the
-neighbourhood of the building, then dying away in a cloud of indistinct
-chimneys; the monuments seemed to melt into nothing, to the left
-two dashes for Notre-Dame, to the right a circumflex accent for the
-Invalides, in the background the Pantheon, ashamed and lost, no larger
-than a lentil. The horizon, crumbled into powder, became no more than
-a contemptible frame-work, as far as the heights of Châtillon, out
-into the open country, the vanishing expanse of which indicated how far
-reached the state of slavery.
-
-Ever since the morning the crowd had been increasing. No shop had ever
-yet stirred up the city with such a profusion of advertisements. The
-Ladies' Paradise now spent nearly six hundred thousand francs a year
-in posters, advertisements, and appeals of all sorts; the number of
-catalogues sent away amounted to four hundred thousand, more than a
-hundred thousand francs' worth of stuff was cut up for patterns. It was
-a complete invasion of the newspapers, the walls, and the ears of the
-public, like a monstrous brass trumpet, which, blown incessantly, spread
-to the four corners of the earth the tumult of the great sales. And, for
-the future, this façade, before which people were now crowding, became
-a living advertisement, with its bespangled, gilded magnificence, its
-windows large enough to display the entire poem of woman's clothing, its
-profusion of signs, painted, engraved, and cut in stone, from the
-marble slabs on the ground floor to the sheets of iron rounded off in
-semicircles above the roof, unfolding their gilded streamers on which
-the name of the house could be read in letters bright as the sun,
-standing out against the azure blue of the sky.
-
-To celebrate the inauguration, there had been added trophies and flags;
-each storey was gay with banners and standards bearing the arms of
-the principal cities of France; and right at the top, the flags of all
-nations, run up on masts, fluttered in the air, while the show of cotton
-and linen goods downstairs assumed in the windows a tone of blinding
-intensity. Nothing but white, a complete trousseau, and a mountain of
-sheets to the left, a lot of curtains forming a chapel, and pyramids
-of handkerchiefs to the right, fatigued the eyes; and, between the
-hung goods at the door, whole pieces of cotton, calico, and muslin in
-clusters, like snow-drifts, were planted some dressed engravings, sheets
-of bluish cardboard, on which a young bride, or a lady in ball costume,
-both life size and dressed in real lace and silk, smiled with their
-painted faces. A circle of idlers was constantly forming, a desire arose
-from the admiration of the crowd.
-
-What caused an increase of curiosity around The Ladies' Paradise was a
-catastrophe of which all Paris was talking, the burning down of The Four
-Seasons, the big shop Bouthemont had opened near the Opera-house, hardly
-three weeks before. The newspapers were full of details, of the fire
-breaking out through an explosion of gas during the night, the hurried
-flight of the young ladies in their night-dresses, and the heroic
-conduct of Bouthemont, who had carried five of them out on his
-shoulders. The enormous losses were covered, and the people commenced to
-shrug their shoulders, saying what a splendid advertisement it was.
-But for the moment attention again flowed back to The Ladies' Paradise,
-excited by all these stories flying about, occupied to a wonderful
-extent by these colossal establishments, which by their importance took
-up such a large place in public life. Wonderfully lucky, this Mouret!
-Paris saluted her star, and crowded to see him still standing, since
-the very flames now undertook to sweep all competition from beneath
-his feet; and the profits of the season were already being calculated,
-people began to estimate the swollen flood of customers which would
-be sent into his shop by the forced closing of the rival house. For a
-moment he had felt anxious, troubled at feeling a jealous woman against
-him, that Madame Desforges, to whom he owed in a manner his fortune.
-Baron Hartmann's financial dilettantism, putting money into the two
-affairs, annoyed him also. Then he was exasperated at having missed a
-genial idea which had occurred to Bouthemont, who had artfully had his
-shop blessed by the vicar of the Madeleine, followed by all his
-clergy; an astonishing ceremony, a religious pomp paraded from the
-silk department to the glove department, and so on throughout the
-establishment. This imposing ceremony had not, it is true, prevented
-everything being destroyed, but had done as much good as a million
-francs' worth of advertisements, so great an impression had it produced
-on the fashionable world. From that day, Mouret dreamed of having the
-archbishop.
-
-The clock over the door was striking three, and the afternoon crush had
-commenced, nearly a hundred thousand customers were struggling in the
-various galleries and halls. Outside, the carriages were stationed from
-one end of the Rue du Dix-Décembre to the other, and over against the
-Opera-house another compact mass occupied the _cul-de-sac_, where the
-future avenue was to commence. Common cabs were mingled with private
-broughams, the drivers waiting amongst the wheels, the rows of horses
-neighing and shaking their bits, which sparkled in the sun. The lines
-were incessantly reformed, amidst the calls of the messengers, the
-poshing of the animals which closed in of their own accord, whilst fresh
-vehicles were continually arriving and taking their places with the
-rest. The pedestrians flew on to the refuges in frightened bands, the
-pavements were black with people, in the receding perspective of the
-wide and straight thoroughfare. And a clamour arose from between
-the white houses, this human stream rolled along under the soul of
-overflowing Paris, a sweet and enormous breath, of which one could feel
-the giant caress.
-
-Madame de Boves, accompanied by her daughter Blanche and Madame
-Guibal, was standing, at a window, looking at a display of half made up
-costumes.
-
-“Oh! do look,” said she, “at those print costumes at nineteen francs
-fifteen sous!”
-
-In their square boxes, the costumes, tied round with a favour, were
-folded so as to present the trimmings alone, embroidered with blue and
-red; and, occupying the corner of each box, was an engraving showing the
-garment made up, worn by a young person looking like some princess.
-
-“But they are not worth more,” murmured Madame Guibal. “They fall into
-rags as soon as you handle them.”
-
-They had now become intimate since Monsieur de Boves had been confined
-to his arm-chair by an attack of gout. The wife put up with the
-mistress, preferring that things should take place in her own house, for
-in this way she picked up a little pocket money, sums that the husband
-allowed himself to be robbed of, having, himself, need of forbearance.
-
-“Well! let's go in,” resumed Madame Guibal “We must see their show.
-Hasn't your son-in-law made an appointment with you inside?”
-
-Madame de Boves did not reply, entirely absorbed by the string of
-carriages, which, one by one, opened their doors and let out more
-customers.
-
-“Yes,” said Blanche, at last, in her indolent voice. “Paul is to join us
-about four o'clock in the reading-room, on leaving the ministry.”
-
-They had been married about a month, and De Vallagnosc, after a leave of
-absence of three weeks, spent in the South of France, had just returned
-to his post. The young woman had already her mother's portly look, and
-her flesh appeared puffed up and coarser since her marriage.
-
-“But there's Madame Desforges over there!” exclaimed the countess,
-looking at a brougham that had just arrived.
-
-“Do you think so?” murmured Madame Guibal. “After all those stories! She
-must still be weeping over the fire at The Four Seasons.”
-
-It was really Henriette. On perceiving her friends, she came up with a
-gay, smiling air, concealing her defeat beneath the fashionable ease of
-her manner.
-
-“Dear me! yes, I wanted to have a look round. It's better to see for
-one's self, isn't it? Oh! we are still good friends with Monsieur
-Mouret, though he is said to be furious since I have interested myself
-in that rival house. Personally, there is only one thing I cannot
-forgive him, and that is, to have pushed on the marriage of my protege,
-Mademoiselle de Fontenailles, with that Joseph----”
-
-“What! it's done?” interrupted Madame de Boves. “What a horror!”
-
-“Yes, my dear, and solely to annoy us. I know him; he wished to intimate
-that the daughters of our great families are only fit to marry his shop
-messengers.”
-
-She was getting quite animated. They had all four remained on the
-pavement, amidst the pushing at the entrance. Little by little, however,
-the stream carried them in; and they had only to abandon themselves
-to the current, they passed the door as if lifted up, without being
-conscious of it, talking louder to make themselves heard. They were now
-asking each other about Madame Marty; it was said that poor Monsieur
-Marty, after violent scenes at home, had gone quite mad; he was diving
-into all the treasures of the earth, exhausting mines of gold, loading
-tumbrils with diamonds and precious stones.
-
-“Poor fellow!” said Madame Guibal, “he who was always so shabby, with
-his teacher's humility! And the wife?”
-
-“She's ruining an uncle, now,” replied Henriette, “a worthy old man who
-has gone to live with her, having lost his wife. But she must be here,
-we shall see her.”
-
-A surprise made the ladies stop short. Before them extended the shop,
-the largest drapery establishment in the world, as the advertisements
-said. The grand central gallery now ran from end to end, extending from
-the Rue du Dix-Décembre to the Rue Neuve-Saint-Augustin; whilst to the
-right and to the left, like the aisles of a church, ran the Monsigny
-Gallery and the Michodière Gallery, right along the two streets, without
-a break. Here and there the halls crossed and formed open spaces amidst
-the metallic framework of the suspended stairs and flying bridges. The
-inside arrangements had been all changed: the bargains were now placed
-on the Rue du Dix-Décembre side, the silk department was in the centre,
-the glove department occupied the Saint-Augustin Hall at the back; and,
-from the new grand vestibule, one beheld, on looking up, the bedding
-department, moved from one end of the second floor to the other. The
-number of departments now amounted to the enormous figure of fifty;
-several, quite fresh, were to be inaugurated that very day; others,
-become too important, had been simply divided, in order to facilitate
-the sales; and, owing to this continual increase of business, the staff
-had been increased to three thousand and forty-five employees.
-
-What caused the ladies to stop was the prodigious spectacle of the grand
-exhibition of white goods. In the first place, there was the vestibule,
-a hall with bright mirrors, paved with mosaics, where the low-priced
-goods detained the voracious crowd. Then there were the galleries,
-plunged in a glittering blaze of light, a borealistic vista, quite a
-country of snow, revealing the endless steppes hung with ermine, the
-accumulation of icebergs shimmering in the sun. One found there the
-whiteness of the outside windows, but vivified, colossal, burning from
-one end of the enormous building to the other, with the white flame of a
-fire in full swing. Nothing but white goods, all the white articles from
-each department, a riot of white, a white star, the twinkling of which
-was at first blinding, so that the details could not be distinguished
-amidst this unique whiteness. But the eye soon became accustomed to it;
-to the left, in the Monsigny Gallery, jutted out the white promontories
-of cotton and calico, the white rocks formed of sheets, napkins, and
-handkerchiefs; whilst to the right, in the Michodière Gallery, occupied
-by the mercery, the hosiery, and the woollen goods, were exposed
-constructions of mother of pearl buttons, a pretty decoration composed
-of white socks, one whole room covered with white swanskin, traversed
-in the distance by a stream of light. But the brightness shone with
-especial brilliancy in the central gallery, amidst the ribbons and the
-cravats, the gloves and the silks. The counters disappeared beneath the
-whiteness of the silks, the ribbons, and the gloves.
-
-Round the iron columns were twined flounces of white muslin, looped
-up now and again with white silk handkerchiefs. The staircases were
-decorated with white drapings, quiltings and dimities alternating along
-the balustrades, encircling the halls as high as the second storey; and
-this tide of white assumed wings, hurried off and lost itself, like a
-flight of swans. And the white hung from the arches, a fall of down, a
-snowy sheet of large flakes; white counterpanes, white coverlets floated
-about in the air, suspended like banners in a church; long jets
-of Maltese lace hung across, seeming to suspend swarms of white
-butterflies; other lace fluttered about on all sides, floating like
-fleecy clouds in a summer sky, filling the air with their clear breath.
-And the marvel, the altar of this religion of white was, above the silk
-counter, in the great hall, a tent formed of white curtains, which fell
-from the glazed roof. The muslin, the gauze, the lace flowed in light
-ripples, whilst very richly embroidered tulles, and pieces of oriental
-silk striped with silver, served as a background to this giant
-decoration, which partook of the tabernacle and of the alcove. It made
-one think of a broad white bed, awaiting in its virginal immensity
-the white princess, as in the legend, she who was to come one day, all
-powerful, with the bride's white veil.
-
-“Oh! extraordinary!” repeated the ladies. “Wonderful!”
-
-They never tired of this song in praise of white that the goods of the
-entire establishment were singing. Mouret had never conceived anything
-more extraordinary; it was the master stroke of his genius for display.
-Beneath the flow of all this whiteness, in the apparent disorder of
-the tissues, fallen as if by chance from the open drawers, there was a
-harmonious phrase, the white followed up and developed in all its
-tones, springing into existence, growing, and blossoming forth with the
-complicated orchestration of a master's fugue, the continual development
-of which carries away the mind in an ever-increasing flight. Nothing but
-white, and never the same goods, all styles outvying with, opposing, and
-completing one another, attaining the very brilliancy of light itself.
-Starting from the dull shades of the calico and linen, and the heavy
-shades of the flannel and cloth, there then came the velvet, silk, and
-satin goods--quite an ascending gamut, the white gradually lighted up,
-finishing in little flames at the breaks of the folds; and the white
-flew away in the transparencies of the curtains, becoming free and clear
-with the muslin, the lace, and above all the tulle, so light and airy
-that it was like the extreme and last note; whilst the silver of the
-oriental silk sung higher than all in the depths of the giant alcove.
-
-The place was full of life. The lifts were besieged with people, there
-was a crush at the refreshment-bar and in the reading-room, quite a
-nation was moving about in these regions covered with the snowy fabrics.
-And the crowd seemed to be black, like skaters on a Polish lake in
-December. On the ground floor there was a heavy swell, agitated by a
-reflux, in which could be distinguished nothing but the delicate and
-enraptured faces of the women. In the chisellings of the iron framework,
-along the staircases, on the flying bridges, there was an endless
-procession of small figures, as if lost amidst the snowy peaks of a
-mountain. A suffocating hot-house heat surprised one on these frozen
-heights. The buzz of voices made a great noise like a rushing stream. Up
-above, the profusion of gildings, the glazed work picked out with gold,
-and the golden roses seemed like a ray of the sun shining on the Alps of
-the grand exhibition of white goods.
-
-“Come,” said Madame de Boves, “we must go forward. It's impossible to
-stay here.”
-
-Since she came in, Jouve, the inspector, standing near the door, had not
-taken his eyes off her; and when she turned round she encountered his
-gaze. Then, as she resumed her walk, he let her get a little in front,
-but followed her at a distance, without, however, appearing to take any
-further notice of her.
-
-“Ah!” said Madame Guibal, stopping again as she came to the first
-pay-desk, “it's a pretty idea, these violets!”
-
-She referred to the new present made by The Ladies' Paradise, one of
-Mouret's ideas, which was making a great noise in the newspapers; small
-bouquets of white violets, bought by thousands at Nice and distributed
-to every customer buying the smallest article. Near each pay-desk were
-messengers in uniform, delivering the bouquets under the supervision
-of an inspector. And gradually all the customers were decorated in this
-way, the shop was filling with these white flowers, every woman becoming
-the bearer of a penetrating perfume of violets.
-
-“Yes,” murmured Madame Desforges, in a jealous voice, “it's not a bad
-idea.”
-
-But, just as they were going away, they heard two shopmen joking about
-these violets. A tall, thin fellow was expressing his astonishment:
-the marriage between the governor and the first-hand in the costume
-department was coming off, then? whilst a short, fat fellow replied that
-he didn't know, but that the flowers were bought at any rate.
-
-“What!” exclaimed Madame de Boves, “Monsieur Mouret is going to marry?”
-
-“That's the latest news,” replied Madame Desforges, affecting the
-greatest indifference. “Of course, he's sure to end like that.”
-
-The countess shot a quick glance at her new friend. They both now
-understood why Madame Desforges had come to The Ladies' Paradise
-notwithstanding her rupture with Mouret. No doubt she yielded to the
-invincible desire to see and to suffer.
-
-“I shall stay with you,” said Madame Guibal, whose curiosity was
-awakened. “We shall meet Madame de Boves again in the reading-room.”
-
-“Very good,” replied the latter. “I want to go on the first floor. Come
-along, Blanche.” And she went up followed by her daughter, whilst Jouve,
-the inspector, still on her track, ascended by another staircase, in
-order not to attract attention. The two other ladies were soon lost in
-the compact crowd on the ground floor.
-
-All the counters were talking of nothing else but the governor's love
-affairs, amidst the press of business. The adventure, which had
-for months been occupying the employees, delighted at Denise's long
-resistance, had all at once come to a crisis; it had become known that
-the young girl intended to leave The Ladies' Paradise, notwithstanding
-all Mouret's entreaties, under the pretext of requiring rest. And the
-opinions were divided. Would she leave? Would she stay? Bets of five
-francs circulated from department to department that she would leave the
-following Sunday. The knowing ones staked a lunch on the final marriage;
-however, the others, those who believed in her departure, did not risk
-their money without good reasons. Certainly the little girl had the
-strength of an adored woman who refuses, but the governor, on his side,
-was strong in his wealth, his happy widowerhood, and his pride which a
-last exaction might exasperate. Nevertheless, they were all of opinion
-that this little saleswoman had carried on the business with the science
-of a _rouée_, full of genius, and that she was playing the supreme stake
-in thus offering him this bargain: Marry me or I go away.
-
-Denise, however, thought but little of these things. She had never
-imposed any conditions or made any calculation. And the reason of her
-departure was the result of this very judgment of her conduct, which
-caused her continual surprise. Had she wished for all this? Had she
-shown herself artful, coquettish, ambitious? No, she had come simply,
-and was the first to feel astonished at inspiring this passion. And
-again, now, why did they ascribe her resolution to quit The Ladies'
-Paradise to craftiness? It was so natural! She began to feel a nervous
-uneasiness, an intolerable anguish, amidst this continual gossip which
-was going on in the house, Mouret's feverish pursuit of her, and the
-combats she was obliged to engage in against herself; and she preferred
-to go away, seized with fear lest she might one day yield and regret it
-for ever afterwards. If there were in this any learned tactics, she was
-totally ignorant of it, and she asked herself in despair what was to
-be done to avoid appearing to be running after a husband. The idea of a
-marriage now irritated her, and she resolved to say no, and still no, in
-case he should push his folly to that extent. She alone ought to suffer.
-The necessity for the separation caused her tears to flow, but she told
-herself, with her great courage, that it was necessary, that she would
-have no rest or happiness if she acted in any other way.
-
-When Mouret received her resignation, he remained mute and cold, in the
-effort which he made to contain himself. Then he replied that he granted
-her a week's reflection, before allowing her to commit such a stupid
-act. At the expiration of the week, when she returned to the subject,
-and expressed a strong wish to go away after the great sale, he said
-nothing further, but affected to talk the language of reason to her: she
-had little or no fortune, she would never find another position equal to
-that she was leaving. Had she another situation in view? If so, he
-was quite prepared to offer her the advantages she expected to obtain
-elsewhere. And the young girl having replied that she had not looked
-for any other situation, that she intended to take a rest at Valognes,
-thanks to the money she had already saved, he asked her what would
-prevent her returning to The Ladies' Paradise if her health alone were
-the reason of her departure. She remained silent, tortured by this
-cross-examination. He at once imagined that she was about to join
-a lover, a future husband perhaps. Had she not confessed to him one
-evening that she loved some one? From that moment he carried deep in his
-heart, like the stab of a knife, this confession wrung from her in an
-hour of trouble. And if this man was to marry her, she was giving up
-all to follow him: that explained her obstinacy. It was all over, and he
-simply added in his icy tones, that he would detain her no longer, since
-she could not tell him the real cause of her leaving. These harsh words,
-free from anger, affected her far more than the anger she had feared.
-
-Throughout the week that Denise was obliged to spend in the shop, Mouret
-kept his rigid paleness. When he crossed the departments, he affected
-not to see her, never had he seemed more indifferent, more buried in his
-work; and the bets began again, only the brave ones dared to back the
-marriage. However, beneath this coldness, so unusual with him, Mouret
-concealed a frightful crisis of indecision and suffering. Fits of anger
-brought the blood to his head: he saw red, he dreamed of taking Denise
-in a close embrace, keeping her, and stifling her cries. Then he tried
-to reason with himself, to find some practical means of preventing her
-going away; but he constantly ran up against his powerlessness, the
-uselessness of his power and money. An idea, however, was growing amidst
-his mad projects, and gradually imposing itself, notwithstanding his
-revolt. After Madame Hédouin's death he had sworn never to marry again;
-deriving from a woman his first good fortune, he resolved in future to
-draw his fortune from all women. It was with him, as with Bourdoncle,
-a superstition that the head of a great drapery establishment should
-be single, if he wished to retain his masculine power over the growing
-desires of his world of customers; the introduction of a woman changed
-the air, drove away the others, by bringing her own odour. And he still
-resisted the invincible logic of facts, preferring to die rather than
-yield, seized with sudden bursts of fury against Denise, feeling
-that she was the revenge, fearing he should fall vanquished over his
-millions, broken like a straw by the eternal feminine force, the day he
-should marry her. Then he slowly became cowardly again, dismissing his
-repugnance; why tremble? she was so sweet-tempered, so prudent, that
-he could abandon himself to her without fear. Twenty times an hour the
-battle recommenced in his distracted mind. His pride tended to aggravate
-the wound, and he completely lost his reason when he thought that,
-even after this last submission, she might still say no, if she loved
-another. The morning of the great sale, he had still not decided on
-anything, and Denise was to leave the next day.
-
-When Bourdoncle, on the day in question, entered Mouret's office about
-three o'clock, according to custom, he surprised him sitting with his
-elbows on the desk, his hands over his eyes, so greatly absorbed that he
-had to touch him on the shoulder. Mouret glanced up, his face bathed
-in tears; they both looked at each other, held out their hands, and a
-hearty grip was exchanged between these two men who had fought so
-many commercial battles side by side. For the past month Bourdoncle's
-attitude had completely changed; he now bowed before Denise, and even
-secretly pushed the governor on to a marriage with her. No doubt he was
-thus manoeuvring to save himself being swept away by a force which
-he now recognised as superior. But there could have been found at the
-bottom of this change the awakening of an old ambition, the timid and
-gradually growing hope to swallow up in his turn this Mouret, before
-whom he had so long bowed. This was in the air of the house, in this
-struggle for existence, of which the continued massacres warmed up the
-business around him. He was carried away by the working of the machine,
-seized by the others' appetites, by that voracity which, from top to
-bottom, drove the lean ones to the extermination of the fat ones. But
-a sort of religions fear, the religion of chance, had up to that
-time prevented him making the attempt. And the governor was becoming
-childish, drifting into a ridiculous marriage, ruining his luck,
-destroying his charm with the customers. Why should he dissuade him from
-it, when he could so easily take up the business of this played-out
-man, fallen into the arms of a woman? Thus it was with the emotion of
-an adieu, the pity of an old friendship, that he shook his chiefs hand,
-saying:
-
-“Come, come, courage! Marry her, and finish the matter.”
-
-Mouret already felt ashamed of his moment of cowardice, and got up,
-protesting: “No, no, it's too stupid. Come, let's take our turn round
-the shop. Things are looking well, aren't they? I fancy we shall have a
-magnificent day.”
-
-They went out and commenced their afternoon inspection through the
-crowded departments. Bourdoncle cast oblique glances at him, anxious at
-this last display of energy, watching his lips to catch the least sign
-of suffering. The business was in fact throwing forth its fire, in an
-infernal roar, which made the house tremble with the violent shaking of
-a big steamer going at full speed. At Denise's counter were a crowd of
-mothers dragging along their little girls and boys, swamped beneath the
-garments they were trying on. The department had brought out all its
-white articles, and there, as everywhere else, was a riot of white,
-enough to dress in white a troop of shivering cupids, white cloth
-cloaks, white piques and cashmere dresses, sailor costumes, and even
-white Zouave costumes. In the centre, for the sake of the effect,
-and although the season had not arrived, was a display of communion
-costumes, the white muslin dress and veil, the white satin shoes, a
-light gushing florescence, which, planted there, produced the effect of
-an enormous bouquet of innocence and candid delight. Madame Bourdelais
-was there with her three children, Madeleine, Edmond, Lucien, seated
-according to their size, and was getting angry with the latter, the
-smallest, because he was struggling with Denise, who was trying to put a
-woollen muslin jacket on him.
-
-“Keep still, Lucien! Don't you think it's rather tight, mademoiselle?”
- And with the sharp look of a woman difficult to deceive, she examined
-the stuff, studied the cut, and scrutinized the stitching. “No, it fits
-well,” she resumed. “It's no trifle to dress all these little ones. Now
-I want a mantle for this young lady.”
-
-Denise had been obliged to assist in serving during the busy moments of
-the day. She was looking for the mantle required, when she set up a cry
-of surprise.
-
-“What! It's you; what's the matter?”
-
-Her brother Jean, holding a parcel in his hand, was standing before
-her. He had married a week before, and on the Saturday his wife, a dark
-little woman, with a provoking, charming face, had paid a long visit to
-The Ladies' Paradise to make some purchases. The young people were
-to accompany Denise to Valognes, a regular marriage trip, a month's
-holiday, which would remind them of old times.
-
-“Just imagine,” said he, “Thérèse has forgotten a lot of things. There
-are some articles to be changed, and others to be bought. So, as she was
-in a hurry, she sent me with this parcel. I'll explain----”
-
-But she interrupted him on perceiving Pépé, “What; Pépé as well! and his
-school?”
-
-“Well,” said Jean, “after dinner on Sunday I had not the heart to
-take him back. He will go back this evening. The poor child is very
-downhearted at being shut up in Paris whilst we are enjoying ourselves
-at home.”
-
-Denise smiled on them, in spite of her suffering. She handed over Madame
-Bourdelais to one of her young ladies, and came back to them in a corner
-of the department, which was, fortunately, getting deserted. The little
-ones, as she still called them, had now grown to be big fellows. Pépé,
-twelve years old, was already taller and bigger than her, still silent
-and living on caresses, of a charming, cajolling sweetness; whilst Jean,
-broad-shouldered, was quite a head taller than his sister, and still
-possessed his feminine beauty, with his blonde hair blowing about in the
-wind. And she, always slim, no fatter than a skylark, as she said, still
-retained her anxious motherly authority over them, treating them as
-children wanting all her attention, buttoning up Jean's coat so that
-he should not look like a rake, and seeing that Pépé had got a clean
-handkerchief. When she saw the latter's swollen eyes, she gently chided
-him.
-
-“Be reasonable, my boy. Your studies cannot be interrupted. I'll take
-you away at the holidays. Is there anything you want? But perhaps you
-prefer to have the money.” Then she turned towards the other. “You,
-youngster, yet making him believe we are going to have wonderful fun!
-Just try and be a little more careful.”
-
-She had given Jean four thousand francs, half of her savings, to enable
-him to set up housekeeping. The younger one cost her a great deal for
-schooling, all her money went for them, as in former days. They were her
-sole reason for living and working, for she had again declared she would
-never marry.
-
-“Well, here are the things,” resumed Jean. “In the first place, there's
-a cloak in this parcel that Thérèse----”
-
-But he stopped, and Denise, on turning round to see what had frightened
-him, perceived Mouret behind them. For a moment he had stood looking
-at her in her motherly attitude between the two big boys, scolding and
-embracing them, turning them round as mothers do babies when changing
-their clothes. Bourdoncle had remained on one side, appearing to be
-interested in the business, but he did not lose sight of this little
-scene.
-
-“They are your brothers, are they not?” asked Mouret, after a silence.
-
-He had the icy tone and rigid attitude, which he now assumed with her.
-Denise herself made an effort to remain cold and unconcerned. Her smile
-died away, and she replied: “Yes, sir. I've married off the eldest, and
-his wife has sent him for some purchases.”
-
-Mouret continued looking at the three of them. At last he said: “The
-youngest has grown very much. I recognise him, I remember having seen
-him in the Tuileries Gardens one evening with you.”
-
-And his voice, which was becoming moderate, slightly trembled. She,
-suffocating, bent down, pretending to arrange Pépé's belt. The two
-brothers, who had turned scarlet, stood smiling on their sister's
-master.
-
-“They're very much like you,” said the latter.
-
-“Oh!” exclaimed she, “they're much handsomer than I am!”
-
-For a moment he seemed to be comparing their faces. How she loved them!
-And he walked a step or two; then returned and whispered in her ear:
-“Come to my office after business, I want to speak to you before you go
-away.”
-
-This time Mouret went off and continued his inspection. The battle was
-once more raging within him, for the appointment he had given caused him
-a sort of irritation. To what idea had he yielded on seeing her with her
-brothers? It was maddening to think he could no longer find the strength
-to assert his will. However, he could settle it by saying a word of
-adieu. Bourdoncle, who had rejoined him, seemed less anxious, though he
-was still examining him with stealthy glances.
-
-Meanwhile Denise had returned to Madame Bourdelais. “How are you getting
-on with the mantle, madame?”
-
-“Oh, very well. I've spent enough for one day. These little ones are
-ruining me!”
-
-Denise now being able to slip away, went and listened to Jean's
-explanations, then accompanied him to the various counters, where he
-would certainly have lost his head without her. First came the mantle,
-which Thérèse wished to change for a white cloth cloak, same size,
-same shape. And the young girl, having taken the parcel, went up to the
-ready-made department, followed by her two brothers.
-
-The department had laid out its light coloured garments, summer jackets
-and mantillas, of light silk and fancy woollens. But there was little
-doing here, the customers were but few and far between. Nearly all the
-young ladies were new-comers. Clara had disappeared a month before, some
-said she had eloped with the husband of one of the saleswomen, others
-that she had gone on the streets. As for Marguerite, she was at last
-about to take the management of the little shop at Grenoble, where her
-cousin was waiting for her. Madame Aurélie remained immutable, in the
-round cuirass of her silk dress, with her imperial mask which retained
-the yellowish puffiness of an antique marble. Her son Albert's bad
-conduct was a source of great trouble to her, and she would have retired
-into the country had it not been for the inroads made on the family
-savings by this scapegrace, whose terrible extravagance threatened to
-swallow up piece by piece their Rigolles property. It was a sort of
-punishment for their home broken up, for the mother had resumed her
-little excursions with her lady friends, and the father on his side
-continued his musical performances. Bourdoncle was already looking upon
-Madame Aurélie with a discontented air, surprised that she had not the
-tact to resign; too old for business! the knell was about to sound which
-would sweep away the Lhomme dynasty.
-
-“Ah! it's you,” said she to Denise, with an exaggerated amiability.
-“You want this cloak changed, eh? Certainly, at once. Ah! there are your
-brothers; getting quite men, I declare!”
-
-In spite of her pride, she would have gone on her knees to pay her court
-to the young girl. Nothing else was being talked of in her department,
-as in the others, but Denise's departure; and the first-hand was quite
-ill over it, for she had been reckoning on the protection of her former
-saleswoman. She lowered her voice: “They say you're going to leave us.
-Really, it isn't possible?”
-
-“But it is, though,” replied Denise.
-
-Marguerite was listening. Since her marriage had been decided on, she
-had marched about with her putty-looking face, assuming more disdainful
-airs than ever. She came up saying: “You are quite right. Self-respect
-above everything, I say. Allow me to bid you adieu, my dear.”
-
-Some customers arriving at that moment, Madame Aurélie requested her,
-in a harsh voice, to attend to business. Then, as Denise was taking
-the cloak to effect the “return” herself, she protested, and called an
-auxiliary. This, again, was an innovation suggested to Mouret by the
-young girl--persons charged with carrying the articles, which relieved
-the saleswomen of a great burden.
-
-“Go with Mademoiselle Denise,” said the first-hand, giving her the
-cloak. Then, returning to Denise: “Pray consider well. We are all
-heart-broken at your leaving.”
-
-Jean and Pépé, who were waiting, smiling amidst this overflowing crowd
-of women, followed their sister. They now had to go to the underlinen
-department, to get four chemises like the half-dozen that Thérèse had
-bought on the Saturday. But there, where the exhibition of white goods
-was snowing down from every shelf, they were almost stifled, and found
-it very difficult to get past.
-
-In the first place, at the stay counter a little scene was causing a
-crowd to collect. Madame Boutarel, who had arrived in Paris this time
-with her husband and daughter, had been wandering all about the shop
-since the morning collecting an outfit for the young lady, who was about
-to be married. The father was consulted every moment, and they never
-appeared likely to finish. At last the family had just stranded here;
-and whilst the young lady was absorbed in a profound study of some
-drawers, the mother had disappeared, having cast her coquettish eyes on
-a delicious pair of stays. When Monsieur Boutarel, a big, full-blooded
-man, left his daughter, bewildered, to go and look for his wife, he at
-last found her in a fitting-room, at the door of which he was politely
-invited to take a seat. These rooms were like narrow cells, glazed with
-ground glass, where the men, and even the husbands, were not allowed
-to enter, by an exaggerated sentiment of propriety on the part of the
-directors. Saleswomen came out and went in again quickly, allowing those
-outside to divine, by the rapid closing of the door, visions of ladies
-in their petticoats, with bare arms and shoulders--stout women with
-white flesh, and thin ones with flesh the colour of old ivory. A row of
-men were waiting outside, seated on arm-chairs, and looking very weary.
-Monsieur Boutarel, when he understood, got really angry, crying out
-that he wanted his wife, that he insisted on knowing what was going on
-inside, that he certainly would not allow her to undress without him. It
-was in vain that they tried to calm him; he seemed to think there were
-some very queer things going on inside. Madame Boutarel was obliged to
-come out, to the delight of the crowd, who were discussing and laughing
-over the affair.
-
-Denise and her brothers were at last able to get past. Every article of
-female linen, all those white under-things that are usually concealed,
-were here displayed, in a suite of rooms, classed in various
-departments. The corsets and dress-improvers occupied one counter, there
-were the stitched corsets, the Duchesse, the cuirass, and, above all,
-the white silk corsets, dove-tailed with colours, forming for this day
-a special display; an army of dummies without heads or legs, nothing
-but the bust, dolls' breasts flattened under the silk, and close by,
-on other dummies, were horse-hair and other dress improvers, prolonging
-these broomsticks into enormous, distended croups, of which the profile
-assumed a ludicrous unbecomingness. But afterwards commenced the gallant
-dishabille, a dishabille which strewed the vast rooms, as if an army
-of lovely girls had undressed themselves from department to department,
-down to the very satin of their skin. Here were articles of fine linen,
-white cuffs and cravats, white fichus and collars, an infinite variety
-of light gewgaws, a white froth which escaped from the drawers and
-ascended like so much snow. There were jackets, little bodices, morning
-dresses and peignoirs, linen, nansouck, long white garments, roomy
-and thin, which spoke of the lounging in a lazy morning after a night
-of tenderness. Then appeared the under-garments, falling one by one; the
-white petticoats of all lengths, the petticoat that clings to the knees,
-and the long petticoat with which the gay ladies sweep the pavement, a
-rising sea of petticoats, in which the legs were drowned; cotton, linen,
-and cambric drawers, large white drawers in which a man could dance;
-lastly, the chemises, buttoned at the neck for the night, or displaying
-the bosom in the day, simply supported by narrow shoulder-straps;
-chemises in all materials, common calico, Irish linen, cambric, the last
-white veil slipping from the panting bosom and hips.
-
-And, at the outfitting counter, there was an indiscreet unpacking, women
-turned round and viewed on all sides, from the small housewife with her
-common calicoes, to the rich lady drowned in laces, an alcove publicly
-open, of which the concealed luxury, the plaitings, the embroideries,
-the Valenciennes lace, became a sort of sexual depravation, as it
-developed into costly fantasies. Woman was dressing herself again, the
-white wave of this fall of linen was returning again to the shivering
-mystery of the petticoats, the chemise stiffened by the fingers of the
-workwomen, the frigid drawers retaining the creases of the box, all this
-cambric and muslin, dead, scattered over the counters, thrown about,
-heaped up, was going to become living, with the life of the flesh,
-odorous and warm with the odour of love, a white cloud become sacred,
-bathed in night, and of which the least flutter, the pink of a knee
-disclosed through the whiteness, ravaged the world. Then there was
-another room devoted to the baby linen, where the voluptuous snowy
-whiteness of woman's clothing developed into the chaste whiteness of
-the infant: an innocence, a joy, the young wife become a mother, flannel
-garments, chemises and caps large as doll's things, baptismal dresses,
-cashmere pelisses, the white down of birth, like a fine shower of white
-feathers.
-
-“They are embroidered chemises,” said Jean, who was delighted with this
-display, this rising tide of feminine attire into which he was plunging.
-
-Pauline ran up at once, when she perceived Denise; and before even
-asking what she wanted, began to talk in a low tone, stirred up by the
-rumours circulating in the shop. In her department, two saleswomen had
-even got quarrelling, one affirming and the other denying her departure.
-
-“You'll stay with us, I'll stake my life. What would become of me?” And
-as Denise replied that she intended to leave the next day. “No, no, you
-think so, but I know better. You must appoint me second-hand, now that
-I've got a baby. Baugé is reckoning on it, my dear.”
-
-Pauline smiled with an air of conviction. She then gave the six
-chemises; and, Jean having said that he was now going to the
-handkerchief counter, she called an auxiliary to carry the chemises and
-the jacket left by the auxiliary from the readymade department The
-girl who happened to answer was Mademoiselle de Fontenailles, recently
-married to Joseph. She had just obtained this menial situation as a
-great favour, and she wore a long black blouse, marked on the shoulder
-with a number in yellow wool.
-
-“Follow this young lady,” said Pauline. Then returning, and again
-lowering her voice: “It's understood that I am to be appointed
-second-hand, eh?”
-
-Denise, troubled, defended herself; but at last promised, with a laugh,
-joking in her turn. And she went away, going down with Jean and Pépé,
-and followed by the auxiliary. On the ground-floor, they fell into
-the woollen department, a corner of a gallery entirely hung with white
-swanskin cloth and white flannel. Liénard, whom his father had vainly
-recalled to Angers, was talking to the handsome Mignot, now a traveller,
-and who had boldly reappeared at The Ladies' Paradise. No doubt they
-were speaking of Denise, for they both stopped talking to bow to
-her with a ceremonious air. In fact, as she went along through the
-departments the salesmen appeared full of emotion and bent their heads
-before her, uncertain of what she might be the next day. They whispered,
-thought she looked triumphant, and the betting was again altered;
-they began to risk bottles of wine, etc., over the event. She had gone
-through the linen-gallery, in order to get to the handkerchief counter,
-which was at the further end. They saw nothing but white goods: cottons,
-madapolams, muslins, etc.; then came the linen, in enormous piles,
-ranged in alternate pieces like blocks of stone, stout linen, fine
-linen, of all sizes, white and unbleached, pure flax, whitened in the
-sun; then the same thing commenced once more, there were departments for
-each sort of linen: house linen, table linen, kitchen linen, a continual
-fall of white goods, sheets, pillow-cases, innumerable styles of
-napkins, aprons, and dusters. And the bowing continued, they made way
-for Denise to pass, Baugé had rushed out to smile on her, as the good
-fairy of the house. At last, after crossing the counterpane department,
-a room hung with white banners, she arrived at the handkerchief counter,
-the ingenious decoration of which delighted the crowd; there were
-nothing but white columns, white pyramids, white castles, a complicated
-architecture, solely composed of handkerchiefs, cambric, Irish linen,
-China silk, marked, embroidered by hand, trimmed with lace, hemstitched,
-and woven with vignettes, an entire city, built of white bricks, of
-infinite variety, standing out in a mirage against an Eastern sky,
-warmed to a white heat.
-
-“You say another dozen?” asked Denise of her brother.
-
-“Yes, like this one,” replied he, showing a handkerchief in his parcel.
-
-Jean and Pépé had not quitted her side, clinging to her, as they had
-done formerly, on arriving in Paris, knocked up by the journey. This
-vast shop, in which she was quite at home, seemed to trouble them, and
-they sheltered themselves in her shadow, placing themselves under the
-protection of their second mother by an instinctive awakening of their
-infancy. People watched them as they passed, smiling at the two big
-fellows following in the footsteps of this grave thin girl; Jean
-frightened with his beard, Pépé bewildered in his tunic, all three of
-the same fair complexion, a fairness which caused the whisper from one
-end of the counters to the other: “They are her brothers! They are her
-brothers!”
-
-But whilst Denise was looking for a saleswoman there was a meeting.
-Mouret and Bourdoncle entered the gallery; and as the former again
-stopped in front of the young girl, without, however, speaking to her,
-Madame Desforges and Madame Guibal passed by. Henriette suppressed the
-shiver which had invaded her whole being; she looked at Mouret and
-then at Denise. They had also looked at her, and it was a sort of mute
-catastrophe, the common end of these great dramas of the heart, a glance
-exchanged in the crush of a crowd. Mouret had already gone off, whilst
-Denise lost herself in the depths of the department, accompanied by her
-brothers, still in search of a disengaged salesman. But Henriette having
-recognised Mademoiselle de Fontenailles, in the auxiliary following
-Denise, with a yellow number on her shoulder, and her coarse,
-cadaverous, servant's-looking face, relieved herself by saying to Madame
-Guibal, in a trembling voice:
-
-“Just see what he's doing with that unfortunate girl. Isn't it shameful?
-A marchioness! And he makes her follow like a dog the creatures picked
-up by him in the street!” She tried to calm herself, adding, with an
-affected air of indifference: “Let's go and see their display of silks.”
-
-The silk department was like a great chamber of love, hung with white
-by the caprice of some snowy maiden wishing to show off her spotless
-whiteness. All the milky tones of an adored person were there, from the
-velvet of the hips, to the fine silk of the thighs and the shining satin
-of the bosom. Pieces of velvet hung from the columns, silk and satins
-stood out, on this white creamy ground, in draperies of a metallic and
-porcelain-like whiteness: and falling in arches were also poult and gros
-grain silks, light foulards, and surahs, which varied from the heavy
-white of a Norwegian blonde to the transparent white, warmed by the sun,
-of an Italian or a Spanish beauty.
-
-Favier was just then engaged in measuring some white silk for “the
-pretty lady,” that elegant blonde, a frequent customer at the counter,
-and whom the salesmen never referred to except by this name. She
-had dealt at the shop for years, and yet they knew nothing about
-her--neither her life, her address, and not even her name. None of them
-tried to find out, although they all indulged in supposition every time
-she made her appearance, but simply for something to talk about. She
-was getting thinner, she was getting stouter, she had slept well, or she
-must have been out late the previous night--such were the remarks made
-about her: thus every little fact of her unknown life, outside events,
-domestic dramas, were in this way reproduced and commented on. That day
-she seemed very gay. So, on returning from the pay-desk where he had
-conducted her, Favier remarked to Hutin:
-
-“Perhaps she's going to marry again.”
-
-“What! is she a widow?” asked the other.
-
-“I don't know; but you must remember that she was in mourning the
-last time she came. Unless she's made some money by speculating on the
-Bourse.” A silence ensued. At last he ended by saying: “But that's her
-business. It wouldn't do to take notice of all the women we see here.”
-
-But Hutin was looking very thoughtful, having had, two days ago, a warm
-discussion with the direction, and feeling himself condemned. After the
-great sale his dismissal was certain. For a long time he had felt his
-position giving way; at the last stock-taking they had complained of his
-being below the amount of business fixed on in advance; and it was also,
-in fact chiefly, the slow working of the appetites that were swallowing
-him up in his turn--the whole silent war of the department, amidst
-the very motion of the machine. Favier's obscure mining could be
-perceived--a deadened sound as of jaw-bones working under the earth.
-The latter had already received the promise of the first-hand's place.
-Hutin, who was aware of all this, instead of attacking his old comrade,
-looked upon him as a clever fellow--a fellow who had always appeared
-so cold, so obedient, whom he had made use of to turn out Robineau and
-Bouthemont! He was full of a feeling of mingled surprise and respect.
-
-“By the way,” resumed Favier, “she's going to stay, you know. The
-governor has just been seen casting sheep's eyes at her. I shall be let
-in for a bottle of champagne over it.”
-
-He referred to Denise. The gossip was going on more than ever, from
-one counter to the other, across the constantly increasing crowd of
-customers. The silk sellers were especially excited, for they had been
-taking heavy bets about it.
-
-“By Jove!” exclaimed Hutin, waking up as if from a dream, “wasn't I a
-flat not to have slept with her! I should be all right now!”
-
-Then he blushed at this confession on seeing Favier laughing. He
-pretended to laugh also, and added, to recall his words, that it was
-this creature that had ruined him with the management However, a desire
-for violence seizing him, he finished by getting into a rage with the
-salesmen disbanded under the assault of the customers. But all at once
-he resumed his smile, having just perceived Madame Desforges and Madame
-Guibal slowly crossing the department.
-
-“What can we serve you with to-day, madame?”
-
-“Nothing, thanks,” replied Henriette. “You see I'm merely walking round;
-I've only come out of curiosity.”
-
-When he had stopped her, he lowered his voice. Quite a plan was
-springing up in his head. And he flattered her, running down the house;
-he had had enough of it, and preferred going away to assisting at such
-a scene of disorder. She listened to him, delighted. It was she herself
-who, thinking to get him away from The Ladies' Paradise, offered to have
-him engaged by Bouthemont as first-hand in the silk department, when The
-Four Seasons started again. The matter was settled in whispers, whilst
-Madame Guibal interested herself in the displays.
-
-“May I offer you one of these bouquets of violets?” resumed Hutin,
-aloud, pointing to a table where there were four or five bunches of the
-flowers, which he had procured from the pay-desk for personal presents.
-
-“Ah, no!” exclaimed Henriette, with a backward movement. “I don't wish
-to take any part in the wedding.”
-
-They understood each other, and separated, exchanging glances of
-intelligence. As Madame Desforges was looking for Madame Guibal, she
-set up an exclamation of surprise on seeing her with Madame Marty. The
-latter, followed by her daughter Valentine, had been carried away for
-the last two hours, right through the place, by one of those fits of
-spending from which she always emerged tired and confused. She had
-roamed about the furniture department that a show of white lacquered
-suites of furniture had changed into a vast young girl's room, the
-ribbon and neckerchief department forming white vellumy colonnades, the
-mercery and lace department, with its white fringes which surrounded
-ingenious trophies patiently composed of cards of buttons and packets
-of needles, and the hosiery department, in which there was a great crush
-this year to see an immense piece of decoration, the name “The Ladies'
-Paradise” in letters three yards high, formed of white socks on a
-groundwork of red ones. But Madame Marty was especially excited by the
-new departments; they could not open a new department without she must
-inaugurate it, she was bound to plunge in and buy something. And she had
-passed an hour at the millinery counter, installed in a new room on the
-ground-floor, having the cupboards emptied, taking the bonnets off the
-stands which stood on two tables, trying all of them on herself and her
-daughter, white hats, white bonnets, and white turbans. Then she had
-gone down to the boot department, at the further end of a gallery on the
-ground-floor, behind the cravat department, a counter opened that day,
-and which she had turned topsy turvy, seized with sickly desires in the
-presence of the white silk slippers trimmed with swansdown, the white
-satin boots and shoes with their high Louis XV. heels.
-
-“Oh! my dear,” she stammered, “you've no idea! They have a wonderful
-assortment of hoods. I've chosen one for myself and one for my daughter.
-And the boots, eh? Valentine.”
-
-“It's marvellous!” added the young girl, with her womanly boldness.
-“There are some boots at twenty francs and a half which are delicious!”
-
-A salesman was following them, dragging along the eternal chair, on
-which was already heaped a mountain of articles.
-
-“How is Monsieur Marty?” asked Madame Desforges.
-
-“Very well, I believe,” replied Madame Marty, bewildered by this brusque
-question, which fell ill-naturedly amidst her fever for spending. “He's
-still confined, my uncle had to go and see him this morning.”
-
-“Oh, look! isn't it lovely?”
-
-The ladies, who had gone on a few steps, found themselves before the
-flowers and feathers department, installed in the central gallery,
-between the silk and glove departments. It appeared beneath the bright
-light of the glass roof as an enormous florescence, a white sheaf, tall
-and broad as an oak. The base was formed of single flowers, violets,
-lilies of the valley, hyacinths, daisies, all the delicate hues of the
-garden. Then came bouquets, white roses, softened by a fleshy tint,
-great white pæonies, slightly shaded with carmine, white chrysanthemums,
-with narrow petals and starred with yellow. And the flowers still
-ascended, great mystical lilies, branches of apple blossom, bunches of
-lilac, a continual blossoming, surmounted, as high as the first storey,
-by ostrich feathers, white plumes, which were like the airy breath of
-this collection of white flowers. One whole corner was devoted to the
-display of trimmings and orange-flower wreaths. There were also metallic
-flowers, silver thistles and silver ears of com. Amidst the foliage and
-the petals, amidst all this muslin, silk, and velvet, where drops of gum
-shone like dew, flew birds of Paradise for hats, purple Tangaras with
-black tails, and Septicolores with their changing rainbow-like plumage.
-
-“I'm going to buy a branch of apple-blossom,” resumed Madame Marty.
-“It's delicious, isn't it? And that little bird, do look, Valentine. I
-must take it!”
-
-Madame Guibal began to feel tired of standing still in the eddy of the
-crowd, and at last said: “Well, we'll leave you to make your purchases.
-We're going upstairs.”
-
-“No, no, wait for me!” cried the other. “I'm going up too. There's the
-perfumery department, I must see that.”
-
-This department, created the day before, was next door to the
-reading-room. Madame Desforges, to avoid the crush on the stairs, spoke
-of going up in the lift, but they had to abandon the idea, there was
-such a crowd waiting their turn. At last they arrived, passing before
-the public Refreshment bar, where the crowd was becoming so great that
-an inspector had to restrain the people's appetites by only allowing the
-gluttonous customers to enter in small groups. And the ladies already
-began to smell the perfumery department, a penetrating odour which
-scented the whole gallery. There was quite a struggle over one article,
-The Paradise soap, a specialty of the house. In the show cases, and
-on the crystal tablets of the shelves, were ranged pots of pomade and
-paste, boxes of powder and paint, boxes of toilet vinegar; whilst
-the fine brushes, combs, scissors, and smelling-bottles occupied a
-special place. The salesmen had managed to decorate the shelves with
-white porcelain pots and white glass bottles. But what delighted the
-customers above all was a silver fountain, a shepherdess seated in the
-middle of a harvest of flowers, and from which flowed a continual stream
-of violet water, which fell with a musical plash into the metal basin.
-An exquisite odour was disseminated around, the ladies dipping their
-handkerchiefs in the scent as they passed.
-
-“There,” said Madame Marty, when she had loaded herself with lotions,
-dentrifices, and cosmetics. “Now I've done, I'm at your service. Let's
-go and rejoin Madame de Boves.”
-
-But on the landing of the great central staircase they were again
-stopped by the Japanese department. This counter had grown wonderfully
-since the day Mouret had amused himself by setting up, in the same
-place, a little proposition table, covered with a lot of soiled
-articles, without at all foreseeing its future success. Few departments
-had had a more modest commencement, and now it overflowed with old
-bronzes, old ivories, old lacquer work. He did fifteen hundred thousand
-francs' worth of business a year in this department, ransacking the
-Far East, where his travellers pillaged the palaces and the temples.
-Besides, fresh departments were always springing up, they had tried two
-in December, in order to fill up the empty spaces caused by the dead
-winter season--a book department and a toy department, which would
-certainly grow also and sweep away certain shops in the neighbourhood.
-Four years had sufficed for the Japanese department to attract the
-entire artistic custom of Paris. This time Madame Desforges herself,
-notwithstanding the rancour which had made her swear not to buy
-anything, succumbed before some finely carved ivory.
-
-“Send it to my house,” said she rapidly, at a neighbouring pay-desk.
-“Ninety francs, is it not?” And, seeing Madame Marty and her daughter
-plunged in a lot of trashy porcelains, she resumed, as she carried
-Madame Guibal off: “You will find us in the reading-room, I really must
-sit down a little while.”
-
-In the reading-room they were obliged to remain standing. All the chairs
-were occupied, round the large table covered with newspapers. Great fat
-fellows were reading and lolling about without even thinking of giving
-up their seats to the ladies. A few women were writing, their faces on
-the paper, as if to conceal their letters under the flowers of their
-hats. Madame de Boves was not there, and Henriette was getting very
-impatient when she perceived De Vallagnosc, who was also looking for his
-wife and mother-in-law. He bowed, and said:
-
-“They must be in the lace department--impossible to drag them away. I'll
-just see.” And he was gallant enough to procure them two chairs before
-going away.
-
-In the lace department the crush was increasing every minute. The great
-show of white was there triumphing in its most delicate and dearest
-whiteness. It was an acute temptation, a mad desire, which bewildered
-all the women. The department had been turned into a white temple,
-tulles and Maltese lace, falling from above, formed a white sky, one
-of those cloudy veils which pales the morning sun. Bound the columns
-descended flounces of Malines and Valenciennes, white dancers' skirts,
-unfolding in a snowy shiver down to the ground. Then on all sides, on
-every counter, was a stream of white Spanish blonde as light as air,
-Brussels with its large flowers on a delicate mesh, hand-made point, and
-Venice point with heavier designs, Alençon point, and Bruges of royal
-and almost religious richness. It seemed that the god of dress had there
-set up his white tabernacle.
-
-Madame de Boves, after wandering about for a long time before the
-counters with her daughter, and feeling a sensual desire to plunge her
-hands into the goods, had just decided to make Deloche show her some
-Alençon point. At first he brought out some imitation; but she wished to
-see some real Alençon, and was not satisfied with the little pieces at
-three hundred francs the yard, insisting on having deep flounces at
-a thousand francs a yard, handkerchiefs and fans at seven and eight
-hundred francs. The counter was soon covered with a fortune. In a corner
-of the department Jouve, the inspector, who had not lost sight of Madame
-de Boves, notwithstanding the latter's apparent dawdling, stood there
-amidst the crowd, with an indifferent air, but still keeping a sharp eye
-on her.
-
-“Have you any in hand-made point?” she asked; “show me some, please.”
-
-The salesman, whom she had kept there for twenty minutes, dared
-not resist, she appeared so aristocratic, with her imposing air and
-princess's voice. However, he hesitated, for the salesmen were cautioned
-against heaping up these precious fabrics, and he had allowed himself to
-be robbed of ten yards of Malines the week before. But she troubled him,
-he yielded, and abandoned the Alençon point for a moment to take the
-lace asked for from a drawer.
-
-“Oh! look, mamma,” said Blanche, who was ransacking a box close by, full
-of cheap Valenciennes, “we might take some of this for pillow-cases.”
-
-Madame de Boves not replying, her daughter on turning round saw her with
-her hands plunged amidst the lace, about to slip some Alençon up the
-sleeve of her mantle. She did not appear surprised, and moved forward
-instinctively to conceal her mother, when Jouve suddenly stood before
-them. He leant over, and politely murmured in the countess's ear:
-
-“Have the kindness to follow me, madame.”
-
-She hesitated for a moment, shocked.
-
-“But what for, sir?”
-
-“Have the kindness to follow me, madame,” repeated the inspector,
-without raising his voice.
-
-Her face was full of anguish, she threw a rapid glance around her. Then
-she resigned herself all at once, resumed her haughty look, and walked
-by his side like a queen who deigns to accept the services of an
-aide-de-camp. Not one of the customers had observed the scene, and
-Deloche, on returning to the counter, looked at her being walked off,
-his mouth wide open with astonishment What! this one as well! this
-noble-looking lady! Really it was time to have them all searched! And
-Blanche, who was left free, followed her mother at a distance, lingering
-amidst the sea of faces, livid, divided between the duty of not
-deserting her mother and the terror of being detained with her. She saw
-her enter Bourdoncle's office, but she contented herself with waiting
-near the door. Bourdoncle, whom Mouret had just got rid of, happened to
-be there. As a rule, he dealt with these sorts of robberies committed by
-persons of distinction. Jouve had long been watching this lady, and had
-informed him of it, so that he was not astonished when the inspector
-briefly explained the matter to him; in fact, such extraordinary cases
-passed through his hands that he declared the women capable of anything
-once the rage for dress had seized them. As he was aware of Mouret's
-acquaintance with the thief, he treated her with the utmost politeness.
-
-“We excuse these moments of weakness, madame. But pray consider the
-consequences of such a thing. Suppose some one else had seen you slip
-this lace----”
-
-But she interrupted him in great indignation. She a thief! Who did
-he take her for? She was the Countess de Boves, her husband,
-Inspector-General of the Stud, was received at Court.
-
-“I know, I know, madame,” repeated Bourdoncle, quietly. “I have the
-honour of knowing you. In the first place, will you kindly give up the
-lace you have on you?”
-
-She again protested, not allowing him to say another word, handsome in
-her violence, going as far as tears. Any one else but he would have been
-shaken and feared some deplorable mistake, for she threatened to go to
-law to avenge herself for such an insult.
-
-“Take care, sir, my husband will certainly appeal to the Minister.”
-
-“Come, you are not more reasonable than the others,” declared
-Bourdoncle, losing patience. “We must search you.”
-
-Still she did not yield, but said with her superb assurance, “Very good,
-search me. But I warn you, you are risking your house.”
-
-Jouve went to fetch two saleswomen from the corset department. When
-he returned, he informed Bourdoncle that the lady's daughter, left at
-liberty, had not quitted the doorway, and asked if she should also
-be detained, although he had not seen her take anything. The manager,
-always correct, decided that she should not be brought in, for the sake
-of morality, and in order not to force a mother to blush before her
-daughter. The two men retired into a neighbouring room, whilst the
-saleswomen searched the countess, even taking off her dress to search
-her bosom and hips. Besides the twelve yards of Alençon point at a
-thousand francs the yard concealed in her sleeve, they found in her
-bosom a handkerchief, a fan, and a cravat, making a total of about
-fourteen thousand francs' worth of lace. She had been stealing like this
-for the last year, ravaged by a furious, irresistible passion for dress.
-These fits got worse, growing daily, sweeping away all the reasonings of
-prudence, and the enjoyment she felt in the indulgence of this passion
-was all the more violent from the fact that she was risking before the
-eyes of a crowd her name, her pride, and her husband's high position.
-Now that the latter allowed her to empty his drawers, she stole although
-she had her pockets full of money, she stole for the pleasure of
-stealing, as one loves for the pleasure of loving, goaded on by desire,
-urged on by the species of kleptomania that her unsatisfied luxurious
-tastes had developed in her formerly at sight of the enormous and brutal
-temptation of the big shops.
-
-“It's a trap,” cried she, when Bourdoncle and Jouve came in. “This lace
-has been placed on me, I swear before Heaven.”
-
-She was now weeping tears of rage, and fell on a chair, suffocated in
-her dress. The partner sent away the saleswomen, and resumed, with his
-quiet air: “We are quite willing, madame, to hush up this painful
-affair for the sake of your family. But you must first sign a paper thus
-worded: 'I have stolen some lace from The Ladies' Paradise,' followed by
-the details of the lace, and the day of the month. Besides, I shall be
-happy to return you this document whenever you like to bring me a sum of
-two thousand francs for the poor.”
-
-She got up again, and declared in a fresh outburst: “I'll never sign
-that, I'd rather die.”
-
-“You won't die, madame; but I warn you that I shall shortly send for the
-police.”
-
-Then followed a frightful scene. She insulted him, she stammered that
-it was cowardly for a man to torture a woman in that way. Her Juno-like
-beauty, her tall majestic body was distorted by vulgar rage. Then she
-tried to melt them, entreating them in the name of their mothers, and
-spoke of dragging herself at their feet. And as they remained quite
-unmoved, hardened by custom, she sat down all at once and began to write
-with a trembling hand. The pen sputtered, the words: “I have stolen,”
- written madly, went almost through the thin paper, whilst she repeated
-in a strangled voice: “There, sir, there. I yield to force.”
-
-Bourdoncle took the paper, carefully folded it, and put it in a drawer,
-saying: “You see it's in company, for ladies, after talking of dying
-rather than signing, generally forget to come and redeem their _billets
-doux_. However, I hold it at your disposal. You'll be able to judge
-whether it's worth two thousand francs.”
-
-She was buttoning up her dress, and became as arrogant as ever, now that
-she had paid. “I can go now?” asked she, in a sharp tone.
-
-Bourdoncle was already occupied with other business. On Jouve's report,
-he decided on Deloche's dismissal, as a stupid fellow, who was always
-being robbed, never having any authority over the customers. Madame
-de Boves repeated her question, and as they dismissed her with an
-affirmative nod, she enveloped both of them in a murderous look. In the
-flood of insulting words that she kept back, a melodramatic cry escaped
-from her lips.
-
-“Wretches!” said she, banging the door after her.
-
-Meanwhile Blanche had not gone far away from the office. Her ignorance
-of what was going on inside, the passing backwards and forwards of Jouve
-and the two saleswomen frightened her, she had visions of the police,
-the assize court, and the prison. But all at once she stopped short: De
-Vallagnosc was before her, this husband of a month, with whom she still
-felt rather awkward; and he questioned her, astonished at her bewildered
-appearance.
-
-“Where's your mother? Have you lost each other? Come, tell me, you make
-me feel anxious.”
-
-Nothing in the way of a colourable fiction presented itself to her,
-and in great distress she told him everything in a low voice: “Mamma,
-mamma--she has been stealing.”
-
-“What! stealing?” At last he understood. His wife's bloated face, the
-pale mask, ravaged by fear, terrified him.
-
-“Some lace, like that, up her sleeve,” she continued stammering.
-
-“You saw her, then? You were looking on?” murmured he, chilled to feel
-her a sort of accomplice.
-
-They had to stop talking, several persons were already turning round. An
-hesitation full of anguish kept De Vallagnosc motionless for a moment.
-What was to be done? He was about to go into Bourdoncle's office, when
-he perceived Mouret crossing the gallery. He told his wife to wait for
-him, and seized his old friend's arm, informing him of the affair, in
-broken sentences. The latter hastily took him into his office, where
-he soon put him at rest as to the possible consequences. He assured him
-that he need not interfere, and explained in what way the affair would
-be arranged, without appearing at all excited about this robbery, as if
-he had foreseen it long ago. But De Vallagnosc, when he no longer feared
-an immediate arrest, did not accept the adventure with this admirable
-coolness. He had thrown himself into an arm-chair, and now that he could
-discuss the matter, began to lament his own unfortunate position. Was it
-possible that he had married into a family of thieves? A stupid marriage
-that he had drifted into, just to please his father! Surprised at this
-childish violence, Mouret watched him weeping, thinking of his former
-pessimist boasting. Had he not heard him announce scores of times the
-nothingness of life, in which evil alone had any attraction? And by
-way of a joke he amused himself for a minute or so, by preaching
-indifference to his friend, in a friendly, bantering tone. But at this
-De Vallognosc got angry: he was quite unable to recover his compromised
-philosophy, his middle-class education broke out in virtuously indignant
-cries against his mother-in-law. As soon as trouble fell on him, at
-the least appearance of human suffering, at which he had always coldly
-laughed, the boasted sceptic was beaten and bleeding. It was abominable,
-they were dragging the honour of his race into the mud, and the world
-seemed to be coming to an end.
-
-“Come, calm yourself,” concluded Mouret, stricken with pity. “I won't
-tell you that everything happens and nothing happens, because that does
-not seem to comfort you just now. But I think you ought to go and offer
-your arm to Madame de Boves, that would be wiser than causing a scandal.
-The deuce! you who professed such scorn before the universal rascality
-of the present day!”
-
-“Of course,” cried De Vallagnosc, innocently, “when it affects other
-people!”
-
-However, he got up, and followed his old school-fellow's advice.
-Both were returning to the gallery when Madame de Boves came out of
-Bourdoncle's office. She accepted her son-in-law's arm with a majestic
-air, and as Mouret bowed to her with respectful gallantry, he heard
-her saying: “They've apologised to me. Really, these mistakes are
-abominable.”
-
-Blanche rejoined them, and they were soon lost in the crowd. Then
-Mouret, alone and pensive, crossed the shop once more. This scene, which
-had changed his thoughts from the struggle going on within him, now
-increased his fever, and decided him to make a supreme effort. A vague
-connection arose in his mind: the robbery by this unfortunate woman,
-the last folly of the conquered customers, beaten at the feet of the
-tempter, evoked the proud and avenging image of Denise, whose victorious
-grip he could feel at his throat. He stopped at the top of the central
-staircase, and gazed for a long time into the immense nave, where his
-nation of women were swarming.
-
-Six o'clock was about to strike, the daylight decreasing outside was
-gradually forsaking the covered galleries, already dark and waning
-at the further end of the halls, invaded by long shadows. And in this
-daylight, barely extinct, was commenced the lighting of the electric
-lamps, the globes of an opaque whiteness studding with bright moons
-the distant depths of the departments. It was a white brightness of a
-blinding fixity, extending like the reverberation of a discoloured star,
-killing the twilight Then, when all were lighted, there was a delighted
-murmur in the crowd, the great show of white goods assumed a fairy
-splendour beneath this new illumination. It seemed that this colossal
-orgie of white was also burning, itself becoming a light. The song of
-the white seemed to soar upward in the inflamed whiteness of an aurora.
-A white glimmer gushed from the linen and calico department in the
-Monsigny Gallery, like the first bright gleam which lights up the
-eastern sky; whilst along the Michodière Gallery, the mercery and
-the lace, the fancy-goods and the ribbon departments threw out the
-reflection of distant hills--the white flash of the mother-of-pearl
-buttons, the silvered bronzes and the pearls. But the central nave
-especially was filled with a blaze of white: the puffs of white muslin
-round the columns, the white dimities and other stuffs draping the
-staircases, the white lace flying in the air, opened up a dreamy
-firmament, the dazzling whiteness of a paradise, where was being
-celebrated the marriage of the unknown queen. The tent of the silk hall
-was like a giant alcove, with its white curtains, gauzes and tulles, the
-dazzle of which protected the bride in her white nudity from the gaze
-of the curious. There was now nothing but this blinding white light
-in which all the whites blended, a multitude of stars twinkling in the
-bright clear light.
-
-And Mouret continued to watch his nation of women, amidst this
-shimmering blaze. Their black shadows stood out vigorously on the pale
-ground-work. Long eddies divided the crowd; the fever of this day's
-great sale swept past like a frenzy, rolling along the disordered sea
-of heads. People were commencing to leave, the pillage of the stuffs had
-encumbered all the counters, the gold was chinking in the tills; whilst
-the customers went away, their purses completely empty, and their heads
-turned by the wealth of luxury amidst which they had been wandering all
-day. It was he who possessed them thus, keeping them at his mercy by
-his continued display of novelties, his reduction of prices, and his
-“returns,” his gallantry and his advertisements. He had conquered the
-mothers themselves, reigning over them with the brutality of a despot,
-whose caprices were ruining many a household. His creation was a sort of
-new religion; the churches, gradually deserted by a wavering faith, were
-replaced by this bazaar, in the minds of the idle women of Paris.
-Women now came and spent their leisure time in his establishment,
-the shivering and anxious hours they formerly passed in churches: a
-necessary consumption of nervous passion, a growing struggle of the god
-of dress against the husband, the incessantly renewed religion of the
-body with the divine future of beauty. If he had closed his doors,
-there would have been a rising in the street, the despairing cry of
-worshippers deprived of their confessional and altar. In their still
-growing luxury, he saw them, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour,
-obstinately clinging to the enormous iron building, along the suspended
-staircases and flying bridges. Madame Marty and her daughter, carried
-away to the highest point, were wandering amongst the furniture.
-Retained by her young people, Madame Bourdelais could not get away from
-the fancy goods. Then came another group, Madame de Boves, still on De
-Vallagnosc's arm, and followed by Blanche, stopping in each department,
-still daring to examine the articles with her superb air. But amidst the
-crowded sea of customers, this sea of bodies swelling with life, beating
-with desire, all decorated with bunches of violets, as though for the
-bridals of some sovereign, Mouret could now distinguish nothing but the
-bare bust of Madame Desforges, who had stopped in the glove department
-with Madame Guibal. Notwithstanding her jealous rancour, she was also
-buying, and he felt himself to be the master once more, having them
-at his feet, beneath the dazzle of the electric light, like a drove of
-cattle from whom he had drawn his fortune.
-
-With a mechanical step, Mouret went along the galleries, so absorbed
-that he abandoned himself to the pushing of the crowd. When he raised
-his head, he found himself in the new millinery department, the windows
-of which looked on to the Rue du Dix-Décembre. And there, his forehead
-against the glass, he made another halt, watching the departure of the
-crowd. The setting sun was yellowing the roofs of the white houses, the
-blue sky was growing paler, refreshed by a pure breath; whilst in the
-twilight, which was already enveloping the streets, the electric lamps
-of The Ladies' Paradise threw out that fixed glimmer of stars lighted on
-the horizon at the decline of the day. Towards the Opera-house and the
-Bourse were the rows of waiting carriages, the harness still retaining
-the reflections of the bright light, the gleam of a lamp, the glitter
-of a silvered bit Every minute the cry of a footman was heard, and a cab
-drew near, or a brougham issued from the ranks, took up a customer, and
-went off at a rapid trot. The rows of carriages were now diminishing,
-six went off at a time, occupying the whole street, from the one side to
-the other, amidst the banging of doors, snapping of whips, and the hum
-of the passers-by, who swarmed between the wheels. There was a sort of
-continual enlargement, a spreading of the customers, carried off to the
-four corners of the city, emptying the building with the roaring clamour
-of a sluice. And the roof of The Ladies' Paradise, the big golden
-letters of the ensigns, the banners fluttering in the sky, still flamed
-forth with the reflections of the setting sun, so colossal in this
-oblique light, that they evoked the monster of advertising, the
-phalansterium whose wings, incessantly multiplied, were swallowing up
-the whole neighbourhood, as far as the distant woods of the suburbs.
-And the soul of Paris, an enormous, sweet breath, fell asleep in the
-serenity of the evening, running in long and sweet caresses over the
-last carriages, spinning through the streets now becoming deserted by
-the crowd, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
-
-Mouret, gazing about, had just felt something grand in himself; and,
-in the shiver of triumph with which his flesh trembled, in the face of
-Paris devoured and woman conquered, he experienced a sudden weakness, a
-defection of his strong will which overthrew him in his turn, beneath a
-superior force It was an unreasonable necessity to be vanquished in
-his victory, the nonsense of a warrior bending beneath the caprice of a
-child, on the morrow of his conquests. He who had struggled for months,
-who even that morning had sworn to stifle his passion, yielded all at
-once, seized by the vertigo of high places, happy to commit what he
-looked upon as a folly. His decision, so rapid, had assumed all at once
-such energy that he saw nothing but her as being useful and necessary in
-the world.
-
-The evening, after the last dinner, he was waiting in his office,
-trembling like a young man about to stake his life's happiness, unable
-to keep still, incessantly going towards the door to listen to the
-rumours in the shop, where the men were doing the folding, drowned up
-to the shoulder in a sea of stuffs. At each footstep his heart beat.
-He felt a violent emotion, he rushed forward, for he had heard in the
-distance a deep murmur, which had gradually increased.
-
-It was Lhomme slowly approaching with the day's receipts. That day they
-were so heavy, there was such a quantity of silver and copper, that he
-had been obliged to enlist the services of two messengers. Behind him
-came Joseph and one of his colleagues, bending beneath the weight of
-the bags, enormous bags, thrown on their shoulders like sacks of wheat,
-whilst he walked on in front with the notes and gold, a note-book
-swollen with paper, and two bags hung round his neck, the weight of
-which swayed him to the right, the same side as his broken arm. Slowly,
-perspiring and puffing, he had come from the other end of the shop,
-amidst the growing emotion of the salesmen. The employees in the glove
-and silk departments laughingly offered to relieve him of his burden,
-the fellows in the drapery and woollen departments were longing to see
-him make a false step, which would have scattered the gold through the
-place. Then he had been obliged to mount the stairs, go across a bridge,
-going still higher, turning about, amidst the longing looks of the
-employees in the linen, the hosiery, and the mercery departments, who
-followed him, gazing with ecstasy at this fortune travelling in the air.
-On the first-floor the employees in the ready-made, the perfumery, the
-lace, and the shawl departments were ranged with devotion, as on the
-passage of a king. From counter to counter a tumult arose, like the
-clamour of a nation bowing down before the golden calf.
-
-Mouret opened the door, and Lhomme appeared, followed by the two
-messengers, who were staggering; and, out of breath, he still had
-strength to cry out: “One million two hundred and forty-seven francs,
-nineteen sous!”
-
-At last the million had been attained, the million picked up in a day,
-and of which Mouret had so long dreamed. But he gave way to an angry
-gesture, and said impatiently, with the disappointed air of a man
-disturbed by some troublesome fellow: “A million! very good, put it
-there.” Lhomme knew that he was fond of seeing the heavy receipts on
-his table before they were taken to the central cashier's office. The
-million covered the whole table, crushing the papers, almost overturning
-the ink, running out of the sacks, bursting the leather bags, making a
-great heap, the heap of the gross receipts, such as it had come from the
-customers' hands, still warm and living.
-
-Just as the cashier was going away, heart-broken at the governor's
-indifference, Bourdoncle arrived, gaily exclaiming: “Ah! we've done it
-this time. We've hooked the million, eh?”
-
-But observing Mouret's febrile pre-occupation, he understood at once
-and calmed down. His face was beaming with joy. After a short silence
-he resumed: “You've made up your mind, haven't you? Well, I approve your
-decision.”
-
-Suddenly Mouret planted himself before him, and with his terrible voice
-he thundered: “I say, my man, you're rather too lively. You think me
-played out, don't you? and you feel hungry. But be careful, I'm not one
-to be swallowed up, you know!”
-
-Discountenanced by the sharp attack of this wonderful fellow, who
-guessed everything, Bourdoncle stammered: “What now? Are you joking? I
-who have always admired you so!”
-
-“Don't tell lies!” replied Mouret, more violently than ever “Just
-listen, we were stupid to entertain the superstition that marriage would
-ruin us. Is it not the necessary health, the very strength and order of
-life? Well, my dear fellow, I'm going to marry her, and I'll pitch you
-all out at the slightest movement. Yes, you'll go and be paid like the
-rest, Bourdoncle.”
-
-And with a gesture he dismissed him. Bourdoncle felt himself condemned,
-swept away, by this victory gained by woman. He went off. Denise was
-just going in, and he bowed with a profound respect, his head swimming.
-
-“Ah! you've come at last!” said Mouret gently.
-
-Denise was pale with emotion. She had just experienced another grief,
-Deloche had informed her of his dismissal, and as she tried to retain
-him, offering to speak in his favour, he obstinately declined to
-struggle against his bad luck, he wanted to disappear, what was the use
-of staying? Why should he interfere with people who were happy? Denise
-had bade him a sisterly adieu, her eyes full of tears. Did she not
-herself long to sink into oblivion? Everything was now about to be
-finished, and she asked nothing more of her exhausted strength than the
-courage to support this separation. In a few minutes, if she could only
-be valiant enough to crush her heart, she could go away alone, to weep
-unseen.
-
-“You wished to see me, sir,” she said in her calm voice. “In fact, I
-intended to come and thank you for all your kindness to me.”
-
-On entering, she had perceived the million on the desk, and the display
-of this money wounded her. Above her, as if watching the scene, was the
-portrait of Madame Hédouin, in its gilded frame, and with the eternal
-smile of its painted lips.
-
-“You are still resolved to leave us?” asked Mouret, in a trembling
-voice.
-
-“Yes, sir. I must!”
-
-Then he took her hands, and said, in an explosion of tenderness, after
-the long period of coldness he had imposed on himself: “And if I married
-you, Denise, would you still leave?” But she had drawn her hands away,
-struggling as if under the influence of a great grief. “Oh! Monsieur
-Mouret. Pray say no more. Don't cause me such pain again! I cannot!
-I cannot! Heaven is my witness that I was going away to avoid such a
-misfortune!”
-
-She continued to defend herself in broken sentences. Had she not already
-suffered too much from the gossip of the house? Did he wish her to pass
-in his eyes and her own for a worthless woman? No, no, she would
-be strong, she would certainly prevent him doing such a thing. He,
-tortured, listened to her, repeating in a passionate tone: “I wish it. I
-wish it!”
-
-“No, it's impossible. And my brothers? I have sworn not to marry. I
-cannot bring you those children, can I?”
-
-“They shall be my brothers, too. Say yes, Denise.”
-
-“No, no, leave me. You are torturing me!”
-
-Little by little he gave way, this last obstacle drove him mad. What!
-She still refused even at this price! In the distance he heard the
-clamour of his three thousand employees building up his immense fortune.
-And that stupid million lying there! He suffered from it as a sort of
-irony, he could have thrown it into the street.
-
-“Go, then!” he cried, in a flood of tears. “Go and join the man you
-love. That's the reason, isn't it? You warned me, I ought to have known
-it, and not tormented you any further.” She stood there dazed before
-the violence of this despair. Her heart was bursting. Then, with the
-impetuosity of a child, she threw herself on his neck, sobbing also, and
-stammered: “Oh! Monsieur Mouret, it's you that I love!”
-
-A last murmur was rising from The Ladies' Paradise, the distant
-acclamation of a crowd. Madame Hédouin's portrait was still smiling,
-with its painted lips; Mouret had fallen on his desk, on the million
-that he could no longer see. He did not quit Denise, but clasped her in
-a desperate embrace, telling her that she could now go, that she could
-spend a month at Valognes, which would silence everybody, and that he
-would then go and fetch her himself, and bring her back, all-powerful,
-and his wedded wife.
-
-
-THE END.
-
-
-
-
-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADIES’ PARADISE ***
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
-United States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. 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. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
-the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
-of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
-copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
-easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
-of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
-Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
-do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
-by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
-license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country other than the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
-  you are located before using this eBook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that:
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
-the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
-forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
-Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
-to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
-and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
-widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
-